I was sailing this week in our mid-week twilight race. During the race the QE2 departed our port for the final time, as she now makes her way toward retirement as a floating Casino in Dubai.

When two boats are heading toward each other, if the other boat is slipping backwards against the horizon, then you’re going to cross in front of her; if she’s moving ahead against the horizon, then she’ll cross in front of you; if she’s stationary, then it time to think creatively! I have to say, when you look up at the bow of the QE2, there isn’t that much horizon left to use that little trick!

Safely cross in front we did, and then tacked and ran along side this majestic ship. She still looks as grand and stately and regal as she did in 1969 when she made her maiden voyage. What a way to spend a Wednesday night!

I mention this, because with the useful utilities, tweaks and other time savers I have for you in this month’s tips and tricks, maybe you can crib back just enough of those precious minutes to have the chance to need to think creatively too!

KatMouse is a real timesaver, especially with an extended desktop or dual screens.

When you are working with several different windows open you must have noticed how annoying it is to have to click on a window before you can scroll the contents of that window using your mouse scrolling button. KatMouse is a simple free utility that overcomes this by allowing scrolling in any window simply by hovering the cursor over the Window. This is a major increase in the usefulness of the mouse wheel.

An optional side-benefit of the KatMouse software is that you can use the wheel button for a kind of task switching: with a click of the wheel button you can push the current window under the other windows on your desktop.

There have been many products that claim to make your PC run faster and for the most part they either don’t work or cause more problems than they are worth.

This is different. This actually works! The program is called Actual Booster 3.1. It works by simply boosting the priority of whatever program is running in the foreground window, that is, the currently active window. Only that program is affected; it does not change the priority of any background program or process. Read more

Google has introduced an online business software package designed to make it easier for people in the same organisation to share documents and information.

The free “Team Edition” software represents the internet search leader’s latest attempt to attract more users to free applications, in the face of more traditional word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and calendar programs. Read more

Windows ReadyBoost is a disk caching technology that helps make your operating system and applications load faster by using flash memory for caching. The catch is it’s a Vista feature. However now, you can use eBoostr to perform windows ReadyBoost on XP. It makes use of XP’s prefetch data to cache files on a faster flash drive, and it can support up to four flash devices. Read more

A mind-controlled gaming headset has been unveiled. A neuroheadset that allows the wearer to play videogames simply by thinking will go on sale later this year! Read more