AJ's Blog

How to make Internet Explorer's toolbar more useful

2006-09-26T22:41:07.934125-04:00

Out of the box, IE6's toolbar layout is not terribly efficient. Have a look:

There's some space wasted to the right of the menu bar, unnecessary buttons on the toolbar, and no way to access frequently used web sites. IE7 is a lot better, but luckily it's pretty easy to customize the layout. My preference is something like this:

If you're not sure how to make these changes, here are some simple steps:

1) First, right click on the toolbar and unlock it:

2) Next drag the address bar right next to the menu. Feel free to hide the Help menu.

3) Right click on the icons toolbar and select Customize. Remove unnecessary buttons, text labels, and select an icon size you're comfortable with.

4) Next, drag the Links bar next to the icons toolbar. Customize these links with the web sites you frequent the most. Remember you can add folders here too.

5) Finally, lock the taskbar. That's it.

Bug in Web Application Projects add-in User Controls

2006-08-08T11:06:15.181-04:00

When ASP.NET 2.0 came out, I really loved being able to declare commonly used user controls in web.config. Anything I could do to keep my pages leaner and cleaner put a smile on my face. Unfortunately, the Web Application Projects add-in has a problem identifying the type of user controls defined in web.config... they are generated as System.Web.UI.UserControl. This is a known bug and should be fixed in the VS 2005 service pack. Keep this in mind if you are moving to the Web Application Project model.

Below are the steps to reproduce the problem from my post on the ASP.net forums:

When we register our User Controls in web.config instead of on the page, we found the type is generated as System.Web.UI.UserControl instead of the type of the actual user control. Here are the steps to reproduce this problem:

1) Create a new Web Site
2) Create a folder called Controls and add a user control to this folder (e.g., WebUserControl.ascx)
3) Add a web.config to the site
4) Add the control registration to the web.config. E.g.:

5) Add an instance of the user control to default.aspx:

6) Add a Web Application Project to the solution. Delete default.aspx and web.config from the new project. Copy the Controls folder, Default.aspx, and web.config to the new project.

7) Right click on the new Web Application project and select "Convert To Web Application"

8) Take a look at Default.aspx.designer.cs. We expect to see:

protected Controls_WebUserControl test;

But instead we get:

protected System.Web.UI.UserControl test;

Let's try moving the control registration to the page itself.

9) Remove the "pages" section from the web.config

10) Add the control registration to default.aspx:

<%@ Register TagPrefix="test" TagName="WebUserControl" Src="~/Controls/WebUserControl.ascx" %>

11) Delete Default.aspx.designer.cs. Right click Default.aspx and select "Convert to Web Application"

12) Take a look at Default.aspx.designer.cs. We get what we expected:

protected Controls_WebUserControl test123;

So basically whenever we register controls in our web.config, we get the wrong type in the .designer.cs file.

When Not to Use a Panel

2006-07-31T15:29:25.306-04:00

Many developers are accustomed to using ASP.NET’s Panel control to show or hide parts of a page. I see this often:

stuff to hide

stuff to show

If you view source in the browser when the Panel is hidden, everything looks as you would expect…

stuff to show

However, if you make the Panel visible, you will get something like this:

stuff to hide

stuff to show

Notice the div tags that make this markup invalid. Adaptive browser rendering can make this worse if the Panel renders as a table.

The solution is simple. The best bet is to use PlaceHolder control instead, which is similar to Panel but without all of the display properties. You could also add the runat=”server” and id attributes to your table rows (or the table itself) and control the visibility that way.

The iPod needs a delete button

2006-06-01T23:52:28.035-04:00

Problem: My wife's iPod mini is filled with a lot of music that she doesn't listen to (mostly mine). The problem is she doesn't like using iTunes (or ephPod) and relies on me to get music onto her iPod. Both of us generally use our mp3 players in shuffle-all mode but find ourselves hitting "next" frequently (I guess this also says something about our music collection?). It's more of a problem for full albums we buy and rip rather than singles downloaded from iTMS.

Desired Solution: What we really want is an easy way to trash a song on the iPod... or at least mark it so it won't be played again and automatically removed during the next sync. You would probably need to hold the button down for three or four seconds so you don't accidentally delete tracks.

Current Workaround: We can rate the songs we don't like with one star and then remove them during the next sync. This is too many clicks for my wife and more work for me.

Ideas?

By the way, the new SanDisk Sansa e260 looks pretty slick.

Two Minute Timer

2006-06-01T23:05:58.503-04:00

So I just got David Allen's latest newsletter a few minutes ago and it mentioned a simple "Two Minute Timer" program they are offering for $10. For those of you not familiar with the two minute rule:

“If the Next Action can be done in 2 minutes or less, do it when you first pick the item up. Even if that item is not a “high priority”, because it takes longer to store and track any item than to deal with it the first time its in your head.” (p. 131, “Getting Things Done”)

Now I can see how this little program could be useful to show how much you can really get done in two minutes, but charging $10 for a program that a high school student can write in fifteen minutes seems kind of silly to me.

