MIT sketching ASSIST - Free Download

After watching the following Youtube video I decided that I had to have the software the professor in the video was using, or at least something like it. Luckily, I discovered that Microsoft has an application that is virtually the exact same thing and best of all you can download it for totally free. The application is called "Microsoft Physics Illustrator for Tablet PC" and is just one of the many cool applications available for free in the "Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition". While the application is designed to run on an XP tablet, I had no difficulty installing it on my Vista tablet. Click Here to visit Microsoft PowerToys page where you can download "Physics Illustrator" and any other table PowerToys you want... or Click Here for the direct download link and start using this amazing application now!

Royalty Free images for Free

Finding free images that are actually high quality can be quite a difficult task. Most sites that provide free images either provide “crappy” images or the images have license restrictions that prevent you from using them on websites or redistributing them. After spending some time searching the web I was able to find a few sites that actually provide free images that are royalty free (no license restrictions). Here is a list of sites that really do provide high quality royalty free images for completely free!

• http://www.photogen.com/
• http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/
• http://www.adigitaldreamer.com/gallery/index.php

Well there is a few great sites to get you started, but if anyone happens to find any other sites that offer royalty free images for free please leave a comment below with the URL.

Disable List of Recently Used Documents and/or Programs

By default Windows Vista saves a list of all the recently used files and programs that have been run. While this can be a helpful feature it can also be a pain in the but. Lets just say theoretically that you were looking at some photos you would rather your parents not find out about, then disabling this feature is very important.To disable the list of recently used documents and/or programs that are automatically saved, and listed in the Vista start menu, simply begin by right clicking the Start button and selecting Properties. Now, either un-check "Store and Display a list of recently used files" or "Store and Display a list of recently used programs" or both. Finally, hit OK and from now Vista should no longer keep tabs on what files you've been viewing.

Note: I really did just give a theoretical example so please don't comment about how porn is bad. Plus those pictures could be Christmas gift photos..... Right?

Video Wallpaper Backgrounds for Vista

Stardock has now announced that as of Feburary 2008 they will be realeasing DeskScapes 2.0 which will allow Vista Home premium, and any other version of Vista (that can run Areo effects) to play video files as their desktop background. Previously, this feature was only availible to Vista Ultimate owners but now Stardock brings it to every Vista distro, and best of FOR FREE!!! As I said this download is free but if you want you can choose to pay $20 for an enhanced version which will include Object Desktop.

For those of who are running Vista Ultimate edition you don't have to wait; you can simply visit http://www.stardock.com/products/deskscapes/ and download DeskScapes which will allow you to play hundreds of free custom made video backrounds. But for the rest of us we will simply have to count down the days untill February arrives and we can finally download DeskScapes 2.0

Display a Site in any Browser, Resolution, or Operating System

Making sure TheComputerKid.com looks good in every browser is extremely important. As any webmaster knows different browsers display pages differently. To test how your site looks you could download a bunch of different web browsers and test each one yourself or you can do what I do and simply visit Browsershots.org This site takes screen shots of your site in different browsers, different operating systems, and different screen resolutions. This is a great tool that can really improve your visitors experience and best of all its completely free!

My Computer on Vista Desktop

If you are missing the My Computer icon from your desktop in Vista don't worry it will only take two seconds to put it back. First, click the start button and then right click on Computer and click Show on Desktop. Now you should have the My Computer Icon back on your desktop. To get rid of the My Computer Icon from your desktop simply reapeate the same steps.

Print Webpages Without Headers or Footers

Am I the only one that finds the URL footer at the bottom of printed web page annoying and ugly? Luckily in Internet Explorer 7 it is very easy to print pages without the hideous headers and footers. Simply select Print Preview and then click the Turn headers and footers on or off button and print the page. Alternatively, you can permanently (but you can change back if you want) turn off the headers and footers by going to Page Setup, selecting the Margins & Header/Footer and selecting both the Header and Footer to be Blank.

Copy the Path of a File or Folder in Vista

Being able to copy the path of file can be very handy if you are working on a batch file or you want to make a short cut…. or any number of other reasons. Luckily, in windows Vista all you have to do to copy the path of any file or folder is simply hold down the Shift button, right-click on the item and then select Copy as path. Now you can paste the path of the file/folder. Volia! It’s that easy.

Stop Windows Vista Sidebar

While some people love the sidebar in Windows Vista, others find it to be a waste and want to save Ram by stopping it. To stop Windows Vista Sidebar from automatically starting every time the computer does, simply right-click on the sidebar and select Properties. Now, un-check Start Sidebar when windows starts and hit OK. Now, right-click on the Sidebar (for the last time... yea!) and click Exit. From now on, you don't need to worry about Windows Vista sidebar starting up with the computer or hogging the Ram.

Add Encrypt/Decrypt In Vista Right Click Menu

I encrypt files all the time so having a encrypt/decrypt option on the right-click menu is very handy. To add this option to the right click menu in Vista, begin by starting Regedit.exe and then browsing to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Now, in the right side panel click on a blank space, right-click and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it EncryptionContextMenu. Next, right-click the new key and choose Modify. Finally, change the value data to 1 and click OK. Now when you right click on a file or folder you will see the encrypt/decrypt menu option.