Too Cool for School!

Last October, when I attended the Southwest Fox 2007 conference, Rick Borup of ITA Software, showed me a pretty slick tool that he recently discovered. I have been using it for about a month and although I do not use it often, when I need it, it really comes in handy. I thought it was cool enough to pass it along so that you could evaluate it for your own personal use.

The product is called ZoomIt and is available at: http://tinyurl.com/2xv7eu. It is, essentially, an easy way to magnify your screen. It is much easier to use than the magnifier that Microsoft routinely provides under the Accessories|Accessibility options. On top of that, it has a couple of features that are pretty cool. Before I go any further, I will tell you that it will be worth your time to read the accompanying documentation (it’s only one page) to save yourself some startup time.

If you read the documentation, you will find that ZoomIt has the capability to display a countdown timer on the screen so when you are giving presentations and take a 10 minute break, the countdown until the break is over is displayed so that all attendees are aware of the “official” time left before the presentation will continue.

Additionally, ZoomIt allows the user to (crudely) use the mouse as a pen to circle a specific area of the screen for emphasis. In fact, (again, mentioned in the documentation) the user can draw straight lines, using the proper keys, to “box in” an area of the screen. Like I said, I don’t use it often, but it is definitely the “right tool for the right job” and comes in real handy when you need it. Give it a shot.