So what do you do?

Get an intern to do it? Nope because it is confidential!

Bang your head against the wall?  Nope!

As you are a Make Use Of reader we are here to show you a solution.

That solution comes from one of our favorite utility programmers – NirSoft . NirSoft has two applications Mozilla History View and IEHistoryView. As you can probably work out, each one of them works for their respective browser and will not work with the other. So keep both of them on your memory stick when you go a’ hunting.

Run the portable application and it will start scanning the machine instantly. Below I ran this on..umm…a user’s machine – yeah that’s the ticket – a user’s machine and not mine at all!

The application will scan all your (or a user’s) browsing history and return it in the graphical user interface. If you browsed your local machine with your browser it will show up here as well.

Uh oh….this person (not me! ) has been browsing the Pirate Bay and Rapidshare! Wow and they have been downloading files! For shame for shame! Now we need to record and export browsing history to send to Human Resources. We simply hit the save button on the tool bar which you can see represented by a disk like so:

Once you hit that button you will have several options for file types such as CSV, TXT, XML, HTML or even a “tabular” file. Once you save it you can print or email it at will!

The Internet Explorer version is very similar – actually identical but it obviously reads in a different history file and has a different name.

Again your desktop browsing will also show up in here so you can catch someone opening porn or other non work related items (unless you work for a porn company!). Both applications have a different set of fields and they are from the IE application:

• URL
• Title
• Hits (counter)
• Page Modified Date
• Expiration date of the page
• User
• History folder

Firefox’s columns are a little better with:

• URL
• Title
• First Visit
• Last Visit
• Visit Count
• Refering site
• Host Name
• Title
• Record Index
• Visit type (Download, link or typed URL) <— This is the big one that proves the site was typed in instead of being opened by a pop up or something along those lines.

No one wants to be the bad guy and get people fired but network security is a administrator’s job and sometimes the job can fall on a executive secretary or anyone – at least make the job of recording browsing history a little less painful with these easy to use tools.

Nirsoft rocks! Do you have another method of doing this? Hit us up in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Customizing Headers & Footers For Printing Webpages (6)
• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• Quickly Create Temporary Email Addresses with YopMail (21)
• How To Set Your Browser Homepage in 5 Browsers (17)
• How To Change Default Webpage Source Editor Of Browsers (14)

It’s safe to assume that you have more than one browser installed on your system. I have five. Though we may not use more than two, all of us suffer from a bit of browser fancy. As soon as developers announce a launch of a browser that promises to speed up the web for us, we click on the download link. That’s not a problem, but keeping the same set of bookmarks across the browsers is.

Xmarks is a nifty solution to migrate bookmarks across the world. But for now, it supports Firefox and IE (with Safari in Mac OS). The one for Google Chrome is in the works. The browser that’s missing is Opera. That leaves us with a job half done. Bookmark syncing using Delicious and its bookmarklet tool is one roundabout. But it’s public by default and you have to log-in to change it to private. So, it’s still not as easy a click.

Transmute attempts to fill the gap by letting us migrate bookmarks across all the browsers.

Why Is it Such a Headache to Migrate Bookmarks?

Not very much so, but every browser has its own way of storing its bookmarks. Most bookmarks are stored as HTML files. Opera uses an .adr format. Firefox 3.5+ too differs in that respect as it stores its bookmarks in a Places.sqlite file which is a database file. The bookmarks.html files that used to hold all the links in the earlier versions had been discontinued from Firefox 3 onwards.

Does this create problems in migration of your bookmarks to other browsers still using the HTML formats? No, because Firefox, just like all the others has an import export utility under the Bookmarks Library that allows you to convert the database format to the HTML one for it to be picked up by the other browsers.

The imported bookmarks also get added to the existing bookmarks usually in a separate folder with the name of the browser that was the source. For instance, imported Firefox bookmarks get located in a folder that’s marked Netscape. Imported bookmarks in Chrome get added under Other Bookmarks. You can then manually shift the bookmarks around into any other root folder.

Next, you have to manually weed out the duplicates by going through each and every link. This is where the headache can start.

Transmute Offers Better (& Quicker) Control Over Bookmarks

Why such a name? Is it because it does the job of bookmark transfer ‘silently’ and without fuss? Perhaps, because the Transmute interface is hassle free.

1. You have two dropdowns – Source and Target. You can use the path field to select the location of the bookmarks file for the individual browsers in case you ever changed the default location.
2. Use the dropdowns to select the respective source and target browsers. There are 12 supported browsers and I am guessing that should cover most of what the world uses. The 13th placed XBEL format (XML Bookmark Exchange Language) covers a few other browsers like Galeon, Arora and Midori which use this one to store their bookmarks.



3. Transmute gives you two more options to migrate bookmarks – Overwrite Collections and Backup Collections.
   • Duplication can be handled if you select the overwrite option as it will plant a fresh copy of the bookmark links (but will also remove the older but unique bookmarks in the target).
   • Backup collections are a safety net in case something goes wrong with the conversion process and you want your old bookmark collection back. By default Transmute timestamps and backs up your bookmark collections before changes are made, providing extra safety.

   

   • To restore the old order, just browse to the bookmark folder location and rename the time stamped backup file to the default file name.
4. Close the source and target browsers and press Start. An alert box pops up and with your agreement the transfer begins. A preview window is the last stop before the conversion starts.

And finishes! That’s it; you can migrate bookmarks across multiple browsers without the hassle of import and export.

Transmute also comes in a PRO flavor giving some extra bookmark selection controls and co-ordination with services like Google Bookmarks and Delicious. But for the simple task of keeping all my browsers with the same bookmarks, the free version more than stands up. If you hate installing things, then there’s a portable option too.

Having the same bookmarks across all your browsers is such a basic need and keeping them all updated with each other is where Transmute steps in with a speedy click.

Transmute v1.63 is Windows only and requires Microsoft .NET Framework. It may also run on Linux and Mac OS X with Mono Framework 2.0 or higher installed.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• How To Set Your Browser Homepage in 5 Browsers (17)
• How To Change Default Webpage Source Editor Of Browsers (14)
• How Installing an Active X Control Can Open The Door To Hackers (7)
• Check Your Website Design In Different Browsers With Adobe BrowserLab (6)
• 6 Reasons Why Mozilla Firefox Is Safe Compared To Internet Explorer (23)

The Sidewiki’s intent is to pool together the mass of readers who visit a webpage and use their collective knowhow to enhance the content already present with their own website reviews. Don’t muddle it with Searchwiki, that one was for search results. This one is for annotating webpages.

Google Sidewiki installs as a browser sidebar. As you visit a webpage, you can read commentaries and inputs from others who have passed through before you. This information can broaden the original information contained in the webpage by way of additional reference links, tips, inside information or simply a critical website review. The stream of comments is intended to further conversation around a topic.

Google’s page on Sidewiki draws out several examples of potential uses and benefits. So, let’s check if it’s worth the swipe.

Installing Sidewiki

The browser tool for Internet Explorer and Firefox installs as a sideswipe sidebar. It’s a default part of Google Toolbar. So all of us who avoid the Google Toolbar, or any toolbar as such, tough luck.

It’s also a part of the toolbar’s enhanced features which involves sending user browsing info back to Google.

Once installed, you can click the Sidewiki icon or click a little blue tab to open the sidebar to view comments.

Reading, annotating and sharing

As this is a new service, most of your frequented sites won’t have many entries. In that case, you can log in with your Google ID and publish your own. Put in your two bits for the whole page or select a specific section to remark on.

Sharing some info could be a direct benefit. It’s quite simple – click the Share link at the bottom of an entry and pass it on using email, Twitter or post it on Facebook. You can also click the chain icon to copy the link and paste it anywhere like instant messengers. Blogger post integration is also there for those who have one.

Sidewiki entries are coupled with Google Profiles (i.e. those who us them). You can read the other entries by the author and his complete bio on Google Profiles.

Sidewiki website reviews can be edited and deleted any time. You can also disable Sidewiki by clicking on the wrench icon for the toolbar settings and going to the Tools tab. Uncheck the box for Sidewiki.

Sidewiki’s intent as explained by Google is not to have a free-for-all commenting platform. A ranking program is inbuilt to weed out the useless info from the ones that are relevant. The exact tech behind the show is quite beyond me but it does take heed of user feedback (voting), commenting track record of the author and relative quality. Ranking is something Google is good at, so hopefully Sidewiki will show the worthy ones.

Is the footnote clear yet?

It’s still early days so the jury is still not out. Looking at the comments floating around on the web, opinion seems to be divided. Yes, universal sharing of knowledge seems to be a great idea. Questions though remain how strong will the ranking system be? Will it filter out comments which express opposite views? How will webmasters take to this ‘intrusion’? In-site comments can be controlled and blocked, but Sidewiki is open to all. Early indications say that not all comments will make the grade. Algorithms will ensure that the most relevant will appear first. Also, Google’s intent seems to be of adding value rather than start a town square hullabaloo.

Sidewiki’s success is not assured because it’s a Google baby. Annotation tools and web highlighters like Diigo, DotSpots, Trailfire and Fleck are among a few. It will be the value of raw words that might determine Sidewiki’s quality.

What are your early thoughts on sideswiping Sidewiki? Comment or annotate away.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• DeeperWeb Gets More Out Of Your Google Search (6)
• View A Multi-Page Article On One Single Page With PageZipper (14)
• How To Twitter Quickly from Firefox, IE, Opera and Chrome (24)
• How To Print A Web Page The Way You Want It (7)
• How To Block Ads In Any Browser Without Adblock (31)

AdBlock blocks the advertisements on websites and lets you browse distraction free. Quite a few people don’t make the switch to alternative browsers because none of them can support AdBlock. That said, you can still block display ads using most of the popular browsers so let us see how you can block ads in other browsers that are not Firefox.

