Whether for work or leisure, many of us spend entirely too much time on the computer everyday.? This puts us at risk of having or aggravating Carpal Tunnel problems, but thanks to Workrave you can help to divert these problems.

Workrave helps Carpal Tunnel problems by reminding you to get away from your computer periodically.? Breaking up your computer time with movement can help alleviate many computer and office related health problems.? Workrave helps by reminding you to take short pauses after several minutes of computer use, and longer breaks after continued use.? You can also use it to keep from using the computer for too much You time in a day.? Since you can change the settings to suit you, this can be a great way to make sure you’re getting the breaks you need.

Install Workrave on Windows

If you’re using Workrave on Windows, download (link below) and install it with the default settings.

One installation setting you may wish to change is the startup.? By default Workrave will run automatically when you start your computer; if you don’t want this, you can simply uncheck the box and proceed with the installation.

Once setup is finished, you can run Workrave directly from the installer.

Or you can open it from your start menu by entering “workrave” in the search box.

Install Workrave in Ubuntu

If you wish to use it in Ubuntu, you can install it directly from the Ubuntu Software Center.? Click the Applications menu, and select Ubuntu Software Center.

Enter “workrave” into the search box in the top right corner of the Software Center, and it will automatically find it.? Click the arrow to proceed to Workrave’s page.

This will give you information about Workrave; simply click Install to install Workrave on your system.

Enter your password when prompted.

Workrave will automatically download and install.

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When finished, you can find Workrave in your Applications menu under Universal Access.

Using Workrave

Workrave by default shows a small counter on your desktop, showing the length of time until your next Micro break (30 second break), Rest break (10 minute break), and max amount of computer usage for the day.

When it’s time for a micro break, Workrave will popup a reminder on your desktop.

If you continue working, it will disappear at the end of the timer.? If you stop, it will start a micro-break which will freeze most on-screen activities until the timer is over.? You can click Skip or Postpone if you do not want to take a break right then.

After an hour of work, Workrave will give you a 10 minute rest break.? During this it will show you some exercises that can help eliminate eyestrain, muscle tension, and other problems from prolonged computer usage.? You can click through the exercises, or can skip or postpone the break if you wish.

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Preferences

You can change your Workrave preferences by right-clicking on its icon in your system tray and selecting Preferences.

Here you can customize the time between your breaks, and the length of your breaks.? You can also change your daily computer usage limit, and can even turn off the postpone and skip buttons on notifications if you want to make sure you follow Workrave and take your rests!

From the context menu, you can also choose Statistics.? This gives you an overview of how many breaks, prompts, and more were shown on a given day.? It also shows a total Overdue time, which is the total length of the breaks you skipped or postponed.? You can view your Workrave history as well by simply selecting a date on the calendar.

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Additionally, the Activity tab in the Statics pane shows more info about your computer usage, including total mouse movement, mouse button clicks, and keystrokes.

Conclusion

Whether you’re suffering with Carpal Tunnel or trying to prevent it, Workrave is a great solution to help remind you to get away from your computer periodically and rest.? Of course, since you can simply postpone or skip the prompts, you’ve still got to make an effort to help your own health.? But it does give you a great way to remind yourself to get away from the computer, and especially for geeks, this may be something that we really need!

Download Workrave

Have you ever tried to open the Recycle Bin by searching for “recycle bin” in the Start menu search, only to find nothing?? Here’s a quick trick that will let you find the Recycle Bin directly from your Windows Start menu search.

The Start menu search may be the best timesaver ever added to Windows.? In fact, we use it so much that it seems painful to manually search for a program when using Windows XP or older versions of Windows.? You can easily find files, folders, programs and more through the Start menu search in both Vista and Windows 7. However, one thing you cannot find is the recycle bin; if you enter this in the start menu search it will not find it. Here’s how to add the Recycle Bin to your Start menu search.

What to do

To access the Recycle Bin from the Start menu search, we need to add a shortcut to the start menu.? Windows includes a personal Start menu folder, and an All Users start menu folder which all users on the computer can see.? This trick only works in the personal Start menu folder.

Open up an Explorer window (Simply click the Computer link in the start menu), click the white part of the address bar, and, enter the following (substitute your username for your_user_name) and hit Enter.

C:Usersyour_user_nameAppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsStart Menu

Now, right-click in the folder, select New, and then click Shortcut.

In the location box, enter the following:

explorer.exe shell:RecycleBinFolder

When you’ve done this, click Next.

Now, enter a name for the shortcut.? You can enter Recycle Bin like the standard shortcut, or you could name it something else such as Trash…if that’s easier for you to remember.? Click Finish when your done.

