One of the most famous pieces of eye candy found in Microsoft Vista is the Window Flip feature, which is a welcome alternative to the traditional alt-tab interface.
There are a few different applications that add this same eye candy to XP, but having checked out a few of them, I recommend WinFlip. WinFlip is running on my machine right now and taking up less than 500K of memory (that's nothing).
The flipping is pretty snappy (This machine: 1GB Ram, 1.4Ghz Intel Celeron), and it lets you choose whether to use [Alt]+[Tab] or [Win]+[Tab] in the options.
And did I mention it's free? Why not check it out?
Want to see other tips to make XP look like Vista? Check out this post on lifehacker.com.
Many XP users fell in love with the PowerToy Calculator. Its greatest strength is the "History" feature, which details the last 8 or 9 entries like an accounting calculator tape. Those that have switched to Vista have complained that the native calculator that comes with Vista isn't nearly as functional, and that their beloved PowerToy Calc is "incompatible" with Vista. Many have essentially resolved to wait until the Vista PowerToy pack comes out.
Wait no more...
Download the PowerCalc.exe file from the Microsoft website and move it wherever you want (Program files, Start Menu Programs, etc).
Right click on it , select “Properties”, then select the “Compatibility” tab…
Select the “Run this program in compatibility mode for: XP (SP2)” and click OK.
Then, I recommend creating a shortcut to the .exe file and keeping the shortcut in “Start Menu Programs”. That way, your Vista start search will find it easily.
The first time you run it, you’ll get a window that says something about “Known compatibility problems”.
Check the “Don’t show me this message again” checkbox.
Does it seem like your laptop battery isn't lasting as long as it used to? Is it time to buy a new battery? Laptop batteries don't last forever. They wear out after so many charges and after so much time. But, in order to determine whether or not your battery needs replacing, it would be nice to be able to quantify just how worn out your battery is.
Enter Mobile Meter (download), which analyzes your battery, tells you the current capacity of your battery, and tells you the design capacity of your battery. (PC only. XP works, haven't tested Vista yet)
Ouch. 70% wear lever? Looks like this battery is pretty worn out. Time for a new battery I guess (or maybe a new laptop?).
You access the panel above by right-clicking on the main window that comes up when you run mobmeter.exe, and selection "options".
As you can see, Mobile Meter also tells you at what rate your battery is charging (or discharging), the temperature of your hard drive, and a few other things.
Another cool thing about Mobile Meter is that it's a mobile application, which means you can run it from your flash drive and it works just as well. It's also very lightweight (41K).
Mobile Meter 0.3.1.0 is found on a website that's in Japanese, but here is the english translation page. Download it, enjoy it, and let me know how worn out your batteries are.
Know of other cool utilities like this? Please share in the comments!
If you spend 5 days a week and 50 weeks per year at work, then you spend about 250 mornings per year getting ready for work. If you could shave 10 minutes off your morning routine, that means you could save over 40 hours of get-ready time per year!
What follows is a list of recommendations to help you shave those precious minutes. You're probably already doing some of these things, but hopefully everyone can get at least 1 new idea from this.
In a daily chronological order of sorts:
1. Alarm clock: I know, it's probably your cell phone. Why not spice it up a bit and wake up to something that'll actually make you look forward to the day. Santana? Led Zeppelin? They Might Be Giants? Classical music? Magnum PI theme song? Make it something that gives you that extra energy to get up when your alarm clock goes off the first time. Lately, I've been waking up to Dave Brubeck. 2. Shower: One soap to rule them all. You don't need 10 different bottles of hygiene products in your shower, and you probably rarely use more than 2 or 3. By using a hair+body soap, you'll cut down on time and storage (Old Spice, Neutrogena, Gojo).
3. Drying off: When you're done with your shower, dry off from the top down. Any other way and gravity works against you, doubling your efforts.
