Getting rid of the Social Media keyboard mapping - Windows 8.1

Just wanted to quickly get this down before I forget, as I've not seen it anywhere else on the Internet.

I have a Gateway laptop running Windows 8, with an extremely annoying key that I've been trying to get rid of for months. The "Social Media" key, located right above the numeric keypad where I would constantly hit it by accident, always opened the "Social Media" app, which I very rarely want to open but don't want to completely get rid of.

All keyboard mapping programs that I've found on the Internet, say that the key is unknown.

After much searching, I sort-of came across a workaround by accident:

It turns out what the key actually does, is pretend I'm opening a file with a .sns extension. So what I wound up doing, was going to Control Panel | Default Programs | "Associate a File Type or Protocol with a Program", then finding and selecting the .sns extension, and hitting, "Change Program" and "More Options," then cancelling out. This seemed to clear the extension.

It doesn't fix the problem altogether. But at least now, when I hit that button by accident, it opens a dialog asking how I want to handle the file, which is much more convenient to cancel out of, then the entire social media app.

Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts and other tips

Technorati Tags: windows 8,win8,windows8,keyboard,shortcuts,tips,tricks

I know I very rarely post anything, but these are special circumstances. ;) I got a new laptop a couple of weeks ago (very exciting!)… and it came with Windows 8. It was… interesting. It’s growing on me, mainly due to figuring out a number of tricks to making it usable. Tricks which are completely undocumented in Windows. Apparently, the makers of Win 8 have forgotten that there are people who a) are power-users, and/or b) just don’t like using the mouse for every single little thing, especially if it isn’t even a mouse, but a touchpad!

So here they are. I’m writing this, mainly for my own reference so I don’t have to trial-and-error them again and again if I forget! But I thought other people may have use for them as well. :)

The most useful/necessary keyboard shortcuts (for me, at least):

Shortcuts that can’t be split into “Actual Windows” or “Metro”:

• Alt+Tab still switches between apps, just like in all other versions of Windows.
• Ctrl+Esc, as well as the Win key (by itself), switch back and forth between Actual Windows and Metro.
• Alt+F4 still exits anything. Metro apps, traditional Windows apps, anything. And, what I didn’t realize until yesterday, is that if you happen to be on the Desktop and you hit Alt+F4, it brings up a shutdown screen! Yes! You can shut down/restart/put to sleep from your keyboard!
• Win+l (that’s L for Lock) locks your computer.
• The Menu Key (the key that looks vaguely like a right-click menu, usually located between Alt and Ctrl on the right side of the space bar) still does the same thing as right-clicking on the selected item. Which can be very useful, in Metro as well as in Desktop.
• Alt+Back arrow sometimes goes back to where you were in Metro apps. And sometimes not. Often, if it doesn’t work, try the Esc key or the Win key instead.

Shortcuts for “Actual Windows”: these will, for the most part, bring up the desktop (even if you were in a Metro app) and then do their thing:

• Ctrl+Shift+Esc still brings up the Task Manager. And it’s cooler! :)
• Win+# : You know the taskbar at the bottom of your Desktop? Where the Start Menu should really be for all the power users who would rather work with menus than with a sea of icons? Well, it turns out that if an icon is in your taskbar (or, at least, if it’s one of the first 9 or 10), then you can access it by counting its position, then hitting Win+that number. This is particularly useful on my Gateway laptop because it came with a “shutdown” app pre-installed, and they put the icon in my taskbar. It’s the third icon, so Win+3 brings it up. In some ways, this is better than Alt+F4, mainly because I don’t have to be at my desktop… it works from anywhere.
• Win+e brings up My Computer.
• Win+r brings up the Run dialogue.
• Win+x brings up a very useful menu of Power User utilities.
• Win+m, as before, minimizes all apps and shows you the Desktop.

Shortcuts for “Metro”: again, these will, for the most part, bring up Metro (even if you were in a Desktop app) and then do their thing. Some will just show a Metro menu on the right side, though. The “charms”-related keys will bring up the Start Screen if you were in a Desktop app, and otherwise, will perform the charm within the Metro app that you’re in.

• Win+q brings up the Search charm.
• Win+i brings up the Settings charm. If you hit it while in a Desktop app, it’ll also allow you to access the Control Panel.
• Win+c brings up the Charms bar and the clock.

