Control VLC with a Two Button Remote

 EDIT: I’ve noticed a lot of people coming across this post with the search term ‘vlc osd’. The on screen display appears when you press Shift+Left/Right, Ctrl+Up/Down/Left/Right.

Recently I noticed a presentation tool which incorporates two buttons which can control a Powerpoint presentation, pdf, slideshow, or anything that uses PgUp and PgDn buttons.

It is available for around AU$50 from Jaycar (I managed to get the same one for $20 from eBay), and comes with two parts. One, a laser pointer, has three buttons. An up and a down button, and a button which activates the laser pointer. By pressing the up and down buttons, you can remotely press the PgUp and PgDn buttons, by using a small ‘dongle’ which connects to your computer’s USB port.

Out of interest, I thought of many different uses for this (not just presentations), and using AutoHotKey, I have created a script which converts this presentation tool into a small, fairly cheap remote control for VLC, using an On Screen Display.

Discover Your Learning Style

Discover your learning style by taking a short quiz. The quiz told me that I was a ‘visual learner’ which probably explains why the mindmap concept appeals to me.

Mind and Subject Mapping with Freemind

I have recently discovered a tool called Freemind which allows anyone to map out anything. I am currently experimenting with using it for study.

Basically you can create a tree of words, icons, and images, which you can then expand on in any direction you like.

By creating a map for each subject, I can outline all the topics covered as they are covered. This means I can simply expand on the map after each lecture. This is a great way to revise at the end of each lecture. At the end of semester when it comes time for exams, you can easily look over the first and second levels and make sure you have studied everything.

Search Prank

Here’s a small AutoHotKey script I wrote to play a prank on someone.

Basically you run it on the victim’s computer, and it simply waits until they open google in any web browser. As soon as google is opened, anything you specify in the script is searched before the victim realises.

Loop
{
WinGetActiveTitle ActWin
if Instr(ActWin, "Google") > 0
{
Sleep, 2000
Send, Some{SPACE}Stupid{SPACE}Search{SPACE}Term{ENTER}
break
}
}