The Best New Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

No matter what OS you use, keyboard shortcuts are a one-way ticket to enhanced productivity (plus you look awesome to friends and colleagues); Windows 7 has more cool new shortcuts than you can shake a stick at.

Windows 7 boasts a lot of great new shortcuts, but I'm focusing on several of my favorites. Check out the video above for a closer look. For those of you who prefer text to video, here are all of the shortcuts I highlighted:


Win+Home: Clear all but the active window
Win+Space: All windows become transparent so you can see through to the desktop
Win+Up arrow: Maximize the active window
Win+Down arrow: Minimize the window/Restore the window if it's maximized
Win+Left/Right arrows: Dock the window to each side of the monitor (If you've got dual monitors, adding Shift to the mix (e.g., Win+Shift+Right arrow) will move the window to the adjacent monitor.)
Win+T: Focus and scroll through items on the taskbar.
Win+P: Adjust presentation settings for your display
Win+(+/-): Zoom in/out
Shift+Click a taskbar item: Open a new instance of that application

Got a favorite shortcut of your own now that you've installed the Windows 7 Beta? Let's hear about it in the comments. (Apologies for the poor video quality... tried something new, but clearly it didn't work out.)

Windows 7 Shortcuts Enables the Best Win7 Shortcuts in XP or Vista

Windows only: If you like the look of Windows 7's great new keyboard shortcuts but aren't planning to upgrade for a while, Windows 7 Shortcuts enables some of the best Win7 shortcuts for XP and Vista.

Windows 7 Shortcuts was submitted by Lifehacker reader Rupert and was written in one of our favorite scripting languages, AutoHotkey. Right now, Windows 7 Shortcuts supports the following keyboard shortcuts:

Included:
Win+Left/Right arrows: Dock the window to each side of the monitor
Win+Up arrow: Maximize the active window
Win+Down arrow: Minimize the window/Restore the window if it's maximized

Partially Included
Win+Space: Note from the developer: AHK won't allow multiple windows to be made transparent easily. Therefore, I've changed it to make the active window transparent until it is released.

If you're an AHK user, you can grab the source and paste it into the script you use daily. If not, download the EXE by clicking the Download link above.

Windows 7 Shortcuts is a free download, Windows only.

HyperSnap-DX 6.40.02

2009.01.13 HyperSnap 6.40.01 released

Updated user interface with several "skins" to choose from on the "Options" menu - "Application Look".

Image tabs may be configured to be positioned above or below the image area, have different colors and properties. Right-click on a tab displays a short menu to close or save an image and to customize the tabs.

Corrected auto-scroll to work with Google Chrome browser.

Added File/Save command to the menu (in addition to "Save As..." that was always there)

Moved "Close All" command from Window to File menu.

Corrected a bug that caused sometimes HyperSnap to print multiple copies of an image, when only one copy print was requested.

Automatic capture processing, such as converting to black & white, substituting colors, adding a shade or frame, inserting stamps - will turned off and you need to manually turn it on when you exit and restart HyperSnap. If you do need to preserve these options at all times, add "-ra" command line option to the shortcut you use to start HyperSnap (see online help, "Command line usage" chapter).

HyperSnap-DX 6.40.02

Windows Update

Microsoft makes the second release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 3 publicly available for testing purposes. If you're feeling like giving your XP some early adopter love, run a registry modification program to install SP3 RC1 via Windows Update. But be warned the release notes are kinda "eh." Update: Or just download it directly from here. Tx, Prospero!

Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Vista SP1 Now on Windows Update

Windows only: We know it's kind of pathetic to get all excited about something as mundane as a service pack—yet here we are, hearts all a-patter because XP SP3 and Vista SP1 have been unleashed on Windows Update and at the Microsoft Download Center. Get thee to patching your PC! Why should you? Our complete field guide to XP Service Pack 3 holds all the answers.

Windows Search 4.0 Available on Windows Update

Windows only: Windows Search 4.0, an updated version of the desktop/web search tool that was introduced with Vista, is now officially available for Windows XP and Vista through Windows Update. As was the case with the technical preview, Windows Search 4.0 boasts faster and deeper indexing, better handling of email cataloging, support for encrypted documents, and a new system tray interface. Windows Search 4.0 is free and being rolled out gradually, but you can grab it manually from a link at this page.

See Your System's Upgrades with WinUpdatesList

Windows only: WinUpdatesList, a free utility for Windows, lets you see what updates your system has grabbed during its existence, and provides quick links to Microsoft Knowledge Base articles related to each one. Why would you use this instead of heading to the Windows Update server, you ask? If you're without internet and want to see which update borked your system, perhaps, or if you want to pre-download and slipstream updates into a custom-made Windows install CD. Since it's a self-contained app, no real installation is required, so use and discard at your discretion. WinUpdatesList is a free download for Windows systems (except Vista).

How to uninstall Internet Explorer 7

Luckily, you can remove IE7 from your Windows XP PC using Control Panel's "Add/Remove Programs." Nice to know it's not more permanently glommed onto Windows' innards.

Download of the Day: IE7Pro (Windows)

Windows only: Freeware Internet Explorer add-on IE7Pro adds several features - such as crash recovery, mouse gestures, ad filters, and more - to Internet Explorer 7.

