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Helpful Hints for Using Firefox

June 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Firefox, an internet browser, is well-liked for many reasons.  Easy accessibility, beginner-friendly elements, and useful features make it one of the most reliable tools for the internet.

 

Most of the included items in Firefox are typical for web browsers.  First, tabbed browsing makes it possible to view multiple windows at once.  Simply by clicking an additional “tab” at the top of the screen, users can keep current items at hand while moving on to new projects and information.  This is helpful for those who are completing projects or choosing between two items online.  Direct comparisons can be made and key points can be fused easily.

 

Locating information has never been easier.  With Firefox, typing ctrl+k can bring up a search bar immediately.  Also, right clicking on a highlighted word generates a search as well.  Users can find definitions, answers to questions, or pertinent information in a snap.  Or one click to be exact.

Internet Access: Image Download

Image Location:  http://computerlcd.org/Magician_Economic_Computer_19_LCD.jpg

Firefox makes downloads easy through a tool called background downloading.  Basically, items that are to be downloaded begin immediately, and by the time users save them to disk, they are already finished.  Firefox is quick when it comes to putting information on the computer.  Usually, it takes just as much time to choose where to store the information as it does to actually download it.

 

One last important element of Firefox is this:  it’s largely successful due to those who use it.  Improvements are made through user’s suggestions, and anyone is able to communicate with the Firefox team leaders.  Source codes are readily available at all times.

Filed Under: Advantages, FireFox Tagged With: , ,

Advantages of Firefox 4

May 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Over 4.7 million computer users have downloaded the new Firefox 4 browser. After nearly a year of beta testing the browser, tech savvy computer users already know the many changes that come with the Firefox 4 browser. However, less tech savvy computer users might be wondering why they should switch their old 3.0 version to a 4.0 version.

 

For those computer users who have not been obsessing over the beta version of Firefox 4, here’s a look at some of the great features that come with this new update for one of the most popular web browsers on the web.

 

A Merged Top Tab 

Image representing Firefox as depicted in Crun... 

Image via CrunchBase

 

Previous versions of Firefox had the top tab all spread out. The Firefox 4 has a compact, merged top tab. This means all the functions such as file, edit and tools are now under one button and not spread out over the top of the screen.

 

Crash Protection

 

It used to be if a plug-in or other website element caused your browser to crash you would have to shut the whole browser down or your window would completely disappear. With the crash protection feature on Firefox 4 the plug-in or website that is causing the crash is frozen and your browser will not be effected at all.

 

Increased Speed

 

Firefox 4 brings an increased web browsing experience. Internet users will be able to pull up websites and open new tabs with a speed that other Firefox versions did not have. Java has also been sped up and Java downloads happen quicker with Firefox 4.

 

With all these advantages it’s no wonder 4.7 million people have switched to Firefox 4 already.

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Filed Under: Advantages, FireFox Tagged With: ,

Plenty of Browser Options

April 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

While it may be nice to pull a computer out of the box and get right to the matter at hand using all the pre-installed programs, it is wise to know just which of these programs you want to use and when you might want to consider other options.

One example of this is the Internet browser. Nearly all computers come with Internet Explorer installed on them, and since it is a necessary program in order to be able to get Microsoft updates, it is nice that it is present. However, it does not have to be your default browser.

 

Image representing Firefox as depicted in Crun... 

Image via CrunchBase

There are many other options available. Mozilla’s Firefox is one that is rather popular, in part because it has numerous add-ons to personalize your browsing experience. Firefox 4 is available to download at www.mozilla.com. You can also browse their add-ons there and choose from about 5,000 different ones.

 

 

 

Image representing Google Chrome as depicted i... 

Image via CrunchBase

 

A relative newcomer to the scene is Google Chrome. A free download for this web browser is  at www.google.com/chrome. This browser was designed for efficiency and has been kept simple and easy to use. They have a number of included features as well as many add-ons.

 

 

Image representing Opera Software as depicted ... 

Image via CrunchBase

 

A lesser-known browser is Opera.  The newest version, 11.1 is very fast and has an amazing number of built-in features.  One feature is especially worth mentioning – you can browse in private. Check it out at www.opera.com/browser.

 

 

 

 

There are actually more than a dozen different browsers available. Take some time to research the strengths and weaknesses of each one to find what makes sense for you.

Filed Under: FireFox, Web browser Tagged With: , ,

Firefox Security Features

February 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Keeping our computers safe, our identities safe and our children safe is a big issue for most internet users. Firefox has several features to help you do this as you browse the internet. Firefox, like other web browsers is always evolving and changing to make your experience better, but here aer some of the security features that are already in place.

