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11 Sep 2020 - Podcast #710 - (26:14)
It's Like NPR on the Web
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MacroExpress is an application that has been on every Windows computer I've used since sometime in the late 1990s. It's one of those rare applications that I consider to be absolutely essential.
At its most simple, MacroExpress replaces one set of keystrokes with another. For example, I created a text file when I started compiling the information for this segment of the program. My procedure for naming files is to start with a name and follow that with the date I started working on the report. So the file's name is MacroExpress-2020-08-17.txt.
Instead of having to type "2020-08-17", I type two periods followed by "dfd". The first "d" means "date" and "fd" means "file date". The letters could be anything I choose, but I have several date and time macros to serve different purposes:
All of the time information uses a 24-hour clock.
Trivial? You bet, but I need to type the date, the time, or both several times a day. The macro ensures that I'll get both the date and the time right and without having to refer to a calendar or clock, that I'll always use the same format to type the values, and that I won't commit a typo.
If you use Facebook, you've probably seen phony ads for expensive Ray-Ban sunglasses at impossibly low prices. They are counterfeits, of course, and they are shoddy.
The fake ads are posted most frequently when someone's Facebook account has been compromised, but some people see the phony ads and repost them, thinking that they're doing someone a favor.
So I have a little macro that says the poster's account may have been taken over by crooks. It includes links to Facebook's page that explains what do do if your account has been stolen, but it also includes a link that explains the fake Ray-Ban ads if the user posted the scam negligently.
I created the macro using the assembler function in which the user simply selects (1) actions from a list of possible options and then (2) edits properties of the action.
When responding to a Facebook post that has the scam ad, all I need to do is (3) type two periods followed by "rayban" to insert the full message with links to two different resources. Typing this manually would take several minutes because I would have to look up the addresses, copy and paste them, and compose the message. Using MacroExpress reduces the time require to about two seconds.
Here's another time-saving example: Two periods followed by "tbwwdir" types this "D:\WEBSITES-Dev\TechByter.com\_development_NO_UPLOAD\TechByter pending". When I'm exporting screen shots from SnagIt for use on the website, I need to specify the directory the files should be copied to. Typing seven letters is a lot easier than typing 71 letters and characters. It's also guaranteed to be accurate every time.
Insight Software has four offerings: ShortKeys, Keyboard Express, MacroExpress, and MacroExpress Pro. I'm using MacroExpress Pro to describe the operation and each of the versions has varying lists of features. Most of the time I could get by with nothing more than ShortKeys, but occasionally I need features that are available only in MacroExpress Pro.
I've mentioned typing two periods before typing the shortkey word. This is something that the user chooses. By default, MacroExpress uses two backslashes (\\), but I prefer two periods (..). Some users set the shortkey prefix as a single period, but I consider that unwise. Using a single period could cause a macro to trigger unexpectedly if the user types a file extension that's being used as a shortkey value: .exe, .txt, and .xml are examples.
It's also possible to specify that the shortkey indicator should be used as a suffix ("greets.." instead of "..greets"). Also by default the shortkey and its prefix or suffix are removed when MacroExpress replaces the text. If you need to keep the shortkey in addition to the text, you can do that.
In other words, the program can be configured to work exactly the way you want it to work.
MacroExpress offers several ways to create macros: It can record your keystrokes and mouse movements, you can use a macro assembler to pick actions from a list, and you can even edit the macro scripts direct once you've learned the language. First-time users will appreciate the Wizard.
To use the Wizard, click the Wizard button and work through a series of screens to create the macro. Once created, the macro can be modified in the macro assembler view or in the script editor view.
Here's how it works.
The Wizard's first screen determines what you want the macro to do: Create a reminder, or type text or other data; send email, load a web page, or map a disk drive; play a sound or video, or adjust volume; work with programs, windows, files, or folders, or reboot or shut down the computer. I'll choose the first option.
Now, if I compose an email and want to include a photo of my pet spider, I type "..spider". Then MacroExpress removes "..spider" and pastes in the photo.
Although I usually create and edit macros using the macro assembler to pick items from lists and then modify their properties, it is possible to create or edit macros in the application's edit mode or even to edit in a text editor such as UltraEdit Studio.
A decade or more ago I created a macro for fun at the office. The macro first determines what day it is (Monday through Friday) and whether the time is before noon or after noon.
