From rssfeeds@jmason.org Tue Oct 8 10:55:33 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: yyyy@localhost.example.com Received: from localhost (jalapeno [127.0.0.1]) by jmason.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2B90016F18 for ; Tue, 8 Oct 2002 10:55:27 +0100 (IST) Received: from jalapeno [127.0.0.1] by localhost with IMAP (fetchmail-5.9.0) for jm@localhost (single-drop); Tue, 08 Oct 2002 10:55:27 +0100 (IST) Received: from dogma.slashnull.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by dogma.slashnull.org (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g98805K06013 for ; Tue, 8 Oct 2002 09:00:05 +0100 Message-Id: <200210080800.g98805K06013@dogma.slashnull.org> To: yyyy@example.com From: diveintomark Subject: My Good Easy Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2002 08:00:04 -0000 Content-Type: text/plain; encoding=utf-8 X-Spam-Status: No, hits=-973.3 required=5.0 tests=AWL,T_NONSENSE_FROM_40_50 version=2.50-cvs X-Spam-Level: URL: http://diveintomark.org/archives/2002/10/07.html#my_good_easy Date: 2002-10-07T17:59:05-05:00 _Joe Gregorio_: My next pet project[1]. “Trying to re-create the "Good Easy[2]" on a Windows machine.” I have also made half-hearted attempts in this direction, as I am forced to use Windows during the day. I say half-hearted because I'm still application-centric, and I don't go as far with keyboard shortcuts as I could. But I don't use the desktop at all (never have, on any system), and I don't use ctrl alt keyboard shortcuts because I personally find them awkward (YMMV). If you must use Windows, the first step towards a productive system is managing your Start menu. I use the main level of the Start menu with numbered shortcuts to my most common programs. "0 Control Panel[3]", "1 Mozilla[4]", "2 Emacs[5]", "3 DOS home", "4 DOS work", "5 DOS incoming" (each of which gives me a command line, but in different directories), "7 Python[6]", "9 IE". Also "# Explorer home", "$ Explorer work", "% Explorer incoming", which open Explorer windows in various useful directories (the same directories as the DOS shortcuts, only with the shift key held down, and yes, I intentionally set it up so that $ went to my work folder). Less-used programs are taken out of their useless submenus (as installed) and moved directly into the Programs submenu and given unique first letters as needed. "Ad-aware[7]", "Excel[8]", "IM", "Netscape 4[9]", "Paint Shop Pro", "Query Tool (ODBC)[10]", "VMWare[11]", "Word[12]". All other submenus except Startup are removed from the Programs menu. (Yes, delete "Accessories". Do you honestly ever use it? If so, it's probably a sign of a larger productivity problem.) Things which never need to be run manually (like WinZip and Quicktime) are removed from the Programs menu. Maintaining a clean Programs menu is an ongoing struggle, but well worth it. On most modern keyboards, there is a key next to your left alt key that opens the start menu, which you can press with your left thumb without taking your fingers off the home keys. Otherwise ctrl esc always works. Menu 4 gives me a new command prompt in my work directory. Menu P N runs Netscape 4 (for compatibility testing in my day job, ugh). Mozilla and Emacs are almost always open, but I quit lesser-used applications as soon as I'm done using them (mostly because my laptop doesn't have a lot of memory). I install Cygwin[13] so that the command line is actually useful. Cygwin is a collection of Windows ports of all your favorite UNIX utilities, including mv, cp, scp, ssh, man, tar, less, grep, patch, ncftp, cvs, and many others. And bash, which I don't use because I dislike how it handles Windows pathnames. I also set the properties of my command line shortcuts to set the window size to 120 x 50 (almost full screen at 1024 x 768), and screen buffer size to 120 x 3000. Set window position at 0 x 0, and don't let the system position the window. In Mozilla, I set my home page to "about:blank", set Internet Search to search with Google, use Tabbed Browsing, open tabs instead of windows in all possible cases, always show the tab bar, and load links in the background (essential for weblog surfing, you can ctrl click links to open them in new tabs in the background). Under Scripts & Plugins, I do not allow scripts to open unrequested windows. I turn off the sidebar, turn on the Site Navigation Bar, delete all pre-installed bookmarks, and create two bookmarks: one which takes me to my webmail, and another which takes me to my internal site search[14], from which I can find all other bookmarks I need. In Internet Explorer, I set my home page to the page to edit my weblog, since that's the only thing I do in Internet Explorer. alt tab back and forth between Mozilla and IE is easier than ctrl pgup/pgdown between tabs within Mozilla, since TEXTAREAs in Mozilla lose focus when you switch tabs, making copying and pasting weblog entries virtually impossible. I use Emacs locally and vi remotely, because the default behavior of Emacs is so heinous as to render it unusable. (For instance, editing a CGI script named foo.cgi on a web server with Emacs would generate a foo.cgi~ backup file, which is world-readable and is sent as plain text to any browser that asks. Try this sometime on your favorite web site.) Among other things, my .emacs file (which is actually called _emacs on Windows) instructs Emacs to store all backup files in a single directory (d:\backup); to treat all XML files as DocBook, all CGI scripts as Python, and all SQL scripts as PL/SQL; to use Cygwin's bash shell for M-x-shell; to use a single maximized frame with no menubar, titled as the name of the current file; to show column numbers; to accept "y" and "n" for yes/no questions; not to blink; not to beep; and to close the current file when I press M-w. I use some weird registry hacks and a hacked notepad.exe to get all text files to open in Emacs. (I got this idea from Ultraedit[15].) My _emacs file is my second most backed-up possession. I don't use Windows' useless directory structure for user home directories. On my D drive I have d:\home (contains directories for my books and other personal projects, each under CVS control—also set as my home directory using the HOME environment variable), d:\work (contains directories for each work project, also under CVS), d:\incoming (set as default download directory for all programs that download things), and d:\backup (used by Emacs, and for temporary storage, for instance for storing originals when checking out newly created CVS projects). I don't know or care what's where on my C drive. I have tried many, many address books, and still store all my contacts, email addresses, snail mail addresses, phone numbers, and other vital personal information in a text file called phone, stored in d:\home\phone. It is not in any particular format, other than being plain text and usually including blank lines between entries. I categorize people with simple keywords in parentheses after their name, and use M-x-occur in Emacs to search by keyword. This file is my single most backed-up possession. Other essential free Windows utilities I use (in no particular order): TweakUI [16], Cygwin[17], Guidescope[18], ZoneAlarm[19]. [1] http://bitworking.org/Oct2002.html#X631695997519494480 [2] http://www.winterspeak.com/columns/082001.html [3] http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article02-013 [4] http://www.mozilla.org/ [5] http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/ntemacs.html [6] http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePython/ [7] http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ [8] http://www.openoffice.org/ [9] http://sillydog.org/narchive/ [10] http://gpoulose.home.att.net/ [11] http://www.vmware.com/ [12] http://www.openoffice.org/ [13] http://www.cygwin.com/ [14] http://diveintomark.org/mt/mt-search.cgi [15] http://www.ultraedit.com/downloads/index.html#notepad Replacing Notepad with Ultraedit-32 [16] http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/downloads/PowerToys/Networking/NTTweakUI.asp [17] http://www.cygwin.com/ [18] http://www.guidescope.com/ [19] http://download.com.com/3000-2092-10039884.html?part=zonealarm&subj=dlpage