The Sisyphus Comments

Changing File Associations

Sometimes when you install a new program, it will change your files associations in Windows. For example a music playing software may change your associations so that when you click on an mp3 file the new program opens as the default player. Be careful when you are installing programs since this type of issue usually results from a check box option that the installer program selects by default. However, if a type of file get associated with the wrong program you can change it back to the program of your choice.

Open Windows Explorer. Click Start>>All Programs>>Accessories>>Windows Explorer. Find a music file (or the type of file you are trying to re-associate). Right-click it. Click Open With. If you don’t see the program you desire, click Choose Program, to view a more extensive list of programs. If your preferred program is still not listed, click Browse. Navigate to the program and file you’re seeking. Click Open. Back at the Open With window, select “Always use the selected program?” Click OK. That will change the association permanently.

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Google Advanced Operators

Google supports several advanced operators, which are query words that have special meaning to Google. Typically these operators modify the search in some way, or even tell Google to do a totally different type of search. For instance, “link:” is a special operator, and the query [link:www.google.com] doesn’t do a normal search but instead finds all web pages that have links to www.google.com.

Several of the more common operators use punctuation instead of words, or do not require a colon. Among these operators are OR, “” (the quote operator), – (the minus operator), and + (the plus operator). More information on these types of operators is available on the Basics of Search page. Many of these special operators are accessible from the Advanced Search page, but some are not. Below is a list of all the special operators Google supports.

CLICK HERE:

Google Advanced Operators

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Best Backup Practices

Any good backup solution should have three key properties: it should be used regularly, it should be reliable, and it should make recovery easy. Check out this article for the full story on developing an effective backup strategy.

CLICK HERE:

Best Backup Practices

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Website: WhatIfSports

A couple of beers and a few sports fans will almost always result in an argument over which team was the greatest in history. This site will let you find out. You can choose your teams and add some factors that will make the game interesting and the site generate results, including the game stats.

Why anyone would be interested in any sport other than football, I don’t understand but you can also choose baseball, hockey and basketball. Sign up and you can play in simulation leagues, choose your players and start playing against others. There are also fee based advanced features.

CLICK HERE:
WhatIfSports.com

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New Findings on Shell Ejection Patterns Clear Officer

TRUE or FALSE: Spent shell casings ejected from a semiautomatic handgun at a shooting scene can reliably tell where a shooter stood when he fired rounds.

In keeping with law enforcement lore, most officers, firearms trainers and crime scene investigators would likely say that’s true, given the operational consistency of a pistol’s ejection mechanism.

But the latest findings of the Force Science Research Center dispute that widely held belief and have the potential for changing the way many shootings are investigated.

This article was recommended by Lieutenant Greg Winston of the Roanoke County Sheriff’s Office.

CLICK HERE:

NEW FINDINGS ON SHELL EJECTION PATTERNS

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The Ultimate “Out of the Box” Thinker

“The world we have made as a result of the level of the thinking we have done thus far creates problems that we cannot solve at the same level (of consciousness) at which we have created them. . .We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humankind is to survive.”

Albert Einstein

This is why using “we have always done it this way” is no longer a valid reason for failing to innovate.

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Context Menu Options to Move or Copy Files

This is a really nice feature to add to your “right click” short menu. Remember, messing with your registry requires extreme care. Back up the registry before you make the change. If you don’t know what a registry is, don’t try this at home (or at work).

From PC Magazine (05042005)
By Neil J. Rubenking

You can add “Copy To Folder” and “Move To Folder” to the Windows Explorer context menu, so that when you right-click on a file or folder in Explorer you have the option to copy or move it to another folder. Start by launching RegEdit from the Start menu’s Run dialog. Navigate to the key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex
\ContextMenuHandlers.

Right-click on the ContextMenuHandlers entry and from the menu, select New | Key. Name the new key Copy To. Double-click on the (Default) value in the right-hand pane and set its data to {C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}. Click on OK, then right-click on the ContextMenuHandlers key and create another new key, naming this one Move To. Set the (Default) value for this one to {C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}. Click on OK and close the Registry Editor.

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The Value of Learning About Learning

For those of us who develop training for adults or workplace learning solutions, this is an especially interesting article about the value of learning about thinking and learning. Most adults need explicit instruction to develop learning skills that will keep them relevant in the employment market.

CLICK HERE:

The Value of Learning About Learning

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Skyline Cleaners – A First Class Outfit

In this world of fibs, bent rules and blame shifting, it rare to run into a person or business that goes against the trend. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Skyline Cleaners & Shirt Laundry on College Avenue in Salem is one such business.

My wife recently picked up a shirt that I had put in the laundry and the clerk pointed out that they had tried to get ink off the cuff but it was still pretty apparent. Since I had put the shirt in the laundry my wife was not aware of the ink issue. Unfortunately, neither was I. Apparently, somewhere between the drop off and the pick up, the ink had gotten on the shirt cuff. After inspecting the shirt, I made my way back to Skyline to “do battle”. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I was disarmed immediately upon entering the business.

The employee working the counter asked, “Is that the shirt with the ink?” I said it was but it did not have ink on it when I dropped it off. She apologized, told me to go buy a new shirt and bring her the receipt. No argument, no discussion – just fantastic service. Although my shirt was ruined, it is hard for me to think poorly of an individual or a business that takes full responsibility for an error and is ready to correct it. I have no doubt where I will be taking all my laundry to in the future. I recommend you do the same if you live in the area.

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Presentation Skills Checklist

During the Instructor Development course, we discuss presentation skills that will make you a great instructor. However, I thought a reminder might be useful for the veteran instructors. The next time you do a presentation, have a coworker or friend observe you and ask him to watch for a few key trouble points.

1. Did you use excessive hand gesturing (or not enough animation)?
2. Did you use an encouraging tone of voice when answering questions?
3. Did you display positive facial expression when presenting and answering questions?
4. Were you pacing (or not enough movement)?
5. Did you make adequate eye contact with audience?
6. Were you talking too fast?
7. Did you use too many filler words (um, ah, you know)?
8. Did you hesitate before speaking?
9. Did you allow time for follow up questions?
10. Did you use proper vocal volume?

Just ask your observer to answer “yes” or “no” to each point. The responses can give you a heads-up on which skills you might need a little work.

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Website: Fuel Cost Calculator

The American Automobile Association (AAA) has a web page that estimates how much it costs to drive from one location to another. Just enter your starting city, destination and your car’s year, make and model. If your car isn’t listed, enter your car’s average miles per gallon. The distance, fuel consumption and price of fuel are estimated.

CLICK HERE:

www.fuelcostcalculator.com

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E911 Ruling Uncovers Questions over VOIP’s

The FCC’s ruling Thursday to require VOIP providers to make Enhanced 911 service a mandatory feature for their phone service highlighted a question that all too many people had previously taken for granted: Why didn’t VOIP service providers let customers know that before this ruling, E911 was not a standard feature of their service?

CLICK HERE:

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-2059-2-79-349205-233718-0-0-0-1

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PowerPoint – Use [Ctrl]A to Select All Objects in Different Ways

Clicking and dragging the Select Objects pointer in a big rectangle over your slide selects everything within that area. But you can accomplish the same task by pressing [Ctrl]A ([command]A in v. X). This trick works not only for selecting everything on a slide in the Slides tab in Normal view, but also selects all slides in Slide Sorter view, and all text in the presentation in Outline view.

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Website: Google Permits Personalized Homepages

The search engine breaks with tradition by allowing customised features onto its minimal home page.

CLICK HERE:

Google Homepages

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