 

Other Keyboard Shortcuts (for completeness):

• Win+d (Actual Windows) brings up the Desktop, wherever you are.
• Win+f (Metro) File search. I prefer Windows Explorer, but this could come in handy sometimes.
• Win+h (Metro) brings up the Share charm.
• Win+k (Metro) brings up Devices.
• Win+t (Actual Windows) sets the focus on your Taskbar. Pressing it repeatedly scrolls through each icon on your taskbar. Hitting Enter then will open the selected icon.
• Win+b (Actual Windows) sets the focus on the… I forget the name. The part of the taskbar that shows the clock.
• Win+w (Metro) Brings up a Metro screen for… searching your settings? Like searching devices and such, it looks like.
• Win+u (Actual Windows) brings up the Ease of Access Center.
• Win+p (Metro) brings up a “Project to Second Screen” menu.
• Win++ (plus sign) (Actual Windows) magnifies the display. Win+- will then get the size back to normal. Then, I think you have to click the magnifying glass to exit.
• Win+z (only Metro): Brings up a bar where you can then look at All Apps, it seems. Only appears if you’re in the Metro screen to begin with.
• Win+Arrow Key – do not use! :) Changes the orientation of your screen. To fix it, hit Win+Up Arrow.

Other Useful Tips for Metro:

In Metro, from the start screen, you can just start typing until the app you want is at the top of the list, and then hit enter to open it. Pretty slick, actually.

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If you have a big chunk of icons that you’d like sorted into groups, you can create new groups by dragging one icon to a blank space between two existing groups, or to a blank space to the right or left of all of the icons. You should, at some point, see a shaded vertical bar which indicates that if you drop the icon there, it will create a new group. Then you can add other icons to that group… one at a time. :(

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You can actually organize and name your groupings of icons, to give them some semblance of order. They did include that functionality; they just made it impossible to figure out, unless you happen to read about it online. Here’s what you do:

1. Go to the Metro Start Screen.
2. Move the mouse so that you can see the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom. See that little button to the right of the scroll bar? The one that just looks like a minus sign and has no little pop-up or anything when you move your mouse over it, so you have no way of knowing what it’s supposed to do? Click it.
3. This brings up a “groupings” view. Here, you can edit entire groups of icons. You can right-click and give groups names, and you can rearrange groups.
4. Hit the Win key when you’re done to exit.

A new user's impressions of Madison's B-cycle program

Here in Madison, our local bike sharing program is well underway, with many convenient stops already and more to come. Since I fall right smack dab into the target demographic (working person who sometimes needs to work downtown, doesn't like driving, certainly doesn't like driving downtown, and doesn't already own a bike), and since I just joined last week, I thought I'd give some first impressions, as well as some areas that could be improved.

First impression after subscribing: it's fantastic! The bikes are well-designed and well-maintained (at least so far), and comfortable. The basket is a great convenience when you're carrying things.

It also seems to be garnering a lot of interest. At least, pretty much every time I've gone to a station, or even gone past a station, it seems like there's usually at least one person checking it out. Even people who already have bikes have asked me about the program when they see me going around on one. Everybody seems to think it's a cool idea... but then they always walk away.

A few things that I think get in the way of more people using it:

1. the $10 price tag for just one day is prohibitive. It should be $5 for a day, or $20 for 7 days. Otherwise... we can take the bus all day, farther, and with more free time, for $4.50.
   (Speaking of which, I was promised a text message with a code for $10 off the annual fee when I tried it for a day, which I never received. That almost put me off, right there).
   
   
2. We need more! I know it's a work in progress, and the stations that are there are great, but it's still not really worth it if you have to travel several blocks from your home in the opposite direction from where you're going, just to grab a bike. Often, this results in the trip taking just as long, or even longer, than it would if you just walked there directly.
   
   Specifically, these are the four places I can think of that could really use a station (indicated by the green "bike" icons. I've also tried to estimate who would be helped the most if there were stations in these areas. All areas and icons have descriptions. The blue lines point to the areas, since they're kind of hard to find otherwise) (click on areas to see descriptions):
   
   View Recommended B-Cycle locations in a larger map
   
   
3. If I'm passing a B-cycle station and I've never heard of B-cycle before, and I'm going to be making a spur-of-the-moment decision about whether I want to pick up a bike and take it where I'm going, there are a bunch of things that factor into that decision. Price is one consideration, of course, but then there's also, "Is it safe? I've never biked this before (obviously, because I don't own a bike). I don't know what the safe routes are." The first time I tried B-cycle, it was an impulsive decision that I made as I was passing the station on foot. It was the Wisconsin and E. Mifflin station, and I decided to go to Tenney.
   
