Thanks for the emails regarding the previous Firefox Add-ons I have written about over the last couple of columns.   Also, I’m glad to hear that several of you saved a lot of money using the "Invisible Hand" add-on I mentioned.  Tim wrote to say he saved almost $100 on a purchase he made using that add-on!  This will be the last week we’ll deal with Add-ons and then we will move on to something different.

Today I have three for you; one for help, one for fun and one for a neat application.

First, for Google-lovers is the "Google Toolbar" add-on.  If you use Google and/or Gmail and want a quick way to access their features you have to try this one out.  This add-on is also available for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.  It is added into FF differently than the previous ones I’ve mentioned.  Go to "toolbar.google.com" in either browser and the correct toolbar will be installed.  After the installation is finished you will be able to search in Google and check your Gmail, as well as access many other Google related features conveniently from your browser.  Play with the options and see what other useful resources you can come up with!

Next is an add-on which is mostly for convenience, (OK, and a little bit of fun for the geeks out there) "Prism for Firefox".  Prism is the reason I no longer use Google Chrome which allows you to create a "web-application" from a web site.  Yes, I know it is a Google product and I am a Google fan-boy but I don’t care for their browser. 

Prism allows you to create an individual web-application out of any webpage.  For instance, for those of us who enjoy listening to the free music from Pandora.com, it can be combined with Prism to act like a separate program on your computer. 

After installing it in Firefox, log into your Pandora.com account (Prism will work on any site but Pandora shows how well it works.)  Now choose Tools from the menu bar and "Convert Website to Application".  You will be asked to choose a couple of settings such as where to save the link, etc. Placing the link on the desktop is a good starting point.

Next, go look on your desktop and you will see an icon for Pandora, or whatever site you used.  If you double click the icon only Pandora will open in a window. It will run in its own window.  You can run Prism with any website, including online games. 

Be creative and let me know how you have used these add-ons.

Tags: add-on, Firefox, google, Google Toolbar, Prism

I received many emails asking me more about Firefox Add-ons after last week’s column.  So today we are going to look at a few more.  Keep those emails coming since I want to write about what interests you!

If you have any questions about basic Firefox Add-ons you need to read last week’s column about "Invisible Hand" and "Tabloc" online at the DNR or at the DoubleClicks.info site.   

"Forecastbar Enhanced" is another helpful add-on.  It allows you to set your location, via zip code, to get your local weather forecasts.  The forecasts are from Accuweather.com.  Other than the current weather forecasts, radar images, etc., you can display it in different locations in FF.  I keep mine in the status bar at the bottom of the Firefox window, which is the default.  You can also set it up to show forecasts for several days in the future. 

The next one I would like to share with you is called, "FoxTab".  "FoxTab" will allow you to set the sites you most often visit.  It will allow you to add any site to your top site "list" and quickly go to it at another time.  It enables a screen preview of "My Top Sites" in several great GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) which you can pick from.  Not only is it useful, it also looks good.  Once you bring your top site window up by clicking a button on your toolbar, you click on the site you want to go to and it pops right up.  Yes, this is like your favorites but in a slick new format.

The last one I will mention today is for you Gmail users.  It is called, "Gmail Manager".  This add-on allows you to set your Gmail account to be visible in your status bar, showing your unread emails.  By clicking on the account it will open your Gmail account in Firefox as if you had logged into Gmail.com yourself.  Then you can deal with your emails as you normally would.  It is set to a default of checking for new emails every 15 minutes but you can adjust that, along with other settings in the options for this add-on.  It will also allow you to keep track of multiple Gmail accounts at the same time.  Of course, that is for you geeks who, like me have more than one Gmail account.

Have fun trying these out and remember they are all free.  If you don’t like them you can easily uninstall them. 

Let me know if you would like to see some more next week…I have about 20 add-ons that I use in Firefox.

