Window 7 Sticky Notes - Features & Effective Uses

Windows 7 is one of the best products that came out from Microsoft. Along with it, came a very handy application called “Sticky Notes”.

Sticky Notes is a very handy and useful application for almost all kind of users. It allow you to take notes quickly and easily without getting into the trouble of creating a file and then saving it. Sticky Notes require just one click to start and it is auto-safe enabled which means every thing you write of paste in it is saved instantly even if you close the application, your notes are safe. 

Moreover, it serves the purpose of a reminder application where the things you wrote are in front of you always and remind you of any actions you have planned.  You can color them to distinguish between any two set of tasks and so on.

But nothing is perfect. Sticky Notes application is very easy to use but it does not allow you to change the font-style. It uses Segoe Print as default font. Though Segoe Print is a pretty neat font at first, eventually one gets tired of it and would like to change it. Moreover, there are lack of visual controls on sticky note to format text (probably dropped in favor of keeping it simple).

How to Change Font Style

There are two things you can do to change the font-style of your Stick Note from Segoe Print to any other Font you like.

1. You can copy the text into a notepad window and change the font there to whatever you like and then copy the text back into the note and the font will stick.
2. Registry Tweak:
   1. Press Start and Type “REGEDIT” then press Enter
   2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts
   3. Export that key so you have a backup (Optional)
   4. Find Segoe Print (TrueType)
   5. Change the value to the file name of any other font that you wish to use that is already installed (navigate that registry key to find others).
   6. Restart the computer.

This will change the font-settings of Segoe Print to another font and where ever Segoe Print is being use, your newly selected font shall be used.

How to Format Text

This is more fun than changing the Font Style. By using a number of Shortcut Keys, you can very easily and neatly change your Sticky Notes appearance, thus making them more user friendly. Below is a List of Shortcut Keys that you can use to format your Sticky Notes:

Shortcut Key	Function
Ctrl+B	Bold text
Ctrl+I	Italic text
Ctrl+T	Strikethrough
Ctrl+U	Underlined text
Ctrl+Shift+L	Bulleted (press once) or Numbered (press twice) list (Press more for more options)
Ctrl+Shift+>	Increased text size
Ctrl+Shift+<	Decreased text size
Ctrl+A	Select all
Ctrl+Shift+A	Toggles all caps
Ctrl+L	Left aligns text
Ctrl+R	Right aligns text
Ctrl+E	Centers text
Ctrl+Scroll Wheel	Increase/Decrease text size
Ctrl+1	Single-space lines
Ctrl+2	Double-space lines
Ctrl+5	Set 1.5-line spacing
Ctrl+=	Subscript
Ctrl+Shift++	Superscript
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Y	Redo
Ctrl+X	Cut
Ctrl+C	Copy
Ctrl+V	Paste
Ctrl+N	New sticky note

Hope you liked this article. Please do share with us your experience with Sticky Notes.

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Change LOG ON screen of Your Window 7 PC

Since Windows XP, windows login screen has been a beautiful entry point to your desktop. The background picture of Windows Login Screen is not only soothing to one’s eyes but also a status symbol among the geeks and alike. Using cool Background Pictures in Windows Login Screen was never easy, until we got Windows 7.

Windows 7 comes with pre-built  functionality to change the login screen. You do not need any third-party tool filled with extremely difficult User Interface, hidden Trojans and Viruses, and cumbersome controls to change the login screen. All you need is to change an entry and Registry, create a couple of folders and most importantly, find that perfect picture that was always your dream background. Below is the method to change the Login Screen on Windows 7:

1. Press Win+R key and Type “REGEDIT” at run prompt (without quotes). Alternately, Press Start, click on Run and type.
2. Locate following registry key:
   
   HKey_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background.
3. Now in right-side pane, change value of OEMBackground to 1 (originally it should be 0).
4. Now go to %windir%\system32\oobe.
5. Create a new folder info and another folder background backgrounds within newly created info folder.
6. Folder path should look like this %windir%\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds.
7. Now place your desired logon wallpaper within this background folder with file name as backgroundDefault.jpg. Here is an interesting thing, you can place multiple versions of pictures for different resolutions. Windows with place that picture according to the resolution of screen. You just have to mention the resolution in names.
   