   Because I'd never biked in Madison before, I wound up riding along East Johnson. It was ok... until I got to Brearly... and then I was scared to death. Again, not an avid bicyclist, here. If I were, I'd own a bike.
   
   What we really need, is for that map that's posted by every station, to also suggest safe bike routes from each station to the most likely destination station in each direction. This should be based on the green routes in the Bike Map and Guide that's put out by the city.
   
   Something like this:
   
   
   
   It's basically the same map, just with some lines added to suggest the bike routes. Especially note the route going North from Tenney Park, which isn't really intuitive for a person who's deciding on the spot that they want to bike without knowing the bike routes or having a bike map handy. But that is the quickest way to go west, safely, for someone who isn't an avid (bicycle-owning) bicyclist. This should be part of the B-cycle station map, so we can see how to safely get to where we're going. It's not necessary to include all of the green routes from the city's map, btw... just the best ones between stations.

Think that's about it for the first impressions. :) Thanks for reading!

Etched Tree 1

Etched Tree 1
Originally uploaded by Katie M 459

Oh this is fun!

I love GIMP. I know I said that before, but I really love GIMP. This was a little more experimenting, and I did this in about 6 steps, I think.

- Opened the original as layers:

- Duplicated the layer twice (to be on the safe side).
- In top layer, inverted color and did a Gaussian blur (5.0 horizontal and vertical).
- Set layer mode to "Grain Merge."
- Merged down. Set Color to Alpha Transparency in the Layers|Transparency menu - the transparent color is that grey. You will know "that grey" when you see it. :)
- Added a new layer for underneath, filled with color of my choice (brown).
- Duplicated the top (tree) layer, and set top layer mode to "screen", with opacity of ~50%.

Voila! Took about 20 minutes, and that's just because I was experimenting and didn't really know what I was doing.

I love GIMP. :)

Christmas Tree - Modified

Christmas Tree - Modified
Originally uploaded by Katie M 459

Another GIMP experiment. If memory serves, this is what I did:

I opened the original photo as layers.


Duplicated the background layer twice. In top layer, inverted color, did gaussian blur, and set layer mode to "Grain Merge." Merged down one.

In top layer, set alpha transparency level and then did a Sobel edge detection. Set original image to invisible. Added new layer, filled with a dark green.

Opened an "Ice" texture I'd downloaded as layers, set above the green layer and below the Sobel layer. Set transparency to ~70%, I think.

Branches At Sunset

Branches At Sunset
Originally uploaded by Katie M 459

This one was fairly straightforward.

Started with an almost identical photo. Duplicated the layer.

In the duplicate, set transparency alpha channel, then used the select by color tool with a fairly high threshold to get the branches. Inverted selection, hit delete.

Created new layer, bucket filled with light blue. Rendered fog (a GIMP render that seems to only be available on my ubuntu netbook, but not on my Windows computer. Odd.) White. On the new "cloud" layer, did some lighting effects with a high glow, low shininess, and a light orange light.

Did fog two more times, these times with low opacity (~40%) and a couple shades of orange and pink. Merged the three fog layers and the blue background layer. Put underneath the silhouette layer, but over the layer that contains the original picture.

Duplicated the silhouette layer, selected by contiguous color (fairly high threshold), inverted selection, and deleted. Repeat as necessary until I have layers that contained all of the branches, but little of the lower area. Merge the branches. Select by color so that all of the branches are selected, select the original silhouette layer, hit delete (this will separate the silhouettes into one layer that contains the branches, and one layer that contains everything else.

In the layer that contains the stuff other than the branches, do GIMPressionist, select the paintbrush04 brush with fairly high numbers for everything. Apply.

Still in the same layer, do a rectangle select, with feathered edges (high number) and rounded edges (high number), select most of the "sky" area, leaving a space around the corners. Hit delete, so that the impressionistic stuff is mostly on the bottom and the sides, and doesn't detract from the branches layer.

Add a border, since if I've learned anything while looking at Flickr, it's that a border makes all the difference. :) Just a regular border, black, X = ~18, Y = ~44. Add another border around that, light blue, X and Y are both 2. Add the text, and save.

Here is the original photo:

Portland Trip 5-22-2009 1-33-28 PM Modified 1

Portland Trip 5-22-2009 1-33-28 PM Modified 1
Originally uploaded by Katie M 459

It's official... bump and environmental mapping in lighting are my new best friend. :)

Another experiment. The original photo is here: