• Pidgin Error: Queue Underflow #3.

      Much easier way to fix the issue with Pidgin & Facebook.
    • Pidgin Error: Queue Underflow #2.

      Another stubborn occurrence of Pidgin recent issue ;) .
    • Pidgin Error: Queue Underflow.

      I’ve stumbled upon an odd error regarding Pidgin messenger (under Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium): it has been defined as “queue underflow”. Regardless of researching this issue I haven’t found what does it mean, although fortunately I’ve managed to successfully fix it. What has worked for me in this case was the following...
    • How to Exchange Files Between Android and PC Wirelessly.

      If You have access to a WiFi network and would like to exchange files between a mobile device and a computer or a laptop in an quick and easy way, here is how You could do that without a need to hassle with an USB cable.
    • OLW: Sign In with Google Temporarily Disabled.

      Yet another time Open Live Writer users stumble upon an issue regarding their Blogger accounts. For some time now the app cannot log-in into a Google Blogger blog.
    • Notepad++: Moving Up the Efficiency Ladder.

      1. Phase I: basic feature of remembering all the currently opened files.
      2. Phase II: harnessing sessions.
      3. Phase III: switching to workspace(s).
    • Wanted: Paste as Pure Text.

      If You often work with text, there are chances that You might appreciate its so-called plain form. Basically speaking, in a world of computers, smartphones and tablets text can take two forms, depending on what app is used to manage it. The forms are: formatted or plain. Formatted text is the one which allows You to do much more with its appearance (bold, italicize, underline, color, etc.) - whereas plain text is just sole content, which does not carry “within itself” any visual changes performed.
    • Fix The Bat! Wrong Cookie Character Encoding.

      Recently - inspired by Benjamin Dreyer (Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style.) - I began to apply typographical improvements myself, wherever I can. One of many places affected by this knowledge is a quote set (“golden thoughts”) which I use within The Bat! (an e-mail app for Windows) via “cookie” feature (which You can use for random quotes within Your message template, for example). The improvement was about switching from "dummy" to “smart” quotation marks and apostrophes.
    • Wanna Use Git? Here Are Further Improvements.

      So now You know how You may benefit from Git, as far as Your creative work is concerned. Whenever You are a writer, a blogger, a webdesigner, or even a computer graphic artist (You name it) - You could take advantage out of this interesting invention.
    • Life Can Be Much Easier Thanks to This Windows tool.

      Most likely You’ll appreciate this especially in the long run, when You can really feel how much time and hassle it saves.

      Here are a few examples of how You could benefit from AutoHotkey:

      Quick survey on what's coming:
    • How You Could Benefit From File Surnames?

      Files and folders are essential concepts with which You’re most likely to deal using a computer. It’s obvious that they have names - whereas it’s not so obvious that they have also a kind of a last name. Little wonder, given than files’ “last names” are hidden by default - so You don’t see them, therefore You couldn’t have a clue that such a thing may exist.
    • Instantaneous Windows Arrangement.

      My everyday creation - as probably in case of many people nowadays - involves working with a computer. Being more precise, I use Windows and - as far as this OS is concerned - I’m happy to benefit from several priceless workhacks, i.e., tricks making everyday work much easier (less time- and effort-consuming). Under Windows 7 my main hacks are: 1) windows arrangement on demand and 2) instantaneous calling out the one I need.
    • How Git May Significantly Improve Your Creation Process?

      Git may significantly improve Your creation process. It does that by embracing experiments and trial-and-error approach - without a risk to disrupt Your project’s stable state. This way it gives You such flexibility as never before.
    • Freshly Into Git.

      It all began with Handy News Reader - an Android app which development I am involved since late 2017. The developer highly recommended GitHub as the destination place for sharing new ideas, reporting bugs, etc. Besides, it was also the right place to grab any new release of the app - even before it landed on Google Play/F-Droid.

      But I myself am not a developer, I rarely consider myself a programmer even - so the whole GitHub thing (first impression) seemed to me pretty... weird and alien. I was intrigued, however, why it gained so much praise and interest, and how does it really work, what so special about it?
    • The Update on Watch 4 Idle (Working or Not?).

