The fisher space space pen (www.spacepen.com) is a great pen. I’ve owned a few over the years. It is actually the pen designed for use by astronauts. Or rather, the ink was. It’s in a gas-pressurized ink cartridge, and it’s made of a thick ink like rubber cement that gets rolled out very smoothly, every time. It’s the smoothest writing instrument I’ve ever owned. The bullet pen (not pictured here) is very small and can fit in a wallet if it needs too, albeit a little bulgingly. The pen refills cost $5, but last a long, long time. Mine has lasted me a year so far, and has been used daily, sometimes quite a lot.
My choice is the X-750, on the left ($35, online, The Knife Shop, or Brookstone). It’s just a little bigger than the bullet (.5″ longer when collapsed), and it’s always in my pocket. Always. The grip is very good, although it presents my only problem with it. I use the pen so much that the grip is wearing down to the degree that I may actually replace it soon. When the pen is collapsed, it’s less than 5″ across. When the cap is open and on the other end, it’s about 6″, and the perfect length to write with.
The perfect take-anywhere pen.
There are also full length space pens too, like the original model space pen ($50). I want one of those, but it would be a home or work desk pen.
If you’re looking for a great pen that’s not too expensive (as nice pens go), get one of these. They haven’t let me down yet.
July 24th, 2008
by Chuck Sharp
I found this neat little article with some great suggestions:
How to Save on Buying a Computer.
I would also add a few more suggestions:
- Know, on paper, exactly what’s good enough. If you don’t need a flat screen, write that down. Do you need 1.75 terabytes of hard drive space? Probably not. Don’t buy a nicer computer than you need. It’s really, really easy to buy too much. Remember, you’ll likely want another PC in 3-4 years anyway. You can also upgrade or replace most components later if needed, and at lower cost due to technology efficiency increases.
- Know how much support and service you want. If you are a do-it-yourself person, then a store-bought PC with a one-year parts warranty is probably fine. If the thought of you replacing a PC part freaks you out, really consider the cost of in-home service warranties through Dell and HP. Note that you really have to buy the PC online through these stores if you want the service. It’s the only way I’d recommend getting a PC or notebook warranty. Also, if your prone to accidents, and buying a notebook, if the notebook costs close to $1000 or more, buy the accidental protection.
- Check online deal sites. Use sites like SearchAllDeals.com and DealDetectives.com to find really cheap deals.
- Compare online prices, even within the same company’s site. On Dell and HP sites, check PC specs and prices under both Home and Small Business sections, the pricing for very similiar PCs can vary significantly.
- Always check the local Sunday ads. I’ve bought my last several PCs and notebooks from Sunday ads from Staples and Circuit City, because the prices were in line with the bargains I found elsewhere and I could pick up the PC immediately.
July 22nd, 2008
by Chuck Sharp
Apparently, working at the main google office is akin to joining a nerd’s paradise country club. Check this out.
“We’ve been having it!” - Google
July 21st, 2008
by Chuck Sharp
This may be the best secret I’ve shared on this site, because you can benefit from it in five minutes. I’ve used the free Spacemonger program for several years now, and it’s usefulness is unparalleled. It does a simple thing: it graphically shows you how much of your disk is used by what. See this example screenshot:
This is just incredibly useful. You can maximize the window for greatest detail and see at a glance where the disk space is being used. You can drill down into a directory, and if you right click on a directory, you can open it in Windows Explorer for file management. By being able to see the size of files, especially relative to each other and the disk as a whole, it can easily help you answer questions that are otherwise perplexing.
Note that there is a newer version of this program, but it’s shareware and requires a paid registration. I personally don’t need any more functionality then what’s in this version, but to each his own.
Download Spacemonger 1.4
July 21st, 2008
by Chuck Sharp
Funny little blurb:
Lisa Simpson on Happiness vs Intelligence
July 17th, 2008
by Chuck Sharp
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go on a camping trip. After a good dinner, they retire for the night, and go to sleep.
Some hours later, Holmes wakes up and nudges his faithful friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”
“I see millions and millions of stars, Holmes” replies Watson.
“And what do you deduce from that?”
Watson ponders for a minute. “Well, astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful, and that we are a small and insignificant part of the universe.”
But what does it tell you, Holmes?”
Holmes is silent for a moment.
“Watson, you idiot!” he says. “Someone has stolen our tent!”
