October 10, 2011
The world is divided into two: keyboard lovers and mouse lovers. If you’re a mouse lover and always wished you could do everything with it (on your computer, anyway), it might be time to try some gestures tools. Take your pick from the list below and enjoy a new way to move your body even less while using the computer.
October 5, 2011
In a recent article, I reviewed a free text expansion program called DashExpanders that automatically types designated words, phrases, sentences, or entire paragraphs, based on an assigned abbreviation. So for example, if I type “bkc”, the text expansion program I use will replace it with my full name. For every article I write, I use at least a dozen text expansions to speed up the process.
October 5, 2011
Text summarizers analyze a document and then sum it up around key points and concepts. We were taught how to summarize long pieces of text in school. Text summarization apps are just the online automatic tools that use algorithms to present a quick outline of a document. here are four free online text summarizers which try to give you the abstract with some degree of success.
October 4, 2011
Many workplaces nowadays find it prudent to prevent their employees from surfing certain websites. Leading that pack of blocked websites is Facebook. Facebook is a true phenomena in our social lives today, and many employers feel that leaving Facebook open for free surfing will cause a major waste of time and loss of productivity. But is it true? Is blocking Facebook really that smart?
September 28, 2011
Most of us suffer from information overload. Being overwhelmed with private emails may not be a big issue and ignoring half the emails is actually acceptable to a certain degree. In a professional life however, not only are you expected to find ways to cope with all incoming channels, you also have to process the information, i.e. forward, respond, discuss, keep track, and follow up.
September 28, 2011
‘Drinking from the firehose’ is a turn of phrase you might not be familiar with. But believe me, if you are reading this blog and many others like this, it’s exactly what you are doing every day. It’s not water you are trying to gulp down, but a torrent of information. Information overload is the more precise term. Also, I am pretty sure you are drowning.
September 23, 2011
Text expansion programs have been around for quite a while now, and are probably most used by advanced computer users and writers. Programs like TextExpander, TypeIt4Me, and Typinator are huge time savers when it comes to typing frequently used words, phrases, or letters. But I still come across people who have never heard of these programs, or who don’t quite understand their value.
September 22, 2011
Our story starts with something called TiddlyWiki. In a nutshell, TiddlyWiki is a single-file wiki, which makes heavy use of JavaScript. You can download it to your own computer, Dropbox or USB stick, and use it to maintain notes about anything. That’s lovely, but it’s not exactly a website in the common sense of the word. In sweeps Osmosoft.
September 22, 2011
Connect any two of your favorite web apps in creative ways. A sort of “digital duct tape” according to Linden Tibbets, the app’s creator, If This Then That (ifttt) lets you find new uses for web apps you’re already using by making it easy for you to combine them. The vision is to make the digital world, where programs exist in isolation, more like the physical world.
September 13, 2011
There are many reasons a person might want to learn how to speed read. Students or just interested learners of a given subject, know that effective speed reading would give a huge advantage to the student. Much of the world’s best educational material is written down, so if you can read and comprehend that information quickly you will be able to learn a lot with your reading time.