By default it will have a folder icon.? Let’s switch that to the standard Recycle Bin icon.? Right-click on the new shortcut and click Properties.

Click Change Icon…

Type the following in the “Look for icons in this file:” box, and press the Enter key on your keyboard:

%SystemRoot%system32imageres.dll

Now, scroll and find the Recycle Bin icon and click Ok.

Click Ok in the previous dialog, and now your Recycle Bin shortcut has the correct icon.

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You can even have multiple shortcuts with different names, so when you searched either Recycle Bin or Trash it would come up in the Start menu.? To do that, simply repeat these directions, and enter another name of your choice at the prompt.? Here we have both a Recycle Bin and a Trash icon.

Now, when you enter Recycle Bin (or trash, depending on what you chose) in your Start menu search, you will see it at the top of your Start menu.? Simply press Enter or click on the icon to open the Recycle Bin.

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This trick will work in Windows Vista too!? Simply follow these same directions, and you can add the Recycle Bin to your Vista Start menu and find it via search.

This is a simple trick, but may make it? much easier for you to open your Recycle Bin directly from your Windows Vista or 7 Start menu search.? If you’re using Windows 7, you can also check out our directions on how to Add the Recycle Bin to the Taskbar in Windows 7.

Are you frustrated with having to reopen your menus for each website that you need or want to view? Now you can keep those menus open while opening multiple websites with the Stay-Open Menu extension for Firefox.

Stay-Open Menu in Action

You can start using the extension as soon as you have installed it…simply access your favorite links in the “Bookmarks Menu, Bookmarks Toolbar, Awesome Bar, or History Menu” and middle click on the appropriate entries. Here you can see our browser opening the Productive Geek website and that the “Bookmarks Menu” is still open. As soon as you left click on a link or click outside the menus they will close normally like before.

Note: Middle clicked links open in new tabs.

The only time during our tests that a newly opened link “remained in the background” was for any links opened from the “Awesome Bar”.

But as soon as the “Awesome Bar” was closed the new tabs automatically focused to the front.

A link being opened from the “History Menu”…still open while the webpage is loading.

Options

The options are simple to sort through…enable or disable the additional “stay open” functions and enable automatic menu closing if desired.

Conclusion

If you get frustrated with having to reopen menus to access multiple webpages at one time then you might want to give this extension a try.

Links

Download the Stay-Open Menu extension (Mozilla Add-ons)

Yesterday we looked at the Browser Ballot Screen, which offers 12 different browsers as alternatives to IE for European Windows users. This got us thinking about this weeks question. What browser do you use for your daily web navigation?

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Yesterday we showed you the Browser Ballot Screen which was introduced in March to Windows users in Europe. While it offers the choice of the most well known browsers on the market, there are some obscure choices as well. This got us thinking about what web browser(s) you use at home, in the office, or even on your mobile devices.

Some people might have a favorite browser they use at home but are required to use IE at work due to proprietary applications the company uses. Also, if you use an operating system other than Windows, you might favor Safari, Firefox, Konqueror..etc.

What web browser do you use? Leave a comment and join in the discussion!

Today look at MCEBuddy for Windows 7 Media Center. This handy app automatically takes your recorded TV files and converts them to MP4, AVI, WMV, or MPEG format. It even has the option to cut out those annoying commercials during the conversion process.

Installation and Configuration

Download and extract MCE Buddy. (Download link below) Run the setup.exe file and take all the default settings.

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Open MCEBuddy Configuration by going to Start > All Programs > MCEBuddy > MCEBuddy Configuration.

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Video Paths

The MCEBuddy application is comprised of a single window. The first step you’ll want to take is to define your Source and Destination paths. The “Source” will most likely be your Recorded TV directory. The Destination should NOT be the same as the Source folder.

Note: The Recorded TV directory in Windows 7 Media Center will only display and play WTV & DVR-MS files. To watch the converted MP4, AVI, WMV, or MPEG files in Windows Media Center you’ll need to add them to your Video Library or Movie Library.

Video Conversion

Next, choose your preferred format for conversion from the “Convert to” drop down list. The default is MP4 with the H.264 codec. You’ll find a wide variety of formats. The first set of conversion options in the drop down list will resize the video to 720 pixels wide. The next two sections maintain the original size, and the final section is for a variety of portable devices.

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Next, you’ll see a group of check boxes below the “Convert to” drop down list. The Commercial Skipping option will cut the commercials while converting the file. Sort By Series will create a sub-folder in your Destination folder for each TV show. Delete Original will delete the WTV file after conversion is complete. (This option is not recommended unless you are sure your files are converting properly and you no longer need the WTV file.) Start Minimized is ideal if you want to run MCEBuddy on Windows startup.