July 16th, 2008
by Chuck Sharp
Data access, for me, is all about getting access to the data I need, when I need it, wherever I need it, in a usable form. The major pieces of my strategy include universal email, PC, and file access, with data protection in place. I’ll explain each piece of the puzzle below.
Email access
I’ve decided to let other people handle my email. In particular, Google handles all of my email. I have all of my email accounts, except my work email, forwarded right to Gmail. I leave all email on Gmail’s system, so I can access it wherever I am. Because of Gmail’s larger file attachment size, I can even store file backups there, to a point. The fact is, Google can provide storage, security, spam filtering, and backups (data protection) to a degree that I could never approach. So, I let them. Because all emails are forwarded, I just need to check one email address for all non-work stuff. Very simple and accessible.
I also use Thunderbird to download copies of all of my Gmails to a local PC mailbox. These copies are my insurance in case of something happening to my online account. I never plan on using these local copies.
PC access
I use two tools to access my various PCs. I use Logmein to access my computers from “stranger” PCs - other family member’s or public PCs. Through a web page, I can get to my computer desktop, run apps, check email, etc. I can do work from home too.
However, if I want to connect from one of my PCs to another one, I use Hamachi to connect them all together. It creates a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Each PC runs the Hamachi client software and connects a network that I name. Every computer connected to my private virtual Hamachi network can see each other and I can then remote desktop to each from each other. Of course, this requires Windows XP or Vista Business, with Remote Desktop turned on. If you don’t meet that requirement, then Logmein is not a bad solution. However, hamachi is still nice because I can connect via SSH to my work Linux box, and I can also connect all my PCs together via shared network Windows folders (network shares).
Both Hamachi and Logmein are offered by the same company, and both have entirely usable free versions, which is what I use.
File replication
I’m currently using Foldershare to replicate files across multiple PCs. This amazing service is provided by Microsoft’s Windows Live group. You designate folders on PCs that are “libraries.” When 2 PCs have folders designated as the same library, any files added, deleted, or changed in one are immediately (or manually, if you prefer) syncronized with the other configured PCs. You can setup each library individually, so different PCs can share different data. It’s also possible to share libraries with others using Foldershare, but I haven’t tried it. I use the sync’ing features extensively though. My Pictures, Library, Files, and Bin directories are all their own Foldershare libraries, and each is sync’d to 3 or 4 PCs. On any of my PCs, I get access to the same set of files.
For remote access to your files, you can also login to the Foldershare website and access any files on any of your PCs using Foldershare. Amazing, free, and simple. Get it now!
Data protection
My data is fairly protected from a loss of one PC due to Foldershare, but very susceptible to accidental corruption or file deletion. I’ll harp on this more in another post, but due to that risk, I backup all of my data in several ways, including DVD, archive copies, and online backups through Mozy.
Music and Audio
This is a manual sync process, because my music collection is so big. I keep my music sync’d across all of my PCs, with my favorite music at least on my laptop. I have a huge archive of audio books and music on my home PC, backed up by Mozy and DVDs, and accessible through Hamachi if needed in a pinch. For the most part, I use Winamp playing my music at work or home, my Palm for playlist-friendly material like audio books, and my tiny Creative Zen Nano for my current favorite random music playlist. The Zen Nano stores 2GB, which is equal to a few hundred songs, which in turn equates to enough variety for about a week for me before I need to change it up.
Browser and Online
Of course, I use Firefox. I use two extensions in particular that are amazing for shared access. First, I use the Delicious plugin to access and save my Del.icio.us bookmarks through Firefox easily. I also use Foxmarks to replicate and backup my local non-delicious bookmarks. Bookmarks are the most important piece of the Firefox puzzle to me.
Calendar and Organizing Data
I use Outlook for calendar, address book, to do list (projects & next actions), and a ton of memos. This data all gets synchornized to my Palm TX. The calendar also gets sync’d to Google’s excellent calendar via Google Calendar Sync. I also subscribe to Plaxo’s free service, which syncs the calendar and address book with outlook (if you prefer that), Yahoo, Google, and it’s own online access site. This way, data is distributed far and wide, and usually accessible by me.
Summary
By managing email through gmail, using Logmein and Hamachi, Foldershare for data replication, utilizing Firefox bookmark managers, syncronizing personal data, and managing my music in the various ways I do, my data is always a browser away, at worst. At best, I have a device on me with the data I need, and each of my PCs is a customized workstation that I can use to get my work done.