Tags: accuweather, add-in, add-on, Firefox, Forecast, foxtab, Gmail, GUI, mozilla, radar, tabloc, weather

I get many questions about Firefox Add-ons and have not written about them for the past several years.  So today I will discuss two of my favorite Add-ons.

Add-ons "add" more features to this great browser and if you haven’t used FF you should download it and try it out at mozilla.com.  Add-ons can get extra info from the browser that can be really helpful and save time. 

Getting to Add-ons is simple.  While in FF, click on Tools | Add-ons and a window will open  revealing those currently installed.  Next, click the Get Add-ons tab and they will supply a few suggestions or you may search for others.  To search for others type in the name of the Add-on you need in the search box.  Double click on the one you want to try out and it will install.  You must restart Firefox for it to start working.

The first one I would like to suggest was built for those of you who like online shopping.  "Invisible Hand" is really a cost saver.  Once you install it, (without having to make any setting changes) it sits quietly in the background and you can forget about it. 

I was looking for a SanDisk® Cruzer® 32GB Flash Drive at an office supply site.  Within 15 seconds of reading about the drive; a bar popped up at the top of the page.  It gave me the exact item at three other sites.  You are thinking, "Well, terrific! That is no big deal."

However, the terrific part is that it lists the other three prices.  The site I looked at had the drive on sale for $139.99.  The other suggested sites had it for $58.90, $64.84 and $79.99, respectively.  It also does the math for you and says you could save $81.09!  Then (if I had $60 extra to spend) I could click the link and purchase it elsewhere.  And did I mention that all Add-ons are free?

Firefox has tabbed browsing as do all modern browsers.  When you look up something on Google or Bing you get a list of sites to check out.  When you click the link it usually replaces the search page with the link you clicked.  Then to view the other list items you have to click your back button to see them. 

With "Tabloc" running you can set it up so that when you double click a tab it locks in place.  This causes all other links on that page to open in a new tab.  Just view the other site you choose and click back on the existing search tab to check others.  This will significantly decrease your searching time.  Tabloc has other neat settings too, so explore the "options".

Last time I wrote about Add-ons I received overwhelming requests for more.  If that happens again I will talk about more next week.

Tags: add-on, addons, Firefox, invisible hand, mozilla, save money, savings, tabloc

Thanks to all of you who sent in the kind comments about the year in review columns for 2009(#1 & #2).  It is good to know that you are using them, liked the repeat of specific sites and that you are continuing to enjoy the column on a regular basis.  So, “Thanks!”

Today I wanted to talk about a very interesting free application that I stumbled upon this week and  the website where I found it.  Everything USB is an interesting site that has…well OK, you guessed it, lots of information about USB devices.  USB stands for “universal serial bus” and is the interface (plug) between your computer, most thumb drives/memory sticks and an array of other items that plug into your computer like camera cables, etc. with the little rectangular interface.  Take a look around there and you may find some interesting info.

One of the things that I found and have tried out for a week or so is called, “Predator“.  The Predator site says, “PREDATOR protects your PC with a USB flash drive” which is exactly what it does.

I know you have seen spy movies where they have to plug a device into a computer to unlock  it.  They don’t use the regular username and password we actually use.  Be aware that the majority of movies spotlighting computer use show them doing things computers in the real world don’t do at all.

With Predator installed on your computer you have entered the movie zone.  Once Predator is installed, you just plug in your thumb drive and get almost immediate access to your computer.  When you walk away from your computer just pull the stick out and drop it in your pocket.  Once, your USB device is out of the computer your monitor goes black and locks.

When you come back to your computer, plug in your device and it unlocks for you to use.

This program also requires you to set a Predator password just in case you lose your drive and can’t get into the computer.  If that is the case you simply press the enter key three times and it asks for the password.  You get three tries to enter the correct one.  If you fail it will lock down for 5 minutes and you won’t be able to try again during that time.  Neat little security trick if your friends at work try to get into your computer.

