Readers offer their best tips for creating quick QR codes with Bit.ly, disabling auto-space for a word in Swype, and opening up Windows programs in separate windows.
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About the Tips Box: Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons—maybe they're a bit too niche, maybe we couldn't find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn't fit it in—the tip didn't make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments, share it here, or email it to tips at lifehacker.com.
Create QR Codes with Bit.ly
Dyehillup shows us how to make a quick QR code with popular URL shortener Bit.ly:
Instantly create QR codes from bit.ly by appending ".qrcode" at the end of the shortened link. Visiting the appended link will give you a QR code instead of the original page.
We've already shown you how to create quick QR codes with goo.gl, but if you're using the more widespread Bit.ly (what with its incredibly useful API), this trick will work just as well for you.
Disable Auto-Spacing for the Next Word in Swype
Mikhail shares an easy fix for one of Swype's biggest annoyances—auto-spacing when it isn't necessary:
in Swype, swiping from Space to Backspace turns off auto spacing for next word. So, if you typed "was" and realized you wanted to have "wasn't" you can turn off space and add "n't" instead of having to erase and redo the whole thing.
Shift+Click to Open Programs in New Windows
Gzusphish shares a way to separate an app into multiple windows:
Free yourself from Excel's single-window tendencies by shift-clicking its taskbar entry. (btw...this apparently works for all applications)
A couple of versions back, Microsoft changed Excel's default windowing behavior by causing it to open all workbooks in the same window: an inconvenience—and even an occasional headache—for dual-monitor junkies. This meant that even if you had multiple workbooks open, and even though multiple tabs appear on the taskbar, Excel would only appear on one monitor at a time.
I'm not entirely sure if there's a way to change this default behavior (slaps self on wrist), but there are definitely workarounds (at least for Office 2007 on Window 7). If you right-click an Excel tab on the taskbar and click the "Microsoft Office Excel 2007" item at the bottom of the context menu, you'll get a new instance that can be moved independently of the original. Shift-click does the same thing if you can get at a shift key.
We've featured this shortcut before, but thought it was worth repeating since it's less of a time-saving shortcut and more of a hidden feature (since it doesn't appear this is accessible by any context menu).
Use Descriptors Instead of Headlines for Easier Bookmark Reference
SpudDude lets us know an easier way to reference bookmarks:
I've got to say that I love Lifehacker. However, there is so much information that I oftentimes bookmark every good article for later reference.
When bookmarking, I frequently will summarize the article in my mind with a few keywords that I'd use to find it later in the Firefox Awesomebar. If those same words aren't already in the title, I just add them by double-clicking on the Firefox link and then appending them to the title.