Handy Windows 7 tweaks
I just stumbled upon some cool W7 tweaks on SevenForums and figured I'd post them here.
The first one is a tweak to change the hover delay on Aero Peak/thumbnail previews in the taskbar. The original link is here, but I've written a resume here.
The next one also concerns the taskbar. It's a tweak to enable easy cycling through previews by clicking on the taskbar icon. Copy+pasta:
My last tweak for you is really awesome. By creating transparent shortcuts in the taskbar you can group items in an easy way. Go to LifeHacker and find out how.
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Visualization in iTunes is awesome
By accident I pushed a macro-button on my keyboard while I was in iTunes. Suddenly, I was blast away by an awesome flow of colours dancing on my screen: I had found the iTunes 9.0 Visualizer.
Now, you might think 'visualizers? That old WMP 90's crap?'. The answer, I guess, is both yes and no. It's a visualizer in the way it visualizes the music using some sort of algorithm but no in the sense that this is nothing like any other visualizer I've ever seen.
Enough talk, I'll throw in a couple of pictures and then please go and hit CTRL + T and then CTRL + F in iTunes and sit back in joy. I never thought I would give Apple that much appreciation...
Update: I just found a link to a low quality video showing the visualizer in action. Go here.
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FF addons you can’t live without
Firefox. Made up of all the small pieces.
So, this post is a perfect example of the purpose of this blog: making my life easier and bookmarks lighter. I don't use any fancy addons and you will therefore (most likely) not be surprised or find anything new here, but nevertheless I will list the ones I use and recommend.
- Adblock Plus. The number one banner-killer on the web. Get rid of all those adds.
- Brief. My favourite RSS-reader. Comes with a simple and elegant design.
- DownThemAll. DTA is extremely useful if you need to download lot's of similar files on a page.
- FlashBlock. This addon will block flash by default and thereby save you from a lot of adds.
- IE Tab. Great plugin if you need to use/view some page in Internet Explorer.
- NoScript. Actually, I don't use this addon. In my opinion too many things are blocked and it makes surfing the web a pain. However, it is without a doubt the safest way so enable this whenever you're browsing a place with minimal security.
- PDF Download. Upon clicking on a link to a pdf-file, this addon will ask if you wish to open or save the file. Handy!
- StumbleUpon. One of the most popular FireFox addons. I've used it for years but since it's so it's time-consuming (i.e. addicting) I've simply had to uninstall it! Try it out and see what I mean :)
- Video DownloadHelper. Download those YouTube movies easily.
- X-Marks (Foxmarks). This is the main reason for why I use Firefox. I have loads of bookmarks and this plugin synchronizes them between all my computers. It also gives access to ones bookmarks through the browser.
Okay, this was it I think. Cheers.
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Alternatives to popular software
To Quicktime or not to Quicktime
A year and a half ago lifehacker made an excellent post regarding alternatives to popular (and crappy) windows software. The post is still relevant but I wish to highlight a few that I've had good experiences with and add some other ones.
Alternatives to
- Internet Explorer: Firefox. Or Chrome. Does this need explanation? GetFirefox.com please! Or if you need a light, fast browser go for Chrome. I use it for my NetBook and it works wonders when I just need a quick browsing session. But remember, Chrome hasn't got addons!
- Adobe Reader: Foxit. Faster, firefox support, light. Did I say faster?
- Quicktime: Quicktime Alternative. Although none would be better, Quicktime is a necessary for some programs.
- RealPlayer: RealPlayer Alternative. If you need to play those RealPlayer-files.
- WinZip: 7-Zip. Excellent free-ware alternative!
- Windows Media Player: iTunes, Songbird. To be honest, I do like some aspects of WMP in Windows 7. But overall, it's terrible for managing larger libraries. Try iTunes if you have an iPod. If not, get Songbird! It's an awesome piece of software built on FireFox. Yes, you read that right! You get a browser IN your media player. Quite cool, aight?
- iTunes: doubleTwist. Okay, so first I recommend iTunes and now reject it? Let me explain. For those of you with iPods; doubleTwist will let you sync and put music onto your iPod. Using doubleTwist you can now as an iPod owner get rid of iTunes if it isn't your thing. Also, the author is none other than DVD-Jon!
- Tune-Up Utilities: Glary Utilities. I've used Tune-Up Utilities for quite a while. It's a wonderful application that easily takes care of your computer. However, because they haven't made it compatible with Windows 7 I was forced to find an alternative. And so I did! Glary Utilities even adds some good functions such as searching for duplicates. Get it while it's hot - and free!
- Nero Suite: infraRecorder. Nero has never been my thing. Too much application for such a small task. Get infraRecorder. It's free and easy to use.
- Daemon Tools: UltraISO. Although D-Tools always has been my mounting program of choice, the incompatibility with Windows 7 let me look elsewhere. I did so and found UltraISO. Very handy program, which easily let's you browse and mount images. It also does a whole bunch of other stuff, but I haven't really used those features.