Note: MCEBuddy installs and uses Comskip for commercial cutting by default. However, if you have ShowAnalyzer installed, it will use that application instead.

Advanced Options

To choose a specific time of day to perform the conversions, click the checkbox under the “Advanced Options,” and select the starting and ending times for conversion. For example, convert between 2 hours and 5 hours would be between 2 am and 5am. If you want MCEBuddy to constantly look for and immediately convert new recordings, leave the box unchecked.

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The “Video age” option lets you choose a specific number of days to wait before performing the conversion. This can be useful if you want to watch the recordings first and delete those you don’t wish to convert. You can also choose the “Sub Directories” if you’d like MCEBuddy to convert files that are in a sub-folder in your “Source” directory.

Second Conversion

As you might expect, this option allows MCEBuddy to perform a second conversion of your file. This can be useful if you want to use your first conversion to create a higher quality MP4 or AVI file for playback on a larger screen, and a second one for a portable device such as Zune or iPhone. The same options from the first conversion are also available for the second. You’ll want to choose a separate Destination folder for the second conversion.

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Start and Monitor Progress

To start converting your video files, simply press the “Start” button at the bottom.

You’ll be able to follow the progress in the “Current Activity” section.

When all the video files have finished converting, or there are no current files to convert, MCEBuddy will display a “Started – Idle” status. Click “Stop” if you don’t want MCEBuddy to continue scanning for new files.

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Conclusion

MCEBuddy 1.1 will convert all WTV files in it’s source folder. If you want to pick and choose which recordings to convert, you may want to define a source folder different than the Recorded TV folder and then just copy or move the files you wish to convert into the new source folder. The conversion process does take a good bit of time. If you choose the commercial skipping and second conversion options it can take several hours to fully convert one TV recording.

Overall, MCEBuddy makes a nice Media Center addition for those that want to save some space with smaller size files, convert Recorded TV files for their portable device, or automatically remove commercials. If you’re looking for a different method to skip commercials check out our post on how to skip commercials in Windows 7 Media Center.

Download MCEBuddy 1.1

Have you noticed that the Properties Command has been removed from the Context Menu in Firefox 3.6? If you have been missing it here is how to get it back.

Before

With the newest version of Firefox you may have noticed a very useful command missing from the “Context Menu”. Here you can see that when we right clicked on the article link we were unable to “access” the properties for it…

Same article and the same problem when trying to “access” the properties for one of the images.

After

Once you have installed the extension you can once again “access” the properties for those links…

And those images…

Looking very good…

Conclusion

If you have been frustrated with the removal of the “Properties Command” from the “Context Menu” in Firefox 3.6, you can now add it back in just a few moments.

Links

Download the Element Properties extension (Mozilla Add-ons)

Anticipation has been building for the new Windows Phone 7 Series ever since Microsoft unveiled it at the Mobile World Congress in February.? Now, thanks to free developer tools, you can get a first-hand experience of the basic Windows Phone 7 Series devices on your PC.

Windows Phone 7 Series represents a huge change in the mobile field for Microsoft, bringing the acclaimed Zune HD UI to an innovative phone platform.? Windows Mobile has often been criticized for being behind other Smartphone platforms, but Microsoft seeks to regain the lead with this new upcoming release.? A platform must have developers behind it to be useful, so they have released a full set of free development tools so anyone can make apps for it today.? Or, if you simply want to play with Windows Phone 7, you can use the included emulator to try out the new Metro UI.? Here’s how to do this today on your Vista or 7 computer.

Please note: These tools are a Customer Technology Preview release, so only install them if you’re comfortable using pre-release software.

Getting Started

First, download the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP (link below), and run the installer.? This will install the Customer Technology Preview (CTP) versions of Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone Emulator, Silverlight for Windows Phone, and XNA 4.0 Game Studio on your computer, all of which are required and cannot be installed individually.

Accept the license agreement when prompted.

Click “Install Now” to install the tools you need.? The only setup customization option is where to save the files, so choose Customize if you need to do so.

Setup will now automatically download and install the components you need, and will additionally download either 32 or 64 bit programs depending on your operating system.

About halfway thorough the installation, you’ll be prompted to reboot your system.?

Once your computer is rebooted, setup will automatically resume without further input.

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When setup is finished, click “Run the Product Now” to get started.

Running Windows Phone 7 on your PC

Now that you’ve got the Windows Phone Developer tools installed, it’s time to get the Windows Phone emulator running.? If you clicked “Run the Product Now” when the setup finished, Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone should have already started.

