Do you need to incorporate DVD video content in your training materials? Well, thanks to DVD Knife (thanks Lifehacker for the heads up) you can quickly grab (with proper permission of course) only the clip you need from any DVD. Just mark your start and end points and DVD Knife does the rest. You'll need to convert the resulting VOB file to a video format you can use with your project.

Now this is cool, especially if you are constantly integrating graphics in your work (user guides, job aids, simulations). Just install the free program Dropresize , set the folder for it to monitor, and bang, any graphic file you drop in that folder is sized to your settings. Now that's leaning a process. Thanks to Lifehacker for the tip.

A few quick tips on some utilities I've come across lately thanks to Lifehacker .

If you ever need to create an icon for a project file, Simply Icon is the way to go (Windows only). Free and easy to use. All you do is drop an image (any image) onto the program and it automatically creates icons in 32x32, 24x24, and 16x16 levels.

For when you need a temporary URL for a project, use VapURL . You can set a number of visits or time limitation for the URL.

And for quickly resizing photos, you can use Resize My Photos (WIndows only). Just right click on the image, and from the context menu select Resize My Photos. And away you go.

There have been many a time while in the process of building application simulation training, I'll need to capture an application screen without the OS chrome. Well, on Windows that just got a whole lot easier with Winsupermaximize.

I learned about this utility from the Lifehacker site. (Wow, that's a great site.) But back to Winsupermaximize. It's only feature is it allows you to remove the title bar from Windows, thereby allowing you to capture more of the application window. Of course, most browsers have had this funtionality for a while, but not standard Windows windows.

Add it to your tool set today.