Preparing to Send You a Message
So, I installed the Trillian 5 Public Beta today, and was particularly amused when I encountered one of their new features:
It lets you know when someone is preparing to send you a message, even if you weren’t having a conversation with them. My initial reaction was that it was pretty creepy, but at the same time, I could see some interesting possibilities.
First, if you see an incoming message that you’re not interested in answering, you can choose to make yourself scarce, thereby granting yourself the possibility of pleading ignorance. Certainly not something I condone, but I still found it intriguing.
Second, you can send a message to the person before they finish theirs. That way, you’re exploiting the creepy nature of the feature to creep someone else out.
Will these possibilities help your productivity? Probably not, but they certainly amused me for a few moments. Though, to be honest, not as much as the introduction of Trillian’s Rick Roll Detection feature:
Using Google Search with SSL in Chrome
On May 21, 2010, Google announced the release of their new SSL Search service. This new search service behaves almost exactly like Google Search – the main difference being that it uses SSL for security. Wondering what SSL is? In the words of Google:
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a protocol that helps provide secure Internet communications for services like web browsing, e-mail, instant messaging, and other data transfers. When you search over SSL, your search queries and search traffic are encrypted so they can’t be read by any intermediary party such as employers and internet service providers (ISPs).
Source: Google SSL Search Help
So, put simply, the announcement was great news for privacy and security enthusiasts everywhere. As one of these enthusiasts, I immediately switched to Google’s SSL search for all my web search needs. Sure, there were some drawbacks to switching – namely, a loss in performance – but in my mind, I rather wait a little longer, knowing I have increased security. So, as a first step, I switched my homepage in Google Chrome. This was pretty straight forward, I simply had to press the Wrench icon, and then select Options.
The next step was to change the search provider – in Google Chrome, this is crucial – since it relies so heavily on one smart search/address bar. When I went to do that, I instinctively selected the existing search engine I was using: Google Canada, and attempted to edit it. Unfortunately, the URL field was grayed out, preventing me from making changes to the URL pattern.
I then figured out that some of these providers are built-in, and can’t be edited. You have to manually add a new search engine, which allows you to define all fields. Here’s what I entered for each field:
- Name: Google HTTPS
- Keyword: g
- URL: https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%s
Once I selected the new engine as my as the default, I was ready to go. Google’s SSL search was my homepage, and my default search engine. Yet, I still had some flexibility: I chose keywords that would allow me to easily switch between engines. For example, by typing:
gc wikipedia ducks
Chrome understands that I want to search using Google Canada:
This allowed me to have a secure search engine by default, all the while making it easy for me to use others on-the-fly.
New Folder Shortcut in Windows
I’m constantly on the lookout for quicker ways to perform everyday tasks in Windows. That said, when I needed to create multiple empty folders at different folder depths, I questioned how I would do so with keyboard shortcuts. Windows 7 already facilitates the process of creating new folders, but most of the visible options are mouse-powered:
Despite these mouse-powered shortcuts, I’ve always felt that keyboard shortcuts were faster. With that in mind, I took my search to Google, and eventually and found what I was looking for:
CTRL + SHIFT + N
Great shortcut… after you press it, you can immediately start typing the folder name. No need to use the mouse in between creating the folder, and typing the name. There’s just one unfortunate catch – the shortcut only works in Windows 7. Seeing as I needed something that worked across Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, I returned to Google for an alternative. Here’s what I found:
ALT + FWF
Certainly an awkward looking shortcut, but it works just like CTRL + SHIFT + N. The only difference is that it uses accelerator keys, a long-supported feature of Windows. Back in Windows Server 2003, accelerator keys were easy to recognize visually:
Notice that certain characters are underlined in the menus?
All you had to do was look for underlined letters in the menu options. As can be seen above, the File menu option has the F key associated. If you hold ALT, the key combination you press will be sent to the menu bar. This also works in Windows Vista, and Windows 7 – though, by default, the underlined letters and menu bar are hidden. So, for example, you can follow the ALT + FWF path. Holding ALT, first press F to select File, then W for New, and F for Folder. After that, just type the name of the new folder, and press ENTER.
Trapped In A Dialog
As you may know, I sometimes use Jing to take screenshots. Usually, this is when Snipping Tool stops working, and my kill the process trick doesn’t revive it.
Lately, when I booted my machine, I saw this dialog appear:
Learn Jing Now? No thanks, I already know how to use Jing. So… what other options do I have?
- “Replay”
- “Sign Up Now”
That’s it. The usual Minimize-Maximize-Close buttons from Windows aren’t there, and I don’t see a Close button. Replay just starts the tutorial video again, and Sign Up Now sounds like I have to register for something . I already created a Screencast account – I remember doing that specifically to satisfy Jing. So, as far as I know, I don’t need to sign up. Yet, the text above the Sign Up Now button seems to suggest that I should click it… but I know I already signed up, why would I do it again? Because of the resulting confusion, I see the dialog as having a poor user interface. While it is visually appealing, I’m really not sure what I’m supposed to click. I’ve also been trained to avoid registration forms – I only use them when I absolutely have to. After all, each time I register somewhere – it takes time, and the information I provide could be exposed in one more location.
If I decide I want to close the window, I have to get creative… I can either:
- Right-click the window in the taskbar, and select Close Window.
- Press ALT+F4.
- Open Task Manager, and kill the process from there.
It could have been easily averted with a Close button, or at least clearer instructions. If I have to sign up again to use Jing, then tell me why. If I have to click that button to get to the login page, then that’s terrible – just put a Login button alongside Sign Up Now. Either way, make it clear.