Share your cool Tech. Tips

[Coolydudey]

On windows, pressing ctrl+backspace while typing something deletes one whole word. I was amazed at how useful I found this to be.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

http://www.techspot.com/guides/230-prevent-automatic-windows-update-restarts/ - Disable the auto restart feature of Windows update

https://prism-break.org - Huge list of open source and free software.

Foobar - An alarm plugin is available that can wake on standby(hibernation)/sleep and play your chosen music.

http://onthehub.com/search/higher-ed/ - Free MS software for STEM fields with Dreamspark Premium (MSDNAA).

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Use a hard drive as the Windows installation media:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Install-Windows-7-without-USB-or-DVD-without-upgra/

For example, you have a netbook or desktop that you want to install Windows 7 onto, but can’t use DVD or USB for whatever reason (or don't want to, like me). This method will allow you to boot and install Windows directly from the hard drive. This guide involves plugging the hard drive into another working computer, preparing the hard drive, placing it back in the system, and installing Windows as usual.

This guide will work for Windows 7 and Windows 8. I have a Windows 8 instructable, but it's essentially the same guide with some Windows 8 pictures. This guide will not work for Windows Vista - I have an instructable for that.

It's faster than through usb.

Throwaway mail account that works with some sites:

http://mailinator.com/

 

[spongetatle]

I'll just throw a bunch of shortcuts out there.

WinKey+Left or Right Arrow = Positions current window to 50 percent horizontally

WinKey+L = Locks computer

Ctrl+P = Print

Ctrl+A = Select all(useful at my job)

Ctrl+Z = Undo(works practically anywhere, not just in a word document)

Ctrl+Y = Redo(Also works everywhere)

Ctrl+C = Copy(mandatory for office work)

Ctrl+V = Paste(mandatory for office work)

Ctrl+X = Cut

Shift+Tab = Reverse tab

Alt+Tab = Cycles through windows(Can be combined with reverse tab)

Ctrl+S = Save

Ctrl+Shift+Delete = Task Manager

Alt+F4 = Close window(Good for a quick closing of windows if held, also brings up shut down windows prompt)

Ctrl+N = Opens another of the current program you are running(most of the time)

Alt+Random Numpad Sequences = Special things like this ☻☺≡Å≈(Num lock must be on)

 

[Ex-User (9062)]

Ctrl+F let's you find things.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

http://urlquery.net/

urlQuery.net is a service for detecting and analyzing web-based malware. It provides detailed information about the activities a browser does while visiting a site and presents the information for further analysis.

http://betterds3.ciebiera.net/

Better DS3
Offline MotioninJoy [gamepad] driver configuration tool.

^ Better than MotionJoy, and works for Xbox also.

 

[Coolydudey]

KeyLemon - facial recognition sign-in. Even the free version works great for me. Windows and Mac.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Wolfram Alpha, the site which used to offer free step by step math help, has a program called Mathematica that will perform the same kind of help.

You can register with WolframAlpha under your college and see if Mathematica is offered for free.

 

[Fukyo]

On 7th September Microsoft downloaded up to 6 GB of files for a Windows 10 upgrade on all Windows 7 and 8 machines regardless of whether you reserved a copy of Windows 10 or not. The hidden download is tied to an "important" ambiguously described update purportedly fixing OS issues. If you don't want to upgrade to Windows 10 and want to retrieve your file space I used this tutorial

http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/what-is-the-windows-bt-folder-on-my-hard-drive/

After uninstalling the update you will have to hide it because it will otherwise just download and install again.

 

[stoopid]

If you're a "Mind Mapper" and love flowing things together, check out blumind. It's only available for windows, i believe. I have separate HDD with windows on it just to use the damn application. It has functionality in anything you need to document. Trust me and go get blumind.... NOW! If you don't your life will be severely impacted and you will suffer the pain of not having even better documentation tools. (And it's free, with no upgraded packages or spam to get more features for money) Absolutely elite.

