How to Swipe from one message thread to the next

Unlike the Mail app for iPhone, the official Gmail app for Android phones lacks an obvious way (like, say, a pair of arrow keys on the actual message screen) for navigating from one email directly to the next.
Given that, I’m guessing plenty of Android users—hey, myself included—have been repeatedly tapping their way back to the inbox whenever they’re done with one message and want to skip to a new one.
Well, guess what: there’s a much easier way (as I belatedly discovered) to jump directly from one message thread (or “conversation,” as they’re called in Gmail) to the next.
Just swipe.
Specifically, you can swipe from left to right to skip to a more recent thread, or from right to left for an older one.
Pretty clever—so clever, in fact, that I’d completely missed it until now.

Add tip

Want to jump automatically to the next message after deleting or archiving the current one?
Tap the three-dot menu button in the bottom-right corner of the Gmail interface, tap Settings, General Settings, then “Auto-advance.”
You can then choose what happens when you delete or archive a message: you can advance to a newer message, go back to an older one, or return to the inbox.
Tips from http://heresthethingblog.com/2013/04/29/gmail-android-tip-swipe-message
How to Swipe from one message thread to the next

How to customize the buttons in program toolbars in Mac

Ever wish there were a Print button next to the Reply and Forward buttons in the Mac’s Mail app, or a pair of Zoom buttons on the top of every Safari browser window?
Well, here’s the thing: you can add, remove, and rearrange the buttons in the “toolbar” of several familiar Mac programs.
Not every Mac application has a toolbar of buttons that you can customize, but many of them do, including Safari, Mail, Firefox, and even garden-variety desktop folders.

Just click View, Customize Toolbar to rearrange the toolbar buttons in your various Mac apps.

For example, say you wanted to add a Print button to the Mail app’s toolbar. To do so, just…

• Open Mail, click View at the top of the screen, then select “Customize Toolbar.” When you do, a menu with more than two-dozen available buttons will slide into view.
• Find the Print button, then click and drag it into the Mail toolbar.
• When the Print button is right where you want it (nearby buttons will scoot out of the way), release the mouse button.
• All set? Click the Done button.

You can also follow the same steps to add Zoom buttons in Safari, a Label button to the folder toolbar, and more.
And while you’re at it, you can drag unwanted buttons out of the toolbar, add more space between buttons, or even add or remove a Search box (assuming Search is an available option).

Bonus tip

Want to hide a toolbar? Just click View, then Hide Toolbar, or use the OPTION + COMMAND + T keyboard shortcut.
Source: http://heresthethingblog.com
How to customize the buttons in program toolbars in Mac

How to Add Your Favorite Folder or Program to (My) Computer in Windows 7 and 8

Would you like to have that favorite folder or program that you use all the time listed in Computer along with all your drives so it is really easy to access? Computer is not a regular folder so you can’t just drop a shortcut there the usual way. But there is a quick way to get a shortcut listed in Computer and here’s how.

Windows 7

1. Open the Start search box
2. Enter:  %appdata%
3. The hidden folder “Roaming” will open
4. Navigate to the subfolder \Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts
5. Place a shortcut there to the desired folder or program

Windows 8

1. Open the Run box with the keyboard shortcut Winkey+R
2. Enter:  %appdata%
3. The hidden folder “Roaming” will open
4. Navigate to the subfolder \Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts
5. Place a shortcut there to the desired folder or program

That’s it. Open Computer and you will see your shortcut listed as a Network Location.
source gizmo
How to Add Your Favorite Folder or Program to (My) Computer in Windows 7 and 8

How to “mute” an endless email thread in gmail

Ever found yourself CC’d in an email thread that just keeps going, and going … and going? Make it stop!
If you’re a Gmail user, there’s an easy way to silence—or “mute,” as the feature is called in Gmail—any email conversation that you’d rather not be a part of.
Once you’ve muted a conversation, new messages in the thread will skip your inbox and head straight to your All Mail archive.

“Muted” Gmail conversations will skip your inbox and go directly to your All Mail archive.

Of course, there’s a downside to muting a conversation: namely, that you’ll miss a direct question from someone—like, say, your boss—in the message thread.
That’s why it’s probably best to only mute conversations along the lines of “What a cute baby!” or “Congrats on the new gig!,” and not those of the “Mission-critical project” variety.
That said, keep in mind that Gmail will automatically send a muted thread back into your inbox if you’re the only person in the “To:” line of the conversation.
So, ready for some peace and quiet?

