Home Posts tagged "Joe Glines"

Tag: Joe Glines

AHK Newsletter 2025-03-20 Henry Ford Had a Row of Buttons – I Have a Streamdeck & AI (And It’s Better)

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

During World War I Henry Ford sued a Chicago newspaper for libeling him when they called him an “ignorant pacifist”

At trial Henry Fords testimony was brilliant!

“If I should really want to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer any question I desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts.

Now, will you kindly tell me, why I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?”

With my StreamDeck I have a list of buttons on the bottom row to press that connect me with “experts” in their area.

I remember when I was on a call with Maestrith (author of AHK Studio) and in 1 hour he could create code that would have taken me a week.

More so the code was more reliable, easier to understand, and maintainable.  He almost-always used an API approach instead of imititating a human.

It’s why I decided to stop learning to code, and just hire experts to do it for me.

Elgato Stream Deck with 32 keys showing icons for Zoom, Lights, Recording, Mute, AutoHotkey, Sugatoha and contact photos

It’s also one of the main reasons people join our AHK hero group.

Not only does the group let you ask questions to AHK Gurus for 3 hours a week, you can also reach out anytime in our Private Telegram group.

If you look at the 2nd row on my StreamDeck , you’ll see corresponding buttons I use frequently around the AHK Hero club.

If you’re wanting access to experts, there is no better option than joining the AHK Hero club!

Click hear and learn more about it!

Now on with the show…

Learn how to Master VSCode Make the switch to v2 Intro to AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey Intermediate ObjectsGUIs are Easy w/AutoHotkey Access all our Courses; Quit when you want

Creating Menus in AutoHotkey v2 is a Breeze️

During an AHK Hero call Isaias led us on a mini-tutorial of how easy it is to create Menus in AutoHotkey v2.  You can an extraction of the Hero call here.

If you’d like to learn more about working with GUIs you can check out our GUIs are Easier in AHK v2 course.

Learning Menus in AutoHotkey v2 [Excerpt from AHK Hero call]
Learning Menus in AutoHotkey v2 [Excerpt from AHK Hero call]

Creating Gorgeous HTML GUIS with WebViewToo and AutoHotkey

Speaking of Hero calls, last week GeekDude joined us and shared his examples using the WebviewToo library.

I extracted this video where Isaias worked through the examples.

Learn how to create Beautiful HTML GUIS with this amazing AHK V2 library WebViewToo
Learn how to create Beautiful HTML GUIS with this amazing AHK V2 library WebViewToo

If you care to donate to GeekDude, you can do so here.

Subscriber Response to 5 most used AHK scripts

A while back I created this video talking about my “5 most used AHK scripts”.

Michael Hafen, a subscriber, created this video in response to mine.

He had some very interesting use cases which I highly recommend you check out!  I also asked him to be a guest at the AHK Hero group to walk through some of his scripts and answer questions.

My most used/helpful Autohotkey V2 Scripts
My most used/helpful Autohotkey Version 2 Scripts

My first YouTube video

I was looking through old videos and noticed my first video created 13 years ago.

A bit scary how similar my computer looks now compared to then (I was on XP then).

BTW With Windows 11 I use ExplorerPatch to put my taskbar on the right.

XP Start Menu – Toolbars
XP Start Menu - Toolbars

Fixing PhoneLink

If you’re an Android user you definitely should check out PhoneLink.

It allows you to interact with your phone from your PC.

Unfortunately it has been problematic for many users so Isaias and I created this video to show how we fixed our instance.

From Frustration to Success: Watch How we Fixed Microsoft Phone Link❗
From Frustration to Success: Watch How we Fixed Microsoft Phone Link❗

Improving People’s Lives: Story #41

Our client is constantly setting-up Zoom meetings with her clients.

I told her about the Zoom scheduler which integrates with her zoom calendar for $4.99 a month.

This way she can tell people to check her calendar and book a time.

I know there are free tools but he Zoom calendar integrates well with Zoom and also offers some great features

What we’re reading

AI / Chat GPT-3 News / Usage

⚡️Productivity tips:  Paste Special in Office

Ctrl + Alt + V: Open the Paste Special dialog box in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, allowing you to choose specific formatting options when pasting content.

A spot of Humor

These ManScripts are painfully funny❗

How to Never Get In Trouble With Her Again
MAN SCRIPTS - How to Never Get In Trouble With Her Again

What we utomated this week with AutoHotkey #79

In episode 79 week I covered 106 AHK scripts that we worked on this week at the-Automator.com.

We help people work smarter, not harder❗

You can schedule a call here to see how we can do the same for you %name%

What we Automated with AutoHotkey #79
What we Automated with AutoHotkey #79

Client’s say…

I love your scripts because I don’t have to focus on so many things.   I just look at the image and rely on muscle-memory. — Michael N. (Radiologist)

Cartoon superhero mascot in green costume beside the bold text AHK Hero on a yellow background AHK Hero

Consider joining the AHK Hero club! Members receive 25% off courses, consultations, tutoring, done for you project work, etc.    Currently we have over 387 hours of recordings teaching AutoHotkey that is exclusive to AHK Hero members❗

You can watch 1 hour a day for a year and not repeat content! That’s a lot of AHK Learning!

