Category: How to

The Windows task bar has been sitting at the bottom of our screens, relatively untouched for the last 12 years. You open a window. It displays a new tab. You click on the tab to view the window. Simple. When you have a couple of windows open there really is no issue. Everything is laid out perfectly in front of you – window titles displayed clearly. But when was the last time you sat in front of your computer with only a few windows open? Web browsers, word docs, Outlook, etc… I’m lucky if I make it through the first 20 minutes of my work day without opening 5 different applications, each parenting at least a few windows. By the end of the day, the number of open windows usually hovers around 10 to 15 and along with it comes the inevitable task bar squish. Tiny tabs, grasping tiny icons that are but shells of their former selves.

Thankfully, Microsoft has always allowed us to expand the task bar vertically, which permits multiple rows of tabs to be displayed, giving them a little more space to breathe. I’m a two row kind of guy but I’ve seen some developers push it up to as many as four rows to accommodate their multitasking kung-fu. If you’ve got the screen real estate, this is by far the easiest solution. Just right click on the task bar, select “Unblock the task bar” and drag the top edge of the task bar upwards.

Continue reading “Tips for a cleaner Windows task bar”

Last night I was trying to watch a Quicktime streaming video in Firefox and I kept on getting this annoying message about not having the appropiate plug-ins installed. So I wondered, how am I meant to know which plugins are correctly installed for Firefox? The answer came to me in the shape of a nice Mozilla trick: just type “about:plugins” in the browser’s address bar and you’ll see a list of all the plug-ins you’ve installed so far.

This little tip reminded me of a couple other Firefox tricks I’d like to share. You may already know them but hey, there are always novice users out there.

First, here’s another “about” tip which you can use. Type “about:config” in the address bar and you’ll obtain a large list of configuration variables that rule your browser’s behavior. What’s more, you can customize them in order to change the default search properties, make pages render more quickly or control the private data stored by Firefox; and much more besides.

Second, there are some keyboard shortcuts which are really useful for web browsing, even if you’re more comfortable with the mouse. Combinations include CRTL+T to open a new tab, CTRL+L to focus on the address bar and CTRL+K to activate the search box on the right side of the Firefox interface.

One last tip: try typing “about:mozilla” in the browser’s address bar and see what you get. Don’t you love Easter eggs?

Luckily for some but sadly for others, Christmas is over. Now it’s time to go back to harsh reality and forget about the holidays… or maybe not! Because if you used your digital camera while enjoying Christmas dinner or meeting some old friends back in your home town, now it’s time to make the most of those pictures.

To begin with, Picasa is a good option to store and organize pictures in your computer. It also allows you to retrieve them easily by means of a handy timeline. Then you can just select the best ones and create a nice printed collage with Arcsoft PhotoImpression.

However, if you’re on the ecological side and don’t want to waste paper, you can always record a photo VCD with the help of MemoriesOnTV. It’s a really easy-to-use piece of software that will enable you to show off your best shots on the DVD player.

If any picture needs retouching, take a look at PhotoFiltre, a powerful app that features everything you may need to edit and optimize photos. Like the well-known Photoshop, but smaller, lighter and cheaper – basically free.

One last tip: don’t forget to resize your pictures before sharing them by email; otherwise the message will take ages to download. VSO Image Resizer will do it for you in just a couple of mouse clicks, saving you time, work and bandwidth.

New to Firefox? First of all, let us give you the warmest welcome to the best web browser in the world! Now we can go on to explain how to customize your Firefox by adding extensions in just a few easy steps.

• First of all, some information: an extension is a small piece of software that can be installed in your web browser to either modify one of its built-in tools or add a completely new function.
• Click on the link of the desired extension, usually an XPI file, and a software installation window will open.
• Allow the installation and once it’s finished, restart the browser.
• If you see a yellow bar on top of the page, don’t worry. It’s just a warning message in case the webpage is trying to install software on your PC without your consent. Just click on the Edit options button and include the current site in the list of allowed web pages.

There’s a huge amount of Firefox extensions available on the Internet. We recommend taking a look at our list and select the ones you like best. Also, if there’s one cool, handy extension you’re using and we don’t have it, do not hesitate to share it with us!

You can be sure that once Bill Gates starts banging on about a new business or technology concept, IT departments everywhere will be clambering aboard the bandwagon. The craze in question this time is ‘mind-mapping,’ a system of planning and structuring ideas through a visual approach. The whole idea is that instead of thinking in a linear fashion when taking notes or brainstorming ideas, you develop a solution in the form of branches radiating from a central core, known as a mind-map.

According to Gates, mind-mapping software can “be used as a digital ‘blank slate’ to help connect and synthesize ideas and data – and ultimately create new knowledge.” It’s quite rare to hear Bill Gates talking about technology that Microsoft does not have a software program for, so you can take it as read that the Redmond giant is close to an acquisition in this area (or is that just us being cynical).
Continue reading “Mind-mapping: the solution for creative meltdown?”

The days of paying for TV subscriptions could be on the way out if emerging streaming media technology evolves sufficiently. PPLive is the most popular program to use peer-to-peer technology to allow you to watch movies, sports and TV shows from around the world.

However, unless you speak Chinese it’s likely to be the most irritating program you’ve ever used, as the interface and program lists are all written in the Eastern language. To save taking a crash course in Cantonese here is the workaround:

By loading up the PPLive TV Engine and right-clicking on the fourth option from the bottom (the one that looks like a squiggle) you’re presented with the chance to change the interface into English. Opening the Channel List menu in the program gives you even more Chinese to try and decipher but you can download a full translation of all the channels from here.