46: Feeling Snappy
2009-02-22
Download MP3 For Geekons Episode 46
Pop-Up: allSnap
- allSnap is another tiny utility, similar to Katmouse, that lives to serve a single purpose.
- This utilitie's purpose is to make windows snap to each other and the desktop.
- You get to choose how far apart windows are before the snap, and what they snap to.
- My favorite feature is you can resize two windows that are touching each other and have them be the exact same height as each other. This just makes it really easy to make the most of your screen real estate.
- Ideal for anyone with a large monitor that loves to have multiple programs open at once.
- The only problem I've been able to find is for Windows 7, which allSnap doesn't officially support. There's a new feature we mentioned in Episode 42 where you can drag a window to the top or left of the screen to have it automatically resize, then you click and drag it away from the top or side and it restores. When Windows restore this way, allSnap throws an error. (After clicking OK it continues to run happily)
- That's the only thing I could find about it that gave any soft of problems.
- There's also tons of features for snapping to a grid, forcing windows to stay on-screen, etc.
- allSnap, while not open source, is completely free of charge.
- 5 out of 5 stars, Yet another app that will be installed on every Windows machine I use.
Geek-Tweak: How to compress a folder in Windows using the command line
- Download and install the 7-zip command-line utility from sourceforge. (available at http://sevenzip.sourceforge.net/download.html )
- Install it by simply extracting 7za.exe into a folder
- Optionally, you can add that folder to the Windows system PATH variable so you can simply type 7za without typing out the full path to 7za.exe each time you want to launch it inside a batch file
- Now simply open up the command line and compress something!
- navigating to the folder you extracted 7za.exe to
- type 7za.exe a c:pathtobackupsbackupfile.7z c:pathtofiles* -r
- That will now compress everything in c:pathtofiles and add them into a file called backupfile.7z in the c:pathtobackups folder
- Make routine backups easier by opening notepad and typing:
- c:pathto7za.exe u c:pathtobackupsdocs.7z c:pathtodocs* -r
- c:pathto7za.exe u c:pathtobackupsphotos.7z c:pathtophotos* -r
- Now save that document on your desktop as backup.bat and double-click it when you'd like to update your backup file!
- The a option adds files to your backup, which may mean you wind up with tons of copies of the same document after running it multiple times.
- The u option updates files to your backup, removing the old copies before adding the new ones. (Which makes it more ideal for routine backups.)
- And one final thought: yes, you can set up scheduled tasks to routinely run a batch file, including this one that compresses folders.
- Next week we'll talk about how to use RoboCopy to automate a nightly backup of these compressed folders.
View-Source: The programmer's model for a Christian walk
- Requirements Analysis - 2 Peter 1:3
- Define the requirements of our life based on God's Word
- God created this world, and much like someone who creates a program, tool, or device, He knows the way it is intended to work at optimum performance.
- God knows how our lives can be the most effective, and he maps it out in His word, defining requirements for how we live as followers of Christ
- Some obvious Requirements include loving and glorifying God, there are tons more for us to shoot for as well, so keep reading and don't skimp on the Requirements Analysis phase!
- Specification - Proverbs 16:9
- While we come up with all kinds of ideas on goals that meet our requirements defined in God's word, it is ultimately God who decides the specifics for our lives.
- The sooner we learn this, the sooner we can be more effective.
- Pray for direction and guidance from the Holy Spirit so the goals we set are God's goals, not our own.
- Remember, God has given us specific physical and spiritual gifts to serve Him, and we should constantly present ideas to Him that use these gifts for His approval.
- Keep in mind 2 Samuel 7, where one of David's specifications was to build a permanent house for the Ark. His goal lined up with the requirements in God's word, and even the nature of God, but did not match up with God's specific plans at that time. Make sure to allow God to direct your steps, as David did in this instance, so we don't try to "do stuff for God", but rather design specifications while involving God every step of the way.
- Architecture - 1 Corinthians 12
- After defining the specifications, we need to consider how we fit into the Body of Christ, the true Church
- What specifically can we do to reach the requirements by following the specification we've defined for our lives?
- How can these specific goals be met alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ?
- Architecture is often overlooked because we want to see what we can do, and sometimes loose focus of the overall project God has in mind on a global and eternal scale.
- Design, implementation and testing - James 1:22
- Continuous attempts at serving God in the little and big things in our lives
- Matthew 25:14-30 describes the Parable of the Talents, where those that actually Designed and Implemented a plan showed themselves faithful to God's will, and the one that did not showed themselves as unfaithful and disobedient.
- We need to make sure that whatever we are doing, whether that is planting a church, defragmenting a hard drive, or helping someone install software, that we are doing it to the best of our abilities, and aren't trying to find a way out of it.
- Deployment and maintenance - Hebrews 12
- While we actually perform the work we need to continue to work, enduring any hardships that may come along as a result.
- This phase is an ongoing practice of discipling, being discipled, prayer, and bible study.
- We are never called to stop serving God.
- If you ever feel called away from a project that glorifies God, definitely follow that calling TO another project that glorifies God.
- This phase also includes maintenance... unfortunately we aren't perfect, and we need to continually look at what we are doing and finding ways to better serve God with a more obedient and loving heart.