Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on December 03, 2010 by CyberNet.

Windows only
Notepad++ has been a long time favorite app of mine when it comes to text editors. It seems to have the right mix of features, and if you use it enough you’ll start coming across some gems that can really save time. One of the features I want to focus on here is the “Find in Files” functionality that is extremely easy to overlook.

To get to the Find in Files section all you have to do is open up the find/replace dialog and switch to the respective tab (pictured in the screenshot above). Most people I talk to about this feature say that they’ve never even navigated to that tab because the Find and Replace tabs generally conquer all of their bulk editing needs. It’s true that those tabs have a lot of functionality, but Find in Files definitely deserves the space it occupies.

When switching to the Find in Files tab you may not immediately notice how this is different than the Find tab. The Filters and Directory fields (along with a few of the checkboxes) are the notable differences. This is where you can specify a directory you want Notepad++ to crawl and bulk edit files without having to first open them in Notepad++. Using the filters you can have it restrict results to certain file extensions, and the checkboxes off to the side will control its ability to crawl into hidden folders and sub-folders.

I’d like to present you with a small warning though. Before doing a bulk replace you should perform a Find All so that you can see a list of matching files along with the line numbers that will be modified:

Why? Once you choose the Replace in Files option you’ll see a brief warning confirming that this is what you want to do, and then it will go on its merry way updating all matching files. No backups are made, and it won’t tell you which files were changed. Personally I think it should also return a list of all the files it modified along with a glance of the text before/after the change, but that’s just me.

Generally I just use this for the finding capabilities, which also has one other nifty aspect I haven’t mentioned yet. You can actually double-click on any line number in the result list to instantly have Notepad++ open that file and take you to that line number. Alternatively you can right-click in the result pane and select the Open All option to have all of the matching files opened in different tabs.

I have some other Notepad++ tips that I’ll be sharing later on… so be on the lookout if you enjoyed this article.

Notepad++ Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

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The GDrive leaks and rumors have started up again in earnest, really for the first time since 2007. The service seemed to destined for the dustbin when Docs started accepting any type of file, but in September hints started dropping that Drive may be resurrected. The latest interesting, if not entirely telling development, is a link to a “test page for Platypus (GDrive)” that pops up when you Google “Writely,” the online word processor that eventually became Google Docs. Those with more robust memories may remember that Platypus was the codename attached to Google’s cloud storage solution back when it was originally being dogfooded. Clicking on the link takes you Google Docs, just as any Writely.com URL would, but that does line up nicely with what we’ve heard about Drive being a rebranded Docs — potentially with a file syncing component. Hopefully the Mountain View crew will take the covers off this bad boy soon — we can’t take much more of this mystery and intrigue stuff.

GDrive test page pops up in Google search, inches closer to an actual product originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the wake of yesterday’s devastating earthquake in Turkey, Google has launched a specialized Person Finder to help victims find missing loved ones. First developed in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Google’s Person Finder has since been deployed to several other natural disaster zones, including post-tsunami Japan earlier this year. The idea behind the company’s Turkish initiative remains as straightforward as ever: users can enter information on the person they’re looking for, or add any details they may have on people who aren’t already accounted for. Of course, all submitted records remain available for public search and viewing. If you’ve been affected by the earthquake or have any information on someone who has, you can find Google’s Person Finder at the source link below.

Google launches Person Finder app following earthquake in Turkey originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Next Web  |  Google.org Blog, Turkey 2011 Person Finder  | Email this | Comments

There is something about anonymity on the internet that turns ordinary every day people into lumpy faced trolls. People can’t seem to help themselves when it comes to insulting someone else’s work or opinion. It is enough to make one pull the Ethernet cord from the wall sometimes. Trolling is the dark underbelly of the […]

And with that, a dream dies. Well, maybe that’s a bit sensational, but we aren’t going to lie — we weeped inside upon hearing Google’s Bradley Horowitz (Vice President of Product Management) contritely state that his company is “doing less of throwing things against the wall.” In fact, he proclaimed that Google+ was morphing into a platform that would absolutely, without question become a pillar across the company in some form or fashion. In other words, it’s too big to fail. He stated that the idea of using the general public as a test bed for products (hello, Buzz!) was fading quickly, and that this “transformation” would be “very healthy” for Google. He did affirm that engineers are still given their token “20 percent time” in order to innovate on whatever they darn well please, but we seriously got the impression that the culture under Larry Page isn’t focusing nearly as intently on that kind of frivolous, outlandish and absolutely marvelous behavior.

Bradley noted that while “20 percent time” isn’t going away, there are changes taking place. There’s a “higher bar on what gets put to market, and more of an editing function than before.” Continuing on, he stated the following: “Instead of making these decisions in the market… we’re doubling-down on one’s that are more important across the company.” If you’re a hardcore, orthodox businessperson, this sounds totally logical. The whole “stop being childish, start being responsible” thing sure sounds appropriate on paper, but c’mon — this is Google! A huge part of the company’s mystique, charm and spontaneous nature came in its “we’ll try anything once” persona, and if that truly is dying in even a small way, we can’t help but have a heavy heart. The further Google strays from its startup roots (and the more it tries to act like every other bureaucratic mega-corp), the less likely we are to get flops like Google TV. But on the same token, the less likely we are to have that one-in-a-million hit (and oddballs like this) that would’ve never proved viable in any “research group.” Here’s one final quote from Bradley when asked to elaborate on this corporate shift:

“We would rather do fewer things well — we’re now on a path to remedy prior sins of omissions. I think it’s a tradeoff [with losing some of the freewheeling autonomy]. I still think there’s a tremendous part of Google culture that’ll never change, but what’s exciting is that the company is rallying around this, and [the employees] see the benefits of alignment. We’ve won the hearts of employees, and there’s tremendous momentum on what we’re doing. My experience is that Larry is a consummate product leader — it’s thrilling, it feels like the company is coordinated in a way that I’ve never seen. I don’t know that it’s just Larry, but I couldn’t be more impressed with him as CEO. I didn’t expect this level of change in company culture when that announcement was made.”

Google’s Bradley Horowitz: ‘we’re throwing fewer things against the wall’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 05:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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