Dance Fingers, Dance (Part 2)

Okay, we are back again. This is the second part on how I try to maximize my keyboard utilization. Click here if you want to read the first part. Command, and Conqure Your Destiny Using command-line to operate a computer is almost always faster than depending on GUI to to things. An example, the task is to delete files with extension ".abc" from a folder, and in its subfolder, and the sub of that subfolder. Well, have fun traversing the folders in and out! A rather clever trick is to use the Search function in Windows Explorer to search the files. All the corresponsing files will be listed down, and then you can quickly end their misery with a quick Select All and Delete. But using command-line, you just need this: "del /s *.abc"! Yeah, good riddance... "But dude, it's such a pain to open the Command Prompt! It's like, Start then All Programs, then Accessories and finally Command Prompt". I've told you to use shorcuts right? It's just Win+R, type "cmd" and Enter. "Okay, but we still need to navigate to the folder right? All these slashes makes me dizzy!". Well, you are right there. I really wish that Windows Explorer has a Command Prompt panel built-in somewhere in it, and any command entered targets the currently open folder. That would be sweet. Rather than waiting the feature added in, what we can do is to install this one Windows XP Power Toy, it adds a "Open Command Prompt Here" in the context (right click) menu. It'll open a Command Prompt and directly make your selected folder as the current working directory. Another reason why I like to use commands is that because I suck at searching things. I'd always goes up and down the file list several times before finding what I want. Firing apps from Start menu is not easy also, my Start menu fills half the screen. The desktop? Even worse, if you have a desktop like this.Because I usually know what the name of the file, it's easier to just type in the filename in command-line and be done with it. One app that I can't live without is the SlickRun. It's something like the Run box (Win+R), but slicker. You can add you own "magicwords" to run app, do things, open sites, etc. To open Notepad++, I would just Win+Q (can customize to any key) to activate SlickRun, type in "np" and Enter. "mp3" for WinAmp, "vs" for Visual Studio, "sql" for SQL Management Studio, and "ie" to open Internet Explorer. Actually, I don't need to key-in "ie", I would just type "http://antikes.blogspot.com" and it'll open the site with my default browser. When I want to look up something in Google (and I do that a lot), I'd just "go needle in haystack". "go" is my magicword for Google. You can also navigate to your folder using this thing, just key in the path. It also remembers what you key-in previously. Man, this thing is awesome. It's hard to get used to command-line, we Windows users are so pampered with the nice GUI. I'm not exactly a 100% command line guy. Of course I use the mouse every now and then. If my hand is on the keyboard at that moment, then I'll use command line. If it's on the mouse, then I'll point and click. Wow, it's late again. Sleeping late is not good for health. Some study even says that people who always sleep late gains more weight. I have enough fat, I don't want more. Looks like we'll gonna have a third part. (to be continued...)