Eternalmoonlight.net

And since I’m back, the tips and tricks from my starred items have accumulated again. I’ll have to clip this post with the MORE tag after 10 entries because it is going to be a long entry. Click the link at the bottom of the post (or click the post title) to see the rest of the entry. But if you are reading this in a RSS/Feed reader, then the whole post should show up.

And for the next series of Life tips, I’ll post the top (I consider) 10 tips, then post the rest after the jump. I’m doing this in an effort to minimalize this website, and to further speed up loading.

• Customizing Your Icons in Windows XP. If you want to change the icons used by explorer in your WIndows.
• Seven Tips for Making the Most of Your RSS Reader.
• 10 Hacks to Improve Your Home Office Productivity.
• 10 Ways to Pimp Your Blog.
• Polish Your Writing to Professionalism: Three Tips for Self-Editing.
• 12 Ways to Kill Stress Before Stress Kills You!
• Superior Alternatives to Crappy Windows Software. This includes dumping Adobe Reader in favor of a more resource friendly FoxIt Reader or changing you Nero Suite into a cost-free app CDBurnerXP.
• Did you know? Windows has a built-in tool to create self-extracting archives via ‘Iexpress.exe’.
• Watch restricted YouTube Videos.
• Five Best DVD Ripping Tools.

[Read more →]

Category: Geek Alert by Ryman
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I’ve been looking for this hack for quite sometime, its just that now I decided to end my search. I hope this post may help others who are looking for the same explorer modification.

It is always frustrating when you want to save an image or a document to a certain folder using the save dialog box when you have to navigate through various different folders. I usually save my photos to the My Photos default folder, some I save to the Tambayan image folder, and some at the Eternal image folder. Stuff that I downloaded are save initially at the My Received Files folder. I’m an organized freak when it comes to naming files and organizing folders on Windows explorer. It is because I always want to find something quickly.

So here it is, the hack to change/modify the default shortcuts that you can see at the “save as” and “open” dialog box. I just did a quick rundown of the steps. But if you are too n00b to follow my instructions, you can view a step-by-step instructions at simplehelp.net.

1. At the START menu open the RUN box then type gpedit.msc then click Ok.
2. GROUP POLICY will open, then navigate to this folder. User Configuration - Administrative Templates - Windows Components - Windows Explorer - Common Open File Dialog. Once there, double click Items Displayed in Places Bar located on the right panel.
3. At the properties box, select Enable then add the folders you like to create shortcut to. Remember to input the full path to the folder.
4. Hit Apply, then Ok to finish modifying.

At the screenshot above you may notice I used MyDocuments, MyPictures, MyMusic as a path to the folder. It is a “shell folder” for Windows explorer, and it knows where that folder is located in respect to the current user (for multiple users) that is logged in.

If you click on the Explain tab, it will show up this text.

Configures the list of items displayed in the Places Bar in the Windows File/Open dialog. If enable this setting you can specify from 1 to 5 items to be displayed in the Places Bar.

The valid items you may display in the Places Bar are:
1) Shortcuts to a local folders — (ex. C:\Windows)
2) Shortcuts to remote folders — (\\server\share)
3) Common Shell folders.

The list of Common Shell Folders that may be specified:
CommonDocuments, CommonMusic, CommonPictures, Desktop, MyComputer, MyDocuments, MyFavorites, MyMusic, MyNetworkPlaces, MyPictures, Printers, ProgramFiles, Recent.

If you disable or do not configure this setting the default list of items will be displayed in the Places Bar.

Category: Geek Alert by Ryman
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I may post useful and helpful collection of tips and tricks (for computers) at least twice a week. Here are some tips for this week.

• Top 10 Ways to Trick Out Your Desktop.
• A simple way to simplify email.
• Run Yahoo! Messenger for the Web Inside It’s Own Browser Tab.
• Firefox 3 Beta 5 Easter Egg.
• Save Yourself from Time Sinks Online with LeechBlock.
• Gourmet Tea Guide.
• Top Firefox Tips for Easier Browsing.
• Hacked site? Take Google’s advice.
• Drag & Drop Text/URL’s in Firefox.
• How to bind papers without staples or clips.
• Select Multiple Windows on the Taskbar.
• Consolidate Multiple Email Addresses with Gmail.
• How To (And Not To) Pick A DVD With Your Girlfriend.
• Making Animated GIFs With Free Software in Four Steps.
• How to remove permanent marker from anything.
• 12 Tips to Create a Sleep Haven.
• How to Be an Expert (and Find One if You’re Not).
• Tighten Your Belt, Strengthen Your Mind.
• Create Distraction-Free, Customized Webapps with Prism.
• Eight Natural Ways to Make Water More Flavorful.

