Such remote locations include but are not limited to:
- your local library
- the internet cafe down the street from work
- your aunt's house
- those weird McDonald's locations with internet computers inside
- the boss' laptop
- Russia
Web-based Vi text editor hits the web: text-edit from anywhere!
Such remote locations include but are not limited to:
Speed up the feel of Windows with the double-click speed setting
Speed is all about perception, so any tip that makes a computer feel faster is gold as far as we're concerned. Today's tip is a doozy from Raymond Chen, the venerable Microsoft developer and blogger. According to Chen, a number of user interface timers in Windows key off of the double-click speed registry setting.
The default double-click speed in Windows is 500ms , or exactly 1/2 of a second. Try dropping that down to 250ms -- about three-quarters of the way towards Fast -- and watch the rest of Windows feel just a bit snappier, since a number of other Windows user interface timings use that setting as a reference. Cool!
Presdo: Yet another online scheduling app
First, it uses natural language recognition to help schedule your meetings. The home page isn't filled with a bunch of boxes to fill out. Instead, you have one search box, into which you can type "lunch with Bob," or "dinner with Joan." On the next page, Presdo will make an educated guess as to the best time for your event. If you enter something vague like "take over the world with Pinky," it'll probably just use the default "tomorrow at 10am." But it does a pretty good time of picking the proper times for meals.
You can also use Presdo to help find a place for your meeting. If you entered "Coffee with Mike," Presdo will let you pull up a window to search for coffee shops with Google Maps. When you send out your invitation, recipients can either accept or offer their own suggested times.
[via TechCrunch]
Make Firefox more responsive when loading pages - Browser Tip
For some reason when a page is loading in Firefox, it doesn't seem to respond to user interaction immediately. For example, say you're loading a very long page (maybe you're using a free Backpack account), and you know that the content you need is half way down the page. By default, Firefox will ignore user interaction in favor of giving all processing power to page rendering. It may well be that Firefox's engineers made this decision for a very good reason, but what if it bugs you that Firefox ignores you when you know exactly what you want to be doing? Well, it turns out there's a hidden setting in Firefox that will allow you to bend it to your will.
Firefox uses two priority modes when rendering a page: a low-priority mode that often checks for user input, and a high-priority mode that prioritizes page rendering over user input. There is a timer that determines how long Firefox will wait for user input before switching to high-priority rendering mode.
The Geek at How-To-Geek researched this setting, and determined that switching the default value from 750000 to 1000000 is a good balance that allows for a more responsive feeling browser, while still giving an adequate amount of time to the high-priority mode.
To make this change yourself, type about:config into your Firefox address bar, then type content.switch.threshold into the Filter field. You will likely not have any results returned. If the setting already exists, simply switch the value from the default 750000 to 1000000. If it doesn't, right click anywhere in the window and choose New > Integer. Use the following setting:
- Key Name: content.switch.threshold
- Key Value: 1000000
Add file type support to Vista's Explorer preview pane with PreviewConfig
But fear not lazy and/or less-advanced Vista users! PreviewConfig makes it easy to add support for more file types. Simply open the application, choose the file type on the left and select how to preview it on the right. In the photo above, you can see the results of adding support for a multimedia file -- in this case an MP3 -- which is previewed through Windows Media Player.
Though it was easy to add support for MP3 files, adding more would require the user to go through the process again. This isn't a big deal if you're looking to add a few more, but adding support for 20, 30, or more file types could prove to be extra boring. Then again, it beats doing the registry hack over and over again.
[via the How-To-Geek]
Flipping the Linux switch: Forgetful penguins love Tasque
Do you forget stuff? Do you wonder where the heck you put the keys when they're in your right hand? Do you get in the shower with your socks still on? Do you ever get to the bus stop, and realize you can't recall if you've put on pants? We're the only ones? Really? Damn.We're willing to bet you can still benefit from Tasque, even if you just need reminders about the things normal people put on their to-do lists.
There are a few other to-do list applications in Linux, but most lack the finesse that Tasque is already bringing to the table. Tasque is a newcomer (it got its start at last year's Hackweek), and seems well on its way to becoming a big player.
