Yak Shaving -- [MIT AI Lab, after 2000: orig. probably from a Ren & Stimpy episode.] Any seemingly pointless activity which is actually necessary to solve a problem which solves a problem which, several levels of recursion later, solves the real problem you're working on.
Word Tip -- The Ctrl key is useful for experimenting with line spacing and alignment variations: Ctrl + 1 provides single spacing; Ctrl + 2 provides double spacing; and Ctrl + 5 provides 1-1/2 line spacing. Ctrl + R right aligns a paragraph, Ctrl + L left aligns one, and Ctrl + E centers one.
Online Tool -- With thumbalizr you can take screenshots of any webpage that you can use in presentations, documents, etc. Just enter the target-URL and press the "thumb it"-button and a screenshot of the desired page will be taken. You can choose between a screenshot with a fixed height of the screen or with resolution-links (320, 640, 800, 1024 or 1280 pixel width) that you can download. (HT: The Presurfer)
HowTo -- Add Google Maps to Your Blog or Website
Google has finally made embedding a Google Map as easy as embedding a YouTube video. By following these steps you are just a copy and paste away from placing a Google map into your web site or blog:
1. Go to the map that you want to embed
2. Click "Link to this page" in the upper right hand corner
3. Either copy the code from the Paste HTML to embed in website section or select the Customize and preview embedded map link to change the size of the embedded map.
4. Paste this code into your website or blog
Here's an example using my work address:
View Larger Map
(HT: Tech-Recipes)
Firefox Extension -- Advanced Dork gives you quick access to Google's Advanced Operators directly from the context menu. Highlight any text, right click, and choose from over 15 Advanced Google Operators.
Download of the Week -- Freeware application ColorPic is a simple but powerful utility for designers that determines the HEX and decimal code of onscreen colors and manages color palettes for broad design or web-safe color use. Unlike many image editing programs, ColorPic is very light on system resources. It also doesn't grab colors based on mouse-clicks, but rather through the keyboard, meaning you can still interact with open windows while you're looking for that perfect color. (HT: Lifehacker)
See also: The Yak Shaving Razor Archives
Have a useful recommendation for making life more pleasant? Send them to me at jpcarter[at]evangelicaloutpost.com.
Joe,
Is that really where you work in Washington? If so, here is a suggestion or idea. You may be aware that in September there will many concerned citizens in your part of town exercising their 1st Amendment rights and expressing their convictions (myself included). Maybe you could be like Max Blumenthal and do some video reporting and do some interviews. Specifically, on Sept. 11 a young born-again christian who has been walking from Denver to DC since March of this year will be arriving in town for a rally not too far from your offices. He has felt led to go on his march to speak to the evangelical community to challenge them to stop supporting the occupation of Iraq and militarism in general. If interested, I would be happy to provide further details on how you could contact him. (You could email me at the email address associated with this post)
This morning, I was baffled when I noticed a Washington, DC address in the Google search window at the top of my Browser. I've just realized that it appears when I load the page containing your embedded Google map. Any idea why that happens?