      As I mentioned in one of the previous posts, recently I discovered a fantastic tool - Watch 4 Idle - to perform actions both (separately) for computer idle time and its end. I harnessed it to terminate my global backup app - and to re-launch it when I’m back at the desk. The only issue I’ve experienced was that there were times when the app did not detect the idle time - therefore it hadn’t performed any related action.
    • Smart Backup: Schedule Any Windows App Launch for Its Backup Purpose.

      Many Windows apps have already backup feature built-in. There is one catch, however: an app has to be up and running in terms for its backup to be initiated. Sounds obvious; probably this has been the very reason for such a feature to exist: the assumption that an app will be indeed active all the time. But what if it’s not gonna always be that way - but You’re still in the need of being equipped with the up-to-date backup?
    • Smart Backup: Notepad++.

      Notepad++ is definitely one of my favorite piece of software, which makes a significant difference in my everyday work, making things easier and more user-friendly. On the other hand, it’s a feature-rich program in which You can adjust a great many things to Your Own liking. But what would You do in case of any failure, which could result in all those carefully tailored settings’ loss? It may be much time-consuming to restore all of those, especially given that it often hard to remember each and every detail presents somewhere within the pretty entangled configuration tabs :) .
    • Switched to Audacity.

      For a long, long time I avoided Audacity, although many people have recommended it (it seems to be an obvious choice whenever it came to audio-editing work). But I would rather stick to my personal choices because over the time I’ve witnessed pretty many cases in which “popular” does not equal “well-done”, “optimal”, etc. There are surprisingly many examples of that kind, but it’s all predictable when to think of it a little deeper: because who would bother Yourself with really good research? Or, how many PC users are equipped with the proper perspective, which could allow to genuinely recognize, “what is what”? I think it would be fair enough to say that among non-geeks (i.e., most users out there) the main, or at least highly significant factor determining the app’s quality is its popularity. How much hype has been around a particular name, who talks about it, etc.
    • Finally Much Better Windows Alt+Tab switcher.

      Although for a long time now I dreamed about much readable Alt+Tab for Windows 7 - I’ve avoided third-party apps offering potentially attractive alternatives because I haven’t wanted my PC to run slower (it’s a rather old setup, originally published during the Vista times). But then I’ve read this article, which somehow inspired me to visit a website of the developer of such an app. Being there I gained the impression that this time there is a chance that the app won’t slow down my computer in any significant way - so I’ve decided to give it a try.
    • Smart Backup: Improved Schedule.

      Although I’ve set my “global” (PC) backup to be performed every 50 minutes and, on the other hand, my computer is up usually all the time - a 24h/7 backup is not necessarily an optimal choice, mainly because 1) it could be a waste of resources since there is no need to backup anything during my absence at the desk - and 2) as You may remember I’ve set sound notifications both on backup initiation and finish - I don’t want to hear those notifications while I’m sleeping :) .
    • Smart Backup: GoodSync.

      Backup is definitely a crucial thing - and a tricky one in the same time, because if You are not so convinced that You need it - it’s usually a matter of time when You come to the point of “ultimate awareness”, so to speak ;) - in which, sadly, Your motivation may be some data or settings being already lost because of not doing this. Fortunately, once You get this extremely good habit, You may once more forget about it - but this time in a completely safe manner, provided that You’ve set everything the right way to work for You behind the scenes.
    • How to Set Brave Profile Name and Picture?

      Faster than Chrome and private? But You can still use all the Chrome themes and extensions? It’s about time :) !
    • Improve Your Writing-Publishing Workflow With These Brilliant Tools.

      If You are a blogger or just write a lot of articles, I’d like to tell You about things which may significantly improve Your workflow, both effort- and time-wise.
    • Switch Between Multiple Windows Easier and Quicker.

      “(...) if You are used to work with many windows, even ALT+TAB won’t provide You with a super-efficient way of instantaneous switching to the window You need (...).”
    • GMail: Changing UI Language May Disrupt Your IMAP Account.