Naturally, if you can use Firefox, that'd be our first recommendation if you want any of these features. Our second recommendation would be Opera. Finally, if you refuse the alternatives, no matter your strange and twisted reasons, IE7Pro's crash recovery alone is worth the download (I don't know how I lived without session saving in Firefox). For more tools to build up Internet Explorer to make it more like Firefox, check out ieSpell and Inline Search. IE7Pro is freeware, Internet Explorer 7 only (Windows). — Adam Pash

IE7Pro [via Google Operating System]

Download of the Day: Internet Explorer 7 Release Candidate (Windows)

Microsoft takes Internet Explorer 7 out of beta and makes the release candidate of IE 7 available for download this morning. The 'softies say:

The RC1 build includes improvements in performance, stability, security, and application compatibility. You may not notice many visible changes from the Beta 3 release; all we did was listen to your feedback, fix bugs that you reported, and make final adjustments to our CSS support.
The RC installation requires not one but TWO restarts (it uninstalls any existing IE7 version first), plus it does a virtual pat-down and "validates" your copy of Windows AND it runs the Malicious Software Removal tool to make sure all's kosher on your PC. After all that, you're exhausted, but the new version does have a much speedier startup. IE7 RC is a free download, Windows only. Thanks, Stone! — Gina Trapani

Internet Explorer 7 [Microsoft via IEBlog]

IE Alias Adds Address Bar Shortcuts to Internet Explorer

Windows only: Add Firefox-style address bar shortcuts with IE Alias, a free add-on for Internet Explorer 7. While address bar alias shortcuts—as in typing "lh" to get to Lifehacker.com—have been available in packages such as IE7Pro (original post), IE Alias' tool adds the nifty ability to open multiple URLs with the same shortcut, giving Internet Explorer the same kind of "Open All in Tabs" convenience of, well, Firefox. IE Alias is a free download for Windows systems and Internet Explorer 7 only.

Temporarily Disable Flash in Internet Explorer with Toggle Flash

Windows/IE7 only: Nothing's better than heading to a web page to find some information and being greeted with a slow-loading, over-the-top Flash intro, right? For distracting, crash-causing, or otherwise troublesome animated pages, Toggle Flash, a free Internet Explorer 7 add-on, soothes the pain pretty quickly. Once you've installed the toolbar button, a single click turns off Flash functionality in the background; click again, hit refresh, and the videos, animations, and other Flash elements return. It's small, it uses no background memory, and it just works. Toggle Flash is a free download for Windows systems and Internet Explorer 7 only; hit either link below for help getting the button to show up on your toolbar.

Windows internet explorer 7 Drops Windows Validation

Microsoft removed the Windows Genuine Advantage validation requirement from Internet Explorer 7 late last week and re-released it as a "High Priority" update. It might just be a move to increase IE7's share of the browser market, but those trying to run the browser on virtual machines, or side-by-side with IE 6, might avoid a few headaches. Those unhappy with the unexpected upgrade can still remove IE7 in the Control Panel through "Add/Remove Programs."

Windows Update Downloader Makes Slipstreaming Updates Simple

Windows only: Free utility Windows Updates Downloader is a seriously convenient tool for anyone starting over with a fresh Windows re-installation (such as a slipstreamed XP installation with SP3 pre-loaded), or anyone who wants to make their updates portable for later installation. Once installed, you have to point the app at an "Update List" for Windows XP or Vista (or Office 2003, if that's installed). Hitting "+" doesn't seem to point to the right page, which is here. Once the list is loaded, you can grab any of Microsoft's current updates as executable packages, easily plugged into a slipstreaming tool or run by themselves on a system that needs it. Perfect for managing big updates on multiple systems, and saving wait-and-download time on a re-installation. Windows Updates Downloader is a free download for Windows systems only.

PIM Backup Backs Up Windows Mobile Data

Windows Mobile only: The free PIM Backup utility makes backup copies of your appointments, call logs, contacts, messages, speed dials, tasks, and even folders and file types you specify. PIM Backup jobs run manually or on a schedule you set. While traveling and far away from my home computer, PIM Backup saved me from a big headache when I had to hard reset my Windows Mobile phone: with all my personal data backed up on the removable mini SD card in the phone, the time from hard reset to restored data was less than 10 minutes. We've covered how to back up your Windows Mobile device's content to the web with DashWire, but PIM Backup comes in handy for file backup without using your handheld's data connection. PIM Backup is a free download for Windows Mobile 6/5/2003SE.

Disable Windows Vista's User Account Control with TweakUAC

Windows Vista only: You're installing a bunch of software, and Windows Vista's "Need your permission to continue" prompts are driving you mad. You already know how to disable User Account Control and its annoying prompts, but that method requires a restart. New utility TweakUAC can "quiet" Vista's permission prompts temporarily without the restart while you tool around with Vista's innards, and re-enable them with a click. TweakUAC is a free download for Vista only.

Customize Windows XP and Vista with VistaTweaker

Windows only: Freeware app VistaTweaker makes customizing Windows a breeze. Very similar to the previously-mentioned Vispa, VistaTweaker has easier to navigate menus and can be used (with limited functionality) in Windows XP. VistaTweaker's interface is grouped in easy to navigate tabs with categories for: system, UI, IE, software, network, and performance. What makes VistaTweaker particularly convenient is that each "tweak" has a detailed description of exactly what it does.

