PINS

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Microspft Research Auto Collage 2008

This is a really fantasic tool and well worth a look. I'll write a proper review over the next few days.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

XP SP3

Lifehacker have just put up notice that XP SP3 is available a little early from some sites if you want to give it a try. Official release is probably sometime next week. From what I hear it's well worth installing.

Lifehacker Link

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Free M50 Traffic Alerts

The NRA are giving free (as far as I can see) SMS and Email traffic alerts for the M50. Well worth signing up for:

https://www.nratraffic.ie/m50/pages/

Sign up to receive email or SMS notification of traffic alerts about incidents and works causing long delays during the construction. You can also receive a regular newsletter with details of construction progress and notification of upcoming works.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Auto exmerge for exchange

I'm often asked about a nice script for automating exmerge for exchange. This creates pst backups of each mailbox for easy recovery. There are problems if a mailbox is over 2GB but I'll cover that another day.

For the moment create your exmerge user and give them the appropriate rights to the mail store. Then right click on exmerge and run as and use your desired settings, don't forget to click save settings at the end. THis saves your choices to the ini file.

After that create a batch file with the following text:

del D:\exmerge\old\*.pst
copy D:\exmerge\*.pst D:\exmerge\old\
C:
cd \
cd "Program Files"
cd Exchsrvr
cd BIN
EXMERGE -F EXMERGE.ini -B -D

And then create a recurring task using the above user with this batch file. It couldn't be simpler.

I'll add a bit more explanation later.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Firefox shortcuts

Well the two most interesting ones I've come across are:

Type G and then press enter in the address bar and it will open Gmail
Type Y and then press enter in the address bat and it will open Yahoo mail.

Other shortcuts of interest:

http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts

Command	Windows	Macintosh	Linux
Add Bookmark	`Ctrl`+`D`	`Cmd`+`D`	`Ctrl`+`D`
Back	`Backspace` `Alt`+`<-`	`Backspace` `Cmd`+`[` `Cmd`+`<-`	`Backspace`¹ `Alt`+`<-` `Ctrl`+`[`
Bookmarks	`Ctrl`+`B` `Ctrl`+`I`	`Cmd`+`B`	`Ctrl`+`B`
Caret Browsing	`F7`	`F7`	`F7`
Close Tab	`Ctrl`+`W` `Ctrl`+`F4`	`Cmd`+`W` `Cmd`+`F4`	`Ctrl`+`W` `Ctrl`+`F4`
Close Window	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`W` `Alt`+`F4`	`Cmd`+`Shift`+`W` `Option`+`F4`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`W` `Alt`+`F4`
Complete .com Address²	`Ctrl`+`Enter`	`Cmd`+`Return`	`Ctrl`+`Enter`
Complete .net Address²	`Shift`+`Enter`	`Shift`+`Return`	`Shift`+`Enter`
Complete .org Address²	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Enter`	`Cmd`+`Shift`+`Return`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Enter`
Copy	`Ctrl`+`C`	`Cmd`+`C`	`Ctrl`+`C`
Cut	`Ctrl`+`X`	`Cmd`+`X`	`Ctrl`+`X`
Decrease Text Size	`Ctrl`+`-`	`Cmd`+`-`	`Ctrl`+`-`
Delete	`Del`	`Del`	`Del`
Delete Individual Form Auto-Complete Entry	`Shift`+`Del`	`Shift`+`Del`	`Shift`+`Del`
DOM Inspector	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`I`	`Cmd`+`Shift`+`I`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`I`
Downloads	`Ctrl`+`J`	`Cmd`+`J`	`Ctrl`+`Y`
Find Again	`Ctrl`+`G` `F3`	`Cmd`+`G` `F3`	`Ctrl`+`G` `F3`
Find As You Type Link	`'`	`'`	`'`
Find As You Type Text	`/`	`/`	`/`
Find Previous	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`G` `Shift`+`F3`	`Cmd`+`Shift`+`G` `Shift`+`F3`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`G` `Shift`+`F3`
Find in This Page	`Ctrl`+`F`	`Cmd`+`F`	`Ctrl`+`F`
Forward	`Shift`+`Backspace` `Alt`+`->`	`Shift`+`Backspace` `Cmd`+`]` `Cmd`+`->`	`Shift`+`Backspace`¹ `Alt`+`->` `Ctrl`+`]`
Go Down One Line	`Down`	`Down`	`Down`
Go Up One Line	`Up`	`Up`	`Up`
Go Down One Page	`PageDown`	`PageDown`	`PageDown`
Go Up One Page	`PageUp`	`PageUp`	`PageUp`
Go to Bottom of Page	`End`	`End`	`End`
Go to Top of Page	`Home`	`Home`	`Home`
Full Screen	`F11`		`F11`
Help	`F1`	`Cmd`+`?`	`F1`
History	`Ctrl`+`H`	`Cmd`+`H`	`Ctrl`+`H`
Home Page	`Alt`+`Home`	`Option`+`Home`	`Alt`+`Home`
Increase Text Size	`Ctrl`+`+`	`Cmd`+`+`	`Ctrl`+`+`
Move to Next Frame	`F6`	`F6`	`F6`
Move to Previous Frame	`Shift`+`F6`	`Shift`+`F6`	`Shift`+`F6`
New Tab	`Ctrl`+`T`	`Cmd`+`T`	`Ctrl`+`T`
Next Tab	`Ctrl`+`Tab` `Ctrl`+`PageDown`	`Ctrl`+`Tab` `Ctrl`+`PageDown`	`Ctrl`+`Tab` `Ctrl`+`PageDown`
New Window	`Ctrl`+`N`	`Cmd`+`N`	`Ctrl`+`N`
Open File	`Ctrl`+`O`	`Cmd`+`O`	`Ctrl`+`O`
Open Link	`Enter`	`Return`	`Enter`
Open Link in New Tab	`Ctrl`+`Enter`	`Cmd`+`Return`	`Ctrl`+`Enter`
Open Link in New Window	`Shift`+`Enter`	`Shift`+`Return`	`Shift`+`Enter`
Open Address in New Tab²	`Alt`+`Enter`	`Option`+`Return`	`Alt`+`Enter`
Page Info		`Cmd`+`I`	`Ctrl`+`I`
Page Source	`Ctrl`+`U`	`Cmd`+`U`	`Ctrl`+`U`
Paste	`Ctrl`+`V`	`Cmd`+`V`	`Ctrl`+`V`
Previous Tab	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Tab` `Ctrl`+`PageUp`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Tab` `Ctrl`+`PageUp`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Tab` `Ctrl`+`PageUp`
Print	`Ctrl`+`P`	`Cmd`+`P`	`Ctrl`+`P`
Redo	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Z` `Ctrl`+`Y`	`Cmd`+`Shift`+`Z`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Z` `Ctrl`+`Y`
Reload	`F5` `Ctrl`+`R`	`F5` `Cmd`+`R`	`F5` `Ctrl`+`R`
Reload (override cache)	`Ctrl`+`F5` `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`R`	`Cmd`+`F5` `Cmd`+`Shift`+`R`	`Ctrl`+`F5` `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`R`
Restore Text Size	`Ctrl`+`0`	`Cmd`+`0`	`Ctrl`+`0`
Save Page As	`Ctrl`+`S`	`Cmd`+`S`	`Ctrl`+`S`
Save Link Target As	`Alt`+`Enter`	`Option`+`Return`	`Alt`+`Enter`
Select All	`Ctrl`+`A`	`Cmd`+`A`	`Ctrl`+`A`
Select Location Bar	`Ctrl`+`L` `Alt`+`D`	`Cmd`+`L`	`Ctrl`+`L` `Alt`+`D`
Select Next Auto-Complete entry in text field	`Down`	`Down`	`Down`
Select Previous Auto-Complete entry in text field	`Up`	`Up`	`Up`
Select Next Search Engine in Search bar	`Ctrl`+`Down`	`Cmd`+`Down`	`Ctrl`+`Down`
Select Previous Search Engine in Search bar	`Ctrl`+`Up`	`Cmd`+`Up`	`Ctrl`+`Up`
Select Tab [1 to 8]	`Ctrl`+[`1` to `8`]	`Cmd`+[`1` to `8`]	`Alt`+[`1` to `8`]
Select Last Tab	`Ctrl`+`9`	`Cmd`+`9`	`Alt`+`9`
Stop	`Esc`	`Esc`	`Esc`
Toggle Checkbox	`Spacebar`	`Spacebar`	`Spacebar`
Undo	`Ctrl`+`Z`	`Cmd`+`Z`	`Ctrl`+`Z`
Web Search	`Ctrl`+`K`	`Cmd`+`K`	`Ctrl`+`K` `Ctrl`+`J`

¹ In Linux, you must perform additional configuration to enable this shortcut. In the Location bar, type about:config, and press Enter. In the resulting page, search for the preference browser.backspace_action. Double-click it, and set the value to 0.

² This shortcut only works in the Location bar.