There are different hacks around there like special proxies and selective content blocking that you can use depending upon which browser you use. Here we will be using mainly using Adsweep. Although the project is not being maintained anymore, it provides a simple and easy ad blocking solution that just works.

Adsweep is essentially a user javascript (think Greasemonkey) that hides the page elements that contain advertisements. Setting it up is a little different for different browsers, lets have a look.

Chrome

• Download AdSweep.user.js
• Open Chrome user data directory. Use the following information if you are unsure about its location:
  • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
  • Vista: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
  • Mac OS X: ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default
  • Linux: ~/.config/google-chrome/Default
• Once you are in there, create a folder named User Scripts

• Copy the file you downloaded above into this folder.
• Now we need to close Chrome and restart it with the ‘–enable-user-scripts‘ switch. You can do so from the command line or simply right-click on the chrome icon on your desktop and click properties. Add ‘ –enable-user-scripts‘ at the end. Click OK and double the icon to start Chrome with User Scripts enabled.

• Visit the AdSweep website.  If you see a red notification in the top right corner, everything went fine. If you don’t, recheck that you performed the above mentioned steps correctly.

If you use the development build of Chrome and have extensions enabled, then you can click and download the Adsweep extension for Chrome and spare yourself some work!

Opera

• Download AdSweep.js
• Within Opera, go to Tools > Preferences and then to the Advanced tab.
• Choose Content on the left side and then click on Javascript Options.

• Click Choose and browse to the location where you downloaded the file in Step 1

• Hit Refresh and notice the difference

Here is a quick before and after:

How to Block Display Ads In Internet Explorer

This is where you would have to leave AdSweep (it won’t work on IE) and take things into your hands. First and foremost, upgrade to the latest version of IE – Internet Explorer 8. IE8 has a feature called InPrivate filtering which can be tweaked to block ads. Here is how:

• Enable InPrivate Filtering from the Safety Menu (or press Ctrl + Shift +F)
• Now you need a filtering list of some sorts, that can identify ads on a page. Just Google around and you can find plenty, even AdBlock lists. Download the XML file onto your computer.
• Click on Safety > InPrivate Filtering Settings. In the dialog that opens, lower the Show content by providers used by this number of websites to the minimum. click on Advanced settings.

• In the Manage Add-ons dialog that opens, choose InPrivate Filtering on the left and click on import, browse to the XML file you just downloaded and the rules will be imported.

Keep in mind that you won’t block each and every ad with these methods, because the rules have to updated frequently to take care of new advertisers and other changes. On the flip side there would be times when genuine third party content will be blocked as well (specially in the InPrivate Filtering Technique). In any case, this should rid you of a considerable amount of ads and improve the overall browsing experience.

Do you know of any other ways to block display ads in Internet Explorer, Chrome or any other browser? Sound off in the comments, we would love to hear about them.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• How To Twitter Quickly from Firefox, IE, Opera and Chrome (24)
• How To Set Your Browser Homepage in 5 Browsers (17)
• Three Firefox Security & Privacy Add-ons that can Co-exist (23)
• SpywareBlaster Can Stop Spyware Before It Starts [Win] (7)
• Quickly Create Temporary Email Addresses with YopMail (21)

Today, not only can browsers go to websites and view information but they can also interact with the websites they visit and that can end up leading to trouble if you’re not careful of what you download, specifically with installing Active X controls.

A brief history of ActiveX before we start. ActiveX is a software and coding framework made by Microsoft in 1996 and now competes with Sun Microsystem’s Java platform. ActiveX controls are almost like “mini” pieces of software that can be used not just in Internet Explorer, but also in other pieces of software such as the Offfice product suite and Windows Media Player. When the controls are in your browser, they are usually used for visual plugins, such as specialized 3rd party media players, remote control applications, online virus scanners and other things of that nature.

You might visit a website occasionally which will prompt you to download/install ActiveX in your computer, and say “yes” to the couple of security confirmation prompts that come up not knowing what you’re really accepting, but this is exactly where the danger lies. Most people only care to get to the content they’re visiting, so they will keep clicking “yes” and “accept” as many times as it takes to see the final page, and that is where the danger lies for you to be opened up to viruses, trojan horses, spyware and even phishing attempts.

ActiveX controls can be dangerous because, once you finish installing Active X controls, they have most of the functions a regular Windows program running on your desktop has, which is a significant security problem if the control was from a malware infested site or was downloaded by mistake. That’s why if you have a prompt for a questionable or suspicious ActiveX control from your browser, the worst thing that can happen will simply be that you won’t be able to see the site or page you’re trying to visit.

If you think you’ve installed a risky ActiveX control, it is easy to remove. If you’re using Firefox, click on Tools, click Add-Ons, then click on the Plugins tab and disable the control that you’re trying to remove by clicking disable.

In Internet Explorer, click on Tools then on Manage Add-Ons and make sure that the “Toolbars and Extensions” type is selected on the left menu. Click on the control you’d like to remove and then click disable by its information in the lower right corner.

Finally, a word about how to stay safe. Some online toolbars (such as the Google Toolbar) and many browsers (including Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox) can help by warning you that a site you are trying to visit is known for downloading malicious code to its visitors browsers so if you do get such a warning from a browser, be sure to pay attention to it. Most browsers usually show a red screen before loading the page to make sure you get the message!

Do you have tips on how you stay safe while browsing? Share them with us in the comments below!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 6 Reasons Why Mozilla Firefox Is Safe Compared To Internet Explorer (23)
• Are You a Reckless Web User? Secure Your Browser With AVG Linkscanner (13)
• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• Three Firefox Security & Privacy Add-ons that can Co-exist (23)
• How To Change Default Webpage Source Editor Of Browsers (14)

Alternative web browsers are aplenty and have a low barrier of entry even for less technically savvy computer users, but people are generally not keen to change their habits or spending time researching, downloading and installing another application – especially when the one that comes preloaded appears to be working just fine.

1. Firefox is not perfect software, but its vulnerabilities are fixed in a considerably shorter amount of time. Many new users are curious – is Mozilla Firefox safe? Updates are released immediately, not on a monthly schedule, and clock in at fewer than 10 MB. Users are notified automatically and prompted to install the update with a single click. The update process doesn’t take more than a minute on a modern computer.

2. Since Firefox is open source, anyone can look at the source code, anyone can spot a problem and contribute a fix. Would you leave your car keys with a guy that says “trust me” or at a car lot with video surveillance and a logbook?

3. ActiveX applets, the way IE extends the functionality of the browser, are a known highway for malware and viruses. Firefox works with verified and signed add-ons. Even if you choose to install a malicious add-on – and the browser warns you – the damage is limited to the information in the browser whereas ActiveX exploits could be used to take over the whole computer.

4. Conscious users can install NoScript, an add-on that takes care of vulnerabilities that are not yet patched, either in Firefox or other plug-ins such as Java, JavaScript and Adobe’s Flash. It achieves this goal by allowing the user to selectively enable interactive objects that the user decides to trust, automatically blocking the rest.

5.  Security through obscurity; malicious programmers will always target the browser with the largest user base, especially if that user base is less tech savvy.

6.  Firefox uses a service provided by Google that notifies the user before entering a potentially malicious web site. These websites ask for your financial data under false pretenses or contain malicious software often posing as something useful such as codecs or registry fixes.

We check the radiator on the car when the temperature indicator turns red; by the time the computer starts acting up or not starting at all, and by all chances appearing to work just fine, your documents, passwords and financial data might already siphoned half a world away. Most people don’t realize this, there are no clear warnings, but using Internet Explorer is in itself a security threat.

I substantiate that statement by citing the Google Analytics on my blog – there are still people using old, un-patched and therefore vulnerable versions of Internet Explorer. The reasons behind this range from the hassle of dealing with Windows Update, millions of machines without a valid license which cannot access updates and users not realizing the importance of having up to date software.

This is not news, yet there are people unaware of the danger posed. Washington Post’s Brian Krebs reports on the Security Fix blog “Internet Explorer Unsafe for 284 Days in 2006”. Even a fully patched and up-to-date version of IE 6 contains at least 22 discovered vulnerabilities; IE 7 stands at 9 and IE 8 at 2. By comparison, the latest version of Firefox (3.5.1), a free and open source browser, has zero un-patched vulnerabilities; the previous version (3.0.x) also stands at zero.

As always, you’re welcome to leave a comment below. Is Mozilla Firefox much more safe compared to IE? You might also want to check out some MakeUseOf posts on security, Firefox or browsers in general.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• How Installing an Active X Control Can Open The Door To Hackers (7)
• Are You a Reckless Web User? Secure Your Browser With AVG Linkscanner (13)
• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• Three Firefox Security & Privacy Add-ons that can Co-exist (23)
• How To Change Default Webpage Source Editor Of Browsers (14)

Apart from using your favorite website (wink, wink), we’ve seen a bunch of services here on MakeUseOf in the past, allowing you to make a personal, dynamic homepage, greeting you with image slideshows, recent RSS updates, and so on.

Although it seems obvious for most computer users, finding out how to set your browser home page is not evident for everyone. Today, we’ll show you how to change your home page in 5 different browsers.