Once that's been determined, MacroExpress writes some text. I used it to respond immediately to co-workers who sent an instant message. If I typed two periods followed by "greets" on a Monday morning, this would be the result: "Greetings" in a variety of languages. On Friday afternoon, the response would be "Happy Friday afternoon!" with translations into another batch of languages.
I had used Google's translate function to create messages in several languages and the macro had ten possible responses, from Monday morning through Friday afternoon.
Then I decided that I'd like to use the macro on Saturday and Sunday, too. I could have used the macro assembler to add more branches and labels, but thought that it would be faster to use the MacroExpress editor. Actually, I copied the script from the MacroExpress editor to UltraEdit studio because that provided color coding that's handy.
I made the appropriate changes, pasted the code back into MacroExpress and found that I'd made only one error, twice. The error was obvious and easily corrected so updating the macro to cover 14 possibilities (Monday morning through Sunday afternoon) took only a few moments.
Perhaps someday I'll expand the macro to cover 21 possibilities: Morning, afternoon, and evening for each of the seven days. But probably not.
Insight Software has typically released the previous Pro version at a lower price when a new version is released, so now the previous Macro Express 5 Pro is named Macro Express and is being sold for $50, which is $20 less than the cost of the pro version. But there's also Keyboard Express for $35 and ShortKeys for $30. Which is right for you?
The MacroExpress page compares the applications, but briefly:
Macros save time and reduce errorsAny repetitive task is a candidate for a macros. Those who need nothing more than simple text replacement will find the inexpensive ShortKeys can handle their needs. For more complicated needs, Insight Software offers three other applications, including MacroExpress Pro that can automate far more than just text replacements.
If you've never tried one of these programs, download a 30-day trial version and give it a try. Anything that you have do do more than a couple of times can be standarized and goof-proofed with a macro.
Additional details are available on the Insight Software website.
Any account. Period. Any email, instant message, or phone call that says you must "verify" your account information has about a 99.999% chance of being a scam.
When you log into Facebook from a device that Facebook doesn't recognize, you may receive a message that describes the unexpected login, but the message will say that you need not do anything if you logged in from the described device. If not, then you should change your password by logging on normally. The message does not say that you need to confirm anything.
This is a familiar drill. A bank will never ask you to confirm your account number; the bank knows your account number. It will never ask you to confirm your password.
So if you receive an email or an instant message that wants you to do something, especially if you have to do that something within a few minutes or hours, treat it with extreme suspicion.
You probably know that Facebook sometimes takes down posts that violate "community standards", and scammers have started using this to steal people's credentials. The scammer usually sends an instant message that says you've violated community standards, but the message contains no information about the supposed infraction.
Most of these messages then tell the user that they need to follow a link and perform an action. That action is usually described in terms of validating or confirming your account. The link will take you to a screen that looks like a Facebook login page. Under the guise of security, the form may ask for other identification or information such as mother's maiden name, last four digits of a Social Security number, and other terms that are commonly used as secondary means of identification.
If you enter your user name and password there, you'll have just given your credentials to a crook. What happens next depends on the intelligence of the scammer.
An intelligent scammer, after capturing your credentials, will log you in to Facebook and then step out of the way. You'll be able to continue without suspecting that a problem exists and the scammer can log in to your account and change the password. By the time the user realizes what has happened, the scammer will have had several hours to play.
Because too many people still use one set of credentials for multiple accounts, the scammer will try to log on to other accounts -- banks in your area, Amazon, and other stores. When the login succeeds, the scammer can change passwords and contact information, then place orders or make withdrawals.
Less intelligent scammers just fail the login process, leaving the victim to figure out what happened. Many users will quickly realize that something bad has happened when the dumb scammer takes this route, and that can limit the crook's time with valid stolen credentials.
If there's a problem with your account, you'll be notified the next time you try to log in. What's surprising about some of the recent scams is that messages claiming to be from Facebook are sent to Twitter users. That would be like the CEO of Toyota buying a Honda. Facebook doesn't use Twitter to notify users. Facebook doesn't even use its own Messenger service to notify users. If one of your posts has been taken down, you'll be notified in your timeline.
Observant users will see other clear indications that the message is a fake: The URL will go to an unusual domain: facebook-security.info instead of facebook.com, for example, or chase-fraud.site instead of chase.com. Instead of clicking a link that claims to be from your bank, an online store, or a social media site, just go to the site using your browser and log in. If you see no warning when logging in normally, smile. You'll just have saved yourself a lot of trouble and distress.