4. Breakfast: Hopefully, we're all in agreement that breakfast is important. Don't skip it; it'll make the rest of your day less productive. That said, why spend 10 minutes making pancakes, waffles, and/or toast? They don't really have much in the way of nutritional value anyway. And nowadays, our cereal is fortified with vitamins and minerals. If you pick the right cereal, it's practically like taking a multi-vitamin (substitute smoothies, oatmeal, and whatever else is quick and healthy). It's called breakfast for a reason.
5. Short hair: Style aside, it takes a lot less time to shampoo and then style short hair than it does long hair.
6. Wrinkle-free shirts Clothing is supposed to be functional. Why do we buy things that promise to commandeer our time? When you're looking for your next dress-shirt, look for one that's wrinkle-free. They're awesome; you just take them out of the dryer, hang them up, and then slip them on when the time comes.
For the wrinkle-prone shirts that you already have, I recommend some home made wrinkle-release spray (DIY). I've also read that steaming them is a good way to go (hardly objective). Another thing you can do is hang up your clothes in the bathroom while you take a hot shower, so the steam goes to work for you.
7. Mix-n-match clothing Try to make your work clothing selection as simple as possible. If you have 7 shirts and 7 pairs of pants that all go together, you don't have to think daily about what goes together and what doesn't. If you wear a tie, buy ties that are solid or striped with neutral colors like black, gray, silver, etc. If your neon green tie only goes with 1 shirt, is it really worth having? The more your clothes are mix-n-match, the less you have to worry about your clothing strategy. "Let's see, I could wear Tie A with Shirt B, but then tomorrow I'd be left with Tie B with Shirt A and that won't work." No good. 8. Slip-on shoes: Find some stylish slip-ons that are comfortable and fit your budget (Born, Other). I don't think it counts as extreme laziness if you're doing it to save time and thereby get more done. 9. Ties I realize that I'll probably face some ridicule here, but I'm going to go ahead and say that tying ties takes time that you shouldn't need to spend. Maybe it's a Zen thing for you, but not for me. I'm thinking of finding some nice zip-up ties or something to eliminate the 1-2 minutes it takes to get my tie "just right". I know it sounds juvenile, but who's gonna know? (rep stripe, other) ... note: Clip-ons are still out of the question.
10. Multi-task: Some say that multi-tasking is a myth. I would say that certain circumstances are very conducive to multi-tasking. For example, do you enjoy watching the news in the morning? Why not do that while you're eating cereal? Why not slip on your shoes while you're buttoning up your shirt? Shave in the shower? The list goes on and on.
Disclaimer: It's not supposed to be a race. You don't need to sprint from the shower to the bedroom (unless your in-laws are staying with you and you didn't plan ahead : ). But, if by changing things up a bit, you can get ready in less time without stressing out ... why not give it a try?
Have some tips of your own? Please share in the comments! Know you know, Garrett Woodroof
The book “Getting Things Done”, by David Allen (Book – CD), has been a cornerstone for the “GTD” movement that’s sweeping the web and the workplace. One of his practical suggestions is to create a system for processing email (free PDF). Although email was never meant to become a “to do” list … it has for most people. Most people would do well to accept this fact and engineer a work flow that makes sense for them. One thing that will probably work well for just about anybody is the idea of not letting emails sit in your inbox. You don't store snail mail in your mailbox after you check it, why should you keep email in your inbox? Recommendations to come, but first ...
Signs that your system needs improving:
You consistently have more than about 15 emails in your inbox.
You consistently keep emails in your inbox for more than 1 week.
It takes you more than 30 seconds to find an important email you still need to respond to.
You are getting behind on your email to do list and experience guilt because of it.
If any of these qualifiers apply to you, you would probably benefit from re-thinking your approach to email, but there’s no 1 process to rule them all. The content and nature of your inbox is, to some degree, as unique as you are. That said, here are some best practices and philosophies that will probably help most users whose email system needs improving.
Best practices:
Use folders (or labels for Gmail users) to organize emails.