Firefox and Firefox-based Browsers

Firefox is not just the acclaimed geek-browser anymore. These days, it’s the most used browser in the internet market. As such, that is where we’ll start. Note that any menu-names might have to be translated to your own language, but any changes should be obvious.

How to Set Browser Home Page

In the top left of your browser, open the Edit menu and select Preferences.

In the Main tab, you can change your default homepage. You can also configure Firefox to load with a blank page, or to restore your last session.

When you start typing in the text-field, Firefox will make suggestions based on your history. Alternatively, you can also use the address of the webpage currently active in your browser, one of your bookmarks, or restore the default Firefox Start page.

You can add multiple home pages — which will launch in tabs upon opening firefox — by putting vertical slashes between the links. (e.g. “http://www.makeuseof.com | http://www.google.com”)

This will work with Firefox, but also with Firefox-based browsers, like Flock, Wyzo, and many others.

Internet Explorer (IE7 and IE8)

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer might be loathed by many, but one can’t ignore the fact that it takes a worthy second as most used browser. And thus we go on. The differences between Internet Explorer 7 and 8 are superfluous for this tutorial.

Option 1

In the top right of your screen, open the Tools dropdown menu and select Internet Options.

In the General tab, you’ll be able to set the browser home page to one of your liking. Similar to Firefox, you can use the address of the currently active page, the default start page, or a blank page.

If you want Internet Explorer to open multiple pages upon launch, you  need to type the different addresses in the text-box, below each other.

Option 2

There’s a second way to configure your home page. First, surf to the webpage you want to use.

Next, open the dropdown menu next to the Home button, and select Add or Change Home Page…

A new window will pop up. You can choose to replace your current home page by the current address, or to add the webpage to your current bookmarks.

In Internet Explorer 8, you can also use the current tab set (all your open pages) as homepages.

Google Chrome

Chrome’s one of the new guys on the block, but a relatively popular browser, taking in account its short time with us. If you like Google’s browser of simplicity, this part is for you.

In the top-right corner of the browser, open the wrench dropdown menu and select Options. Go to the Basics tab, here you can configure your homepage.

Option 1

Make sure that ‘Open the following pages’ is selected in the startup section near the top of the page.

In the box below, you can add multiple web addresses to be opened upon browser launch. If you want to open a blank page, you’ll have to enter ‘about:blank’, manually.

Option 2

Make sure that the ‘Open the home page’ is selected in the startup section near the top of the page.

In the Home Page section, you’ve got two options. Either use the New Tab Page — which is selected by default — or enter a custom address in the text-field.

Safari

Safari is the default browser on Mac OS X. A while ago it was also ported to Windows. I must say it’s one of the finest browsers around, but sadly underused. If you belong to the Safari-minority, this section is for you.

If you’ve got Windows, open the Edit dropdown menu and select Preferences… at the top-left of the browser.

If you’ve got a Mac, open the Safari dropdown menu and select Preferences… at the top-left of the browser.

Both in Windows and Mac, you can change your homepage in the General tab. You can choose how to open new pages — blank, or with a homepage — and type in the address of your favorite site. Additionally, you can also choose to use the address of the page you’re currently visiting.

While you’re at it, you can also tell Safari what to do upon opening new tabs. Top Sites, one of the best features in Safari, is default, but perhaps you still prefer to use your homepage.

Opera

Opera is – sadly – one of the lesser used browsers, even though it’s got remarkable charms and has introduced numerous innovations in the browser market. If you’re amongst the fine men and women using this slick competitor, this section is for you.

At the top of the browser, open the Tools dropdown menu and select Preferences.

In the General tab, you can configure your homepage. Either type in the address you want to use, or choose to use the currently active page as homepage.

Alternatively, you can configure Opera to launch with a blank page, the startup dialog, or with the tabs of last time’s session.

This is where we conclude this multi-tutorial. I hope you’ve learned something useful today. If there’s anything you want to say, or ask, please refer to the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• Safari 4: Is It Time To Switch From Firefox? (26)
• How To Twitter Quickly from Firefox, IE, Opera and Chrome (24)
• How To Change Default Webpage Source Editor Of Browsers (14)
• Quickly Create Temporary Email Addresses with YopMail (21)

Though Twitter is all pervasive, I have found that twittering becomes easier if it’s always in my face and married into the tools I use almost as a habit for my daily web hops. Mark’s comprehensive post on Tools, Apps and Bots to Improve your Twitter Experience became my first roadmap as I surrendered myself to the Twitter universe.

Mark put in mentions about how to Twitter from some of the popular instant messengers and even from the command line. To further my own user experience, I started looking for ways to say my 140 bytes worth in an uncomplicatedly fast way sans frills from the browsers I use often and almost live in. With the popularity of Twitter, it wasn’t like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Twitter Addons for Firefox

CloudBerry TweetFox for Firefox brings micro-blogging to the browser. This Firefox addon for Twitter lets you tweet excerpts you like from websites with a click of the button and attach a short URL to the source page.

Download and install the Firefox experimental add-on. Restart your browser and add your Twitter username and password through the options dialogue of the add-on: Tools – Add-ons – CloudBerry TweetFox 1.0 – Options.

Select an excerpt from any interesting website and click on the Twitter icon on the toolbar. Tweet the selected text (or any message) from the TweetFox box. Optionally, you can also include the source URL courtesy of the URL shortening service from Chilp.It. Of course, make sure that the entire message is within the 140 character limit of Twitter.

The latter versions expectedly will see support for multiple Twitter accounts and also a feature to send replies.

TwitterBar is a similar add-on which uses the address bar to do the job. David has covered it in a previous post on 9 Ways To Use Twitter – No Website Necessary.

Twitter Addons for Internet Explorer

As above, CloudBerry’s Twitter addon for Internet Explorer does the same job. TweetIE installs as a toolbar in IE. If it is not visible, select View – Toolbars – CloudBerry Twitter plugin.  On first use, the plugin asks for your username and password.

Write your own text or select text from any website and click on the Twitter toolbar icon. Your 140 character limited message can now be dispatched with a click.

Twitter Addon for Opera

If it’s add-ons and plug-ins with the last two browsers, then it’s widgets with Opera. More exactly, the Twitter Opera Widget. The widget is light and installs in a jiffy. It can be accessed from the Widgets menu on the toolbar.

After logging in, this is how Twitter addons for Opera looks like –

The little menu on the top gives you access to all your tweets. Posts and updates are almost concurrent. On the minus side, unlike the Twitter tools for IE and Firefox, the Opera widget lacks a URL shortener. But as a simple lightweight Twitter tool, it scores.

Twitter Addons for Chrome

Chrome so far lacks Firefox’s add-on richness or Opera’s widget gallery. Though, Chrome extensions are on fast track development… till then, it’s a little bookmarklet that I must fall back on.

Twitlet (beta) is a Twitter javascript bookmarklet service that lets you post from the convenience of your browser.

Twitlet is fast and simple. All you have to do is insert your Twitter log-in details to get the bookmarklet. Drag it to your browser’s toolbar and start using it with messages or selected texts. #link or #this can be used to insert the current page’s shortened URL.

Big Tweet is a similar service but it gives better text control over Twitlet. Using the bookmarklet, you can post to Twitter or Friendfeed. With Big Tweet, you can post highlighted text from any webpage with a shortened URL. A significant plus is that it lets you easily insert special characters in your messages for that emotional appeal.

Big Tweet as a bookmarklet also runs with Firefox, IE and Safari.

If I knew that we would be so keen to follow each other’s lives in 140 characters or less, I would have jumped in sooner. Are you are already in the deep end or are you a new believer like me? Either way, you can take a walkthrough of our huge list of posts on things that are Twitter. And of course, don’t forget to comment or tweet on days spent with Twitter.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• How To Set Your Browser Homepage in 5 Browsers (17)
• How to Download Embedded Flash Files using your Browser (48)
• How To Change Default Webpage Source Editor Of Browsers (14)
• How To Block Ads In Any Browser Without Adblock (31)
• Browse Safely & Avoid Viruses & Spyware With HHOTT (22)

But for the serious guys, the source code is often a mine of info. It’s the backdoor into a competitor’s SEO strategies – keyword use, design optimization etc. In brief, what’s the guy doing right and what is he doing wrong.

Every browser has an inbuilt viewer, much like a notepad. Commonly found under the View menu, it displays the client side source code at the touch of a mouse. Commonly though, it is not feature rich. For instance, a feature to change the font face would have been nice. Also, a simple addition of a comment before saving the file is not possible as it is usually read only. It is merely meant to be a viewer… the word ‘editor’ a bit ill-chosen.

So can we get the browser to use the editor of our choice? Thankfully, most of the browsers themselves are open to the idea. Here’s how we can foist our own choice on Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera.

Mozilla Firefox

Firefox 3’s default viewer is accessed from View – Page Source. It has basic options to change the text size, syntax highlighting and a feature to wrap long lines. One feature I like is that Firefox lets me see the source for a selected area of the webpage (Right click – View selection source).

But to choose another editor, let’s do this:

1. Type about:config in the address bar. Ignore the alert which comes up and go ahead.
2. In the application preferences page, scroll to the bottom half of the page or use browser’s Find (CTRL+F) to search for two values.
3. Find and highlight view_source.editor.external. Double click and toggle it to “true”.
4. Next, just below it find and highlight view_source.editor.path. Double click on it and enter the new path of your preferred editor in the Enter string value box. If the path doesn’t exist or is not executable, the inbuilt viewer will be used.

It’s done!