July 15th, 2008
by Chuck Sharp
So, I reviewed Activewords awhile back. It’s very cool, easy, and powerful. Since Autohotkeys is free, however, and it does at least the vast majority of things that AW can, and many things AW can’t, I thought I’d give it a thorough go a couple of months ago.
Autohotkeys is a scripting language plus hotkey program. You can write little programs (scripts) that, when run, do their jobs and exit. However, you can edit a little script file called autohotkeys.ahk that, when run, loads and sits in your toolbar. From there, it watched all of your keystrokes. You can tell it what to do when certain keystrokes are hit.
This is powerful enough: it’s fairly easy set up all your most common programs, files, and websites to come up with a quick hotkey (windows key + W, or control+alt+E, etc). My problem is that I rarely remember these shortcuts.
My Autohotkeys.ahk file:
Here’s my autohotkeys.ahk (comment lines start with ‘;’):
; ‘#0′ means windows key + the 0 key. That key starts my file manager, Xplorer2 Lite.
#0::Run C:\Program Files\zabkat\xplorer2_lite\xplorer2_lite.exe %A_MyDocuments%\Files %A_MyDocuments%\In
; ‘#1′ = Windows key + 1. This loads my ‘chuck’s head’ mind map file (MindManager software)
#1::Run %A_MyDocuments%\files\Personal Management\me.mmap
; Loads gmail website in default browser (firefox of course)
#2::Run https://mail.google.com
; Windows+C starts up the calculater. Very useful.
#c::Run %SystemRoot%\system32\calc.exe
; Windows+g takes whatever’s highlited on the screen and google’s it.
#g::
Send ^c
Run http://www.google.com/search?q=%Clipboard%
Return
; Bring Outlook to the front if it’s loaded, otherwise start it.
#o::
IfWinExist ahk_class rctrl_renwnd32
WinActivate
else
Run c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\OUTLOOK.EXE
return
; Create a new task in outlook.
#k::
IfWinExist ahk_class rctrl_renwnd32
WinActivate
sleep 200
Send ^+k
return
; Windows+N will start Notepad++, a free notepad replacement, very convenient for a quick note
#n::
IfWinExist Notepad++
WinActivate
else
Run “C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe”
return
; The next 3 lines are interesting. These start new scripts that all work the same way. Explained below.
#w::Run %A_MyDocuments%\bin\webdial.ahk
#z::Run %A_MyDocuments%\bin\autowords.ahk
#b::Run %A_MyDocuments%\bin\bookmarks.ahk
; Edit this file.
#/::Edit
; Create a timestamped text entry in F:\timelog.txt
#i::
InputBox, logvar, Logger, Log entry?
FormatTime, TimeString,, MM-dd-yyyy hh:mm
FileAppend, %TimeString% %logvar%`n, F:\timelog.txt
return
; These are common misspellings and abbreviations, which AHK will automatically translate.
; Whenever ‘wsig’ is typed, my work signature will be typed out by AHK in any program
::wsig::Chuck Sharp, RHCE{enter}Server Team, XXXXXXXX{enter}(XXX) XXX-XXXX
;Common misspellings that will be auto-corrected anywhere I type them.
:C:DOne::Done
:C:CHuck::Chuck
:C:CHarles::Charles
:C:SHarp::Sharp
My Autowords answer to Activewords
Those AHK scripts referenced (rdp.ahk, autowords.ahk, etc) all work on the same logic: ask for a word, look for that word in a text file, and run the command that the text file tells it to. This is the real magic in my AHK implementation. It gives me the basic Activewords functionality I want, for free. Let me show you what a portion of my autowords.txt file looks like:
delicious,http://del.icio.us/chucksharp
dns,dnslookup.ahk
facebook,http://facebook.com
ilo,ilo.ahk
jott,http://jott.com
logmein,http://logmein.com
mountshares,mountshares.au3
rdp,rdp.ahk
reader,http://google.com/reader
ssh,putty.exe -load “work rhel”
When I press the combo Windows key + Z, I get this box:
When I type in, say, “reader” and press enter, AHK will load Google Reader in firefox. Quick and easy. Here’s the code to Autowords:
InDir = %A_MyDocuments%bin
InputMsg = "Enter word or for list:"
StringSplit MyNameTmp, A_ScriptName, `.
