Nelson's Blog: Useful Tech for Political Scientists

This Blog is No Longer in Use

2011-03-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

I will keep this up as long as Google allows. However, all of my blogging now takes place at:

http://www.michaelnelson.info/

Quotations, memorable quotes at Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations

2006-06-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

Just thought this site might interest people:

Political Quotes

Google Notebook | PigPog

2006-05-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

I just saw this post on PigPog about the new Google Notebook. This looks like it could be a great research tool.

Google Notebook | PigPog

Using EverNote for Academic Research - From GTD Wannabe

2006-04-24T09:13:00.001-07:00

I have been meaning to write about notes management programs for some time now. Below is a post about how one dissertation writer uses EverNote to organize reading notes and other research information:

GTD Wannabe Reference Pages

I tend to enter most of my reading notes directly into EndNote. But I think the above might be a great solution for some people, especially since it is free!

I also use Microsoft OneNote for many of my other note-taking purposes. At some point I hope to do a bigger write-up about such note-taking solutions.

Categories: Note Management, Reference Management.

What can I do with my [Pocket PC]

2006-04-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

My favorite Pocket PC resource, www.aximsite.com, just released its new guide:

What can I do with my Dell Axim

This is a fantastic resource for ANY Pocket PC user (and even some SmartPhone users). So check it out!

Categories: Pocket PC

Searching the Desktop

2006-04-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

A key tool in a paperless world is the Desktop Search. Indeed, one of the reasons I am increasingly paperless is because desktop search engines are a great way of finding my information. Just imagine if you find any paper file simply by telling the filing cabinet what you are looking for. At their best, desktop search engines do just that.

Desktop search engines seem to be rapidly evolving. Leading contenders include:

Google's Desktop Search

Yahoo Desktop Search

Copernic Desktop Search

MSN Desktop Search

X1 Desktop Search

BlinkX

The following is a post from Lifehacker providing their rundown on these options (except X1 and BlinkX):

Seek and Ye Shall Find: Desktop search showdown - Lifehacker

CNet has a review here.

I myself have tried Google, Copernic, Blinkx and MSN. For some reason, Google became a memory hog on my two computers. I have temporarily removed it. MSN Desktop Search has been undergoing some great transformations lately. I have it on my desktop at home, but rarely use it.

BlinkX is mostly known for its video search, but it has some creative features for desktop search. One feature is a tool bar that sits in Word (or many other programs) and is constantly keeping track of possible items on your computer or on the web that might be relevant to your current document. Another cool feature is the ability to create Smart Folders. I created a Smart Folder called "Africa International Law" that automatically found items on my computer relevant to those terms as well as updated news and website information. Unfortunately, I found BlinkX to be a bit of a drain on my resources (512 MB RAM is all I have), especially since I tend to have four or five major applications running at any given time. UPDATE: Their own website doesn't seem to carry desktop search anymore, though I have a strong feeling they are merely in a new phase of development. Try here and here for information about downloading an internet-only version.

Currently, Copernic is my top choice for desktop search. I like the way search results are presented and I even like the web search features it provides (though I mostly still use google for the web).

Categories: Getting Organized

Windows Live Academic Search

2006-04-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

Windows Live Academic Search is now up and running! According to CNet, the service should only cover three disciplines: physics, electrical engineering, and computer science. However, I did a few quick searches for international relations-related topics and found that searches in that area already turns up some useful items. [Type in "international relations" and more than 27,000 items come-up.] And I am sure they will contionue to expand the database.

One advantage of the service is the two-pane view. On the left are the search results. On the right you have three choices: Abstract, BibTeX, and EndNote. The default is Abstract. When you hover your mouse over any search result in the left pane the abstract and bibliographic information pops up in the right. I think that could prove to be very useful.

I haven't had a chance to discover all the features, but I encourage others to begin trying it out. Also, since all (?) Windows Live services are in beta this might be a good opportunity to make suggestions to Microsoft as well.

Happy Searching!