Firefox has a host of add-ons which help to get under the hood of a webpage. Ann Smarty, a colleague here at MakeUseOf has covered seven of them quite comprehensively in an outside post at SearchEngineJournal.com. Of the 7 add-ons mentioned, only View Formatted Source is not updated for the latest version of the browser.

Internet Explorer

IE8’s source viewer, accessed from View – Source doesn’t add anything more than the standard options. But the inbuilt Developer Tools feature gives IE8 some extra teeth and us, an option to have an editor of our choice.

Developer Tools is a debugger which makes dissecting a webpage and its included elements like CSS, Javascript and HTML much easier. The developer tools can be opened by –

• Open IE8. Press F12
• Or on the Menu click Tools – Developer Tool.

It is a powerful tool and to explain it would require a few tutorials of its own. Here, we just want to change the source code editor.

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Press the F12 button to start the Developer Tools.
3. Click on File; Choose Customize Internet Explorer View Source.
4. Three options are presented: Default Viewer, Notepad, Other…
5. You can use Notepad or select Other for an editor of your choice. Browse to the location of your program, select the program’s executable file and click Open to set it up as the new editor.

Opera

Opera v9.64 does allow you to make changes and apply them on the fly in its source editor. The source editor is available from View – Source. Opera also gives you the option to change the default and it is easy.

1. On the Menu, click on Tools – Preferences.
2. In Preferences, select the Advanced tab. Under Programs, click on Edit for Choose application for viewing source.
3. Opera gives us three choices,
   • The Opera source viewer – use the inbuilt one.
   • Open with default application – specify the path of your preferred application.
   • Open with other application – here you can browse to the program of your choice, select its executable and set it as the editor. You can also fix launch parameters for the program in the Parameter field.
4. Click OK to close the source viewer options and set the changes.

A short note on Google Chrome…

Google Chrome does not allow us to change the default source viewer (yet!). Chrome has a Developer’s section under the page icon, from where you can view the source of the current page, use Debug JavaScript function and open a JavaScript console. The source viewer itself is minimalistic with syntax highlighting, line numbers and active links.

The view source option is akin to a diagnostic kit, especially for a web developer. Therefore, it makes sense to use the better ones on the table like for instance Notepad++, SourceEdit, or even dedicated but lean HTML editors like Homesite (good but not free). For more free options look at 3 Windows Text Editors For Programmers.

As we are talking about the ‘language of code’ why not also look at Damien’s post on tools to clean up CSS files.

Have you changed your source viewer/editor? Or are you sticking to the default? Also let us know your own editor of choice.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• How To Set Your Browser Homepage in 5 Browsers (17)
• How Installing an Active X Control Can Open The Door To Hackers (7)
• 6 Reasons Why Mozilla Firefox Is Safe Compared To Internet Explorer (23)
• Useful Widgets for the Opera Browser (11)

If you are a web developer, you sure have to take care of browser compatibilities and ensure that your web app looks and works almost the same, if not entirely the same across different browsers and platforms.

If you have been looking for an easy solution to see how your site looks in different browsers, then check out the new Adobe BrowserLab. Adobe BrowserLab provides you with exact renderings of your webpages as they would look in different browsers and operating systems. The service might remind you of Browsershots which also provides you with screenshots of your site in different browsers. There is however, no waiting required in Adobe BrowserLab and you get to see the results almost instantaneously.

Adobe BrowserLab allows you to preview your work in Firefox 2.X Windows, Firefox 3.X Windows, Firefox 2.X Mac OS, Firefox 3.X Mac OS, IE6.X and IE7.X and Safari 3.X; which is less than what you can get with Browsershots but includes the popular browsers.

You can view the results side by side (2-up) view, or any individual screenshot (1-up view) or compare the renderings with the “onion-skin” view which overlays one screenshot over the other (as seen below).

You can install BrowserLab MXP extensions to integrate Adobe BrowserLab with Dreamweaver CS4, which would then allow you to preview and compare the local files which you are developing for your site.

Looks too good to be true? Well it is true, at least for a certain period of time anyway. Adobe BrowserLab is a limited free preview service. While Adobe is testing the service, they are letting people hop on board. The final product would most likely require you to shell out some bucks. However, with the time most webapps take these days to drop out of beta stages, you might be able to use BrowserLab for at least a considerable amount of time. You can give it a thorough spin and decide if you would like to spend some money to avail its services in the future.

Interested in webdesign? Check out our MakeUseOf posts to help you become a web-designing wizard.

What clever ways do you use to preview your work in different browsers? Virtualization? Or you install all the browsers? Let us know about them in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• How To Set Your Browser Homepage in 5 Browsers (17)
• How To Change Default Webpage Source Editor Of Browsers (14)
• How Installing an Active X Control Can Open The Door To Hackers (7)
• 6 Reasons Why Mozilla Firefox Is Safe Compared To Internet Explorer (23)

The use of Flash plug-ins in browsers is now almost obligatory. Yes, it’s easy to view and enjoy the rich media content delivered by interactive Flash embedded pages. But what if I want to download some of these files as keepsakes? The greatest benefit – I can watch them offline in my own jolly time. Convert them to a format of my choice. Or embed them again in a PowerPoint presentation. Or even transfer them to my mobile phone.

Flash animation files are embedded as SWF (Small Web Format) files in webpages. Rather than depending on any software or a third-party website, downloading Flash content is dead simple. The only tool required is a browser and a bit of patience to do the rummaging around.

Just one note: As we will be heading into the internet cache folders of the respective browsers, it pays to clear it of all old files before navigating to the desired page. It makes the Flash file search a lot easier.

So, here’s how to do it in three of our popular browsers.

Download SWF files using Firefox

1. Fire up Firefox and browse to the page which contains the embedded SWF Flash file that you are eyeing to download. Let the SWF file stream through once completely.
2. On any empty part of the page, right-click and select the Page Info context menu option. Or alternatively, go to Tools – Page Info.

   

3. Select the Media tab. The Media tab lists all image formats, icons, style sheets and flash files that were rendered by the webpage.

   

4. Look amongst the items to find the particular file with the SWF extension. The type column will show up with an Embed filetype. Highlight the file and click Save as to save the file on your hard drive.

Download SWF files using Internet Explorer

In IE8, we have to head to the Temporary Internet Files folder which stores all rendered files during a browsing session. (It can be directly accessed from here in Windows XP – C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files.)

1. Go to the IE Menu bar. Click on Tools – Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, click on Settings under Browsing History.
3. The Temporary Internet Files and Browsing History box opens up.

   

4. Click on View Files. You will get all the rendered webpage elements in this folder.
5. To rummage about effectively amidst the mass of files, choose View – Arrange by Type from the menu. Also go to Tools – Folder Options, and uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types option.
6. Seek out your SWF files, copy and then paste it to your preferred location.

   

Download SWF files using Opera

In Opera, downloaded SWF files can be accessed in two simple ways –

• Type opera:cache in the address bar.
• Go to Tools – Advanced – Cache from the toolbar.

Either way, a huge list of downloaded page elements opens up with their URLs. Search for a file with the .swf extension. Alternatively, you could search (Ctrl+F ) and hunt it down, with swf as the search query.

Right-click on the particular file and choose either Saved Linked Content As or Save to Download Folder to save the SWF file on the hard disk.

After downloading the SWF file, one can use the Adobe Flash Player to view the Flash file or a supported media player like Media Player Classic. Or, an easier way would be to just open it in a browser by right-clicking it and selecting the browser of choice.

These are the ways we can use to single out the Flash files from a webpage. In my experience, I personally have been more comfortable with Firefox than the other two. I am still searching a way perform this in Chrome but it is proving impossible without third-party support. Numerous third-party tools can do the same job better by converting it to a format of your choice. But it always pays to know that you can fall back on a browser alone.

Aibek had the same idea about offline Flash files when he covered How To Download and Play Flash Games Offline in a previous post. That post extends the possibilities of the fun we can have with Flash files.

What about you? Do you let it play on the webpage or do you dig under and take a Flash file offline?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• How To Twitter Quickly from Firefox, IE, Opera and Chrome (24)
• How To Set Your Browser Homepage in 5 Browsers (17)
• How To Download Free Flash Miniclip Games and Carry Them on USB (39)
• How To Download and Play Kongregate Games Offline (22)
• How To Download and Play Flash Games Offline (88)

A search query always gives us a heap of search results to sift through. DeeperWeb takes these search results, churns them out in the normal Google fashion and also sorts them out according to other associated sources like news, blogs, metrics, Wikipedia and answers. Thus, a user gets a better view of his search results. Now it’s a choice of which heap of results to dive deeper into.

Courtesy DeeperWeb.com

How does DeeperWeb help me get a deeper look at the web?

Let me try it out with a simple query – I type “recession” in the search box. It’s something I am worried about and here’s what I get:

The usual 9,370,000 results in 0.27 seconds. Just like a Google search results page. But I also get the two unique DeeperWeb features on a sidebar.

The Tag Cloud

The tag cloud (or DeeperCloud) provides the user with an understanding of the relative issues arranged around the main query. The other tags are basically keywords which I can click to fine tune my search results further.

I click on the ‘economic’ tag and Google works behind the scenes to return a results page for ‘economic recession’. The Tag Cloud and the sidebar resources contents change to reflect the new result.

I can also use a phrase like “personal finances” to enhance my search or search in a specific site. A mouse-over over a particular tag allows me to filter out that word from a search, much like the Google query minus (-) operator.

I can now go on clicking the related tags to go ‘deeper’ into the search results. Probably, I can get the same results using Google operators directly but tag searching not only takes the hassle out of it but also suggests associated keywords which we may not have thought of at the time.

