January AutoHotkey Newsletter
January 27th, 2022
Hi %Name%,
I hope 2️0️2️2️ is treating you well. Other than a stomach bug🦟, things are plugging along with me. 😊 What are you working on? Are you blocking out time 📅on a regular basis to automate the mundane? I highly recommend you block at least 2 hours a week to be learning something new that will improve your life. AutoHotkey is an amazing tool but, of course, there are plenty of other things that can help you improve your situation (which is what you’re doing every time you write a new AutoHotkey script!)
LinkedIn Profile
Have you added AutoHotkey to your LinkedIn profile? It’s a great way to signal employers, head-hunters, etc. that you’re working smarter, not harder. I’d also add some key words like “Robotics Process Automation” and “Desktop Automation”. While you’re there, if you’ve worked through Udemy courses, you should add the certification to your profile. BTW- I currently have 16,584 1st-level LinkedIn connections (!1,200 of which have AutoHotkey in their profile). Are YOU one of them %name%? If not, be sure to connect with me as it will increase your reach and visibility. On another channel I have a playlist discussing how/why to rock LinkedIn.
Using Fiddler to assist your Web Scraping🕷️
Do you struggle with web scraping? I’ve found using Fiddler to monitor your network traffic is a great way to discover what is really going on “behind the scenes”. I have a lot of other tutorials and videos on using Fiddler (not to mention a couple of scripts to convert your fiddler code to API calls in AutoHotkey.
Using a SetTimer to mimic multi-threading🧵
You’re probably aware that AutoHotkey_L is a single-thread environment. In this video I review how to use a set-timer to mimic multi-threading. Incidentally, AutoHotkey_H is multi-threaded! You can learn more about it from these videos.
The-Automators’ Podcast
- #129: RegEx to add “_blank” attribute to A tag in HTML
- #128: Personalized Software
- #127: Should AutoHotkey V2️ take on a whole new name?
What we’re reading 📚
- Windows 1️1️ Will Let You Try Android Apps in February 2022
- Google’s “Lite” Android Apps Can Save Data and Battery
- How to Use Google Image Search on iPhone or iPad
Productivity tips ⚡️
I re-listened to this 5-minute clip from the New Psycho-Cybernetics. I’m still convinced it can change your life! Do you have 5 minutes to see if I’m right? This is mind-blowing stuff!
A spot of Humor 🤣
A favorite character of mine is Ron Swanson in Parks and Rec. In this short video Ron teaches a 9-year old girl “everything she needs to know about the miserable screwed world of local government”.
Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭
- It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up — Babe Ruth
- It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? – Henry David Thoreau
- You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you — Yogi Berra
Live AutoHotkey Support Tomorrow
Don’t forget on Friday’s you can get free AutoHotkey support on my YouTube channel. Or you can sign up for reminders and join the zoom room.
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Joe and staff
P.S. Special thanks to the following for purchasing multiple AutoHotkey Udemy courses this month!
- 4 Peter W. M.
- 4 Jeremy K.
- 3 Michele B.
- 3 Manazael J.
- 3 Fronu L.
- 3 Drew S P.
- 2 Sion H.
- 2 Saadiq D.
- 2 Robert P.
- 2 Philip D.
- 2 Joseph De La R.
- 2 Johannes von B.
- 2 Herbert P.
- 2 Fred I.
- 2 Emam AL.
- 2 Drew B.
- 2 Devin J.
- 2 Arie de R.
- 2 Ahmad K.
January 20th, 2022
Howdy %Name%,
A few weeks back I shared this video which was an archive I had with Maestrith and HellBent discussing how to adapt a script to
utilize the magic of ActiveX 😲. When I found that video I also found another series with
the three of us. In this video we’re discussing using objects and classes. It’s just part 1 but it did have some good discussions about using Objects. If y’all enjoy it I’ll work through the other videos and try and release them as well.
🔥 HotStrings! 
I know they’re not “sexy” but, in my opinion, HotStrings are the lowest hanging fruit for everyone!
You might not think much of them but you really should! Here I demo some of the basics of using HotStrings.
We do have a Udemy course on them and you can get a discount here.
AutoHotkey New File Template
Do you frequently right-click in Explorer and create a “new” AutoHotkey file? Wouldn’t it be nice to set that template to have what you want?
In this video I show where that file is stored and how to adjust it.
