The BehindTheBuy.com blog spent the afternoon the other day with the founder of Monster Cable, Noel Lee. Noel's official title is Head Monster, and he takes his own company's products and the technology he uses in his job and life very seriously.
The most important lesson he imparts when it comes to getting the most out of the technology he's brought into his life? It's all in the details.
“I find every useful shortcut in the products I use, whether it's my Blackberry, my cell phone or the computers I use at home,” he says.
He's not kidding around. At his desk at home, the Head Monster has five computers in an array, keyboards spread before him and screens constantly feeding information. He has both Macs and PCs, and several of these computers have Web cameras, so he can hold video conference calls with employees and customers.
With all this technology employed in his work and home life, he says, it’s important to know how to get the most out of them without wasting time. But while Noel Lee lives in a world of tech, most of us just need to know a few things that help us send, read and send email, answer voicemail calls or maybe just call up a map with the route to a local movie theater.
Computer operating systems and Web browsers all have shortcuts, and if you're interested in getting through your tasks more quickly, it's worth your time to learn a few of them.
For example, in most Windows applications, many of us already know that pressing the Control key plus the “C” key lets you copy any selected text. Control-V lets you paste that text. Control-X cuts any selected text. Those are the easy ones. But what about Control-Z? That one lets you take a step back from your last on-screen action, whether it was typing, deleting, moving an image or many other things. No, you can't unsend an email message but that Control-Z function can come in pretty handy. And why is it better to use these keyboard based functions instead of the mouse or trackpad? For starters, it takes less time if you keep your hands in place and ready to type. Secondly, it cuts down on fatigue. Always grabbing that mouse will slow you down and tire you out.
Do you have a Blackberry? Then shortcuts can really help you there. It's hard enough typing on that tiny keypad, so take the time to learn shortcuts for that device. Sometimes it seems like pretty daunting task, having to memorize sequences of keys, but after a few times through you'll be an old pro. Have a few names or phrases you constantly use in messages to friends and co-workers? Well, you can program those in. Here are some good shortcut tips for you Blackberry users:
- For switching from one application to another: Hold the Alt key and press the Escape button. Continue to hold the Alt key and select a program. Release the Alt key to switch to that program.
- To capitalize a letter when writing text: Hold the letter key until the capitalized letter appears.
- To move up a screen: Press the Shift key + the Space key.
Do you use a Macintosh computer? If you have Mac OS X then you have a quick and easy way of seeing all your open applications at once and selecting which one you want to use. Just squeeze those two buttons on the side of your mouse and all your open applications will be displayed in a view that fits them all on your screen. Just move your mouse to select the one you'd like to use and click. That app will be brought to the front of your desktop, in full size, and be ready for you to use.
What about a computer with Microsoft Windows? If you have many applications open and want to see your desktop, sometimes it takes more than a few mouse clicks to close or minimize all those open windows. Instead, try holding down that Microsoft logo key (between the “FN” and the “alt” buttons) and press the “M” key. That simple action will minimize all those open windows and let you see the files and folders you keep on your desktop. Easy to learn and easy to use.
Thank goodness for people like Noel Lee who devote so much time to figuring out how these shortcuts work. The rest of us can benefit from his tips and tricks.
Do you have gadget tips and tricks you regularly like to use? Share them with us. We'll post them on the BehindTheBuy.com blog and give our thanks to you!
-- Will Safer
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About Will Safer and the BehindTheBuy blog
Will has been writing about consumer products, electronics and technology trends for more than 10 years. His first editorial home was technology trade magazine of record, TWICE (This Week In Consumer Electronics) where he was the first dedicated Web editor. His latest articles can be found in Conde Nast Portfolio and online at AOL News and Switched.com. Now he's happy to be a part of the team at BehindTheBuy.
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