Thursday, July 28, 2011

Online Accounts, Search and Replace, and Tag Pages [From The Tips Box]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5825307/online-accounts-search-and-replace-and-lifehacker-tag-pages/gallery/

Online Accounts, Search and Replace, and Tag PagesReaders offer their best tips for keeping up on the online services you use, searching and replacing text in certain programs, and navigating to Lifehacker's tag pages.

Don't like the gallery layout? Click here to view everything on one page.

Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons—maybe they're a bit too niche, maybe we couldn't find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn't fit it in—the tip didn't make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments, email it to tips at lifehacker.com, or share it on our tips and expert pages.

Online Accounts, Search and Replace, and Tag Pages

Use Your Birthday to Catalog Your Online Accounts

Photo by Will Clayton.

Jryan727 discovers an easy way to take stock of the online services you're signed up for:

So, today's my birthday, and many of the services, forums, and other miscellaneous websites I belong to are sending me Happy Birthday e-mails, which made me realize that your birthday is a great day to take an accounting of what services you belong to. If you were planning on compiling a list, or spreadsheet, your birthday is a great day to start! I've already gotten e-mails from more than a few that I had long forgotten I even had accounts with.

You probably won't get emails from all those services, but you'll probably get a few from ones you had forgotten about. This is also probably a great time to unsubscribe or remove your account from a few of these services if you don't use them anymore.

Online Accounts, Search and Replace, and Tag Pages

Search and Replace Text in Any Program with AutoHotkey

Slpk shares an AutoHotkey script perfect for bloggers and other writers:

I created this Autohotkey script for those situations when you need to work with text on applications that lack a basic search&replace function.
Use it to have Ctrl+Alt+R give you a search&replace wherever you need.
^!R::
Gui:
Gui Destroy
Gui, Add, Text,, Search:
Gui, Add, Edit, r1 w210 vSearch
Gui, Add, Text,, Replace:
Gui, Add, Edit, r1 w210 vReplace
Gui, Add, Button, x+-50 y+5 gReplace Default, Replace
Gui, Show, W230 H130, Ctrl+R Everywhere
return

GuiEscape:
Gui Destroy
return

Replace:
Gui Submit
previous := % clipboard
Sleep 100
Send ^a
Sleep 100
Send ^c
newtext := RegExReplace(clipboard, Search, Replace, count)
MsgBox, 4, %count% occurrencies., %count% occurrencies. Continue?
IfMsgBox Yes
clipboard := % newtext
Sleep 100
Send ^a
Sleep 100
Send ^v
clipboard := % previous
IfMsgBox No
Gosub Gui
return
return

Online Accounts, Search and Replace, and Tag Pages

Keep An Eye Out for Tag Page Links All Around Lifehacker

Conflicted commenter Java-Princess shows us an easier way to navigate Lifehacker tag pages:

If you're on the #tips page and want to go directly to #openthread, a similar collection of user-submitted stuff then instead of hitting the Lifehacker title image to get to the links and then clicking #openthread, consider the uses of adversity. A lot of commenters double post their stuff in both #openthread and #tips, something I find annoying. But, you can just go to the nearest tip and click the #openthread link the user inserted for you in his/her comment.

We've put a bunch of tag pages on the front page in the new design, but this is still faster for certain tags. For example, I've also put a link to #tips at the end of each post I write, for easy access, and you can always click on the lead tag of any post as well. It's just another way to get around.

Online Accounts, Search and Replace, and Tag Pages

Distract Runaway Dogs with a Squeak Toy Instead of Treats

Photo by Ali Milteer.

Pinecone99 lets us know a foolproof method for getting your dog's attention:

Dog owners - if your dog runs off and won't come when you call even if you try luring him/her with treats, try a squeaky toy.

My dog occasionally escapes from the yard and decided early on that it was more fun to explore the neighborhood than listen to my voice calling him. The squeaky toy catches his attention and he comes running toward me. Of course he'll gladly accept treats at that point too.

Strangely, I never though to try this, but it makes sense: your dog is probably more excited about a squeaky toy than your own voice, and it can actually tell you have one from far away, unlike treats.