LKL’s Blog

Edited: After using the program below for a while, a friend recommended an even better program: Ultramon. It does all the same stuff as the other, plus you can choose different wallpaper and screensavers for each monitor, and the second monitor’s taskbar is a lot more attractive.

Original post from 12 April 2008: I’ve been using the extended desktop / dual monitors for a couple of years, and this set up is so essential to the way I work I simply can’t imagine how I ever got by without it. However, it’s not without its little annoyances, such as the fact that certain programs refuse to open in the monitor I want, so every time I launch the program, I have to resize it, move it to the other monitor, and maximize it again. The other day I decided enough was enough, and started Googling stuff like dual monitor program default to see if there was some way to tell programs which monitor they should open in. No luck there, but I found something even better - a program that adds a little button to each program that you just click and the program moves to the other monitor. Not only that, but you can also choose to install a taskbar on the other monitor, so that only the windows displayed on monitor 1 are in the taskbar on monitor 1, and only the windows displayed on monitor 2 are in the taskbar on monitor 2. It’s so cool, and it’s free. I don’t think it works for Macs, but if you’re using the extended desktop on a PC, definitely check it out: MultiMonitor TaskBar

If you like to make sure that you have the latest versions of software but find that it just takes too much time to get them all, you need to check out Secunia’s software inspector. You can run the scan online or download it to your computer, and it will tell you whether your operating system, browser(s), and pretty much every other kind of software is up to date. For programs that aren’t, Secunia provides links to get the latest versions. And it’s free!

Less what? Ink, paper, time, money? Yes! When I print from the internet, I normally copy everything into a program like Word so that I can manually remove all the ads, graphics, and whatever other garbage is making it take twice as long to print. But no more - I just discovered Green Print, which does it all for you. Very cool!

I was having some trouble with my blogs the other day (they were loading properly but then in FireFox the top half of the page would dim/fade and all the links within that section were unclickable). I couldn’t find any info about similar problems on Google, but I did run across a FireFox plugin called the Web Developer Toolbar which makes it easy to find problems with your stylesheet. I installed it and found that the problem was a little something called ga_shade and when I Googled that, I finally discovered that the problem was with the Google Analytics plugin. I disabled that, cleared my cache, and all is well. So I don’t have those stats anymore, but at least my blogs are usable! And I’m keeping the Web Developer Toolbar - I’m sure I’ll be able to use it again.

I love reading the funnies. I’m subscribed to three separate services which send my favorite comics by email every day. I thought I wouldn’t enjoy reading them online as much as I did in the newspaper, but in fact email funnies are better, because I don’t have to even catch a glimpse of the ones I hate. (I remember reading a funny little tidbit by some guy who felt the same way - how just seeing a comic he hated drove him nuts. Can’t remember who it was.)

Anyway, some of my favorites, in no particular order, are Sherman’s Lagoon, Dilbert, Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine, Monty, The Duplex, (Th)ink, Calvin and Hobbes (even as reruns), and Bliss (which I really miss!) I recently started reading Six Chix, Tod the Dinosaur, Pardon My Planet, TOBY, Frazz, and Graffiti, but I haven’t made up my mind about them yet.

As of today, I’m also a fan of Suzy Becker, whom I learned about from Hilary Price, cartoonist of Rhymes With Orange. So thanks for that, Ms. Price!

When I was a kid, I *loved* Garfield, but now it’s part of the can’t-even-stand-to-catch-sight-of-it group.

I hate the Internet Explorer information bar with a passion. You know the one, it says stuff like “Your security settings do not allow websites to use ActiveX controls installed on your computer,” and I’ve done about a million searches trying to find out how to disable it. The answer is invariably “go into options and enable ActiveX for scripting.” The problem with this solution is that it assumes I want ActiveX to work, when in fact, I deliberately disabled it because I don’t want Flash to run in IE, but I do want it to run in FireFox. Anyway, the good news is I finally figured out how to get rid of it.

1. Download TweakUI*

2. Back up your files and registry. I’ve never had a problem, but there’s no reason to take any risks.

3. Start TweakUI. Click + next to About, then Policy, then the Run Group Policy Editor button.

4. Browse to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Internet Explorer > Security Features > Information Bar

5. Open Internet Explorer Processes and select Disabled, then do the same for All Processes.

6. Restart IE and no more Information Bar!

*TweakUI has all kinds of fun options, like the ability to prevent applications from stealing focus and get rid of otherwise undeletable desktop icons.

Last week I subscribed to the Éco-forfait WWF illimité, a new option from French publisher Relay that allows you to download as many of their 400 French magazines as you can read, plus donates a euro a month of your 18-euro subscription to the World Wildlife Fund. I downloaded over 20 magazines on news, culture, food, wine… it’s fantastic. For info, see the bottom-left corner of the Relay site.

While I was in New York, I received my Kindle in the mail, and I absolutely love it. The books download very quickly, the screen is easy to read, it’s lightweight… everything is good. Plus, it’s amazing to hold this device that is about the size of one book and know that it can hold 200! Sure cuts down on luggage. Of course, I can’t use the wireless feature in France, but all I have to do is attach the Kindle to my computer and transfer the new books that way. All in all, a great buy.

I’ve been working full-time online since New Year’s Day 2000. I made do with dial-up internet until just a couple of years ago, when I was able to get cable. Now that I’m moving to Costa Rica, I’ll be back to dial-up, which is going to be really difficult. I’m trying to download all of the patches and software updates I can find while I still have high-speed access - fun, fun, fun.

Do you have a favorite site for downloading music? I’ve tried iTunes and I just can’t stand having it installed on my computer. Someone recommended LimeWire to me, but I don’t really get it. I’ve had some luck just Googling the name/artist of songs I want, but I still have a list of several dozen that I can’t find. Any suggestions?