  • Anti-Malware. If you click on a website that wants to attack your computer, Firefox will block you and give you a warning about the site. This, along with you being aware and careful about what you click on will help to keep you safe.
  • Web Site ID. If you want to make a purchase from a site that you are not familiar with, and are wondering if it is legitimate, you can have Firefox give it an overview. You can check on websites you think might be suspicious and find out if a website is what is it claiming to be.
  • Forget This Site. This is a feature that will allow you to remove any trace of a website from your computer. If you clicked on something and then wished you hadn’t, have make it seem like it never happened.
  • Parental Controls. Set the parental controls that you want.
  • Detect Plug-ins that are outdated. Plug-ins can be added to your computer when you need to view a video or play a game. If a plug-in has become outdated, it can be the cause of a security risk. Firefox will let you know if you have an outdated plug-in and then tell you where to go to updated it.
  • Set Your Own Security. You can go in an set your security to the level that you want. If you visit sights often that you know are safe, you can have Firefox make exceptions for these sites. You can also increase security as well if you want extra protection.
Filed Under: FireFox, General Tagged With: , , ,

System Requirements for Casino Games

January 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The popularity of casino websites online is constantly growing as more and more people realize the benefits of playing casino games online. One of the most important things for you to consider before you get started, however, is whether your computer is going to need to be capable of supporting the graphics and the programming involved in running the casino website. It may be possible that your computer will not be able to handle all of the modern day casino software, and so you must give some consideration to system requirements and your own system capabilities before you sign up for a site that your computer is not going to be able to handle.

In most cases, you are going to need to have an updated operating system on your computer in order to effectively download and install the software and play at online casino websites. It is important for you to make sure that your computer has been optimized for the best possible performance. When you begin the sign up process for an online casino, you can look for the system requirements on the website to determine whether or not your computer is going to compare.

Once you determine that your computer is capable of handling the casino website that you are most interested in, you can start reading about the sign up process and the benefits that come with signing up. Keep in mind that all casino websites offer sign up benefits and bonuses, but they can vary significantly from site to site. It is important for you to consider all of the options that are available to you before you sign up for an online casino, since some may offer better sign up bonuses in comparison to others. You should also consider that sign up bonuses can change, and what is a good deal today may not be the best deal a week from now.

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Firefox: The Best Addons

January 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Firefox started the web browser add on craze, and although Google Chrome is giving them a run for their money with their extensions, Firefox is still the leader. You can find add ons for almost anything you want or need including adding different functions to just changing the way your browser looks. These are added easily to your browser and change what the browser can do.

Over the past few years there have been many different add ons developed, but here are some of the best.

  1. AdBlock Plus. This is one of the most popular add ons. It will allow you to browse the web without being bombarded with advertisements. It does a very good job of blocking the majority of the ads.
  2. Aviary Talon. Although there are other ways to get a screen shot, this add on will allow you to instantly capture a shot of a page. You can then save to one of several places with just a click of a button.
  3. Copy Plain Text. If you do a lot of copying and pasting this will come in handy. You can copy text without having any of the formatting come with it. There is no need to paste it into notepad and then copy it again to paste it where you really want it.
  4. LastPass. This is a convenient way to manage your passwords. It allows you to log into websites easily without having to remember your individual passwords, and helps to protect your computer from malware and other phishing websites.
  5. Morning Coffee. This is a great add on that stores different bookmarks so that certain ones open for you on the days you want them to. If there is a website you like to check regularly, but you know it only updates on Monday’s then you can set Morning Coffee to open it for you every Monday morning.
  6. Personas. A fun add on for those who like to personalize their browser and make it their own. You can design the look of Firefox to suit your own taste.
Filed Under: FireFox Tagged With: ,

Mozilla Add ons Part 1

December 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In the war of the web browsers, Mozilla’s entry with Firefox will most assuredly go down in history as a heavyweight. With great speed, easy customization and a myriad of ad on applications and tools, Firefox is a great way to manage your web interface.

Because there are so many different additional features to Firefox, choosing the right ones can be a heavy burden. This several part series will introduce readers to a couple useful tips, and a general review of some of the more useful and popular add ons and plugins for the Firefox web browser.

To begin with; if you don’t have Firefox it’s easy to get. Simple navigate to mozilla.com and click the download link for the latest version. From there it’s as easy as following some basic instructions to get the browser installed. You can also make sure during the installation that Firefox is the primary browser for your PC. That way, when you click on a web link in an email, Firefox will open the web page.

A few other things it is good to know about Firefox when getting started are the password and user name options and the theme setting feature. For the first one, whenever you type in a user name and password for a secure web site the first time, Firefox will ask if you want it to remember those keys for the next time you visit the sight. You can either tell it yes, no or ask again later. Remember, even if you have it store secret user names and passwords, you can always delete them back out later.

