Windows only: Remember the Milk for Launchy adds tasks to RTM in a flash, complete with due dates, tags, and even notes.

Reader Ryan writes in with his ubergeeky method for sending emails to himself directly from Launchy—a very useful trick to quickly send yourself reminders. To accomplish this hack, Ryan assembled a visual basic script (VBS) file that sends the email using Gmail's SMTP server—the email addresses are hard-coded but the subject line can be entered directly in Launchy.

Weblog SimpleHelp details how to NirCmd —a command-line app that can turn off your monitor, empty your Recycle Bin, change the system volume, and more—in conjunction with Launchy to put more functionality at your fingertips. In a nutshell, the post details how to create simple batch files with NirCmd functions and then index those commands with Launchy. That way all of the cool functionality built into NirCmd is accessible with a few keystrokes. While the post focuses on integrating NirCmd with Launchy, the idea could be extended to any application launcher of your choosing. While you're at it, check out how to integrate Launchy with Wget. How to integrate NirCmd with Launchy to enhance productivity

Reader Justin writes in with a clever idea for quickly launching downloads with the popular command-line download manager, wget. His method: Make wget available to Launchy, then pass the URL of the file you want to download to wget through Launchy. Here's how it works:

Windows only: iTuny is a free plug-in for popular application launcher Launchy that controls music playback and so much more. Once installed, iTuny adds several actions to Launchy that allow you to play, pause, stop, or advance playback, which alone is a nice start. iTuny doesn't stop there, though; you can also rate songs, show track info, set the volume, search your library, create new playlists, display album art, post to Twitter, and more. iTuny also integrates with previously mentioned Snarl to display notifications when you invoke iTuny commands via Launchy. The installation and setup are a little confusing, so keep reading for a closer look at how it works.

Firefox 3 doesn't store your bookmarks in the plain old HTML file that Firefox 2 did, so desktop launchers like Quicksilver and Launchy can't index them properly. But the HackCollege blog has a solution: a Firefox 3 about:config tweak that makes Firefox automatically export your bookmarks to a file. Change the browser.bookmarks.autoExportHTML value from false to true to get a bookmarks.html file saved to your Firefox profile directory each time you shut down your browser.

Windows/Linux: Application launcher Launchy quietly added a new "feature" with its 2.1.1 update—Linux compatibility, for both GNOME and KDE-based desktops. From what I've tested so far, the interface, operation, and options are remarkably similar to what you've seen in Windows, with the obvious tweaks for Linux file types and commands. The built-in plugins work, it's super-easy to change Launchy's appearance and hotkey activation, and the majority of functions that make it our readers' favourite application launcher are there. In other words, looks like GNOME Do has some serious competition. Launchy is a free download for Linux (in Ubuntu-friendly, self-installing package and source forms) and Windows. Thanks, prattmic!

Launchy

Email-based digital personal assistant Sandy can be a really helpful manager for to-do lists and calendar appointments, but only if you don't mind composing new messages for every change. Reader Wyatt writes in with a quicker way to get Sandy's attention, using Outlook, Windows keystroke launcher Launchy, and a custom line for its built-in Runner plugin. Create a new Runner command named "Sandy" or something similar and point it to the location of Outlook's executable file, but add the following switches at the end (substituting your Sandy username):/c ipm.note /m [email protected]yourname.iwantsandy.comWant to customise the resulting instant email further? Here's a guide to more Outlook switches. Gmail fans can also piece together a similar quick-launch Sandy through a Gmail script for Launchy. (Original Sandy post).

Lifehacker reader Samar liked the quick-write convenience of the GmailThis bookmarklet, but wanted to dig deeper to find a solution that would both work with his (and our own) favourite Windows keyword launcher, Launchy, and run whether or not Firefox (or any default Windows browser) was already open. We're glad he did, because he's come up with a one-line command that lets you open new Gmail composition windows from anywhere. The tip, and screenshots, after the jump.

The latest version of our current favorite Windows app launcher, Launchy, saw several nice interface updates and some plug-in improvements in the latest release, and one hugely useful feature improvement that may have snuck in under your radar is the impressively updated Weby plugin, which adds simple customization of web searches directly inside of Launchy's preference pane. For example, reader Nicholai say he prefers the lightning quick definitions from web site Definr, so he simply added Definr to the Weby plug-in by clicking the '+' button, titled the site Definr, added http://definr.com/ in the URL box, and put %s (your search term) in the query section. Likewise, another reader is searching his Gmail from Launchy with Weby. Granted, you can accomplish similar tasks with keyword bookmarks in Firefox, but the improved Weby plug-in works like a charm, too. Thanks Nicholai!

Windows only with Launchy: Control iTunes from the keyboard with a new script that adds Play, Pause, Stop, Next Song, Previous Song, Ratings, Track Info, Volume Adjustments and more to Windows keyboard launcher Launchy. Download the Launchy/iTunes script (which isn't a plugin proper, it's a Launchy utility) and click on the iTunes Control.exe file to install it. Rescan your Launchy catalog and invoke it to get to your new list of iTunes features. One step closer to Quicksilver... Launchy 2.0 is a free download as well as the iTunes utility. (The link below points to a 0.1 version of the script, but a 0.3 version is here.) Thanks, Daniel!
Launchy and iTunes together

Just upgraded to Launchy 2.0? Here's how to set up a quick Gmail search with it.