
 |
|
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
April 23, 2010
/ 9 Iyar, 5770
If it ain't broke, fix it!
By
Mark Kellner
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Here's a little secret of computing: you don't really have to type your name, over and over again, when writing letters, reports, memos or whatever. You can, using a macro program, type a combination such as "btw" and have it expand to "by the way."
So far, so good: Macro programs have long been available for Microsoft Windows and its many applications; the same is more or less true for Apple Macintosh users, although here, QuicKeys, the onetime undisputed leader of the field, now clocks in at a hefty $59.95 price tag.
By contrast, TextExpander, which for the past few years has been sold by a firm called SmileOnMyMac.com (CQ), sells for $34.95, a bit more reasonable of a price. I've used the program for several years, and it's quite addictive.
Just as in the example above, you can create a short acronym and the program will read this and insert the proper phrase. To write "The Washington Times," for example, I merely type "ttwt," or four characters instead of 17. It might not seem like much, but over the course of a day or week, it can add up. On the version I use at home, TextExpander estimates that I've saved 2.48 hours of typing by using the "snippets" it expands.
A few weeks back, the SmileOnMyMac (CQ) folks decided to update TextExpander, and to make a crucial change: instead of running as a Mac "System Preference," a small program which inhabits a particular part of the operating system, it would become a regular application. The idea would be to make the interface more modern, allow for some other features and everyone would be happy.
Well, almost everyone: I'm not sure the update, for which I spent the $15 upgrade fee, is worth it. There seem to be some glitches here.
As a System Preference, TextExpander would start up every time my Mac did. It still does on my home computer, because I didn't make the switch there. (To its credit, TextExpander is licensed "per user," meaning I can use the same program on home and work computers. That is a nice plus.)
At the office, the new TextExpander application doesn't always startup when the Mac does, even though I have configured it to do so. It's now hit or miss, and that can be frustrating. What's the point of having a program that simplifies typing if you have to go out and rev it up each time?
The SmileOnMyMac support folks swear the program should start automatically, and perhaps it shall: soon, I believe, I'll have a new office computer to set up and I'll install a fresh copy of TextExpander. We'll see how that goes.
Less thrilling, though, was the fluke that wiped out my (small) collection of "snippets," the abbreviations and letter combinations that TextExpander would use to, well, expand text. That's taken me a bit more time to recreate, a synchronization feature notwithstanding. I'm not overly thrilled about this turn of events.
In short, it's a challenge, sometimes, to deal with new software applications, especially when the changes don't work out as advertised. I'll be honest: the fault may lie with me, and not the software, which is why the install-it-on-a-new-machine gambit may clear up my problems. Or it may not.
Of course, such upgrade disappointments aren't limited to software. A while back, Apple started shipping new, dramatically thinner and wireless keyboards with their desktop computers. Great, except they hacked off the numeric keypad, available only as a special selection when purchasing, and only as part of a wired keyboard. I'm sure there's market research to back up their move, but, I'd rather have they number pad and wireless, please.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.
Archives
© 2009, News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. Visit the paper at http://www.washingtontimes.com
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|