An interesting Predator feature is that it creates a log which you can read.  If anyone tries to log into your computer while you are gone it tells you what they tried and how it failed.  For instance, when you get back and check the log you could see if someone tried to get into your system with the wrong password, etc.  Check the site’s link above for more details.

Is this better than a username and password?  Nope, but it sure is cool.

Tags: add-on, computer, Double Click, doyle, internet, newspaper column, programs, Ron Doyle, thumb, thumb drive, Transferring Files, usb, USB drive, yego

Last week’s column about “Working At Home” and using “Remote Desktop Connection” received many thanks and a couple of emails with suggestions.  (Thanks to all of you who write each week; I really appreciate “talking” to my readers even if it is just to say, “Hi”.)  One of those suggestions submitted by Daryl in Elkton suggested a site/application that I had not heard of before.

The application is named, “TeamViewer” and is a free and reasonably simple way to log into  another computer with the TeamViewer software installed.   Keep in mind that this is only available free to home users and not commercial businesses.  Go to the site to, “Find out why more than 60 million users trust TeamViewer!”

There are several excellent benefits and one potential drawback.  The benefits would start with ease of installation.  The site says you can be up and running in 2 minutes.  That is a fairly accurate statement, but if you read all the documentation I would plan on 15-30 minutes.  Next, you can create a group which has all of your computers in the group.  This allows you to login using your group username and password and easily connect to any of your group’s computers.  Another benefit is the ability to easily transfer documents back and forth between computers.

Since I have limited space here I will hit one HUGE benefit of TeamViewer.  If you set it up correctly you do not have to have the TeamViewer software installed on a computer to access your group’s computers.  You can log onto your account using your internet browser.  The address is simple (login.teamviewer.com) and once you log in there you may connect to one of your computer’s desktops to interact with your “long distance” computer as if you were sitting in front of it!  This is a tremendous advantage over most ways to access your computers from a distance.  It sets up a secure site connection using “https” the same as your bank’s website, so security should not be an issue.

The one drawback that does bother me is that they have a menu item that reads, “Enable black screen”.  I have tried this feature with computers that are side by side to check that and other features.  When I choose to “black” the remote screen it does, but not when I click on the remote screen.  The remote computer flashes and anyone can see what is clicked.  This is not terrible but I believe it is a security problem.  At my home it really doesn’t matter since it is just my wife and me, but if you have visitors or robbers it is different.  If someone from TeamViewer would like to contact me and tell me how to correct this issue I would whole heartedly recommend TV to everyone.  However, at this point I see that as a possible security issue.

OK, one last benefit.  Since you can log onto your computer long distance using your browser it works on all windows enabled computers.  I have installed it on my wife’s notebook, our desktop and even my little netbook.  Two of these computers run Windows 7 and one of them Windows XP so I can verify that it works well across those operating systems (including Mac OS X 10.4 and up).

Give it a try this week and let me know what you think.  And as with all software I recommend, use at your own risk and check their website for issues since I can’t possibly know all the details for all the software I use/recommend.

Last but not least, “Happy New Year” to you and your families!”

Tags: add-on, computer, computer help, google docs, new computer, other computer, RDP, Ron Doyle, Transferring Files, viewer

Last week I wrote about “Google Chrome” and mentioned a couple of its better options.  “Google Chrome” is a good browser; however, at this point on the internet timeline I like another browser better.  “Better” used here is “as in my opinion”, so you are certainly welcomed to disagree.  Due to the huge number of emails about my favorite browser I will write this week about Firefox.  From the Firefox URL of mozilla.com, you can probably figure that FF is somehow related to Mozilla.  A very quick/short history of the browser starts in the 1990s as Netscape Communicator, later becoming Mozilla which is now Firefox.  That history leaves out a lot of the details but if you are really interested just Google for “history of Firefox” and you will find more than you care to know.