Categories: Web Tools

Academic Search Engines

2006-04-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

Academic Search Engines

ResourceShelf reported today that Microsoft Academic Live Search will be released tomorrow (Tuesday). According to Dean Giustini, Microsoft Academic Search will allow users to search academic journals and databases. Eventually it will also include books in its search. Among the interesting features he describes includes the ability to import citations into software like EndNote and ways to customize the display of information.

Google Scholar is usually the first place I go when looking for academic information (with UC Berkeley’s library coming a close second). I look forward to seeing how Microsoft’s offering competes!

UPDATE: (10:30 am, April 11)
I'm still waiting for Microsoft Acadaemic Live Search to come online. ResourceShelf seems to have pulled its orginal post. But The Distant Librarian helps confirm that the rumor is strong. Channel 9 Forums goes even further and suggests the new url:

http://academic.live.com

But it was not up as of 5 minutes ago. (Thanks to Findory for the links.)

Categories: Web Tools

Finishing the Diss & GTD

2006-04-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

Finishing the Diss. & GTD

We all have our ways of coping with academic stress. Obviously, this blog is one of my mechanisms. However, I was happy when a fellow colleague, Emily, told me she shared another of my coping mechanisms: Getting-Things-Done. GTD (as this is often known) is not much of a secret to bloggers and techies. But I think it is just now catching on among academics.

Before I get into this too much I want to offer one disclaimer: I often say that all things should be pursued in moderation and GTD fits this well. The GTD approach to getting organized and finishing projects is best used (I think) as a source for other ideas that you can incorporate into whatever personal system you already have working for you.

What is GTD?

Getting Things Done, is the title of a book by David Allen. It suggests a methodology for organizing one’s life and managing projects (reasons this may appeal to at least some academics). I have actually never read the book. But there is a lot of information about this approach on the internet. The following websites are good places to get an overview:

David Allen’s Workflow Diagram

Building a Smarter To-Do List, Part 1: from 43 Folders.

GTD Introduction: from PigPog

“Getting Things Done”: from Tutt Library

Notes from Getting Things Done: from MineZone

How do Academics Use GTD?

I mostly use David Allen’s system for categorizing and organizing my tasks, and to remind me that if something only takes a couple minutes to accomplish there is no good reason to put off doing it. However, I am really just being superficial about it if that is all I say. As the above websites will show, a lot of thought has been put into this system. Academics may be interested in the following websites:

The Efficient Academic

“The Efficient Academic”: a Google Group

GTD for Academics

“How to implement GTD for university students”: a post at 43 Folders

Fantastic Websites Where People Keep Thinking of Ways to Be More Efficient

A big part of the GTD community online is a huge community (to which this post barely does justice) focused on finding ways to improve personal efficiency and productivity. They often call such tips and advice lifehacks. For many, this is not about trying to cram more work into a smaller amount of time, but instead about trying to get things done so that you can move on to what you really want to do. Some great websites include:

Lifehacker

Lifehack.org

43 Folders

gtd wannabe

What’s the next action

PigPog

DIY Planner

More GTD Resources:

“The best GTD resources”: from Listible

GTD LoFi HiFi Whitepaper via Lifehack.org

A Twiki on Getting Things Done

Steve Richards – Adventures in home working

GTD Tools

Sylvia’s “Getting Things Done” (GTD) Resource List

getting things done, the broad view

Office Zealot’s Getting Things Done Page

About Using GTD with your Pocket PC:

Yahoo Groups: GTD_PPC

keen pda’s Time management with PDAs

Categories: Getting Organized

Document Readers Part Three

2006-04-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

Reading Documents on Your Windows PC – Part Three

Microsoft Reader, Adobe Acrobat and the CONCLUSION to all three parts

This is the final of three posts on document readers for the Windows PC. See also:

Part One

Part Two

In this post I will briefly present and compare two products I use for reading documents:  Microsoft Reader and Adobe Acrobat.

Brief descriptions of my criteria are available in Part One.