COM / Microsoft’s Component Object Model
Have you been wanting to learn about COM? This video with Tank (AutoHotkey forum admin) helps wrap your brain around the nebulous topic. We also had a solid intro to COM webinar where we discuss Excel and AutoHotkey
The-Automators’ Podcast
- #128: Personalized Software – AutoHotkey rocks!
- #127: Should AutoHotkey V2 take on a whole new name?
- #126: RPA companies and the Exorbitant prices they charge
What we’re reading 📚
- You Should Use Samsung’s Bixby, But Only For Routines
- How To Make Scroll Bars Wider in Windows 10
- Stop Shutting Down Your Windows PC
Productivity tips ⚡️
Shutting down your email is one of my favorite ways to get more done! Let your clients (and boss) know that you’re only going to respond to emails during certain hours and then stick to it! We’ve all got hot-spots where we’re very productive. This is NOT the time to be replying to emails! Personally I’m most productive about 1 hour after I wake up. I try and take the first hour to do something that I could “do in my sleep”.
Email is often one of those things so I often reply to emails while I’m having coffee and waking up. Then, when my brain is “fired up” I shut down email and focus on things that require a clear head. Later, right before lunch, I’ll open up my email again and do ~30 minutes of emails. Then shut it down again until the late afternoon. You can easily adapt this to your preferences but I guarantee you you’ll get much more done on a given day!
Live AutoHotkey Support Tomorrow
Don’t forget on Friday’s you can get free AutoHotkey support on my YouTube channel
A spot of Humor 🤣
I guarantee this will make you wince and laugh out loud!
Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭
- Effective performance is preceded by painstaking preparation. — Brian Tracy
- The true price of anything you do is the amount of time you exchange for it. — Henry David
- You can’t get much done in life if you only work on days when you feel good. — Jerry West
- Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded — Yogi Berra
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Joe and staff
P.S. Special thanks to the following for purchasing multiple AutoHotkey Udemy courses this month!
- 3 Michele B.
- 3 Manazael J.
- 3 Fronu L.
- 3 Drew S P.
- 2 Saadiq D.
- 2 Robert P.
- 2 Philip D.
- 2 Joseph De La R.
- 2 Johannes von B.
- 2 Herbert P.
- 2 Fred I.
- 2 Emam AL.
- 2 Devin J.
- 2 Arie de R.
- 2 Ahmad K.
January 13th, 2022 – January AutoHotkey Newsletter
Hi %Name%,
Is 2022 going the way you wanted? I saw a video the other day and it reminded me of how my colleagues would react when I’d show them some of my AutoHotkey scripts. I’d then spend ~1 hour showing them how simple it is to start using AutoHotkey. The vast majority people would thank me, profusely, for the demo and then go on their merry way (never bothering to spend any time to Learn AutoHotkey. %Name%, I hope you realize that YOU are not one of these people! It’s one of the best things I realized about other AutoHotkey users. We’re all long-term thinkers that are willing to spend more time up front and start working Smarter, not harder.
AutomateMyTask Update
BTW I had a good call with HellBent the other day. He’s taking an updated version of AutomateMyTask and adapting it to use his Image class so we can re-enable DPI but not have scaling issues. 😊 Hopefully I’ll have a new release in the coming weeks.
If you haven’t played with AutomateMyTask , it’s a great, simple, AutoHotkey syntax writer. You can search for images and click where it’s found, send text to edit fields and more. Here’s an Intro video.
RegEx Example
In this video I demonstrate a Regular Expression I wrote that helps me quickly write this newsletter. When I’m writing the newsletter, I typically put in the thumbnail for the video and hyperlink to it. Unfortunately there are a LOT of formats for a YouTube video. That’s where RegEx can really help you out!
Hotkey for Pasting an Image
If you have specific images that you’d like to be able to, quickly, paste into various documents you might like this video where I show how to create a hotkey for pasting images.
Various Excel File attributes
Do you do much work with Excel? In this video I show how you can easily get, and set, many of the attributes. This can be really helpful but is definitely a “long-term” win.
Simple Flexible Resizable GUI function
While I have ways to easily dump text to SciTE, AHK Studio, and VS code, sometimes I do want to dump a lot of text into a resizable GUI. In this video I show an update to the simple GUI function I wrote (with Maestrith’s help)
The-Automators’ Podcast
- #127: Should AutoHotkey V2 take on a whole new name?
- #126: RPA companies and the Exorbitant prices they charge
- #125: Do resources matter when waiting for a Window?