Just select “Mute” from the “More” menu to keep a Gmail thread from bothering you again.

Let’s get started…

• To mute a conversation, select it in your Gmail inbox, click the More button near the top of the page, then select Mute. If you have Gmail keyboard shortcuts enabled, you can also check the box next to a conversation and tap the “m” key.
• Want to “unmute” a conversation? Search for it in the Gmail search box, select the muted message, then click the “Move to Inbox” button. The message should be automatically unmuted once it returns to your inbox, but you can double-check by opening the thread and making sure there’s no “Muted” label near the top of the latest message.
• Last but not least, you can see all your muted Gmail conversations by typing “is:muted” into the Gmail search box and clicking the Search button.

Additional Tips

You can also mute a Gmail conversation directly from your Android phone. Just open the Gmail app, select the message thread you want to silence, tap the three-dot Menu button in the bottom-right corner of the screen, then select Mute.
How to “mute” an endless email thread in gmail

How to take a screenshot in Android

Ever wish you could snap a quick photo of whatever’s on the screen of your Android phone—say, a “screenshot” of an interesting app, or of an eyebrow-raising message thread?
Well, taking a picture (or a “screen capture,” as it’s called in tech circles) of your Android phone’s display is a fairly easy process, so long as you’re using a relatively recent Android device.

You can jump to a recently taken screenshot by opening your phone’s notification pane; just swipe down from the top of the screen.

Specifically, your phone must be running on version 4.0 of the Android operating system to use the “native” Android screenshot feature.
To find out which version of Android is loaded on your phone, tap Settings, “About phone,” and then check the number listed under the “Android version” heading.
So, ready to start snapping screenshots?
Here’s how…

• See something interesting on your Android phone’s screen you want to save for posterity? Try this: at the same time, press and hold both the Power button and the volume-down button.


Tap the Share button to see all the sharing options for your new screenshot.
• After about a second, a virtual snapshot of your screen will appear and then slide into the corner of the screen. You should also see a “Saving screenshot…” message in the notification bar along the top of your phone’s display.
• Swipe down from the top of the screen to open your Android phone’s notification pane, then tap the “Screenshot captured” entry to jump to your new screenshot. You can also access the image from the “Screenshots” folder in the Gallery app.
• Want to share your screenshot? Tap it, tap the Share icon at the top of the screen (it’s the one with two lines connected by three dots), then tap a sharing option—anything from Google Drive and Gmail to Messages and Google+.
• To edit or delete your screenshot, tap the three-dot menu button and then pick an option from the drop-down menu.

Bonus tip

Specific makes and models of Android phones may have their own custom screenshot features.
For example, certain HTC and Samsung phones will let you take a screenshot by pressing and holding the Power and Home keys.
The Samsung Galaxy Note, meanwhile, lets you take a screenshot using the “S Pen” stylus—just press and hold the S Pen button, then press and hold the display with the tip of the pen.
How to take a screenshot in Android

10 time-saving Google searches you need to try

Need to track a package, get the status of a flight, do a little math, or find out if the ground really was just shaking beneath your feet?
Believe it or not, you can do all that and more straight from the Google search box—and in most cases, you’ll get the details you need the instant you tap the Search button.

Read on for 10 clever, time-saving Google searches, from converting currency and units of measurement to looking up definitions and—no kidding—tracking the latest earthquakes.

1. Track a package

Expecting a package? If it’s being shipped by FedEx, UPS, or the U.S. Postal Service, you can just plug the tracking number into the Google Search box.
When you click the Search button, you’ll get a link that’ll take directly to tracking results on the shipper’s web site.

Need to know the current value of the Japanese yen? Just ask Google.

2. Convert currency

So, how many Japanese yen to a U.S. dollar today? Easy.
Just type “1 USD in yen” (or something similar) into the Google Search box to get an instant conversion, including a history of the currency’s relative strength and a form for performing new conversions on the fly.

