Archive | September, 2007

Spread Firefox – Version 2?

Sep/28 in Firefox News, Resources
Spread Firefox

Time for one of the best Firefox resources out there to get a re-vamp? Saw a post by Asa this afternoon talking about upcoming changes to SpreadFirefox.com and like any fan boy I couldn’t pass up the chance to spread the word:

As some of you know, there’s been an effort ongoing for a couple of years to come up with a re-design of the Spread Firefox project. There’s a lot of history (too much) to go into all of it, but a while back Ian Hayward posted a call to action for building a new Spread Firefox.

Only big suggestion I can pass would be to draw more attention towards current, future and past Firefox projects such as Firefox Flicks, Mozilla 24, Air Mozilla, and more. Maybe even create a small section for quality un-official resources such as Learn Firefox, Mozilla Links, and hmm.. am I forgetting one?

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Browser Comparisons and Firefox Links

Sep/28 in Resources

Time to dive in and see what the rest of the world is saying about Firefox. Come on, you’ve listened to me and my minions long enough.

Know of a cool link I missed this past week? Leave a comment and share it with the rest of the class.

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Fix Google Reader Wide View in Firefox

Sep/27 in Hacks and Tweaks, Usability

Fix Google Reader Wide Reading View

Anybody else run into this issue yet? Seems like with the last round of Google Reader updates they broke the widescreen view in Firefox.

After searching the Web for a solution or for others in the same boat at me – I couldn’t find much help. So what is a guy to do? Well I happen to be an avid fan of the Stylish extension so I thought I would write up a little fix using it to solve the problem.

+ Get Fix Google Widescreen View at UserStyles.org

Pick up my user style and see if it does the job for you. The only drawback is that this will get rid of the new toggle button for getting rid of the Google sidebar menu. Personally I have always just used the “U” key to get this job done. Hope this helps others out there being bugged by the same pesky issue.

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Simple Delicious

Sep/26 in Bookmark Help

SimpleDeliciousSome might complain that the various extensions for Firefox that Delicious puts out there can be a little bloated. I used both their classic and new extensions for a while, and I can’t put myself in that camp but I can see where others might have an argument.

That is where the SimpleDelicious extension comes into play. Its goal is to make managing and browsing your Delicious bookmarks a little more simple. SimpleDelicious provides realtime syncing with your online bookmarks and ease of use right from your browser. You can gain access to your bookmarks from anywhere with this Firefox extension.

So would people rather use this or the Firefox plugin that the Delicious team puts out themselves?

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Google Calendar in Your Sidebar

Sep/25 in Hacks and Tweaks

I like to use Google Calendar much less as a time organizer and more as a big to do list. Now I hadn’t really given two thoughts to the mobile version because I don’t really browse the Web on too many mobile devices. After having a look though – I thought to myself – this would make the perfect sidebar for Firefox.

Google Calendar in Your Sidebar

This is how you can get it added to your own browser:

1. Browse to http://calendar.google.com/m

2. Bookmark that web page, or drag the link to your links toolbar.

3. Right-click on the bookmark, select “properties” and then click the checkmark for “load this bookmark in sidebar”.

I don’t know about you but this just makes the application a little more usable for me. Big fonts, big colors and a guide of what I need to do over the next few days. Also it acts as a great reminder tool for folks who like to make sure they are getting things done.

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Better Printing Options with Lexmark Extention

Sep/24 in Settings

Lexmark Printing ToolbarNot every web site does that best job when it comes to giving you a printer friendly version of the web page. Lets say for example, you want to print out a story on CNN.com about the war in Iraq or your favorite celebrity.

Now you could just print the page that is there, but that is going to give you all the ads, logos and other junk you don’t want on your paper. The Lexmark crew is wanting to fix that issue.

The Lexmark Toolbar is wanting to be that “better printing” extension you never knew you needed. It will allow you to cut down on the clutter, so you will only print the most important details of the web page in question.

Some of the features in this beta release of the extension include:

- One-click Print and Preview buttons

- Remove ads and other unwanted stuff with the “Clean” feature

- View, edit or print photos in Picnik, the best online photo editor

- Choose print settings such as Selected Content, Orientation and Header/Footer

Overall, I think if they are delivering this much in the beta, there are many more great things to come for future releases of this handy extension.

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There is Love and Hate for AdBlock Plus

Sep/23 in Uncategorized

Ad Blocking ExtentionI have to admit it: I love AdBlock Plus. If all of my extensions (15 in number) were taken and I was left with the choice of one to keep, it would be ABP. I love not seeing annoying ads, and I love how much faster my browsing is because of the lack of junk. I love the safety and security that it provides through its ability to block things that like to track me.

Yet there is a person – no let me rephrase that. There is a monster trying to take away our rights to this wonderful service. Continue Reading →

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Use StumbleUpon Without the Toolbar

Sep/21 in Usability

Stumble This!I love StumbleUpon as much as the next guy, but the toolbar they provide is quickly becoming cluttered with stuff I don’t really care about viewing. I can understand why they want to get more social and interactive – but the main attraction was to browse through web sites other had marked as interesting.

Since nobody has made a StumbleUpon “light” edition toolbar I was out to seek a way to do much of the functionality I like but maybe via javascript or a bookmarklet. That is when I happened to run across a page that promised to be the toolbarless StumbleUpon.

Here is the bookmarklet you’ll need to give a thumbs up to something and review. Just drag and drop this link onto your Firefox bookmarks bar.

Stumble This!

Apparently I’m not alone. Found this on a few other web sites as well – and makes me wish that StumbleUpon would maybe create a lighter version of the toolbar. Maybe even roll out a secondary extension that just gives me a stumble button to push. Till then though this bookmarklet should do the trick.

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A Look Back and Forward With Mozilla

Sep/20 in Uncategorized

As a long time Netscape (now SeaMonkey, a community maintained project) user, having an E-mail client that was integrated into a suite came as a big help as an all in one solution.

Then a relatively new browser came along by the name of Mozilla Firebird, shortly afterwards because of a trademark dispute it changed to Fire Phoenix. Then, finally, it changed again in February 2004 to Firefox. Back in 2003 the (newly established) Mozilla Foundation announced they were to begin working exclusively on Firefox and Thunderbird as part of the Mozilla Project.

Late in 2004 (August/September), I switched over to Firefox. Then shortly afterwards, Thunderbird. They both – in my opinion fitted in with the Unix philosophy: Continue Reading →

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Firefox Living Up to Updates

Sep/19 in Security

Apple didn’t bother with getting things fixed that quickly, so Mozilla has jumped on the ball and updated Firefox to version 2.0.0.7 to fix the recent QuickTime vulnerability. If your Firefox hasn’t updated itself – then it should soon (or you can always go to Help > Check for Updates to get the latest Firefox version).

Need more? Here is a little more information about this issue and fix via Mozilla Developer News:

Due to the security fixes, we strongly recommend that all Firefox users upgrade to this latest release. If you are still running Firefox 1.5.0.x, you are highly encouraged to upgrade to the Firefox 2 series as Mozilla ceased supporting Firefox 1.5.0.x in May 2007. Simply choose “Check for Updates…” from the Help menu to begin the upgrade process.

For more information about the problem, check out this post on CyberNet News about it. Also if you want – you can download and install it via GetFirefox.com.

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