If you haven't already tweaked your system with Vispa, VistaTweaker looks to be a simpler utility to accomplish the same tasks. Somewhat annoyingly, VistaTweaker does not yet indicate which tweaks are specific to Vista (though it is promised in the next release). VistaTweaker is a free, stand-alone executable for Windows XP and Vista currently in beta. Thanks, GHETTO CHiLD!

Get Virtual Desktops on Vista

Windows Vista only: Microsoft still hasn't updated Windows XP PowerToys for Vista, but you can still get multiple desktops with the free Vista Virtual Desktop Manager beta. Once the software's installed, use key combo's to navigate the desktops, which are mighty pretty with Vista's super-duper video capabilities:


* Windows Key + Z - Show the fullscreen "switcher"
* Windows Key + W - Pop up the window menu for the active window
* Windows Key + Numpad 1...9 - Switch to the corresponding desktop, if it exists
* Windows Key + Arrow Down/Right - Switch to the next desktop
* Windows Key + Arrow Up/Left - Switch to the previous desktop


The beta isn't completely stable just yet, so do proceed with caution. The Vista Virtual Desktops Manager is a free download for Windows Vista only.

XP Stays Alive till 2010

Today Microsoft announces that they will extend the amount of time manufacturers can ship low cost PCs with Windows XP until 2010. Clearly someone in Redmond is reading Lifehacker.

Windows XP's Availability Extended Until May 2009

Presumably due to its popularity—and Vista's low adoption rates—Microsoft has extended Windows XP's life from January till May of 2009. The BBC reports that hardware firms will be able to get XP licenses delivered up until May 30, 2009, instead of January 30, the original cutoff date.

Install the Windows Vista Sidebar in XP

Windows only: If you're in no hurry to adopt Windows Vista but you've taken a shine to the Vista Sidebar, Joshoon over at Deviant Art has uploaded a port of the actual application to Windows XP. Using a combination of resources such as Alky for Applications, a Windows Vista to XP compatibility client, and the sidebar extracted from Vista the port allows XP users to run Vista Sidebar. Users can grab additional sidebar gadgets directly from Microsoft and experience the same functionality as they would with the sidebar on a Vista system. If you're running Windows XP and looking for something to round out real estate on your widescreen monitor this might just be it. For other sidebar candidates and general Vista goodness, check out how to get the best features of Vista in XP. The Windows Vista Sidebar pack is free, Windows XP only.

Add Vista-like taskbar window previews to Windows XP

Free software Visual Tooltip can give you Vista's pretty taskbar window previews in XP.
The How-To Geek site details how to tweak Visual ToolTip so it displays a thumbnail when you mouse over a window's entry on the taskbar. Looks like a no-Vista-needed way to quickly locate the window you need with a swipe of the mouse. — Gina Trapani

Windows XP Lives

Rumors that Microsoft would release Windows XP Service Pack 3 this week aren't true; but if you're feeling adventurous, the folks in Redmond did make the second release candidate of XP SP3 available for download today. [via]

Use Vista cursors in XP

Looking to spruce up the look of Windows XP? Installing the Vista cursor theme is an easy way to do so, and the Alan Le weblog demonstrates the simple process. After downloading and unzipping the cursors, right click on install.inf and select install. You can then go into Mouse Properties and change your cursor theme. The change is subtle, but nice. Not ready to make the switch to Vista? Here are a few ways you can get Vista's look and feel in XP. Thanks, Dylan!

Dual boot Windows XP on a pre-installed Vista PC

You just got a new PC with Windows Vista pre-installed, and you want to dual-boot Windows XP for old programs - or just nostalgia's sake. You already know how to dual-boot Windows Vista on your XP machine, but you can also set up Windows XP to boot from a separate partition on your Vista PC.

First you'll need to repartition your hard drive inside Vista, install Windows XP on that new partition, and then use previously-mentioned VistaBootPro to set up your bootloader. A poster at the ProNetworks forum has the detailed rundown, along with helpful screenshots. —Gina Trapani

Install Windows XP in a Dual Boot with Pre-installed Windows Vista [ProNetworks]

Windows XP Tips

Yahoo! News offers up their top 10 Windows XP tips of all time. They've covered a wide range of topics from display tips to bits on how to increase disk space and performance.

This tip is one of our favorites because it always works. Running in the background of Windows are scores of services, small processes used by Windows and many Windows applications. The thing is, you don't need all these services — especially for applications you never use — and many of them actually slow your PC down.
Top 10 Windows XP Tips Of All Time [Yahoo! News]

Fireclip Brings Mac-Like Web Clipping to Firefox

Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Fireclip, a free plug-in that monitors specific sections of web pages, puts the at-a-glance convenience of the OS X widget screen in a Firefox tab.