Microsoft Reader  is available for Windows PCs and Pocket PCs.  My guess is that most people who use it use it primarily for personal reading.  However, it has a number of tools that led me to consider using it for academic reading.  That said, in the end I decided the other tools I am reviewing were much better options.

Cost:  FREE

File formats:  Unless you purchase third party software (I found none for free) you are limited to eBooks that you purchase OR Microsoft Word documents that you can convert yourself.  As an academic tool I tested this with academic papers that I could download into Word and then convert into Reader.

Highlight and Annotation:  Highlight any passage by dragging your cursor over it with the left mouse button pushed down and you are presented with a number of useful options:  bookmark, highlight, add text note, add drawing (useful to write something on the pocket pc, or to circle passages, etc.), highlight, and several others.  Notes are placed as icons on the side of the page.  If you double-click you can see the text you added.

Ease of use:  The interface is simple, which is a good thing.  I especially enjoy maximizing the screen.  The black background surrounding the page really helps make the text pop from the screen.

Document Search:  A number of useful search options.

Additional Features:  You can add bookmarks.  Reader will also provide an audio (computer-generated) reading of the text.

Disadvantages:  I said above I have chosen not to use this for academic reading.  Why?  First, without third-party software you cannot convert pdf documents into reader format.  Second, there is no easy way to print any of your notes, comments, the text itself…  These were similar to the disadvantages of Mobipocket Reader.

Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0  is my favorite document reader.  However, the pocket pc version is “reader only”, so I only use it on the desktop.

Cost:  EXPENSIVE unless you are a student (or faculty/staff of a university).
At Berkeley I am able to purchase it for less than $50 (student price; faculty price is closer to $150).
On Amazon.com or the Adobe website you can pay more than $400 (normal price).

Of course, there is the free Adobe Reader.  And the free Reader has some of the features described below.  The only problem is that when you download a PDF those features (such as the ability to highlight and annotate) are often blocked by the authors of the documents.  You can usually un-block them with the Professional version.

File Formats:  PDF, obviously.  Also, the Adobe printer driver (and Microsoft Office Add-Ins) make it easy to convert other file formats into PDF.

Highlight and Annotation:  Wonderful options for highlighting, underlining (although I wish the lines could be bolder) and annotating.  You can view the notes and highlighted passages in separate panes.

Ease of Use:  Adobe is slightly more complicated than some of the other programs but far more powerful.

Document Search:  Excellent search options.

Additional Features:  There are many features that I would never use.  But I am looking forward to someday using the software to help assemble my dissertation chapter into one coherent whole!

One note about Acrobat Professional: If all you want to do is create PDFs I thoroughly recommend you try a number of free pdf creators.  For a long time before purchasing Acrobat Professional I used PDF995 with excellent results.

SUMMARY

It should be clear that I prefer Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0 on my desktop PC for academic reading.  The following summarizes my feelings about when I would recommend using Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Reader, Cerience Repligo, or Mobipocket Reader.

Academic Reading on my Desktop or Laptop:  Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0
Academic Reading on my Pocket PC:  Cerience Repligo;  use Mobipocket as a back-up for text documents that Cerience Repligo cannot convert

Reading a novel on my Desktop PC:  Microsoft Reader
Reading a novel on my Pocket PC:  Microsoft Reader; Mobipocket is a close second.

Thus, for most students out there interested in going “paperless”, I recommend purchasing Adobe Acrobat Professional if you can get it for the cheaper, student price.

There are other software solutions out there.  For instance:

Tablet PC users may wish to try PDF Annotator which allows them to draw right on PDF documents;

There are plenty of annotating and highlighting capabilities in most modern word processors (including Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, and WordPerfect);

And it is likely that Microsoft OneNote for Office 2007 (due to be released next January) may provide Adobe some competition, at least on my own computer.

Categories: Office Software, Pocket PC

Document Readers Part Two

2006-03-25T16:47:00.000-08:00

Reading Documents on Your Windows PC – Part Two

Cerience Repligo and Mobipocket

In this post I will briefly present and compare two products I use for reading documents:  Cerience Repligo and Mobipocket.