3. Get local movie showtimes

Want to go to the movies? Find out what’s playing—and when—by typing “movies” and a ZIP code into the Google search box.
Have a specific movie in mind? Type its name into the Google box and (again) add a ZIP code.
Hint: If you skip the ZIP code when looking up local movie times, Google will make a rough guestimate of your location.

4. Look up a definition

Ah, “vagary.” Cool word. What does it mean, again?
Type “define vagary” into the Google search box and you’ll get the full definition, a phonetic spelling, and synonyms. You can even hear the word spoken by clicking the speaker icon.

You can get the status of just about any flight with a simple Google query.

5. Track a flight

Need to know whether your flight’s delayed—or when another flight is slated to land?
Type the airline and flight number into the search box (“united 458″) and you’ll get a status report, a terminal and a gate number.

6. Convert units of measurement

How many kilometers in a mile … didn’t we learn that in high school?
If you’re still not sure, just type “1 mile to km” or “how many kilometers in a mile?” into the search box, and the answer will appear in a measurement converter.

7. Get the weather

Find out how beautiful the weather is in, say, Hawaii by typing “weather maui” or “weather honolulu” into the Google search box.
You’ll get the current temperature, a 7-day forecast, and even hourly details on rain and wind.

Six times seven? Forty-two—or so Google tells me.

8. Do the math

You don’t need a calculator on your desk if you’ve got Google in a browser tab.
Type in “6*7″ (or “what’s six times seven?”), “132/3,” or “square root 100″ and you’ll get an answer the moment you click the Search button, along with a web calculator for solving more equations.

9. Check the time

Can’t remember whether Chicago is in the Eastern or Central time zone?
Type “time chicago” in the Google Search box to get the current time in the Windy City, along with details on which time zone it’s in (Central, in case you’re wondering).

10. Confirm a quake

Whoa! Did you feel that? If you think you just felt an earthquake—or if you know you felt one—type “earthquake” into the Google search box.
The first listing will be for the US Geological Survey, and just beneath you’ll see a list of most recent temblors on the planet, complete with magnitudes and map links to the various epicenters.
10 time-saving Google searches you need to try

How to jump back many web pages at a time

To get back to where you were five pages ago in a desktop browser, you can just glance at your web history or—better yet—click and hold the Back button.

Just tap and hold the Back button, then tap the page you want to jump back to.

But what if you want to jump back several pages in a single bound with Safari for iPhone or iPad?
Believe it or not, you can do pretty much the same thing you’d do on a desktop browser: just tap and hold the Back button.
When you do, a pop-up will show more than two dozen of your previously viewed web pages for a given Safari tab.
Tap any page to jump back to it.
And yes—you can also tap and hold the Forward button, if you wish.

How to add widgets to the lock screen

Wish you could browse the latest scores, glance at your inbox, check the weather, or even identify a song directly from your Android phone’s lock screen, no passcode required?
Well, you can, actually, thanks to the new lock-screen “widgets” in the latest version of Android.
Adding a widget to the lock screen on your Android phone is a snap, and dozens of lock screen-friendly widgets are available depending on the apps you have installed.

You can add lock-screen widgets for weather, sports, news, your latest email, calendar events, and more.

Of course, you may want to think twice before making, say, your email inbox or your calendar visible from your Android phone’s lock screen. Personally, I’d rather keep my inbox and other personal info safely secured with a password, but the choice is yours.
Also, keep in mind that your phone must be running on version 4.2 or better of Android to add widgets to the lock screen.
Let’s get started!

• First, put your phone to sleep, then click the power button to light up the lock screen.
• Next, swipe from the left edge of the display to the right edge—and as you do, a secondary lock screen with a big “+” sign in the middle will slide into view.
• Tap the “+” sign to see a list of available lock-screen widgets. If your phone is protected by a passcode, you’ll need to enter it first before you can browse your available widgets.
• See a widget you like? Tap to add it to the lock screen. You can add up to five lock-screen widgets, with one widget per swipable screen.
• Want to get rid of a lock-screen widget? Tap and hold it, then drag it up to the “Remove” icon.

