Tech Tip: Change Your Default Mail Program In Firefox 3

When you click on a linked “mailto” email address while browsing the web, it will automatically open your default email program (i.e. Outlook or Mail if you’re using a Mac). If you want to change your default to GMail or Yahoo! Mail, it’s very easy to do in Firefox 3:

• Click on the “Tools” menu, then select “Options”
• Select the “Applications” tab at the top
• Scroll down until you see “mailto” under Content Type and select it
• From the drop down menu to the right of “mailto” select GMail or Yahoo! Mail

For more beginning, intermediate and advanced Firefox tips and tricks, see the Firefox 3 “Tips & Tricks” page on Mozilla’s website.  If you want to test your new settings, click here and send us a note (you’ll first be taken to the login page if you’re not already logged in to GMail or Yahoo! Mail) -M

Tech Tip: Google Cheat Sheet

This wonderful two-page Google Cheat Sheet (PDF) lists Google services, query structures, tools, advanced search structures, special web searches and background information on Google. Each of the sections is color coded based on skill level. [Note that this cheat sheet was last updated in October 2006, but much of the information remains relevant and useful.] -M

Tech Tip: Shorten Links in Seconds

If you use short links (URLs) when sending emails, instant messaging or microblogging, you can create them in seconds from your browser by adding TinyURL to your browser’s toolbar.  -M

Tech Tip: Link to a Point in YouTube Video

Earlier, I pointed out how to link to a specific page in a PDF document. Recently, Chris Brogan pointed out a similar trick for linking to a specific point in a YouTube video. You just add #t=xmys to the URL, where x is the minute and y is the second that you want to link to. For example, if you wanted to link directly to where Jennifer Baum, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, is talking about her client’s case in 2008 Legal Aid Clients, the URL would be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJbjG6wPmT8#t=3m9s. – K

Tech Tip: Text Your Clients

Yesterday, I mentioned that some clients have asked advocates to contact them by text message rather than by phone. Since not every advocate has a work cell and most advocates don’t want to text clients from their personal number, I thought that I’d pass along an article from LifeHacker on how to send text messages with e-mail. And for those of you who need to brush up on common abbreviations so that you can decode the messages that your clients send back, check out this list. – K

Tech Tip: Duplex to Save Paper

I print . . . a lot, so I’m not about to chastise anyone else for printing. But I do want to encourage you to be smarter about it. I, for example, have set my printer to automatically print on both sides of the paper and often print two pages on each side. I’m also trying to be good about recycling and reusing paper instead of throwing it out.

If you don’t know how to set your printer to print on both sides of the paper, check out the TechSoup.org article on duplexing. Another neat resource is the Environmental Defense Fund’s Paper Calculator, which can help you determine how much of an environmental impact different types of paper have. – K

How To Do Just About Anything

Recently, I came across the Wired How-To Wiki, which gives instructions on how to do just about anything related to technology. A few posts that Technola readers might be interested in: Take a Killer Portrait, Fight Splogs, Reclaim Your Site from Domain Squatters, and Delete Files Forever. – K

Tech Tip: Linking to a Page in a PDF

On occasion, I need to direct people to a specific page in a PDF. This often happens when I’m e-mailing someone a link to a PDF that’s been posted online. Because I don’t always remember how to do it, I take the lazy way out, and recipients often get an e-mail that says, “Hey read the great article on page 157.” They are then forced to page through to page 157.

However, the other day, Pam Weisz, Pro Bono Net’s Director of Corporate Sponsorship, asked me if this could be done.  I did a quick search to find the answer for her. For the rest of you who may not know and for the sanity of my e-mail recipients, I thought that I’d document it here.

To link to a specific page in a PDF document, add #page=n, where n is the page number, to the URL. For example, the URL to link someone to the third page of the USCIS I-9 form would be http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf#page=3. – K