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43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Call for Windows hackers (_yes_, Windows)

Wintel Love Another in Danny and my ongoing series, in which we basically beg other people to do our work and finish this Godforsaken book for us.

In today’s installment, Danny pleads your help with the one thing we’re both ready to admit we know almost nothing about: cool Windows hacking. (Yes, thanks, I do see the irony of the high and mighty Mac dork asking for help from the people he supposedly scorns [or so spins the long-discredited urban myth]).

So, of course, all the usual admonitions about Windows talk are abolished for this post. It’s Thunderdome, people! The Mac-centric people humbly yield the floor.

Thus, Danny writes…

GREETINGS PEOPLE OF EARTH

Being an O’Reilly book, our fine (and Godforsaken) book contains lots of Deep Geek solutions: Perl and Python scripts, webapp glue, that kind of thing.

I’d really really like it to be cross-platform. One of the Life Hacks rules was that it shouldn’t matter what computer you’re sitting in front of: the tricks, as much as possible, shouldn’t depend on the plumbing underneath.

Which means I’ve got a stack of really neat ideas, implemented using Linux and MacOS tricks: all of which could probably be implemented in a few lines of Windows code too, and would probably make hundreds, nay, zillions of Win users lives better.

That means I’m on the search for a few good VBScript, C#, and just general Wintel modders.If you’re interested, post a note about it here in comments or with a pointer to something cool you’ve done, and let’s talk.

I now return you to your usual programming. Ahaha. Do you see the clever pun I made there?


Like the man says, spill. Got some amazing Windows fu for us?

Michael Leddy's picture

Four programs that are incredibly...

Four programs that are incredibly useful, all freeware:

RUNit (http://www.magister-lex.at/RUNit/), which pops up a customized menu (mine includes groups of folders, groups of programs, and a few individual programs.) RUNit greatly reduces use of the Start menu and Explorer. The program in practice looks a lot more up-to-date than what you'll see on the above page.

FileTargets (http://www.moonsoftware.com/freeware.asp), which adds an item to the right-click menu and allows you to save or copy files to designated folders or drives. Mine is set up with a few key locations on C, on a second partition, and on a thumb drive.

AllChars (http://allchars.zwolnet.com/), which automates all kinds of text entry (with encryption too). So instead of typing name, tab, password, enter, you can type "/p" (or anything else beginning with a slash).

AutoHotkey (http://autohotkey.com), and the ready-made scripts available in the forums and the "script showcase." E.g., a script that uses a hotkey combination to show a menu of favorite folders (which can be modified on the fly).

These smaill (or smallish) programs remove a lot of the tedium of working in Windows.

 
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