There’s nothing more damaging to your productivity than having to wrestle with the program you are using to get it to do what you want. Searching for tools or buttons is a task that can easily be bypassed with some quick memorization of shortcuts.

Undo, Multiple Times

[Ctrl + Alt + Z]

Most programs allow you to press [Ctrl + Z] multiple times to perform multiple Undo’s, but Photoshop requires [Alt], otherwise you’ll just keep undoing then re-doing then undoing then re-doing then undoing then re-doing.

Hand/Move Tool

[Spacebar]

Holding the spacebar will turn your cursor into the hand in almost any situation… when using different tools, with dialog boxes open, etc… allowing you to quickly navigate your document no matter what you’re doing.

Switch Document Windows

[Ctrl + Tab]

Your Photoshop workspace can become a mess when working on multiple files, especially when you hate minimizing, like I do, so being able to switch windows quickly is a must.

New Layer

[Ctrl + Shift + N] – with dialog
[Ctrl + Shift + Alt + N] – without dialog

Layers are the greatest thing(s) ever invented in any (design) program and being able to manage your layers properly is important. I’m Errorphobic, which makes me a layer junky, which also makes this a favorite shortcut of mine.

Duplicate Layer

[Ctrl + J] – without dialog
[Ctrl + Alt + J] – with dialog

You can duplicate an entire layer, or, if you have a selection, the selection will be duplicated to it’s own layer. This is great when trying different techniques or effects without having to worry about errors (Errorphobic, remember?).

Zoom In/ Zoom Out / Fit to Window

[Ctrl + =] – zoom in
[Ctrl + -] – zoom out
[Ctrl + 0] – fit to window

When you’re slightly obsessive and need to get that 1-perfect pixel zooming in and out quickly is a necessity to achieving that perfection.

Re-run Filter/ Fade Filter

[Ctrl + F] – run filter again
[Ctrl + Alt + F] – run filter again, with dialog
[Ctrl + Shift + F] – fade filter

Even though Photoshop provides preview windows in the dialog box for most filters, there’s still no true way of telling whether you’ve achieved your desired effect until you see the full image. If something goes wrong, you can quickly undo, then go back to your filter and try again without having to go through the hassle of moving your cursor. Or, if your filter effect is too intense, you can quickly fade it down without having to re-adjust the filter settings.

Making Your Own Shortcuts

These shortcuts may not be on the top of everybody’s list, but that all depends on your project and workflow. Luckily, Photoshop allows you to custom tailor your own Keyboard shortcuts to suit your needs. Just press [Ctrl + Alt + Shift + K] or go to [Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.

Here is the gud link for sum webTools

Click here

This should take < 10 minutes to set up and configure.Step 1 – Get thunderbird portableDownload a copy of portable thunderbird:
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/thunderbird_portable
and extract it by running the exe.Step 2 – Setup thunderbird & install add-onFirst of all, set up an email account. I created a gmail account just for this project. Go through thunderbird’s setup process and make sure your email account is configured properly. You’ll probably need to login to your account and enable POP/IMAP settings.

Now that you have a portable, working copy of mozilla thunderbird, download this add-on:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/2610
This is what makes it all work.

To install this into the thunderbird portable folder, open ThunderbirdPortable, and go to Tools -> Add-ons and click install. Direct thunderbird to the .xpi file you downloaded and it will install the add-on.

Restart thunderbird to proceed.

Step 3 – Configure inbox

Before you can configure the options for the add-on, you’ll need to create a folder that will hold the text messages. Right click on “Inbox” and click new folder. Name this something memorable. I named mine “SMS”

Next, click Tools -> Message Filters. Here you will pick the requirements your text message must meet in order to shut down your computer. Click “New” and create a filter. Configure your filter to meet some requirements in the top box, and configure the second box to move the message into the folder you created earlier.

Step 4 – Configure add-on

Before the add-on can run, it needs a command to run. Create a batch file in the portable thunderbird program directory that contains something like this:

Code:

shutdown.exe -s

In my example, I’m naming it shutdown.bat

Next, open up your portable thunderbird and click on the folder you created earlier (”SMS” in my case).  Then, go to Tools -> Mailbox Alert Preferences

IMPORTANT : Make sure that you have selected your folder BEFORE editing the mailbox alert preferences.  Otherwise, you will end up shutting down your computer every time you receive an email.