Tasque (pronounced "Task") is a unified frontend for a number of backends. Honest to god, we don't mean anything obscene by that. What we mean is, it's a very standard graphical interface that works with a number of to-do and database types to make your to-do list dynamic.
Continue reading Flipping the Linux switch: Forgetful penguins love Tasque
Taboo Firefox extension saves your tabs for later
Are you sick of having multiple tabs open at one time because you have numerous items that you want to read or research? The Taboo Firefox extension will help cure your "tabitis" (their term, not ours, so don't hate on it) and minimize the glut of tabs on your tab bar.
Once Taboo is installed, you'll have two new items on your toolbar. When you click the first button, Taboo will take a snapshot of any web page you are on, including session state information (such as the scroll location and any data you've entered into forms), and store it for later. You can do this with as many tabs as you need.
When you want access to one of your saved tabs, click on the other Taboo button, and Taboo will load thumbnails of your saved pages into a new tab. From there, all you need to do is click on a saved page, and it will automatically load, complete with scroll location and any text you may have entered.
The saved pages are kept through browsing sessions and shutdowns, and for as many days as you like. Taboo even has a calendar view of all your saved tabs, if you want to access pages from days or weeks ago. You can also search among your pages using the url or page title as a keyword.
Taboo requires Firefox 2, and isn't yet compatible with the Firefox 3 beta.
Tungle launches still another meeting scheduling tool
When you install Tungle it will automatically find your contacts and schedule from Microsoft Outlook. When you want to schedule a new meeting you can select times that work for you, choose from your contacts list, and send out an invitation. If the recipients are also Tungle users they will see your availability in their own calendars. If they're not, you can create and share a "Tungle Space," which is a web-based meeting planner. People can then view your suggested times, and choose one and/or leave comments.
Tungle is free while in beta. It's not clear what the pricing will be when the application emerges from beta. In related news, Jiffle was not available for download when we took our first look at it the other day, but you can now download the application from the Jiffle web site.
[via Mobility Site]
Keepm keeps all your contacts in one place
When you need to find an email address or phone number, you can then just login to Keepm and find it, no matter where you had initially stored it. You can also share individual contacts with others by sending an email from the site. And of course, you can export your contacts as V-Cards or CSV files.
While we'd be much happier with Keepm if it were actually integrated with an application that lets you use your contacts like Gmail or Outlook. Give us a tool that lets us combine all of our contacts and make phone calls or send email from that application and you will make us very happy.
Note that Keepm also needs your Gmail, Yahoo! or other email passwords to import your contacts. The site says it won't save your login information, but you do have have to trust the site before using it. But that should go without saying for any web-based contact manager.
[via CyberNet]
Jiffle makes meeting scheduling easier
Jiffle is an online scheduling service that lets users pick the times they're free and then share their calendar with other users. In other words, it's a lot like When is Good, but with a desktop client that works with Outlook to let you share your existing calendar online. A new version will add Google Calendar compatibility.
You can sign up for Jiffle for free, but we found that when we tried to download the client today we were instead greeted with a message letting us know that a new version would be available next week and we'd be notified when it was available. Jiffle is a commercial application, but there's a free version that will let users schedule up to 10 meetings per month. For $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, you can schedule unlimited meetings. A few bucks more gets you a version with your company branding, and for $99.99 per month you can get the corporate edition with licenses for five users and no advertising.
[via TechCrunch]
DarkCopy: web-based, distraction-free text editing
DarkCopy is a web-based alternative to programs like WriteRoom and DarkRoom that lets you compose text files in full (or almost full) screen to eliminate distractions like instant messages, Flash games, LOLcats, etc.You can type in a regular browser window, or go full screen to make most of your screen (except for the browser's toolbar) black with greenish text. When you're done writing, you can save the file to your computer as a plain ole' .txt file.
This is handy if you want to work on a blog post, business idea, school paper, or love note without your attention being lost to something less significant.
[Via del.icio.us]
Should software be native or web-based?
