Download AutoIt

Have you ever wanted to automate some of your more repetitive Windows or DOS tasks?
Well now you can using a freeware tool called AutoIt. AutoIt is an easy to use automation program that allows you to convert EXE files to AutoIt scripts then launch the newly converted script. The power in this application lies within it’s ability to pass parameters to the script at run time. This software could be used in conjunction with my previous How to remote shutdown windows using a text message and outlook express .

AutoIt is a simple tool that can simulate key presses, mouse movements and window commands (maximize, minimize, wait for, etc.) in order to automate any windows based task (or even windowed DOS tasks).

When AutoIt is executed, it reads a specified script file. This script file allows AutoIt to perform a number of functions, these include:
• Executing programs (Windows applications, DOS commands, etc.)
• Sending keystrokes and mouse clicks (all characters, keyboard layout independent).
• Window functions (e.g. minimizing, hiding, restoring, waiting for, activating).
• Simple text clipboard functions.
• Simple registry functions.
• Simple string and variable functions.

[TAGS] Automation, Automation Software, Macros, Windows Automation, Productivity[/TAGS]

It started as a hi-tech relaxation technique for burnt-out executives. Now everyone from schoolchildren to sports stars are discovering the seemingly miraculous benefits of Heartmath. Jerome Burne investigates

I recently came across this article on alleviating stress.

A cure for stress? [via Independent Online Edition]

[TAGS] Stress, Relaxation, Cure for stress, Alleviating Stress[/TAGS]

This is an interesting invention. It is a firearm attachment allowing the gunman to see and shoot around corners. Cleverly named “Corner Shot”, this piece of equipment can adapt to virtually any firearm. With features including a 40mm grenade launcher this is by far the coolest thing since the tank.

[TAGS]Future Weapons, Hi Tech Weapons, Guns, Custom Guns[/TAGS]

Password protect your computer with a bar code reader

Barcode readers can be used for a lot of useful things, inventory products, and store information. One of my favorite things to use a barcode reader for is password protection on my computer. In order to do this you have to first find a usb or inline keyboard barcode reader. I recommend checking ebay they are usually pretty cheap on there.

How to make homemade Frappuccino

Have you ever wondered how hard it would actually be to make something similar in taste to the famous Starbucks Frappuccino? Well you might be surprised at just how easy it is to make one of these tasty beverages in your own kitchen.

6 Ways to make airport security painless

The idea behind this method is be prepared for the security check and things will move in a more timely fashion. This is not an article on how to avoid being the lucky flyer number 23 who is submitted to a full body cavity search. It is however an article featuring 6 ways for you to optimize your luggage. Doing so will ensure that if and when you do get stopped the delay will be minimized.

Lost? Get maps from Google Mobile Maps on your cellphone

Now you can get gps directions anywhere from your cellphone. Never get lost again thanks to Google Mobile Maps.

Removing candle wax with an iron

If you have ever spilled hot wax on fabric or carpet you may have thought it would be impossible to remove. Well I have a little tip to pass on that helped me out of a jam when I spilled hot wax all over a table cloth.

Backup/Edit your cell phone data

The goal of this article is to enlighten you to the concept of backing up/modifying data from your mobile phone (e.g. Contacts, Picture(s), Video(s), etc). Using a free open source tool called bitpim and a data cable you can easily download and edit your mobile phones contents.

Have you ever noticed the effect an array of coax can have on the look and feel of your living room? Well now you can minimize the cables with this handy gadget.

These units are designed to take an audio and video signal from an A/V device (like a VCR, DVD player, or some cable boxes with audio-video outputs) and send it to another part of the house. There are two parts to this system, a transmitter that is attached to the AV device and a receiver that goes next to the remote TV. The transmitter takes the signals from the Audio and Video jacks on the AV device and beams it over to the companion receiver next to the remote TV.

I found an interesting product over at SmartHome.com that is perfect for the job. The 2.4GHz Wireless Video Transmission System was just what the doctor ordered after deciding I wanted to run cable to my garage. I am working on having Windows Media Center up and running in my garage. With the weather getting warmer I wanted to spend more time outdoors while still maintaining my websites and emails. I wonder if this could be used to transmit cable internet from the main cable box to my cable modem ? I know you could just setup a wireless network to get internet to a garage or other part of your home. However that was not going to solve my no cable issue. This device is affordable and very well worth it I recommend it.

[TAGS] Home DIY, DIY, Wireless Cable TV, Home Theater, Garage Gadgets[/Tags]

When we use the internet to look for resources, shop for gifts, and other online activities every aspect of your surfing habits are usually stored in a sites web server logs including IP address, browser type, operating system, and even what site you came from. For some this may be no problem, for others it is a direct invasion of privacy. Well now you can surf anonymously using www.anonymouse.org. There are a lot of these types of proxy sites which allow your IP and computer information to be masked. If you are concerned about your privacy online you might want to use one. If you are really concerned about privacy there is software such as hideip that run on your computer continuously masking your info using different proxy servers.