Check the Execute a command: checkbox as I have above, and point it to the shutdown batch file.  Hit OK.

To decrease the delay between the sending of the text message to the shutting down of the computer, go to Tools -> Account Settings…
click “Server Settings” on the left side under the account you will be receiving text messages on.  Under the server settings part of the box, change Check for new messages every _30_ minutes to every _1_ minute.

Well done.  Running this portable program will enable you to shutdown your computer from anywhere, as long as your computer is connected to the internet and you have a phone.  Try it out – send a message to your email address that meets the criteria you set up in the filter.  If everything works out, next time thunderbird checks for messages, it should get your SMS and shutdown.

This concludes the practical part of the guide, but, as I’m sure you’ve processed, this could potentially be used from ANY computer connected to the internet to run ANY program.  This has quite a lot of potential, so I decided to see what I could whip up in a couple of minutes.

idea – run the program invisibly, in the background

This is fairly easy to set up.  Download nircmd (http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html) and place it in your thunderbird folder.  Nircmd is a really cool tool that can be configured to do quite a lot of things.  Read the .chm in the zip to see all of the options.  After you have placed the executable in the folder (nircmdc.exe), create another batch file.

put this in the file:

Code:

@echo off
start ThunderbirdPortable.exe
nircmdc cmdwait 5000 win hide ititle “Thunderbird”

This is a fairly simple batch file, which will
open thunderbird in a new process, wait 5
seconds (for thunderbird to initialize and start
up) and then hide the window.  The program is
still viewable in the your processes, but it
isn’t viewable in the taskbar.

Now
all you need to do is double click the batch
file you have just created, wait a few seconds,
and you will have a portable thunderbird running
in the background, ready to shutdown your
computer when it receives the right message.

I’m sure you can think of many more ideas to add
to this, so contribute whatever you’re
thinking.  My apologies if I left out anything
important in this guide.  Please let me know if
I did.  If you get it working, let me know how
it goes.

here is a simple trick which will allow you to use google as ur dictonary. This trick will help you to find the meaning of word..here we go..

open www.google.com

in the SearchBox type “Define:yourWord”

remember u’ll have to use “define (followed by semicolor and ur word without BlankSpaces)”

e.g Define:attitude

you can save ur time if you are using a firefox webBrowser with googleToolbar

Click the Image to ZOom.

Finding free music downloads using Google

Looking for a legal way to download music onto your computer? If you’ve been using Kazza or other file sharing programs to download music, you could get into big trouble and it’s best to avoid it altogether. However, Google indexes hundreds of thousands of MP3s, WMAs, and OGGs that are stored in open directories all over the world and which you can download for free without worrying about legal issues.

All you need to do is know how to create a query in Google that will find the exact song you are looking for. Here’s how to find MP3 files in open directories using Google:

-inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:”index of” “Last modified” mp3

The inurl filter and intitle filters are used to find the open directories on the Internet. The mp3 filter at the end tells Google to look inside of these directories for any files with mp3 in the name. You can also search for WMA and OGG by changing the value of mp3.

You can also create a more specific query, i.e. for a particular band or song, by adding more filters after the mp3 filter. For example, here I am searching for Linkin Park songs:

-inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:”index of” mp3 “Linkin Park”

There are a couple of ways you can search for music using Google search and I will list out a few more that I have used before for finding music via Google search:

-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(wma|mp3) “Linkin Park”

This one is slightly longer, but does pretty much the same thing. As you can see it includes a few more filters that are not present in the first search mentioned. You can try out both and see which one gives you better results. Using both, I’ve been able to find tons of songs related to Linkin Park , not just her own, including parodies, remixes, etc.