During this Friday’s call we’re planning to discuss:

They also have access to exclusive & pre-released content and a 3 hours a week where we help people with their AHK issues (the Saturday calls are geared towards people new to AutoHotkey.)

️ Quotable quotes

  • Hire people that are over-performing in crappy jobs — Dan Kennedy
  • Time is linear; Success doesn’t have to be — Joe Glines
  • Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree and I’ll spend the first 4 sharpening the axe — Abraham Lincoln
  • Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt — Mark Twain

AHK Newsletter⏩SHARE WITH A FRIEND⏩

Do you know someone that would benefit from learning useful automation tips like the gems in today’s issue?  Take a second and forward this newsletter and bask in the glow of their undying gratitude.  Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up for this Newsletter here.  We never share your email with anyone.  Ever!

The-Automator

Joe, Isaias, Irfan, Rizwan and staff

P.S. With AGI approaching faster and faster we are in a new era where it isn’t “what you know” it is being able to find a way to solve the problem.

Our team of AHK experts are the best on the planet!

We use AI to create projects for our clients that are light years ahead of others.

Give us a try; I guarantee you’ll be impressed!

AHK newsletter 2025-03-06: my 5 Bullet points of what I did last week… :)

Howdy %Name%,

I enjoyed federal employees squirm in regards to Elon’s email to them asking for 5 bullet-points as to what they had done in the past week.

It’s basically a “pulse-check” yet people are panicked!

Someone asked me if I was going to ask our employees for a list of 5 things they did.  I said it would be more like what 50 things they did!  LOL

But I did think it is a fun exercise to get us thinking so I have a challenge for you %name%.

What 5 AHK scripts did you use most last week?

If you’re wondering which ones I used most, you can check out this video.

My 5 AHK scripts I used most last week Thanks Elon!

My 5 AHK scripts I used most last week Thanks Elon!

Now on with the show…

Learn how to Master VSCode Make the switch to v2 Intro to AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey Intermediate ObjectsGUIs are Easy w/AutoHotkey Access all our Courses; Quit when you want

Simple Webcam Reminder

If you’ve ever recorded a video only to watch it later and realize your webcam covered a critical part of the screen, the Webcam Reminder script is for you!

In this video I explain hour our Webcam Reminder saves you from making this critical error!

Simple Webcam Reminder for those that Record their Desktop and share a Webcam

Simple Webcam Reminder for those that Record their Desktop and share a Webcam

Fun with ️

During this video Isaias and I had a lot of fun showing how you probably have a hotkey that you’re not using.

We also covered other cool ways to double/triple the number of hotkeys you have!

Showing mulitple ways to define hotkeys for an unused key on your Keyboard
Showing mulitple ways to define hotkeys for an unused key on your Keyboard

Add thes to All of your Scripts (We did!)

Quite a while ago I had mentioned to Isaias that we should add the ability to open a running script’s folder to our scripts.

Sometimes I need to share it, inspect something else, jump to the ini file, etc.

I knew it would be helpful but I didn’t realize just how handy it is!  So we went through all of our working scripts and added it to our scripts (as well as link to the video and other info).

In AutoHotkey v2 it is easier than you think!   Check it out in this video.

Easily Adding Open Folder and Video link to system Tray Icon in an AHK V2 Script
Easily Adding Open Folder and Video link to system Tray Icon in an AHK V2 Script

Claude 3.7 Sonnet is Amazing

Last week I spent a few hours using the new Claude model to create some very complex AutoHotkey V2 scripts.   It did a phenomenal job!   If you haven’t used it yet, I highly recommend you give it a try!

And, on that note, our updated Claude API class let’s you add a “thinking” parameter to let you tell AI how much “thought” you want it to do.  Check it out in this video.

Update to Claude AHK Class: Now has 3.7 Sonnet & “Thinking” parameter
Update to Claude AHK Class: Now has 3.7 Sonnet &

If you’re new to working with classes, check our Functions, Objects & Classes course (and don’t forget we offer a double-your-money back guarantee!)

200% Money Back Guarantee badge with a yellow and green starburst seal for AHK courses

Pin a script to Windows 11 start menu

Do you miss being able to pin a script to your start menu?   Microsoft made it ridiculously difficult (but not impossible) to do.  I show you how in this video.

How to Pin a file to Taskbar in Windows 11
How to Pin a file to Taskbar in Windows 11

Improving People’s Lives: Story #39

One of our client’s was asked to monitor a web-email account and to check it twice a week.

While we could setup Outlook to go pull from it, I asked the person in charge of the account to just setup an “auto-forward” so every-email that comes through, automatically, gets forwarded to my client.

Easy- Peezy!

What we’re reading

AI / Chat GPT-3 News / Usage

Bar chart comparing LLM input and output prices per million tokens: GPT-4.5 costs 75 input and 150 output, far above GPT-4o, Claude 3.7 Sonnet and

⚡️Productivity tips:

Ctrl + Shift + N : Create a new folder in the current directory.

