This week’s tech tip is for those of us who are a little… absent-minded sometimes, like myself! How many times have you left your thumb drive plugged into the computer you were working on, walked away, and forgot about? A bunch? None? Well… I don’t care, you want this program anyways. PendriveReminder (click to download) is a little program that reminds you every once in a while to unplug your thumb drive, and you can set it to auto-run when you plug your thumb drive into the computer. Just download it, put it on your thumb drive, run it, and click the “Auto Run” button so that it starts when you plug in your thumb drive.

This week’s tech tip was suggested by a teacher here at Thomas, Mrs. Heveron-Smith. She felt that most teachers take for granted that a student has Microsoft Word installed on their home computers, but sometimes this is not the case! So, students, what can you do to avoid having to go out and pay hundreds of buckaroons for the latest version of Microsoft Office? It’s easy, free, and it won’t get you arrested! OpenOffice.org is a full office suite that is compatible with the Microsoft Office suite that is very, very similar to the Microsoft product. I use it exclusively on my home computer, as, for one, I’m cheap! And secondly, it works just as well for a fraction of the price, and in some cases, has more functions than its Microsoft counterpart. OpenOffice.org will run on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but specifically for Mac users, NeoOffice.org offers a more streamlined, faster version of OpenOffice available for your downloading pleasure.

Are you a Facebook addict, attention deficient, or simply can’t pay attention to ANYTHING?!?! Well, ladies and gentlemen, today is your lucky day, because I have a solution to your endless procrastination. No, it doesn’t cost 3 easy payments of $14.95 and you won’t get a second one free if you call within the next thirty seconds, either. What is it, then? It’s called CinemaDrape, and it’s free. What it does, basically, is allows you to black out everything on your computer screen so you can concentrate on what it is you need to do. There’s a few other programs out there which allow you to accomplish a similar task, such as Ghoster, Dropcloth, and for Mac users, Isolator. I know, it’s a lot of information at once, but I have a solution for that too: Visit tech.maxkelley.com in order to get download links for all of these programs.

Also, not mentioned in my on-the-air tech tip are the following:

Q10: is a free word processor which is very minimalistic, simply text-only, no formatting, meant for those who just need to concentrate, not worry about the pretty stuff, and get a story out. This program was designed by a writer for use by writers. It has a built-in spell checker, and other stuff… Check it out! (a screenshot of it is on your right)

CreaWriter: is a very cool, relaxing sort of word processor. It allows you to have rain noise, raindrops, or other pretty, relaxing stuff in a full-screen writing environment, again, removing distractions. Try it out!

OmmWriter: is for you artsy Mac users, who also feel the need to relax (get it, Ommmmmm!) and write. Get your creative juices flowing, download OmmWriter!

I, personally, enjoy listening to music while doing homework. For the most part, it helps me concentrate and helps pass the time faster. Sometimes, I get tired of my own music collection, so what better way to expand it than listen to the radio! Most of the times, you’ll find my radio parked on 90.5fm WBER, after all, it’s the only station that matters. Regardless of the station you choose, I assume that you like the music they play. Now, suppose that, one day, you hear the greatest song ever recorded, but you don’t catch the name of it! What to do? Yes.com has the current song and song history for most broadcast radio stations, so give it a try by typing in the station’s callsign, like WBER, WDVI, WCMF, etc. Give it a try! Yes.com!

With the massive number of computers we have here at Webster Thomas, as well as account restrictions, it’s almost impossible to get your favorite programs’ settings to stay exactly where you want them to, and have all your files where you want them. What do you do? Well, if you have a USB thumb drive, which many of us do, it’s about time you installed PortableApps. Portable Apps are versions of your favorite programs—web browsers, media players, games, office programs—which live on your thumb drive. All of the information to run them is kept on your thumb drive, so all of your settings are the same each time you plug it in and use them. There are a lot of programs out there that have been made into portable versions, so take a look at PortableApps.com.

A good friend of mine approached me the other day, asking me for an email address to submit his essay for the Cornell Essay contest. Now, the email address was on the Cornell Club’s website, but unfortunately, it was down! SO, what to do when you need to view a website, and it’s not working? Simple! Your best friend and mine, Google, offers the capability to view “cached” pages. It’s basically a snapshot of a webpage from the past. There are two ways to access it. One, by clicking on the “Cached” link next to a search result on Google, OR by typing “cache:” and the URL of the page you’re trying to access (without any spaces).

Imagine this: you’re one of the few people, these days, who don’t have a cellphone. Some of you don’t have to imagine this scenario, you live it! Consider yourself lucky. HOWEVER, suppose you absolutely HAVE to send someone a text message?!?! You’re practically up a river of alphabet soup without a dictionary! BUT, this is not true. TxtDrop.com is to the rescue: you provide your email, the phone number you wish to send the text to, and your message. And viola, it works! Your friend’s reply texts will be sent to your email, and that’s that. If you have Windows Vista, Mac OS X, or an iPod touch/iPhone, you can add a txtDrop widget or app to make it more convenient for you.

SO, here’s the scenario: you’re getting ready for school, listening to the radio, and a song comes on, and you think, “Hey, this is pretty darn decent!” By the time you get to school, it’s stuck in your head, and it stays there for the REST OF THE DAY, but what is it? This is where Midomi comes in… it allows you to hum or whistle a bit of a song into the microphone of your computer, iPod touch, or iPhone, and it will tell you the name of it! It’s basically voodoo magic. Again, Midomi.com is where you can find it, and you can help out to improve it by submitting your own recordings. Give it a shot!

With the release of Windows 7, many people are upgrading their computers and starting out fresh. So, you get your new operating system all installed, but there’s still the problem installing all of your favorite programs, a very time-consuming process. So, what to do? Try Ninite Easy PC Setup, available at Ninite.com. You simply select the programs you wish to install, and it bundles them all up into one, neat, quick installer. Download it, run it, and you’re all set, everything is installed, just as you like it! Again, Ninite.com is the website.

Chances are, if you use a computer, you use one of these regularly. They allow you to view content from around the world, all at the touch of your fingertips. What am I talking about? A web browser, of course! And which web browser you chose can have a big effect on your Internet browsing experience. Many of us are obliviously happy with whatever installed on our computer, such as Internet Explorer or Safari, or what have you. This week, I encourage you to try and branch out and try others, such as Opera, Google Chrome, Safari, or… anything else you find! Have a fun time over our holiday break trying them out!

Mozilla Firefox – a classic alternative!

Google Chrome – a new kid on the block, it is very quick, speedy, and I like it! Give it a try. I DARE YOU.

Apple Safari – originally just for Macs, Safari is now for both Mac and PC, and brings the Apple browsing experience to everyone!

Opera – A underdog, Opera has been around for quite a while, but has gone unnoticed. Give it some due respect.

Flock – a “social web browser”… I think it lets you share stuff with other people more easily. I haven’t tried it yet, so why don’t you?

Seamonkey – a full internet suite, with webpage editing, email, RSS feeds, and all sorts of other stuff.