Screen Slaver
ActiveWords is like having a little helper right at your fingertips. You'll wonder how you ever worked without it.
I'm about to tell you about one of those software programs that could save you some serious slogging. So if you're a lawyer or someone else who bills for your time, then you may want to skip this week's column. But if you're interested in getting more out of your computer by doing less, then you should buckle up and read on.
This is the deal: Right now, when you use your computer (I'm talking about Windows here, but it's also true for Apple users) you're working with what the boffins call a Graphical User Interface, or GUI, for the windows, the buttons, the icons, the toolbars, all that hoopla. You use a mouse or a track point to navigate it.
This is what the scientists call a Major Advance On The Old Days, when your screen was monochrome, you had to launch your word-processing program by typing "wordperfect" into a blinking spot on the screen called a C:> prompt, and you could only attach cute pictures of your nephew to your desktop using sticky tape. Icons? Windows you could move around? Opening more than one program at a time? Forget it.
Now think about all this for a second. The whole idea of the GUI thing was to make life easier for us. But is it? How do you launch your word processor? Remember the program name (Microsoft Word), remember what the icon looks like (a blue "W" shape), remember where it's located (somewhere in that menu thingy on the left, right?), move the mouse there and click. Bingo, you're in. How about if you need to open a particular folder -- say, your customers' invoices -- which are stored, because you're an organized person, in c:\MyDocuments\Customers\Invoices. You would do all the same things you did to open Microsoft Word, except click on the Windows Explorer icon instead, then navigate through all the subfolders until you got to the Invoices folder. Bingo again.
But why is it so convoluted? Sure, it may be easier than the old ways of doing things (which most of you will be too young to remember), but is it really necessary to do all those clicks? Answer: No. Not if you use something called ActiveWords.
ActiveWords (
www.activewords.com) is a very simple program that requires a bit of prior explanation, which is why I've blathered on a bit. Now imagine you're doing all the stuff mentioned above, only this time using ActiveWords. To open Microsoft Word, for example, type "word" anywhere, in any Window. Then hit the F8 function key. Hey presto, Word launches. Open the invoices folder? Type "invoices," hit F8 and off it goes. Your hands never leave the keyboard to grab the mouse, or scratch your head trying to remember what the Word icon looks like and which submenu it's in. You just have to remember "word" or "invoices." In the words of one of the creators of ActiveWords, a friendly, loquacious Minnesotan lawyer called Buzz Bruggeman, it's all about "getting the machinery out of people's faces."
Put simply, Windows is too graphical. We recognize pictures more easily, but some things are easier to remember as names. If you called a folder "photos," it's going to be much easier to find if all you have to do is type "photos" instead of remembering which subfolder it's in. But ActiveWords doesn't stop there. Say you do a lot of typing of the same old stuff, day in, day out: boiler-plate phrases, from your name to the company's name, to letters along the lines of "thanks for your offer of a mildly masochistic relationship but I'm rather tied up at the moment." All this can be assigned to short memorable words, or initials, or just single letters. If you're tired of typing your name, just instruct ActiveWords to replace JW with Jeremy Wagstaff and, if your name happens to be the same as mine, you should be extremely happy.
ActiveWords is unobtrusive: It's a small bar that sits at the top or bottom of your screen and waits for you to do stuff. It requires some setting up, and a bit of getting used to, not so much because it's difficult (it's not), but because it involves you thinking a bit differently about how you work. At about $50 it's not dirt cheap, but it's well worth it for the time it saves. Try it. Just don't blame me if you get so productive you run out of ways to fill your day.
ActiveWords帮你提高工作效率
今天我将向你介绍一个帮你减轻工作负担的软件。如果你是律师或其他计时收取报酬的人，你也许想跳过本期栏目。不过，若是你希望提高工作效率，那你可应当认真读下去。
目前的状况是：当你使用电脑时（我这里指的是Windows操作系统，不过我所说的对苹果电脑的用户也适用），你采用的是业内人士所称的图形用户界面(Graphical User Interface,简称GUI)来控制窗口、按钮、图标和工具栏。你通过鼠标或指点杆来导航。
科学家们称之为旧时代的重大进步，因为过去的电脑屏幕是黑白的，而你必须在提示符C:>后面的光标处输入"wordperfect"，才能启动文字处理软件。此外，你只能用胶带把你侄子那可爱的照片放到桌面上。那么图标呢？可移动的窗口呢？能否同时打开几个软件呢？想也别想。
现在再来看这些问题。GUI的理念就是使生活更轻松。那实际情况呢？你是怎样启动文字处理软件的？要记住文件名称(Microsoft Word)、文件图标(一个蓝色的W)、它所在的位置(是在屏幕左面的菜单，对吗？)，然后你再把鼠标移到那，并点击。哇，你打开了文件。如果你要打开一个特定的文件夹，譬如说客户的发票清单呢？由于你是个井井有条的人，你把该文件存在路径c:\MyDocuments\Customers\Invoices之下。你像刚才打开Microsoft Word那样操作，不同之处是点击Windows Explorer图标，然后在所有的子文件夹里进行搜索，直到你发现Invoice文件夹。就这么进去了。
上述操作方法怎么还是这么复杂呢？不错，这比从前的老方法容易多了(大部份年轻人那时都很小，记不住)，但我们非要不停地点击吗？答案是：不必，前提是你采用ActiveWords软件。
ActiveWords(
www.activewords.com)是一种非常简单的软件，只需花一点时间加以解释，这也是我关注的原因。现在，假设你重复上述操作，只是这回采用的是ActiveWords。如果你要打开Microsoft Word，只要在任意一个窗口里输入"word"，然后按F8功能健。哇，Word文件就打开了。想打开Invoice文件夹？只要输入"invoices"，然后按F8就可以了。你的双手根本无需离开键盘，去找鼠标，或是抓耳挠腮，试图回忆Word或Invoice文件的图标，以及它们所属的子菜单。你只需记住"word"和"invoices"。用ActiveWords的创建人之一、友好而健谈的明尼苏达州律师巴兹?布鲁格曼(Buzz Bruggeman)的话说，它就是让"机器从人们的眼前消失"。
简而言之，Windows过于图形化。看图对于我们来说更容易，但是记名称更容易。如果你给一个文件夹起名为"photos"，那么进行查找时，输入这个词比记住它所在的子文件夹要容易得多。但是，ActiveWords的作用不仅限于此。假设你每天重复输入许多日常套语，如你的名字和公司的名字等，你可以把它们变成短小易记的词语或者缩略字母，甚至单个字母。如果对输入自己的名字感到厌倦，我只需指示ActiveWords用JW替换Jeremy Wagstaff就可以了。当然，如果你的名字与我的名字恰巧相同，你应当特别高兴了。
ActiveWords不抢眼：它是位于电脑屏幕上方或底部的一个小条，等候你的指示。该软件需要安装设置，以及一点时间进行适应，这并不是因为它难学，而是因为它与你以往的思维法方式不同。该软件的售价大约为50美元，这可不便宜，但它帮你省了时间，还是物有所值。试试吧。如果你的工作效率大幅提高，搞得自己不知道怎么打发多余的时间了，那可别怪我。
