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We've all been there, one day you open up your start menu and find that you have to wade through dozens of entries to find the program you are looking for (even if you are very organized, you still need to navigate through folders and sub-folders). Fortunately there is Launchy. It helps you avoid the start menu all together, instead letting you launch programs from a text-matching search box with only a few keystrokes. Launchy isn't just limited to launching programs either. You can configure it to index files of any type in any directory you choose. The possibilities are limitless (be sure to check out the tips and tricks section of their site, they have a few great ideas to get you started). I have been playing with it today and it works great. With a few habit changes, I can easily see Launchy becoming a productivity boosting addition to anyone's PC. Unfortunately Launchy is Windows only, though there are alternatives available. Like Katapult or the Gnome Deskbar Applet for Linux and Quicksilver for OS X.

Update: Added a listing of similar programs for non-Windows operating systems

Launchy: The Open Source Keystroke Launcher for Windows
Katapult
Gnome Deskbar Applet
Quicksilver
computers, software, productivity, open-source, Microsoft, Windows, XP

Just a quick warning. A new virus (actually it's spyware) is being spread across the net that poses as the "NumberedLinks 9.0" Firefox extension (which is a legitimate Firefox extension). Called FormSpy (or Infostealer.Snifula) by anti-virus vendors, the malware steals passwords, credit card numbers, and bank login details. The virus can also monitor for passwords in ICQ, FTP, and email traffic. It is normally spread to machines already infected by the Downloader-AXM trojan, though it could be spread from compromised websites (though only automatically when the infected site is visited with Internet Explorer). There is no mention of if the virus works in Linux versions of Firefox, but because it is based on an extension, it very well might (though the downloader does not, so you would have to manually infect yourself). The virus is not very widely spread, and is marked as a "low" risk by most anti-virus firms.

I strongly suggest making sure your anti-virus definitions are up to date and keeping an eye on your extensions list for anything you do no remember installing. Also, you should only install extensions from sites you know and trust (like http://addons.mozilla.org) to reduce the risk of manual infection. If you need a anti-virus, there are a few free options available like ClamAV and Avast! (both also offer free Linux products).

Infostealer.Snifula @ Symantec
Virus Profile: FormSpy @ McAfee [via The Register]
Avast! (Windows & Linux)
ClamAV (Linux)
ClamWin (Windows)

computers, software, security, virus, Firefox

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