computer tips part 2Here’s the 2nd episode of what you can learn and do online.  If you have not seen the first part yet,  Click here to access the first part.   I will cut to the chase and start with the first tip in part 2.

1) Gmail shortcuts.

There’s actually shortcut keys that you can use when you are in Gmail.   Login to your Gmail account, click on settings, and set the Keyboard shortcuts to on.  Save changes and log out.  Now when you log in to gmail. All you need to do is press and hold the shift key + the “?” key of the keyboard.  All the shortcuts that you can use will be displayed.


2) Better use of Firefox browser
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Press CTRL + TAB To switch between multiple tabs within a window. SHIFT + CTRL + TAB to switch backwards between the tabs. By combining 2 keys on a keyboard will help to add the .coms or .net or .org after any text so it would be faster by simply typing the name of the site in the address bar followed by hitting the combinations.
CTRL + ENTER = adds a dot com
SHIFT + ENTER = adds a dot net
CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER = adds a dot org

Adding bookmarks can be as simple as press CTRL + D when you are on the page. Or you can simply drag the tab that is opened to the bar above the tabs. This will create a instant quick launch access to the site you frequent.
You can speed up the starting of firefox by using a program called the Firefox Preloader. This program starts part of Firefox together when windows starts up, as a result of that, you get a faster response time when you start Firefox browser.
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3) Saving a Quicklist in youtube
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Having found lots of good videos wanting to show your friends, what do we do? Bookmark the page. So you end up trying to show it to your friends in the library. Searching through youtube once more would be tedious. Save them to your youtube’s accounts quick lists. Simply Click on the ‘ + ‘ in the bottom left corner of the YouTube video to save it in your personal Quicklist. Now this list will be showed on the top when you log in to your own account. You can play them all at once by clicking on ” Play Quicklist ” or play them one at a time.
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4) Carry your browser along with you.
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Checking your email or Surfing the net in public computers is scary as we do not know if the next person who sits in that computer after you is a hacker who is able to retrieve your password and private data. It can also be a chore if you had to key in the URL of the sites that you wish to log in. Humans have gotten so used to history and bookmarks as such. The answer to this problem? Use portable apps.
Download Portable Firefox and run it from any thumb drive or flash card. It even works in s microSD card. Install it inside the correct location which is your portable drive and each time you save a bookmark or password, its all recorded only inside this thumb drive. The best part of it, No trace of history or what so ever is left in the computer you are using.
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5) Search for songs not knowing the name
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So many times we asked our friends , do you know the title for this or that song? Then we painfully try to sing out that song as much as we could ever remember only to get blots of laughter from the crowd. Record it and play it to your handphones or computer and let it search for you.

For iphones, use Shazam software. This software also has versions for black berry and Symbain or Windows mobile platforms. For Sony Ericsson, use their own software called TrackID. Midomi is also another alternative.

For Windows and Mac users, use Tunatic . You will need a functioning microphone in order to use this software, unless you intend to sing into the mic which I think will yield zero results. At least, there’s no laughter.

6) What is your black berry pin again?
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The ID number exists in every Black Berry phone and is unique to each device. This PIN allows users to send messages and files. But if you cannot remember your PIN at the back of your palm, you will need to go to options => Status => PIN.
But all you need to do is to start a new email or SMS and type in ” mypin ” in the message field. Hit enter and the PIN comes up in replacement of those 5 characters and you can send it to your friend.
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7) Inserting special characters in smartphones
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Inserting special characters like É is not too difficult for normal phones, it can be selected by pressing the same letter several times. But in cases for iPhone or Black Berry, how do we do this? On an iPhone, simply hold your finger on the letter that you want it to be inserted as a special character, where as on a Black Berry, you will need to hold down the button and scroll up and down using the scroll until you see the character you want.
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8 ) Meeting up with your friends is no longer difficult.
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Its frustrating when you are trying to give directions to your friend to get to you. This is time consuming and by the time the last guy gets himself to the meet up point. Dinner’s time is over. With the maps application on iPhone, you can simply mark a location where you want to meet up. Touch the animated blue dot and options will pop up with the address of that location you have just pinned. Tap on the blue arrow and it will allow you to ” share location “. Simply send that link to all your friends and they can use their phone to guide them to the exact location. The same goes for you as well if you are as lousy .

9) Inserting punctuation marks quickly in iPhone

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Inserting punctuation marks in apple’s iPhone requires the user to press the left bottom menu to swap the keyboard to a numerical pad. Then switching back after you are done inserting the punctuation. To insert quickly while typing, just touch and hold the number pad option ” ?123 ” key and slide your finger without leaving the screen. Once you release when you are at the punctuation, it instantly reverts back to Qwerty keyboard after inserting the symbol.
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10) Saving a dead hard drive
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When a hard drive has failed totally due to age, there is still a bit of hope to retrieve your data. Put the harddisk inside a Zip Lock bag. Those that are used to keep foods fresh in the freezer without spilling out. Put a few packs of Silica Gel packs together inside the Zip bag with the drive. This will reduce condensation. Freeze the hard drive for 5 hours. Prepare your system and hook up your drive the moment you take it out of the fridge. Start up your computer and quickly copy all your data you want out of that drive to another storage location.