And, as far as themes go, that’s a whole separate story on it’s own. There are so many different options settings, looks and styles that it can be a day-long experience tweaking your browser to get it just right.

Filed Under: FireFox, Web browser Tagged With: , ,

Mozilla Add-ons Part 2

December 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

On the topic of themes for Mozilla’s Firefox web browser; there are a ton of them. Choosing the right one is about as complex as choosing what art to hang in the living room, assuming you can choose from nearly any piece of art, ever.

A theme is what your general background will look like while you are surfing the web. For the most part that’s just the top bar across the web browser application window, which shows the options, navigation buttons and address bar, search bar and tabs. So, if you choose a Hello Kitty theme, you are going to have a white cartoon cat peeping at you while you check your email.

There are several ways to manage your theme, but the most direct way is to click on Tools in the option menu at the top of the browser. Then choose Add-ons when the menu drops down.

Choosing that option will open a second window which is your ad on manager. At the top are the three basic types of add-ons for Firefox, along with a Get Add-on option. For now ignore everything but the Themes option, which has a painter’s pallet and paintbrush as an icon.

When you first click on themes the only thing available will be the default Firefox setting. However, near the bottom right of the window is a get themes option, which if clicked will lead the viewer to a web page within Mozilla.com which houses the sizable selection of various themes available.

This web site is pretty easy to navigate, with a helpful and quick search feature and some common sense categories listed along the right side of the page. And, it’s even easier to actually use. After checking out the various categories of persona’s and themes, simply click on the ‘wear it’ option, and the theme is instantly downloaded and activated.

Filed Under: FireFox, Web browser Tagged With: , ,

Mozilla Add-ons Part 3

December 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Sure, surfing the web is a great way to kill the time, but who in the world wouldn’t want to be even more distracted as they checked email, chatted and shopped for the best deal on garage door openers?

To solve the problem of internet continuity the good folks at Mozilla have recommended a great add-on called SimilarWeb. This clever little application will ensure your brief stops on the internet turn into the marathon surfing sessions they should be.

SimilarWeb, designed by the development firm of the same name is a simple way to make sure that no matter what you are looking up or checking out you aren’t missing anything that might be remotely related.

Mozilla’s add-on management site promotes SimilarWeb as the hands-down most efficient way to browse on multiple layers at one time. Install the add-on and it will create a sidebar along the web browser while you surf.

As you navigate from page to page the sidebar will feature small photos of other pages and content which are in some robot-logic fashion related to whatever you are currently viewing.

But it doesn’t stop there. SimilarWeb will also conduct multi-layered searches of its own of the particular web page, and content you are currently checking out, and then will look for other news, gossip or content related to the current site.

So, if you are checking out reddit.com, you will have a few choices to the side which will bring you up to date on how many times reddit was mentioned on Facebook, which news agency is reporting on its success as a web site and who blogged about it earlier that morning.

In the end, SimilarWeb seems to be pretty good at what it does, which is take your browsing to an almost Inception-like experience. The question just remains; do you want to go deeper?

Filed Under: FireFox, Web browser Tagged With: , , ,

Mozilla Add-ons Part 4

December 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There may come a time when human civilization realizes there is a such thing as being ‘too connected’. The combined updates of Twitter and Facebook, however, are enough evidence to come to the conclusion that mankind is currently far from making that deduction.

A recently developed add-on for Mozilla’s Firefox web browser, for instance, is a perfect example of how as a species humans are constantly looking for more effective ways of staying ‘plugged in’.

WebMail Notifier is an add-on available through the Mozilla.com web site which will manage all of a person’s multiple email accounts and social networking accounts. This add-on will notify a person of incoming messages from any of those other sites, and it’s easy to use.

The quickest way to get it is to choose the Tools option along the top of the browser window. Then click the Add-ons option, which will open the add-on manager window. Click Get Add-ons and just underneath that enter WebMail Notifier into the search field.

From there it’s a simple matter of following instructions to get the feature up and running. The application supports Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Excite, and on and on. Just enter those addresses and passwords for your other accounts, and this thing will spend all day making sure you know when a new message has arrived.

And it doesn’t stop there. Just in case you were worrying about when your uncle Ted was going to finish mowing the lawn and turn on some M.A.S.H. reruns, this application can also let you know when his Facebook status changes.

One drawback to consider comes from a user review and points out that this application does not support email coming from POP3 or IMAP email accounts. That means certain work emails and other types of accounts coming from secure and non-public servers might not work right.

Filed Under: FireFox, Web browser Tagged With: , ,
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