   Images Name with resolutions
   backgroundDefault.jpg
   background768×1280.jpg (0.6)
   background900×1440.jpg (0.625)
   background960×1280.jpg (0.75)
   background1024×1280.jpg (0.8)
   background1280×1024.jpg (1.25)
   background1024×768.jpg (1.33-)
   background1280×960.jpg (1.33-)
   background1600×1200.jpg (1.33-)
   background1440×900.jpg (1.6)
   background1920×1200.jpg (1.6)
   background1280×768.jpg (1.66-)
   background1360×768.jpg (1.770833-)
   
   Please NOTE: Images must be less than 256kb in size
   
   The backgroundDefault.jpg image is loaded and stretched-to-fit when a resolution/ratio specific background cannot be found.
8. You are all done. Restart your system to see the effect.

You can also Use LOG-ON Changer from Tweaks.

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5 Trends of 2011

 1. Independent Group messaging Apps

Though there are rumors coming around about the acquisitions and re launches of group messaging Apps by many App making giants has subsided. Google launched its Disco which was Slide’s App but it had many flaws in it. later facebook came out with a acquirement news of Beluga followed by Skype’s Groupme.

 

2. Everything for Everyone says Birchbox

Birchbox is a smart streamlined way to buy high end cosmetics, now it has also included featured products from InStyle, New York Post and Mari Claire and staples. It has jus followed the footsteps of Groupon to promote its products through Daily deals. Now consumers can avail their monthly requirements even for their babies and pets from their subscriptions. 

3. Local and Real time for peer to peer Marketplaces 

As ebay and Amazon does a great job in peer to peer market, some small enterprises like craiglist, Zaarly, Taskrabbit has planned to implement real time location based services using mobile phones and GPS services. This improvement will help the individual to outsource their chores in the market which they don’t want to deal with.  

4. New age online 

The days of “love at first sight” has been changed to “love at website” a study from Match.com says 17% of the couple got married through online dating in past three years .They seem to be comfortable in moving their real life with the aid of internet. They rely on it completely before they make a move trusting that it will create a positive impact.

5. Rise of New York tech city

While Twitter has already opened its first official NYC office on Madison Avenue.It is expected that the city will become as a Hub for technology based industries. The city appointed its first chief digital officer Rachel Sterne. Her Moto is to draw potential investors to build their organization in the upcoming 2.1 million square foot tech campus on Roosevelt Island where facebook will have its engineering office soon. 

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IIT Kanpur Student Karan Narain Gets Highest Campus Placement of Rs. 73 Lakh

Karan Narain

Agra's Karan Narain, pursuing M.Tech (final year) in computer science from IIT Kanpur, has set a new record in campus placement. He has been picked up by U.S. company Pocket Gems for an annual package of $137,000 (over 73 lakh).

This is the highest package offered to a Kanpur IITian and one of the highest in India so far.

"Pocket Gems is into mobile application development for Android and iOS. The interviews held in Kanpur were completely technical," Narain told IANS.

"I had some background in Android which could have appealed to them. It's a startup, so has only around 100 employees. They've visited all the IITs and recruited a few students from each," he added.

Narain attributed his success to his schooling in Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Agra. "All schools are different and gave me a new experience and changed my world view for the better," he said. 
 
About Pocket Gems

Pocket Gems develops free-to-play mobile games that are ridiculously fun. We were founded in 2009 by Daniel Terry and Harlan Crystal, engineers and gaming industry outsiders, who wanted to bring the excitement of social gaming to the mobile platform. Our seven titles to-date have been smash hits, each landing at the top of the App Store charts and entertaining millions of customers across the globe. 

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Create Animated GIFs with Your Videos

Animated GIF images may remind you of those cluttered and distracting homepages of the Geocities era but take a peek at this impressive tumblr blog and it might forever change the way you think of GIFs.

The site features a brilliant collection of GIF animations created using frames of classic movie scenes that play in an endless loop. Here are some examples:

 

How to Create GIF Animations?

There are free tools available that let you easily convert video clips into animated GIFs that you can later host on sites like Flickr or Tumblr - not all image hosting sites support animated GIFs but the one mentioned here do.

This is a two-step process – first convert the video into a sequence of image frames and then assemble these frames into a looping GIF animation with some custom delay.

Step 1: Download FFmpeg for Windows from sourceforge.net and extract the ffmpeg.exe file to, say, the c:\ffmpeg\ folder. The .7z files can be unzipped using the 7-zip utility.

