Today we’re going to talk about a powerful tool for computer users -Autohotkey. First, a brief list of its attributes: it’s free… that one was easy.

Second, it’s complicated. It’s really complicated. I had to bribe my geeky brother to show me how to use it, and I had google at my fingertips. This is not a tutorial -it’s that complicated. So if you’re a tech newbie, you’ve been warned. If, however, you’re somewhere between a developing nerd and a super-geek-ninja, Autohotkey is something you should seriously consider taking a day or three to learn.

Last, here’s a brief description of what it is with a video for your viewing pleasure: with Autohotkey, you hit a key combination that you define and then any automated action magically happens on your computer… anything you tell it to do, it will do… anything.

I work from my home office, and when I come downstairs in the morning, I blearily turn on my computer and hit “#b”. That opens blackboard to all of my courses. It opens my email and goes to my unread mail. It also opens my course roster so I have my contact information handy. Last, it goes to my grade book in all of my courses. It does this while I’m making a fruit smoothie with my Magic Bullet. By the time I sit down, I’m ready to roll.

Here is another example and a bigger time saver: When I started a new course this semester, my boss-lady (love her!) told me I had to go through ‘grade details’ in the grade book to enter points and a no-credit message. I couldn’t just hit 50-enter-50-enter-50-enter in the grade book’s spreadsheet view. I made it half way through doing this for 5 classes, and rather than commit seppuku with my letter opener, I created an Autohotkey script that would repeat this process for me. Now, on Monday mornings, I tell it how many times to run through this action in a column, and voila! My netbook inputs F’s for missing assignments with a quick note, while I munch on toast and grade work that was actually turned in! This saves me approximately 4,000 hours every Monday. HUGE.

Now for a warning: If your script has errors, you are in danger. Your computer has no judgment and no brain. If you accidentally tell it to do something that will erase your hard drive, it will! Learn this new skill in small steps -you are warned.

Here is a quick video about Autohotkey. Keep in mind that this is not a tutorial. It’s just about the program. If you have any tips or tricks, please add them in the comments section -I’m rather new with the program myself!