Blumind - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Pulled from cnet.download


Editors' Review

-
by: Download.com staff on January 29, 2012
Blumind--it's like "Blue-Mind," not "Bloomin'"--is freeware that creates mind maps, those diagrams dominated by a central idea or goal, with elements, subconcepts, and other related things radiating outward. They can plot everything from sewage systems to philosophies, as simple as your breakfast diet or as complex as quantum physics. Any concept that can be centralized and studied in parts can be mapped with Blumind's easy-to-use graphical tools and handy themes.
Blumind works like a graphics tool but looks like a browser, with tabs, a Menu button, and sidebars. But the tabs open New Documents, not Web pages, and the toolbar and sidebars have program-specific options, such as our new document's Center Topic object and its configuration options in the Property sidebar, which changes the color of objects, fonts, and backgrounds. Blumind offers many preconfigured color schemes under the Themes menu. We could customize these themes or create our own. We started our New Document by creating a name, shape, color, and other attributes for our Center Topic. Right-clicking it let us add level after level of Subtopics, which linked themselves automatically to the Center Topic. A handy list kept track of our many submenus in a sidebar. In no time we'd added and labeled numerous Subtopic as well as Icons, Progress Bars, and Notes. No matter how far-flung our map became, we could collapse and expand all or parts of it from the Folding menu. We could save and export our map in eight different formats: JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, TIFF, SVG, FreeMind, and Text.
With the ability to customize Icons and other objects, Blumind can create highly personalized or specialized mind maps for business, education, projects, and many other uses. Its right-click menus let us add and configure ideas and concepts as they appeared instead of having to save them elsewhere and draw them up when we had time to sit down and do it (which is when, exactly?). Blumind made it easy to create, save, and export detailed yet legible mind maps.

Publisher's Description

From Blumind: Blumind is a lightweight and powerful mind mapping tool. It has simple and easy user interface, multiple document editing, supporting for multiple languages. It supports some chart layouts, such as: organization chart, tree diagram, logic diagram, multiple export formats, including all common image formats, and svg, text, and color themes, the program built in a lot of themes, and can be customized by user or installed outside themes.

 

[Limey]

Don't use your ISP's DNS servers. Use Google's at 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
Their performance is high, you might achieve lookups faster than your own ISP and they will have better uptime, especially if your ISP is Time Warner/Spectrum

 

[BurnedOut]

Dictionary Anywhere â Get this Extension for ð¦ Firefox (en-US)

Download Dictionary Anywhere for Firefox. View definitions easily as you browse the web. Double-click any word to view its definition in a small pop-up bubble. It also supports Spanish, German, French language alongside English. Enjoy Reading Uninterrupted!!!.

addons.mozilla.org

The link in the OP redirects to a chinese machine selling website.

If you're using GNU Linux, then use qstardict.

One of the most amazing open source tools if you use regularly use youtube for music or downloading stuff is youtube-dl

First install python3 in your windows/distro. Then install youtube-dl through pip and enjoy using it.

 

[birdsnestfern]

Control F5 refreshes a web page, I use it all the time.

Control Print Screen and paste into Paint and save as JPG type with a new name. (Can save anything like your current desktop or paintings or art online so you can print them out in on a good printer for wall art).

Control C and Control V is another option to copy and paste content on a screen and Control P to print.

 

[dr froyd]

alt + D puts the cursor in the web-address line in most web browsers

ctrl + T opens a new tab but that's probably known to most

 

[ZenRaiden]

ctrl + T opens a new tab but that's probably known to most

Nice, just heads up in firefox it gives a tool bar open. Which is cool too.

 

[Hourglass]

Cool tech tips:
-If hundreds of tabs and browsers are opened on a computer that can increase the chances of freezing your computer screen
-Putting a computer into a refrigerator makes it cool

I do not recommend any of these cool tech tips

 

[birdsnestfern]

Before replying to commercial and sometimes personal email, hover over the 'from' email address to read the full address.
If it has a legitimate email address with no extra gobblydegook, its likely ok.
Anything that is spam will have additional letters and you'll know its fake.

For instance, you get a gift card from Sams club, but you want to know if its genuine. Hover with the mouse on the 'From' email and if it isn't specifically from Samsclub, delete it. This one is from some side advertiser that I don't trust for example, so I'm deleting it.

