spugbrap’s blog

I’m a die-hard keyboard user, and always like to know when there’s a keyboard shortcut to accomplish something that might otherwise take a few strategic mouse clicks. The Windows key, while a bane to gamers’ existence, actually provides us with some useful functions.

I’ve known about several Windows key shortcuts for years, but there are a couple that I learned about more recently (sometime in 2007, I think), which I now use on a daily basis. The title of this post refers to these as ‘lesser-known’, but I base that purely on the fact that *I* did not know about them, not on any sort of user experience testing or published statistics.

Windows-D: Show Desktop

Hides all open windows, bringing the Windows desktop to the front. This duplicates the functionality of the ‘Show Desktop’ icon that exists in the Quick Launch toolbar by default, and the ‘Show the Desktop’ option in the context menu that appears when you right-click the taskbar. It does not actually minimize the other windows, and those windows can be re-focused via Alt-Tab or by clicking their taskbar entries.

Windows-L: Lock Computer

This duplicates the functionality of the ‘Lock Computer’ button in the Ctrl-Alt-Delete Windows Security dialog. On Windows XP systems that use Fast User Switching, it takes you back to the screen that lists user accounts.

I make it a habit of hitting Windows-L whenever I’m done using my PC at home, so that when my wife sits down to use it, she can just click her name and login (or resume her existing session). At work, it’s always a good idea to lock your computer, so I hit Windows-L whenever I get up to leave my desk.

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Now, here are a few more well-known (i.e. I’ve known about them for a long time) ones:Windows-M: Minimize AllThis minimizes all open windows. Programs that hide out in the system tray when you minimize them will be sent to the system tray. Everything else will be minimized to the taskbar. This has the same effect of clicking the ‘Minimize’ icon in the top-right corner of all of your open windows.Windows-F: Search for Files and Folders

This pops up the Windows file search feature. This duplicates the functionality of clicking the Start Menu, clicking the ‘Search’ menu option, and clicking the ‘For Files or Folders…’ sub-menu option.

Windows key (by itself): Open the Start Menu

This pops up the Start Menu, just like what happens when you press Ctrl-Esc or click the start menu. I use this all the time.

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Please note that I’ve still never used Windows Vista, so I am unfamiliar with any Windows-key shortcuts which may have been introduced with it. The shortcuts I’ve described, above, are valid in Windows XP Professional (and most of them were usable in previous versions of Windows as well). I did read about a change to the way the Start Menu works, in Vista, with the introduction of a smart search box.

If you know of any useful Windows-key shortcuts that I may have missed, for ANY version of Windows, please leave a reply and let me (and other readers) know!

I was trying to register to take a CLEP exam, to earn some credits and work towards finishing my degree at University of Phoenix, but I had trouble with a couple questions on the registration form. Question #22 on the CLEP registration form asked for information about the “Score Recipient”, which, in my case, is University of Phoenix. But the form asked for a “Code No.” and “Institution Name and Address”.

Here is the appropriate information, according to my academic counselor. She said it’s the only “Code No.” and “Institution Name and Address” that anyone needs, when trying to have any test scores (not just for CLEP tests) sent to UOP:

CLEP TEST CENTER ADMISSION FORM

22. Score Recipient:

Code No. 014593

Institution Name and Address:

Phoenix-Uopc-Student Services AA-K101
1221 N. College Ave
Tempe, AZ 85281

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Okay… I just had to share that information publicly, since it was rather difficult for me to find. Now, I’ll discuss how hard it was for me to find it.

Well, I couldn’t find the information in any of the CLEP-related emails and documents that my academic counselors have sent me, over the past few years, so I searched on the UOP student website. I couldn’t find the code number, and did not know which of UOP’s addresses was the one to have test scores sent to. Since UOP has campuses all over the US (and beyond?), as well as a particularly large online presence, I didn’t know whether the scores should be sent to my local campus, or the main Phoenix, AZ campus, or what.

When I looked up UOP on the College Board’s website, I found a code number, and two addresses: some kind of main address, and the admissions office; both of which were in Arizona. I didn’t know which one to have the scores sent to.

So, I emailed my academic counselor, giving her the information I’d found, and asked which address to use. I was feeling impatient, though, because I’ve been procrastinating this CLEP stuff for a *very* long time, and was so close to finally dealing with it. So, I kept looking for the info, myself.

The main UOP website was not very useful, but I did run across some kind of “Chat with someone NOW” link, so I tried that. When I asked the person for the info that I needed, he was not sure, so he asked for my phone number, called me, and conferenced me in with my academic counselor. I felt bad for nagging her, since I had just sent her that email so recently, but she was able to find the information that I needed.

Hopefully the information is correct, and hopefully others will have an easier time finding it, now. I’ll post some sort of follow-up, to let you know how things go with my CLEP registration, as well as the subsequent score reporting.

Tissues work very well for erasing dry-erase marker!

Specifically, I’ve tried it with Kleenex regular unscented ones, but I assume others probably work, too.

I used to get frustrated, sometimes, trying to erase dry-erase marker off a kids’ workbook that had laminated pages. The first method I used was using a dry paper towel. It worked fine, for a long time (but sometimes it didn’t). So, I tried a wet paper towel, and that would usually do the trick (but sometimes it wouldn’t). So, I tried a wet dishwashing sponge, which usually did pretty well (but not always). The last resort was a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (awesome product!), which always worked. But that seemed overkill, and I hated to waste it on something that should be easier to clean, so it wasn’t an everyday solution.

Lacey saw me struggling with this, one day, and told me about the tissue thing. I’m not sure where she learned about it, or if she figured it out, on her own. But I always use a tissue to erase it, now, and that works like a charm.

I also tried this on my whiteboard, at work, and it works on that, too. Much cleaner than using the whiteboard eraser, which just pushes the dust around and leaves a line of it wherever you stop erasing.

Read about this on one of my favorite geek/productivity blogs, lifehacker:

Google Maps: Drag and drop to tweak your driving route
Don’t like the driving route Google Maps doled out to you? Now you can change the driving directions by grabbing the blue route line and dragging it to create a new destination point, which will in turn create a new route.

I’ve been wanting this feature from any online mapping service, for *years*. I’ve talked about it countless times with friends, co-workers, classmates, etc. The ability to say “No, dummy, I’m not taking 66. It’s rush hour!” or “Ack! No way, they’re doing road work on that road this week, and it’s a mess.” is something that I’ve always wished for.

I haven’t tried this feature on Google Maps yet, but I look forward to playing with it sometime in the near future!

From A Handy CSS Debugging Snippet:

* { outline: 2px dotted red }
* * { outline: 2px dotted green }
* * * { outline: 2px dotted orange }
* * * * { outline: 2px dotted blue }
* * * * * { outline: 1px solid red }
* * * * * * { outline: 1px solid green }
* * * * * * * { outline: 1px solid orange }
* * * * * * * * { outline: 1px solid blue }

This code, if placed in your stylesheet, outlines every element on the page with colored boxes. I like this because it’s simple, and I learned something from it. I had no idea that you could use an asterisk for a css selector. Then, the idea of stringing them together to represent the elements that are most deeply nested with different colored outlines. Pretty slick!

I will probably still use the many functions in the Outline menu of the Web Developer Extension for Firefox, and the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar, for most of my everyday outlining-for-debugging needs. There are also bookmarklets out there to do this type of thing. But, this snippet deserves a spot in my toolbox, because it seems like it could could come in handy someday.