Mouse shortcuts

Command	Windows	Macintosh	Linux
Back	`Shift`+Scroll down	`Option`+Scroll down	`Shift`+Scroll down
Close Tab¹	Middle-click on tab	Middle-click on tab	Middle-click on tab
Decrease text size	`Crtl`+Scroll up	`Crtl`+Scroll up	`Crtl`+Scroll up
Forward	`Shift`+Scroll up	`Option`+Scroll up	`Shift`+Scroll up
Increase Text Size	`Ctrl`+Scroll down	`Ctrl`+Scroll down	`Ctrl`+Scroll down
New Tab	Double-Click on Tab Bar	Double-Click on Tab Bar	Double-Click on Tab Bar
Open in Background Tab²	`Ctrl`+click Middle-click	`Cmd`+click Middle-click	`Ctrl`+click Middle-click
Open in Foreground Tab²	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+click `Shift`+Middle-click	`Cmd`+`Shift`+click `Shift`+Middle-click	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+click `Shift`+Middle-click
Open in New Window	`Shift`+click	`Shift`+click	`Shift`+click
Paste URL and Go¹	Middle-click on Tab	Middle-click on Tab	Middle-click on Tab
Reload (override cache)	`Shift`+Reload button	`Shift`+Reload button	`Shift`+Reload button
Save Page As	`Alt`+click	`Option`+click	`Alt`+click
Scroll line by line	`Alt`+Scroll	N/A	`Alt`+Scroll

¹ In Windows, by default clicking the middle mouse button on a tab closes the tab. In Linux, a middle-click pastes the contents of the clipboard and attempts to load content by visiting the URL of the pasted content or by performing a search. If desired, you can change the Linux middle-click behavior. Set the middlemouse.contentLoadURL preference to either true (for the Content Load URL feature) or false (for closing the selected tab).

² By default, Ctrl+click opens the link in a background tab while you stay on the current one, and Shift+Ctrl+click opens the link in a foreground tab, which is presented to you. To reverse this behavior, select the Tools menu, and select Options... to open the Options window. In the Options window, click the Tabs icon and select the When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately option.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities

Gizmo at techsupportalert.com has combiled an excellent list of the top 46 free utilities. There is an extended version available to subscribers which is well worth looking at. There are a few other freeware links I use which I will post below at a later date but this is a good one to start with.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm

Clipboard Backup

controlc.com creates a backup of everything you copy to the clipboard to a website. I've found it very handy to look back and find email addresses, links, phone numbers and even file names.

This is well worth a try. The free version stores info for 7 days and you can pay for unlimited history.

From their website:

What is ControlC? It's pretty simple actually. Have you ever copied something on a webpage or in an email that you later needed to look at again but couldn't remember where you saw it?

Have you ever copied a link to a webpage and couldn't for the life of you remember the link later on?

ControlC fixes that. Anytime you copy textual content, ControlC will upload that text to our server to store under your account. When the text is uploaded, it is encrypted using your password as the key (which we will never have access to). When you need to retrieve the text, or would like to share it with other users, you can login to your account and make the items public, or simply review them for your own needs.

You can search other user's copied links and text to find other people that share the same interests as you. You can make friendship relationships with other users, and star items of interest to make finding them again easy. You are encouraged to social interact with other users on our site - you will be surprised what you can find when you do!

History

ControlC is still young. Launched in early 2008, we have a ton of ideas to add to the site. For now enjoy what we have to offer, and please use our forums to provide feedback about the site and let us know what you want to see added!

Friend feed - tired of checking ten different websites to keep track of your friends?

This has only recently been made available on public release. It gathers together all your friends sites in one. Not perfect yet but might save some time.

FriendFeed enables you to keep up-to-date on the web pages, photos, videos and music that your friends and family are sharing. It offers a unique way to discover and discuss information among friends.

Sign up for FriendFeed, invite some friends, and get a customized feed made up of the content that your friends shared — from news articles to family photos to interesting links and videos. FriendFeed automatically imports shared stuff from sites across the web, so if your friend favorites a video on YouTube, you get a link and a thumbnail of the video in your feed. And if your friend likes a news story on Digg, you get a link in your feed. FriendFeed makes all the sites you already use a little more social.

It’s also fast and easy to start discussions around shared items. On FriendFeed, you and your friends contribute to a shared stream of information — information that you care about, because it's from the people that you care about.

You don't need to install anything to use FriendFeed. But if you already use Facebook, you can add our Facebook application to connect your Facebook profile to all the other products you use around the web. You can also view your FriendFeed in your iGoogle homepage or read it in a feed reader. If you make your FriendFeed publicly visible (kind of like a blog that writes itself), you can embed your feed in your home page or blog.

Let us know what you think in the FriendFeed discussion group or check our our FAQ for more information. You can get continuous updates from the FriendFeed team on the FriendFeed blog.

To get started, create an account »

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Office 2007 save as PDF

When Microsoft Office 2007 first came out it seems they hadn't reached a deal with Adobe over PDFs but the addon is now available for free. Simply download the update and you can save any document as a PDF.

Very handy!