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If not, simply enter “visual studio” in your start menu search and select “Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone”.

Now, to run the Windows Phone 7 emulator, we have to test an application.? So, even if you don’t know how to program, we can open a phone application template, and then test it to run the emulator.? First, click New Project on the left hand side of the front page.

Any of the application templates would work for this, but here let’s select “Windows Phone Application”, and then click Ok.

Here’s your new application template, which already contains the basic phone application framework.? This is where you’d start if you want to develop a Windows Phone app, but for now we just want to see Windows Phone 7 in action.

So, to run the emulator, click Debug in the menu and then select Start Debugging.

Your new application will launch inside the Windows Phone 7 Series emulator.? The default template doesn’t give us much, but it does show an example application running in Windows Phone 7.

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Exploring Windows Phone 7

Click the Windows button on the emulator to go to the home screen.? Notice the Zune HD-like transition animation.? The emulator only includes Internet Explorer, your test application, and a few settings.

Click the arrow on the right to see the available applications in a list.

Settings lets you change the theme, regional settings, and the date and time in your emulator.? It also has an applications settings pane, but this currently isn’t populated.

The Time settings shows a unique Windows Phone UI.

You can return to the home screen by pressing the Windows button.? Here’s the Internet Explorer app running, with the virtual keyboard open to enter an address.? Please note that this emulator can also accept input from your keyboard, so you can enter addresses without clicking on the virtual keyboard.

And here’s Google running in Internet Explorer on Windows Phone 7.

Windows Phone 7 supports accelerometers, and you can simulate this in the emulator.? Click one of the rotate buttons to rotate the screen in that direction.

Here’s our favorite website in Internet Explorer on Windows Phone 7 in landscape mode.

All this, running right inside your Windows 7 desktop…

Developer tools for Windows Phone 7

Although it may be fun to play with the Windows Phone 7 emulator, developers will be more excited to actually be able to create new and exciting apps for it.? The Windows Phone Developer Tools download includes Visual Studio Express and XNA Game Studio 4.0 which lets you create enticing games and apps for Windows Phones.? All development for Windows Phones will be in C#, Silverlight, and the XNA game framework.? Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone includes templates for these, and additionally has code samples to help you get started with development.

Conclusion

Many features are still not functional in this preview version, such as the search button and most of the included applications.? However, this still gives you a great way to experience firsthand the future of the Windows Phone platform.? And, for developers, this is your chance to set your mark on the Windows Phone 7 Series even before it is released to the public.? Happy playing and developing!

Links

Download Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP

Windows Phone Developer Site

Anticipation has been building for the new Windows Phone 7 Series ever since Microsoft unveiled it at the Mobile World Congress in February.? Now, thanks to free developer tools, you can get a first-hand experience of the basic Windows Phone 7 Series devices on your PC.

Windows Phone 7 Series represents a huge change in the mobile field for Microsoft, bringing the acclaimed Zune HD UI to an innovative phone platform.? Windows Mobile has often been criticized for being behind other Smartphone platforms, but Microsoft seeks to regain the lead with this new upcoming release.? A platform must have developers behind it to be useful, so they have released a full set of free development tools so anyone can make apps for it today.? Or, if you simply want to play with Windows Phone 7, you can use the included emulator to try out the new Metro UI.? Here’s how to do this today on your Vista or 7 computer.

Please note: These tools are a Customer Technology Preview release, so only install them if you’re comfortable using pre-release software.

Getting Started

First, download the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP (link below), and run the installer.? This will install the Customer Technology Preview (CTP) versions of Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone Emulator, Silverlight for Windows Phone, and XNA 4.0 Game Studio on your computer, all of which are required and cannot be installed individually.

Accept the license agreement when prompted.

Click “Install Now” to install the tools you need.? The only setup customization option is where to save the files, so choose Customize if you need to do so.

Setup will now automatically download and install the components you need, and will additionally download either 32 or 64 bit programs depending on your operating system.

About halfway thorough the installation, you’ll be prompted to reboot your system.?

Once your computer is rebooted, setup will automatically resume without further input.

?

When setup is finished, click “Run the Product Now” to get started.

Running Windows Phone 7 on your PC

Now that you’ve got the Windows Phone Developer tools installed, it’s time to get the Windows Phone emulator running.? If you clicked “Run the Product Now” when the setup finished, Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone should have already started.

?

If not, simply enter “visual studio” in your start menu search and select “Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone”.

Now, to run the Windows Phone 7 emulator, we have to test an application.? So, even if you don’t know how to program, we can open a phone application template, and then test it to run the emulator.? First, click New Project on the left hand side of the front page.

