Comments on: Why Slickrun is the best thing in the world, ever http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/ A survival guide for the 21st century researcher Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:32:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Academic Productivity » Quicker references with Google Scholar http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/#comment-1564 Academic Productivity » Quicker references with Google Scholar Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:44:19 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/archives/23#comment-1564 [...] is enhanced for me with other tools that make instant search easier. I use a keyboard launcher, Slickrun, which means I can execute searches from a command line accessible via a hotkey. Other keyboard [...] [...] is enhanced for me with other tools that make instant search easier. I use a keyboard launcher, Slickrun, which means I can execute searches from a command line accessible via a hotkey. Other keyboard [...]

]]> By: Martin http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/#comment-257 Martin Sat, 17 Feb 2007 11:35:13 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/archives/23#comment-257 Damn! Just had been typing a long comment but it got lost while I tried to send it. :-( So again (this time a little shorter): I first was using Quicksilver on my PowerBook and LOVE IT! It saves me that much time each day, each hour, each second... ;-) it's just great and there are plugins for nearly everything you can imagine. Searching for a (free) alternative for windows I found SlickRun some weeks ago. SlickRun is great, I would not know how to do without it any more. As an addition to your interesting remarks another useful application: Translation to other languages. I created magic words "den" and "defr" which search for the word which follows them in online dictionaries like www.leo.org or dict.tu-chemnitz.de, so I can get very quickly a firefox tab with possible translations of those words! Great thing and saves a lot of time!! Accessing files in SlickRun is not that easy, I think. I created magic words for often used folders, but to find the word file I just created one hour ago there is no magic word and typing the whole path is a pain, even with the auto-completion features of SlickRun. So for all those who feel that too, I recommend Launchy (www.launchy.net). It's also free and (as Quicksilver) it indexes folders of your choise (and rebuilds the index regularly, e. g. every 20 mins). You can type fragments of a file name or folder name and get a list of hits where you can choose the one you're searching or type more characters to get a smaller list of hits. It's great, I'm using both SlickRun AND Launchy - each one according to its particular strengths and it saves me a lot of time! :-) Martin Damn! Just had been typing a long comment but it got lost while I tried to send it. :-(
So again (this time a little shorter):

I first was using Quicksilver on my PowerBook and LOVE IT! It saves me that much time each day, each hour, each second… ;-) it’s just great and there are plugins for nearly everything you can imagine.

Searching for a (free) alternative for windows I found SlickRun some weeks ago.
SlickRun is great, I would not know how to do without it any more.
As an addition to your interesting remarks another useful application: Translation to other languages.
I created magic words “den” and “defr” which search for the word which follows them in online dictionaries like http://www.leo.org or dict.tu-chemnitz.de, so I can get very quickly a firefox tab with possible translations of those words! Great thing and saves a lot of time!!

Accessing files in SlickRun is not that easy, I think. I created magic words for often used folders, but to find the word file I just created one hour ago there is no magic word and typing the whole path is a pain, even with the auto-completion features of SlickRun.

So for all those who feel that too, I recommend Launchy (www.launchy.net). It’s also free and (as Quicksilver) it indexes folders of your choise (and rebuilds the index regularly, e. g. every 20 mins).
You can type fragments of a file name or folder name and get a list of hits where you can choose the one you’re searching or type more characters to get a smaller list of hits.
It’s great, I’m using both SlickRun AND Launchy - each one according to its particular strengths and it saves me a lot of time!
:-)

Martin

]]> By: Martin http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/#comment-256 Martin Sat, 17 Feb 2007 11:22:18 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/archives/23#comment-256 Very interesting post! I'am also using slickrun for some weeks now and I would not know how to do without it. I was searching for something like the unbeaten Quicksilver I have on my PowerBook. Quicksilver is much more powerful, but SlickRun is also extremely useful. To add some ideas: As I often have translate from german to english or french (or vice vers), I also created magic words "den" (german english) and "defr" to access directly my favorite dictionary sites http://dict-tu.chemnitz.de and www.leo.org (for french) and look up the word I was typing after the magic word. So typing "den gargantual" opens a firefox tab which gives me the english translation. That's great. However, a feature I miss in SlickRun (which I love in Quicksilver) is very fast navigation in my file system. In SlickRun I have to enter the file path. Sure, you can create magic words for often used directories (I did that also), but to find the word file I've edited one hour ago that is not an option and even with the automatic completion of paths in SlickRun I think it's too slow. Rock-It-Launcher did that, but then I found the free app Launchy (www.launchy.net) which can do that even better: It creates an index of directories the user can choose. This index is updated every 20 minutes. You can type fragments of the file or path name and launchy lists the corresponding files so you can choose the one you want to open really fast. (Works also for directories, if the search term ".dir" is entered in the setup). So as there seems to be no free app for windows doing all that at once (I love Quicksilver!!!) I'm using both SlickRun and Launchy - each one for its strengths. Very interesting post! I’am also using slickrun for some weeks now and I would not know how to do without it. I was searching for something like the unbeaten Quicksilver I have on my PowerBook. Quicksilver is much more powerful, but SlickRun is also extremely useful.

