How to run different Firefox profiles at the same time

by Ross McKillop on September 4, 2008

Firefox

This tutorial will explain how to run separate Firefox profiles at the same time, how to quickly switch between them, and why you might want to use multiple profiles. [click to continue...]

{ 3 comments }

How to display the lyrics of the iTunes song currently playing, on your OS X desktop

by Ross McKillop on September 3, 2008

Mac

Using DesktopLyrics, you can display the lyrics of the song currently playing in iTunes, right on your OS X desktop.

os x desktop with song lyrics displayed
[click to continue...]

{ 1 comment }

How to copy, reuse and even share multiple clipboard items in OS X

by Ross McKillop on September 3, 2008

Mac

Using the free (and beta) app Shadow, you can keep multiple items in your clipboard and bring them back for reusing. More than that, you can even share your clipboard across your network. Keep reading for an overview.. [click to continue...]

{ 0 comments }

Use Adeona to help recover a lost or stolen laptop

by Ross McKillop on September 2, 2008

Security

Adeona is an open source system for tracking the location of your lost or stolen laptop. You install the Adeona software on your laptop and forget about it - until your laptop goes missing. Then using the retrieval software, you can locate your laptop (assuming it has connected to the Internet since it was lost or stolen) and provide the retrieved information to the proper authorities. Adeona works on Windows, OS X and Linux. [click to continue...]

{ 0 comments }

10 Windows Application Launchers compared and reviewed

by Ross McKillop on September 2, 2008

Windows

In this article you’ll find brief reviews, screenshots and download locations for 10 different Windows application launchers. If you can’t find one you like in this list, I’ve also included links to 5 6 (thanks Vince!) more at the very bottom.
 

Name Price Rating (x/5)
Dash Command $19.95 **
Find and Run Robot free ****
Launchy free ****½
nDroid free **½
SlickRun free ***½
Speed Launch free ***½
Start++ free ****
ToolBox free **½
True Launch Bar $19.90 ***
Vista Start Menu n/a ***½

[click to continue...]

{ 2 comments }

How to sync your Windows Mobile device with your Mac

by Ross McKillop on August 29, 2008

Mac Windows Mobile

This tutorial will walk you every step of the way through installing, setting up and using SyncMate to sync your Windows Mobile device with your Mac.

Though SyncMate isn’t new, they’ve just released a version with a long awaited feature - the ability to sync using a locked Windows Mobile/Pocket PC device. The free version of SyncMate is limited to only syncing your Contacts and iCal calendar (and Google Contacts and/or Google Calendar) - but that’s more than enough for me. It’s also worth mentioning that you can also use SyncMate to mount your Windows Mobile device as a drive in OS X - and browse/transfer files to and from your Mac/device. Keep reading for the full walk-through. [click to continue...]

{ 2 comments }

Jaiku invites for Simple Help readers

by Ross McKillop on August 28, 2008

Jaiku has moved to the Google servers, and they’re now allowing unlimited invites to existing subscribers. Since I’m an existing subscriber, apparently I can invite as many people as I’d like. So - leave a comment below, make sure to use the email address you’d like the invite sent to (not in the comment itself, but in the E-Mail field of the comment form). I’ll send it to you right away (assuming I’m awake when you leave the comment). Cheers!

{ 22 comments }

How to jailbreak your iPod Touch running the 2.0, 2.0.1 or 2.0.2 firmware in Windows

by Ross McKillop on August 28, 2008

Windows iPod/iPhone

This tutorial will guide you each step of the way through jailbreaking your iPod Touch using the QuickPwn software for Windows. [click to continue...]

{ 25 comments }

Simple Help tutorial helps catch office thief

by Ross McKillop on August 27, 2008

Security

I got an email the other day from someone who used my How to use your PC and Webcam as a motion detecting and recording security camera tutorial to catch an office thief, complete with pictures. A few folks have left comments mentioning how they’ve used it to catch people doing things they shouldn’t be, but this is the first time someone has sent me pictures.

I thought someone was taking money out of a little change box I have on my desk, quite a lot of money, like $60 this month. So I finally set up a camera, with your help, at 5 pm last night (in the edited by Ross building in downtown Vancouver) and caught this at 7pm. So he’s been fired, by 9am this morning. Turns out he was taking change even from inside peoples drawers… Look at him going into the carpeted office with just a mop?!

So awesome.

janitor
click to enlarge
janitor getting closer
click to enlarge
janitor sees the change
click to enlarge
janitor about to steal
click to enlarge
janitor stealing
click to enlarge
 

{ 4 comments }

How to use your Home folder as your Desktop in Ubuntu

by Ross McKillop on August 26, 2008

Linux

If you’re at all like me, your desktop can become rather cluttered with files over time. One way to at least have files stored in your /home folder rather than your /home/Desktop folder is to set your /home folder as your actual Desktop. This is particularly helpful if you use a separate larger drive as your /home folder. [click to continue...]

{ 1 comment }

How to silence a loud video card fan

by Ross McKillop on August 26, 2008

About a month ago I decided I was going to do something about the insanely loud noise coming from my PC. I incorrectly assumed it was one of the large fans at the back causing what sounded like a jet-engine noise. Turns out, it was the tiny little fan on the video card creating all the ruckus. Thanks to The Shadow over at the How-To Geek forums my video card fan is now running completely silent. If your video card is running loudly, follow the steps outlined below to quiet the little guy down. [click to continue...]

{ 1 comment }

Sequential - a better image viewer for OS X

by Ross McKillop on August 25, 2008

Mac

Sequential is a free image viewer for Mac OS X. It was originally designed for opening a folder of images and displaying them in order. It works well for viewing comics. Sequential can display folders and archives (ZIP, RAR, CBZ and CBR) of images (including JPEG, PNG, and GIF) and PDF files. Keep reading for a brief overview. [click to continue...]

{ 2 comments }

How to install WordPress on your Windows PC

by Ross McKillop on August 25, 2008

Blogging Web Design & Dev Windows

Though I’ve previously covered How to install WordPress in Windows Vista, that method used a BitNami stack, which comes with a few drawbacks. The method outlined in this tutorial will leave you with a perfect WordPress installation on your PC - which is great to use as a development and testing environment. [click to continue...]

{ 4 comments }

How to install and setup Apache, MySQL and PHP in Windows

by Ross McKillop on August 25, 2008

Email Web Design & Dev Windows

This tutorial will walk you every single step of the way through installing and setting up WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL & PHP). With WAMP installed, you can run a web server (and things like WordPress, MediaWiki, and Jinzora) on your Windows PC. [click to continue...]

{ 5 comments }

Review: Spotify

by Ross McKillop on August 24, 2008

Mac Windows

Since moving back to Canada, I haven’t been able to get my music fix with Pandora (listeners located outside of the U.S. can’t use Pandora). I’ve never been a huge Last.fm fan - the catalog of streamable music doesn’t include a lot of my favorite bands. In general, I’m just not a huge fan of online music services. Until now. Spotify, a lightweight Windows and OS X client, connects you to a vast collection of music. And it works outside of the US. Keep reading for my brief overview. [click to continue...]

{ 4 comments }