Step 2: Now we’ll extract the frames from our video file. The command* is simple.

c:\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.exe -i movie.avi img-%03d.gif

If your video file is in another folder, you need to specify the full path of that file. Also, you may use MP4, MOV or any video format as well instead of AVI.

Step 3: Grab this portable utility called UnFreez and drag-n-drop all the image frames created in the previous step from Windows Explorer into the UnFreez window.

Enable “loop animation” and set the frame delay to say 20 cs (1 cs = 0.01 second).  Click “Make animated GIF” and preview your image is in any browser.

Screencast: Converting videos into GIF movies

[*] If you have a fairly long video file and would only like to convert a portion of it into an image, you need to slightly modify the ffmpeg parameters as shown below: 

c:\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.exe -i movie.avi –ss 5 –t 3 img-%03d.gif

The parameter ‘ss’ refers to the start position in the video while ‘t’ is the duration for which you want to extract the frames. So in the above example, image frames for the file movie.avi will be at created from the 5 second mark for the next 3 seconds on the video. 

If you would like to stop GIFs from animating in the browser, just hit the Escape key.

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Be an Entrepreneur-Create Jobs instead of finding one

As you approach the final year of the college life, the career part of the mind will be busy exploring all options. A good CAT percentile leading towards an IIM-MBA loaded with moolah, or a Master’s in the US ? Or just a good campus job. And for some, just some, chasing their dreams of may be a PhD or teaching or higher education, purely as an intellectual pursuit in a chosen field of interest. In the much-pursued search how often do people actually “choose” what they want? How often do they “seek” what they want, in an area they want?

Granted, there is social respect that comes with a good job (read- good pay) in a good (read, well known and recognised) company. But still, aren’t there other options? If you can’t find a job or company that is in line with personal interests and likes, can you “make” a job yourself? Maybe you are your best Manager! This is what start-ups are all about - Chasing a dream. And not depending on anyone else or any company to realise your dreams. Create a product or a business instead of just helping build one.

Creating jobs for instead of just filling one job in a company. Creating one’s own IP (intellectual property) as opposed to just working for a larger company helping them build their IP or products. Or worse, engaged in just services for global clients, with no IP created nor retained.

For engineering and business students, the options are even better. If in the pre-final year you can think of some interesting ideas and get a basic validation, you can start working on the initial prototypes in the summer vacation. And with this experience and insight, you can tweak the plans and work on it as a final year project. Put in that extra effort, more than what may normally be needed just to fulfill academic obligations.

Basically concurrent to the final year in college, at no additional financial cost, and maybe just additional time investment one can get the first serious version of the idea or product built. And use this to get some validation from VCs, entrepreneurs and others in that domain.

Much easier to get the attention of these experts if one has a prototype to show, rather than just discuss an idea on paper or using slides. The advantage of doing this is that the decision to embark on own venture or start-up as opposed to taking up a campus job is now much more informed and with some much usable validation. Validation of the idea. Validation of the feasibility. Validation of business possibilities. And most importantly, the Validation of the team’s interest and if it stands the test of time without fading away.

At this point or closer to this point, just before graduation you can approach either the incubation centre in your college, look for e-cells in the city or even programmes like HydCubator (IIIT-H) or iAccelerator (IIM-A). All of these can help with the process to validate the idea and the prototype and help make the decision to go forward to make it a full-fledged start-up. If the prototype is good (which it will be if serious effort went into it), you can even get some initial angel funding that will help seed the effort. Maybe get a few more engineers to join the founding team. And accelerate the process to the first serious version of the idea/product and get some customer validation, which will be key to raise more angel money and eventually onto VC money.

The ecosystem is also rapidly getting in place. From start-up events to academic incubation cells to e-cells driven by organisations like NEN (National Entrepreneurship Network) to angel networks and lot of willing entrepreneurs available to mentor. It’s a great time to think about it. Go. Chase your dreams. Create something!

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Happy Birthday GandhiJi with Gandhiji Font

Today is 2 Oct, so we have some reason to celebrate it is Gandhi Jayanti Today.........Happy Birthday To Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi.

