Life would be simpler if every piece of technology we dealt with worked in an obvious and straightforward way. Life would also be a lot duller.

Many of us -- especially those who have chosen tech for their career -- enjoy the thrill of figuring out a workaround to the problems that life, people, or wonky tech throw in our way, either through dedicated study of the problem or ferreting out secret knowledge of what's causing it.

Whether you're getting around the Wall Street Journal paywall (just plug the article's title into Google and click on the link) or driving across the hacked-together fix for the earthquake-ravaged Miles Glacier Bridge shown above, you'll enjoy the benefits of a good workaround. There are plenty more where those came from.

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