Archive: Everyone needs this one. Use it. You don’t need your 3 month old order confirmation in your inbox.
To Do: Call it what you will, but most people seem to like having an actionable cue.
Etc: Come up with your own folders and structure, but remember that your email is search-able and sort-able, so try to keep it as simple as possible. You don’t need separate archive folders for Amazon.com and Ebay.
Check the appropriate folders regularly so as not to forget to respond as you should. (especially your actionable cue)
If the task associated with an email can be completed in 2 minutes or less … just do it.
Get it out of the way unless you have an important deadline that’s breathing down your neck.
If you can’t “just do it”, or if it’ll take more than 2 minutes to do, place it in your “To Do” folder.
Process your inbox to zero (or almost zero) when you check your email. Your inbox should be the gathering place for incoming messages that haven’t been processed. Once you read an email, process it, and get it out of your inbox.
Use other tools (such as calendar apps) to set reminders and to schedule appointments or deadlines.
Delete emails that you don’t need.
My personal folder structure:
“Actionable”: Things that I choose to do later.
“Archive”: Things that I might need someday.
“Archive 90”: Emails that I’m sure will have no value to me after 90 days.
Once in a while I just go through and delete all the emails older than 90 days. (Don’t read them again!)
“Awaiting Response”: I can’t really move forward until I hear back on this email.
I’ll sometimes Bcc myself and place the email here so I know to follow up later if I don’t get a response.
Order confirmations go here too.
The challenge:
Come up with your own system and try it for at least a 2 weeks. You can always switch back to your old system (or complete lack thereof).
BTW, if you downloaded the PDF and are still not convinced, Merlin Mann did a great Google Tech Talk on the subject (Inbox Zero - Video - 1 hour).
Launchy is to Windows as Quicksilver is to Mac ... awesome.
A quote from launchy.net: "Launchy is a free windows utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager. Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes!"
Aside from a snappy interface and looking good, Launchy's greatness comes from the ability to tweak it and customize it to your heart's content. Not only can you use it to launch a regular application, like Mozilla Firefox, you can use it to:
1. Google web search 2. Google map search 3. Control itunes 4. Wikipedia search 5. Dictionary Lookup 6. Start composing an email 7. Run terminal commands
...and countless others, given the fact that you can easily add your own plugins with no programming knowledge required. I created a plugin to search for TV shows on msn.com.
Okay, so I normally wouldn't blog about a car, but 300 miles per gallon? Wow. Have you seen this thing?
It may look a little funny, but this car is as aerodynamic as it gets. It's the Aptera Typ-1 and it's getting a lot of attention. If you're interested in buying one, $500 (they say refundable) will get you on their waiting list. After you buy it, you actually register it as a motorcycle. It has comfortable seating for 2, and comes with everything you'd want in a standard commuter vehicle ... and then some.
Features: - Fantastic aerodynamics - Plenty of safety features - GPS - Solar powered climate control - 3 rear cameras - Reasonable price tag ( < $30,000 US) - A lot more... (aptera.com/details)
Typ-1e is the fully electric model with a 120 mile range. Type-1h is the plug-in hybrid model. Production for both is scheduled for later this year (California only). Watch the video or check out the Aptera website for some more details.
Some people resist change only because it's change. For those of you that grew up and took a typing class with "real" typewriters, you can always remember (with fond memories) the days when fixed-width font was your only option and you always put 2 spaces after your periods.
Today, however, most fonts are variable-width, and only require 1 space after a period, semi-colon, or colon.
Who says: Bill Hill, former Director of Typography at Microsoft and founder of ClearType.
"I need to remember to do that as soon as I get into the office" ... you say ... knowing full well you will probably forget. But what are you supposed to do? You're driving to work, you can't write yourself a note, much less email yourself (at least not safely).
The answer: Jott!