Bonus tip

You can boost your selection of lock-screen widgets by downloading more apps from the Google Play Store. ESPN’s ScoreCenter app, for example, comes with its own lock-screen widget, as does Google’s Sound Search app.
source: http://heresthethingblog.com

How to add widgets to the lock screen

How to create new collections for your iBooks

Is your digital library of iBooks getting a bit cluttered? If so, good news: there’s an easy way to tidy up the virtual bookshelves on your iPhone or iPad.
In just a few taps, you can create new folders—or “collections,” as Apple calls them—for your iBooks, perfect for rearranging your e-books in practically any way you wish.

You can reorganize the iBooks on your iPad or iPhone by creating new collections.

Here’s how…

• Open the iBooks app, then tap either the Books button (on the iPhone, at the top of the screen) or the Collections button (on the iPad, in the top-left corner of the display). When you do, a pop-up will list all the iBook collections currently available on your device, including Books, Purchased Books, and PDFs.
• Tap the New button, type in the name of a new collection—say, Classics—then tap the Done button.
• Now, time to start organizing. Go back to your Books collection, tap the Edit button in the top-left (on the iPhone) or top-right (for iPad) corner of the screen, then tap the covers of the iBooks that you want to move to your new Classics collection.
• Tap the Move button to bring up your list of iBooks collections, then tap Classics.
• Whoosh! You’ve just stocked your Classics collection, and you’re now ready to create some new collections.

Bonus tip

Want to reorder your iBooks collections? Tap the collections button, tap Edit, then drag your collections up or down with the handles on the right.
You can also delete a collection (don’t worry—any books in a deleted collection will slide back into one of your remaining collections) by swiping it and tapping the Delete button.

source: http://heresthethingblog.com
How to create new collections for your iBooks

How to change the default programs for your files [Mac]

Annoyed that the Mac’s Preview app, and not Adobe Reader, always gets to open your PDF files, or that Safari has dibs on your HTML documents rather than your favorite text editor?
Well, one way to open your documents with the programs you want is to right-click the file in question and select “Open with…” from the pop-up menu.
But there’s also a way to permanently change the “default” program that opens a given type of document.

Right-click a file and select “Get Info” to pick a new default program for the document.

Here’s how…

• Let’s say you want Adobe Reader, and not Preview, to open your PDF files. The first step is to right-click a PDF on your desktop (any PDF will do) and select “Get Info” from the pop-up menu. When you do, a lengthy pane of information about the file will appear on your desktop.
• In the middle of the information pane, you’ll find a section titled “Open with”—and there, you’ll see a pull-down menu with the current default program for PDFs (Preview, in this example) selected. Click the menu, then select Adobe Reader. Keep in mind that Adobe Reader, or whatever program you want as the default choice for PDFs, must be installed on your Mac for it to appear in the menu.
• At this point, you’ve only designated Adobe Reader to be the default program for the single PDF file you’ve been tinkering with. To make Reader the default for all PDFs on your Mac, click the “Change All” button. Finally, click the “Continue” button on the “Are you sure…?” confirmation prompt.
• That’s it! You should now see that the folder icons for all your PDF files have switched from Preview to Adobe Reader—and when you double-click your next PDF, it will open in Reader by default.

Original post in  http://heresthethingblog.com/2013/04/04/mac-tip-change-default-programs
How to change the default programs for your files [Mac]

How to Get the Start menu back with Classic Shell in Windows 8

Even though Windows 8 doesn’t have a Start menu anymore, I still find myself clicking in the corner of the screen to open programs, search my PC, or do anything else the Start menu used to do.
Of course, without an actual Start menu, I usually end up click the Internet Explorer shortcut that’s sitting in its place, meaning I have to sit back and wait as my PC laboriously launches an unneeded browser window.

You can set the “style” of the Classic Shell Start menu to mimic Windows “Classic,” XP, Vista, or Windows 7.

Well, good news, fellow Windows 8 users: you can now revive the Start menu (or something close to it, anyway) with a minimum of fuss thanks to Classic Shell, a handy (and free) software download.
You can download Classic Shell right here, and once you install the program, you’ll get to choose the style for your Start menu: Windows “Classic” (think Windows 95-era PCs), Windows PC, or Windows Vista/7.
Just make your selection, click OK, and voilà—you should have a new Start menu waiting in the bottom corner of the Windows 8 desktop.
You can customize the Classic Shell Start menu by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Settings. An almost bewildering number of options is available, from changing the look of the Start button itself to tweaking the look and feel of the Start menu columns.

