The Official Woopid Blog
Tips
Do you need to update?
Dec 20th
There has never been an easy way to check if your Internet browser, Flash and Java versions are all up to date on your computer…until now. Do I Need to Update.com is an easy to way to check, and then upgrade to the latest versions of these softwares.
Mac: Custom Alert Sounds
Feb 13th
Personally, I love the subtle alerts sounds that Macs play by default. Others, either don’t like them, or find it doesn’t get their attention all the time. In this video we take a look at how to find free sounds on the Internet, download them, and use them in Mail and iChat.
Windows: Disk Space Analyzer
Feb 9th
A free, simple program, “Free Disk Analyzer” allows you to easily find the largest files and folders in any given directory. Extremely helpful for identifying where your hard drive space is going. Check out how to use it here. Sometimes the results are very surprising…
Empty ad slot (#1)!
AirPort: Enable Interference Robustness
Jan 30th
If you use an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule as your wireless router, and frequently loose connection, you may want to try enabling “Interference Robustness“. Enabling this feature may slow down network performance a bit, but it’s worth it if your connection is frequently dropping (and how many large file transfers do you make over the network anyway?).
Dock Dodger: Hide Dock Icons
Jan 26th
For Mac OSX: Stop any application from appearing in the dock! Many applications where you would want this functionality already allow you to do this in their preferences, but sometimes, there are applications that don’t offer the “hide icon” feature. In my case, I have an Apple USB 56k Modem hooked up to my Mac, and using a program called “Call Wall”, all phone calls that come in are displayed as Growl notifications. I love it, but could do without the application taking up Dock space. I fired up Dock Dodger, dragged in Call Wall, and now I’m all set. Call Wall now runs, but without any dock icon.
Chax: Growl for iChat, and More.
Jan 26th
Growl is a great system wide notification system for OS X, and while some IM clients support Growl natively, others need a little help. iChat is one of those applications – once you start using Growl with iChat, it’s hard to stop. Instead of having to stop what you’re doing to see what your buddy is saying, the messages appear as Growl notifications. By installing a free program called “Chax”, you can enable various types of iChat Growl notifications, among various other helpful features. Check it out here.
The Watch Window in Excel
Jan 25th
Today I was working on an Excel workbook in which I had to ensure two columns of numbers always equaled each other. For a while I kept taking breaks, creating a quick SUM formula to see if they add up, and if they didn’t, go in and try to find where I messed up. All of a sudden it hit me, why had I forgotten a simple, yet great feature of Excel, the “Watch Window”? Simply put, the Watch Window is a little window that appears on top of your workbook, and displays cells you’ve selected.
In my situation, I set up a formula which always added up all the numbers in my two columns, and then set up a Watch Window. Now, as I input data, I can constantly make sure that each column is equal. Watch it here.
Security in Mind: Firefox Master Password
Jan 23rd
If you use Firefox, you probably have it set to remember passwords for sites you frequent, but do you know how easy it is for anyone to see all your saved passwords? Setting a master password will make it so anyone who tries to view your saved passwords can’t, unless they know the master password.
Bundle: System Preferences Tips for Leopard
Dec 28th
Using the System Preferences you have a ton of cool and helpful things you can enable (or disable). In today’s bundle, “System Preferences Tips for Leopard”, learn how to:
- Change your system appearance (color)
- Change what happens when you insert different types of CDs and DVDs
- Disable the translucent menu bar
- Change the keys used for Expose and Spaces
- Enable and use the Spaces menu bar
- Use function keys
- Enable automatic login
- Make the computer automatically log out after a specified amount of time.
- Enable the Security Vault
- Use the text to keyboard shortcut
- Disable certain folders from being backed up in Time Machine
- Zoom into the screen
- Stop certain files and folders from appearing in Spotlight searches
- And more!
Click the image below to be taken to the System Preferences for Leopard bundle:
Bundle: Tips and Tricks for Windows Explorer
Dec 27th
Yesterday we saw how to enable the File Menu bar in Windows Vista, and now, let’s do a whole lot more. In this bundle you’ll see how to:
- Add a file to your favorites list
- View hidden files and folders
- Change file associations (what program opens what file)
- Change file extensions
- Tagging files
- Rating files
- Encrypt files and folders
- Change folder templates
- Using check boxes to select items
- A few more things…
Click below to view the Tips and Tricks for Windows Explorer bundle.