In hatred he saw love. In fear, courage. In weakness he saw strength. And in violence, truth. In cruelty he saw kindness. In anger he saw humanity. And in struggle, he saw peace. He saw things through his soul that are invisible to the eye. Yet through his eyes, we can still see the shining light of humanity. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. A different type. 

Original Gandhiji Glass,fonts inspired from

The Gandhiji Font is an impressive typeface the design of which is completely inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s trademark round glasses.

The font is available in English, Hindi, Urdu and other major Indian languages. Head over to gandhijifont.com to download your free copy.

The font, which was recently converted into a hardcover book, was also an entry at this year’s Cannes Lions Festival. KV Sridhar, Payal Juthani, Nadine Pereira and Zainab Karachiwala form the core team that conceptualized and designed the Gandhi font.

Watch the following video to know how glasses inspired the design of the font alphabets.

” There is no god higher than truth.” is what he said and is what got imprinted in my mind  ever since I was a little boy, my grand parents always told me stories of Gandhi at bedtime, I am still a vegetarian thanks to the impression he made on me. I am just a spec in billions who follow him. Once he said “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

 

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Tribute-in-lights on the 10th anniversary of 9/11

The "Tribute in Lights" are seen in the sky in New York, September 10, 2011. National and city leaders will commemorate on Sunday the ten-year anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001 with a ceremony unveiling a memorial and museum.




Some snapshots........

 

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10 Eco-friendly Acessories for your Office Desk

You maintain green habits at home, but are you as conscientious in the office? We’ve found 10 great accessories that will help you stay Eco-friendly even when you hit your workplace.

From clever trash bins to reusable cutlery to designer paper clips, these objects will add some environmentally-friendly credentials to your office, and hopefully inspire your colleagues to go a little green as well.

Take a look through the photo gallery of planet-loving choices and let us know in the comments below which ones you would like to take to work.

1. BASKETBIN

A great, green solution to stick under your desk, the BASKETBIN has a small, dishwasher-safe cup clipped inside for your messy food waste, leaving the body of the bin free for your paper to be recycled.

Cost: Approx $65

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2. Foldable Battery Box

Stick this handy box in a prominent position and it will help everyone remember to recycle their dead batteries.

Cost: $2

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3. Staple-less Stapler

Saving staples from ending up in the landfill might seem like a small thing, but every little thing helps. These staple-less staplers also mean you'll never run out of supplies again.

Cost: $16 for a set of two

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4. Tapi

Tapi converts your faucet into a mini drinking fountain. Putting one in your office will mean a lot less plastic in the world.

Cost: $9.95 for a set of two

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5. Perpetual Calendar

This perpetual calendar saves money and paper. Plus, it looks pretty swish.

Cost: $40

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6. Dine-Ink Pen Utensil Set

It's bad to use disposable cutlery. This re-usable set is perfect for your office drawer and will fit onto most pens for desktop dining.

Cost: $9.99

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7. Hu2 Eco Reminders

Described as "sustainable habit reminders," Hu2 offers a range of wall decals to place around light switches and power sockets to help you remember to turn them off.

Cost: Varies, from approx $16

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8. Desktop Bamboo Dry Erase Board

How much paper do you use writing notes, to-do lists and phone messages? This dry erase board is the eco option for your desktop.

Cost: $13

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9. Porcelain Travel Mugs

These gorgeous double-insulated travel mugs should give you the incentive to ditch your cardboard cup habit forever.

Cost: $21

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10. Rock Paper Scissors Clips

These rock-paper-scissors-themed clips are a great alternative to paper clips and are a lot less likely to get chucked.

Cost: $13 for 30

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10 Most Interesting Inventions of 2010

Fremont: Nothing in the world can stop few people from keep on inventing the best and the coolest products in different segments. These products become a landmark in the specific segments and even provide scope for social and economic growth of the nation. We present to you ten such best and cool inventions of 2010.

Square

A piece of technology that provides an instant cash register, Square is a San Francisco-based company launched in 2009 by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Square provides small businesses the ability to accept credit and debit card purchases anywhere, anytime via iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone. With the aid of a tiny magnetic card reader that attaches to a smartphone, it lets anyone process credit cards. One does not need to wait for a receipt; he just has to sign on the screen and Square sends a copy straight to e-mail.
With four simple steps you can easily access the app by downloading the free Square app, sign up, link Square to your bank account and then start accepting cards

Martin Jetpack

The world's first practical jetpack, Martin Jetpack consists of a purpose-built gasoline engine driving twin ducted fans which produce sufficient thrust to lift the aircraft and a pilot in vertical takeoff and landing enabling sustained flight. The Martin Jetpack could take its operator up 8,000 ft. It is creating a new segment in the aviation and recreational vehicle markets. Initially, the jetpack was designed keeping in mind the leisure market. The five feet high, Martin Jetpack has a width of 5.5 ft and length of five feet. The structure is Carbon fibre composite and has fuel capacity of five US gallons.