Just drag and drop a program shortcut to add it to the Classic Shell Start menu.

Here’s a few more tips to help you get started…

• No, you can’t add program icons to the Classic Shell Start menu with a right-click; instead, try dragging and dropping a program shortcut into the Start button or into the Start menu itself.
• You can change the behavior of the Windows key (which opens the Start menu in previous versions of Windows or the Start screen in Windows 8) in the Settings menu. Select the Basic Settings tab (or the Controls tab if the “All Settings” radio button is enabled) and pick an option under the “Windows Key opens” section—anything from “Nothing” to “Start Menu in Desktop and Start Screen in Metro.”
• By default, Classic Shell deactivates the “hot corner” for the Windows 8 Start screen (which usually sits in the same corner of the screen as the old Start menu). To turn the Start screen hot corner back on, click the “Windows 8 Settings” tab in the Settings menu and select “None” under “Disable active corners.”
• Had enough of Classic Shell? You can turn it off temporarily by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Exit (just relaunch Classic Shell to get the Start menu back), or permanently by opening the Control Panel, clicking “Remove a program,” and then selecting Classic Shell.

tip

Ever wish you could skip the Start screen when booting Windows 8 and jump directly to the desktop? Open Classic Shell’s settings again, click the “Windows 8 Settings” tab, and check the box next to “Skip Metro screen.”
Originally posted in heresthethingblog.com
How to Get the Start menu back with Classic Shell in Windows 8

7 secret iPhone features you need

7 secret iPhone features you need

Did you know you could turn your iPhone’s camera flash into a blinking alert light, or that you can shake your iPhone to “undo” a typo? No? You’re not the only one.
Read on for seven clever iPhone features that you might not have known about, from how to take a screenshot to an easy way to baby-proof an iPhone app.

1. Turn the camera flash into a blinking alert light

Want to see rather than just hear that your iPhone is ringing? You can, with a little help from the iPhone’s camera flash.
In just a few taps, you can set the LED flash for the iPhone’s rear-facing camera to blink anytime a calls comes in, whenever a text pops into your message inbox, or for any other iPhone event that would normally set off an alert tone or vibration.
Read more…

Typo in your text message? Just give your iPhone a shake.

2. Shake to “undo”

So, say you just typed a lengthy text message on your iPhone (or iPad, or iPod Touch), but you’ve had a change of heart and want to start over.
You could delete what you typed by tapping the backspace key a few dozen times, or you could select the text with your fingertip and tap “Cut.”
Or, you could try a third, well-hidden option: just give your iPhone a shake.
Read more…

3. Create custom keyboard shortcuts

Tired of repeatedly tapping your street address, your job title, or common phrases like “on my way” or “you there?” on your iPhone’s virtual keypad?
If so, good news. iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches (not to mention Android phones) will let you create your own, custom keyboard shortcuts for … well, just about anything.
Read more…

You can turn your baby loose on your iPhone once you activate Guided Access mode.

4. Baby-proof an iPhone app

Worried that your iPhone-addicted little one might wipe your work email with an ill-timed swipe?
Never fear. You can temporarily “lock down” just about any iPhone app, freezing all the hardware buttons (including the “Home” button) and letting you draw zones on the screen that won’t react to taps or swipes.
Read more…

5. Take a screenshot

Ever wanted to take a quick snapshot of your iPhone’s display? Or have you taken a screenshot by accident, without quite knowing how you did it?
Well, taking a screenshot on the iPhone (or iPad, or iPod Touch) is a nifty, easy trick—so easy, in fact, that more than a few puzzled readers have written in, wondering how snapshots of their iPhone’s home page wound up in their mobile photo albums.
Read more…

You can zoom the entire iPhone display with a tap and a swipe.

6. Zoom in on the display

Having a hard time reading the tiny type on your iPhone’s screen? Believe me, you’re not the only one.
Springing for a new pair of reading glasses is one solution, or you could always “pinch” to zoom, say, a web page in Safari.
But here’s another idea: by tweaking a key setting, you can zoom the entire display on your iPhone, no matter what app you’re using.
Read more…

7. Zip to the top of a web page

Dreading having to flick your way all the way back to the beginning of a web page on your iPhone? Here’s a quick and easy shortcut.
Read more…

7 secret iPhone features you need