It is known as one of the most popular, lightweight and reliable external download managers out there.  The real benefit with the FlashGot add-on is being able to download multiple files from multiple links at the same time, all at once.   

Here are some of the other features worth diving into:

FlashGot Link – downloads through the default download manager the link under the mouse pointer.

FlashGot Selection – catches links in highlighted text/images, attempting also pure text to anchors conversion, performing some "smart" replacement like turning "hxxp://" into "http://".

FlashGot All – grabs all the links found in the current page and dispatches them to the default download manager.

FlashGot Tabs – performs a "FlashGot All" on every tab open in the current window.

FlashGot Media – it’s enabled only when a streaming video or audio clip is playing in the current browser tab: this command intercepts downloadable addresses of the content pieces played so far in the page and sends them to the download manager.

Here you have five different ways to download files, that you do not have without the add-on in question.  You can download the FlashGot add-on from the Firefox Add-ons web site, and learn more about it on it’s official web site – flashgot.net.

The web site is divided into two main sections, the map and the graph of data and statistics.

On the map, you can use your mousewheel to zoom in and then click and drag your mouse around to pan around the map.

The graph gives you the total number of Firefox downloads, a breakdown of downloads per country, and the current trends too.  Here is more information about each of the stats on this graph:

• code Country code
• name Country name
• trend Changes in downloads per second over the last minute
• cur Number of downloads for this country per second
• min Minimum number of downloads per second over the last minute
• max Maximum number of downloads per second over the last minute
• total Total number of downloads since Firefox launch

So if you ever wanted to watch Firefox being downloaded all around the world in real time, this is the resource for you.  This is another great web site to file und the “cool things Mozilla has released” category.

Want to tweak the way the download manager from within Firefox works?  You can now tweak the way downloads are handled in a number different ways with the Download Manager Tweak add-on for Firefox.

The main thing you might notice, right off the bat, is the ability to changes download manager’s appearance and allow the download manager to be opened in a window, tab, or sidebar.

A few more options available to you are:

• The ability to always ask where to save a file or always save files to one default location
• Open the download manager after a delay of X milliseconds
• Show or hide the toolbar on the bottom of the window
• Show or hide the infobar, attached to the folder
• Disable or enable the download manager theme changes
• and much more!

This is an add-on for Firefox I could seriously see adding to my default add-ons list I put on every personal Firefox install I do, it is that cool.  The Download Manager Tweak extension is free to download, so give it a shot – and let me know how much you enjoy it.

Ever wanted to know more about what you are doing while you are doing it?   You just did it, so why would you need to know what you did if you are the one who did it?  Exactly.  The add-on, about:me, makes sense once you see it in action.  It provides a fun way to see personalized patterns in browser usage.  You can spot trends in your browsing history and download activity. 

Here is a little more about the add-on from the developer:

The "Activity Stats" section graphs the websites you visit most, including the individual pages you visit most within each top-level site. This section also graphs your hourly browsing activity, which can reveal patterns in websites you visit most at various times of the day.

Appealing to some of the geekiest Firefox fans, the only way you can access the add-on in question is to type in about:me into the address bar.  It pays tribute to Firefox’s other hidden jewels such as about:config, and my favorite about:robots.

Get to stalking yourself today, and give the about:me add-on for Firefox a try.

More About the Downloads Settings and Options

In the menu bar, go to Tools and then select Options.  In the Main tab in the options menu, you should see an area where you can configure how Firefox handles your downloads.

I would recommend selecting the Save files to option and setting up a downloads folder where you can save all your downloaded files.  Why?  It makes it much easier to find them after you are done, and also it keeps your desktop clean – which often is the default place to dump things for many people out there.  I have mine setup right inside of my documents in Windows XP and my profile folder inside of Vista.  It doesn’t matter where you put it, as long as it is somewhere you can easily reach.

