[OldGrover] bought a Weiser electronic lock. Only 6 months after installing it, the keypad stopped working. Instead of just accepting this, [OldGrover] built a better button pad for his lock. He decided to go with big push buttons instead of a similar to stock membrane system. After tracing out where the original buttons connected, he attached his new buttons and enclosure. Pretty simple really but it fixed the problem and kept the lock out of the landfill. Now, he has a unique looking keypad on his front door.
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A good snippet manager or autotext tool can save just about anyone a little time and effort. For those who do a lot of typing, it can even help prevent repetitive stress injuries. If you're looking for an application like this, take a look at PhraseExpress.
Apart from point and click insertion of pre-defined text and auto-completion of recognized words and phrases, Phrase Express packs a clipboard monitor, macro support, and system-wide spell check.
Though the settings window presents only two buttons - new folder and new phrase - you're able to do a whole lot more than add commonly used text. PhraseExpress' included macros provide a wide array of powerful functions, including:
launching external applications
changing window focus
opening files, folders, and web pages
trimming, formatting, and replacing text
embedding autotext suggestions
time and date stamping
inserting Windows environment variables
Since hotkeys are also supported, you PhraseExpress makes a very capable launcher application as well. Unlike some other launcher/hotkey apps, you're able to utilize the Windows key. Despite its numerous features, resource usage is very light - about 10mb of memory on my Vista install.
PhraseExpress can be installed, or you can download the portable version and extract it to your USB flash drive. It's free for personal use and $49.95 to register for commercial use. There's also a network edition that allows groups to access a shared library that runs $44.95 (or less, based on volume) per seat.
If you're already using PhraseExpress, share your experience. If you don't, what apps do you use (if anything) to handle these tasks?
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The internet has made it easier than ever to share media and data with friends, family, and co-workers, but that doesn't mean burning your own CDs and DVDs is a thing of the past. Blank optical discs are dirt cheap, they work virtually everywhere, and if you bought your computer sometime in the last 5 years, chances are you've got the necessary hardware to quickly burn anything you want to a disc in just a few minutes. Now all you need is the right authoring tools. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite CD and DVD burning tools, and today we're back with the five most popular answers. Keep reading for a closer look at your favorites, then cast a vote for the burning tool you like best. Photo by the trial.
InfraRecorder (Windows)
InfraRecorder is a free, open-source CD and DVD burning application for Windows. InfraRecorder covers almost any of your optical needs, including support for burning disc images, copying discs, creating quick audio CDs, writing video DVDs, erasing discs, and more. InfraRecorder is lightweight and decidedly bloat-free, and it's even available as a portable app you can carry on your thumb drive to satisfy your burning needs no matter where you are.
ImgBurn (Windows/Linux)
ImgBurn is a free CD and DVD Swiss Army knife for Windows (it also runs on Linux under Wine). ImgBurn can write data from a variety of formats, burns audio CDs, ISOs, and video DVDs, including regular DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray DVD. As an added bonus, ImgBurn can read a disc to an image on your hard drive and build a disc image from files on your computer. It's fast, easy to use, and doesn't cost a penny. Incidentally, this app is still actively developed by the same developer who built the once very popular DVD Decrypter.
K3b (Linux)
K3b (which stands for KDE Burn Baby Burn) is an open-source burning application for Linux. Like the rest, K3b supports common tasks like burning audio CDs, data discs, disc images and disc copying. For movie lovers, K3b can even rip your DVDs to your hard drive in either of the popular DivX or Xvid formats. If you're running Linux, K3b is easily one of the most popular options for burning anything to your optical discs.
CDBurnerXP (Windows)
CDBurnerXP is a free authoring software for Windows. Despite its name, CDBurnerXP works with Windows Vista, 2000, 2003 Server, and XP; it also burns to CD and DVD, including HD and Blu-ray. It's got a small footprint, and like most of the other options, burns data discs, audio CDs, and ISOs without a hitch. CDBurnerXP is light, fast, and free, requires .NET 3.5.
Nero (Windows/Linux)
Nero 9 is a shareware optical media authoring tool for Windows that's long been the go-to favorite for robust, user-friendly CD and DVD burning for a price. Detractors complain that Nero is slow and bloated (and the 370MB download, 2GB free space requirement, and long install time doesn't inspire confidence to the contrary), but fans argue that you can install only what you need from Nero and that its simplicity more than makes up for the bloat. Nero 9 is an $80 shareware (grab the trial here), Windows only, requires .NET 3.0. Linux users can give Nero Linux a go for $25.
Now that you've seen the best, it's time to vote for your favorite authoring tool.
This week's honorable mentions go out to Windows-only applications BurnAware Free (original post) and Ashampoo (original post), followed by Linux-only Brasero (the Gnome counterpart to the KDE-focused K3b) and Mac OS X-only Toast. Whether or not the CD or DVD authoring tool that's the apple of your eye made the short list, let's hear more about it in the comments.
Windows only: Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the 747-dashboard of an interface that graces Bulk Rename Utility and you'll be rewarded with an enormously powerful tool. You can rename files, substitute some or all of the file name, apply numbers and lettering, swap extensions, append with time and date stamps, rename based on image EXIF data and audio ID3 data, and all that just scratches the surface. Concerned that somewhere in the labyrinth of check and text boxes you may have misstepped? The quick preview function is a fast and handy feature to help you sidestep any mishaps. After Bulk Rename Utility came reader recommended in the comments of Ken Rename, it has become a completely indispensable part of my file management work flow. Bulk Rename is freeware, Windows only.Thanks IOStreamCTO!
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The internet has made it easier than ever to share media and data with friends, family, and co-workers, but that doesn't mean burning your own CDs and DVDs is a thing of the past. Blank optical discs are dirt cheap, they work virtually everywhere, and if you bought your computer sometime in the last 5 years, chances are you've got the necessary hardware to quickly burn anything you want to a disc in just a few minutes. Now all you need is the right authoring tools. Earlier this week we asked you to 
Windows only: Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the 747-dashboard of an interface that graces Bulk Rename Utility and you'll be rewarded with an enormously powerful tool. You can rename files, substitute some or all of the file name, apply numbers and lettering, swap extensions, append with time and date stamps, rename based on image EXIF data and audio ID3 data, and all that just scratches the surface. Concerned that somewhere in the labyrinth of check and text boxes you may have misstepped? The quick preview function is a fast and handy feature to help you sidestep any mishaps. After Bulk Rename Utility came reader recommended in the comments of