Tag Archives: task bar

More on Chrome Users, Profiles and Applications

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Recently I reported on my findings about the Google Chrome parameters

  • –user-data-dir and
  • –profile-directory

Now I had to set up a computer for somebody with two main gmail accounts and I wanted to have direct access from an icon in the windows 7 task bar to each of these two gmail accounts.

It required a bit of juggling all these Chrome parameters but I finally managed to have two gmail icons in the task bar that allowed the user to get her two gmail accounts without ever having to switch accounts. The following solution also avoided the confusion that was created by the fact that Chrome remembers the last User that was active when Chrome is closed.

The first icon has the following parameters:

%path-to-chrome%\chrome.exe 
   --user-data-dir="C:\usr\browser\chrome-0001" 
   --profile-directory="Default" 
   -app=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0

and the second is different in selecting another user within the same profile

%path-to-chrome%\chrome.exe 
   --user-data-dir="C:\usr\browser\chrome-0001" 
   --profile-directory="Profile 1" 
   -app=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0

You know how to set the properties of a pinned icon in the windows 7 task bar, yes?

Really? You are good – it was more by accident that I ran into this and was rather relieved when I did – Right-click on the icon, and then right-click again on the name of the application (usually the second from the bottom if the application is not running, otherwise the third.) This is  how you get to the usual window for the properties of a shortcut.

The How-to-Geek Blog

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One of the few things that remain on my ‘look-at-every-time” blogs is How-to Geek.

In its year-end cleaning they revisited their Best How-To Geek Guides of 2011. Subjects covered are:

  1. The How-To Geek Guide to Getting Started with LastPass
  2. The How-To Geek Guide to XBMC Add-Ons
  3. The How-To Geek Guide to Making Your Own Custom Ethernet Cables
  4. The How-To Geek Guide to Getting Started with Usenet
  5. Hardware Upgrade: The HTG Guide to Picking the Right PC Monitor
  6. The Beginner’s Guide to Using QoS (Quality of Service) on Your Router
  7. How to Secure Your Wi-Fi Network Against Intrusion
  8. How to Use a Soldering Iron: A Beginner’s Guide
  9. How to Pick the Right Motherboard for Your Custom-Built PC
  10. The How-To Geek Video Guide to Using Windows 7 Speech Recognition
  11. The Beginner’s Guide to Shell Scripting
  12. The How-To Geek Guide to Hackintoshing
  13. The How-To Geek Guide to Audio Editing Using Audacity
  14. The How-To Geek Guide to Scoring Free Wi-Fi
  15. The How-To Geek Guide to 3D Monitors and TVs
  16. The How-To Geek Guide to Buying an HDTV

How come I read this blog and not the many others I am subscribed to?

The reason is simply that this is the only one I am subscribed to by email. I had, in the past, set up RSS feeds for all the other sites I wanted to keep up with in my Thunderbird and I read, or at least skimmed, them all on a daily basis.

Until it got too time consuming and I decided to use Google Reader so that these new posts did not interrupt my workflow. I transferred all the feeds to Google Reader and made a nice icon in my task bar for it – – – and that is where it remains – mostly unnoticed. Now, when I remember to check new blog posts, I have an overwhelming “>1000” to deal with. So, most of the time, I just select ‘set all as read’ and be done with it.

Conclusion – email still gets much more of my attention than RSS feeds in Reader.