Jott is basically a free, high-tech dictation service. After you set up your free account online (jott.com), you simply speed dial the number (866-JOTT-123), choose a message recipient, leave your message, and hang up. Jott then dictates the message and emails the message to the address you entered when you setup your account.
Two things make this service great: 1. It's free 2. It's amazingly accurate
The catch: Not bad, but pretty weird ... they use REAL PEOPLE to do the dictation! I read somewhere that they have a bunch of employees in India listening to the messages and typing them out so they're email-ready. But really, as long as you're not jotting something too embarrassing or criminal ... what's the big deal?
The "prestige": Jott has "links" to services like Google Calendar, Twitter, Blogger, Amazon.com, and a bunch of other on-line services. You can literally call Jott to add an appointment to your calendar, or even to post to a blog! (30 second message limit)
I for one have learned to not rely on my own memory. And why waste your mental capacity on remembering something when you could be using it to solve the world's problems?
In addition to handy search operators like "+, -, and or" Google also supports several search filters. The one that I use most frequently is the "site:" filter.
For example, if you are searching for anti-virus software, but want to limit your results to those found at lifehacker.com; simply google ... "site:lifehacker.com anti-virus software".
It's that easy. Make sure there's no space between the colon and the web address, then feel free to type out the rest of your search like normal.
If you want to create truly emersive photographs without spending big bucks on a fancy camera, you might think about using photo-stitching software like Autostitch. This software takes multiple photos and stitches them together where they match.
Turning:
Into:
Not only is the software easy to use, but there are lots of different settings for quality, output size, blending, and a slew of other features.
Consider too, that if you have a lowly 3mp camera, for example, and you stitch together 15 photos, you've effectively created an up to 45mp photo (okay, probably 35mp with overlap). And that's exactly what I did for this photo I took of El Capitan in Yosemite, CA. (For perspective this photo spans 180 degrees left-to-right) (click for larger)
Grisoft's AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 is now available for download. For those of you that are familiar, 8.0 has a fresh new look and feel. (much better update interface)
For PC users that don't have anti-virus software, I recommend it. It's simple, free, and well respected in the tech community. I've been using it for years, and have yet to have any problems with viruses.
Want to be a keyboard ninja? Next time you're editing text on your computer, use [CTRL]+[Arrow Left/Right] to get to where you're going.
For Mac users: [Alt]+[Arrow] or [Option]+[Arrow]
A lot of people are very familiar with using the [Home] and [End] keys to get to the beginning and end of the line they are editing, but it seems not nearly as many are aware of the [CTRL]+[Arrow] trick. Instead of moving the cursor one character at a time, it will move it one word at a time. If the average word in your document is five letters long, using this tip could help you go back and fix that typo five times faster than not using it.
Some people out there measure your computer prowess by how much you avoid the mouse. Some people get all into mouse gestures. I, for one, am a big fan of doing what works best for you. And that should naturally change with what you're working on.
Dan Ariely is a professor of Behavioral Economics @ MIT. His book, "Predictably Irrational", is a must-read. I finished it last week and was really impressed. He shares the findings of dozens of experiments and studies.
In brief, he points out that the standard economics model assumes that humans are completely rational, logical, and sensible creatures. He goes on to give several examples on how we are not rational, logical, and sensible.
Topics: -Price relativity -The effect "zero" and "free" -Arbitrary coherence -Self herding -Social Norms vs Market Norms (fascinating) -The influence of arousal on behavior -Fear of loss -The effect of expectations -The placebo effect -Dishonesty and cheating (see video below) -Why people are more honest with cash -Ordering food at restaurants
He tackles issues such as: -If your friend orders the tri-tip at a restaurant, are you more or less likely to order the same? -Why do people cheat on some things but not others? -Why are people more likely to volunteer than to work for $1/hour?
The flipping is pretty snappy (This machine: 1GB Ram, 1.4Ghz Intel Celeron), and it lets you choose whether to use [Alt]+[Tab] or [Win]+[Tab] in the options.