Brief descriptions of my criteria are available in my previous post:

Reading Documents on Your Windows PC – Part One

Cerience Repligo has been a popular choice for me ever since I purchased a pocket pc.  This is its primary purpose:  to convert documents into a format that is easier to read on your mobile device.  However, I find the accompanying desktop software is also useful.

Cost:  $29.95 (US); the desktop viewer is free so others can read your repligo files

File formats:  Repligo converts a wide range of files (“Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, Project, Visio, web pages and more”) into its own proprietary repligo (.rgo) format.  According to their website:

“RepliGo documents keep the original appearance, fonts, graphics, and formatting intact and provide a reflowed text view for easy reading on small screen devices.”

In my own experience this works with most documents but not all.  I have found that a small percentage of PDF documents, for instance, would either not convert into repligo or convert with errors.

Highlight and Annotation:  Repligo is great for this.  It is easy to pick the color of your highlights.  However, there is no way to print the highlights and notes you add to the document.

Ease of use:  I find it very easy to use.  The interface is simple.

Document Search:  You can search within documents.  Also, with some tweaking some desktop search engines (such as Copernic Desktop Search) seem to be able to include the text of repligo documents in their searches. But it can be imperfect.

Additional Features:  You can add bookmarks to the document and hyperlinks are often preserved.

Mobipocket Reader is primarily marketed as an “eBook” reader, but it has a number of features that may make it useful for reading academic documents as well.

Cost:  The basic Mobipocket Reader is free.  There are other products that allow you to create eBooks and cost more. I review only the free product here.

File Formats:  According to their support forum, the free Desktop Reader can convert Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Visio files as well as PDF, html, and text.  The conversion results in documents with a .prc extension.

The conversion results in text-only documents.  Original page formatting and numbering is lost in the conversion as the text is converted into one long stream (although paragraph breaks are often kept clean).  In my experience, documents with large numbers of images (charts, graphs, pictures, etc.) are difficult to convert.  Some images are preserved.

Highlight and Annotation:  Wonderful options for highlighting and annotating.  And I really like the annotations pane that keeps track of bookmarks, notes, highlights

Ease of Use:  I find the software is relatively easy to use for document reading purposes.

Document Search:  You can search within documents.  I am not sure whether you can integrate mobipocket documents into desktop search engines, but I would guess that you could with similar functionality to what you see with repligo.

Additional Features:
As mentioned earlier, Mobipocket is an “eBook” reader.  There are a wide range of novels and non-fiction books available for purchase through their website.

Mobipocket also includes a news reader program that can download content for a range of news-oriented and blog-oriented websites for reading on your desktop pc or pda.

Summary:

Cerience Repligo and Mobipocket are two of the top choices for the PDA market, but both also can be useful for reading documents on a desktop pc.  I have both on my computers, but I tend to use Repligo more for two reasons:  (1) it better preserves images, charts, graphs, tables; (2) it preserves the original page formatting.  However, if all you need to do is read text the mobipocket interface is excellent and may be the better option.

Categories:  Office Software, Pocket PC

Document Readers Part One

2006-03-21T15:56:00.000-08:00

Reading Documents on Your Windows PC – Part One

An important part of having a paperless office is having the ability to read documents in their digital form. Preferably, you want to be able to highlight and annotate them just as you would a paper copy.

So in this post I want to review some of the software solutions that I have tried. All of these programs can also be used with a Pocket PC, although Adobe Acrobat for Pocket PC is read-only.

Cerience Repligo

Microsoft Reader

Mobipocket

Adobe Acrobat

I will use the following criteria in my posts:

File formats. Can I use the software to read (for example) .pdf, .doc, and various versions of webpages? [the most important here is the ability to read .pdf files]

Can I highlight and/or annotate?

Is the software easy to use?

Are document search features available?

Are there additional features that add to its worth?

