Home Office: Bass's Surplus Tips and Cool Tools

Nifty tools, reader comments, leftovers, and follow-ups to tips.

Steve Bass

This was a tough sell. My editor asked for this week's column topic. I told him it'd be a Bass core dump, and I got a blank look. A brain drain, boss--like all the good stuff that's been accumulating on my drive. I held a mirror up to his nose. Still nothing.

So I had to spell it out, using small words and big letters. Follow-ups from columns, I said, nifty tools that didn't fit anywhere, and comments from readers about previous columns. I saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes, and a brief smile, but found out a sec later it was only gas. So onward to the cool stuff.

Fighting Telemarketers for Free

Many months ago I wrote about Telezapper, a gadget that emits a beep on your phone that blocks telemarketers. For details, read "Hot Gifts for a Cool Home Office."

A vigilant reader told me about a site that claims it does what Telezapper does--but for free. Here's what happens: Think back to the last time you called a number that was no longer in service. Right, you hear three short tones. It sounds kinda like "doo...dah...dee." When the telemarketer's autodialer hears those frequencies (geeks only: 985.2 Hz, 1370.6 Hz, and 1776.7 Hz), it brilliantly deduces that your phone number's been disconnected or is not in service. K. Alan Carlton created a site with these three tones available for download as sound files. The site explains how to record the tones onto your answering machine. Getting the idea?

A Free Cool Labeling Tool

Considering that Microsoft Word has monopolized the word processing market, I wrote a Home Office column on Word add-ons and add-ins. Read "It Pays to Increase Your Word Power" and you'll find a few neat tools for Word.

In the magazine, I didn't have enough space to talk about the Avery Wizard, a free and easy-to-use Word add-on that will knock you for a loop. It can create a sheet of identical labels, just like Microsoft's envelope tool. The resemblance ends there. Avery lets you type a different name on each label on a sheet and then preview it before printing. It also lets you quickly whip up a database and save it for repeated use. For example, it's a great way to manipulate the data from an Excel spreadsheet into almost any printed format that Avery products use.

Dig This: Are you stressed by cosmic rays bouncing off your noggin? Me, too, especially around deadline time. I just know it's because my editor is thinking evil thoughts. Take a tip from my wacky cousin Judy, who suggested I try using an Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie. (Oh, yeah, like you don't have relatives like this.)

I Can't Stand Pop-Ups

Like anyone can, right? I've tried lots of pop-up blockers, and many of you (oh, very many) have sent recommendations. I started collecting and testing them, and quickly found myself buried--without finding one that did exactly what I wanted.

Well, that's only half true. I loved the free one that EarthLink, my ISP, used to give to subscribers. It was simple and did the job without getting in the way. But EarthLink's marketing people had a bright idea: Integrate the pop-up blocker into Total Access, their branded browser, and then force EarthLink subscribers to use Total Access if they wanted the blocker. That was a really, really dumb move. (Yes, I know there's a way to extract it; and it's pretty simple; and you can probably figure it out--but I'm not gonna tell you how. You think I want to get sued?)

In the meantime, the folks at Sunbelt Software asked me to try their pop-up blocker. I recently wrote about their spam fighting tool and liked it lots, so I gave the blocker a go. I tried the beta version for a few weeks, and just received the released version. Well boys and girls, Sunbelt's IHatePopups does almost everything I want in a pop-up blocker. The key issue for me is that IHatePopups can differentiate between good and bad pop-ups on a page. For instance, a help site may have a legit link for me to click to open another small window. IHatePopups recognizes it as a "good" pop-up box. The program also identifies pesky pop-up ads and blocks them.

There are a few things I don't like about IHatePopups, but they're primarily cosmetic issues. Frankly, I'm a PITA [Note to editor: Pain in the Bass] when it comes to user interfaces. For instance, IHatePopups announces itself with a grating sound when it loads (lemme turn that off!), and there are better ways to make use of the system tray icon. One other thing: The utility works with Internet Explorer only.

Bottom line? IHatePopups does an outstanding job blocking pop-up ads and spyware, and protects your home page from being changed--all for $10. I say grab a copy of the trial version and make your own decision.

Photos by E-Mail the Easy Way

Sending photos and images by e-mail is a hassle, at least for me. I struggle with stuff like deciding how big the image needs to be so as not to fill the recipient's screen, and worrying that my mother won't be able to find the attachment.

I've been playing around with a nifty program that sends photos and images through e-mail with no fuss or muss. Novatix's SendPhotos lets me choose photos from my drive, gussy them up with background colors and frames, and send them through the tool's built-in e-mail program. The tool's a no brainer and super-easy to use. (My mother loves it.) The downside? Advanced users may get antsy going through the steps to send photos, as there are no shortcuts. SendPhotos runs $30, and there's a trial version you can play with.

Take a Break: Do you remember Robert Luhn's article about e-mail gaffes? You know, messages that folks sent but shouldn't have? The story was so successful, he wrote another: "E-Mail Calamities."

Dig This: Have you ever had one of those days when you just can't empty your e-mail in-box of spam? Be careful--unless you clean it out, you might get an error message.

Take Me to the Movies

I got a pile of flack for not including a movie review site in my newsletter a couple of weeks ago, "Home Office: More Convergence--PCs, TV, and Now DVD." Readers Nancy A and Mark G both took me to task for not mentioning Rotten Tomatoes, which they consider the very best place for movie reviews.

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