Category: Life: Work and Techy

No, this isn’t the latest picture in the “Guess That Movie” competition (nobody’s guessed the last one yet so I can’t even announce a surprise I have waiting), it’s more a techy entry (haven’t had one of those in a while) about how I actually get the screenshots. Sorry for all the Linux, Unix, Solaris, Mac, and RISC OS users reading this – this post is for the Windows audience only…

First of all – how to get a screen shot of your entire desktop. Simply press “Print Screen” (it’s usually on the top right hand corner of your keyboard – it might be labelled “Prnt Scrn” and/or “Sys Rq”), then load your image editor (for example, Paint – I tend to use Microsoft Photo Editor that comes with Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop , create a new image and then press CTRL+V (the keyboard shortcut for paste). And you’ve got a copy of your desktop. Woo!

But, let’s be honest – most the time you want a copy of a single window on your desktop and not the whole thing don’t you? Again, this is extremely simple – just ensure the window you are active is ‘active’ (which usually means it’s the topmost window and the bar at the top is lit-up), then just press ALT and Printscreen. Do the load image editor, create new image and paste – and Bob’s your Mother’s sisters husband.

But wait! There’s more! (I’ve wanted to say that for ages). Here’s how to take a screen capture of a movie that’s playing in Windows Media Player, Real Player or Winamp 3!

It seems that geographically tagging your website has really taken off. Around a month ago, I added a “meta tag” to this blog detailing where I am physically located – I mainly did this to try and enhance the details of my blog shown on Syndic8 (which, unfortunately, hasn’t picked up the tags yet). Syndic8 pointed me towards the Geotags site which helped inform me what format the values correctly.

Since then, GeoURL has really taken off and currently lists around 3,200 sites which have been correctly “ICBM tagged” – I guess the coverage by an extremely large number of people making blog entries about the geographical site database service – most of whom seem to have heard of the service via this Slashdot article.

So, why am I posting about it now?

First of all, a little explanation of GeoTagging in general is necessary I think. Therefore, here is a nice description and instructions about GeoTagging:

As you may have heard on Tuesday, the new replacement UK directory enquiries telephone numbers are now live (since I’m on OFTEL‘s mailing list, I get advanced notice 🙂 ). Basically the 192 and 153 DQ (directory enquiries) numbers are going to be phased out by the end of next year (August 2003 to be precise) to be replaced with numbers starting with “118” provided by third parties and the “incumbents” (such as BT, NTL:, Orange – basically all those provides who currently provide the 192 DQ number service only on their own lines).

One of the interesting things to note, is that according to OFTEL if you have any complaints you “contact ICSTIS, the premium rate services regulator.” Why is that interesting? Well, OFTEL’s saying the new DQ services are premium rate and ICSTIS state: “All UK-based premium rate services must be advertised on ‘090’ dialling codes” (their emphasis). Hmm – me thinks that the two regulators need to communicate a bit better between each other….

Via Midnight Bliss’ entry, I’ve come across the Friday Group Therapy entry about Instant Messaging services, so I thought I’d answer the 7 questions myself:

1. Do you use an Instant Messaging service? (Yahoo!, AOL, MSN, ICQ, etc…) What function does it serve for you?
I use Trillian, although I do have Yahoo Messenger, AIM, MSN and ICQ installed. I’m usually logged into them all 24/7 (thanks to Trillian: but that doesn’t mean I’m at the computer or wanting to chat) – occasionally I also poke my head into various IRC channels as well.
The function? Erm, keep up to date with friends, ‘talk’ with clients, and to be able to consult with people knowledgeable about certain areas “in real time”.

I’ve just investigated the costs of calling my Nigerian spammer friend Jerry Duruibe, but BT charge 62p per minute for calling Nigeria (even though they do provide some useful information if you are calling abroad). It’s still cheaper than NTL‘s 75p per minute tariff!

The normal international call-saver number I use – KomTel’s 0871 871 8989 (which I got via The Register) – won’t work as Nigeria isn’t one of the covered countries (a similar international call saving service is available on 0871 871 9971, 0871 871 0610 and 0871 871 2929 by the way: but they all seem to be cover the same countries). The cheapest “alternative-supplier” I’ve managed to find so far is Alpha Telecom (10p per minute to Nigeria/Lagos), but that isn’t a “pay-as-you-go” service which I’m hunting for (you’ve got to “pay-in-advance” either via credit card or pre-paid phone card).

It looks like, if I’m going to call Jerry then C2000 Ltd or Go Talk would be cheapest at 29p per minute… I’ll think about it though.

[Thanks to Joel Feinstein‘s list which assisted in my research]