First off I am by far not an interior decorator. These are just a few ideas I have for LifeHacker.com reader and student Sigbjørn to spruce up his dorm room. This article can be applied to a similar situation in an apartment or flat.
Hint: A quick way to cover up holes in a wall without spackle is to use white toothpaste. This is an old trick I have used for years. I am not advising anyone to go against their lease or dorm policy and put holes in the wall, just a quick tip.

1.You do not really need to make holes to hang items on the wall. There are several damage free wall hanging solution available at an affordable cost. Some of these solutions even accommodate brick mortar walls as well.

For hanging items on brick walls I found the following items online.

Brick and Mortar wall hangers

More Brick and Mortar wall hangers

For hanging items on a conventional wall I found the following products.

3M Wall hangers

3M Mounting Strips

2.Another solution to the NO HOLES IN WALL policy is to erect your own wall. This could be done fairly easy. I recommend having a look at MakeZine.com for any insight on this. However if your not a handyman or just do not have time to build a wall. You could buy cubicle walls from an office supply store, put them up, and decorate them. I found the following online for under $200 at Office Depot.

Cubicle Walls from Office Depot

3.For added flexibility check out Poster Changer. Poster Changer is a simple poster solution which allows you to hang posters of variable sizes and change them at anytime with ease. Used in conjunction with one of the NO HOLES hanging solutions mentioned earlier this is not a bad idea.

Poster Changer

4.Don’t paint your walls reflect colored light off them using mood lamps or spot lamps with colored bulbs. This will give you a more cozy feeling without the paint and you can easily change colors. You could also purchase a wall light that changes color to achieve a different result. I found a nice solution for this online that implements LED lighting technology. LED is a better lighting source because the bulbs will last forever and they have a lower power consumption than conventional light bulbs.

LED powered wall mood light

5.Use fabrics to soften up the hard edges in a room. You can use fabrics from any fabric store to give any room a softer look to it. You will however have to take into consideration the weight of the fabric if you do not want to make any holes in the wall. Hanging fabric over a wall is also a good way to reduce noise in a reading or study area.

6.Don’t forget to checkout Crib Candy for some unique furnishings when you finish decorating. Hopefully this article will help you decorate your space without the dreaded holes in the wall.

Forecastfox Enhanced is an excellent addition to the Firefox browser. This little extension will display your local weather forecast continuously in your browser’s status bar.

Adding bulk watermark’s in Photoshop

You have just finished taking some digital photo’s with your new digital camera and want to share them on say Flickr.com. Adding watermarks to photo’s is always a good idea, especially when they are of high quality and or high resolution. Creating the watermark’s by hand would take forever right? Wrong, thanks to Photoshop’s Actions palette you can write a simple action to automate the task.

Getting Started

Open up a file to work with while we complete the initial steps for creating the action. The action palette has five functions stop, play, record, new, and delete. Start by clicking on the new button in the actions palette and name it watermark as shown below.

You will also notice I selected Shit and F9 as my function key. A function key is a key combination defined in an action. When the key combo or hot key’s are pressed the action is executed.

When finished, click the record button to the right of the dialog box. Your actions are now being recorded so begin the process of creating your watermark. Select the type tool and choose a font, size, and color from the type toolbar. Also be sure to select Right Align Text tab shown below. Set the opacity to a lower value as shown below.

When you get your watermark looking the way you want it you can press the stop button on the actions palette. Your action is now ready to use on any photo you like. Since we selected Right Align Text our watermark text will always be in the same position regardless of the photo dimensions.

[TAGS]Photoshop Tutorials, Watermarks, Copyright Image Tutorial, Graphic Design, Photography[/TAGS]

KeePass Password Safe is a free, open-source, light-weight and easy-to-use password manager for Windows. You can store your passwords in a highly-encrypted database, which is locked with one master key or key-disk.

[TAGS]Security Tools, Password Storage, Password Manager, Top Downloads, KeepPass Pasword Safe[/TAGS]

The Xbox Linux Project aims to provide a version of GNU/Linux for the Xbox, so that it can be used as an ordinary computer. Linux should make use of all Xbox hardware and allow to install and run software from standard i386 Linux distributions.

The Xbox is an IBM PC, with one difference: It only runs code authorized by Microsoft, i.e. all executables have to be signed with Microsoft’s private key. That’s why Linux won’t run if you simply insert the Xbox Linux install CD into a standard Xbox.