So donate $10 to your favorite charity and download this free program instead (.NET Framework 2.0 is required... I didn't have any other development environment installed on my laptop, but I'm sure someone else can spend two minutes and write one that doesn't require .NET).

TwoMinutes.zip (16.49 KB)

Desktop Zen - Reducing Visual Clutter on your Desktop

2006-04-19T13:48:05.992-04:00

Introduction

It’s not unusual for me to go over to a colleague’s desk and see a desktop that looks something like this:

You may have seen even worse. Keeping your desktop so cluttered like this creates many problems:

§ It is difficult to find what you’re looking for.

§ Files, folders, and application shortcuts are grouped together without any logical separation.

§ You don’t know immediately where to place new files (downloaded files, attachments, temporary working documents, etc)

§ When the desktop gets too full, you waste time cleaning temporary/downloaded files.

§ If you are only backing up My Documents, items on the Desktop will be skipped.

§ If you are migrating to a different computer or keeping multiple computers synchronized, the Desktop folder is often missed.

§ It is visually distracting and just looks bad.

In the same way that your email inbox should be organized and kept to a minimum number of items (see Getting Things Done), your desktop should stay simple and uncluttered.

In this article I will show you how to achieve this Desktop Zen in four easy steps. My solution? Get rid of desktop icons completely.

Getting Rid of the Desktop

I find the concept of desktop icons on a computer completely unnecessary. To access icons the desktop, you have to resize windows or minimize all windows (or click the Show Desktop shortcut). These small distractions affect productivity. Luckily Windows gives us the tools to effectively disable the desktop and create a much more productive user experience. Here are the key functions provided by the desktop and how we will replace them:

§ Opening My Computer, My Documents, My Network Places, etc – we will use the Start Menu and optionally the Quick Launch toolbar.

§ Launching applications like Internet Explorer – again, we will use the Start Menu and Quick Launch toolbar.

§ Storing various downloaded / temporary / working files – we will create appropriate folders in My Documents

§ Moving files to the Recycle Bin – we will use the delete key in Explorer to trash files. We will create a desktop toolbar (Step 3 below) to facilitate emptying the recycle bin and access any remaining desktop items.

Let’s get started.

Step 1 – Move your desktop files into My Documents

§ Create folders in My Documents called “Downloads” and “Working”. I prefer to use an underscore at the beginning of these names to force them to the top of the list:

§ Now move all relevant files into these folders. If you have a large number of files, you can move everything into the “Working” folder and organize it later.

§ Set your browser to always download into the new “Downloads” folder you just created.

§ Use the “Working” folder sparingly when you need a temporary place to store a document before it is filed or deleted.

§ We are left with something like this:

Step 2 – Setup your application shortcuts

There are several different areas to place application shortcuts. No application shortcuts belong on the desktop.

§ Area A - Your most frequently used applications can be pinned to the top of the start menu. You can do this by dragging a shortcut to that area of the Start Menu, or right clicking on any program in area C and selecting “Pin to start menu”.

§ Area B - You can configure My Computer, My Network Places, and other special folders to appear in area B by customizing the start menu (right click on the taskbar, select Properties, go to the Start Menu tab, and click Customize).

§ Area C – Windows will maintain this section automatically. I configure it to show a large number of applications.

§ Area D - Frequently launched applications should go on the Quick Launch toolbar. Don’t confuse this with your frequently used applications. For example, I use Outlook pretty much all day, but only launch it once in the morning, so it doesn’t need to be in the Quick Launch toolbar (it can go in area A instead). However, I open my browser, My Computer, My Documents, and a few other applications throughout the day, so I put those on the Quick Launch toolbar. I also put a shortcut to my Downloads folder here.

So take a look at the important application shortcuts on your desktop. Make sure you can find them easily in one of the five shortcut areas shown above. Get rid of everything else.

After cleaning up application shortcuts, we are left with a much cleaner desktop – but we aren’t finished yet.

Step 3 – Create a Desktop toolbar

The Desktop Toolbar is similar to the Quick Launch toolbar, but it shows all items that are on your desktop. This will be useful to us when we hide the desktop icons.

§ Right click on the taskbar and select Toolbars -> Desktop

§ You will see a new toolbar called “Desktop” on your taskbar:

§ You can use this toolbar to access desktop items, the Recycle Bin, and clean up any icons that new applications may install on the desktop. The great thing is you can access these items without having to minimize whatever you’re working on.

§ Alternatively, you can reposition this toolbar to the top of the screen (unlock the taskbar first) so that it looks like the screenshot below (and some users prefer to move the taskbar to the top of the screen and keep the Desktop toolbar at the bottom).

Step 4 – Turn off the desktop icons

The final step is to right-click on your desktop, go to “Arrange Icons By”, and then de-select “Show Desktop Items”. Now just find a pretty wallpaper and you’re done:

It may take a couple days to resist the urge to minimize everything and go back to the desktop, but once you get used it you will find yourself being more productive and working more efficiently.

Maintenance Tips

§ Don’t let your Downloads and Working folders fill up with junk. Delete documents you don’t need it, and file items that you need to keep.

§ When installing applications, de-select the “Create Desktop Icons” option if it is available. If an application installs desktop shortcuts, use the Desktop toolbar on your taskbar to relocate or delete them.

