WebGyver Revisited

21.5 cents per blank DVD-R

Posted by admin on April 20, 2009  |  1 Comment

Time-sensitive post: This post refers to an offer I received in my in-box on or about April 20, 2009. Because I have no idea how long this deal will last, I recommend you shop around and do some price comparison before taking my word for it.

Usually, I hate to plug other people’s products or services, but this deal seems too good to keep it all to myself. You get 600 TAIYO YUDEN DVD-Rs for about $129.00 (plus free standard shipping).

Nope, I don’t get a commission! At any rate, if you’re interested in deals like this, go visit Supermediastore.com and poke around.

Don’t blame me, if you end up ordering more than one thing, though. These guys have some pretty good deals on electronics and computer supplies.

Changing the default “View Source” application in IE

Posted by admin on April 14, 2009  |  No Comments

The easiest way to switch the default application that handles the “View | Source” process in Internet Explorer is, in my opinion, using View Source Editor from Iconico Software.

The software is free. It’s amazingly simple. They don’t pay me a commission for plugging their product. No adware. No spyware. And have I mentioned already that it is simple and fast?

View Source Editor Download Link

However, if you crave pain and that “do it yourself” feeling, you can also use the Windows Registry to change IE’s default handling of displaying the source code for web pages.

The blog editor at My Digital Life has a nice explanation of the process posted. Here’s a preview of what they have to say:

Make Gmail Your Firefox Default E-Mail Client

Posted by admin on April 1, 2009  |  No Comments

There are some things in life that I just take for granted. Having e-mail links (mailto) in Firefox open up Gmail was one of them, until I had to start all over with a new computer at work.

To associate Gmail quickly with mailto links in Firefox, open up Firefox and go to Tools | Options | Applications. Then scroll down until you see the row with the “mailto” content type, and select “Use Gmail” from the list of available options next to it.

Then click OK and get out of there.

If you’re interested in additional information about making Gmail your default e-mail client, please check out Robby Stein’s tips at the Official Gmail Blog.

Hope that helps.

Finetune the Windows Search Utility

Posted by admin on April 1, 2009  |  No Comments

Disclaimer: This is not an April Fools joke.

If you just can’t find a file that you know should exist somewhere on your Windows Server, and you’ve been reassured that you have administrator rights, take a quick look under the hood of the built-in Windows Search utility.

By default (it seems), the “Search hidden files and folders” option has been turned off in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

This is very annoying, especially when you go to the trouble of setting up all Windows directory options to show hidden & protected files (in Windows Explorer by way of Tools / Folder Options / View).

Nonetheless, there is no connection between those settings and the scope of the Search utility.

To illustrate the terrible side effects all of this can have: Recently, I made a complete fool of myself in front of Marketing and Corporate IT, because I couldn’t find another employee’s Dreamweaver cache file in that user’s profile. Then I started digging through the directory manually and eventually stumbled across the file (which, of course, was not in a documented location, since they are using the latest version of Dreamweaver CS4).

Surely, I thought, the Search utility should find it now. Wrong. Even searching through the file’s parent directory — knowing the file was there — came up empty. As tedious as it seemed at the time, I poked around with the Search utility, turned on that important setting, and suddenly the files started showing up in the search results.

And then I started writing apology e-mail messages to everyone.