Recent articles (page 38 of 47)

1. Apr 11, 2006 Working at Home

   I worked from my bedroom for nearly a year while awaiting the visa that would allow me to move to Australia in 2002. Though the prospect of the two-second commute certainly has its appeal, being 10 hours out of sync with my coworkers and having little reason to get dressed in the morning does not make for the most productive work environment, no matter how cosy and quiet your home office is. After nearly four years of open plan office living, I'm now working from home two days a week again, due to the accoustic requirements of producing video tutorials (a.k.a. screencasts). Thankfully, my home office is now in a separate room (ka-ching -- tax deduction!). Nevertheless, staying productive is proving to be a struggle at times.

2. Mar 30, 2006 System Tray Audio Device Switcher

   I actively use both a Bluetooth headset (a Logitech® Mobile Pro™) and a Rode NT1 microphone on my computer. The headset I use for making and taking Skype calls and listening to podcasts at home, while the microphone I use for narrating video tutorials and recording podcasts. The problem is, switching between these audio sources is a minor pain (which becomes a major pain through repitition), requiring a trip to the Control Panel every time. Thankfully, I've found this free utility called, in various places, System Tray Audio Device Switcher, SysADS, SADS, and System Tray Audio Device Manager. It lives in my Windows system tray and allows me to select my playback and recording device with just a couple of clicks. The program hasn't been updated since its release in 2003, but it works on Windows XP SP2 just fine (I'm not holding my breath that it'll work quite so well in Vista, however).

3. Mar 27, 2006 Spam Subject Line #84

4. Mar 23, 2006 Stupid Travel Mistake #62

5. Mar 22, 2006 3D Cutaway Illustration