Any of the application templates would work for this, but here let’s select “Windows Phone Application”, and then click Ok.

Here’s your new application template, which already contains the basic phone application framework.? This is where you’d start if you want to develop a Windows Phone app, but for now we just want to see Windows Phone 7 in action.

So, to run the emulator, click Debug in the menu and then select Start Debugging.

Your new application will launch inside the Windows Phone 7 Series emulator.? The default template doesn’t give us much, but it does show an example application running in Windows Phone 7.

?

Exploring Windows Phone 7

Click the Windows button on the emulator to go to the home screen.? Notice the Zune HD-like transition animation.? The emulator only includes Internet Explorer, your test application, and a few settings.

Click the arrow on the right to see the available applications in a list.

Settings lets you change the theme, regional settings, and the date and time in your emulator.? It also has an applications settings pane, but this currently isn’t populated.

The Time settings shows a unique Windows Phone UI.

You can return to the home screen by pressing the Windows button.? Here’s the Internet Explorer app running, with the virtual keyboard open to enter an address.? Please note that this emulator can also accept input from your keyboard, so you can enter addresses without clicking on the virtual keyboard.

And here’s Google running in Internet Explorer on Windows Phone 7.

Windows Phone 7 supports accelerometers, and you can simulate this in the emulator.? Click one of the rotate buttons to rotate the screen in that direction.

Here’s our favorite website in Internet Explorer on Windows Phone 7 in landscape mode.

All this, running right inside your Windows 7 desktop…

Developer tools for Windows Phone 7

Although it may be fun to play with the Windows Phone 7 emulator, developers will be more excited to actually be able to create new and exciting apps for it.? The Windows Phone Developer Tools download includes Visual Studio Express and XNA Game Studio 4.0 which lets you create enticing games and apps for Windows Phones.? All development for Windows Phones will be in C#, Silverlight, and the XNA game framework.? Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone includes templates for these, and additionally has code samples to help you get started with development.

Conclusion

Many features are still not functional in this preview version, such as the search button and most of the included applications.? However, this still gives you a great way to experience firsthand the future of the Windows Phone platform.? And, for developers, this is your chance to set your mark on the Windows Phone 7 Series even before it is released to the public.? Happy playing and developing!

Links

Download Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP

Windows Phone Developer Site

Are you tired of the comments at YouTube being full of profanity or irritating to look at? Now you can watch videos minus the comments with the No YouTube Comments extension for Google Chrome.

Before

Sometimes reading through the comments at YouTube can be interesting or even fun but at other times they can be a bother to you. It all depends on the contents of the comments (i.e. lots of profanity) and what you would like to have visible while watching videos.

After

Once you have installed the extension all that you will need to do is refresh the page (if you were already watching a video). As you can see any and all signs of the comments section is gone. All nice and clean now…

Conclusion

If you love to check out your favorite videos on YouTube but are annoyed by the multitude of meaningless and profane comments, this extension for Chrome gets the job done.

Links

Download the No YouTube Comments extension (Google Chrome Extensions)

Everyone has a favorite text editor that they like to use when viewing or working with source code. If you are unhappy with the default choice in Internet Explorer 8 then join us as we show you how to set up access to your favorite text editor.

A Look at Before

Here is Internet Explorer on our test system ready to help us view the source code for one of the pages here at the site.

Perhaps “Notepad” is your default source code viewer…

Or in the case of our test system where “EditPad Lite” was the default due to choices we made while installing it.

Choose Your Favorite Text Editor

Chances are you have your own personal favorite and want to make it the default source code viewer. To get started go to the “Tools Menu”? and click on “Developer Tools” or press “F12” to access the “Developer Tools Window”.

Once you have the “Developer Tools Window” open go to the “File Menu”, then “Customize Internet Explorer View Source”, and click on “Other”.

Once you have clicked on “Other” you will see the “Program Directory” for the current default app. Here you can see the “Program Files Folder” for “EditPad Lite”. To change the default app simply browse for the appropriate program folder.

On our test system we decided to change the default to “Editra”. Once you have located the program that you want to use click on the “.exe” file for that app and click “Open”. Once you have clicked “Open”, all that is left for you to do is close the “Developer Tools Window”…everything else is already taken care of.

And just like that you can be viewing source code with your favorite text editor.

Conclusion

If you have been unhappy with the default source code viewer in Internet Explorer 8 then you can set up access to your favorite text editor in just a couple of minutes. Nice, quick, and easy the way it ought to be.

Thanks to HTG & TinyHacker reader Dwight for the tip!