What we’re reading 📚
- ⚡️Revolutionizing computers again! PCIe 6.0 Doubles PCI Express Speeds 😲
- Nothing Beneficial Comes From Mindless Scrolling‼️
- How to Check 🔋Battery Health on Android
Productivity tips 👍
One of my favorite, simple, tips is to be decisive and “touch it once” (that’s what she said…lol). The basics are, if you touch something, act on it. Don’t put things off over, and over, and over. Also don’t pickup things that you, clearly, don’t have enough time to work on. Here’s a great video going deeper.
A spot of Humor 🤣
It’s an oldie, but have you ever seen the “exploding whale” video? Back in the 70’s a whale was beached in Oregon. Their ingenious idea? Blow it up!
Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭
- The secret to getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. — Mark Twain
- If you’re a giver learn your limit, because takers don’t have any!
- You can observe a lot by just watching — Yogi Berra
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Joe and staff
P.S. Special thanks to the following for purchasing multiple AutoHotkey Udemy courses this month!
- 3 Michele B.
- 3 Manazael J.
- 3 Fronu L.
- 3 Drew S P.
- 3 Charles C.
- 2 Robert P.
- 2 Philip D.
- 2 Joseph La R.
- 2 Johannes von B.
- 2 Herbert P.
- 2 Emam AL.
- 2 Arie de R.
- 2 Ahmad K.
- 2
January 6th
Howdy %Name%,
Is it just me, or did the first week of 2022 FLY by💨? Did you make any resolutions about being more productive this year? If so, what steps have you taken to ensure you meet them? Yesterday I spent a fair amount of time working through the Intro to Classes tutorial Jean Lalonde led. Of course I’m planning a video to help document my progress and help others. 😊
Speaking of Jean, A great productivity tip is to change the default icon for your Windows folder. In this video Jean and I discuss how you can change the default icon for your folder. It’s a great way to work smarter! Jean also showed me how you can apply your Quick Access Popup icon to the folder for Windows!
Developer’s corner
I was verifying phone numbers and realized I could make a short API video documenting the process with AutoHotkey. In this short video I walk you through how I did it with API calls in AutoHotkey. API calls are amazing!
Troubleshooting your scripts
When you’re automating programs, the Windows UAC (User Account Control) can be a pain in the neck! In this video I discuss how it can be, temporarily, disabled. It’s one of the first things I do when troubleshooting. That and running your script as an Admin.
The-Automators’ Podcast
- #126: RPA companies and the Exorbitant prices they charge
- #125: Do resources matter when waiting for a Window?
- #124: Are key loggers an invasion of privacy?
What we’re reading 📚
- 📢 You Should Use Samsung’s Bixby, But Only For Routines(It’s not what you think!)
- Use These Chest Stretches to Loosen Tight Chest Muscles🤸♂️
- How to Pair a Game Controller to Google TV or Android TV🎮
Productivity tips ⚡️
Do you have something you don’t want to do? Tie an appropriate-sized reward to doing it! For instance, when I was in college I’d reward myself after studying by watching an episode of Seinfeld. I also would go shopping after a big test. You’ll re-train your brain to actually look forward to the activity!
A spot of Humor 🤣
If you’ve never seen the Crazy Hot matrix, you’re in for a real laugh! I remember the first time I watched this laughing so hard it was embarrassing!
Quick Access Popup news 
I know I talk a lot about Quick Access Popup however I really think it’s one of the easiest ways for people of all skill levels to work smarter, not harder. In this video I walk through some of how I use the tool. It’s amazingly powerful for both non-AutoHotkey users and those of us that are developing tools in AutoHotkey (or other languages)!
The Magic of ActiveX
In case you missed it, this tutorial with Maestrith 🧙♂️ and
HellBent is a great one showing how you can simplify your GUI using an ActiveX GUI. Even if you’re not building GUIs,
it’s always fun to sit-back and watch Maestrith get his groove on!
Quotable quotes 🗣️
- I will always hire a lazy person to do a hard job, because they will always find an easy way to do it — Bill Gates
- Put systems in place that will allow ordinary people to do extraordinary things — Joe Glines
- I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. — Thomas Jefferson
- Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours. — Yogi Berra
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Joe and staff
P.S. Special thanks to the following for purchasing multipleAutoHotkey Udemy courses this month!
- 3 Michele B.
- 3 Manazael J.
- 3 Fronu L.
- 3 Charles C.
- 2 Johannes von B.
- 2 Herbert P.
- 2 Emam AL.
- 2 Arie de R.
We had an awesome webinar on 