Topic Mapping

DeeperWeb describes this feature as a way to reduce the usual clutter of search result page. DeeperWeb ‘maps’ the results into specific sidebar categories depending on the source and type of result. These categories resemble mini search engines.

Courtesy DeeperWeb.com

Search results are arranged into neat little boxes like – Blogs Search, Answers Search, Metrics Search, Business News Search, Resources Search and Wikipedia Search.

For my ‘recession’ query, I can go directly to blogs which discussing the topic or check out when the last U.S. recession took place via Answers Search. The Resources Search gives me many PDF documents on the subject. The Business News Search tells me that it might not be a good time to buy a car. The Metrics Search gives the pollsters feedback on a universal worry. And of course, Wikipedia Search throws in its rich storehouse of information.

Narrowing down the search results into categories and sources does wonders for personal productivity.

Great! How do I get DeeperWeb for myself?

Couldn’t be easier. DeeperWeb 1.1.0 is available in these flavors:

• Directly, as a web interface at DeeperWeb.com.
• As a Firefox Add-on from the Mozilla Add-ons page. Conduct a usual search and the DeeperWeb pane appears on the results page and disappears when you leave the page.
• And for IE as a search plug-in. The plug-in is available for Internet Explorer 7 and 8.
• Nope! It doesn’t work with Chrome, yet.

The DeeperWeb add-on is compatible with Windows (2000, XP, Vista), Mac OS X and Linux.

I took DeeperWeb for quite a few spins around the web. The web app is still in beta and so the promise for the days to come is still fresh. Although, it’s Google that’s doing the heavy lifting, DeeperWeb does give it more muscle.

Let us know whether DeeperWeb enhanced your search experience or boosted your efficiency. How does it stand up to the other Google-driven search engines? Speak your mind in the comment.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Google Sidewiki – Sideswipe for Sharing Website Reviews (5)
• Are You a Reckless Web User? Secure Your Browser With AVG Linkscanner (13)
• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• Three Firefox Security & Privacy Add-ons that can Co-exist (23)
• Quickly Create Temporary Email Addresses with YopMail (21)

Here’s how it looks like in Internet Explorer:

Sometimes we might need it but usually we don’t. It’s not gibberish but for the sake of dandier appearance we should ideally remove the header and footer info from the printed page. Both Internet Explorer and Firefox make it easy to remove or include this header-footer information. But just how?

Removing header and footer information in Internet Explorer

Select Print Preview from the File menu on the menu bar. The Print Preview window has a ‘Turn headers and footers on or off‘ button on the top. Toggle that to switch the visibility of the header and footer.

The changes in the Print Preview window are temporary and will remain only as long as the window is kept open. To permanently customized our print jobs, we need to head over to Page Setup.

Adjusting header and footer information in Internet Explorer

Modern browsers provide us with a lot of customization options and IE8 is no different.

1. Browse to the webpage you want to print.
2. Click on Page Setup from either the File menu or from the Printer icon drop-down menu on the menu bar.

   

   

3. In the Page Setup box click on the dropdown lists under Header and Footer and select what you want to print. If you want to exclude any header and footer field, select Empty from the drop-down menu. You can print or exclude information from the left, right or center positions of the page.

   

With Page Setup complete, all that is left is the final Print command.

Making your own header and footer information

A slew of simple ampersand codes let you add your own custom headers and footers. For a custom header or footer in Internet Explorer 8, click on one of the drop-down menus under Headers and Footers in the Page Setup dialog box, and then click Custom. In the Custom dialog box, type your own text along with these codes:

• Window title – &w
• Page address (URL) – &u
• Date in short format (as specified by Regional and Language Options in Control Panel) – &d
• Date in long format (as specified by Regional and Language Options in Control Panel) – &D
• Time (as specified by Regional and Language Options in Control Panel) – &t
• Time in 24-hour format – &T
• Current page number – &p
• Total number of pages – &P
• Right-aligned text (following &b) – &b
• Centered text (between &B&B) – &b&b
• A single ampersand (&) – &&

For example, if I want to show that I printed the page on a particular date, I can enter – &w By Saikat on &d.

Adjusting header and footer information in Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox follows the same path as IE.  Access Page Setup from the File menu; go to the ‘Margins & Header/Footer‘ tab. Use the drop-down menus to select or remove the headers and footers of your choice – left, center or right.

Adding a custom field to the header and footer is slightly simpler than IE as no codes are involved. Select Custom from the drop-down menu and enter your desired text in the pop-up. You are done.

Some headers and footers like page numbers and dates are often essential. What we need to print or exclude depends on the content. With this method, my woes have gone. Hopefully, yours will too.

Did you like this ‘How-to’? Did you find this “hack” helpful? Let us know in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• How To Set Your Browser Homepage in 5 Browsers (17)
• How To Easily Record & Print Out An Internet User’s Browsing History (4)
• How To Change Default Webpage Source Editor Of Browsers (14)
• How Installing an Active X Control Can Open The Door To Hackers (7)

(image credit: Andreas Solberg)

My number one reason for breaking things off with IE is that I don’t want my family or visitors to use it, lest some unpatched security hole get exploited while I’m not looking. Nuh-uh. Not even Decepticons can breach Big Daddy’s defenses on my watch.

To be fair, there are security vulnerabilities present in just about any Internet software, especially browsers. In a recent hacking competition, the only browser that wasn’t compromised was Google’s Chrome. David recently gave us six compelling reasons to switch to Chrome, my current default. Firefox and Explorer, I’m sorry. It’s not you. It’s me.

Once you’ve picked your new browser, it’s time to call things off with IE. This poses a bit of a problem, as many Windows functions and programs depend on IE’s rendering engine. While it’s technically possible to remove IE completely, you may be better off leaving it in, if you value functionality. In Windows XP and Vista, you can do the next best thing: Removing access to IE for all users of your system.

So, how do you disable (block access) to Internet Explorer?

From the Start Menu, click on “Programs.” An icon labeled “Set Program Access and Defaults” should be near the top of the menu. If it is, you may skip the next paragraph. If it’s not, please continue below.

You’re going to want to open your Control Panel, also from the Start Menu. Next, open the Add or Remove Programs window. You’ll have four choices on your left. What you need is the lowest option: Set Program Access and Defaults. I’m sure you’re anxious to break this off. We’re almost done.

Select the “Custom” option, and then go ahead and designate what you want your default programs to be. You may disable access to Internet Explorer by clearing the checkbox next to it. All program shortcuts to Internet Explorer will be removed, and your default Internet browser on the Start Menu will be of your choice.

There may arise a situation during which you may need to open IE. Most often it will be to open a site which doesn’t play nicely with other browsers. With all the shortcuts gone, just open the Run box (hold the Windows Key and press R), type “iexplore” then hit OK. See? While you’re no longer exclusive, you and IE can still be friends. It’s alright, really. I won’t tell the other browsers.

Geeks such as myself can get very defensive of their software of choice. I expect to see grand levels of evangelizing your favorite browsers in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• How To Change Default Webpage Source Editor Of Browsers (14)
• How Installing an Active X Control Can Open The Door To Hackers (7)
• 6 Reasons Why Mozilla Firefox Is Safe Compared To Internet Explorer (23)
• View A Multi-Page Article On One Single Page With PageZipper (14)

Now we don’t have to blindly click those links anymore. Using AVG’s Linkscanner browser plug-in. I installed it and tested it on Internet Explorer which worked flawlessly and on Firefox where it would not work with Google. Maybe it was something I did (or didn’t do) but I would love to hear about your experiences with it.

(Note: If you’re using AVG 2008 Antivirus software then you already have this installed, you just need to enabled it from AVG settings panel.)

I started by downloading the 14.4 mb installer from here

I ran through the normal setup steps. You know hitting next, next and then finish…

I choose the standard installation.

And I allowed it to install the toolbar (which turns out to not be necessary to get this to work.)

After you install it the plug-in will be added to each of your browsers automatically.

I only tried IE 7 and Firefox 3. In Firefox I was able to get Yahoo to show me AVG’s ratings on websites. Below is a search for the term Warez. You can see the Red X next to potentially dangerous websites and websites that are proven clean have a green check mark next to them.

I fired up Google in Internet Explorer 7 and searched for HACKz and as you can see by the green check marks next to each of the search results… They are clean! So you don’t have to be worried browsing on over to um research hackz and all

Some of the statistics provided by AVG’s website will blow your mind:

• On any given day, some two million web pages are poisoned by hidden threats.
• 60 percent of malicious web sites appear for less than one day.
• Real-time scanning is critical as relying on a database of known URLs isn’t sufficient protection.

• 95% of online threats are web-based and cannot be stopped with anti-virus software alone.
• AVG sees 100,000-150,000 threats a day.
• Online criminals set up their own websites or poison legitimate ones (even just single web pages).
• 60% of all pages hosting web threats are poisoned for less than a day, making the threats difficult to catch unless they are viewed on the actual page in real-time. This makes AVG LinkScanner essential protection.
• One in eight web users will unknowingly come across a poisoned page at least once a month.

So how are you protected from web threats? Share your experiences and favorite software in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Three Firefox Security & Privacy Add-ons that can Co-exist (23)
• How Installing an Active X Control Can Open The Door To Hackers (7)
• Browse Safely & Avoid Viruses & Spyware With HHOTT (22)
• 6 Reasons Why Mozilla Firefox Is Safe Compared To Internet Explorer (23)
• 7 Essential Security Downloads You MUST Have Installed (54)

Which one do you think is more effective? My own thinking and experience says that a URL though short and sweet just does not catch the eye as a full webpage does. Call it a human habit; we put off clicking a link when we have to go through quite a few emails in our inbox. An entire webpage has a better chance of grabbing my eyeballs because a glance says whether the information is relevant to me or not. Also the lurking danger of clicking an unsafe link makes me lean in favor of seeing the content first hand.

