just an asterisk

A while back, I wrote a pretty scant description of Texter from Lifehacker.com.  Please be forgiving, it was one of my first posts!  I bring it up because, although I don’t want to make a habit of rewriting old posts, I use Texter daily in ways that I never mentioned before.  Therefore, here are my updated uses for Texter:

1. Fast greetings: I sign most emails with either “Thanks, {Return}Alex” or “Best, {Return}Alex”.  To save some time, I use “t,” and “b,” for those phrases, respectively.  This permits me to quickly finish an email and then send (using Alt + s in Microsoft Outlook or Tab then Space in Gmail).

2. Personal data: If I type “Addy”, Texter types out my home address.  ”mynum” types out my phone number.  Both of these are simple time savers that I’ve used a lot while communicating travel plans or shipping information.  When I was in the UK, I used “uknum” for my local phone number.

3. Loyalty info: “starwood#”, “skymiles#”, “wbs#” and about a dozen other word + # combinations make up my library of travel numbers.  As a frequent traveler, I got tired to looking at my cards or a spreadsheet to keep track of all my numbers.  Instead, I just type “hhonors#” and Texter inserts my Hilton Honors number.

4. Dates: “dt” and “dts” are the Texter codes I use for long date and short date respectively.  One of the great features of Texter is the inclusion of built-in commands.  In this case, I put %dl in the replacement text for “dt”.  This tells Texter that when I type “dt”, I want today’s long date (Monday, 30th of July 2010).  %ds produces a mm/dd/yy value instead.

5. Email lists: I find that email programs are generally quite annoying when you want to maintain groups of people in mailing lists.  For each program you have to setup your contacts into lists.  Instead, if I have a group of people that I’m emailing often, I just create a “@emaillist” hotstring, which tells Texter to put in my list of email addresses.  This can be a great time saver if you switch between Outlook and Gmail regularly.

6. Quick replies: For the same reason as number 5, Form emails are another great use for Texter.  If I type @Comment into Gmail or Outlook, Texter asks me who I want to write to (a little prompt appears) and then puts in “Hi person, Thanks for your comment on Justanasterisk.com. I’ve posted a reply to your message which you can see on the site.  Best, ab”  Obviously, person is the name that Texter asked me to provide in the beginning.  If you want to try this, include %p in your script.

7. Meeting details: Meetings inevitably require a ton of similar information.  One thing that I use constantly is “mtg#’ which inserts my dial-in number and meeting ID for the participants.

In the end, Texter is a tool that can really speed up your Windows work.  I started with a small number of uses, but the list has grown.  I don’t recommend trying to think of every use for Texter at once.  Instead, it’s easiest just to start using it for a few things and then add as the inspiration strikes you.  Also, make sure you go back and delete the Texter hotstrings that you don’t really use.  I find that this helps avoid problems and unexpected results.

Good luck and share any cool ideas you have in the comments!

~ab

If it doesn’t start there automatically, my favorite line from the 1989 Batman is “Where does he get those wonderful toys?” (at 1:17 into this trailer).  It’s just such a perfect description of how I find geek tools to be both empowering and entertaining.

A friend recently asked if I had any links to share and I thought I’d start the new year with a list of some of the blogs that I read.  My hope is this provides that answer to your question about my toys (yes in this fantasy, I am Batman). Read more »

Thanks to my recent mention on Lifehacker, I’ve had a bit more traffic than usual.  It seems only fair to write something in return.  For the last month, I’ve been keeping track of useful Lifehacker articles – pieces that really show (in my opinion) the most interesting themes of their blog.  Here’s a breakdown of why it’s worth checking in from time to time…

Read more »

Hi all,
In the past few weeks, I’ve been working with AutoHotKey to speed up some of the tasks I do regularily. I wrote a short script for Twitter and it was mentioned by Lifehacker.com. My traffic has increased… substantially.

Here is the link

Wanted to share the good news. Thanks for reading. As always, please feel free to suggest new posts either in the comments or to posts@justanasterisk.com.

~ab

Nearly everyone I’ve ever spoken with about Twitter has something negative to say.  “I don’t feel that self important”, “who cares what I’m doing now”, “what is so great about sharing the stupid little details of my life?” etc… I’ve even read some very funny critiques of the service (try this one for a laugh). 

Despite this noise, I’d like to propose that Twitter is occupying more of your mental bandwidth than you’d care to admit.  If you have a moment let’s take a look at some numbers and links to prove my case…

Read more »