Free Screen Capture Software

If you contribute to training manuals or other content that requires images of software or websites, then you know how awkward it can be to capture screen shots and prepare them for insertion into your content. As for me, I was excited to hear about a free software that helps on the front end to speed up that process.

FastStone Capture is exactly that. I've been using it for a few days now and have been really pleased so far.

My favorite features:
1. Capture Rectangular Region
2. Capture Freehand Region
3. Straight to clipboard
4. Multiple image file formats
5. Capture Delay

Thanks to lifehacker.com for turning me on to this software. And thanks to portablefreeware.com for hosting the portable version.

You can check out the latest version of FastStone (v.6.1) @faststone.org, but I've heard complaints about registration nags and trial version woes, so I just went with version 5.3 (on portable freeware) instead.

Does anyone know of any other cool screen capture software out there? Please share in the comments.

Now you know,
Garrett Woodroof

Excel Formula Formatting Hack

I learned a while ago that when you're typing in a cell in Excel, you can hit [Alt][Enter] to insert a line break without exiting the cell.

The other day I was working with a really long formula that used several different functions. It was really difficult to conceptualize what I was writing until I discovered that both 'line breaks' and 'spaces' didn't ruin or even alter my formula results. That allowed me to format the Excel formula in a way that almost resembled lines of code from MS Visual Studio.

(This example is a simple binary conversion formula.)

Because the spaces and line breaks don't alter the formula result, you can format it however you like it, it only takes a minute to accomplish, and the results make it a lot easier to come back later and decifer what it is you were trying to do.

Unless you'd rather look at something like this:

Formulas can get a lot more complicated than this at times, but I think you get the point.

Enjoy,

Garrett Woodroof

BTW: There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those that understand binary and those that do not. : )

Free SMS for everyone

Want to send text messages as easily and as freely as you send emails? Done. All you need is the mobile number of the person you're trying to reach and knowledge of their cellular service provider.

Let's say, for example, you're friend's mobile number is 444-555-6666 and he/she uses Verizon Wireless. Simply send an email to 4445556666@vtext.com and that email gets sent to his/her cell phone as an SMS text message. How awesome is that?

As you can see in the example, don't use dashes or parenthesis, and follow it up with the appropriate email domain and viola ... free SMS!

The domains:
Verizon-- @vtext.com
T-Mobile-- @tmomail.net
Nextel-- @messaging.nextel.com
Sprint-- @messaging.sprintpcs.com
ATT-- @txt.att.net
Alltel-- @message.alltel.com
U.S. Cellular-- @email.uscc.net
Bell Mobility-- @txt.bellmobility.com
Telus-- @msg.telus.com
Rogers-- @pcs.rogers.com

Another cool feature: Some users can reply to the SMS from their phone, and the reply ends up as an email back in the original senders email inbox. (I use AT&T and it works for me)

Don't know their cellular service provider? Teleflip will probably work as long as they haven't switched carriers too recently. That's right, 4445556666@teleflip.com will probably do the trick.

Disclaimer: I was only able to test AT&T and Verizon. Please let me know in the comments if the others still work. And if your provider isn't in the list, check http://www.notepage.net/smtp.htm.

Now you know,
Garrett Woodroof

! Hello World !

This blog is about improving your life by:

• Using appropriate, practical technology
• Using advanced common sense
• Understanding the way things work (including the world)

This blog is not about:

• The benefits of a positive mental attitude
• The election
  
• Comic books
• Paris Hilton

Things you should know about me:

• I am platform agnostic
• I currently dual-boot Vista/Ubuntu
• I use XP SP2 @ my day job
• I grew up on an Apple
• I value your time
• I'm not going to waste your time ranting
• I'll try to be descriptive in my titles
• You don't need to read every post
• I like outlines!!!

The rules for posting:

• No drama queens
• No foul language
• No flame wars (see #1)
• No Stairway

Yes, I'm aware of the fact that comments are disabled for this post. (What is there to comment on?)

Well, that's it for today. I hope you find this blog helpful. If you have any suggestions or constructive criticisms please email them to gwoodroof (at) hotpop.com . Thank you for your time.
Now you know,
Garrett Woodroof