I test these products using my regular old Windows PC and my Pocket PC (both are Dell).

Categories: Office Software, Pocket PC

Catching up

2006-03-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since my last post. I think I built this blog thing up into too big a deal. When my unfinished post on web research software began to run into 6 pages of 10 point font I realized I was going too far. I just don’t have the time to do this as a grad student!

So I will now focus on manageable, bite-sized posts.

Hope someone finds them useful!

Some Advice and Ideas on Making Presentations

2005-11-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

Particletree has a great set of tips on making presentation (whether through Microsoft Office's PowerPoint or OpenOffice's FREE Impress).

There are definitely many reasons to dislike such presentations, but that doesn't mean it always has to be something unlikable.

I found these links through another great web resource: Lifehacker.

Categories: Office Software

Using the Pocket PC for Taking Notes in Interviews

2005-11-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

Using the Pocket PC for Taking Notes in Interviews

This fall I experimented with using my pocket pc as the primary note-taking tool for interview research I conducted in Washington, DC and Geneva.

It is by no means the perfect tool, but it does do the job. Here I’ll both explain how I went about doing it and compare this note-taking method to traditional pen-and-paper. This explanation is rather long, but it is really easy once you get the hang of it.

How to Do It:

What you will need:

Pocket PC (note my blog entry which describes my current Pocket PC, a Dell Axim X30).
PhatPad (a software note-taking program)
Desktop (Windows) PC with some form of writing program

Recommended, but not necessary:

Screen Protector (You will be writing a lot on the screen, so this is probably a good thing to have to protect it. I use the ones from Boxwave but there are other brands as well. See this review at Aximsite.)
Extended (or Extra) Battery for your Pocket PC (This is especially useful if you plan to conduct a lot of interviews during a day)
Calligrapher (A software program for handwriting recognition.)

Taking note: the steps

NOTE: Before trying this in a real interview I would recommend you do a couple trial runs, to gauge how comfortable you are with the software and which settings work best for you.

1. Load PhatPad onto your Pocket PC. PhatPad is--thus far--the best note-taking application for the Pocket PC. Alas, it is not free. Fortunately, a trial version is available and I would recommend using that version before purchasing.

2. Rotate your Pocket PC Screen (available in Windows Mobile 2003SE and Windows Mobile 5 devices). You want it to be in landscape position to increase the horizontal writing area. [Go to Start --> Settings --> System --> Screen. OR, do what I have done and make one of your Pocket PC buttons dedicated to the Rotate Screen Feature. To do this: Go to Start --> Settings --> Personal -- > Buttons. Then select a button (I have selected Button 5) and assign “rotate screen” to that button.] You can do all of this in portrait mode, but I find it easier in landscape and expect you will too.

3. Open PhatPad. Select New.

4. Write a title on the page. Select Tools --> File --> Save As. Save the document. [Note: For some reason PhatPad will not let you save a file until there is writing on the page.]

5. Turn on the Automatic Scrolling Feature of PhatPad. Go to Tools --> Auto Scrolling. It is “on” if there is a check by it. I recommend using vertical scrolling only. Scrolling options can be found at Tools à Options. [Note that automatic scrolling only works when the zoom is set at 100%.]

Note that once the auto scrolling feature is configured you will not need to repeat these steps for future documents.

6. Select Page Size. Go to View --> Set Page Size. I tend to use letter size pages, but it really doesn’t matter.

7. Set other options as you desire. You can change the background color, add a horizontal or vertical grid, select the ink color and select the width of the pen. Experimenting a little with the program will show you how to do this.

8. Start Writing.

9. REMEMBER TO SAVE YOUR FILE. I recommend occasionally saving your file during the course of your interview. To do that, simply press on the little “disk” icon on the toolbar. I also recommend that you set your Pocket PC power option to not turn off unless the device is not used for 15 minutes. Turning off in the middle of note-taking might affect PhatPad’s ability to save the file.