Most webpages do not include an option send full web page via email. For such pages here are some solutions I have found handy.

Send Web Page as Email in Outlook 2007

Since I use Outlook 2007 for most of my mailing, it makes sense to use this to send webpages. A few steps let you open a webpage within Outlook and send it as a whole in an email instead of as a link.

1. Open Outlook 2007. Navigate to View – Toolbars – Web.

   

2. Use the Search toolbar (located on the right) to go to the desired URL.

   

3. Once the page loads, click on Actions – Send Webpage by Email. A new message box opens up with your webpage pasted in the content window. Fill the address fields and mail it out.

   

Email The Web

EmailTheWeb (v2.12) is a web service which lets you send the exact webpage to anyone right from your browser. Presently, there are three ways of using it –

1. As a web service – copy-paste the page link in the URL field on EmailTheWeb.com and click email web page.

   

2. As a button in Internet Explorer – Add the Google toolbar and single click function to the browser. But you might feel it is redundant as the latest edition of the browser has its own email webpage mode.
3. As a Firefox add-on – Adds a sub-menu entry under File – Email this Web page…A configuration box gives you two emailing styles – Exact Page lets you capture session specific, dynamic and password locked pages.The Quick Page though faster is more geared towards static pages.

   

The browser add-on works with Firefox 1.0 to 3.0+.

Once you use any of the three options, the service authenticates you using your Google account. As a Google account is free and most of us have one, I don’t think it’s too much of a bother. The compose email page lets you add the recipient IDs and optional notes. The captured page can be previewed. To speed up the email, the captured page is also sans dynamic ads and pop-ups. All you need to do is send the page and sign out.

Internet Explorer 8

The new Internet Explorer 8 makes it convenient to send a webpage as an email. IE8 has two instantly accessible buttons located on the Command toolbar. The use has the choice to click any of the two to send a webpage either as a complete webpage or as a link. The Send Page by Email button loads the webpage into the default email client.

If you do not see the buttons on your browser, click on View – Toolbars – Command Bar.

Sending a complete webpage might bulk up the download, but in the age of broadband a few extra bytes should go by unnoticed. And at least you the sender would know that the recipient has cast a glance at the webpage. The webpage often might not retain its formatting as it is used in different style environments. The spruceness of a perfect newsletter might be a lacking but the information you want to send forth is not.

So which of the modes do you prefer when you need to send web page via email? Did I succeed in changing your mind about sending a complete webpage as against just a link? Do let us know in the comments…

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• The 2 Easy Ways to Promote Your Latest Blog Post with an Email Signature (15)
• What’s new in Gmail: Imports, Images, Previews, Translations and more (11)
• Stay in Sync with your Significant Other using free Exchange Server (13)
• StatView Adds A Whole New World To Outlook (10)
• Send Voice or Video Emails with Springdoo (1)

According to the Microsoft Expression Web blog, the versions of Internet Explorer made available within SuperPreview will depend on which version of IE you have installed on your system:

If you’re a web developer that’s been holding off on installing IE 7 because you won’t be able to preview your sites in IE 6, you’ll no longer have to worry about making the upgrade.  You can upgrade to IE 7 and still view pages in IE 6 with SuperPreview.

When you load a page into SuperPreview, you’ll see a side-by-side comparison.  You can zoom in as far as 500% and do a near pixel-by-pixel comparison, or zoom out as far as 21%.  When you scroll, the scrolling is synchronized across browsers, so you see exactly what appears within the same coordinates at the same time.

You can also click on and drag on the rulers to place markers across the page to get an easy view on how page elements are aligned within the different browsers.  Although the free version only allows you to compare IE browsers, it does have an image comparison you can use to compare a browser screenshot.  If you have a nice image capture that allows you to take screenshots of frames within applications (such as Jing), screenshots can provide a good comparison.

According to the Webdesigner Depot story about SuperPreview, the full version will include support for other non-IE browsers (Firefox, Safari, etc.).  Webdesigner Depot also reports the application will eventually support multiple browser sizes.  The beta preview only allows you to see what sites will look like in a browser at a 1024×768 resolution.

What free tools do you use to perform cross-browser comparisons? Are you familiare with any other tools to preview sites in different versions of IE?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Test Your Site In Multiple Versions of Internet Explorer (6)
• Web Developer Toolbar for Firefox (4)
• Top 5 Sites To Learn CSS Online (32)
• Top 10 Professional Sample Code Websites For Programmers (28)
• Notepad Programming on Steroids for Application Developers (19)

Below, I would like to share my favorite essential security downloads that have helped me keep my system secure over the last 2-3 years. Check them out and tell us what you think in comments.

1. AVG Anti-Virus (Windows)

AVG is a free anti-virus program, also a really good one. In the past I have tried Norton, Kaspersky, NOD 32 and several others but finally settled on AVG. It’s been my preferred anti-virus program for the last couple of years. MakeUseOf readers seem to agree as well.

We have already reviewed the AVG on MakeUseOf before so if you want to know all the details check out Mark’s AVG review here.

To get an idea here are some of the things you get with AVG:

* real time virus checking
* automatic daily updates
* scans incoming/outgoing emails for viruses
* removes malicious tracking cookies from the browser
* scans search results (ex. Google) and warns about non safe links.
* option control the speed of virus scanning process

2. MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (Windows)

Malwarebytes is an easy-to-use and effective anti-malware application. With over 8 million downloads MalwareBytes is ranked as the 6th most popular software download on Download.com and second in spyware removal category. The users ratings and reviews are pretty good as well.

Malwarebytes’ claims to detect and remove malware that many of the other well known spyware removal programs fail to detect. I can’t really confirm that but after using it for about 2 months it has become my primary spyware removal/scanner app. I must admit I haven’t been using this one long enough yet but so far it has done a pretty good job.

While MalwareBytes doesn’t offer as many features as other tools in that category, it has a comprehensive library of threats to protect against. It’s also very light on your system resources.

The program does have a few more options open to you. For instance, it adds a contextual right-click option to scan individual files. This second option is handy for times when you have to download a file that you think is suspect or need to open someone’s flash drive.

There are some other handy addons as well. You can read more about MalwareBytes in a previous MakeUseoOf article Stop & Delete Spyware With Malwarebytes.

The Basic version which consists of a spyware scanner and removal tool is free. The Pro version costs $24.95 and comes with an additional Protection Module that can detect malware before it can do any significant damage.

3. Spyware Terminator (Windows)

I use Spyware Terminator as my secondary spyware removal tool.

I first heard about it from Bill Mullins, a security expert and MakeUseOf author who recommended the app for real-time spyware protection. In his own words:

As you can see, Spyware Terminator is my current application of choice in the spyware protection/removal category. Having tested virtually all of the major anti-spyware apps over the last year or more, I’ve settled, for now, on Spyware Terminator.

The program is easy to setup and customize, for both less experienced and expert users alike. One noteworthy feature of Spyware Terminator is its ‘Real-Time Shield’ that silently runs in the background and offers strong active protection against both known and unknown threats.

Moreover, there is a simple option to schedule automatic updates and fast spyware scans on a daily basis to ensure your computer is clean.

4. Comodo Firewall Pro (Windows)

Firewall has an essential role in safeguarding your PC. It can block unauthorized remote attempts to access your computer as well as attempts to transfer data by locally installed programs. Unfortunately not many people know about that.

Windows XP and Vista users already have the default Windows Firewall but based on my past experience I don’t find it effective and prefer Comodo Firewall instead (and so do many others).

Just like the above mentioned AVG, Comodo Firewall also came out as the best Firewall in our poll. It’s also probably the lightest one when it comes to your precious system resources. For me it takes only about 3.2 MB on average.

Comodo automatically monitors your connection and alerts you whenever some remote computer or locally installed program tries to initiate an unauthorized connection.

In many cases it also gives you advice on how to react to the alert.

Moreover, Comodo Firewall also comes with something called Defense + Host Intrusion Prevention System. This security addon helps to further secure your computer against malicious craplets before they can do any harm to your system.

Note: Like with any extensive security software if you haven’t used a Firewall before you might find Comodo alerts a little overwhelming. So, keep in mind that it takes some time to get used to.

5. NoScript – Firefox

With over 42 million downloads NoScript is the most popular Firefox addon out there. So if you haven’t tried it before it’s time to do so now.

To put it simply, NoScript makes web browsing safer by blocking everything that can potentially be used to harm your computer. The includes JavaScript, Java, Flash and other executable content.

Now there is one thing to keep in mind here, while you do get a safety net with this addon, as a novice user at the beginning you might find it annoying to constantly add sites to your “trusted sites” list. For instance, when you visit Youtube for the first time after installing it the videos won’t load unless you add Youtube to your trusted list.

But the good news, adding sites to the trusted list can be accomplished with a click of a button and you need to do it only once.

Also for the websites that present information from several sources you might have to “allow” several sites before you are able to view them in full. In such cases you can simply select “Allow all this page” option.

To sum up, NoScript does take some time to get used to but is definitely worth it. Just like like the Comodo Firewall. If you have any questions check out their FAQ page here.