Edition2

Combining sound physics with innovative design, the Very Light Car uses lightweight and low aerodynamic drag to usher in a new era of automobile efficiency. The car weighs less than 800 lbs that helps it get 102.5 m.p.g.The components of the car has been evaluated for function and re-designed to be light yet strong. The car has simple features that mean fewer components, less weight, greater efficiency and lower cost. The Very Light Car is a low-mass vehicle that uses mostly recyclable aluminum and steel - requires little energy in production and avoids scarce and hazardous materials.

The Malaria-Proof Mosquito and The Mosquito Laser

Mosquito is one of the world's most deadliest insect that causes more than one million deaths worldwide. But for the first time, University of Arizona entomologists have succeeded in genetically altering mosquitoes in a way that renders them completely immune to the parasite called Plasmodium, the agent that causes malaria. Former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold is developing a laser that can zap mosquitoes without harming other insects or humans. The laser targets the mosquito's size and signature wing beat and sends the bugs down in a burst of flame, making their deaths good for public health.

Orange Power Wellies

Everything in the world generates power - about one watt per breath, 70 watts per step. Orange, a telecommunication provider, recognized this potential and introduced a prototype of Orange Power Wellies - rubber boots that convert heat into current. Orange Power Wellies is a groundbreaking and innovative eco mobile phone charging prototype. It is created in collaboration with renewable energy experts GotWind, use a unique power generating sole that converts heat from your feet into an electrical current, which can be used to re-charge your mobile phone.

Spray-on Fabric

Have you ever thought that textiles can be sprayed out of a can or spray gun straight onto a body or dress form? The British company Fabrican has captured the imagination of designers, industry and the public around the world by developing such a spray to bond and liquefy fibers. Once sprayed out of a can, the solvent then evaporates and the fibers bond, forming a snug-fitting garment. The technology has been developed for use in household, industrial, personal and healthcare decorative and fashion applications using aerosol cans or spray-guns.

Flipboard

The iPad app, Flipboard is a wonderful app to end the chaos by grabbing updates, photos and links from your friends and other interesting people, then reformatting everything in a wonderfully browsable, magazine-like format.Flipboard turns the users Facebook and Twitter account into something that looks like a magazine. It allows the user to build a custom magazine, either by choosing from Flipboard's pre-built curated boards or by importing Twitter lists.

Antro Electric Car

The car of the future, Antro Electric Car is the product of the Hungarian designer Antro. The car can hold up to three people - a driver and two passengers, one on either side - who pedal to help drive the ultra light car. It is a crazy invention wherein the car splits into two smaller versions and joins to make a big one. When the car is separated, its seating capacity for three and becomes a big vehicle, Antro Duo with a seating for six when joined. The car has a hybrid drive and has solar cells on its roof that generate electricity to empower the vehicle to run up to 20 km a day on solar energy alone with the help of solar panels attached on the roof.

Zoggles: Anti-Fog Device

Zoggles is an anti-fog device invented by Skomsky and Valerie Pafly to keep fog from forming on lenses and windows. The device is created with a humidity sensor and a temperature sensor that would stay colder than a windshield, so they would sense when fog was coming and would turn on an automobile's defroster. The device could also calculate when fog would form, rather than test for fog that is actually about to form, they could get rid of the bulky controls that cooled the sensors in their original prototype and fit all the electronics on a chip.

KOR-fx: Ultra Sensation Gaming Device

Shahriar S. Afshar, the visiting physics professor at Rowan University, invented KOR-fx. KOR-fx is a device that connects to gaming consoles, PCs or music players. It sits around the shoulders and the two transducers that lie on one's chest translate stereo sound into stereo vibrations. This makes the gamers feel complete immersed in their games without involving others who are not playing. The sensation of rain, wind, weight shift, even G-forces can be induced. 
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