Windows only: Tiny utility WinRoll adds window management capabilities to the system context menu—simply right-click on any window’s title bar and it will roll up into just the title. WinRoll does a lot more than roll windows into their title bar, however—you can turn them transparent, minimise them to the tray, or even toggle the always on top flag. To apply the effect to all windows, simply hold down the Alt key and click the title bar—all windows will be rolled up immediately. The documentation is non-existent, but you can get a tour of all the functions by opening the About dialog and hovering your mouse over the title bar or system buttons, which will show you each function. The best part of the utility? It’s portable, written in assembly language, and takes up a mere 500k of memory—making this a very useful tool for your window managing toolkit. For a similar utility, check out previously mentioned DeskAngel, or take a look at our 10 top ways to trick out your desktop. Thanks, Phoshi!
WinRoll [via Flickr]Marketing wizard Seth Godin notes that the recession has caused an excess of work for many, while for others it’s created an abundance of slack time. If you’re experiencing the latter, it’s time to take advantage.Godin suggests using the extra time by either boosting your skills or reputation in your field. For example:
Earn a following and reputation. Use social networking tools to connect to people for no good reason. Post tons of useful answers on discussion boards where your expertise is valued. Build a permission asset in the form of an email newsletter or a fascinating blog that people want to read. Do resume makeovers for 100 friends. Start a neighbourhood or industry book group. Don’t go to conventions, earn the right to speak at them.
It can be tough to focus your energy on that extra work at first, but if you’re facing a lot of slack time at work, just consider it part of your job. Are you using your slack time (or just plain old after-work spare time) to build your skills or reputation right now? Let’s hear what approach you’ve taken in the comments. Photo by el asso wipo.
Slack [Seth's Blog]While the modern kitchen has gadgets galore compared to the 1940s, this collection of vintage time savers works in the barest of kitchens, and for nearly any culinary level. Over at the tips and tricks blog TipNut, time-saving cooking tips continue to be culled from vintage cook books. All of them are simple to execute and require no fancy kitchen utensils—apparently nobody got the Williams-Sonoma catalog back in the 40s. Among the the tips:
To peel an orange easily and to get the skin off in one piece, heat the orange slightly for three or four minutes before peeling. Before scraping new potatoes, soak them for half an hour in cold water which has been salted. Not only do the skins peel off easily, but the hands are not stained. Keep pared fruit looking bright by pouring a little lemon juice over it.
That last one, like a few of the other tips, isn’t exactly new or revolutionary, but good mental reinforcement if you’re prone to last-minute mess-ups. If you have quick and easy tips of your own, vintage or otherwise, throw them on the table o’ comments below. Photo by fdecomite. 25 Vintage Cooking Tricks
Windows only: Office 2007′s Ribbon interface remains a love-it-or-hate-it affair for money, and for those of you who miss the Microsoft Office 2003 menu that’s entrenched in your muscle memory, UBitMenu can help. This plug-in adds a new Menu entry to the Office 2007 ribbon (specifically in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). When clicked, your ribbon displays the classic Office 2003 menu, complete with the buttons and file menus you’re used to from your old Office 2003 install. As Samer from FreewareGenius points out, not every single bit of functionality remains in the UBitMenu toolbar as is available in Office 2003—due mostly to changes in Office—but most of the features you’re used to remain in all their glory. Even if you’re keen on the Office 2007 ribbon, UBitMenu is a nice tool to ease the transition from 2003 to 2007 while you’re polishing your new Office mojo.
UbitMenu [via FreewareGenius]The Vista for Beginners weblog walks through the process of setting advanced options for Windows Vista’s Speech Recognition—from adding words to setting custom profiles for multiple users. If you’ve ever used speech recognition software with technical terms, you’ve probably noticed that your computer has no idea what you are talking about—so adding new words to the dictionary can really help with your daily workflow. Most of the options can be found by digging around the settings panel, but the guide covers everything with plenty of screenshots—well worth a read for anybody interested in making their computer do exactly what they say. For more, check out our own guides to controlling your PC with your voice and controlling Powerpoint presentations.
Windows Speech Recognition: How To Benefit From its Advanced Configuration Options [Vista for Beginners]Windows only: If you’re looking for a desktop client to handle multiple message services like email, RSS, and more, iHunter provides a simple unified interface.If you’re tired of having tons of clients open for different services, iHunter lets you cut down on the CPU load and taskbar clutter by streaming your net data and compiling it. You can set up iHunter to handle your email, RSS feeds, BBS posts, and other mediums through a plug-in framework. You can also shift information between the various services easily, allowing you, for instance, to immediately forward an RSS article onto a friend through your email service without cutting and pasting, or opening an additional application. iHunter is freeware, Windows only. iHunter [via Life Rocks 2.0]
Dear Lifehacker, I forward emails to Remember the Milk to create followup reminders, but they always end up in the inbox. Is there any way I can put them into a different list? Sincerely, Following Up Dear Following Up, You can do more than just send emails to create a task on a specific list—you can also set the due date, tags, priority, or even make repeat using these instructions from the Remember the Milk help section. Simply forward your email to your specially formatted secret email address found in the RTM settings panel, and then add any one of the following lines to the beginning of the message body to set the task parameters:
Two free apps for the iPhone and iPod touch give users the ability to add any text they’d like, or their upcoming Google Calendar appointments, to their home/unlock screens. Wallpaper Labeler Free and gCalWall Lite (direct links), both free and offering a paid upgrade, work in similar fashion. By adding your own text with Wallpaper Labeler, or pulling down your next set of appointments from Google Calendar via gCalWall, you can alter an image or blank space to leave yourself notes, keep you on schedule, offer an “If found” reward, or otherwise give yourself something to peek at when you turn on your device.Those aren’t the only two wallpaper apps in the App Store, but they are straightforward, simple, and, well, free. Share your favourite tweaks for the “Touch to Unlock” screen in the comments.
Google sent an email to a sliver of Google Docs users over the weekend, noting that it may have inadvertently shared their documents without permission. Big strike to cloud computing, or minor privacy blunder? [via TechCrunch]
Based on leaked release notes, Apple-watching blog 9 to 5 Mac see the next OS X as arriving June 8, with some modest UI upgrades, a big push on 64-bit, and presented by Steve Jobs himself. That date is based in part on speculation about why Apple would book a six-day block at a convention centre and dub it only a “Corporate Meeting,” but the release notes seem pretty solid, or at least crazily detailed for a forgery. The most recent build notes indicate a new QuickTime Player with a minimal interface, Safari 4 beta included as the default browser, and a “new Cocoa Desktop, Info Window and Contextual Menu” for Finder. Is this a nice set of improvements for a solid OS, or do you see Apple concentrating their efforts elsewhere? Tell us your take in the comments.
Snow Leopard goes 64-Bit, to be released on June 8th with Stevo? [9 to 5 Mac]