A spot of Humor

Did you hear the joke about the unmade bed❓

Of course not, I haven’t made it yet….

What we utomated this week with AutoHotkey #77

This week we had a lot of scripts we worked on.   In this video I walk through 145 AHK scripts we worked on.

What we automated with AutoHotkey #77
What we automated with AutoHotkey #77

A couple weeks ago Connie, an AHK Hero member, had mentioned it would be handy to have all the links to the scripts that were mentioned / shown on-screen during the video.    That idea was great but it was going to create a lot of extra work for me.

Yesterday I realized I could create a simple script to monitory the clipboard and “log” all text that had “the-Automator” in it.   So I got on Claude and created a little script that did just that!   So, in videos description you can find links to the 43 scripts that we have downloads for.

Client’s say…

Holy shit❗ This is amazing — Dr. Kamran J.

Cartoon superhero mascot in green costume beside the bold text AHK Hero on a yellow background AHK Hero

Consider joining the AHK Hero club! Members receive 25% off courses, consultations, tutoring, done for you project work, etc.    Currently we have over 381 hours of recordings teaching AutoHotkey that is exclusive to AHK Hero members❗

You can watch 1 hour a day for a year and not repeat content! That’s a lot of AHK Learning!

During this Friday’s call we’re planning to discuss:

  • Help AHK Hero Members with their Questions & Code
  • FileCreateShortcut & Run commands both require Absolute path
  • Modularizing your Code: Tips & Tricks
  • Breaking out of Loops without exiting the script
  • Using Shellhooks verse creating a child window or Popup
  • How to prevent cached responses when doing HttpRequest?
  • Not creating multiple copies of code but ensuring the right version is used

They also have access to exclusive & pre-released content and a 3 hours a week where we help people with their AHK issues (the Saturday calls are geared towards people new to AutoHotkey.)

️ Quotable quotes

  • The thing most people like least is a mirror — Dan Kennedy
  • Systems let the Ordinary to do the Extraordinary — Joe Glines
  • Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me — Carol Burnett
  • If you want better results, forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead — James Cleary

AHK Newsletter⏩SHARE WITH A FRIEND⏩

Do you know someone that would benefit from learning useful automation tips like the gems in today’s issue?  Take a second and forward this newsletter and bask in the glow of their undying gratitude.  Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up for this Newsletter here.  We never share your email with anyone.  Ever!

The-Automator

Joe, Isaias, Irfan, Rizwan and staff

P.S.  DOGE is getting amazing things done by mostly “cutting” programs.  That is one of my favorite ways to be more efficient (focusing on less) but they are also working on updating archaic systems.

If you have older Windows-based software, AutoHotkey is an amazing at connecting and automating it.  We know of 20 ways to automate programs with AutoHotkey!

Why not take a look at my calendar and book a call where we can see just how easy it will be?

Why I’m Thankful: Happy Thanksgiving❗

Today I’m looking forward to an amazing Thanksgiving with my immediate family!

I know a lot of you are outside the US thus don’t celebrate Thanksgiving however it’s probably the one holiday that I think really should have global appeal.

Being thankful for what we have is  a great way to stay humble and happy.   Too many people have a sense of entitlement and feel they are “owed” more because they are being held-back.

I don’t talk much about what life was like for me growing up (as it isn’t really relevant to automation) however I can say that I was able to achieve great things in spite of the shitty life I had growing up.

Here are a  couple of very short articles I wrote when I was in an English class in JR. college.

These will give you a tiny glimpse into what I went through in Junior high & Highschool (grades 7-12)

You see, my mother was a full-blown alcoholic😵.   Pretty much the worst of the worse❗

As an example, one day my siblings and I were all sitting around seeing who had the best “mom kicked me out of the house” story.    I thought mine was pretty good when I told them I was 17 and a friend called me up when I was at work and told me my mom was putting my stuff on the front lawn.

Nope!

My sister was at the front of the line when she said “I was 16 and mom through a bunch of my clothes in a garbage bag and drove, and my puppy, to a bus stop and kicked us out”  (You have to remember this was decades before cell phones existed.

Sadly this didn’t win either.

My brother topped it all off when he said “I don’t remember how old I was but I was in 2nd or 3rd grade and I was walking home and saw all my stuff on the front lawn because mom had kicked me out”.

Winner!

Anyway, my main point for mention all of this is I’ve seen some incredibly dark times and it’s probably why I’m so optimistic and grateful for what I have.

In a way I could probably thank my mother for her problems as it lead me, indirectly, to AutoHotkey.  You see I learned as a young kid to be self-reliant.   AutoHotkey enables us to do so much more and we don’t have to rely on people that will, for one reason or another, drop the ball and not deliver on their promises to you.

Having been through such dark and painful times gave me perspective.   I’m Over the moon happy that I no longer have to deal with the unpredictability of my mother (not to mention a crap load of others in my family incapable of love)

What are you grateful for?