Laptop Touchpad Tip

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We had a training class Tuesday at work; the class was hands on using some Dell laptops. A few of us were constantly putting information in the wrong places, because we did not realize the touchpad was active, even though a mouse was attached.

This situation is very aggravating, so we asked the instructor how to disable the touchpad, but he did not know. One of the others said she was having the same problem with her personal laptop, and did not know how to disable it.

Today I saw an article in my RSS feed from PCMech, which is one of the feeds that is a high priority read for me, as I find information that is relevant to my PC usage there all the time.

The following is a quote from PCMech’s About page:

PCMech (formerly called PC Mechanic) is about computers and technology. We define “PC” a little more broadly. Yes, PC stands for personal computer. Much of our content is about personal computers. But, since we first launched, technology has evolved and now there is so much more to talk about than just computers. So, we cover technology. We cover the internet. We cover – yes – computers, hardware, software, etc.

Our job is to cover the fast-changing world of tech and help you apply it to improving your life. Technology shouldn’t be limited to the uber-geeks who follow this stuff 24/7. At PCMech, we’ll do that so you don’t have to.

The article is: Disable The Touchpad When A Mouse Is Plugged In.

My comment regarding the touchpad and mouse on my notebook is as follows:

My HP Pavilion TX1410us Entertainment Notebook PC also has a button right at the top of the touchpad, to disable/enable.

There is a Synaptics driver that controls both the touchpad and the mouse, but no way to configure to disable the pad when the mouse is plugged in, at least that I can see.

Recording Internet Radio – Podcasts – Media Players

Aside

Just some quick information:

Last night I was at a dinner for Boca Raton Computer Society, Inc. (BRCS) and a couple of us started talking about recording internet radio broadcasts from Argentina, also during the discussion the idea of podcasts of the same shows, as well as media players, came up. Below is what I could find with some real quick searches on Google and Ask.com, for some free and or inexpensive solutions:

Recording internet radio links: (found at ask.com by searching for “how do i record internet radio broadcasts?”

http://radio.about.com/od/recordstreamingaudio/a/blrecordinghub.htm

http://www.cnet.com/1990-7899_1-6306524-1.html

Podcasts from Argentina:

I do not speak the language so I do not know how much this link to a search on ask.com will do, but give it a try:

https://www.ask.com/web?qsrc=2106&o=ffx&l=dir&q=how+do+i+find+podcasts+from+Argentina+radio+stations%3F&adt=0

Free Media Players:

VLC Media Player

Link to it’s site: http://www.videolan.org/

Gizmo’s Freeware Review (Media Players):

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-windows-media-player-replacement.htm

These should get you started. Check them out and enjoy yourself.

A Free PDF Writer Tool

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I needed a PDF virtual print driver for my Vista Home Premium personal laptop, so rather than just downloading the new version of PDF Creator, the tool I have used for years on my xp machines, I decided to see what else might be available.
During my research I came across the Best Free PDF Writer post at http://www.techsupportalert.com. After reading this post, I decided to try Bullzip PDF Printer, see http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php for more information.
Some of the key features, according to the post, Last Update: Mon, 04/13/2009 – 15:24 — dave007, are quoted below:

Key features of Bullzip PDF Printer include:
The ability to password protect your pdf files (only PrimoPDF and PDFCreator also had this ability)
The ability use either 40 or 128 bit encryption on the file (only PDFCreator also had this ability)
The ability to add a watermark (PDF Creator had a limited ability to add watermarks)
The ability to append or prepend files (PrimoPDF and PDFCreator also had this ability)
The ability to choose different levels of output quality (All but CutePDF and TinyPDF had this ability)
The ability to add/change metadata (PrimoPDF and PDFCreator also had this ability)

So far I really like this, though I have not had time to really check out all the features.
If you are looking for a good free PDF writing tool, I suggest you check this one out.

Let me know what you think of it, should you decide to try it.