There are a few ways to get your hands on Kevin Rudd’s stimulus package. One is to qualify for the $900 tax bonus payment. Another is to be Thérèse Rein. But, there’s something else Australians can do to get free stuff from the government, and all you have to do is complete a little online form. Thanks to the Australian Better Health Initiative, you can get—wait for it—five free tape measures, to support your ‘event’. Alternatively, you can download a PDF, print it out in 6 pieces, and stick your own tape measure together.
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A few months ago I set it up so I could run all the programs I commonly use from the Run command in Windows XP. Let me tell you, it’s awesome. It was something I’d been meaning to do for a while and now I could hardly live without it. Best of all, it’s very simple to do. Here’s my process:
- Make a directory somewhere; I used “C:\run\”.
- Fill the directory with shortcuts for evey program you want quick access to.
- You now have to make Windows look in that directory when you try to Run something. Go to Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables. In the ‘System variables’ section, find the PATH variable and click Edit. Scroll to the end of the ‘Variable value’ list (using Ctrl + right arrow, for example) and append a semicolon and the directory you filled with shortcuts; for example, “;C:\run\”.
And that’s it. You should now be able to run anything you’ve put in that directory with the Run command.
“Pitaschio is a freeware which makes it convenient to use Microsoft Windows.”
Imperfect English aside (the programmer is Japanese), that’s a nice description of Pitaschio. It can do a bunch of things to improve XP; I’m using it because it lets me have mouse/keyboard (including the middle mouse button) shortcuts to:
- Make any window always on top
- Roll up/down any window
- Minimize any window to the system tray/notification area
It comes with some strange default settings, so you’ll want to clear most of those out, but (if you choose to set up in such a way) it’s totally uninvasive and just adds some features that Windows should have always had (especially always on top for any window.)
Also! It has mouse and keyboard cleaning tools which disable the respective devices while you’re cleaning them. It’s also got a statistics thing that seems to be keeping statistics on how far your mouse has travelled and percentages on keys and buttons you’ve pressed (apparently I wheel up instead of down 2/3rds of the time). And a Manage Windows thing that lists all currently open windows and lets you modify their position, size, etc. And there’s an extended file rename which lets you go to the previous and next files in Explorer with the arrow keys
Of course, these neat features are merely appetizers for the main course: when you mouse over the Pitaschio icon in the notification area, it tells you the moon’s current age (phase)! Amazing.
I’m posting this to help spread the word about the Steal This Film series and the movement it documents. In brief, there are two documentary films in the series, both are a bit more than half an hour in length. They’re about BitTorrent, P2P file sharing, and the free culture movement in general.
If you’ve ever downloaded a copyrighted song or movie from the internet, you have an obligation to watch these. If you have never done this, you also have an obligation. Because I say so. You can download them (for free, of course) through BitTorrent from stealthisfilm.com, or you can watch them streaming on Google Video (#1 and #2).
You will hopefully find these films to be thought-provoking—particularly the second one (so, if you’re only going to watch one, let it be that one). If you do watch these films and find yourself seeking more information, you’re clearly an intelligent person, and so you can do research on your own. I’d suggest you start by reading Free Culture (which I’ve previously blogged about), a book that’s freely available to read online (how fantastic is that!?).
Unlocker is a fantastic program that I have been using for some time. Basically, it allows you to unlock—and then delete/rename/edit/etc—any file that Windows says is currently in use. It’s simple, free, and works very well.
Volumouse is a tool which I have found useful. It lets you control your PC’s volume with the scrollwheel (and modifier keys). I’ve got a multimedia keyboard, so I can use that to control the global volume, but I’m using Volumouse to let me control the wave and line-in (for TV) independently so I can easily mix everything together.
Firefox 2 has been released, and in a word: fantastic. It’s not a revolution, but it’s certainly an evolution. Apart from the new features (which are numerous, including in-built session saving), it’s a lot more polished and responsive—for example, I have always been annoyed with the lag when downloading. No longer; it’s just how it should be. Visually, Firefox has also improved in minor but not-too-minor ways, which also improve the experience.
I’m thoroughly impressed by this. I expected a bunch of new features and options, but the improvements in speed and the interface have caught me by surprise. If you haven’t already, get it.
And, most exisiting extensions still work (with automatic updates required in some cases).
Stock.XCHNG. Over 200,000 free stock photos made by submitters. A very useful site.
BBC Religion & Ethics is an interesting website with in-depth discussions of many religious and ethical issues.