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CintaNotes is a notes taking software with a clean, uncluttered design and sleek user interface. It has all the essential functions needed to take notes off any windows and organize them for future reference.
This is a free software (pro version available) that helps you to organize your schedules, to-dos, notes and contacts. I have installed individual programs to take care of each of them. Still, I am always searching for a unified solution because my work is project-based, there are schedules, to-dos, notes that should be grouped under a same subject.
Total Organizer offers a simple solution to my problem. It allows me to use folders to store the data. In addition, it is possible to set keywords or tags to each item. However I couldn't see any tag cloud, a section that displays all tags, highlighting the most often used tags. To show all items under a tag, I need to type in the tag in the search bar.
It is now a phenomenon to use smart phone for personal information management and to connect to social network at all time. HTC Tattoo is my first touch-screen smart phone that runs on Google Android 1.6. I bought it after checking many reviews about it. While I did experience some convenience using the new touch-screen interface and a gain in productivity coming from the free applications on Android platform, I also found some annoyances.
The first thing I noticed is that the interface is separated into a number of pages that are accessed by scrolling from left to right which means to get from the first page to the last page, you need to cut across the screen 6 times with your finger. Given that the UI of an ordinary phone was already developed to pinnacle, Android developers did not put in much effort into the UI design of this newer product.
We have reviewed a note taking application, Webnote in the article Alternative to Windows 7 Sticky Notes. Webnote is designed to be close in functionality and appearance to sticky notes. Today we shall review another note taking application that is designed with a different philosophy in mind. It could be useful to users who take notes wherever they go and need some organization on their notes.
Computer desktops were conceived to work as a real desktop when they were created, and it has changed very little since the first versions of windows. The odd thing of looking like a real desktop is that it ends up as messy as a real desktop and having to clean it is quite a pain and time consuming.
Most of us have a lot of documents, folders and shortcuts placed on the desktop and in the end it is quite difficult to find what we are looking for and tidying it up is consuming time too so, it was a nice idea to create something that would help us to keep our desktop tidy and organized and this is where BumpTop comes into the picture.
This is the last update to TypingAid version 1.x which addresses the problems of tooltip blocking and antivirus false alarm. A Unicode version of the program is also added for support of languages with Unicode characters. Meanwhile TypingAid 2.x and BlitzType are under intense testing and development. When they have reached a stable stage suitable for general users, we will release them. The primary new feature of TypingAid 2.x is the word learning function and its performance was much improved after code optimization. BlitzType will have multiple-suggestion tooltip and external dictionary support.
The Swedish word list is updated to include more words. 2 new word lists are uploaded too: Brazilian Portuguese and Russian. A TypingAid user has asked me about the difference between TypingAid and BlitzType. Both of them are text autocompletion programs and productivity programs maintained and distributed by Artwinauto.com
TypingAid is originally a small and nifty program I found and improved on. I spent time on distributing it, hopefully to bring awareness to the advantage of autocompletion tool as a text expander alternative and to draw traffic to my site. However the response is overwhelmingly good, much to my surprise. Two software developers besides me are interested in working on it, so we have regular stable release. I intend to make it free for all time, partly because of many's wishes, and I do not hold sole copyright of it in order to commercialize it. Perhaps I could also collect donations for me and the 2 developers.
On the other hand, BlitzType is my own project. It's a more ambitious one with many carefully planned features and is designed to be more advanced, more applicable than TypingAid. I intend to experiment with some crazy ideas for instance, machine learning and speech recognition. This approach will put in much innovation, but a regular stable release is not possible. The program is also very flexible and can be turned into say, a thesaurus program with some tweaking, because it's meant for commercialization originally. If a decent funding is obtained, I could also release it in both free version and commercial version. TypingAid is a conservative approach to make an autocompletion software, and BlitzType is an ambitious one. Nowadays there is an application for each need; it is just the matter of finding the right one in order to increase one’s productivity in the long term. Of course it is much better for us if we can find a free tool to do the job we need to be done, productivity is a good thing as it is usually related to money. The objective is that the less we spend, the more we produce. Here are some tools for you to consider:
Google Apps: Google is not only a powerful search engine, it is also an almost unlimited source of apps. At Google Apps you will find a lot of different apps for all your needs like doc creator and reader, RSS reader, calendar etc… just take a look to see the whole range.