But now, there are several ways to circumvent this limitation:

* The 007/Mechassault method
* The Dashboard method
* The onboard TSOP method

Please note that depending on your local law, these methods might void your warranty. We will not be responsible for any damage done to your Xbox - or yourself…

Resources

Read the wiki howto
Download Files

Linux on the Xbox 360

[TAGS]Linux Xbox, Linux Xbox 360, Xbox Hacks[/TAGS]

Barcode readers can be used for a lot of useful things, inventory products, and store information. One of my favorite things to use a barcode reader for is password protection on my computer. In order to do this you have to first find a usb or inline keyboard barcode reader. I recommend checking ebay they are usually pretty cheap on there.

Then all you have to do is generate your password in barcode format. There are several software titles out there that will do this for you. I use Barcodes Inc. to generate all my barcodes for me. It is a fast way to make one, it’s FREE and you can’t print it when you’re done. Now since we are going to be using barcode values to type our password for us we won’t even actually need to know our password. So go to “Barcodes Inc.” generate your barcode and print it out. Now with your barcode reader plugged in and responding go to your change password prompt for whatever operating system you are using (Windows/Linux/MAC OSX) and click in the new password field then scan your bar code. Your password has now been set to the value of the barcode. In addition to this you could type and additional pass phrase to add a two part authentication system in case you ever lost your barcode someone could not access your system. Also another tip is you may already have a barcode you could use laying around. Many grocery stores carry customer loyalty programs and on the back of the little plastic cards are barcodes. Try and find one you could keep on your keychain for convenience. Be sure to have a duplicate somewhere if your barcode contains a hard to remember random string as its value. Doing so will ensure that you do not render your computer useless.
[tags]Barcodes,barcode readers,technology,DIY,passwords,authentication,login, Computer Security, Passwords [/tags]

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[TAGS]Blog Advertising, Buy Blog Ads[/TAGS]

Now you can get gps directions anywhere from your cellphone. Google Mobile Maps is the latest tool from Google featuring the familiar Google Maps interface in the palm of your hand. To use Google Mobile Maps point your mobile phones web browser to http://www.google.com/gmm and download the free software. Then you only pay for the data transfer fee from your provider. You can usually get a plan to lower the cost of data transmission. For full instructions and an online tour visit http://www.google.com/gmm

[TAGS]Google, Google Mobile Maps, Google Mobile Phone, Google Cellphone, Google Maps, Travel Tips[/TAGS]

Your Ad Here

Have you ever wondered how hard it would actually be to make something similar in taste to the famous Starbucks Frappuccino? Well you might be surprised at just how easy it is to make one of these tasty beverages in your own kitchen.

Starbucks Coffee Frappe

I N G R E D I E N T S
18 -22 Ice cubes, crushed
7 ounces Double-strength coffee, chilled
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons flavored syrup of choice (vanilla, hazelnut, -raspberry or other)

Whipped cream, garnish

I N S T R U C T I O N S
Place the ice, coffee, sugar and syrup in a blender. Blend until the frappe is smooth. Pour into a large, tall glass. Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream.

Find more great coffee recipes at Gourmet Sleuth : ABC How to make homemade Frappuccino
[tags]frappuccino, coffee, starbucks, whipped, syrup, sugar, frappe, homemade[/tags]

Wheres the plane?

[TAGS]Pentagon Video, 911 Videos, George Bush, Pentagon Plane Video, Pentagon[/TAGS]

If you have ever spilled hot wax on fabric or carpet you may have thought it would be impossible to remove. Well I have a little tip to pass on that helped me out of a jam when I spilled hot wax all over a table cloth. Pre heat an iron on medium heat, then take a damp (not soaked) wash cloth and place it over the area. Once your iron has warmed up begin ironing the wash cloth while it is positioned over the affected area. This will cause the wax to heat up and the moisture will attract the wax to the cloth, and away from the affected area.

[TAGS]Candle Wax, Removing Wax, Household Tricks, Household Secrets[/TAGS]

As some of the readers know I also work full time as a cellular agent for U.S. Cellular. Every day or two someone comes to me and say’s I would like to buy a cell phone to have in my car in case of an emergency. They also tell me that they don’t want to pay $40 a month to have this added bit of comfort when on the road.

Many people don’t know that the FCC regulates cell phones and has mandated that all cell phones regardless of current service status will be allowed to dial 911. You also have the option to bill your call to a credit card the next time your out of gas or similar.

Now before you go out and get yourself a 911 phone let me give you some insight on the limitations of dialing 911 from a disconnected cell phone. If you do not have a signal you may encounter complications when placing your call. Also be sure to state your location (as best you can) to ensure the dispatcher knows where to send assistance. When you call 911 from a disconnected cell phone no CID (or Caller Identification Data) is sent as with landline 911 calls. Another tip is to keep a good charge on the phone and have it powered off in the glove box. In addition you may also want to purchase a battery boost. This will give you an emergency reserve battery supply incase you are stranded for a prolonged period of time. The battery boost or cell boost are relatively cheap and can be purchased at most Radio Shack stores.