a wandersick's Tech Notes

If you are a user of AeroZoom , the magnifier-enhancing application for Windows, you might have noticed there is an option to display a random tip during startup of AeroZoom. To make it easier to refer to the tips, t his post lists all of the 100 tips stored in AeroZoom for its 'Startup Tips' functionality. So, here it goes! New to AeroZoom? To get started, hold [Left] mouse button and wheel up to zoom. While zoomed, press and hold the middle button to preview full screen or reset zoom level. Press [Left] and [Middle] to reset zoom. Press [Left] and [Right] to show/hide AeroZoom Panel. Read 'Quick Instructions' via the help (?) menu for more controls. Mac users are used to zoom with the hotkeys Command+[+] and Command+[-]. AeroZoom makes such combination possible on Windows. Press [Left] and [Right] to launch AeroZoom Panel and select one of the other modifiers (e.g. Alt, Ctrl) and see which one works best for you! For some users, 'Alt' seems to wor...

The next version of AeroZoom (5.0) will be available after the testing phase, which involves my testing as well as yours – help improve quality by becoming a beta tester. Email [email protected] if interested. (Thanks!) Welcome to support this project by buying a cup of coffee if my work is useful to you. That would be much appreciated. Thank you! Last updated: 24 Sep 2019 AeroZoom 5.0 Features (TBC) Hide Magnifier Glass The ability to completely hide Magnifier glass (i.e. Windows Magnifier) is back for Windows 10 starting from 1607 and up (Note: This feature was available for Windows 7 only) Smart Click Disabler Optimized single-handed mouse zooming, thanks to an improved mechanism to prevent misfire of left/right/forward/back clicks while zooming, available as a tool under AeroZoom Panel menu as Smart Click Disabler, which is better than the existing Misclick-Preventing Pad Enables use of AeroZoom during full-screen PowerPoint presentation, etc. User-...

Are you a security-aware person? Have you got a USB thumb drive or external hard drive you wish to use that does not have any built-in encryption features? You could turn it into one that does, with the cross-platform open-source alternative to BitLocker – TrueCrypt, succeeded by VeraCrypt – but it is not as easy or intuitive to unlock or use as a purchased encrypted external storage solution in the market, because of its feature-rich nature; unlocking is done via an advanced user interface that is more meant for the technically inclined. Solution – vCrypt2Go and tCrypt2Go, Lock-and-Unlock Utilities, to Simplify and Speed Up Drive Unlocking Named after VeraCrypt and 'BitLocker To Go', vCrypt2Go – a set of open-source and cross-platform lock-and-unlock utilities on top of VeraCrypt enabling users to DIY their own encrypted portable storage which is simple to use as a purchased solution in the market – simplifies the user experience of VeraCrypt Portable on removable media/e...

Microsoft SharePoint, the widely leveraged document management and collaboration web application, is an established product with millions of users that has been growing strong since 2001, from on-premises to cloud as part of Office 365. Using SharePoint with Microsoft Office is a seamless experience.  I had the opportunity to present SharePoint publicly four times in 2016. Two of them were for work and two of them for school (one being in English). As posted below, you may find the slides (in PowerPoint format) on SlideShare and partial video of the English presentation on YouTube. Academic Presentation 1 - Available on SlideShare

Do you wonder what the work principles in IT (information technology) are like in an enterprise? As a young IT professional in a large enterprise, there were rules I had to learn in order not to go out of line — it was 2011, the first time I ever stepped into the world of IT support, where I learned the essentials from my supervisor and mentor who always told me not to work hard but work smart. This is a list of IT work ethic reminders I crafted for myself thanks to him, hoping it would be inspiring to everyone, working in the tech industry or not. Image courtesy of Justin Baeder Most of the time, IT support is a standby job — it may be peaceful but we should  get prepared for the worst  to come anytime. Underpromise and overdeliver . We should leave buffer time when asked to provide with an estimated time required to fulfill a request. (If done early, users or requesters would be more satisfied.) We would not be much different from workers in the industrial age if we d...

As mentioned in the last post " Google Chrome's Scratchpad — the Revolutionary Notepad ", this sequel will cover 10 personal Scratchpad tips I find really useful. They answer questions many Scratchpad users ask, such as making Scratchpad always on top, saving notes as local files or better printing, searching all notes from Chrome's omnibar or Start Menu , etc. To emphasize the fact that Scratchpad supports multiple platforms, besides Windows, there will also be demonstration using Ubuntu. Let's go! 1. Run Scratchpad from Bookmarks Bar Sometimes it's handy to run Scratchpad from Bookmarks Bar rather than launching it from the app screen (which requires one more step). That way we can also experience a new way of using the app — a bigger screen and ' panel -less effect' (for Chrome OS). Most important, the Chrome menu is accessible :

Do you take notes? If you do, I believe you must have once been on the lookout for a quick and good note-taking app as I were. Now that I've found it, I can't wait to share with you a brilliant notepad - Scratchpad ! Google Chrome's Scratchpad is what Notepad would be if redesigned from the ground up today. In the old days we might use Notepad because of its speed, despite putting up with its lack of features . We worry about our work being unsaved so our reflex always nervously triggers us to s-s-save it. Also, we want to create copies for backup/reverting changes, so once in a while we have to remind ourself to click the "Save as" button and think up a new file name. Futhermore, we want the document to sync across places so we put it in Dropbox or our USB flash disk to carry with us. And, oh no, we haven't even talked about writing yet! How much productivity is lost in all this? Can't we simply focus on writing itself?

For a more updated AeroZoom article, please refer to this rewritten introductory article of AeroZoom instead. AeroZoom, poor man's presentation mouse AeroZoom panel, called by mouse AeroZoom is an AutoHotKey program that enhances upon the Magnifier in Windows to turn any mouse into a presentation mouse, where zooming in/out and moving around becomes a breeze without a keyboard. Note: This article only covers the original AeroZoom version 1. List of Features Binding keyboard controls commonly used in a presentation to mouse buttons and 'AeroZoom panel' buttons (on the right). Zooming in/out or reset any time without a keyboard; handle more operations with one hand. AeroZoom panel is made of large buttons designed to quickly toggle sub-magnifier settings (It only needs 1 click while Magnifier needs 3 for those settings.) or to add more functionalities. Upon calling by mouse buttons, it pops up where the cursor is, witho...