There are tools to use to edit and create technical text, but sometimes extra help is needed and there are some tools out there which are not as known as the most famous ones, but are very useful and can be perfect complement to our text editor or any other authoring software we may use. Some examples are:
Snagit: This is a software for taking screenshots, which is really useful if we are to take them in order to add to our text writings. Taking screenshot is common, besides that, it has very good features and editing functions for the screenshots. Check it out and you will see.
Newest TypingAid 1.2 now has some of the requested features. Thanks to maniac @ AutoHotKey forum and those who gave their feedback. Meanwhile I have created a poll about BlitzType, if you like our typing autocompletion programs, please help us to answer the question of the poll. (Poll is closed)
Why the question? The TypingAid program has proven useful to many and we have received many feedback. It's fascinating to learn that there are many different ways to use the program. However, very few know that the script has been around and developed for as long as 5 years on AutoHotKey forum.
A freeware author is often enthusiastic on his/her creation to a limit, because he/she can't devote full-time into it, (with some exceptions). An open-source project often needs commercial backing for it to turn into success. Some active distribution and promotion methods are needed to let more people know about a project. It's not unusual that TypingAid was left relatively unnoticed for 5 years.
Therefore it's my desire to attract more developers to work on BlitzType, and make the development process faster (6 months instead of 5 years to complete), hopefully build a community around it, offer a more responsive email as well as community technical support, introduce the programs to more people, publish more useful articles on the blog. The ultimate goal is to let more people benefit from TypingAid & BlitzType. To do that, I need $$.
So as not to create any bias in your mind before you attempt the poll. I shall comment no further. Please take some time to ponder and give an answer based on your own judgement. Thank you very much.
Windows 7 has introduced some useful features and one of them is the Sticky notes. For those who still don’t know it is a feature where you will have notes stuck on your desktop. In the past, most of us created .txt files on the desktop to remind us common tasks to do, to call someone etc… and now this is much improved by the Sticky notes function but, however, it still has some limitations.
BlitzType is a predictive text completion software for Windows, designed to reduce repetitive typing in text input. It can be used as a learning aid or typing aid for users who have difficulties typing normally, or to reduce keystrokes when working with a list of lengthy technical terms or commonly typed words and phrases. It is an on-going project currently under beta, the software will have features unique in its own way, compared to other commercial offerings in the market. It focuses on prediction and learning capabilities.
The software is now open to public for testing and feedback. Since it is still at beta version, it is advisable to backup your data before testing or only test it on a non-priority machine. The minimum requirement for running BlitzType is a Windows XP system or above on a machine with Pentium III 1GHz processor and 512MB RAM. New release: 0.95
(If you have an older version, fresh install is required) Features of BlitzType: Auto-complete words and phrases in any window. Automatically learn from typing. On-demand or always show suggestion. Multiple suggestions in the tooltip. Different ways to auto-complete, including 'text expand'. AutoCorrect. Portable.Coming features: Support European languages with accents. Management of learned phrases. Better control of tip position.
If the program does not start, you might need MS VC++ runtime or
TypingAid is a simple, compact and handy auto-completion utility for Windows. It is a free and open-source software licensed under GPL. New release: 2.15
I'd like to share with you a program TypingAid, to demonstrate how auto-completion tool could help to improve typing speed and productivity, as well as to reduce the risk of RSI (Repetitive strain injury). With proper set up, TypingAid could also be used as a typing aid for language learners and computer users affected by conditions such as Dyslexia, learning / writing difficulty, hand disability, Repetitive strain injury, etc. Features of TypingAid: Auto-complete words and phrases in any window. Auto-learn words as you type. Support European languages with accents and Unicode characters. Show suggestion listbox, no toolbar used. Add words and phrases to word list with shortcut key. Fast and memory-efficient. Portable, no installation needed.
TypingAid is made with AutoHotKey but does not require AutoHotKey to run. If you have AutoHotKey installed, you may also try the newest development version (bleeding edge) at AHK Forum TypingAid v2.15 - Word AutoCompletion Utility.
New users please read Quick Guide and check Known issues below to get started.
We made a tiny but nifty program originally intended for productive use, but then we discovered the other side of it. It can be used to simplify tasks as well as to escape from stagnant office policy :)
Requirements: 1. Windows XP, Vista, 7 2. No need installation. 3. Unzip to a folder and run.
For: 2. "Unproductive use" :)
Use: DOWNLOAD Boss Key program
Having several windows at the same time is a feature which is very helpful in some cases, but in others is quite messy and may slow down our work.
For example we need to translate a document or we need to rewrite a text or whatever job that requires having 1 window to look at and another window to type in. We can split the screen to read from one and type in the other but this will make your work area much smaller. Another option is to have two or more monitors installed in the computer, but this is not available to everybody due to the expenses of a new monitor, a low end GPU which does not support two or more monitors or the lack of space in the desk we are working at.