      Recently I’ve changed my GMail UI language and - to my surprise - discovered that I can’t send e-mails any more. The issue referred only to e-mail client apps: both AquaMail on Android and The Bat! on Windows. Logs checked and I’ve found that it had to do with IMAP folder names - which have been changed due to language change mentioned above. So a natural conclusion was to fix IMAP folder pairing in The Bat! - which in fact solved the problem.
    • Beautiful Winamp 2.9x Skin Set: KalaK Amplifier.

      I use Winamp for years now. Today, when I’m writing these words, I’m surprisingly aware that You may not know what Winamp is (!). The reason I find it surprising is that years ago it was recognizable as iPhone today - and it seems that - in a way - I’ve never left that time. So, in case You don’t know Winamp - it was (and it is, because You can still use it) a music player - which is highly customizable, light and fast (given You use the 2.x release line - lines 3.x and 5.x are not that great anymore).

      When it comes to Winamp customization, it boils down essentially to plug-ins and skins. Through plug-ins You can extend Winamp features to a high degree - through skins You can give it a fresh, new look&feel.
    • Open Live Writer - an Update on the Current Issue.

      It’s nice to see how many people are engaged in the Open Live Writer current issue. A few days ago jongalloway published a fix which solved the problem for some people, while the others reported it didn’t work. If, however, it does work - a strange side-effect showed up: once launched, OLW opened its new window every couple of seconds, which was pretty disturbing. I was the stubborn one to close those further windows and publish my posts anyway - but of course it’s not the way it should be.
    • Open Live Writer: Can’t Publish Posts With Images.

      Few days ago Open Live Writer refused to publish posts with images. It probably has to do with Google depreciating Picasa which so far served as host for Writer post pictures.
    • S.f.-like Background for Your Writing Work.

      I probably always appreciated and preferred things being not only useful, but of a style I like: elegant, modern, futuristic and aesthetic. I apply this as a guideline for choosing my best - both material and non-material - things I’m gonna surround myself with.
    • S.f.-like Volume Control and Multiple Sound Cards.

      If You like s.f. genre and would appreciate its taste accompanying You while using Your Windows PC, then I’m happy to tell You about some tricks, which nicely bring this science-fiction flavor, making it often visible - like some appetizing season :) .
    • How to Get Rid of Ads?

      Although there is a way to get rid of ads in Your web-browser (e.g., the AdBlock extension for web-browsers either on Windows or Android), it doesn’t work anywhere but within the web-browser itself. Interestingly there is a method which could cover any program on Your device, which especially comes in handy using Android apps (because many of them display ads).
    • The Abundant Toolbox.

      Recently I’ve described two small useful tools: FileTypesMan and ShellMenuNew. It inspired me to take a closer look on their author’s website - and I’d like to tell You that I’m very surprised, amazed and impressed.
    • Create New Files Faster.

      How often do You create new files on Windows? You may notice that the proper context menu (or the “New” submenu of Windows Explorer) for creating new files already contains a bunch of items - it may be that most of them You don’t need. In that case it would be great to clean that menu, leaving only those positions (file types) which You use. That way Your everyday activity of creating new files may become more fluid and faster (the less items You see in a menu - the faster You find what You need).
    • How to Easily Change Icons for Particular File Types.

      If You’d like to ascribe Your preferred icons for particular file types in Windows, You can use FileTypesMan - a fast and simple freeware tool.
    • Take the Initiative and Make the Difference.

      During months I encountered very nice surprises on the software field. One refers to Windows Live Writer - a tool which for a long time I’ve been using to blogging. Two is about a new web-browser called Vivaldi. Interestingly, both of them fulfill an intense need for the better (regarding associated circumstances which I’ll describe soon below). Let’s see what’s happened:
    • Windows Live Writer - the Sign-in Issue (Blogger).

      Some time ago I encountered a surprising situation: Windows Live Writer (which I widely use for blogging) stopped working with my blogs (on Google Blogspot), showing the message about possible wrong password or user name - although I am sure all was correct. Some people reported different variants of this error message, like for example:
    • Android and Windows Ad-Hoc Connection Remedy.

      Recently I was looking for a tool for Windows 7, which could share the Internet connection from a desktop PC, therefore turning it into a hot-spot. I reminded myself of a Connectify - a fantastic tool which some time ago had become a salvation for me.