Why do I like Firefox more than other browsers?  Well, I can’t really put it in words but basically, for me, it is due to the “add-ons” available for Firefox.  You can make it a slim, fast running browser as it is downloaded from the URL above.  But also you can add add-ons which give it other abilities beyond those that come with it.  Be careful.  If you add too many add-ons it has been my experience that the browser can slow down significantly, especially when opening.

Add-ons are easy to find, download, install and use.  Every time I see something on the internet about Firefox it always includes the author’s favorite add-ons for their preferred browser, so that is where I will head today.  My “have to have” add-ons for Firefox are:

KEYSCRAMBLER:  When you type on your keyboard, the signals from the keys travel along a path in the operating system before it hits your browser. Keyloggers (the bad guys) are in this path and monitor, record and then send these keystrokes to the criminals who then use your secret data.  KeyScrambler stops keyloggers by encrypting your keystrokes before they get to this path. Keyloggers can only record the encrypted keys, which are completely impossible to read at that level.

IE TAB:  Sometimes web sites/pages are written to only use Internet Explorer.  The only one I have issues with is Microsoft’s “Outlook Web Access” which allows Outlook email to be used on the internet, usually by companies.  If I open it in FF they are jumbled and disordered but if I open them using the IE Tab in FF, the Outlook Web screens are displayed properly.

GOOGLE TOOLBAR:  This is the Google Toolbar that is available for most all browsers but this version is for FF.  It really ties your browser into all of your Google related resources on the web.

TABLOC:  This add-on obviously deals with tabs in FF.  It has many features but the one that I appreciate most is being able to double-click a tab and it locks.  Once a tab is locked when you click any link on that locked page a new tab will open.  That way it is much easier to go back to the tab that you started on before clicking away from it.

These are just a few of the add-ons that I like in Firefox.  Shoot me an email this week and let me know what you like about Firefox and its abundance of add-ons.

Tags: add-on, addons, computer, Double Click, doyle, FF, Firefox, google, internet, Ron Doyle

Last week I said that I would give you the other Firefox add-ons that I like to use, if anyone asked.  You readers really surprised me!  You asked, so here goes the rest of my FF add-ons, in alpha order just to keep it simple.  At the end of each I put a one-word adjective describing it for you.

First up, “ColorfulTabs” which a couple of you said were your favorites.  This add-on doesn’t do very much for the geeks out there but it looks good.  “ColorfulTabs” changes the colors of each tab to a different color.  That doesn’t sound so great; however, it makes them easy to distinguish and makes the browser just look better.  There is a separate link for FF v. 3, so click carefully.  Attractive.

Next in my list is “Searchbar Autosizer“.  This one is a real space saver which I like.   I don’t like lots of buttons in my browser since you can see more web page without them.  This add-on allows you to choose between different sizes your searchbar will use in FF.  You can: 1) size incrementally by each letter you type, 2) keep the searchbar small until you start typing then it auto-enlarges or 3) set it to the width of your choice all the time. Useful.

Now a really slick one for the FF GUI (Graphical User Interface, or how it looks on the screen) called, “Tab Preview“.  For you Windows Vista users this add-on makes the tabs in FF perform very similarly to the way that the Tabs in your taskbar do.  When you hover over a tab in FF a small thumbnail (picture) of the page represented by that tab opens.  This allows you to not only know what page the tab represents, but to actually see a preview of its contents.  Favorite.

“TwitterFox” is one that is specifically for Twitter users (twitter.com).  By-the-way, you should check out Twitter. Find me at http://twitter.com/rondoyle. TwitterFox lets you know twitter statuses and allows updates to your tweets. Like I said specific to Twitterers, is that a word?  It will add a tiny “T” icon on the status bar that notifies you when your friends update their statuses. Also it has a small text input field where you can tweet. Cute.

Last, but not least, “Windows Update” will allow you to update your version of windows without having to open MSIE.  Convenient.

Tags: add-on, addons, FF, Firefox, twit, twitter, Twitter.com