Tech.It.2.Me->{By.Anton.Perez}

The folks at Carnegie Mellon University created an application called MailHide that will  assist you in masquerading your e-mail address from spammers.

What it does is it only shows your e-mail address partially, like your…@domain.com.  And if someone wants/needs to obtain your complete, true e-mail address, they can by solving two CAPTCHAs ((Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart)displayed…you know those forms that ask you to type in certain words.

They also provide an API.  Cool!  OK, hope this helps you decrease the spam you receive exponentially.

If you want less movements to go back/forward, open/close tabs, and open links with your browser, you’ll need to get this Firefox plugin called Mouse Gestures to do so. Personally, it’s already cut wasted time at work.

Here are the commons gestures I use:

• Closes tab or window: write L
• Back to previous page: write right to left
• Forward to next page: write left to right
• Open link in new tab: write upwards crossing the link to open
• Open link in new window: write downwards crossing the link to open

What I mean by “writing” is holding down the left mouse button while performing the action.

If you need a visual, you can go here. Hope this helps.

Here’s an excellent article on Reader’s Digest‘s website chronicling 24 ways to improve your vision; thus, preventing computer eye strain.

When leaders make a mistake, they say, “I was wrong.”
When followers make mistakes, they say, “It wasn’t my fault.”

A leader works harder than a follower and has more time;
a follower is always “too busy” to do what is necessary.

A leader goes through a problem;
a follower goes around it and never gets past it.

A leader makes and keeps commitments;
a follower makes and forgets promises.

A leader says, “I’m good, but not as good as I ought to be;”
a follower says, “I’m not as bad as a lot of other people.”

Leaders listen;
followers just wait until it’s their turn to talk.

Leaders respect those who are superior to them and try to learn something from them;
followers resent those who are superior to them and try to find chinks in their armor.

Leaders feel responsible for more than their job;
followers say, “I only work here.”

A leader says, “There ought to be a better way to do this;”
followers say, “That’s the way it’s always been done here.”

Happy New Year!

Here’s an interesting article that Bill Gates wrote for the BBC News web site, that talks about the skills one needs to succeed in any career.