To add some ideas: As I often have translate from german to english or french (or vice vers), I also created magic words “den” (german english) and “defr” to access directly my favorite dictionary sites http://dict-tu.chemnitz.de and http://www.leo.org (for french) and look up the word I was typing after the magic word.
So typing “den gargantual” opens a firefox tab which gives me the english translation. That’s great.

However, a feature I miss in SlickRun (which I love in Quicksilver) is very fast navigation in my file system. In SlickRun I have to enter the file path. Sure, you can create magic words for often used directories (I did that also), but to find the word file I’ve edited one hour ago that is not an option and even with the automatic completion of paths in SlickRun I think it’s too slow.
Rock-It-Launcher did that, but then I found the free app Launchy (www.launchy.net) which can do that even better:
It creates an index of directories the user can choose. This index is updated every 20 minutes.
You can type fragments of the file or path name and launchy lists the corresponding files so you can choose the one you want to open really fast. (Works also for directories, if the search term “.dir” is entered in the setup).

So as there seems to be no free app for windows doing all that at once (I love Quicksilver!!!) I’m using both SlickRun and Launchy - each one for its strengths.

]]> By: Shane http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/#comment-214 Shane Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:31:08 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/archives/23#comment-214 I reckon we are going to see a resurgence in command line user interfaces. I am not the only one: http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/ui_breakthroughcomma.html I reckon we are going to see a resurgence in command line user interfaces. I am not the only one:

http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/ui_breakthroughcomma.html

]]> By: dario http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/#comment-212 dario Wed, 07 Feb 2007 23:27:25 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/archives/23#comment-212 Shane, a friend pointed me to Quicksilver, the Mac OS brother of Slickrun—which reminded me having read about it in your post. The double recommendation convinced me to give it a try it so this evening I installed it and started playing with it. Result: I just can't imagine having spent years of work on a computer without using a tool like this. Possibly the smartest productivity invention after the shell :) Great tip, thanks! Mac OS users may want to take a look at the list of extraordinary <a href="http://docs.blacktree.com/quicksilver/tutorials" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">tutorials</a> on how to make the most out of Quicksilver. Shane,
a friend pointed me to Quicksilver, the Mac OS brother of Slickrun—which reminded me having read about it in your post. The double recommendation convinced me to give it a try it so this evening I installed it and started playing with it. Result: I just can’t imagine having spent years of work on a computer without using a tool like this. Possibly the smartest productivity invention after the shell :) Great tip, thanks!

Mac OS users may want to take a look at the list of extraordinary tutorials on how to make the most out of Quicksilver.

]]> By: Todd Stanfield http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/#comment-184 Todd Stanfield Tue, 30 Jan 2007 22:47:01 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/archives/23#comment-184 Thanks for the tip. Love Slickrun and love your blog. Keep it up. Thanks for the tip. Love Slickrun and love your blog. Keep it up.

]]> By: Skubmmi http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/#comment-52 Skubmmi Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:38:06 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/archives/23#comment-52 Indeed, I've been using slickrun since one year, and it became on of my list of basic tools to run into my laptop. Another very essential tool is NEO, which I recommend to all of you. Indeed,
I’ve been using slickrun since one year, and it became on of my list of basic tools to run into my laptop.
Another very essential tool is NEO, which I recommend to all of you.

]]> By: Silvia http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/#comment-12 Silvia Fri, 03 Nov 2006 04:01:20 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/archives/23#comment-12 You are right: it is one of my favourites now.Thanks. You are right: it is one of my favourites now.Thanks.

]]> By: Buzz Bruggeman http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/#comment-10 Buzz Bruggeman Sun, 29 Oct 2006 06:10:15 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/archives/23#comment-10 Some time...lets talk, and let me show you some things about ActiveWords that might not be apparent. I think we have done a lot more than Slickrun, and at the end of the day, the amount of time we same you will more than exceed our cost. Ping me when you have time to talk.. Buzz buzz@activewords.com Some time…lets talk, and let me show you some things about ActiveWords that might not be apparent. I think we have done a lot more than Slickrun, and at the end of the day, the amount of time we same you will more than exceed our cost.

Ping me when you have time to talk..

Buzz
buzz@activewords.com

]]> By: Jonathan Aquino http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/why-slickrun-is-the-best-thing-in-the-world-ever/#comment-9 Jonathan Aquino Sat, 28 Oct 2006 04:26:55 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/archives/23#comment-9 Hey there – I combine SlickRun with YubNub using the following MagicWord: http://yubnub.org/parser/parse?command=$w$ Also a couple of other good productivity tools: • AutoHotKey, for expanding text. For example, I used "--[tab]" to create "–" above, and "bullet[tab]" to create "•" on the left • the Getting Things Done methodology Hey there – I combine SlickRun with YubNub using the following MagicWord: http://yubnub.org/parser/parse?command=w

Also a couple of other good productivity tools:
• AutoHotKey, for expanding text. For example, I used “–[tab]” to create “–” above, and “bullet[tab]” to create “•” on the left
• the Getting Things Done methodology

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