Behold the power of AutoHotKey
AutoHotKey is this amazing, powerful scripting language (and related tools) that lets you customize existing applications and also Windows. It originally started as a simple hotkey/macro tool, but has expanded well beyond that.
For example, let's say I sometimes leave the volume way up when I hibernate my computer and I sometimes go into a business meeting only to have the volume blare. I can write a < 10 line AutoHotKey script that could watch for my computer waking up from sleep and automatically reduce the volume to a safe level I define.
Or, let's say I want to create a hotkey to automatically hide any Windows which might contain web porn in case my wife comes in the room, it would take < 10 lines or so for that.
It's just amazing how easy it is to do things. AutoHotKey's strength is that it lets you glue together existing Windows APIs with thirdparty applications with monitoring/responding to hotkeys, events, etc.
I got a new touch screen laptop and within a few days had written a handful of apps that made the device far more usable.
Any script you write can be compiled into an exe for faster execution and so you can distribute it.
It requires programming experience to use this, but if you've got that, you'll find it fun as hell.
For the gamers among you, holy crap, you can kick more ass with less work, and even automate in game actions based on images and pixel colors.
Here's a simple tutorial about how to make a little program to screw with your family/friends:
And for you Farmville freaks, here's how you can grow more corns:
^Q
Check out the quick start tutorial!
