Phil Bradley trawls the internet to find the answers to this month’s readers’ queries.
Q Not exactly an internet question, but I’m sick of only being able to keep only one thing in my Windows clipboard. Can you suggest any alternatives?
A I use a resource called Clip Diary (http://clipdiary.softvoile.qarchive.org/), which allows you to keep multiple clippings. Control D brings the resource on to the screen, then simply choose the item you want to paste and it takes care of it for you. Fast and effective. If you’re not keen on that, try a search for ‘clipboard utility’ and explore the many other options.
Q I am looking for something that can help me organise/preserve and classify the history of internet pages that I’ve visited. Is there something which can do this?
A Your browser should have a neat little ‘History’ function so that you can see pages that you have visited in the past, and this can be a useful way of going back to specific sites if you can recall the date you visited.
After I emailed this response to you, I discovered WebMynd (www.webmynd.com/html/), which is a Firefox add-on. A virtual copy of all the sites you visit is kept on your computer’s hard drive and the text is sent to their servers so they can index the information to make it easier for you to retrieve later. It’s free for a week or $20 a year.
Q I noticed on your website you have a diagonal ribbon in the top right-hand corner which is quite fun. I’ve tried creating one myself, but no luck. How did you do it?
A I’d like to say it was down to skilful work with HTML and graphics packages but I simply used a package called Quick Ribbon (www.quickribbon.com/). Just pick your colour, style and text, copy the code to your web page and voila! A nice Web 2.0 graphic to draw attention to whatever you like on your pages.
Site of the month
My site of the month this time around is a utility. It’s called Kwout (www.kwout.com) and it’s a good way to ‘quote’ or paste an image or screenshot on to a web page or blog. I’ve been using it for a while and have been very happy with it. Simply add the link to your browser bar and, when you find something you want to copy, click on the link and Kwout will load. Highlight the part of the page you want and it will give you various display options and then the resulting code. Just cut and paste into your blog or web page and the job is done.
Phil Bradley is an internet consultant, trainer, web designer and author. Visit www.philb.com for free information on internet introductions, search engine articles, web design tips and a host of other free information. New: 3rd edn of The Advanced Internet Searcher’s Handbook is now available! If you have any questions about the internet send an email to philb@philb.com with the subject header ‘column query’.
Updated: 20 February 2008