Computer and Web Articles

I’ve now shared the “flip from window to window on your computer” tip with you several times. (Ahem …. Alt + Tab!). Today let’s learn how to tile your windows so you can see all open programs at once.

Are you ready? Even if you aren’t, read on — there’s really just one step to this tip. Basically, any time you have multiple windows/programs open on your computer and you’d like to tile them across your screen, simply right click in the task bar (the long skinny bar that runs across the bottom of your screen and holds the “Start” button) and choose either “Tile Windows Horizontally” or “Tile Windows Vertically”.

Try both options and see which one you like better (or if you like either), see how easy it is to tile your windows, and see if you think this tip might come in handy some time in the future.

I remember feeling quite skeptical when I first read about Googlonymous (www.googlonymous.com). I remember thinking “There’s no way *anyone* out there could possibly care what I search for in Google ….” But I went ahead and visited the site.

The site is made up of three basic pieces and nothing more: a search box, one paragraph of text, and a video. I read the paragraph at the top of the page. Then I started watching the movie. I’m only half way through the movie at this point but I think I’ve said “I DIDN’T KNOW THEY COLLECTED THAT INFORMATION!” about 14 times so far.

I’ve learned quite a bit and I need to finish writing this article so I can go back to the site and finish the video. It *is* two hours long, after all, and not boring in the least. I guarantee you’ll learn a thing or two if you watch even the first 10 minutes. Take a look … you might even be persuaded to start searching the web using Googlonymous instead of Google from now on…

1. www.emurse.com - Use emurse to create, share and store your resume online - for free.
2. www.memorizable.com - Memorizable offers efficient flashcard-like ways to memorize information. Improve your Spanish, study for that upcoming test on U.S. state capitals, or drill those keyboard shortcuts into your head once and for all.
3. www.mealsmatter.com - Meal planning made simple.
4. www.costhelper.com - Use CostHelper to determine what price others are paying for the goods you’re looking for. (I’d recommend using the site’s links to look for info; I’ve not had much success typing items into their search box.)
5. www.beethere.com - Never miss a concert again! Enter your favorite bands and artists (you can even do this straight from your iPod) and receive notifications in time to buy tickets.
6. www.presentationjunkie.com - This site offers electronic and printed presentation services and solutions, from custom Flash or PowerPoint presentations to public downloads to printing and binding to delivery wherever your big presentation will be held. (Sorry, these services aren’t free.)
7. www.houseind.com - Offering gorgeous (though expensive) fonts.
8. www.firedoodle.com- Go ahead. Turn the web into one big whiteboard.
9. www.annoyances.org - Housing a very complete collection of information for and by Microsoft Windows users. Have a question about your PC? Post your question to one of their forums and chances are you’ll have an answer in no time.
10. www.cyberhomes.com - Type in a home address to pull up all sorts of neat information. The service worked great when I looked up the home in which I grew up in California, but unfortunately (yet not surprisingly) it found no information on my home here in good ol’ Summit County, Colorado.

A trailer mash (or mash-up) is the often-hilarious result of an enthusiastic video-editor’s edits and cuts of a movie trailer. A few examples of trailer mashes include “Goonies of the Caribbean,” “The Fast and the Curious,” “Brokeback to the Future,” and “Glen & Gary & Glen & Ross.”

Watch the trailer for the romantic comedy version of “The Shining” or check out the top-rated trailer for “10 Things I Hate About Commandments.” Browse www.thetrailermash.com by genre, watch the top-rated trailer mashes, or simply view the most recent mashes. Whatever you do, make sure you keep an eye on the clock.

www.Engadget.com is a blog for technophiles offering “obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics.” Browse through their posts and learn about the iPod-controlling Nike watch, internet-enabled Samsung phone, paper-based battery, Logitech’s Bluetooth mouse, DXG’s super-duper cheap camcorder ($149.99 - what?!), or Panasonic’s iris scanner.

Engadget.com is not a portal, not an online store, not a recommendation service. It exists solely to keep you up to date on the latest and greatest goings on in the always-evolving world of technology.

Take a look: www.engadget.com.

• www.paperbackswap.com — A site maintained by an avid group of readers who share books with each other (and not just paperbacks, surprisingly) for nothing more than the cost of postage.
• www.flickaday.com — This site allows you to document one of life’s slow evolutions: the changing of your facial features over time. One picture of yourself, each day, via your webcam, for as long you choose.
• www.weddingmapper.com — Have an upcoming wedding? Make sure to take advantage of WeddingMapper.com; doing so practically guarantees that you’ll be making life a little bit easier for your wedding guests by familiarizing them with the local area.
• www.underwatersculpture.com — A fun website showcasing the work of acclaimed underwater sculptor, Jason de Caires Taylor.

It took little more than 10 to 15 seconds of browsing through the BillShare site before the little marquee in my head started flashing “If only I’d had this while I and my six housemates shared that tiny house in college…”

Whether you share your condo expenses with a renter, live with a number of housemates while attending college, or pay your mortgage but split the electric bill with your sweetie, Billshare can undoubtedly help simplify your dreaded monthly ritual of splitting up the bills.

With BillShare, you can set up e-mail alerts to keep you updated on amounts owed, create receipts that will help you divide up shared expenses, and track spending habits with detailed statistics.

BillShare is brilliant, easy to use, and free. Give it a whirl over at www.BillShare.org.

Now I’ve never used www.RemoteControlMail.com myself, but I’ve seen a few rather complimentary reviews of it, and the service looks like it’d be quite useful - so I’ll just give you the quick summary and you can then determine for yourself if it’d be useful to you or not.

Remote Control Mail aims to help you manage your postal email just as easily as you manage your email. The site proffers to bring postal mail into the 21st century by allowing you to “view scanned images of your sealed envelopes online, and with a few mouse clicks have your mail securely scanned into a PDF document, recycled, shredded or mailed to you or someone else.”

The website maintains that the service is just as valuable for personal use as it is for business use. It isn’t free, though.

To learn more, visit www.RemoteControlMail.com.

www.QuickThumbnail.com is a super-handy site that does one thing and one thing only: it resizes your photos. For free!

As we all all know (ahem …) it’s good etiquette to avoid emailing enormous files and photos to friends when there’s no need. Soooooo, if you took a very high quality photo with your new digital camera and are just dying to send it to a friend, simply upload it to QuickThumbnail.com, choose a new size, and e-mail the smaller, newly resized photo to your friend instead.

Your e-mail will be sent faster, your friend will receive the photo sooner, and you will have followed an important rule in online etiquette. Everyone wins! Thank you, QuickThumbnail.