Sobolsoft programs are a long list of programs designed to make our life easier and speed up our work if we know how to use them. There are programs for a lot of tasks, but we will review the most useful when it comes to writing.
The most useful is the Sobolsoft MS Word Import Multiple Text.Files v7.0. With this easy to use program you can merge a whole lot of text files into one of them. It usually happens that you got a lot of files and you have to copy/paste the content of them to one file, with this program you can join 100 files with a few clicks.
Sobolsoft MS Word Export to Multiple Text.Files v7.0 does the opposite thing, if you got a long text file and you want to split it up in several without having to create new documents and having to copy/paste 100 times, you can use this easy program to do it in a few clicks.
Sobolsoft Create Multiple Folders v7.0 is a very useful tool if you need to sort documents into folders. Creating folders with similar names is boring and time consuming, with this tool you can create hundreds of them very easily.
Sobolsoft Excel Import Multiple Text.Files v7.0 is the perfect tool when you got data stored on .txt files and you need to use them in a .xls file. With this easy to use tool you can sort them as you want without having to do hundreds of copy/pastes.
Sobolsoft Email Compare And Remove Duplicate ists.v7.0 is an easy to use utility to compare duplicates in email lists to merge them in one.
There are much more programs like these which will really help us a lot. AutoHotkey isn't new. It has been around since '03 and has attracted for itself a sizable user community that keeps producing and sharing useful scripts and feedback to keep the program development going. It has also been featured in many popular sites before, such as MaximumPC.AutoHotkey is a multi-purpose free, open-source utility for Windows, capable of A little while ago, we were doing some light scripting tasks without using any IDE (integrated development environment). We found ourselves kept typing the same commands again and again, so it was a good idea to look for a Text Replacement utility or Abbreviation Expander to help us cut down repetitive typing. What this utility does is that it lets us define an abbreviation for a group of words or a phrase, so that when we type out the abbreviation, it turns into the group of words or the phrase. For example:
afaucs -> as far as you can see
So instead of typing the complete phrase "as far as you can see", we can just type 'afaucs' and have it automatically replaced by "as far as you can see". That saves some keystrokes especially for those who frequently type the same words or phrases. This can simplify typing alot.
As Windows 7 hits the retail shelves, we read more and more reviews that encourage us to spend our money and upgrade to the latest and greatest Windows from Microsoft. Surely, Windows 7 offers the finest functionality improvement, from user interface to management and control, over all previous Windows versions especially the misconceived Vista. We tested the RC and saw that the praises are true, among them, Windows 7 indeed boots faster, performs better and has a more convenient UAC.
Some comments in the reviews even go so far as to suggest that Windows 7 scales better than XP, and that multitasking in XP is slow and painful, whereas Windows 7 seems to multitask so much better with the new taskbar. So there is no point supporting a 10 years old OS and it's time to let go, is there? Although we may say Windows 7 is good partly because Vista is bad, we wouldn't think XP is bad just because Windows 7 is good. We work in an online publishing and software engineering business and often find ourselves facing heavy workload, tight budget and deadlines. We learnt from experience that to survive any understaffed situations, multi-tasking is the only way to go. Now we are like others, considering upgrade or not to upgrade. We decided to publish our guide about how to multi-task with Window XP (The guide also applies to Windows Vista as well) and look for feedback that shows us we could be more productive and efficient on Windows 7.
Do you usually spend a long time finding your files, forget where you put them? If so, you might want to install one of the desktop search engines listed below on your computer, replacing the default search engine of Windows XP or Vista to help you find your stuff fast. Desktop search relies on indexes created beforehand to locate an item during search. It is becoming a handy tool in office environment and could make you more productive at work. All of the tools listed below are able to search basic items like files, folders, documents, media, emails, contacts, etc.
Four Desktop Search engines compared: Desktop Search Engine Speed of loading search results Relevance Media/File type supported Indexing annoyance Copernic Desktop Search Home Medium Medium Basic (no network storage) (slight) index at idle time only Windows Search(comes in Vista SP2) Fast Medium (missed some files) Medium (none) index in background Google Desktop Very Slow (on browser) Low (algorithm similar to web search, not so relevant on desktop) Medium (more file types, but no network storage) (slight) index at idle time only Gaviri PocketSearch Slow Medium Comprehensive (high) high CPU usage & locked folder preventing deletion |