Ok, here’s a challenge that I’m making to myself this week – you might find it helpful too.
I’ve noticed quite a few little timewasting roadblocks that I hit every day. I’m talking about often little, often repetitive things that I shrug off, instead of taking the 5 minutes to actually fix once and for all.
Here’s a classic example (which fortunately is no longer my problem since I got a new PC). My old Windows PC was about 7 years old, and every time I booted up (and that was every day, because I didn’t like leaving the machine on overnight), it popped up an error message saying that some software had failed to install properly. I had to click several screens to get rid of the abortive install and get on with the startup of my PC. That error message used to drive me nuts, but the Windows Installation Wizard tool couldn’t find the sofware it referred to, so I left the damn thing there. Argh!
Now I have a shiny new 64-bit Vista box, but already I can see these little timewasters creeping in to slow down my day to day work. One of them is that I’ve got duplicates of my Gmail appearing in my email inbox. Another is that I’ve switched web browsers but I haven’t fixed my email preferences to open links in the correct browser, so I’m ending up with two open browsers.
Pretty much no-brainer stuff to fix, but I need to sit down and take five minutes to do so. So I’ll keep my running sheet and have a to-fix list by the end of the week.
I’ll post the full list on Friday. Do you have any annoying roadblocks in your day to day computing life (or in real life)? Keep a list and we can compare notes on Friday. :) More »
Windows Vista only: Microsoft still hasn’t updated Windows XP PowerToys for Vista, but you can still get multiple desktops with the free Vista Virtual Desktop Manager beta. Once the software’s installed, use key combo’s to navigate the desktops, which are mighty pretty with Vista’s super-duper video capabilities:
* Windows Key + Z – Show the fullscreen “switcher” * Windows Key + W – Pop up the window menu for the active window * Windows Key + Numpad 1…9 – Switch to the corresponding desktop, if it exists * Windows Key + Arrow Down/Right – Switch to the next desktop * Windows Key + Arrow Up/Left – Switch to the previous desktop
The beta isn’t completely stable just yet, so do proceed with caution. The Vista Virtual Desktops Manager is a free download for Windows Vista only.
Vista Virtual Desktop Manager [via Programming Resources, News and Ideas]Users running Windows XP in Virtual PC 2007 can speed up the virtualised operating system. Tech blogger Dan Maharry drafted a six-page PDF document full of tweaks and customisations you can do to Virtual PC and Windows XP to make the installation fly. Most of the tweaks to Windows XP are geared toward stripping out unnecessary features and visual effects. However, Dan recommends some new stuff like defragging the VHD file created by Virtual PC and optimising how Virtual PC processes the image. If you can’t break free of your XP virtual machine, you might as well give it a speed boost!
Fast XP on a VPC [Dan's Archive]Magnetic tacks are the perfect organising tool for small, crowded workspaces because they do double duty. Use the same little tack to pin up your to-do list and the ballpoint you use to update it! It’s almost as if designer Hironau Tsuboi created these beautiful-but-functional things just for people who work in cubicles with pushpin-friendly cloth walls.
Magnet tacks [Cool Hunting]With a few finger taps you can launch applications from the Start menu in Vista with administrator credentials. The Windows Fanatics weblog has the skinny. 1. Open the Start Menu, type the name of the application you want to run. 2. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER instead of just ENTER. 3. Press Alt + C to confirm the elevation prompt.
I think you’d be hard-pressed to launch administrator applications any faster without using the mouse. Launchy users, how do you start applications with elevated credentials? Share in the comments.
Use Keystrokes To Open An Elevated Command Prompt In Vista [Windows Fanatics]You can quickly change the size of the Firefox window by clicking a bookmarklet. Reader Domen writes in and explains how to set up the bookmarklet, which is perfect for users with extra screen estate. Create an empty bookmark in your Bookmarks Toolbar and enter the following as the location:
javascript:window.resizeTo(1280,1050);
Substitute 1280 and 1050 with values appropriate for your monitor size. Clicking the bookmark will instantly resize your window. You will need to make sure JavaScript is enabled in the Firefox preferences. Thanks, Domen! More »
It’s hard to fight the afternoon daze at work, but UC San Francisco nurse Shelley Pepper says what you eat for lunch or snacktime can make a big difference. Surprise—a healthy fruit snack may make you less productive than a slice of bologna. Pepper says:
You need carbs for energy, but if you eat stuff that breaks down really quickly and floods your body with glucose, the insulin will come out and pack the glucose away into your liver for later use, which gives you the post-sugar crash. Eating carbohydrates for energy, together with some fat and/or protein will slow down the digestion so it lasts longer and doesn’t make you crash.
Steve at the Seopher blog has written a list of 40 cool free apps. He’s a web developer, so there are lots of geeks tools on the list as you’d expect, but it also covers image editing, video playback, audio tools and free games. Worth checking out – I’ve been a VLC Media Player fan forever, but he mentions a video playback app I’ve not tried so I’m going to grab it today.
It’s worth browsing the comments he’s gotten too – a lot of readers have chipped in with their favourite freeware recommendations. The 40 coolest free applications around [via LinuxToday]
Dimension Engineering offer up a hack for those who’d rather punch out their alarm clock than greet the sunrise with a song. This is a walkthrough for how to rewire an alarm clock so that it will enter snooze mode when it experiences a shock, or, as the application notes say:
In this project, we will bypass the mechanical snooze switch on top, and instead turn the alarm clock off in a much more fun way: punching it!
This trick involves wiring an accelerometer to the snooze button, so it assumes intermediate electronics knowledge, including mastery of the multimeter. You’ll want to be comfortable with soldering a complex circuit.
The site also links to a “greatest hits” video clip which demonstrates different techniques for turning off your hacked alarm clock, including punching it, using a hammer and throwing a screwdriver at it.
Hacking an alarm clock so that it will enter snooze mode when it experiences a shock [via Hackaday] More »
Windows/Mac: Access files, emails and search your desktop from your web-enabled mobile phone or any web browser with freeware application SoonR. After you install the application, set it up with folders you want to retrieve files from and then log into SoonR from your phone. The application’s best feature is its file viewer, allowing you to view 40 different file types (including PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and PDF docs) rendered for your phone—meaning your phone doesn’t have to natively support any of them. SoonR is currently free to use (it sounds like a premium version is in the works), Windows and Mac only.
SoonR