How many of the applications you use on a daily basis are web-based as opposed to locally installed native applications? For me, the answer is way more than I ever would have expected. Had you asked me this question a few years ago, I would have vehemently denied that the future of development is on the web. As much as I could see and understand the value of a ubiquitously available web-based application, there's just no way to approach the level of power and integration (not to mention the ability to be always-available) that is possible with well conceived and developed desktop software.
Of course, back then I didn't imagine that web applications could become as useful as Google Calendar or Remember the Milk. I also didn't imagine that light - yet still useful - versions of these apps would be available from my mobile phone almost wherever I was.
In fact, and much to my surprise, today most of my personal data today is tied up in online services: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Backpack, Remember the Milk, Facebook, Newsgator, and Evernote to name just a few.
Most of these are probably pretty familiar names, but one is a newcomer in the web space: Evernote. Still in beta, the new version of Evernote contains a full-featured web version, but synchronizes seamlessly with desktop software on either Windows or Mac platforms. And it's a breath of fresh air.
Flow: FTP client (and lots of extras) for OS X
Flow has been in the works since the days of OS X Tiger, but the freshly released version takes things up a notch with a slick UI and a feature set that takes advantage of the power of Leopard. Flow is an FTP client, a text editor with a useful live preview feature, and a bookmark generator for drag-and-drop uploading. Add tabbed navigation and phenomenal ease-of-use, and it's got everything we want out of a new Leopard app,
Flow does have some neat extras, but first and foremost, it's an FTP client. When we tested it, it smoothly handled multiple connections to FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, and even the often-criticized .mac service. The only thing we would have changed about the interface: a "recent connections" button or menu item would be nice. The bookmark button in Flow is easy to find, but sometimes we just forget to use it. Speaking of bookmarks, Flow has a unique feature that lets you save any bookmark as a droplet - a tiny app that quickly uploads anything you drop on it, without even opening Flow itself.
Once you've got some files on the server, Flow really sets itself apart from other FTP apps. You can edit your html and css files on the fly, and watch the results in a live preview. This is amazingly powerful, and saves a lot of time when you just need to make a quick change. Forgot to close an html tag? Don't bother uploading a new copy of the file, just edit it in Flow! It even supports Quick Look, so you can preview images right on the server.
FSuite CD: portable apps for Mac OS X
For those Mac users jealous of the helpful Portable Apps Suite for Windows, the Free Open Source Software Mac User Group (FreeSMUG) has a similar solution called FSuite CD. The application pack comes with a bunch of portable Mac applications for easy mobility of many necessary programs, and it runs on PPC and Intel hardware.The FSuite CD image includes the installers of over 40 portable apps. In addition to the obvious programs like Firefox, VLC, OpenOffice, etc., FSuite CD also includes things like Adium, Transmission, Audacity, Nvu, Gimp, and Bean. The individual apps are available for download from the FreeSMUG site as well.
To create a handy launcher, you'll have to create a folder on your portable drive, drag aliases of each portable .app to the folder, arrange the icons, and adjust the folder view.
[Via makeuseof]
UPDATE: The FSuite CD is merely a collection of recommended FOSS apps recommended by the FreeSMUG group. The FreeSMUG website also has portable apps for download, but the FSuite CD does not include them. The original article combined two separate projects: portable apps for Mac OS X, and the FSuite CD disk image that makes it easy to download a grouping of popular open-source applications.
Sorry for the confusion.
Set-up Firefox to search through text like Safari (dimmed background, animated)
Safari always had an interesting and convenient way of searching for text: it dims the background and highlights text-matches throughout the page. It's too bad Firefox can't couldn't do that. It's now possible to easily add that functionality to everybody's favorite open-source browser thanks to a recent mozillaZine post.
The install process is pretty simple if you use the better set of instructions and files, and it shouldn't take more than a few minutes of copying, pasting, and mouse clicking to complete. The animation process in between "Next" clicks is also fun, and if you're still on the fence about it, you could check out a video or two on the custom feature.
[via CyberNotes]
The install process is pretty simple if you use the better set of instructions and files, and it shouldn't take more than a few minutes of copying, pasting, and mouse clicking to complete. The animation process in between "Next" clicks is also fun, and if you're still on the fence about it, you could check out a video or two on the custom feature.
[via CyberNotes]