Using Fireclip is darned easy. Activate with a shortcut (Alt+Q) or from the Tools menu, and its sidebar pops out. Hit "Select Clip," and you can mouse around to see the pre-defined sections of the page. Click once, and you'll be asked to re-size your selection with the familiar two-directional arrows at the edges of your area. Double-click inside the area, and it's locked in:



You don't have to be precise at all with your selections, so leave any dead space or visual cues you want around the edges. Opening Fireclip's page with the same shortcut gives you a space you can re-arrange however you'd like with your clips:



So, okay, Fireclip actually works and all, but what use would it be to the average surfer? Amit Agarwal's screencast of Fireclip might explain it better than my words:

Fireclip is a free download, works wherever Firefox does. I encountered a recurring pop-up ad while launching the clips page, but wasn't sure whether it was Fireclip itself or one of my clips.

Google Quick Search Like Quicksilver from Google

Mac OS X only: We've been crazy about Quicksilver—a free application launcher for Macs—for years now. Today Google is releasing a new search-and-launch application called Google Quick Search developed by Nicholas Jitkoff, the developer of Quicksilver.

Like Quicksilver, Google Quick Search not only searches for and launches files and applications—it also can drill down into content and perform context-specific actions. So, for example, Google Quick Search indexes my Address Book contacts; if I perform a quick search to pull up my contact card, I can hit Tab to drill down into possible actions to perform—like composing an email or starting an IM chat.


Google Quick Search integrates with Spotlight, so it's not reinventing the wheel, either. Where it really covers new ground, however, is its integration with Google search. Much like the previously mentioned Google Mobile iPhone App, Google Quick Search offers as-you-type search results from both your desktop and the web. It features quick and easy site-specific searches (also just like Google Mobile for iPhone), indexes items from your Google account (Google Docs and Picasa Web Albums, for now, but presumably more to come), and even offers handy keyboard shortcuts to quickly start a new site-search (for example, invoke Google Quick Search and hit Cmd-3 for Wikipedia).


The application is currently just a prototype, so expect to see some rough edges. That said, in my experience with it so far, it's been smooth and responsive for such an early release. It's feature set isn't up to the level you'd expect from Quicksilver, but it's a great start, and an exciting application to keep an eye on. Google Quick Search is a free download, Mac OS X only. Best of all: It's open source—just like Google Chrome. If you give it a try, let's hear what you think in the comments.

Revealed: the environmental impact of Google searches

Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.

While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. “Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power,” said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. “A Google search has a definite environmental impact.”

Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint. It also refuses to divulge the locations of its data centres. However, with more than 200m internet searches estimated globally daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the internet is provoking concern. A recent report by Gartner, the industry analysts, said the global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the world’s airlines - about 2% of global CO2 emissions. “Data centres are among the most energy-intensive facilities imaginable,” said Evan Mills, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. Banks of servers storing billions of web pages require power.

Related Links
How you can help reduce the footprint of the Web
Though Google says it is in the forefront of green computing, its search engine generates high levels of CO2 because of the way it operates. When you type in a Google search for, say, “energy saving tips”, your request doesn’t go to just one server. It goes to several competing against each other.

It may even be sent to servers thousands of miles apart. Google’s infrastructure sends you data from whichever produces the answer fastest. The system minimises delays but raises energy consumption. Google has servers in the US, Europe, Japan and China.

Wissner-Gross has submitted his research for publication by the US Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and has also set up a website www.CO2stats.com. “Google are very efficient but their primary concern is to make searches fast and that means they have a lot of extra capacity that burns energy,” he said.

Google said: “We are among the most efficient of all internet search providers.”

Wissner-Gross has also calculated the CO2 emissions caused by individual use of the internet. His research indicates that viewing a simple web page generates about 0.02g of CO2 per second. This rises tenfold to about 0.2g of CO2 a second when viewing a website with complex images, animations or videos.

A separate estimate from John Buckley, managing director of carbonfootprint.com, a British environmental consultancy, puts the CO2 emissions of a Google search at between 1g and 10g, depending on whether you have to start your PC or not. Simply running a PC generates between 40g and 80g per hour, he says. of CO2 Chris Goodall, author of Ten Technologies to Save the Planet, estimates the carbon emissions of a Google search at 7g to 10g (assuming 15 minutes’ computer use).

Nicholas Carr, author of The Big Switch, Rewiring the World, has calculated that maintaining a character (known as an avatar) in the Second Life virtual reality game, requires 1,752 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. That is almost as much used by the average Brazilian.

“It’s not an unreasonable comparison,” said Liam Newcombe, an expert on data centres at the British Computer Society. “It tells us how much energy westerners use on entertainment versus the energy poverty in some countries.”

Though energy consumption by computers is growing - and the rate of growth is increasing - Newcombe argues that what matters most is the type of usage.

If your internet use is in place of more energy-intensive activities, such as driving your car to the shops, that’s good. But if it is adding activities and energy consumption that would not otherwise happen, that may pose problems.

Newcombe cites Second Life and Twitter, a rapidly growing website whose 3m users post millions of messages a month. Last week Stephen Fry, the TV presenter, was posting “tweets” from New Zealand, imparting such vital information as “Arrived in Queenstown. Hurrah. Full of bungy jumping and ‘activewear’ shops”, and “Honestly. NZ weather makes UK look stable and clement”.

