OCR from screenshot converter

Freeware
From:
OCR Image to Ascii Desktop Converter 1.0.0 download page:
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Programming/Misc__Programming_Tools/OCR_Image_to_Ascii_Desktop_Converter_Download.html

I found this at:
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Best/free-screen-ocr.html

How to Create Mail Merge with GMail

Talks you through step-by-step – even has a video

Looks good

http://www.labnol.org/software/mail-merge-with-gmail/13289/

 

My tags: GMail GDocs MailMerge Mail Merge

Keep your Gmail safe!

I have extolled the virtues of Gmail (more to come too) here

It’s a great example of a free service which can do pretty much all you need an email program to be able to do.

I suddenly had a thought though.  What would happen if I got locked out of my account, or some unforeseen disaster wiped everything out.  That would be really bad – obviously.

Well I just came across a free program which backs up your GMail and stores it on your hard drive.  It’s called Gmail Backup, surprisingly enough.  It’s free and it can be downloaded here and here.

Here’s a picture of the interface as it backs up my Gmail:

BuzzNet Tags: Backup Gmail free

43 Things Tags: Backup Gmail free

We don’t like to think about potential disasters, but we should – and what’s more, this is free, so it’s a no brainer.

Caution and contingency plans are always a good way to go – the Internet is not a place which disproves that rule – quite the opposite!

Jason

Using Launchy and Google Desktop together

In a previous post I explained the virtues of Launchy.  (Launchy is a free program which lets you launch any program, and even folders or files really easily).

Launchy can be taught what certain abbreviations mean and this learning function is really useful.

Here’s an example.  the first time I wrote in Word, Launchy guessed many different things, among them was Microsoft Wordpad.  There’s nothing wrong with Wordpad; it’s just that I meant “Microsoft WORD”.  So I actually wrote “Microsoft Word” in the search bar which Launchy then recognized.  I selected that entry and Word opened.  I then closed Word, called up Launchy again (by hitting Left ALT + Space – the default hotkeys for Launchy) and wrote “Word".  Launchy now knew that I meant Microsoft Word because I had just used it.  In fact I don’t use other programs beginning with “w” much so just hitting “w” has Launchy guessing “Word” and I just hit enter and it opens up.

In a similar way I taught Launchy that “g.” means Google Video, “ppt” means “Microsoft PowerPoint etc. – you get the picture. 

While Launchy can find individual documents (if you add “.doc”, “.txt” etc. to the extensions which Launch catalogs) it can’t find documents based in words that appear in the body of the document.

But that’s OK because there’s another great free utility which does that really well, as well as it does it on the web:  Google Desktop.  (Once installed, Google Desktop opens when you hit the left control button twice)

Google desktop is great at finding document names and words or phrases within documents.

Once I realized this, I had Launchy ONLY catalog programs (.exe) and program shortcuts (.lnk) and folders (.directory) because Launch, as I explained above is smart and can learn abbreviations I use it only for programs and folders.  I use Google Desktop to find individual files by file name and by words and phrases within files – a wining combo – each – Launchy and Google Desktop doing what it does best.

Jason

P.S. the search window for both Launchy and Google Desktop appear and disappear via the same key combinations.

For Launchy that is Left Alt + the Space bar - hit this combination once and the searhc window appears, hit it agina and it disappears.

For Googe Desktop that is the left "Ctrl" (Control) button - hit this combination once and the searhc window appears, hit it agina and it disappears.

P.S.  If your Launchy closes, which happens sometimes and you start it up again and discover that the directory was wiped out (if you type something and Launchy has no suggestions you know this has happened) just open Launchy and right click just under the Launchy window.  Hit “options” and “catalog” and then select “rescan catalog” and Launchy will rebuild the catalog.  (You may have to teach it again as per the explanation above)

Making the most out of GMail – Part 1

GMail is a great, easy-to-use free webmail client and it works pretty well.

But it can work even better with a few tweaks.  I will be showing you some of the more important ones.

FIRST of all, you need to enable “Labs”.

Go to “settings” in the top right hand corner and enable the “labs” function.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll see an image of a green conical flask on the right of “settings.”

Click on it and “labs” will open up.  The title should read:

“Gmail Labs: our testing ground for experimental features”

Google say that because these features are in Beta they may not work perfectly.

(See ** at the end of the blog for Google’s emergency exit if something goes wrong)

I think however that the simpler features – the ones I have been using - should work fine.  I haven’t had any problems with any of them.

The most useful I have found is “Quick Links” (by Dan P).

Open any email and click on “Add Quick Link” as shown in the picture above. 

A window will then appear showing the actual path for the email – which you will want to change because it looks something like this:

Change the name (in the text box) to something you’ll remember, e.g.:

The link to that email will now appear in the Quick links box on the right hand side:

Whenever you click the link, that specific email, or email stream (it doesn’t take you to a specific email within a stream) that email will open up.

(The quick links appear in chronological NOT alphabetical order)

Whenever you want to delete the link (this doesn't delete the email) just click the “X” to the right of the quick link.

That’s it!

This is probably the most useful lab feature.

Jason

_______________________________

**Google’s emergency advice:

If (when) a Labs feature breaks, and you're having trouble getting into your account, there's an escape hatch -- just go tohttps://mail.google.com/mail/?labs=0 and Labs will be temporarily disabled.