Its from contact@accessiblebutton.com - so I know its garbage. But sometimes you can't tell unless you hover on it.

 

[dr froyd]

ive found a way to skip ads on youtube (without an ad blocker)

youtube lets you skip the ad if you come back to a video within a certain time window, so when you open a video, you just click a random video on right hand side menu, then immediately go back to the original video

 

[birdsnestfern]

Just something to be aware of, especially if you have devices that can listen to you type:


For Christians, you can text with Jesus and Mary now, lol and I think you can also do this with Hobbit and celebrity figures:

Bing AI's celebrity mode helped me speak to 7 famous stars, politicians, and fictional characters. Some were too robotic, while others were pretty convincing.

Users of Microsoft's Bing AI chatbot discovered a secret mode that can impersonate celebrities, politicians, and fictional characters.

www.businessinsider.com

Bing Chat has a secret ‘Celebrity’ mode to impersonate celebrities

A secret Bing Chat 'Celebrity' mode allows users to instruct the AI to impersonate celebrities, answering questions and talking like the person it imitates.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

 

[birdsnestfern]

How To Block Windows 11 Update

Need to Block Windows 11 Update? Don't worry, here's some handy steps to block automatic Windows 11 updates.

www.pcguide.com

 

[birdsnestfern]

Probably can't read these old class notes on OHMS, but I used to have neat handwriting once upon a time and studied electronic assembly.

How to read resistor bands:

https://www.arrow.com/en/research-and-events/articles/resistor-color-code

The third band represents the number of zero's following the first two numbers (Multiplier).
The last band color on the resistor (furthest right) is where the decimal point goes.

Pick your favorite phrase to memorize resistor color codes:

Acronym	Definition
BBROYGBVGW	Bad Booze Rots Our Young Guts, But Vodka Goes Well
BBROYGBVGW	Bad Boys Race Our Young Girls But Violet Generally Wins
BBROYGBVGW	Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Grey White
BBROYGBVGW	Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Venture Goes West
BBROYGBVGW	Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well
BBROYGBVGW	Bye Bye Rosie, Off You Go, Bristol Via Great Western
BBROYGBVGW	B.B. Roy of Great Britain Has a Very Good Wife

0=Black
1=Brown
2=Red
3=Orange
4=Yellow
5=Green
6=Blue
7=Violet
8=Grey
9=White
Gold= ONE decimal point
Silver =TWO decimal points

If the resister has these bands:

Blue Brown Red with last band Black = 612 ohms
Blue Brown Red with last band Gold = 61.2 ohms
Blue Brown Red with last band Silver = 6.12 ohms
Blue Brown Red with last band Brown = 6.12K ohms
Blue Brown Red with last band Red = 61.2K ohms
Blue Brown Red with last band Orange = 612k ohms

 

[ZenRaiden]

Wolfram Alpha, the site which used to offer free step by step math help, has a program called Mathematica that will perform the same kind of help.

You can register with WolframAlpha under your college and see if Mathematica is offered for free.

Look up ISS or any space object on Wolfram Alpha, then go outside when its above you to see it.
It takes one and half hour roughly for ISS to go round.
You won't miss it, unless its super cloudy, or way of center of view.
I think the Chinese station is more visible for some reasons.

iss - Wolfram|Alpha

Wolfram|Alpha brings expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels.

www.wolframalpha.com

chinese space station - Wolfram|Alpha

Wolfram|Alpha brings expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels.

www.wolframalpha.com

 

[birdsnestfern]

Its not exactly a tech tip, more a do it yourself tip.

Found this on a buy nothing group where someone was asking for a stud finder.

If you don't want to buy a stud finder (for home projects like hanging pictures, etc) here is a practical tip, just use a magnet.

Find the screws in the drywall with a magnet and there's your stud.
Take off a receptacle plate and poke a small screwdriver on the left or right side in between the receptacle box and the drywall stay away from the electrical wires one side of it will be a stud use your tape measure on the ground start the tape measure in the middle of the stud you found the 2x4 is an inch and a quarter then all the red marks ( 16" on center) on the tape measure will be your stud layout.