Jonathan Ross was Twittering even more, with posts such as “Am going to muck out the pigs. It will be cold, but I’m not the type to go on about it” and “Am now back indoors and have put on fleecy tracksuit and two pairs of socks”. Ross also made various “tweets” trying to ascertain whether Jeremy Clarkson was a Twitter user or not. Yesterday the Top Gear presenter cleared up the matter, saying: “I am not a twit. And Jonathan Ross is.”

Such internet phenomena are not simply fun and hot air, Newcombe warns: the boom in such services has a carbon cost.

Boost Performance by Checking IDE Drive Transfer Mode

If you're struggling with decreased performance on a Windows based machine, it's a simple fix to check to make sure your IDE drives aren't operating in a slower, ineffective transfer mode.

When fresh from the box—or your workbench— your computer should have had all it's IDE drives set in Direct Memory Access mode. This is a far speedier method of disk access than Programmed Input/Output mode. The technical side of the two modes is dense but let it suffice: DMA is a the fast and preferred method and PIO mode is the slower method Windows defaults to after having six redundancy checks fail. Things like power outages, doing a hard reset and other disk interruptions can cause these errors. Your Windows box may be operating in the slower transfer mode because mistakenly thinks that your system is unstable or that there is something wrong with your disks. The fix for your computer downshifting into PIO mode is simple. Go to your Control Panel, click on the System icon, open up your Device Manager and pull up the properties for your Primary and Secondary IDE channels. Under the Advanced settings tab you'll be able to set the Transfer Mode to "DMA if available". Reboot and you should be in business. MakeUseOf has a full step by step guide with screenshots if you'd like a visual reference.

gOS 3.1

gOS, the Ubuntu-derived Linux desktop that's focused squarely on Google products and other webapps, has updated with newer versions of its core products, including the Windows-app-running WINE, Firefox 3, and support for newer Google Gadgets.

If gOS is new to you, check out Adam's tour of its monstrous webapp powers. Along with some pretty refined theming and taskbar implementation of the standard Ubuntu look, gOS can run as a fully-fledged Linux system in itself.

gOS 3.1 is a free download, requires an x86-based computer with 256MB of RAM to run or install.

Bulk Edit Tags on Delicious

It's tucked away, but bookmarking site Del.icio.us now offers bulk tag editing (in, of course, beta) for group tagging/un-tagging and sharing/un-sharing. Helpful stuff, especially for pesky tag typos. Thanks Gergo!

iTunes May Drop Most Copy Protection, Vary Prices

The good news: CNET has sources saying the three largest music labels will allow Apple to offer music downloads free of copy-protection. And the bad news might not be that bad.

In exchange for the DRM-free tracks, Apple will reportedly allow labels to push three tiers of pricing. Older songs from the archives will likely get cheaper than 99 cents, songs that are newer and "midline" (i.e. not big hits) will inhabit the familiar 99 cent mark, and newer, bigger hits will fetch higher, unnamed dollar amounts.

If announced at the Macworld conference today—which our gadget-obsessed cousins at Gizmodo are, of course, covering live—there could also be over-the-air 3G downloads coming to iPhone owners, and DRM dropped from everything in the iTunes store on launch. As Greg Sandoval at CNET points out, though, that leaves a question mark on tracks already purchased through iTunes.

Will variable, DRM-free pricing make you a (new or returning) iTunes customer? Tell us your take in the comments.

Why Your Self-Handicapping Excuses Don't Work (And How to Fix Them)

The New York Times takes a revealing look at self-handicapping excuses—like "I barely slept the night before the test"—and why we create them, as well as the extremely unlikely chance that anyone else buys them.

The short version of the research and studies cited is that we all do it, in varying amounts, to protect our fragile egos. It's a two-way victory: If you ace a project, you did great despite your car having trouble, your cat dying, being sick, and not having hardly heard the initial presentation. If not, well, hey, you know why.

If you're a regular self-handicapper, though, you can grow too attached to whatever you use without knowing it, whether it's alcohol, rule-defying, sleep-deprivation, or whatever convenience you cling to. Those who study self-handicapping, though, offer a seemingly devious way to go at it another way and benefit—namely, get someone else to deliver your excuses:


In a recent study, James C. McElroy of Iowa State University and J. Michael Crant of Notre Dame had 246 adults evaluate the behavior of characters in several workplace anecdotes. The participants’ impressions of a character began to sour after the second time the person cited a handicap.

“What happens here is that if you do it often, observers attribute your performance to you, but begin to view it as part of your disposition, i.e., you’re a whiner,” Dr. McElroy wrote in an e-mail message. “But you can avoid this happening if someone else does the handicapping for you, and surprisingly enough, even if they do it often.”

Which cliched excuses and handicapping preambles do you wish you could banish, whether in yourself or co-workers? Let's hear your take on pre-emptive defeat in the comments. Photo by pattista.

10 Things To Do When You Are Losing RSS Subscribers

Today, the blog set a new RSS milestone and broke 44K readers for the first time. RSS going up is something we all like to see. However, what do you do when your RSS is going down? This guest post by Steven York of SEOpher has the answers. You can subscribe to Steven’s RSS feed here.

While it can be argued that watching your statistics is a mild form of madness (and counter productive as discussed at Problogger), if you care about making it as a blogger you have to care about your metrics. I strongly believe that your RSS feed is one of the biggest indications as to whether your blog is growing or not; visitors come and go like the tides but people subscribing to your feed indicates quality of content.