6. Lastpass (Firefox / Internet Explorer)

LastPass is that one password manager you have been waiting for. Unlike Internet Explorer and Firefox’s built in password managers, data in your LastPass Vault is encrypted. The encrypted login details are stored on LastPass server which are then accessible from your browser or any web-enabled computer that you have Lastpass installed on.

It takes about a minute to install and setup.

Once you have set it up, you can start adding your accounts by simply going to sites and login as usual. When Lastpass asks if you want it to remember the login details for the site, click ‘OK’ and done. Next time you visit the site lastpass will fill the login details automatically.

You will only need to know one password, that is the the password to your Lastpass account. You will have to enter it everytime the browser is restarted.

Once logged in you’ll be able to access your web accounts with a single click. Other lastpass features include:

- auto online form filling
- ability to access your account details from multiple computers
- password generator
- and more …

7. WOT (Web Of Trust) – Firefox

Another extremely popular Firefox addon. I have been using WOT for about 4-5 months and so far it has been great. The purpose of WOT is to warn users about unsafe websites before they actually enter them. These unsafe site can mean a site known to scam visitors, deliver malware, send spam etc.

WOT uses color-coded icons show ratings for over 21 million websites – green for safe, yellow for caution and red for stop. Screenshot below shows WOT safety icons on Google search results.

As you can see from the screenshot above WOT warns about the first two entries. So I would skip them.

Do you use any of the the above tools? Any others you would want to add to the list? Please share them with us in comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Three Firefox Security & Privacy Add-ons that can Co-exist (23)
• Dr.Web LinkChecker – Scan Files Before Download (Firefox) (1)
• Browse Safely & Avoid Viruses & Spyware With HHOTT (22)
• 10+ Best Firefox Security and Privacy Addons (65)
• Trustware Bufferzone Has Your Browser’s Back (31)

If you are interested in the latest version of Internet Explorer, but don’t want to download the RC version, here is a screenshot Internet Explorer 8 review of some of the newest features in IE8.

Accelerators

One of the best features of IE 8 are the Accelerators. As its name implies, Accelerators lets you get more things done quickly and easily. Whenever you highlight a word (or a paragraph) on a page, the Accelerators icon will appear to allow you to access various services.

For example, you can highlight a phrase on a webpage and select the “Search in Google” to immediately search that term in Google.

The default Accelerators comes with services mainly provided by Microsoft. You can also add third-party Accelerators services via the Accelerators Addon site.

InPrivate Browsing

Ever since Google Chrome introduced incognito browsing, many browsers started to include the private browsing feature in their latest version. In IE8, the InPrivate Browsing is the equivalent of Incognito browsing. When you are in the InPrivate Browsing mode, all your data (temp Internet files, web address history, cookies, password etc) will be removed when you close the window.

The InPrivate Browsing mode can be accessed via the menu (Tools -> InPrivate Browsing) or as a link in the new tab. In InPrivate Browsing mode, an icon will appear beside the address bar telling you that your current session is private. To deactivate the InPrivate Browsing mode, simply close the window.

Web Slices

Web Slices is a function that allows you to easily keep track of a particular item that change frequently. It can be your email inbox, the weather report, sport scores, stock quotes or an eBay auction item. It has a similar concept to subscribing to a RSS feed – you subscribe (add to the Favorites Bar) to the Web Slices for the thing that you want to monitor. Whenever the Slice is updated with new information, it will become highlighted and you can click on it to see a preview. You can then decide if you want to click on it to go to the actual site.

Web Slices does not work with any sites by default. Developers/Webmasters have to insert a few lines of code to their Web pages before their users can monitor their site with Web Slices.

Compatibility view

In case you come across any site that is not compatible with IE 8 and all the text and images are misaligned, you can now use the Compatibility View to view the site with the IE 7 rendering engine instead. The Compatibility View button is just located to the right of the address bar, so you can turn on the IE7 view mode easily and quickly.

You can also maintain a list within Internet Explorer 8 for sites that should be displayed in Compatibility View so you don’t have to switch to Compatibility View mode every time you visit the sites.

Enhanced Tab Management

If you open too many tabs, IE8 comes with a Quick Tab that allows you to find and go to a particular tab easily. The Quick Tab button is located at the left of the tab bar. When you click on it, it will open up a popup canvas showing the thumbnail preview of all the tabs.  You can then find the tab that you want and go to it quickly.

The concept of tab groups are also introduced in IE8. Whenever you open a new tab from a link within a page, the new tab is considered as the child of the current tab. When you close the new tab, the tab focus will return to its parent tab, rather than the adjacent tab. Also you can choose to close a single tab, or all the tabs within the same group.

Suggested Sites

Like Stumbleupon, the Suggested Sites feature in IE8 recommends sites based on your browsing habits and interests. When you turn on Suggested Sites, your web browsing history is sent to Microsoft where it is saved and compared to a frequently updated list of websites that are similar to the ones you visit often. The closest result is then sent back to your browser for your viewing. If you are seriously concerned about your privacy, you might want to turn this feature off.

SmartScreen Filter

On the security side, IE8 comes with a Smart Screen Filter that prevents you from visiting any sites, or downloading any files that could potentially cause harm to your computer. When you visit a site that is not considered safe, you will see the following splash page:

In addition, you will also find that the domain name in the address bar is now highlighted while the rest of the URL is greyed out. This helps you to avoid any deceptive and phishing sites that attempt to trick you with misleading addresses.

Conclusion

If you are a seasoned user of Firefox, Chrome or Safari, you will find that most of the ‘new’ features in IE 8 are not really that new after all. My sense is that the IE8 development team took the best feature from each browser and integrated them all into one place.

So instead of using Google Chrome for the Incognito browsing mode or domain highlighting feature, installing the Stumbleupon toolbar for site browsing, Safari for its superb Search and Find features and Firefox for its addons flexibility, you can now use them all in IE8. The Compatibility View is also a welcome addition to the browser, giving you the flexibility of viewing your site with the IE 8 or IE 7 rendering engine.

So is Internet Explorer 8 good enough to replace your default browser? I don’t know about you, but I would still stick with my Firefox for the time being.

For those of you who want to try out Internet Explorer 8 RC1, you can download it here.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Zigtag – A Web App For Extreme Tagging (BETA Invites Included!) (4)
• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• Test Your Site In Multiple Versions of Internet Explorer (6)
• Safari 4 Beta Browser: Why Is Everyone Hating It? (32)
• Opera 10 Beta ‘Turbo’ – Does It Still Have What It Takes? (85)

All of these are great browsers, and they stand out for different reasons. Different features and different ways of browsing. However, although content has changed drastically throughout the years, the basic principles of browsing has remained pretty much the same.

HHOTT View means to change all that. It’s a plugin for Firefox and Internet Explorer.

HHOTT View

HHOTT View gives us fast and safe surfing, ideal for those paranoid folk out there, and perfect for those without a firewall (software like that tends to irritate me more than viruses do).

So How Does It Work?

The concept can be divided up into two parts; the warning icons and the preview browsing.

Warning Icons

Each and every link will be provided with a small warning icon when you hover over them. These will tell you if the link is safe or not.

There are four possible icons.

The green icon indicates a safe link. You ought to be able to visit the other side without harm done.

The red icon indicates an unsafe link. The site might contain viruses and spyware. It’s highly advised not to proceed.

The grey icon can indicate a number of things, but all comes down to the fact that there is insufficient information available. This can be because of the site in question, there are still some sites that need to be reviewed, or because the service is unavailable due to update or program failure.

The blue icon indicates that the safe browsing feature is currently turned off. How to enable it is explained below on the page.

Preview Browser

Now, if you want to know exactly what’s behind the link, you can use the preview browser.

Hover over the warning icon to trigger a pop-up with the contents of the link. This way you can view what’s on the other site without needing to browse there. You won’t even have to leave your current page!

This pop-up interacts just like a normal browser, and will allow basic surfing. You can scroll through the pages, click through to other pages, watch embedded media, and even save favourites! The only things that are missing in my opinion are the warning icons and further page pop-ups.

Installing HHOTT View

You can download the HHOTT View installer from this page here. This one works for both Firefox and Internet Explorer. After choosing your language and running the installer, you need to enable the HHOTT View toolbar in your browser.

To do so, click with your right mouse in the toolbar area, and make sure that HHOTTView is checked.

Sometimes the HHOTT toolbar won’t be available until you restart your browser or – in drastic cases – your computer.

Using the toolbar, you can also adjust the settings of the HHOTT View plugin, like enabling or disabling the safe browsing feature.

HHOTT View is a really great plugin that can aid you in browsing both quicker and safer. If you’re up for a new way of browsing, you must definitely give it a try.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Are You a Reckless Web User? Secure Your Browser With AVG Linkscanner (13)
• 7 Essential Security Downloads You MUST Have Installed (54)
• Trustware Bufferzone Has Your Browser’s Back (31)
• Three Firefox Security & Privacy Add-ons that can Co-exist (23)
• How Installing an Active X Control Can Open The Door To Hackers (7)

You can use a number of programs to backup your machine. But if you want to start clean and do a fresh install of your Operating System then you might just need a hand bringing over your Internet Explorer settings.

Don’t look at me like that.

Lot’s of people use Internet Explorer! I swear!

Yes we have covered multiple backup programs for Mozilla browsers but here is one for you hardcore IE users out there!

The creatively named Internet Explorer Backup can be found here. It is a simple download and installation of a 966KB file. I love it when authors keep their distributable files under 1MB!  It shows there is no unnecessary bloat.

After you download and install your new backup application, run it and you will see this screen:

The program is self explanatory but I will walk you through it briefly.

