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Late last year I wrote about Shortmarks (see blog post), a web-based service that provides a faster way to visit the web. For example, when I type the letter h in my browser’s address box, I’m whisked to my college’s website; the h is short for Highline Community College. The letters bn take me to Barnes and Noble. If in my browser’s address bar, I type bn Bird Sense, the Barnes and Noble site is automatically searched for books titled Bird Sense. (Side note: I just finished this book by Tim Birkhead. I highly recommend it for anyone with even a passing interest in birds.)Read More →

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As more and more people are moving to Gmail, some are missing the spellcheck feature of their former email program. Gmail does have spellcheck, but it’s not check-as-you-type. When you are done composing a message, click the “Check Spelling” link on the new message’s toolbar. For the curious, “Suggest Times to Meet” is a feature of the Boomerang add-on for Gmail. See this blog post for more information on Boomerang. Spellchecking in browsers. In most browsers, however, you already have a spellchecker built in. Spellchecking in Firefox is on by default. It will only work in text boxes that allow you to enter 2 orRead More →

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In June I wrote about a new tool, KeyRocket, designed to help you learn keyboard shortcuts for MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. KeyRocket now has a version available for those who use Chrome to access Gmail. Did you know that Gmail has keyboard shortcuts? KeyRocket tells you what they are as you use Gmail. Keep reading, you’ll see what I mean. Installing KeyRocket. Get KeyRocket for Gmail from the Chrome Web Store; it’s called “Shortcuts for Gmail.” After it is installed, you will be directed to the settings screen in Gmail. In the “keyboard shortcuts” section of the page, make sure keyboard shortcuts are turnedRead More →

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Boomerang Calendar, a gmail addin, looks for date/time information in your incoming gmail messages, compares them against your Google Calendar entries, and lets you know if you’re free or not, and then lets you schedule a time. It also allows you to easily propose meeting times to individuals or groups. I sent this message to my gmail account. This is what it looked like when I opened it in gmail. Boomerang Calendar identified date/time information, and looked at those time slots in my Google Calendar. Green means I’m free, yellow means that the time is bumping up against another appointment, and red means I’m alreadyRead More →

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A couple months ago I wrote about a new tool that just launched. KeyRocket has grown up in that short time. Time for an update. Ready to learn some keyboard shortcuts for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook? Download KeyRocket, and you’ll have your own tutorial. As you work, KeyRocket recognizes when you use the toolbar and will suggest a keyboard shortcut to accomplish the same task. (Free for personal and non-commercial use; subscribe for $5/month for tech support and advanced setup with your business.) [Note: When KeyRocket first launched in beta, free users could only choose one of the four commonly used Microsoft Office tools.Read More →

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[Update 5/21/2012: Dropquest deadline is June 2, 2012.  Check out Dropbox’s new “get space” page.] Last year Dropbox hosted a scavenger hunt of sorts that awarded players extra Dropbox space. They’re ready to launch the second incarnation. As you solve the puzzles, space is added to your Dropbox account. If you finish the hunt, you’re guaranteed at least 1GB of extra space. The first batch to finish get some additional prizes. 1st place (1) Dropbox employee hoodie, LIMITED EDITION Dropbox Hack Week t-shirt, Dropbox drawing signed by the entire Dropbox team, invitation to help write the next Dropquest, 100 GB for life 2nd place (10) Dropbox employeeRead More →

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The newest Dropbox feature, made available to all on 4/23/2012, is “get link.” You no longer have to put content in a public folder to share it. Open your Dropbox folder, right click on the filename or folder (yes, I said folder!), and under “Dropbox” select “Get link”. Or if you’re accessing your files from the Dropbox.com website, mouse over any file or folder, then click the “Get link” icon. If you choose to share just a file, your file will open in your browser. Copy the URL from your browser to share with whomever you’d like. The recipients can view the file in theRead More →

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[Update 6/6/2012 : See this newer blog post on KeyRocket.] I’m a fan of keyboard shortcuts. A few months ago I wrote a blog post on Shortmarks, a service that lets you create shortcuts to websites. This time I’m writing about KeyRocket, a tool that helps you learn keyboard shortcuts in Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. (In the free version, choose one; in the $5/month version, choose all three.) After installing KeyRocket, I chose to use it with Word. When I highlighted text and clicked the “U” button on the Home tab, this popped up in the lower right corner of my screen. And then afterRead More →

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I sometimes use my computer’s desktop to store newly-created files or newly-downloaded files that I’m working on. On more than one occasion I have gotten home only to realize that the files I want are on my work desktop. A solution comes to us from this Lifehacker blog post. The author of the post goes so far as to sync both desktops. That’s more than what I need. I just want to access the files on my work desktop from home. The solution: Change the location of my work computer’s desktop folder. (Did you know that what shows on your desktop is just stuff stored inRead More →

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Dropbox users, If you’ve visited the Dropbox.com website recently, you’ve noticed some changes. The site is now ‘cleaner’ and easier to use – not that it was difficult before. For those of you who spend a goodly bit of time accessing your Dropbox files from the web interface, there are some features for you. Right-click on a folder to share, download, delete, rename, copy, or move. Right-click on a file to download, delete, rename, copy, move, or view previous versions. Click and drag on multiple folders or files to select more than one. Drag and drop files or folders to move them. Looking at imagesRead More →