So what do you do if you see your RSS figures dropping? Well there are a few good ways to take a step back and work out where you’re going wrong. Here is my 10 step guide to rescuing your blog:

1. Is It Just a One Time Drop?

About a dozen times this year the number of subscribers to my feed has dropped by 500 or so overnight; for a super-sized blog with 25,000 subs that isn’t so much an issue, when I have 700 it’s rather noticeable. The first thing to do is not panic - you won’t have actually lost these subscribers it’s more likely to be a glitch with Feedburner or something, so just sit back and maybe write some killer content to ensure tomorrow is a new high.

2. Are You Actively Writing?

Sometimes taking a break from blogging is enough to see a small but steady decline in subscribers; fortunately this is the easiest one to resolve - just start writing again! Your readers will pick up again. If you’ve got a mailing list then it’s worth broadcasting that you’re writing again.

3. Is There Any Interactivity?

One of the biggest problems people face with their blogs is involving the reader. Posts that offer little more than a narrative on events/news within the niche don’t give the user any reason to hang around, whereas asking your readers questions or inviting feedback will help ensure your RSS feed doesn’t decrease.

4. Look at your latest content - can someone learn anything from it?

Have a look back over the past month of blog posts and ask yourself whether readers would learn anything from them? One of the biggest factors for ensuring readers return is offering them useful advice - whatever your niche, if you can ensure the reader goes away with something new then there’s every chance that they’ll come back.

5. This Point Could Literally Save Your Life

Not really, but it highlights one of the most crucial aspects of blogging and attracting an audience - writing sensationalist titles. You could be writing killer content but if you’re not selling it with the title then people aren’t interested in reading it. If people aren’t reading it, they’re certainly not subscribing to read more of it… See what I’m saying? Be descriptive and sexy in your titles and you’ll see an improvement in subscribers.

6. Run a Competition!

Ask people to subscribe via Email to your RSS feed - then using Feedburner you can get a spreadsheet of all confirmed Email subscribers; after a predetermined period of time you can randomly pick a winner. This will encourage feed subscriptions and if you follow rules 3, 4 and 5 you should be able to convert a few users. Remember, you don’t necessarily have to give away money - if you’ve got a skill you could market that as a prize. Hell, a day of my time as a consultant is comfortably $500 and that’s not a bad prize in itself. Be creative! Talk to friends, see if anyone has anything they want plugged…

7. Collaborate with Other Bloggers

Sharing readers can be a great way to increase your blog’s reach so if you’ve got friends within the niche talk to them, see if you can come to some arrangement about cross-promoting the blogs. Having guest authors raises the profile of your site and you get to share visitors - some of them might subscribe to your list too.

8. Be Honest, Be Personal and Challenge Yourself

One of the things I hate most about reading blogs is how impersonal some are; sometimes all you seem to read are loosely disguised promotions of affiliate campaigns and brags of success - to really connect to the average reader you need to be humble. Sure aspirational posts are good but I find it really hard to connect with some of the superstars because the amount of money they earn (John included) is just astronomical. These superstars can be bold about such things because they CAN earn that much. You’re probably not one of them, so be humble and honest and your readers will reward you with their attention.

9. Boast About The Things That You Do Well - But Be Constructive

If your subscribers are waining a little then it might be worth boasting about something you’ve done well (earned $1000 in one month blogging? Then explain how!). People want to read pieces of content with achievable goals, so explain exactly how you got there and you’ll attract readers. Reached #1 for a specific popular search term? Been front-paged on Digg? Mentioned in mainstream press? It’s a little like blowing your own trumpet but as bloggers we have to!

10. Last Resort, Speak To a Few of Your Readers

If all else fails and you’re still losing subscribers then it’s time to get back in touch; speak to a few subscribers you do have and ask what content they would like to see more of. It’s sometimes hard to put yourself directly in the shoes of your readers so speak to them - they’re just normal people like you! They won’t bite. Ask what content they like, what they don’t like etc. You might find the answers a little surprising. Canvas enough opinion (maybe even post a poll on your blog) and you should get an idea of what content works best for your readers - meaning you can cater to it a little closer to get your blog back to fighting weight.

Tabhunter Adds Faster Tab Switching to Firefox

Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): The Tabhunter Firefox extension adds quick keyboard-based tab switching to Firefox—sort of like Launchy for Firefox tabs. Just invoke Tabhunter, start typing, and Tabhunter searches for a match through all your tabs.

Tabhunter searches only the titles of your open pages, but the search is very fast and works as advertised. You can invoke Tabhunter from the keyboard (Ctrl+Alt+T by default), start typing, and find the tab you want more quickly than you can likely switch over to your mouse and back.

Granted, Tabhunter is decidedly for keyboard shortcut lovers, but if you fall in that group and you regularly have a browser full o' tabs, it's a great extension. Tabhunter is a free download, works wherever Firefox does. If you're not quite into the idea, I've always liked previously mentioned LastTab for boosting my tab-switching skills. Unfortunately it's been buggy for me ever since Firefox 3, so Tabhunter is a welcome entry. Either way, your mileage may vary. Let's hear what you prefer in the comments.

