Open your favorite websites quickly with an Auto Hot Key shortcut

 

 

 

 

When you sit down at your computer do you always visit the same websites? If so then save yourself time with a Auto Hot Key shortcut (AHK) for short. If your not familiar with AHK it's a program that allows you to make keyboard short cut's and mouse gesture to save time on repetitive task. What I've done is made an AHK script that will open my default web browser to the same websites every time with just two key strokes.

(In-depth details of AHK scripts are located on their website)

#w::

Sleep, 1000

Run http://www.gmail.com

Sleep, 4000

Run http://msn.com

Sleep, 7000

Run http://yahoo.com

First you will need to download and install Auto Hot Key Installer. Next open notepad and copy and past the AHK script I have written (Above). Change the websites to whatever sites you would like opened. At the beginning of the script you see (#W) # represents the windows key on the bottom left of your keyboard. By pressing #W this will execute the script and open up your favorite websites. You may use whatever letter you choose #W is just the example. Also you see sleep 1000, 4000, 7000. 1000=1 second. Everyone's computer doesn't run at the same speed so depending how long it takes your web browser to open you will want to add a time delay just like the delay between opening web pages. Or it will open different multiple browser instead of browser tabs. So the first web page will begin to open after 3 seconds. Then the next page 2 seconds after that so on and so on until all your pages are open.

Once you have finished. Save the file to your desk top and make sure you end the extension in .ahk (ex: mywebsites.ahk). Next go to your desktop and click on your file. It should appear in your bottom right of your windows task bar. Next to test it out make sure you web browser is closed and hit #W or whatever you choose to use for your short cut key and your web pages should begin to open. If the time is off just tweak the amount of seconds you delay or if it doesn't work make you copied and added your web pages correctly. (Note, your default browser window will still open. Any time you make changes to your .ahk file make sure you reload the script by right clicking on the auto hot key icon in the bottom right of your desktop)

Now to make the process totally seamless go to the desktop and right click on the file you created and click create a shortcut file on your desktop. Then go to the Windows start menu on the bottom left of your screen. Then go to Start-All Programs and find the Startup folder and double click on it to open the Folder or right click and hit open folder. 

Now your AHK will run when you turn on your computer and all you have to do is use your shortcut. Auto Hot Key is not just limited to web pages of course. You can make all kinds of short cut keys for repetitive task. Enjoy!

Things for the novice to know about Facebook

There has been a lot of discussion recently about your privacy on Facebook (Facebook Privacy Policy). Even though Facebook has some of your data you can still control who see's it. I find it amazing that so many people don't pay attention to their privacy online, but would never do the same things in real life. I know my tech savvy people know this, but your parents or Aunt Betty may not.The first mistake people make is not changing their privacy settings to friends only  for everything. Do you want someone in Twain looking at your son or daughters birthday pictures from last weekend. I think not.

Next take your birthday year off your profile. Leaving the day and month is fine so your friends can wish you well. Leaving your birth year could lead the right person down the path to hacking your life.




If you have your boss or supervisor on your profile you also have the option to block who sees what information you post. If you have a certain group you want to share a post with make it specifically for those individuals.

Simply log into Facebook click on Home-Friends-New List (Video Above) . Put the people in this list you talk to most often. Then before you post make sure you select that group so only those people see it. Which brings me to something that should seem obvious, but people do it. Don't add people to your friends list you don't know period.

I made a dummy account on Facebook and added it to my friends list. Well others on my friends list started inviting my fake profile to be there friend. Would you let a stranger in your house and let them see your vacation pictures, tell them your birthday and that your going to be out of town this weekend?You don't earn reward points for how many friends you have and unless you are apart of a particular group like a church or club there is really no reason IMO to have 1,000 friends on Facebook. Do you really have a personal connection with that many people? If your a Blogger or have a business then create a Facebook Fan Page, but keep your personal life separate.

If you get a strange email from Facebook or a link on your wall talking about check out my new video! Or something along those lines Don't click on it! There are a few viruses going around that will take over your computer and try to sell you a program to fix it. They will also spam everyone on your email account if you have left it logged in a the time. On a side note if you don't have Microsoft Security Essentials download it. It's a great virus protection program and it's free. If you do fall victim checkout my previous post on Safe Boot Mode to correct the issue.


Lifehacker reported yesterday on Reclaim Privacy and today it was featured on CNN. Reclaim Privacy is a nice way to check and see if your Facebook settings are up to par, and they tell you what changes you should modify.

Last but not least if you don't want the world to know something then don't make it public because certain sites allow you to search people things post on Facebook. Facebook is a great way to share and communicate with family and friends, but take a military approach and make your information available only on a need to know basics.

PlayOn

About a few weeks ago I came across a program called PlayOn. PlayOn allow you to stream Netflix, Hulu,  Youtube, ESPN and other networks to your PS3, Wii or Xbox 360. Simply download the program and install on your PC. Most of the service don't require log-ins, but Netflix does and Hulu is optional if you want it personalized. So if you would like to move away from your monitor and enjoy your favorite on-line content try PlayOn. It's a great option and they are constantly adding new services for your enjoyment.

What would happen if the power went off?

This Saturday at about 2:00am I lost power for about 9 hours. The freezing temperatures blew two transformers and 1500 people were without power. This continued over the weekend in different areas of the county. I'm sure most people don't expect something like this to happen in Florida, but it did.  All this would come right after watching Armageddon Week on the history channel. To make a long story short the main area of focus was how quick our society would change by a pandemic.

If to many people became ill from an unstoppable flu strain there would be no one to do the work because most-likely there would be a national quarantine in place . Between the numbers sick and lost to the flu there would be no one around to take care of the things that enable us to do the things we love like blogging, social networking, using the internet, and run the electric companies. Everything we have come to use or rely on would be gone with no power and become meaningless overnight. So my tech tip for today is make sure you have the necessities for you and your family. In a catastrophic event here's are a list of the things you would want to have.

#1- Nonperishable food that could last your family 90 days and plenty of water. You can go 30 days without food, but only three days without water.

#2- Plenty of extra basic medicines and antibiotics if you can get your hands on some.(More soilders died in the Civil War from infections than gunshot wounds)

#3-Lot's of batteries, battery powered radio and a Ham Radio to communicate with people. 

Everything we do or accomplish in life requires some form of preparation. All though an event like this may seem unlikely it never hurts to follow the old Boy Scouts motto of "Be prepared".

Secure your PC with Facial Recognition

If your a fan of automation like me you will love Luxand Facial Recognition software (and not just because its free). After downloading and installing Luxand it will do a quick scan of your face with your web cam (make sure you have sufficient light). Then it will show you the name of your PC and ask you to enter your password. Restart your computer and  log back in with your good looks. It's pretty simple and you want have to use your password again. Just added Followers to the Madden Corner so please feel free to sign up.