Comcast DVR is complete garbage

2006-04-19T09:52:56.648-04:00

First, some background. I’ve been a TiVo subscriber for over 6 years but I left it with my parents after they became hooked to it, thinking I would get a TiVo Series3 when (if?) it comes out later this year. My wife and I only watch two or three shows a week now, so I figured the Comcast DVR would do the job until this fall.

So last week I ordered the Comcast DVR (a Motorola 6412 device), hoping I would be able to use it to record a few HD shows and maybe a some movies occasionally. Boy was I wrong. What a complete piece of garbage!

The unit itself makes a constant chirping noise and is louder than a TiVo. The device gets so hot I had to remove it from the TV stand because it was generating so much heat. I wasn’t expecting much in terms of the user experience, but with so many devices doing UI right these days, there’s no excuse for a crummy experience like this. The people who designed and engineered this thing should be ashamed of themselves.

As soon as I got the device, I used the clumsy interface to setup recordings for “24” and “Lost”. As I did this, the unit would frequently stutter or freeze up and become unresponsive to the remote control. I finally got the recordings setup and forgot about the whole thing for a few days.

On Wednesday, I decided to watch the latest episode of “24” in HD. I hit the “My DVR” button on the remote and it took me to a list of recordings. It actually listed the same “24” episode twice -- one in HD and the other regular. Curiously, it said the device was 13% full. I assume the HD content takes up a lot more disk space.

I hit “Play” on the HD version of “24” and it started up perfectly. The quality was excellent and I was able to enjoy the first 15 minutes of the show. Once the commercials started, I hit the fast forward button a few times. This is when the unit completely locked up and I started getting errors on the screen. “We cannot process your request…” I even tried hitting Stop, Play, etc but it didn’t do anything … I kept getting more errors until the screen went black and the unit became completely unresponsive. It then asked if I wanted to delete the recording. I selected not to delete it, but the unit remained unresponsive. I hit the power button on the remote but it didn’t do anything. After waiting a few minutes to see if anything would happen, I finally reached behind the unit to recycle the power.

Bad idea.

After the unit restarted, none of the menus were available for almost 5 minutes. There was no program guide data, and when I hit the Menu button, it said “One moment please… the service is being restored.”

I waited patiently, anxious to continue watching the rest of “24”.

Finally the menus became available, so I hit the “My DVR” button on the remote.

“No Listings Available”. 0% Full.

I go to “DVR Schedule” and find it completely empty. The recordings I setup earlier are completely gone. Are you kidding me? Isn’t there a hard drive in this thing? Wouldn’t it make sense to put scheduled recordings on the hard drive so they would it be there even after, say, a power outage?

What a waste of time. I am disappointed that Motorola would release such a crappy product. It’s time to return this piece of garbage and get another TiVo. I guess we can live without HD until Series3.

Outlook Add-Ins for Productivity

2005-11-11T13:13:59-05:00

I admit it — I am addicted to Outlook. Here are the add-ins I use:

FranklinCovey PlanPlus – This is my favorite personal productivity tool. The features I can’t live without:
- PlanPlus Home – The dashboard view puts your calendar, tasks, email, and a notepad together on one screen. Most people freak out when they see this much information at once, but once you get used to it you’ll find yourself coming back to it all day long.
- Weekly Planning – I use this to “load balance” my week by literally dragging tasks to the weekly calendar.
- Quick Prioritize – Great way to prioritize tasks quickly.
Getting Things Done – I’ve read David Allen’s book — highly recommended. Features I use most:
- Defer – Basically turns an email into a calendar appointment with a reminder. This is important because it gets the message out of my inbox and automatically reminds me on the date I specify.
- Action – Turns an email into a task. Very useful.
- Delegate – I use this to remind me to follow-up on tasks I’ve delegated to other people.
NewsGator – I’ve tried other RSS tools but keep coming back to NewsGator. It lets you get RSS feeds directly into Outlook. I prefer this to having a separate application for RSS.
Lookout – Lightening fast searching of emails (and documents if you want). For now, I prefer this to the various desktop search utilities.
Cloudmark Desktop – Best spam protection I’ve found. Only misses one or two a week and I haven’t had a single false-positive yet.

Managing your passwords

2005-11-11T10:52:24.359-05:00

Most of you should know by now that it is probably not a great idea to use the same password for all the different web sites you use. Remembering all of these passwords can be a pain. Luckily, there are a ton of password managers you can download.

I use Password Agent from Moon Software (http://www.moonsoftware.com/pwagent.asp). It is simple to use and organizes your accounts into folders. Everything is encrypted so you need to enter a password when the program launches. Here are some tips:

Use the password generator feature to generate random/complex passwords for the websites you use less often (or sites with sensitive information). There is no need to memorize the password since you can look it up anytime.
Copy the program and your password file to a flash drive so you can access your passwords anywhere.
Use Hot Key Plus (http://www.brianapps.net/hotkeyplus) so you can quickly launch Password Agent by hitting Win+P.
Change your password(s) if you've been using a public computer (e.g., at an internet cafe)