Stanza Turns Your iPhone into a Kindle

iPhone/iPod touch only: If recession budgeting meant choosing an iPhone/iPod touch over a Kindle when the dust cleared this holiday season, you're in luck: Stanza is a free and fantastic ebook reader for your iPhone.

The free application comes pre-loaded with several sources for downloading free or public domain books (including the entire Project Gutenberg library), so you can easily download books like The Art of War, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, or Walden in just a few seconds without spending a dime.

However, if you want to get new books, Stanza also comes with a bookstore with which you can purchase popular new titles as well. Prices range from $8 to $15 based on the books I browsed. The reader itself is fully customizable, so if you don't like the standard black text on white background look, you can just as easily pick something that suits you. Stanza is a free download for the iPhone or iPod touch.

If you can't imagine reading from your iPhone or iPod touch in public, consider turning your iPhone into a Moleskine book so it still appears to onlookers like you're reading dead-tree style.

The most vulnerable to hackers to crack the 500 network password

People just started using a password, not long, it was found that many people use the same password repeatedly, even misspelled also ran the same password. In fact, precisely because of people's passwords can be set up by speculation, most hackers will use the following form commonly used passwords. From the 500 most commonly used passwords, you can see the safety awareness of how weak the person is dangerous. If you see in the table their own commonly used passwords, quickly replaced it. We should know that every password listed below are at least hundreds of other people used.
some interesting password, they show people trying to express themselves smart, but people can also be small smart unpredictable ... ... to look at the following interesting Password:

ncc1701: Galaxia No. ships enterprises.

thx1138: George Lucas first film's name, it is a student work on the earlier re-production.

qazwsx: classic left-hand side of the keyboard letters.

666666:6 months 6

ou812: Van Halen album 1988 album's title.

8675309: Tommy Tutone band's 1982 song mentioned a figure.

It is said that there are about 1 / 9 of at least the following used a password, and there are 1 / 50 people who used the top 20 worst password.

Watch it, the password is not case-sensitive via:

