PDF files

Adobe's popular PDF format is a wonderful boon for reading documents they way they were created on any computer. But the free Adobe Reader program is bloated and "phones home" regularly for updates.It also doesn't let you point out errors or add comments. What can do the latter is Tracker Software's free PDF-Xchange Viewer. This application can't create PDF files, but it supports many kinds of markup, from highlighting to circles to sticky notes--and you can even export the product as another PDF. The download file is 10mb, which is a bit hefty, but still much smaller than Reader.
Another useful PDF reader is Foxit Reader, even smaller than X-Change Viewer (about 4mb download). As with many free programs, there's some advertising to sit through. The install also asks to add a Foxit toolbar as well as an eBay shortcut, and it wants to set your homepage to Foxit Software. I don't recommend any of these, so watch carefully. Also, though the free version lets you alter content, there are watermarks in the finished product that are only removed when you purchase the $40 Pro Pak version.
For the smallest of the small, though, Sumatra PDF wins the prize. It's only 1mb in size, which these days is tiny. It has a very basic interface, and really only does one thing: reads PDF files. But it is free.

Blocking ads

Wouldn't you like to watch TV and listen to the radio without having to sit through the ads that pay the freight? Or dismantle the billboards that line the freeways? I can't help you with TV spots or roadside distractions, but you can kiss Web ads good-bye, says Dennis O’Reilly. Just download and install Wladimir Palant's Adblock Plus extension for Firefox.
With Adblock Plus enabled, many sites will load more quickly, and a high proportion of the ads are gone. (The NZ Herald among others must hate this little utility.)
When you restart Firefox after installing Adblock Plus, you're given the option to import a set of filter rules or create your own rules. You can take the easy route and opt for the canned filters, which do a good job of removing the ads from many sites. You can view the number of blocked items on the current page by hovering the mouse pointer over the "ABP" icon in the top-right corner of the Firefox window. Or click the down arrow to the right to access the extension's preferences and other options.
If an ad manages to slip past Adblock's filters, you can block them in the future by right-clicking the ad and choosing Adblock Image. There are a wealth of other options in the program; visit the developer's FAQ page for more information.

Practical jokes

I'm still in a fairly mellow mood - holiday hangover. One of my New Year resolutions is to try and reduce stress this year, because I still have nasty dreams from the many years I worked in broadcasting (guess it's a form of post traumatic stress disorder). One of the ways we used to try and cope was via practical jokes. For instance, back in the days when radio stations used suspended microphones, a technician friend once crawled into the ceiling space above the news reading booth of the Invercargill station, and slowly pulled up the microphone during the bulletin. The suffering newsreader wound up standing on his desk to try and keep up. In Christchurch, someone crept into the news booth and set alight to the reader's papers during a bulletin. National TV newsreader Dougall Stevenson used to read the news with a suit jacket and tie on top, but only gardening shorts below, until one day the studio cameraman pulled back to reveal his legs in all their glory. At Radio NZ in Christchurch in the mid-1980s, there used to be an annual water fight among staff. It started off fairly innocently with water pistols, but like all wars, escalated over the years. One year, someone (Ken Ellis or James Daniel springs to mind) enlisted the services of the Christchurch fire brigade and their hoses. That was the year I sat at my desk in the newsroom in just swimming togs and a tie (the tie was for formality's sake,) to some very odd looks. But management finally issued a stern "desist" notice when someone unleashed the internal fire hoses, and the water seepage put 3ZM off the air.
I would love to hear other coping mechanisms if you have some anecdotes.

Kick-starting the computer

When I got back to work after the holidays, my computer refused to start. There wasn't even a blue screen of death - just a ghostly white screen (which my complexion suddenly matched), and ominous beeps which I had never heard before. I didn't have a clue what they meant. A helpful colleague thought to look up the topic of warning beeps on the internet, and the closest match we could find was that the chip on the computer's motherboard that controls the keyboard had broken down. Said colleague opened the computer case, poked and prodded, but could see nothing else. He closed the lid, pressed the "Go" button again, and lo and behold, the computer booted up. His best guess is that during the holidays, the prolongued shutdown actually drained the little battery that holds the settings for what is called the "bios" (the set of instructions that helps your PC to start up). Opening the cover tripped a little switch which reset things sufficiently that it could all start up again. Or something like that. Moral of the story: If you find someone who knows more about computers than you do, keep them well supplied with morning tea or other goodies during the year, against that urgent time you are going to need to call in a favour.

Selecting items

Welcome to 2009, coming ready or not! To kick off the year, here's a couple of tips about selecting items.
There are various ways to select multiple files in a list in an open folder. To select all, press Ctrl-A. To select a group of contiguous items, select the first of those you want, then scroll to the last and hold down the Shift key while selecting the last. To select individual items not next to each other, hold down the Control key while selecting. (Click again on an individual item to de-select it.) This principle works in many programs, too; for instance, in email programs.
And according to PC World magazine, there is an undocumented feature in the new Windows Vista operating system that provides a check box alongside items in a list. You simply click the check box for each file you want to select. To enable this handy option, open any system window (like My Computer or Explorer), click the Organize menu, and then choose Folder and Search Options. Next, click the View tab, and then scroll down until you see "Use check boxes to select items." Enable it, then click OK. Sadly, this feature is not available in Windows XP, which I still use.
Incidentally, you can select discontinuous text in Microsoft Word in the same way (from version 2003 onwards), by holding down the Control key and dragging across the text. I don't know whether this works in Word clones, such as OpenOffice.org.