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Tuesday, August 7, 2012
7 Awesome Features You've Forgotten About in Windows 7
August 7th, 2012Top Story7 Awesome Features You've Forgotten About in Windows 7By Whitson Gordon
You can beef up your Windows PC with cool downloads, but there's something to be said for exploiting an awesome trick built into Windows. Some of them you may have forgotten, some you may have never known about in the first place. Others you may know about and just haven't realized their potential. Even if you're a Windows expert, there's probably something new to learn, so check out our seven favorite forgotten features below. Task Scheduler: Automate Just About Anything
To use Task Scheduler, just open up the Start menu, type "task scheduler", and press Enter. You'll see a window with all your currently scheduled tasks in it, which could have been created by other programs on your system—like a task for updating certain software, or starting a program when you log in. Expand the Task Scheduler library on the left to see tasks in other categories and what they do. To create your own task, just click "Create Task" in the right window pane. You can give it a name, description, and add a few security options. The other tabs help you create the task itself:
You can also go to File > Create Basic Task if you want a simpler wizard to guide you through the process. Clever Uses for Task Scheduler
System Restore: Save Yourself from "Oh S#!+" Moments
To use System Restore, just head to the Start menu, type in "System Restore", and press Enter. System Restore will then show you all your most recent "restore points", or points in time to which you can roll back. By default, it automatically creates a restore point every time you install new software or drivers, so you don't even have to set it up to take advantage. If you notice a problem, just fire up System Restore and roll back. For a more detailed look at how to use the tool, check out our Complete Guide to Windows System Restore. Make System Restore More Powerful
Libraries: Organize Your Files, Make Windows Search Better
However, it gets a lot more powerful when you create your own libraries or add network locations, both of which we went through in our original primer on Windows 7 libraries. However, the best part about libraries are their integration with Windows Search. Windows Search can be kind of crappy out of the box, since it won't search your whole system. However, if you want to index a folder, just add it to one of your libraries, and Windows Explorer will be able to search it with lighting-fast speed. It's just one of the ways you can make Windows Search a million times better. Other Cool Ways to Tweak Libraries
Homegroups: File Sharing Made Simple
All you need to do is search for "Homegroup" in the Start menu and fire up the Create a Homegroup wizard. From there, you'll be able to choose which libraries you want to share (which you're hopefully using thanks to the above tips) and you're good to go. Join that homegroup on your other computers and you have instant access to any file you add to those libraries. For a more detailed how-to, check out our guide to setting up Windows 7 Homegroups. Windows homegroups are also great for setting up a geeky media center that non-geeks can actually use. Of course, if you have no use for homegroups, you can turn the feature off, too. Jump Lists: Your Favorite Features Just a Click Away
To access a jump list, just right-click on a taskbar icon. A menu will slide up from the taskbar, and you'lll be able to open a recent document in Word, start up private browsing in Chrome, and control your media in Winamp or foobar2000. You can also pin certain items, like saved Windows Explorer searches, to jumplists, making them more useful for the things you do day in and day out. For a full rundown of how to use them, check out our guide to Mastering Windows 7 Jump Lists and Boosting Your Productivity. More Customizations and Clever Uses for Jump Lists
Resource Monitor: See What Your Programs are Actually Doing
To use it, just head to the Start menu and type in "Resource Monitor". Press Enter when it pops up, and you'll be greeted with its Overview tab, showing you a brief rundown of your CPU, disk, network, and memory activity. Clicking on the other tabs will show you more detailed charts and graphs of each resource—for example, Memory will show you a graphic of how much memory is in use, in standby mode, or free. From here, you can find your program that's acting up, slowing down your machine, or taking up too much network bandwidth. Of course, if you always want this information in your line of sight, we recommend creating an attractive, customized desktop HUD using our favorite system monitor, Rainmeter. Reliability Monitor: A Must When Things Go Wonky
To use it, launch the Start menu and type in "view reliability history". Press Enter, and you'll see a graph of your most recent problems. Click on a column for more information about what happened that day, and you'll see a list of the failures, warnings, and other messages in that column. You can view the graph by days or weeks, check for solutions to problems, and view other details of anything that went wrong. In short, when something's wonky with your computer, check out the Reliability Monitor to get the troubleshooting information you need. These aren't the only forgotten Windows tools we love, but they are some of our favorites. Honorable mentions go to the Problem Solution Recorder, which records your screen so you can get help troubleshooting; the Mobility Center, which lets you customize essential laptop settings with just a keyboard shortcut; and the Compatibility Troubleshooter, which helps you get programs running that may not work with newer versions of Windows.  |
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The Rise of "Cyber Therapy," or How Games Became a Medical Treatment
August 7th, 2012Top StoryThe Rise of "Cyber Therapy," or How Games Became a Medical TreatmentBy George Dvorsky
This was the topic of discussion at a talk presented by Anitko's Kel Smith at the WorldFuture 2012 Conference held from July 28 to 30 in Toronto, Ontario. Smith has made a career of exploring and developing "barrier-free" digital experiences — particularly for those who need it the most. Simple tools to change behavior Smith noted how any therapeutic tool, regardless of its cost and technological sophistication, has to be measured in terms of its effectiveness. Ultimately, if the desired end is achieved, the device or intervention should be considered a success.
