Schedule everythingfor later
Discuss schedulingtoolsatwww.facebook.com/webusermagazine 10 - 23 July 2019^49
Seize control of your downloads by
installing EagleGet in your browserWindows’ Task Scheduler lets you automate many
actions on your PC, including shutting it downdownload manager, but you can edit the
settings to prevent automatic
downloads or set them to continue
when you restart your computer.
Open Settings, Monitoring and you’ll
see a section labelled ‘Automatically
start downloading the following file
types’. Delete every file extension and
click Done. You can also switch on file
categorisation, which creates new
folders based on the type of file you’re
downloading for easier management.A particularly annoying aspect of
modern computing is when your PC
starts downloading files and software at
an inconvenient moment. Maybe you’re
in the middle of something important or
you’re running on limited bandwidth.
EagleGet (www.eagleget.com) is a
free program that automatically adds
an extension to your browser and steps
in whenever you download a file. It
works with Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi and
Firefox. On the surface, it’s a simpleSHUTDOWNYOURPC
The voice assistants in devices from
Google and Amazon can do so
much more than wake you up with
an alarm or play a Spotify playlist.
If you use Google Home, open
the Home app and go to Profile,
Settings, then tab across to
Assistant. Choose the Routines
option and press + to create a new
routine. ‘Add commands’ lets you
enter a voice commandthat
activates your routine (for example,
‘Goodnight’). Next, use ‘Add action’
to tell Google what to do. This can
be a single action, such as turning
off the lights, or a string of actions,
such as telling you tomorrow’s
weather forecast, then turning off
the lights and playing some
relaxing sounds to help you get to
sleep. Select ‘Choose popular
actions’ to browse through a range
of common routines for inspiration.
To operate your lights with an Amazon device, open the Alexa
app on your phone, press the Menu button and select Routines.
Tap +, followed by ‘When this happens’. Choose Schedule to
specify a date and time, or Voice to set a phrase. Then, under
‘Add action’, go into Smart Home and select your smart lights.
Finally, tap Save.There are two ways to shut down your
computer without having to click
shutdown manually. The first uses the
Windows Task Scheduler. Search for it
using the Start box and, once it’s
loaded, select Create Basic Task, which
opens a separate window. Give the task
a name (‘Shut down’, for example) and a
description (‘Shut down my PC’). Click
Next to specify how often the task
should be triggered, then set the date
and time. On the Action screen, check
the box next to ‘Start a program’. On the
following screen, browse the System32
folder for the shutdown application, and
add-sin the ‘Add arguments’ field.
Click Next once more to review the
command before activating it.TURNYOURLIGHTSONAND OFF
Google and Amazon’s
Routines are as smart as
their AI assistants
Have you ever beensomewhere you wish you weren’t,
such as a boring meeting or a bad date? One tried and
tested way of bailing outis to get a friend to phone
with a supposed emergency– and now you cando it
automatically.
Fake Call on Android
(bit.ly/fake479) and
iTunes’ Fake Call Plus
(bit.ly/fakecall479) let
you schedulea bogus
call to help you outof a
sticky situation. You
canmake it look as if
it’s froma real person,
complete with profile
picture and voice. Just
remember to make
your side of the
conversation sound
convincing!
You canalso
scheduletext
messages using Textra
for Android (bit.ly/
textra479). It won’t
help you get outof a
bad date, but it might
save you sometime.SCHEDULEA FAKEPHONECALL
The second method requires
your timing to be a little more
precise and is best reserved for
one-off occasions. Open the Run
app and typeshutdown–s –t
into the text field. Then enter
the numberof seconds Windows
should wait before shutting
down your computer. This
may have you scurrying for
a calculator, but if you
wanted to shut down in an
hour, say, your command would
readshutdown–s –t 3600. Click
OK to start the timer ticking.When you need an excuse
to leave, fake a phone callDOWNLOADFILES AND SOFTWARE