HOWTO: Select Columns in Notepad++

Notepad++ is a great text editor for any sort of file. You name it, it can handle it. For engineering related files, Notepad++ allows you to select columns of text within the file. This is great for captures defines!

Here is how to do it:

“Alt + Left Mouse Click”

Hold the Alt key and then with the Left Mouse Click, select your column text. A tip, if you still want the text to retain its column structure, then first paste the select text in a new file and then copy that text into your destination file. If not, then when you paste the copied text from Notepad++, it will be pasted as a single line.

cheers,

HOWTO: Disable Annoying Content Preparation Progress in Acrobat 9

Are you using the new Acrobat 9 reader from Adobe? Have you realized that whenever you open a PDF, a window pops up showing the content preparation progress? This is a annoying window that pops up every time you open a PDF file and it does not prepare the content fast enough. So you are waiting for this window to disappear before you start view the PDF file.

There is a workaround! In Adobe Acrobat 9, do the following:

1. From the top toolbar, click Edit and then select Preferences or Ctrl+K.
2. From the left pane, select Reading.
3. Under the Screen Reader Options group box, under Page vs Document, select Only read the currently visible pages.
4. Click OK.

Now you will never see the content preparation progress window ever again!

Source: http://www.zerohacks.com/2009/02/how-to-stop-the-annoying-content-preparation-progress-in-adobe-reader-8/

cheers,

HOWTO: Update all References fields in Word 2007

I've found a macro that can update all linked-cross references in a word document.

Here is a macro code:

Sub UpdateAll()
Dim oStory As Range
Dim oField As Field
For Each oStory In ActiveDocument.StoryRanges
For Each oField In oStory.Fields
oField.Update
Next oField
Next oStory
End Sub

Works great in Windows XP SP3.

Source: http://www.technotaste.com/blog/word-macro-update-all-fields/

cheers,

HOWTO: Create a Strong Password

need a strong password? try http://strongpasswordgenerator.com/
this site allows you to define the length of the password and will include letters, numbers, and symbols.

to check the strength of your new generated password, try http://www.passwordmeter.com/
this site will compare your password against its own formulation and deduce its overall strength and weakness.

and to tie it all together, use securelogin, a firefox extension to manage all your online passwords. no need to remember!

cheers,

HOWTO: Speed Up TightVNC Viewer Performance

Have you noticed that tightVNC is kinda slow over the network? Ever wonder how to speed up the performance of tightVNC. I found a quick solution. Install DFMirage display driver.

This drivers will make tightVNC behave like a terminal service, only broadcasting changes in the current screen, not the entire screen itself. I've tried it myself and I noticed the improved performance right away!

Try it out!

I found the original article here: http://www.pcmech.com/article/speed-up-tightvnc-performance/

cheers,

HOWTO: Completly Uninstall a Program

Ever had a hard time uninstalling a specific program? Ever think that you have successfully uninstalled a program, only to find it try to load on startup, or have random folders and files lying around? I found this cool tool that helps eliminate the entire trace of a program that you want to uninstall.

Revo Uninstaller

This tool executes the program uninstall program and then removes all folders and files related to the program as well as removes the program from windows registry. This all happens behind the scenes and it is relatively fast.

I used it to remove windows defender! works like a charm!

check it out, its free: http://www.revouninstaller.com/

cheers,

HOWTO: Petro Points Rewards

So, I am a petro-canada customer with alot of petro points. What to do with em? There really isn't anything worth getting with petro points. But, I wanted to compare and see if it is better to get the 5cents off per litre or a petro canada gift card. I did some simple math and here is what I get:

Lets assume I have 100000 petro points, yeah I have a gas guzzler :)

Reward - 5 cents off per litre for 200 litres
Cost: 14000 petro points (15000 petro points if you redeem in store)
Savings: $0.05 x 200 = $10

Reward - $50 gift card
Cost: 90000 petro points
Savings: $50

Now, right off the bat, you would say the gift card is the better choice! Yeah $50! That's 1 free tank of gas! But, since the 5 cents off per litre for 200 litres rewards is only 14000 points, I can redeem that rewards over 7 times! Thus 7 x $10 = $70!...Now, to see the $70 savings, you need to guzzle 7 *200 litres = 1400 litres, but hey, you end up saving more in the long run!

Conclusion: get the 5 cents off per litre for 200 litres while you can!

cheers,