Transcribing the Notes: the steps

If you are like me, now that you have the notes you want a typed version. And you may want to insert some of your notes in that typed version. You have two options.

Option One:

This method uses the Calligrapher handwriting recognition and is only available to you if you own that software program (also by PhatWare). It converts your handwriting to text. However, if you are like me your handwriting might be too sloppy for this to always be useful.

1. Open the PhatPad Document that contains your interview notes on your Pocket PC.

2. Go to Tools --> Recognize… --> Check to see if the options are OK with you --> Select OK

Option Two:

1. Transfer the PhatPad Document to your Desktop PC using Explorer in Microsoft ActiveSync.

2. Open the PhatPad Document on your Desktop PC. [Note that this can only be done on PCs with the PhatPad Viewer.]

3. Open a new document in a Word Processing program (e.g. Word or Open Office). Resize the windows so you can read both at the same time. And begin transcribing!

Optional: Having typed questions on your screen at the same time.

In PhatPad you can also have typed interview questions readily available for you to read while going through an interview. The option for text is on the toolbar. Or, go to View --> Text Note. Then enter the questions you want to have available.

The Pocket PC versus Pen-and-Paper

Strengths of the Pocket PC:

It is fantastic to be paperless, and to not have to worry about carrying pads of paper and pens that may run out of ink.

It is great having an electronic version of your notes on the desktop or laptop or Pocket PC – wherever you go.

Weaknesses:

PhatPad has a number of weaknesses of its own: (1) scrolling is not very smooth; (2) unless you pay extra, the software accompanying the Pocket PC version does not have handwriting recognition; (3) even if you have the handwriting recognition software, it is not perfect; (5) no document recovery system if the program or system crashes in the middle of taking notes; (6) there is no way to directly cut-and-paste from the desktop version of PhatPad into Microsoft Word.

Windows Mobile (2003SE) is the Pocket PC Operating System (OS) I use. The new version (WM 5) I have not used and cannot comment on. But there are some stability issues either with the OS or PhatPad. I did lose one interview for some inexplicable reason.

Conclusion

The more I use the Pocket PC-PhatPad note-taking combination, the more I like it. I think I will continue to use it in most situations. But for some occasions (such as meetings where you might want to be able to quickly take broad glances of your notes as you go), pen-and-paper or perhaps a Tablet PC that has a bigger screen and more stable OS are better.

Categories: Pocket PC, Note Management

Synchronizing Files on More than One Computer: Sync Toy

2005-11-13T23:09:00.000-08:00

While I often feel very lucky to have both a laptop and a desktop at my disposal, I have often found it difficult to stay organized while using both. Files created on one don't always make it to the other. I don't actually use my laptop all that often, so it is frequently the case that I have a large number of files in a large number of directories to copy from my desktop to my laptop. And I cannot always remember what the specific files are!

Fortunately, some of the people at Microsoft (apparently photographers) have created a FREE solution: Sync Toy. In their own words:

SyncToy is a free PowerToy for Microsoft Windows XP that provides is an easy to use, highly customizable program that helps users to do the heavy lifting involved with the copying, moving, and synchronization of different directories. Most common operations can be performed with just a few clicks of the mouse, and additional customization is available without added complexity. SyncToy can manage multiple sets of folders at the same time; it can combine files from two folders in one case, and mimic renames and deletes in another. Unlike other applications, SyncToy actually keeps track of renames to files and will make sure those changes get carried over to the synchronized folder.

There are probably better ways to go about doing this, but I haven't found one. [I know there are expensive software solutions out there, but this one is free.] And so far this works!

Categories: Cool Tools

Introducing My Pocket PC

2005-11-13T22:39:00.000-08:00

A little over a year ago I bought a PDA. To be more precise, I bought what is known as a Pocket PC. It drastically changed how I organize my life and work. The following is some general information on how I use my pocket pc and some links to other useful sources.