Show the Downloads window when downloading a file is pretty obvious, checked it will show the download manager box as your downloads progress and unchecked, it’ll keep the download information and alerts in your Firefox status bar.  You can also select the option to close it when all downloads are finished.  I don’t do this, cause I usually want to check out what I just downloaded after I downloaded it. 

Always ask me where to save the files might be a good option for those of you out there that need to have everything in it’s specific spot, but often becomes a great time waster. 

Just dump your downloads into a folder called, “Downloads” – it makes things much easier.

On Friday, Mozilla Firefox was downloaded for the one billionth time since the release of 1.0 in 2004. To help celebrate the news, Mozilla has released a new web site called One Billion + You. 

From there, you can easily post to Twitter how much one billion really is, such as:

• A bowl big enough to fit one billion goldfish would be as big as a stadium.
• One billion stacked coins would reach nearly 1,000 miles high.
• One billion centimeters is approximately the distance from Chicago to Tokyo.
• One billion seconds is roughly 31.7 years.
• One billion kilograms is equal to the weight of 250,000 elephants.
• One billion credit cards weigh as much as fifty-two blue whales.

If that wasn’t enough, you can also make up your own to share on Twitter or Facebook.  Also don’t forget to decorate your Twitter icon with a Twibbon too. 

In the first 24 hours that is was available, Firefox 3.0.11 was downloaded 150 million times.   This big news comes on the heels of Apple boasting about 11 million downloads of Safari 4 in three days. *tries not to chuckle*

Now it is likely that both companies included the automatic updates in their download numbers, however that doesn’t really take away from the fact that many more users are getting those latest updates these days, which for security reasons is a very good thing indeed.

So congrats to Firefox for 150 Million downloads, and to Safari… well, 11 million is pretty good too. *holds back “that is cute” remark*

I think that the theme creator describes the inspiration for this theme much better than I could do.   So I made a theme based on the humble spiral, and I wanted it to be colorful and fun, but also inherently functional and practical. There are certainly colorful and fun themes out there, and there are definitely practical themes out there, but never both. Why? Or more to the point, why not? As one more surprise to toss in there – there are several flavors of this theme to choose too.

Choose Your Favorite Theme Flavor!

Click on the thumbnail above to check out that theme’s page on the Firefox Add-ons site.  They are experimental themes, so you may have to login to Firefox’s site before you can download.  I am looking forwad to seeing more themes by this interesting designer.  Also, interested in hearing what you think about them too.

Finder and Seeker

“I want to make finding information on the Web simpler and more relevant to me.”

Social Butterfly

“I love social networks! I keep track of friends and family, share photos, organize events, and am always looking for ways to stay connected.”

Shutterbug

“I love to view and share pictures and videos online.”

Digital Pack Rat

“I want a hassle-free way to keep track of my favorite sites, bookmarks, blogs and, well, everything!”

Rock Star

“Music and the Web go together like rock stars and leather — I love to listen while I surf, work, email or research online.”

Decorator

“I decorate my room, my office, even myself! So why not decorate my browser?”

Shopaholic

“I love to shop online and am always looking for ways to take advantage of great online deals.”

News Junkie

“I want to know what’s happening in the world as it happens. And the weather helps me plan my week — temperature, please!”

Executive Assistant

“I need a better way to make lists and organize myself (no more sticky notes!).”

Another great idea from the Mozilla team.  If you want to learn more about the back-end of things, be sure to check out the Mozilla Add-ons blog post about the newest addition to the Firefox customization family:  http://blog.mozilla.com/addons/2008/11/18/fashion-your-firefox-a-new-distribution-channel-for-add-ons/

Here’s what we did:  we looked at downloads of Firefox 3 by users within the U.S. – and then we drilled down to a minute-by-minute view to see what, if anything, could be detected.  At minute 23 of the broadcast, Colbert said, “Firefox 3 just got the Colbert Bump.”  What happened next?

Check out the timeline graph and just in case you missed the plugtastic segment, here it is again: