Merge PDFs with pdftk and MSH
When scanning a stack of multi-page documents to PDF, I find it easier to scan each page individually, then combine them in a post-processing step. Here’s a simple Monad script that merges multiple PDFs into a single multi-page document.
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Tint: A Windows Screensaver
Here’s a simple screensaver I wrote a couple of weeks ago. Tested on Windows XP SP2, the saver gradually dims your desktop. From descriptions I have read, it is probably similar to a MacOS X screensaver that’s pretty popular. The target tint (transparency) and the time (in seconds) it takes to get there are configurable. Unless you choose 0% target tint, the end result is the ability to see activity on your desktop without deactivating the screensaver.
This obviously doesn’t do a great job protecting a CRT from burn-in, but it’s a nice way to crank the brightness on an LCD down while you are away from your computer.
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Download podcasts with MSH (Monad)
One of my (many) resolutions for 2006 is to adopt the new Microsoft Shell (MSH) into my daily routine. For me, the first steps down that road are language fundamentals (thank you Andy Oakley) and teaching myself to identify tasks that would be better done from the shell. I’ll post bits of scripts as I start using them day to day.
This first script downloads RSS enclosures to a local directory for future consumption. I don’t have a portable MP3 player, so I burn podcasts to a CD-RW and listen to them on my commute. As such, I don’t have a need for a podcast aggregator with many bells or whistles. Instead, I have a scheduled task on my Media Center PC that runs this script each night.
Vonajé 0.3
Vonajé is a simple Java API that gives you programmatic access your Vonage account information, including voicemails. 0.3 includes experimental support for the Canadian Vonage service. Vonajé’s primary use today is in Marty Lamb’s TiVonage - an extension for TiVo that makes it easy to check your Vonage voicemail through your TV.
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AutoProgressDialog 0.1
Microsoft provides COM access to the standard Windows progress dialog through the IProgressDialog interface. Unfortunately for VBA and VBScript developers, the interface is not exposed to Automation. AutoProgressDialog is a simple COM Automation wrapper you can use to open, update, and close a standard Windows progress dialog from script.