Finding free MP3 downloads via del.icio.us

You can also find a lot of free music using the popular bookmarking service del.icio.us. Basically, you have to perform a custom search in order to find MP3 files that have been tagged. You can do this by typing in:

http://del.icio.us/tag/system:filetype:mp3

This will give you a nice list of MP3s that have been indexed on del.icio.us. If you want to find items tagged for a specific artist or band, you can use the following URL:

http://del.icio.us/tag/system:filetype:mp3+Linkin Park)

Pretty neat! If you want to download the song to your computer, you just have to right-click on the link and choose Save Link As or Save Target As.

You can also check out MP3 blogs and MP3 Blog Aggregators as they routinely put up free downloads to the latest music for a specific period of time.

If you’re just in the mood to listen to the latest music, but not download it, you can check out to really cool sites, Seeqpod and Songza, that I had written about earlier. Enjoy!

I will b soon post a list of Sites that allow you to listen online Songs.

Feel Free to comment you view !!

Here are 15 signs that you are addicted to Linux.

1. You bring a live CD with you whenever you’ll be using a computer away from your house.
2. You subscribe to a Linux magazine such as Linux Journal, Linux Mag, or Linux Format
3. Every time a friend or relative complains about their computer being slow due to spyware, adware and viruses, you tell them to install Linux.
4. You want a Penguin for a pet.
5. You understand what the command “mv windows /dev/null” means.
6. Your home page is http://www.google.com/linux
7. You subscribe to my RSS feed.
8. You own a RTFM coffee mug.
9. You participate in System Administrator Appreciation Day.
10. You hang out on Freenode.
11. You are a member of a local Linux User Group.
12. You have installed Linux on your mom and dads computers.
13. You know the African definition of the word Ubuntu.
14. You know who Linus Torvalds is.
15. You know who Hans Reiser is, and what he is accused of.

Can you think of anymore? Leave a comment and share with everyone.

If you are a hard core systems administrator or Linux engineer you’ll probably recognize most of these Linux command line tricks. The following Linux command line tips are not typically used by your everyday Linux user.

Quickly Find a PID with pgrep

pgrep looks through the currently running processes and lists the process IDs which matches the selection criteria to stdout.

pgrep ssh

This will list all PIDs associated with the ssh process.

Execute The Last Executed Command

The heading sounds a bit confusing but it’s exactly what it does.

!!

This will execute the last command you used on the command line.

Execute The Last Command Starting With..

If you want to execute a command a command from history starting with the letter S you can use the following:

!s

This will execute the last command used on the command line that started with s.

Run a Command Repeatedly and Display the Output

watch runs command repeatedly, displaying its output (the first screenfull). This allows you to watch the program output change over time. By default, the program is run every 2 seconds. watch is very similar to tail.

watch -d ls -l

This will watch the current directory for any file changes and highlight the change when it occurs.

Save Quickly in VI/VIM

If you’re in a hurry, you can save and quit the file you’re editing in vi by exiting insert mode, holding shift, and hitting z twice.

Quickly Log Out of a Terminal

You can quickly log out of a terminal session by using: CTRL+D

Navigate to the Last Directory You Were In

cd - will take you to the last directory you were in.

Make Parent Directories the Smart Way

mkdir -p /home/adam/make/all/of/these/directories/ will create all directories as needed even if they do not exist. Why waste time doing something silly like: mkdir make ; cd make ; mkdir all ; cd all ; mkdir of ; cd of … you get the point. Use mkdir -p!

Delete the Entire Line

If you’ve just typed a long string of commands that you don’t need to enter anymore, delete the entire line by using: CTRL+U.

Set the Time stamp of a File

touch -c -t 0801010800 filename.c will show the time stamp as 2008-01-01 8:00. The format is (YYMMDDhhmm).

Can you think of any other Linux commands that are less known to the general Linux community?

The Linux Information Project has a great write up on 25 Reasons to Switch to Linux.

Businesses, educational institutions, governmental agencies and other organizations around the world are converting1 their computer operating systems from Microsoft Windows to Linux at an increasing pace. They are likewise converting their application programs from commercial software to free software (also referred to as open source software). There are at least 25 reasons for this situation..