"People who are on the spectrum have a tantrum not because of the condition," said Smith, "but because they are being misunderstood." By using this affordable mobile app, autistics are finding new ways to communicate — and in a manner that leads to considerably less stress and angst. Smith also pointed to the example of Mason Ellsworth, a musical prodigy who became paraplegic after being hit by a drunk driver. Ellsworth became depressed and despondent after the accident, unwilling to re-engage in life. Then, after working with California based Smule Apps, he started to rediscover his musical roots by using the Ocarina musical software program. Because of its social nature, he was able to perform with other musicians over the net — and it completely transformed Ellsworth's world. "This simple app offered some tremendously positive emotional associations for Mason," said Smith, adding that "Competence is a continuum by which people adapt to their environment — how we measure that competence is by how you adapt to your environment." In this sense, Ocarina did the trick. Click to view Indeed, it was clear from Smith's presentation that it's often the simplest things that can make the biggest impact. Take the story of Lee Ridley, for example, a British man who is using a speech synthesizer to overcome his cerebral palsy and make a career doing stand-up comedy as The Lost Voice Guy. Playing games Therapists are often frustrated with their patients who, for whatever reason, fail to take their medications. According to Smith, medical nonadherence results in over 125,000 fatalities each year — the fourth leading cause of preventable deaths. In addition, 28% of people returning home from the hospital end up having to go back on account of insufficient touch-points. "We now live in a hi-tech, low-touch society," said Smith. Home visits are a way of addressing the problem, but this strategy has resulted in physical therapists having to drive a total of nearly five billion miles per year — more than UPS's annual run of two billion miles. "Drugs only work for those people who take them," said Smith. The trick, therefore, is to get compliance — and low-tech offers yet another elegant solution. By creating encouraging and fun video games, therapists have been able to motivate their patients into both remembering and administering their medications. The promise of reward, it would seem, can be a very powerful motivator.
But games can be used for more than just compliance. Smith pointed out how Toronto's St. Michael's hospital is using the Nintendo Wii console to improve motor skills in patients by as much as 30%. He also noted how Microsoft's Kinect is helping autistic kids with their motor skills and coordination. Other games can simply create engagement where previously there was none. Waterloo Labs out of Texas has developed a DIY version of Super Mario that can be controlled by just using eye movements — what will be an entirely new gaming opportunity for quadriplegics. Changing realities Though a little bit more sophisticated in the technology department, virtual reality devices are proving to be helpful as well — tools that virtually any hospital can afford. Smith noted how therapists are increasingly taking advantage of a phenomenon called 'cognitive bonding' in which a person feels physically associated with their avatar. For people working through a physical injury or developmental disorder, the act of working with an avatar in a VR environment is allowing them to get more comfortable with moving their bodies through time and space. As they "virtually" move their bodies around, they get better.
Top image via bloomua/shutterstock.com. Inset images via wsa-mobile.org, buffalo.edu, hitlabs.  |
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