Chad's News

Here are 10 tips for improving the reception of a wireless network.

Link: http://www.microsoft.com/…
(via Lifehacker)

IE7Pro is a free Internet Explorer 7 extension that adds some nice capabilities. Features include tabbed browsing enhancements, ad blocking, mouse gestures and crash recovery. Basically someone took the best Firefox extensions and implemented them on IE7.

Link: http://www.ie7pro.com/
(via Lifehacker)

Regular Chad’s News readers know that the Congressional change to Daylight Saving Time will cause the sky to fall on March 11th. Microsoft, however, is taking proactive steps to ensure the transition is a smooth one. For Outlook users there is the Time Zone Data Update Tool, and for Windows users there is the Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center.

Link: http://lifehacker.com/…

Here’s a useful tip: save an “ICE” entry in your cellphone address book. Emergency workers know this stands for “In Case of Emergency” and will contact that person if you are unconscious. Alternatively you can add “ICE” to an existing entry, which will accomplish the same thing. Mine says “Mom -ICE-“.

Link: http://lifehacker.com/…

Kiplinger presents its list of obscure-but-useful tax deductions. Note that you may have to file a 1040 and/or itemize deductions in order to receive some of them.

Link: http://www.kiplinger.com/…
(via digg)

Old hands from the early days of DOS and Windows will remember entering special characters by holding down the ALT key and typing a 3-digit number on the numerical keypad. This was essential when using the line-drawing (╠╣║) or block-drawing(▐▬▌█) characters. Then Windows got more advanced and began supporting multiple character encodings in unicode format. And the number of ALT-key digits went from three to four, with the leading zero making a difference (for example, ALT-0174 is “?” while ALT-174 is “?”). I’ve never yet figured out the mapping between unicode and the ALT codes (sometimes it’s very straightforward, sometimes not), so I just gave up and learned to use the Windows Character Map applet (like this: ?). Or, if coding HTML, I would use the HTML character entities (like this: ©).

The linked site gives ALT codes for common non-typeable characters. It shows me that I can simply type ALT-0169 to get ?. The site presents its lists in a manner amenable to printing and posting on the wall near a computer. It’s a bit of a time saver if you frequently use non-English characters or non-typeable special characters.

Link: http://www.starr.net/…
(via Lifehacker)

Researchers have determined you can effectively sanitize a used sponge by microwaving it. Note that it’s very important to wet the sponge first, as microwaving a dry one can cause a fire.

Link: http://www.livescience.com/…
(via Lifehacker)

Music producers are outdoing each other to see who can provide the loudest music CDs (at the expense of dynamic range), and anyone with an mp3 library knows the annoyance of having one song at a good volume while the next blasts you out of your seat. The linked article gives information on how to normalize your entire library with MP3Gain, a free utility. An advantage of MP3Gain is that it uses statistical analysis rather than peak normalization.

Link: http://lifehacker.com/…

Taxpayers are eligible this year for a one-time refund of excise taxes paid on phone bills. The standard refund amount varies from $30 to $60 -or- you can dig up old phone bills and calculate the actual amount paid. The refund is not automatic—you have to claim it by filling in a line on form 1040 or 1040a, or by filing form 1040EZ-T.

Link: http://www.snopes.com/…
(via digg)

Inveneo is taking donations of old USB flash drives, which they give to organizations/individuals that need them. Along this same line is Freecycle, which facilitates the transfer of unused stuff from those who have it to those who need it. I’ve used Freecycle to furnish my expanded household.

Link: http://www.inveneo.org/…
(via Engadget)

Weird as it may seem, many 9-volt batteries are internally made from six AAAA batteries—which are the right voltage and (approximate) size to replace AAAs. So if you find yourself desperately needing some AAA batteries, consider using that extra 9v sitting in the junk drawer. The linked article has pictures showing how to take it apart with a pair of pliers.

Link: http://www.axecollector.com/…
(via Lifehacker)

Toolhaus.org has some useful tools related to eBay feedback. My favorite one allows you to view just the negative feedback of an eBay user—no more scrolling through page after page to check on the negatives. For power users, there’s a related bookmarklet and Firefox extension.

Link: http://www.toolhaus.org/