NO

Top 1-100

Top 101-200

Top 201-300

Top 301-400

Top 401-500

1

123456

porsche

firebird

prince

Rosebud

2

password

guitar

butter

beach

jaguar

3

12345678

chelsea

united

amateur

great

4

1234

black

turtle

7777777

cool

5

pussy

diamond

steelers

muffin

cooper

6

12345

nascar

tiffany

redsox

1313

7

dragon

jackson

zxcvbn

star

Scorpio

8

qwerty

cameron

tomcat

testing

mountain

9

696969

654321

golf

shannon

madison

10

mustang

computer

bond007

murphy

987654

11

letmein

amanda

bear

frank

brazil

12

baseball

wizard

tiger

hannah

lauren

13

master

xxxxxxxx

doctor

dave

japan

14

michael

money

gateway

eagle1

naked

15

football

phoenix

gators

11111

squirt

16

shadow

mickey

angel

mother

stars

17

monkey

bailey

junior

nathan

apple

18

abc123

knight

thx1138

raiders

alexis

19

pass

iceman

porno

steve

aaaa

20

fuckme

tigers

badboy

forever

bonnie

21

6969

purple

debbie

angela

peaches

22

jordan

andrea

spider

viper

jasmine

23

harley

horny

melissa

ou812

kevin

24

ranger

dakota

booger

jake

matt

25

iwantu

aaaaaa

1212

lovers

qwertyui

26

jennifer

player

flyers

suckit

danielle

27

hunter

sunshine

fish

gregory

beaver

28

fuck

morgan

porn

buddy

4321

29

2000

starwars

matrix

whatever

4128

30

test

boomer

teens

young

runner

31

batman

cowboys

scooby

nicholas

swimming

32

trustno1

edward

jason

lucky

dolphin

33

thomas

charles

walter

helpme

gordon

34

tigger

girls

cumshot

jackie

casper

35

robert

booboo

boston

monica

stupid

36

access

coffee

Braves

midnight

shit

37

love

xxxxxx

yankee

college

saturn

38

buster

bulldog

lover

baby

gemini

39

1234567

ncc1701

barney

cunt

apples

40

soccer

rabbit

victor

brian

august

41

hockey

peanut

tucker

mark

3333

42

killer

john

princess

StarTrek

canada

43

george

johnny

mercedes

sierra

blazer

44

sexy

Gandalf

5150

leather

cumming

45

andrew

Spanky

doggie

232323

hunting

46

charlie

winter

ZZZZZZ

4444

kitty

47

superman

brandy

gunner

beavis

rainbow

48

asshole

compaq

horney

bigcock

112233

49

fuckyou

carlos

bubba

happy

arthur

50

dallas

tennis

2112

sophie

cream

51

jessica

james

fred

ladies

calvin

52

panties

mike

johnson

naughty

shaved

53

pepper

brandon

xxxxx

giants

surfer

54

1111

fender

tits

booty

Samson

55

austin

anthony

member

blonde

kelly

56

william

blowme

boobs

fucked

paul

57

daniel

ferrari

donald

golden

mine

58

golfer

cookie

bigdaddy

0

king

59

summer

chicken

Bronco

fire

racing

60

heather

maverick

penis

sandra

5555

61

hammer

chicago

voyager

Pookie

eagle

62

yankees

joseph

rangers

packers

hentai

63

joshua

diablo

birdie

einstein

newyork

64

maggie

sexsex

trouble

dolphins

little

65

biteme

hardcore

white

0

Redwings

66

enter

666666

TopGun

chevy

smith

67

ashley

willie

bigtits

winston

sticky

68

thunder

welcome

bitches

warrior

cocacola

69

cowboy

chris

green

sammy

animal

70

silver

panther

super

slut

Broncos

71

richard

yamaha

qazwsx

8675309

private

72

fucker

justin

magic

zxcvbnm

skippy

73

orange

banana

lakers

nipples

marvin

74

merlin

driver

rachel

power

blondes

75

michelle

marine

slayer

victoria

enjoy

76

corvette

angels

scott

asdfgh

girl

77

bigdog

fishing

2222

vagina

apollo

78

cheese

david

asdf

toyota

parker

79

matthew

maddog

video

travis

qwert

80

121212

hooters

london

hotdog

time

81

patrick

wilson

7777

paris

sydney

82

martin

butthead

Marlboro

rock

women

83

freedom

dennis

Srinivas

xxxx

voodoo

84

ginger

fucking

internet

extreme

magnum

85

blowjob

captain

action

redskins

juice

86

nicole

bigdick

carter

erotic

abgrtyu

87

sparky

chester

jasper

dirty

777777

88

yellow

smokey

monster

ford

dreams

89

camaro

xavier

teresa

freddy

maxwell

90

secret

steven

jeremy

arsenal

music

91

dick

viking

11111111

access14

rush2112

92

falcon

snoopy

bill

wolf

russia

93

taylor

blue

crystal

nipple

scorpion

94

111111

eagles

peter

ILOVEYOU

rebecca

95

131313

winner

pussies

alex

tester

96

123123

samantha

cock

florida

mistress

97

bitch

house

beer

eric

phantom

98

hello

miller

rocket

legend

billy

99

scooter

flower

theman

movie

6666

100

please

jack

oliver

success

albert

Make Your Own SAD Light Box

Boris wanted to build a light box for his sister, who suffers from Seasons Affective Disorder, a disorder brought on by lack of exposure to bright light in darker winter climates.

My sister suffers from seasonal affective disorder, also known as winter depression. A commonly prescribed therapy is light therapy - about thirty minutes of bright light in the morning. Bright in this context means more than 10 000 Lumens. You can of course buy commercial light-boxes, but I wanted to construct one by myself.

He neglects to point out that commercial light boxes can run $200+ and that building you own is a really economical choice. By repurposing a wooden filing box from Ikea, buying some compact fluorescent bulbs and some basic light sockets he was able to craft a very serviceable light box for his sister that exceeded the 10,000 Lumen requirement by nearly 6,000 Lumens.

Stanza Turns Your iPhone into a Kindle

iPhone/iPod touch only: If recession budgeting meant choosing an iPhone/iPod touch over a Kindle when the dust cleared this holiday season, you're in luck: Stanza is a free and fantastic ebook reader for your iPhone.

The free application comes pre-loaded with several sources for downloading free or public domain books (including the entire Project Gutenberg library), so you can easily download books like The Art of War, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, or Walden in just a few seconds without spending a dime.

However, if you want to get new books, Stanza also comes with a bookstore with which you can purchase popular new titles as well. Prices range from $8 to $15 based on the books I browsed. The reader itself is fully customizable, so if you don't like the standard black text on white background look, you can just as easily pick something that suits you. Stanza is a free download for the iPhone or iPod touch.

If you can't imagine reading from your iPhone or iPod touch in public, consider turning your iPhone into a Moleskine book so it still appears to onlookers like you're reading dead-tree style.

Bookmarklet Add-on Stand-ins for Google Chrome

The ReadWriteWeb blog bemoans the lack of browser extension support in Google Chrome (so far), and offers a list of handy bookmarklets that can tide you over for now.

From Gmail This, to Dictionary, to Delicious 'marklets, this collection looks a lot like our top 10 useful bookmarklets. Of course, bookmarklets don't take up the memory or require installation like add-ons do, so these are worth dragging to your Firefox toolbar as well.

Display Your Unread Message Count in the Gmail Favicon

Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Gmail Unread Message Count in Favicon Greasemonkey user script displays your unread message count on the Gmail site favicon.

If you're not familiar with the concept of the favicon, it's the small icon that appears next to the address bar or in the tab and helps identify which sites are open in which tab (like the little 'lh' that Lifehacker uses as its favicon). With this script installed, the favicon gets even more useful by showing your unread count in addition to identifying which tab holds your Gmail account. The unread number glows brighter with each new message you receive, and it maxes out at 10. The improved favicon is a perfect compliment to the previously mentioned FaviconizeTab extension, which strips all the text from tabs so all you're left with is the favicon, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see this incorporated in Better Gmail sometime in the future (it's very similar to the already included Show Inbox Count First script).

It's a simple little script, but it's a brilliant tweak. Gmail Unread Message Count in Favicon is a free download, requires Firefox and the Greasemonkey extension.