Ways I Use My Pocket PC

I almost never print documents anymore, I have a lighter load when I travel, and I am more organized. These are some of the ways I use my Pocket PC:

Taking Notes During Interviews (using PhatPad)
Reading, Highlighting and Commenting on Documents (using Repligo 2.0)
Writing and Editing (using TextMaker)
Reading News (using Avantgo)
Checking Email while traveling
Researching on the Internet while traveling
Entering and keeping track of appointments, contacts, and tasks (synchronizes with Outlook on my desktop)
Recording Interviews (it has a built-in microphone)
Listen to downloaded music (it acts as an MP3 player)

Watch converted DVDs and movies downloaded from the internet
Play games (comes with solitaire, of course)

See the Aximsite description of what you can do with your Pocket PC: http://www.aximsite.com/tutorials/index.php?qid=43 &catid =2

There are many different versions of the Pocket PC on the market. By some measures, the one I bought a year ago is already obsolete. It is a Dell Axim X30 (312 Mhz) and came with built-in wireless capabilities. I was able to purchase it for a little over $200. Another $30 bought me a keyboard from Ebay. I purchased a 256 MB SD memory card (for storing those songs and games and work documents) for about $30. For more on the X30:

Check it out at: http://www.dell.com

A Review At CNET

A Few Useful Pocket PC Websites:

http://www.aximsite.com

http://www.aximusers.com/

http://www.pocketpcmag.com/_top/

http://www.cnet.com

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/

http://www.bargainpda.com/

Category: Pocket PC

Increasing Your Screen Real Estate: MaxiVista

2005-11-13T22:18:00.000-08:00

Some studies suggest that people with larger computer monitors or multiple monitors are actually more productive at their work. According to Mircosoft researchers it can increase productivity anywhere from 9 to 50 percent.

But what if you don’t have another monitor and don’t want to go out and buy a new one? Another way to increase your viewing space is provided by the Germany-based company MaxiVista. They provide a way to link the monitors of more than one computer (for instance, a desktop and laptop) so that the screen of one is extended on to another. This is very useful for those of us who have both a destop pc and a laptop. In their own words:

MaxiVista turns any spare PC into an extra monitor for your primary PC. No extra hardware required. You can seamlessly extend program windows across multiple screens like it would be a single big monitor. Increase your productivity now by using multiple monitors.

OK, so all of this seems neat but you might wonder if it is really as useful as the Microsoft researchers suggest. And I would have to say yes. Even as I type this entry I am using two monitors. I am typing this in Word on one screen while looking up the websites I cite on the second screen. Here are some of the uses suggested in an old document available on the Viewsonic website:

Research and Writing. Whether the second screen opens web pages, or documents you have downloaded to read, an excel spreadsheet or a second chapter of your dissertation, it is fantastic to have that flexibility.
Graphic Art and Imaging. Zoom out even more!
Entertainment. Have a movie play on the other screen.

The picture below displays what the program looks like in operation in my home office. It provides a hint of how the program works in practice. You drag windows from one monitor to another and can even spread a single window over both. You can download their free trial to try it out for yourself. The basic version costs $29.95. Note that you can also pay more for the version of their software that allows you to control multiple computers from one keyboard and mouse.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember where I first heard of this program…

And don’t forget about the ergonomics of setting up your screens properly!

Categories: Cool Tools

Customizing your PC

2005-11-10T00:33:00.000-08:00

Customizing your PC. Some cool tools.

This is my first substantive entry in this blog. Future entries will provide greater detail about individual tools. This one is a copy of a note I sent to a friend some time ago. It provides an overview of some of the ways you can make your desktop look cool.

Some time ago I really got into the idea of customizing the appearance of my desktop. One helpful resource was the following webpage: http://www.ozzu.com/ftopic31068.html .

The screenshots on this page show examples of what can be done (the background images are pictures I took while in Switzerland in Fall 2004).

The software I used was all free!

Object Dock: This is the bar at the top of the screen; available at http://www.stardock.com/products/objectdock/. There is a version of this software that has more features (but you must pay for it).