Here are a few excerpts from the article :

Because it is licensed under a free software license, Linux (as well as other free software) is available at no cost. It can be downloaded from the Internet for free, and it can be purchased in disk or box form at trivial cost. One copy can be used on as many computers as desired with no restrictions. This is in sharp contrast to Microsoft Windows, which can easily cost US$100 or more per computer.

Linux features superior security, including a very low rate of infection by viruses, trojans, worms, spyware and other malware. This is because UNIX and all of its descendants (including Linux) been designed from the ground up with security in mind, rather than having attempts at security tacked on as an afterthought. For example, users do not routinely use the system as the root (i.e., administrative) user, thereby protecting key system files even in the event of a break-in by a malicious intruder. Also, a robust firewall is included in major distributions and it is enabled by default. Another important factor is the free availability of the source code, which allows thousands of people around the globe to search for security vulnerabilities in it.

Read the entire article here..

While surfing i found a nice Linux Artical Where you are able to turn the lights on or off in your room from anywhere in the world via SSH its it tool c00l…

here it goes…

Introduction:

In this article I will walk you through making a device that controls electronic devices using your computer. This will give you a lot of power. For example, I am able to turn the lights on or off in my room from anywhere in the world via SSH. I know there are a few of these out there but mine is better. Mine doesn’t have complicated schematics with diodes resistors, 12Volt power supplies (where the hell are you suppose to get this from), and transistors. It’s simply a relay wall plug and wire. Below is the schematic. Click on the image to resize it.

What you will need:

Before you get started here is a run down of what you will need. Most of this stuff can be purchased at a local Wal-Mart or Target for a decent price.

• A Relay. part# G3MC-201PL-DC5 (the most important component)
• Light Socket
• Wire
• Solder Iron
• Solder Wire
• Tape
• Scissors
• Wall plug. Rip this off any old electrical device. and split the two wires. I used one from an blow dryer that doesn’t work.

Step 1:

The first thing you want to do is take the wall plug and solder one side to any of the relays load legs. Then connect the other wire of the wall plug to the socket. I put tape over the soldered leg to give it that extra hold and because when I solder the other leg it’s important not to get a short.

Step 2:

Now solder a wire to the next relay leg. **Don’t use an extremely thin wire like from your headphones**. Use wire that can handle 120 V AC.

Step 3:

Connect that wire to the other end of the socket. What you should have now is a wall plug with one end attached to one of the relay legs and the other end attached to the socket. Also you should have a wire that can handle 120V AC connected to the other side of the socket and the other relay load leg. This should form a loop. What opens and closes the loop is the relay. When the input legs receive 5 volts it closes the load legs and current flows.

Step 4:

Now solder two wires to the input legs of the relay. These will receive 5 volts from the parallel port and create a short in the load legs closing the circuit and allowing current to flow and thus turning on the electronic component. The circuit is now complete. Connect one wire to the 6 pin the other to the 22 pin

Step 5:

Make some kind of box to hold the circuit. I used the box that my relay came with from mouser.com. Below is what i put together.

Step : 6

Creating the application. Can’t get any easier than this.

LINUX CODE :

#include
#include
#include
#include#define base 0×378 /* printer port base address */

main(int argc, char **argv)

{

int value;

if (argc!=2)

fprintf(stderr, “Error: Wrong number of arguments. This program needs one argument which is number between 0 and 255.\n”), exit(1);

if (sscanf(argv[1],”%i”,&value)!=1)

fprintf(stderr, “Error: Parameter is not a number.\n”), exit(1);

if ((value<0) || (value>255))

fprintf(stderr, “Error: Invalid numeric value. The parameter number must be between 0 and 255\n”), exit(1);

if (ioperm(base,1,1))

fprintf(stderr, “Error: Couldn’t get the port at %x\n”, base), exit(1);

outb((unsigned char)value, base);

}

WINDOWS CODE:
MUST HAVE THIS DLL IN THE SAME FOLDER: inpout32.dll

#include
#include
#include/* Definitions in the build of inpout32.dll are: */

/* short _stdcall Inp32(short PortAddress); */

/* void _stdcall Out32(short PortAddress, short data); */
/* prototype (function typedef) for DLL function Inp32: */

typedef void (_stdcall *oupfuncPtr)(short portaddr, short datum);
#define PPORT_BASE 0×378

/* After successful initialization, these 2 variables

will contain function pointers.

