Gaurav » XP

Tabs for windows explorer

Gaurav — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 14:31:20 +0000

QT Tab Bar is a new software that I have come across that alows you to have tabs on windows explorer.

It integrates very well in the windows interface and adds features that are normally associated to a web browser like firefox. When you middle click on a folder it opens in a new tab, middle click opens a tab and it also stores a history for tabs.

You can optionally make many more changes to the explorer making more usable and easier to navigate.

The download link is on this page.

Periodically changing desktop wallpaper using Ruby

Gaurav — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:46:15 +0000

Here is small ruby script that picks up a random image from a given folder and sets it as the desktop wallpaper.

require 'Win32API'
  
SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER = 20
SPIF_SENDCHANGE = 0x2
SOURCE_FOLDER = "C:\\Users\\Gaurav\\Pictures\\Best\\"
  
files = Dir.entries(SOURCE_FOLDER) - [".", ".."]
file = files[rand(files.length)]
  
systemParametersInfo = Win32API.new("user32","SystemParametersInfo",["I", "I", "P", "I"],"I")
p systemParametersInfo.call(SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER, 1, SOURCE_FOLDER + file, SPIF_SENDCHANGE)

The constant SOURCE_FOLDER can be changed to point at the folder which contain all your wallpaper and the script then randomly chooses a wallpaper from the collection.

You can also set your task scheduler to run this script automatically after a fixed interval so that your desktop wallpaper keeps changing.

Here is the pastie.

Windows XP SP3 boasts speed boost, testers claim

Gaurav — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:45:32 +0000

According to this link http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=printArticleBasic&articleId=9048658 SP3 has made XP significantly faster.

Like users needed another reason for not migrating to VISTA.