Phase II

[last update:] 07 dec '10
...continuing Phase 1, from now on I think I'll update only the newer >HKLoops2< (replacing the easier to read HKLoops), and please take > h_default_macros < AND > h_OneNote.ahk < with it.

Also I will introduce you to mister >>_hidecursorIDLE<<, that makes more than it says. Specifically it will give high priority to the process belonging to the active window while lowering the resources to low for the prior window.

Optionally conjuncted with running after logged in windows (for example) >_fast_priority<, that would set all the processes to low consumption. For this you would also need to edit _fast_priority by yourself to include the processes that you know are ok to be lowered, and to extract this zip in a path mapped directory, for example directly into X:\WINDOWS\system32.
[update] if the pv doesn't succeed in lowering the priorities, use the previous (phase 1) mentioned DTaskManager (right click, Set Priority -> Low to all processes) at least until I find a workaround for some systems; well, found it! Your choice now, edit and be safe, or bulk lower them with Dimio's.

Panic buttons:
Ctrl + Alt + B shows the cursor and exits _hidecursorIDLE
Ctrl + WinKey + H toggles the *hide cursor when idle* option, now set default to do *not hide*
Ctrl + WinKey + 1 forces the active window to become Normal priority (if high is too much for the nasty resource eating application)
Ctrl + WinKey + 5 puts _hidecursorIDLE and HKLoops.exe's priority to Normal; HKLoops' name is hardcoded at line 32, please change after "change here" if you're used to HKLoops2 instead

HKLoops obvious changes:
autocompile thanks to gwarble, ScrollLock enhanced and slightly modified
;btw instead of btw would search the previous word in all the notes
;dict instead of dict would search over the net the previous word by the help of Launchy (provided that you've learned Launchy to do the deed

Alt + Backspace launches a helper window helping you to find a window by name (theoretically on any virtual screen)

All operations in HKLoops are now clipboard safe; that is before internally using a copy paste, it will save the clipboard and then restore it


[update:]
If you are not already using the option of rasing/focusing the active window while hovering above it, use XMouse2K for it.
in a physical multimonitor enviroment:
- you may consider WindowPad.ahk and please take >my .ini< for it, which inhibits all the functions minus Winkey+ Enter = move window on the next monitor, and two others that you'll easily spot
- you may want to edit HKLoops2 if you are using VirtualDesktop and you do have different keymappings than Ctrl Shift (aka the new CapsLock) starting from the line containing "~*^+F1::"; there you'll also find that I've just included keys for enable/disable physical monitors

See the sources for more "goodies"!

---


*hiding the cursor solution is from this post http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/topic6107.html
*for more information about the mysterious zip file that contains a little program "pv" that can change the priority of *ANY* process, you may check this site: http://www.teamcti.com/pview/prcview.htm

Play on

Talking about holidays, especially if you have kids, you may start by buying a nice controller with at least as many buttons(12, 4 are on the side in pictures) and joysticks(2) as this one: DualShock2. Be careful to be PC compatible so you'd not get into additional steps.

Then, if you didn't knew it by now, there are some dedicated people that made a truly wonderful effort in emulating the Playstation2 >on Windows< and Linux. <- download from the link

To configure it I have >made a few screenshots < so it would be easier for beginners, but if you get into trouble I highly recommend you >to start here <
The project is mature, I wouldn't blog about it otherwise, but it is in constant development, so do check their site from time to time.

What does it mean? Well, it means that if you have a sufficiently powerful computer (I'd recommend starting from 3Ghz HyperThreading), you will be able to enjoy some games that never made it on PC until now. A while ago, even I have made the wrong assumption that any worthy game was ported and thus I have played :)


Also, some games from the Nintendo's side made their way to the portable console, the DS. Guess what, another dedicated fella made a huge amount of effort and realized an emulator that you can download from here: http://www.nogba.com/no$gba-download.htm

accompanied by this program that will make your emulated DS to be bigger and work better, but I don't remember where I found it: No$Zoomer

So, talking about that Christmas with the little ones, Kingdom Hearts 2 is a wonderful experience to share, the kids will love to meet and play Disney stories and characters, starting with Donald and not ending with the Pirates of the Caribbeans, but just getting warmer. While as a parent you may find it "Goofy" as a concept, you'll be amazed when your kid will drag you to help them in the quests that are so wonderfully intricate that will also have the kid to drag you away from the gamepad :) Music, style, rhythm and joyful gameplay.

>Final Fantasy IV< is a game that shines in game design. The battles in this one and the dynamics of the story are intelligent indeed, and you may feel the most challenge here from all the series that is now somewhere at number XIII. A good start and if you beat the game, you may dwell further perhaps with Final Fantasy X for Playstation2 and more, but I'll write hopefully something more comprehensive about them at another time. For now I note down another gem for DS, from the classical game design point of view but also for its fun gameplay, Zelda Phantom Hourglass. And back to more serious business for me :)

I will return with further recommendations in this post, for now I stamp it with the dynamic label.

P.S. I've just stumbled upon this >Yale course in Game Theory<, so nicely presented it gets a shout here;
and a link to download section, as from the main it gets very difficult to download.