Mindpsill - Technology

I find RealPlayer and Quicktime very bulky useless applications I could happily live without. The problem is I can't because these files are everywhere. At last I found a solution, install the codec files to play these files without installing the whole applications.

Once the codecs are installed you can still access QuickTime and RealMedia content through the browser (IE/Mozilla/Opera) and play offline files using the standard media player.

QuickTime Alternative

Real Media Alternative

I admit I'm a keyboard lover which means I love keyboard shortcuts and the keys have almost faded. To set a short cut to an application in Windows:

• Right click on the application shortcut
• Select Properties
• In the short cut field key in the shortcut by pressing the shortcut buttons

There are some times when the shortcut doesn't work. I still don't know why, but in the majority of cases it does work.

Have you ever heard the saying that once it's on the internet then it's recorded forever? Have you ever wondered how to find it though?

One of the potential answers is The Wayback Machine. This site achieves website and allows you to browse through the old content by searching for a URL. It claims to store 55 billions web pages from 1996 till a few months ago.

I've tried the following searches:-

Who was topping the blogosphere in 2002 (technorati)?
What were CNN's headlines on the 15th August 2000?
How did this blog look like in 2005?

Time for some nerdy fun; a Google game

To play Googlewhack you've got to create a google search of exactly two words (no quotes, no punctuation, no numbers) that exist in this dictionary and Google should only a single result (Results 1-1 of 1).

If you haven't got a clue where to start take a look at the Whack Stack

Do you want to know which files are filling your disk? Do it with ease and style with SequoiaViewer. This free small application maps out files on disk and represents them as squares whose size is dependent on the size of the file. Files are bundled together logically according to the containing folder and different colour schemes can be selected to colour code different file types. If you scroll the mouse on the square you'll see the name of the file.

If you like this unusual information representation you might want to check this site: information aesthetics

Source: Computer Active: PC Tuning Solutions

This article is part of the Tip of the day project

Global Hotkeys
When you enable global hotkeys from options->preferences->global hotkeys you can play, pause, stop, volume control, etc. just by pressing the hotkey buttons without having Winamp in the foreground. I find this extremely handy when I'm working and need to turn off music without activating Winamp.

5 Cool Winamp Skins

• MMD3 - Quite simply the best
• Aqua X - Simple Mac Style
• EMP - Compact, accessible and with an extensive colour scheme.
• Lord of the rings - The only themed skin I've ever used
• Fire Elemental - Excellent visuals, poor usability

GTD TiddlyWiki

Keep all your GTD lists (todo lists for the uninitiated) in a single self contained webpage without requiring a server side component or any installation. Just download the webpage (right-click + save this link) and start editing Wiki Style.

This app introduced me to the concept of Wiki editing. Very interesting cool stuff.

More about GTD (Getting Things Done) from 43 Folders and David Allen's Book.

Found through Lifehacker