Disable the “Send To” context menu
Submitted on March 1st, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and Windows
No. of comments (38)
If you’re like me and hate the “Send To” option in the menu when you right click on a file, then this tip is for you. Sometimes I go over the “Send To” menu on accident when I have a lot of things going on, and it just seems to lag out what i’m doing.
Removing Item types from the “New” menu
Submitted on March 1st, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and Windows
No. of comments (1)
We all know the new menu, you see it there when you right click on the desktop or in a folder. There are “new” file types in the menu that we don’t use. In this tip I will get rid of the Briefcase file type.
Learn to program in Python
Submitted on March 1st, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and The Mac Side and Software and Windows and Linux
No. of comments (2)
If you’ve wanted to start programming, Python is a rather popular and easy language to learn and use. hose of you who remember when BASIC was king, Python is similar to an updated and more powerful version of BASIC, and there’s many similiarities between the two. (It also happens to be named after British comedians!) For the most part, Python is an interpreted language, meaning that you have to have the Python interpreter to run any Python programs. As a rule of thumb, if a computer can run the Python interpreter, it can run most Python programs. There’s Windows, DOS, Windows CE, Mac, Linux (Check your distribution’s package manager), Java, and many other interesting versions officially avaliable.
There’s also many good Python tutorials avaliable, such as Dive Into Python (for people with prior programming experience), and, for those new to programming or with less experience, The Non-Programmer’s Guide to Python. Happy coding, everyone!
Adding Copy to, and Move To Folder context menu options
Submitted on February 23rd, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and Windows
No. of comments (4)
The only time I have seen a Copy to, or Move To Folder menu option is when I wanted to copy a folder, and/or file from a networked computer. With this little tip you can add it to your main right click menu, when you right click on a folder, and/or file.
Tax software roundup
Submitted on February 2nd, 2006 by admin
Filed under Productivity and Resources and Software and Windows
No. of comments (3)
Tax season is in full swing here in the United States, and many of you might be unwilling to pay an accountant to do your taxes for you. Tax preparation software has gotten progressively better and easier to use over the years so why not give it a shot? PC Magazine has a good roundup of tax preparation software available on their site. My recommendation? TaxCut, hands down (been using it for a couple years now).
[tags]tax, software, tax preparation, roundup, review[/tags]
Online file storage shootout
Submitted on February 2nd, 2006 by admin
Filed under Storage and Resources and Services
No. of comments Comments Off
While it is an article I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time, it looks like I’ve been beaten to the punch. Michael Harrington over at TechCrunch has done a great write-up of some of the available online file storage services. Most simply offer upload/download services, while some, like OmniDrive support read/write functions on the server, meaning that you could open a Word document right from OmniDrive and have to save only changes, not the entire file again. The service comparison is neatly presented on a feature chart making it very easy to read. Enjoy!
By the way, I’ve been contacted by Box.net and they’ve got some promising things in the pipeline… 
[tags]web, storage, services, reviews, techcrunch[/tags]
Hide your e-mail address w/ SpamFreeze
Submitted on February 1st, 2006 by admin
Filed under Email and Resources and Security
No. of comments Comments Off
One of the big no-no’s if you run a blog or website is posting your e-mail address is plain English (err…any language) right on the site. There are different ways to get around this; for example, we hide our e-mail address by encoding it into a contact form. Others may use image banners of their e-mail address so spam spiders can’t catalog them. Yet another way would be to use a site like SpamFreeze.
With SpamFreeze, you simply enter the e-mail address you’d like to hide into the form field and hit Submit. Within a second, your e-mail address is encrypted and put into a link which anyone can click on to contact you. To ensure that it is not a spambot trying to access the e-mail address, there is a “Captcha” test, where the e-mailer must type in a phrase hidden in an image into a form. SpamFreeze is totally free, and if you get a chance, also check out SpamButcher, a fantastic (but not free) spam filter software from the same developer.
[tags]email, spam, filters, spamfreeze, privacy[/tags]
Learning vocabulary online
Submitted on February 1st, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and Services
No. of comments Comments Off
When I checked the TipMonkies inbox the other day, I was pleasantly surprised to see an e-mail from Jacob Richman because it was a tip submission for something a little bit different than what we usually write about here on the site. Jacob runs a site called Learning Vocabulary Can Be Fun, which is a great resource for anyone looking to learn some English vocabulary. I’ve seen many sites which try to teach other languages, but I found Jacob’s site to be quite fun, a characteristic which few other sites of its kind possess. Learning Vocabulary Can Be Fun helps people learning English through the use of games, including wordsearch puzzles, hangman, quizes, jumble games, and more. If you’re one of our international readers looking to brush up on some English, or simply want some cool word games to play in your spare time at work (because so many of you come here to procrastinate ), definitely check it out.
[tags]vocabulary, language, tools, learning[/tags]
Find the most downloaded Konfabulator widgets
Submitted on January 25th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and The Mac Side and Software
No. of comments (3)
So here’s another reason I’m jealous of the Mac…Dashboard. Sure, us Windows users have Konfabulator (or Yahoo! Widgets I guess it’s called now), but there’s nothing like simple operating system integration (which Apple does so well). Still Konfabulator has some excellent features and tons of different freely downloadable widgets, and you can find the most popular ones here.
The list includes close to 500 widgets in all categories ranging from system information via the very useful miniCPU to the somewhat entertaining Hula Girl widget. It was created using Ning, by the way, which makes creating web applications a breeze.
[tags]mac, widgets, dashboard, software[/tags]
Read books as they’re written w/ Roughcuts
Submitted on January 24th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Shopping and Books and Resources
No. of comments Comments Off
Roughcuts is an interesting new book service from O’Reilly, the same folks who publish some of the most popular tech books in the industry. So what is it exactly? By paying for a Roughcuts subscription, you are allowed access to drafts of books as they’re being written and have the ability to send comments, and feedback to the writers and ediors in order to improve the book. Once the finished product is published, you also receive a copy of the book. You’ll be paying a bit more for the online access, but it’s still quite an interesting experiment, and for those of us who have libraries of O’Reilly books, it’s definitely a nice little extra.
[Via Boing Boing]
[tags]o’reilly, books, text, preview, services[/tags]