MyName = %MyNameTmp1%
infile = %InDir%%MyName%.txt
InputBox, OutputVar, %MyName%, %InputMsg%
If ErrorLevel
ExitApp
Else
{
If OutputVar =
{
; Create the ListView with two columns, Name and Size:
Gui, Add, ListView, r20 w700 gMyListView, Name|Run
Gui, Add, Button, Default, OK
; Gather a list of file names from a folder and put them into the ListView:
;Loop, %A_MyDocuments%*.*
; LV_Add("", A_LoopFileName, A_LoopFileSizeKB)
Loop, read, %infile%
{
StringSplit, ItemArray, A_LoopReadLine,`,,%A_Space%%A_Tab%
LV_Add("", ItemArray1, ItemArray2)
}
LV_ModifyCol() ; Auto-size each column to fit its contents.
; Display the window and return. The script will be notified whenever the user double clicks a row.
Gui, Show
return
}
Loop, read, %infile%
{
StringSplit, ItemArray, A_LoopReadLine,`,,%A_Space%%A_Tab%
If ItemArray1 = %OutputVar%
{
Run, %ItemArray2%,, UseErrorLevel
If ErrorLevel = ERROR
MsgBox Could not launch %ItemArray2%
ExitApp
}
}
MsgBox "%OutputVar%" not found
ExitApp
}
MyListView:
if A_GuiEvent <> DoubleClick
return
; Otherwise, the user double-clicked a list item, so treat that the same as pressing OK.
; So fall through to the next label.
ButtonOK:
RowNum := LV_GetNext()
;MsgBox %RowNum%
LV_GetText(RowText, RowNum, 2) ; Get the text from the row's second field.
;MsgBox %RowText%
Run, %RowText%,, UseErrorLevel
if ErrorLevel = ERROR
MsgBox Could not launch the specified file. Perhaps it is not associated with anything.
ExitApp
return
Esc::ExitApp
GuiClose: ; Indicate that the script should exit automatically when the window is closed.
ExitApp
How to use this script
- Install Autohotkey
- Download the script or cut and paste it into a file.
- Name the script whatever you want (with an .ahk extension), and put it into a directory called “bin” in your Documents folder.
- Whatever filenameyou chose, create a file called filename.txt, where filename should be replaced by whatever name you picked.
- Put entries in this text file like the examples I listed above.
- Run the script to test it, type in one of your words, and see what happens. If you want to see a list of words, hit enter.
- Put a shortcut in your autohotkey.ahk file like this: #z::Run %A_MyDocuments%\bin\autowords.ahk
- Run your autohotkey file (or reload it). When it’s running, you’ll see a green ‘H’ in the icon notification area in the lower corner of your screen.
- Press Windows key + Z to pull up the autowords text box.
July 12th, 2008
by Chuck Sharp
July 10th, 2008
by Chuck Sharp
I’m a little OCD, I think. I’ve been re-engineering my file organization scheme forever. I wanted a data management system that would allow me to easily find the files I am looking for, when they’re needed, and make it simpler to backup and sort my data. This takes the following pieces:
- A file organization scheme that is filed by subject and general data type.
- A disk partitioning scheme that would separate, as much as possible, the system and program files from data files.
- A backup system that would replicate my data away from my PCs, and create archive copies for point-in-time data snapshots.
- Data replication to keep updated versions of my files on my regular-use PCs.
- Windows preferences and software configured to make maintaining this system lazy and hands-off.
In this post, I’ll discuss my file organization scheme. Basically, it’s two levels deep. I have my documents folder, which then has directories for major data types. For me, this includes
- Audio/ - All my music and audio books go in here. This is my largest directory by far.
- Bin/ - Scripts, little programs, and portable apps go in here.
- Files/ - My own data. This is where my Word, Excel, and Mind Manager files go, along with any source code or other “creative” works. This, along with the Pictures directory, hold my most irreplaceable data.
- In/ - This is my digital Inbox. All downloads and new created documents go in here, first. It gets cleared and processed regularly.
- Library/ - This includes all the PDFs and Docs and Html files I’ve collected for reference. It also has the video and other media files I’ve kept, other than audio.
- Pictures/ - All digital pictures I’ve ever taken or collected, and some collected pictures from elsewhere, though those usually end up in the Library.
- Software/ - I keep a big, flat directory with purchased and newest-versions of many software programs that I like to keep close by.
I split up Files and Library so that I could copy or backup my own data quickly — Files/ is less than 2G by itself. Audio has separate directories for Books, Christian, Classical, and General. Files and Library look like this:
By using this strategy, I know where to put every file that comes in. It also segments the data in useful ways, which I’ll speak about in another post. What methods do you use for file organizing?
July 9th, 2008
by Chuck Sharp
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