So if you are anything like me you will be a little sick of seeing the same Microsoft blue everywhere you look. Don’t despair I just worked out how to change the appearance (i.e. Skin) of Outlook 2007. It is actually very easy but not obvious – probably why I only discovered it today.
Now you can choose a nice black theme to match your Vista Transformation Pack or Nasa Night Launch theme for Firefox. That rocks!
Outlook Skin Screenshot Black
linkage: via qbd
The media browsers and database collections of most digital DJ mixing systems can be a bit painful to use (e.g. Virtual DJ). I have found that accurately tagging my collection in another program like Media Monkey and then copying the collection over in bulk to the mixing laptop is the best method of managing my collection.
Every incoming file on my computer automatically ends up in a folder called _untested. The _untested folder is further divided into sub folders Completed Torrents, From People, GetRight, and Soul Seek . In each root folder there will be individual files like in the picture below
Whenever I have the time I troll through all the folders and clean them out. All the software gets deleted or moved to the Software Drive (S:), same for the Watching Pleasure (W:). All the music I extract and play next in Media Monkey. I quickly skip through a few tracks to get a feel for genre of the album. I’ll delete the whole album fairly ruthlessly if it sounds at all cheesy or not really my style.
In modern operating systems a whole new approach is opened once you start to script repetitive tasks so that you NEVER have to do them again. All you have to do is run the script – and that annoying task is completed. Computers are probably the easiest place in the world to automate a task, so why not start taking advantage of automation and script something today!
Having just reinstalled WinXP as my Vista RC2 is reaching the end of it’s [time limited, and performance restricted] lifespan, I took the time to tweak all the services that start up in a default install on WinXP. I disabled everything that I thought I safely could while still retaining a fully functioning system using guides I found online here. All seems to be running smoothly (and blindingly fast after Vista, even without the Omega video drivers). I did have to re-enable the HIDServ service (Human Interface Device service) which handles keyboards and the like . I found that the extra buttons on my keyboard (things like Play, and Track Advance, which I use so frequently) weren’t working with it disabled.
I’ve started a page with links to all the software that I tend to install once I’ve re-installed Windoze. It is the core list of essential applications that I need just to get through the week. The idea is to have a clean image of a Windoze installation with everything set up and ready to go that you can restore in just a few minutes.
linkage: software to install
So you’re a pretty savvy computer user. You know how to change your desktop wallpaper, you can remove spyware and keep your computer updated with Windoze update. You’ve mastered files and folders, and haven’t lost anything in age. You’ve got the hang of mp3’s, and have watched some video’s online with YouTube. You’ve heard that you can download anything from the Internet but you haven’t had much luck by googling for things to download.
Today I’m going to walk you through how to use Zuedo aka. Azureus, a BitTorrent client to download files from the Internet.
The first thing you will need to do is download the latest version of Azureus (4MB). Install i. If you see this message
then you don’t have the Java Runtime Environment installed – and you’ll need to click the Download (10MB) button to get it. It will install automatically then the Azureus installer will carry on. On all the screens just click next, accepting the agreement when prompted. The install will take a couple of minutes. Click finish and Azureus will start.
This is just a test post trying to show the people who are having difficulties with getting their YouTube embedded videos to show up, that their code is ok.
Never fear. The clever data modelers over at ideogram.com have a collection of amazingly beautiful diagrams explaining to solve any problem. Have a look and then see if you and a few friends can’t solve the human need for violence of the body and mind.
linkage: how to solve complex problems
Here are some instructions to show you how to create an RSS news feed on any search string. It is pretty simple to do and great if you have special interests, but no good portal site to do the combining for you.
Simply copy this string:
http://news.google.com/news?q=global%20peace&output=rss
and replace the global%20peace with the search stirng of your choice. For every space add %20
You can see mine in the menu to the right (well you could in October 2006)
Thats it. You can go home now.
If you wanted it on your site in WordPress your theme would have to be able to display Sidebar Widgets so that you can add an RSS box.
click here to see how to put that into your WordPress Sidebar Widgets
lifehacker