Desktop Sidebar: This is the bar at the side of the screen; available at http://www.desktopsidebar.com/index.html . The individual components can be “undocked” from the sidebar, as shown with the weather dock and others in the screenshots below.

Kapsules: available at http://kapsules.shellscape.org/ . Here I am using "Kapsules Weather" and "Text Box"

ALSO: This screen shot includes use of DeskSweeper which is available at:
http://no-nonsense-software.com/freeware/

I also like to use WinRoll, a program that allows me to minimize windows in special ways or make them translucent. There are a bunch of similar programs out there as well, if you look. WinRoll is available at: http://www.palma.com.au/winroll/

Examples of WinRoll in use are in one of the screen shots below.

I also use WinAmp <http://www.winamp.com/> and its Minimo skin (with the translucency feature).

MORE SCREENSHOTS !!!

NOTE: Some of these features can affect the speed of your computer. To maintain faster boot-up times for my (two-year old) laptop I usually only have Object Dock installed.

Categories: Cool Tools

Category: Miscellaneous

2005-01-01T12:00:00.009-08:00

This is a category page. This is the catch-all category I use for all articles that seem to fit nowhere else!

The idea for these category pages comes directly from the blog "theatre of noise".

Category: Getting Organized

2005-01-01T12:00:00.008-08:00

This is a category page. All articles on this page relate to the topic of Getting Organized and GTD.

The idea for these category pages comes directly from the blog "theatre of noise".

Category: Other Computer Hardware and Accessories

2005-01-01T12:00:00.007-08:00

This is a category page. The articles on this page all consider other computer hardware (such as the Tablet PC) and accessories that may be useful for social science researchers.

The idea for these category pages comes directly from the blog "theatre of noise".

Category: Pocket PC

2005-01-01T12:00:00.006-08:00

This is a category page. The articles on this page all involve use of the pocket pc.

The idea for these category pages comes directly from the blog "theatre of noise".

Category: Web Tools

2005-01-01T12:00:00.005-08:00

This is a category page. The articles on this page all deal with web tools I have found that aid my research. These include search tools and tools that help organize information found on the internet.

The idea for these category pages comes directly from the blog "theatre of noise".

Category: Reference Management

2005-01-01T12:00:00.004-08:00

This is a category page. The articles on this page all deal with tools I have come across that are meant to help researchers manage their references. This includes the well-known tools (such as EndNote) as well as the lesser-known tools (such as Biblioscape).

Using EverNote for Academic Research - From GTD Wannabe

The idea for these category pages comes directly from the blog "theatre of noise".

Category: Office Software

2005-01-01T12:00:00.003-08:00

This is a category page. The articles on this page all deal with issues related to office software.

The idea for these category pages comes directly from the blog "theatre of noise".

Category: Note Management

2005-01-01T12:00:00.002-08:00

This is a category page. These articles all deal with tools, tricks, and tips I have come across for managing research (and other) notes.

The idea for these category pages comes directly from the blog "theatre of noise".

Category: Cool Tools

2005-01-01T12:00:00.001-08:00

This is a category page. These articles deal with cool tools I have found to make my computer experience neat.

The idea for these category pages comes directly from the blog "theatre of noise".

About This Site

2005-01-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

I tend to find many ways to “usefully” avoid working on my dissertation. Throwing a party for grad student friends so we can all forget about the difficulties of academic life, fixing a piece of furniture for my wife, and using my new cell phone to keep in touch with old friends are all recent examples. But one thing I seem to do a lot is to think about ways I can get computers to do my work for me. Total success still eludes me but I thought I would start sharing what I have learned along the way. Topics in this blog should especially appeal to social science researchers but may appeal to geeks of other persuasions as well. Those topics include a range of items from reference managing software to web tools to cool toys for your pc. Most solutions are for Windows systems and Pocket PCs, but I have started playing with Linux as well so who knows?

Categories on This Site:

Let me also put a little disclaimer out there. I am not a computer expert, and have no special training. This is all stuff that I am gradually figuring out myself!