2 Free Apps That Are All Kinds of Useful

Today I want to share with you a couple great applications that I always keep running in the background.  A lot of people frown on background applications because they use up valuable system resources, but to me, these two have been worth their weight in RAM.

WordWeb

This app is like having an open dictionary at hand all the time.  There are a million dictionary programs out there, but WordWeb does its job simply and easily.  After install, WordWeb sits in the background waiting to be activated by a hot key (I use CTRL + ALT + W).  If you highlight a word and activate WordWeb, it will pop up and give you definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and a list of nearby words.  In many text fields (usually in programs and not on websites), you can simply use the hotkeys after typing a word and WordWeb will automatically look at the last word typed.

One reason I like WordWeb is that it helps out a lot if you can’t remember how to spell a word.  Just like when you Google something and lets you know you spelled it wrong, selecting a questionable word with WordWeb usually nets you the correct spelling.

Texter

My second app today is a little bit more experimental (it was developed by Lifehacker), but I think you may find it fairly useful.  If you ever type the same text over and over (signatures at the ends of emails, your mailing address, little bits of HTML), Texter helps you lighten your load.  By running in the background, Texter can observe your keystrokes.  If you type a specific “hotstring” and follow up with pre-set trigger, Texter will spring into action, replacing the hotstring with your desired text.

For example, I use “thanks” as a hotstring with the Tab key as the trigger (this is the default).  When I activate the hotstring, the word “thanks” is replaced with the following:

Thanks,
Jimmy

This is how I like to end my emails that are personal.  If I want to add on my “business signature,” I can say “sig1″ and activate it to get:

—–
Jimmy Rogers
Graduate Student
UMD – Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics

Similarly, whenever I write a post for this blog, I go into the HTML side of WordPress and type in “taskfm,” which yeilds:

<hr /><strong>Jimmy Rogers</strong> is a freelance blogger and, in his spare time, a graduate microbiology student. He enjoys tech, science, and the occasional bit of magic.

<strong>Visit Jimmy at </strong><a href=”http://scienceismagic.com”><strong>his blog</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href=”http://twitter.com/loyaleagle”><strong>follow him on Twitter</strong></a><strong>/strong>

There is a great deal more to this program, but I suggest you check out the site above for more details on the more complex workings.  I will warn you that sometimes the interface doesn’t behave very well and I have met up with a few small conflicts with other programs, but generally the function of the program has been unimpaired.

I hope you find these apps as useful as I have.  Please let us know in the comments if you know of any others that might be good to feature on the blog!