Trying to make your e-life a little easier

First of a series (we'll see) of tips harvested from...everywhere.

Sources acknowledged when we can remember them.


Google Search
Google can reorder search and news results from the last day, week, a few months, or entire year by adding a small string to the end of the search URL. After you've done your search, just add &as_qdr=d to the address bar (at the end!) & press Enter. You'll get a custom drop-down box that lets you re-order results based on date. It's great for getting past the same top results you've already looked through, as well as grabbing only the newest links related to gadgets, software, or whatever else you're searching.
Source: Tech-Recipes

Windows XP Service Pack 3
This has been downloadable from various sites for the last week or so but is available from Microsoft as of today. Windows® XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers’ experience with the operating system.
Source: Microsoft

11 Tips for Better Tech Support
Not so much a tip, more of a timeous dose of sage advice.
Former tech support guy Brett Kelly says there are a few things you can do to get the computer help you need most efficiently over the phone. Whilst this is aimed at users of the tech support that comes as part, say, of a service or hard/software package, all the advice is eminently pertinent when dealing with in-house ICT support. Example:
Don’t be an Ass - One of the quickest ways you can get to the land of the banished is to treat the tech like some peon who’s just “beneath you” or something. Trust me, if you want help, humility is like gold. And if you think that certain tech support people won’t give you the runaround if your attitude is sour, you’re very, very wrong. Very.
Source: Lifehacker / Cranking Widgets blog

Alternatives to Acrobat Reader
I don't know exactly how widespread the problems with Acrobat Reader are but on the evidence of browser crashes / freeze-ups experienced within these hallowed walls, I suspect that there is a problem, Houston. (Nice brewery though).
Two tips:
1) Foxit Reader is a completely free, useful utility for viewing .PDF files. It has a very small footprint, taking up only 2MB of disk space–about one-tenth what Adobe Reader takes. Best of all, you can perform many functions that you would typically turn to the expensive verson of Adobe Acrobat for, including editing text in .PDFs, annotating files, and saving completed .PDF forms.
2) If you're using Firefox (and you should be), PDF Download relieves the pain experienced when encountering PDF files on the Web. Whenever you click on a PDF file, PDF Download lets you know before trying to open it, and then offers you choices such as downloading, opening, or converting it straight to HTML.
Source: Robert Waugh / The Phantom Engineer

A small point tool used for making holes? That's awl folks!