In the 1960s, top 40 radio stations had recorded promos that shouted "the hits just keep on coming!" The same could be said about fraudulent emails that differ in form from what I described when talking about account verification. Here are a couple of recent scam attempts.
Click any of the small images for a full-size view. To dismiss the larger image, press ESC or tap outside the image.
The first is a variant of the "verify your account" scam. It's so obvious that I have trouble imagining anyone falling for it. Here's what I saw with a quick glance.
The second is a common scam that promises a gift from a big retailer. Take our 30-second survey, the scammer says, and we'll give you a reward with a value up to $90. But the message at the top of the page says it's a $50 value. Pay attention to details, scammer!
What's wrong with this one? Lots! I suppose I should mention the sender's email address, but that's so obvious that I didn't highlight it on the screen shot. Sam's Club would not send marketing messages from a Netherlands email address.
The point here is that it's not difficult to foil scammers. Just view every message with a bit of suspicion.
As much as I've denigrated level-one technicians, they do serve an important purpose: They have the user try the obvious solutions that may solve the problem without involving more knowledgeable technicians.
My complaints about the level-one folks occur when they ignore what I've told them and insist on running through the list they have in front of them. I can't really fault them because they've been told (maybe threatened) that no calls can be escalated to level two or level three until the level-one tech has confirmed that the person with the problem has done all of the basic tests.
If I contact a company for support, enumerate all of the steps I have already taken to resolve the issue, and the level-one tech recognizes that I have already performed every task on the list level-one techs have been provided, then the level-one tech should be empowered to pass the call directly to level two. Unfortunately, many companies don't do this.
One recent notable exception was my experience with TP-Link when the US-based support technician recognized almost immediately that the problem I had was one that should be addressed by a senior technician. Even the senior tech wasn't able to resolve the problem, but at least I didn't have to waste time repeating tasks that I'd already done.
One of the best ways to deal with support technicians, though, is to avoid having to deal with them at all. There is one easy step that's essential in troubleshooting any issue and that may solve the problem quickly.
When something seems not to be working properly, reboot the computer. That simple step fixes a surprising number of computer problems. Simply put, that is the first thing you should do whenever something seems to be amiss. If rebooting doesn't fix the problem, using a search engine to look for descriptions of the problem you're experiencing or the error message that's displayed may help.
But don't skip that first step.
If rebooting the computer doesn't resolve a problem, it's time to think about what else might have changed. Level-one technicians are trained to ask users if they've changed anything recently even though they know the user will doubtless deny making any changes, either because the user forgot about the change or because the user is lying.
A few weeks ago, the text editor I use to write most of the TechByter Worldwide segments and to manage the RSS file for the program started acting strange.
Whenever I attempted to paste new text over some selected text or to use the backspace key, the program would throw an error that said it couldn't update the file I was working on. I worked the IDM Computer Solutions for several days to figure out what the problem was.
The "AHA! moment" occurred when the technician I was working with asked what antivirus application I was using. I've used Microsoft Security Essentials for at least a year, but ... ah ... wait. Acronis True Image just installed the 2021 update and it added some protective features.
I turned the Acronis security features off and UltraEdit Studio operated normally. When I turned the Acronis security features back on, UltraEdit Studio failed again. The additional features in the 2021 update hadn't occurred to me until the technician at IDM Computer Solutions asked what protective measures were in place.
Even then I might not have made the connection, except that I remembered UltraEdit Studio started throwing error messages the day after the Acronis update.
In September, 2000, I asked "Would you want to store files on the internet?"
The Xdrive service started out for free, but AOL acquired it in 2005 and then shut it down three years later. During the time AOL ran it, Xdrive offered a free 5MB account to anyone with an AOL screen name. That could be expanded to 50MB for $10 per month. Today 50MB would hold two (at most) photos from my digital camera.
Despite the limited (by today's standards) amount of storage, the attractions then were the same as they are now: "Because you can get to Xdrive from any computer that's connected to the internet, you can use your Xdrive from any desktop computer with a web browser. You can also access your Xdrive files from any web-enabled device -- a PDA or a mobile phone. (Whether your PDA or mobile phone will know what to do with the files is another question.)"