Category: Geek Alert by Ryman
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Our 6th installment of tips comes in 2 days early. Anyway, here they are…

• If you keep losing your USB drive or forgetting it at someone else’s place, it’s a good idea to put in your contact number so that it can be returned to you safely and quickly. You can apply a label on your flash drive with your name and number internally using an autorun.inf file. This is a good tip, but for me when I see an autorun.inf file it get me suspicious on the flash drive. Because these files are usually created by viruses.
• Increase productivity by working on a full screen mode in your Microsoft Office app.
• Here’s how to fix that nasty issue of the Image or Media Flash uploader from the latest WordPres 2.5 while using IE7.
• There are still a lot of bugs from WordPress 2.5 and the media uploader that uses flash technology is one of them (I knew it!). Here is a fix to disable WordPress 2.5 Flash Image/Video/Media uploader with a plugin.
• You can actually cook better using your Microwave rather than your Stove.
• Windows: Create a Shortcut to Delete Recent Items in Windows Vista (or XP’s) Start Menu.
• Here is a way to easily create a summary of a Word 2007 document.
• Firefox: Safari 3 Style Inline Search in Firefox.
• Here are 5 ways to get out of faffing mode. What is Faffing? It means doing something without achieving an outcome.
• Breaking up with someone? (Although I don’t really need this, but maybe some of the readers). Here are 10 Ways To Commit Relationship SUICIDE.
• A great tip for your health: 29 Exercises You Can Do At (Or Near) Your Desk.
• Here are ways to speed up loading items in your Google Reader.
• Leave a note on your PC while you are away by setting up a Screensaver away message.
• There are ways to clean household items. You can use this 27 tips in cleaning items using a citrus fruit.
• Microsoft Outlook: Transfer AutoComplete Addresses to a New Computer.
• How to Use SFC.EXE Resource Checker to Fix and Recover Incorrect or Corrupted System Files.
• I’ve already been doing this for a long time now, and I’m proud to say that my eye vision is still perfect as I can still read far and near text accurately. But for those who don’t know, eye strain caused by monitors that are too bright occurs on most computer users. You can choose to darken your windows (themes) so avoid this problem. I for one, has the brightness setting on my monitor set to zero. The only time I adjust it to around 20-50% is when I’m playing a game or watching a movie.
• Optimize Google Desktop for Search.
• Windows: Skip the Annoying “Use the Web service to find the correct program” Dialog.

And here are some additional top lists and resources on the web.

• Know more about OpenID.
• Five Best Instant Messengers: Digsby, Pidgin, Meebo, Adium, and Trillian.
• The Definitive List of the Top Twitter Clients.
• Top Ten Harmless Geek Pranks.
• Upload Photos to Flickr with Friendly Flickr Applications.
• 5 Ways To Have Fun with Twitter When You’re Bored.
• 10 links to shorten your links.

I have to post this tips a little bit earlier because the “starred items” on my Google Reader is piling up.

Category: Geek Alert by Ryman
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Here are our weekly tips for this week.

• There is a way to send pictures from Google Picasa directly to Photoshop if you want to quick edit a photo. This is useful if you use Picasa often and have Photoshop installed in your computer.
• You can access multiple USD drives quickly by assigning USB drives to a folder. This method is useful if you have a lot of USB drives.
• Here is a list of 5 best digital photo organizers which you can use to manage your photos.
• Firefox: Disable The AutoScroll Feature.
• Firefox: Auto-Hide Firefox Status Bar Icons.
• For those who have multiple computers, here is some free ways to synchronize folders between computers.
• Want to take good photos of those delicious food before eating? Check out this 10 tastiest food photography tips.
• Windows: Add Custom Options to the Windows AutoPlay Dialog.
• Shutdown Windows quickly.
• Learn Programming Basics at Google Code University.
• Top 10 Software Easter Eggs.
• How Heatmapping Your Productivity Can Make You More Productive.
• How to Maximize Efficiency by Grouping Tasks.
• How to Tell When Your Hard Drive is Going to Fail.
• 5 Ways to Make Your Computer Work For You.
• Windows: Finding Registry Keys the Easy Way in Vista or XP.
• How to SEO Optimize WordPress 2.5 Blog Web Page Title Without Optimal Title Plugin.
• Fix Blank CD or DVD Disc May Not Be Recognized When Inserted to CD Writer in Vista.

And as a bonus here are some useful links regarding Windows XP Service Pack 3.

• Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) Overview Download and Online Reading.
• Windows XP SP3 Release Notes and Known Issues.
• Download Official Windows XP SP3 RC2 Refresh Build 5508 (with Link to Standalone EXE).
• How to Uninstall Windows XP SP3 Beta and Release Candiate Versions.
• Windows XP SP3 (v.5503 - Possibly RTM) Torrent and HTTP Download Link.

For those who are using the softwares below, there are already updates for them.

• Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.13
• WordPress 2.5
• OpenOffice 2.4.0

Category: Geek Alert by Ryman
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