*/
oupfuncPtr oup32fp;

/* Wrapper functions for the function pointers

- call these functions to perform I/O.

*/

void Out32 (short portaddr, short datum)

{

(oup32fp)(portaddr,datum);

}

int main(int argc, char **argv)

{

HINSTANCE hLib;
int value;
if (argc!=2)

{

fprintf(stderr, “Error: Wrong number of arguments. This program needs one argument which is number between 0 and 255.\n”);

exit(1);

}
if (sscanf(argv[1],”%i”,&value)!=1)

{

fprintf(stderr, “Error: Parameter is not a number.\n”);

exit(1);

}
if ((value<0) || (value>255))

{

fprintf(stderr, “Error: Invalid numeric value. The parameter number must be between 0 and 255\n”);

exit(1);

}

/* Load the library */

hLib = LoadLibrary(”inpout32.dll”);
if (hLib == NULL) {

fprintf(stderr,”LoadLibrary Failed.\n”);

return -1;

}
/* get the address of the function */

oup32fp = (oupfuncPtr) GetProcAddress(hLib, “Out32″);
if (oup32fp == NULL) {

fprintf(stderr,”GetProcAddress for Oup32 Failed.\n”);

return -1;

}

/***** Write the data register */

Out32(PPORT_BASE,value);
printf(”Port write to 0x%X, datum=0x%2X\n” ,PPORT_BASE ,value);

/* finished – unload library and exit */

FreeLibrary(hLib);

return 0;

}

Conclusion :

If something is not clear or you need some help you can send me an email at foughtnlost AT gmail.com I want everyone to get this working because in my next article I will go over on how to turn off your lights using a cell phone and fetchmail.

The REAL reason we use Linux

We tell people we use Linux because it’s secure. Or because it’s free, because it’s customizable, because it’s free (the other meaning), because it has excellent community support…

But all of that is just marketing bullshit. We tell that to non-Linuxers because they wouldn’t understand the real reason. And when we say those false reasons enough, we might even start to believe them ourselves.

But deep underneath, the real reason remains.

We use Linux because it’s fun!

It’s fun to tinker with your system. It’s fun to change all the settings, break the system, then have to go to recovery mode to repair it. It’s fun to have over a hundred distros to choose from. It’s fun to use the command line.

Let me say that again. It’s fun to use the command line.

No wonder non-Linuxers wouldn’t understand.

The point with us Linux fans is – we use Linux for its own sake. Sure, we like to get work done. Sure, we like to be secure from viruses. Sure, we like to save money. But those are only the side-effects. What we really like is playing with the system, poking around, and discovering completely pointless yet fascinating facts about the OS.

There are three main reasons Linux is so much fun:

1. Linux gives you complete control

Ever tried stopping a process in Windows and the OS wouldn’t let you? Ever tried deleting a file – and you couldn’t? Even though you had admin rights?

Linux lets you do anything. That’s the great benefit of usually logging in as user. If you login as the root, the OS assumes you know what you’re doing. Once you become root, everything is allowed.

2. Linux isn’t widely used

This is a paradox. We often complain Linux isn’t more widely used. But that’s one of the reasons we use it. It gives us a feeling of being a special clique. Like we’re better than “those ignorant masses”.

If Linux becomes widely used, we’ll probably switch to something else. Or at least develop an obscure distro that only we will use. Because, let’s face it, we want to feel special.

3. Linux is free (as-in-speech)

We can get the source code for all our applications. If we want to know how a certain part of the OS works, we can. This lets us tweak and play with our systems. And we absolutely loo-o-o-ve tweaking our system.

Of course we can’t tell non-Linuxers we use Linux because it’s fun – they’d stick us into a mental asylum quicker than you can say “antidisestablishmentarianism”. So we’ll keep telling them the false yet plausible reasons for using Linux. But deep inside, we’ll know the real reason we use Linux.

And maybe, just maybe, next time someone asks me why I use Linux, I’ll flash a huge smile and answer: “Because using Linux is FUN!”