Software
All Narfed Up photography and words by Bryan Villarin
Why didn’t I get a USB flash drive sooner?
Last week, I bought a Kingston 1GB USB 2.0 flash drive. I didn’t need it, but it was on sale for $17. I think it’ll prove to be a worthwhile purchase.
So far, I’m using it for portable apps, a digital inbox (random files I’ll capture, process, and organize later), and a private blog to mess around with.
I’m doing my best to make sure the programs I choose don’t write to the flash drive intensively. (I’d hate for it to only live for a year, even though it has a five-year warranty.) I’m pretty confident John T. Haller’s PortableApps are optimized for the least amount of disk writes. I got a bunch of others from PortableFreeware, too. So far, the gripe I have is that opening apps seem a bit slower than I think they should. (Mainly Thunderbird, Firefox, and Gaim.) Maybe it’s in my head, but anyway, if speed is what you want, don’t go cheap.
For simple file transport, it’s all good. Since I’m still a college student, I’ll finally be able to take huge files around with me and not have to email them to myself.
I just read Podz’s tutorial, “Putting WordPress on a USB stick“, and now I have a blog is housing more private thoughts and aspirations.
I think I’d like a portable RSS news reader, but haven’t found yet. I’m currently using Bloglines.
Any other ideas? It doesn’t matter how far fetched you think it sounds, it just might be the next big idea!
Microsoft Office 2003 for $59.99!
I’m not sure how this is possible, but Surplus Computers is selling Microsoft Office 2003 Standard (NFR) for $59.99 with free shipping! Simply amazing. [via AntiRebate.com]
Update: Here’s their Reseller Rating.
Dark Room
After Merlin at 43Folders wrote about WriteRoom, Jeff wrote Dark Room. I love how I can just focus on writing without other programs drawing attention away. It’s really small, and all you need to do is unzip and run it!
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Esc - toggle full screen/window
- Ctrl+S - Save
The catch is that you need the .NET Framework Version 2.0, which is about 22 MB (x86). Why?
The .NET requirement is because of the language he chose to write the software in. It’s fundamental to it working, much like the app it’s modeled on requires a Mac. This is a .NET app, which is a platform like Cocoa on Max OS X.
It’s also what enabled him to whip this up in a matter of a few hours. Getting rid of the requirement would require rewriting from scratch. And, that would probably not happen as the barrier is too high.
If you’re going to comment about Dark Room, please don’t whine. I would hate to see the developer cease development. Remember: it’s all about keeping it simple and removing all distractions from the task at hand.
Great work, Jeff! I’ll be writing anything I can inside Dark Room for awhile, no doubt…no doubt in my mind.
Update: Edited the link to Dark Room since it’s been put on its own project page.
Tech links for 3/28/06
Some of these maybe be old and/or outdated, but I still think they’re worth looking into. These posts won’t be as length since I’ve accumulated a lot of these over a period of a few weeks.
- The Complete Guide to Backing Up iPod & iTunes Music
- Using iTunes to backup your music
- Firefox Search Bar Hacks - An alternative to this is adding Smart Keywords, it all depends if you can remember those keywords; otherwise, use add engines to your search bar
- Life Without Mouse Tips & Tricks - Just learn a little bit at a time, then it’ll become second nature and you’ll see an increase in productivity
- Create a torrent feed to keep up with your shows - this also falls under GTD, because for those without TiVo or a PVR, you don’t need to tie yourself to the network’s time slots
- FindRun Robot - No need to use your mouse to sift through the Start Menu. Just press the hotkey, type in a few letters, then select the program you want to run.
- Get your PC custom-made - Other than the fear of getting over a small business or individual support your computer, these are a great way to go. I haven’t had too many complaints about the systems I’ve made. (Building custom PCs is my side job.)
- Using the correct image formats
- PureText - Strip formatting from text and paste with one hotkey; no need to copy into notepad, paste, copy, then paste into Word. Yes, I know about the “Paste Special > As Unformatted Text” item in Microsoft Word.
- Burn to the Brim
- Fix Stubborn Windows Install Errors
- Ten Wikipedia Hacks
- 10 Ways to Please Us, the Customers
- Are You Infected by Sony-BMG’s Rootkit?
- How-To Download music videos from Yahoo with LyFOX & VLC
Switching from Gmail to IMAP in 9 steps
I’m switching from Gmail to using Mozilla Thunderbird since I found out my webhost has IMAP installed. I don’t need all that space for email anyway. Here goes nothing:
- In Gmail, “Enable POP for all mail (even mail that’s already been downloaded)”
- When messages are accessed with POP, “archive Gmail’s copy“
- Read “Why wasn’t all my mail downloaded?“
- Configure Thunderbird for Gmail
- Leave Thunderbird open to download all my email from Gmail’s servers
- Setup Thunderbird for my server’s IMAP account
- Create an archive folder on my IMAP account, so I have someplace to move the email I download
- Set Gmail to forward email to my IMAP email account; disable POP email
- Add a nice theme and some extensions, then enjoy!
After settling in, I’ve created some filters that’ll be moving messages to more distinct folders. I’m feeling comfortable now.
I don’t want to say why I’m doing this switch. There’s pros and cons to using a webmail app (like Gmail), IMAP, and POP. Fortunately, with my host, I have all three options. SquirrelMail isn’t great, but if I absolutely can’t use Thunderbird, it gets the job done until I get to one of my computers. Then when I connect, everything is just the way it’s supposed to be in my email account. In any case, if I’m happy, that’s all that matters, right? 
Oh yeah, Gmail? It’s not goodbye - it’s more like, see ya later…
Quick File extension
I’m using Thunderbird instead of Gmail right now. (More about this later.) For now, I just had to write this out. Quick File is an awesome extension that I wish I would’ve seen before I purged and sorted 73MB-worth of emails (with lots of attachments). I’m not seeing much documentation, so basically, press Alt+Q, type the first couple letters of the folder you want to move the email message(s) to, choose it with your arrows, then press Enter. No need to use a mouse for this one - awesome.
Loving Karen’s Replicator
Like I was saying a few days ago, I’m probably going to be purchasing a new HD. Well, I’m loving Karen’s Replicator! Before, I plugged my laptop into my router. This time, I’m trying it out wirelessly. 802.11b, baby! The sync took 28 minutes this time around, but only because I had a few torrents I downloaded since Monday. It was about 512MB worth. I’m definitely stoked at the simplicity! Did I mention Replicator is free? I didn’t? Well, it is!
Eset NOD32 Antivirus is the best?
UberGeek (his post permalink is broken) posted that NOD32 is the best, linking to the PDF media release from Eset. The document says it’s the 34th consecutive Virus Bulletin 100% award. By definition, consecutive means:
Following one after another without interruption; successive
Looking at the test history for Eset (NOD32), there is 34 successes - just not consecutively. To me, that’s misleading. I’m not amused, simply because it’s pushing them even farther up there, when they don’t deserve it.
Nevertheless, it is definitely impressive, but if someone can explain why the PDF media release is worded that way, I’ll retract my previous statement.
Found how to use msstyles!
Thanks O.F. Jay! I didn’t even need 3rd-party software, except to hack the uxtheme.dll file. ClearLooks looks nice!
ClearLooks for Windows XP
How do you install ClearLooks for Windows XP? Update: Got it!
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