You click on Backup and start the process. Now it does not matter if you are backing up IE4 settings to be restored on IE7 or IE5 settings to be restored on IE6 or IE4. You can go any which way. As long as the settings you are importing work on the current revision of your browser then you are golden. If not the settings do not cause errors – they just disappear.

On the screen above you need to choose your folder to backup to as well as set compression and security options. You can also have IE Backup remember this as your preferred backup directory for less clicking in the future.

Hit the Browse button and show it where you want to store your backup.

I chose my D: drive and it defaults to its own directory as you can see below:

I then clicked “next”. You can choose what you want to backup. I went willy nilly and let it back up everything.

After I clicked Next it just did its thing without any more intervention.

The whole backup process took about 4 minutes on my Windows XP SP3 with IE7. Not bad, Not bad at all.

That’s that! Simple easy as 1, 2, 3 or well 1,2,3,4,5 and clicking Finish!

As you saw above, there is also the ability to schedule backups and password protect your archives.

Do you have a favorite program that backs up your browser? Share it in the comments! We want to hear from you!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• Test Your Site In Multiple Versions of Internet Explorer (6)
• How To Disable Internet Explorer (17)
• How To Change Default Webpage Source Editor Of Browsers (14)
• How Installing an Active X Control Can Open The Door To Hackers (7)

To get started, just download the addon for your browser. If you’re using Firefox or IE, download and install this search addon. Once it’s installed, just select YopMail.com from your search drop-down list. Enter in a random string of characters, and that will become your @yopmail.com email address. Hit enter, and you’ll be taken to the mailbox for that address. Couldn’t be easier!

Opera users can download this widget. Once it’s installed, open the widget and click the “lightning” button to generate a random address. Then click the Mailbox button and Opera will open a new tab and display your newly created mailbox.

Creating random temporary email addresses is perfect for those web signup forms if you don’t want to get hit by spam mail. If you value your privacy online, these browser addons are perfect for creating one-off “use them then toss them” email addresses.

You might also want to check out 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe by Aibek and Get a Grip on eMail Spam Before It Gets A Grip On You by Tina.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Get a Grip on eMail Spam Before It Gets A Grip On You (12)
• Five Free Temporary Email Services To Avoid Spam (27)
• The Winners of ‘Extend Firefox’ – Best Firefox Addons (14)
• How To Stop Spammers From Getting Your Private Info from Forums or Blogs (20)
• How To Set Your Browser Homepage in 5 Browsers (17)

So what’s a web designer to do? Although there’s a wonderful website Browsershots which can give screenshots in almost any browser/version out there, sometimes a screenshot is not enough.

Enter IETester. It’s essentially a Windows-only web browser which emulates the rendering and JavaScript engines of Internet Explorer versions 5.5, 6, 7, and 8 Beta 1. You can browse websites just like you would in any other web browser, with an option for each tab you open to render as one of the four versions. Although it doesn’t have all the features that an actual web browser would have, it’s great when you need to test websites, or if a particular site requires Internet Explorer but doesn’t work with the version you have.

One feature I like in IETester, which I’d actually like to see in Firefox, is its multi-paned view. As you can see in the screenshot below, the pane on the right side has a tab which is in IE 8 mode, and the pane on the left side has a tab in IE 7 mode and another tab hidden behind the drop down menu. This makes it really easy to compare side by side, without having to open a whole new window.

Do you use IETester? What do you think of it? I’d love to know how you feel about this program in the comments below, or if you know of something better.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Preview Sites in Multiple Versions of Internet Explorer with Microsoft SuperPreview (7)
• 8 Opera Widgets for Web Designers and Developers (3)
• Web Developer Toolbar for Firefox (4)
• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• Top 5 Sites To Learn CSS Online (32)

Zigtag is currently in private BETA, yet the wonderful folks at Zigtag have given MakeUseOf readers exclusive BETA invites. The only other thing you need is their Firefox/Internet Explorer Add-On which allows you to add tags, share pages, etc. (You are also able to simply drag and drop a bookmarklet if you are unable to install the add-on.)

After that you should be ready to start tagging! To do so, simply click on the Zigtag logo in your web browser to allow it to load in your sidebar. You should then receive a certain number of suggested tags that Zigtag believes are directly related to the page you are currently viewing. You may then click on one of the tags to add it to the page and/or add your own by typing it in the box. All of which are used to describe the page you are currently viewing, and make them available to the rest of the world – somewhat like Digg or del.icio.us in that sense.

Let me give you an example:

I picked the “Powersurf Through Friendfeed with StumbleRead” article by Mark. I added some keywords and “favorited” it. I then decided to share it with the group I created by clicking “Share,” and “Group.” The article then showed up on the group page, which I created. Even more options arise including the availability to: comment on pages, tag them further, view other pages with the same tag(s) – which I may add includes even more options.

Of course, as you can see, groups are a major part of Zigtag. You are allowed to create your own group or join another (there are tons of them). Groups range from computers to being existent, so I am sure that you could find many different groups. Furthermore, in groups you may discuss different things on the group page and see updates on your Zigtag homepage regarding your groups.

One really neat feature of Zigtag is the option to import del.icio.us bookmarks. You may do so by clicking “My Account,” then clicking “Import/Export Bookmarks.” You are as well allowed to import existing bookmarks from different web browsers, including: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Opera (sorry Flock users). Once your bookmarks are imported you should receive an email indicating that they were successfully imported.

Zigtag is definitely a great resource for finding sites related to anything and possibly could be the next level of Digg? I highly recommend trying it out as you will most certainly enjoy using it.

If you like, you may even add me as a friend here, or join my group here.

What do you like – or not like – about Zigtag? Grab your beta account, test it out then come back and tell us what you think in the comments!

Will Mueller is a computer nerd and geek that has been working with computers for far too long. He currently works on one of his blogs at FirefoxGeeks.

Will Mueller is a computer nerd and geek that has been working with computers for far too long. He currently works on one of his blogs at FirefoxGeeks.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• The Winners of ‘Extend Firefox’ – Best Firefox Addons (14)
• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)
• Take Screenshots From Your Browser with Kwout7 (8)
• Securely Organize Your Notes Online With 3tags (7)
• NetRocket Beta – Mission Control For Your Bookmarks (5)

If you have only very recently upgraded or bought a new computer then hopefully this list of essential downloads will be useful for you.

These are not suggested replacement applications, these are downloads to enhance and complement what already comes with Windows Vista.

1. Windows Live

Windows Vista comes with Windows Mail and Photo Gallery which are not bad, but I would suggest replacing these with the newer and updated Windows Live suite.

It’s not necessary to install and use all of these services and programs. Windows Live comes with 5 programs: Windows Live Mail, Photo Gallery, Writer, Messenger and Family Safety. You will get the option to choose which of these you want after downloading the Live installer.

Windows Live Mail will update Windows Mail and is a lot more stable and has more features such as support for Hotmail and Live email accounts.

Windows Live Photo Gallery upgrades Photo Gallery and has some great features like creating panoramic photos and uploading to Flickr. For a easy way to organise and share your photos I recommend updating to this.

Windows Live Messenger is a way you can keep in touch with your contacts through instant messaging. You can talk to both Windows Live and Yahoo contacts.

Family Safety: Only download this if you plan on controlling your children’s access to the computer and possibly restricting where they browse and monitor what they do. Vista also has some comprehensive parental controls which are useful for this purpose.

2. Vista Codec Pack

This download is guaranteed to save you no end of frustration.

Did you just try and play a DVD on your new Vista computer, and got nothing but the soundtrack? Or perhaps you tried to open a torrent file movie and couldn’t play it at all.

It’s annoying but very simple to fix. Just download the Vista Codec Pack and you should be able to play just about any video or audio file that you come across.

This isn’t a media player – it simply enables the media player you do have (Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center) to play just about any file or DVD.

3. Windows Search 4.0

When you got Vista it came with Windows Search 3.0 and this is the technology behind the start menu and the search panels in all the Explorer windows.

In case you didn’t know how Windows Search works then here is a Make Use Of article from a few weeks back on the subject. Essentially this update will make your computer search faster and give you more accurate results.

Take a look at the Windows Search Overview, or download it directly from the Microsoft download centre.

4. Windows SteadyState

Only very recently Microsoft released Windows Steady State for Vista and here on Make Use Of Karl covered it in detail a short while ago.

In brief, Steady State is an application that you can use to restore your computer back to the state it was in before you screwed it up. Particularly useful for anyone with kids who like to muck around on the computer and occasionally delete unimportant system files.

Install this and you’ll thank me later.

5. Download add ons for Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer actually does have a few add-ons which at least brings the browser up to a semi-comparable level with Firefox and other modern browsers.

Microsoft has actually made a page of 5 recommended add-ons of which I would say 3 of them really are worth downloading:

IE7Pro: If you are going to use Internet Explorer then this add-on is really a must have. It provides a lot of enhancements and features which really should have been included with IE7 by default.

LeechGet: A download manager which greatly enhances the built in manager and enables you to start, stop, pause and resume downloads.

RikReader: IE7 actually introduced a lot of people to RSS feeds, but as far as a feed manager goes it’s pretty inadequate. RikReader enhances the reader significantly.

6. Windows Gallery

Here is where you can find all kinds of extras to download and customize things like the Windows Sidebar and Live Messenger.

Gadgets are the main thing you can use to customize your desktop and sidebar and provide you with access to all kinds of web services and tools within quick and easy access. Microsoft has created some easy to follow guides for using and customizing the Windows Sidebar.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• The Cut Out and Keep Guide to Essential Software Programs (25)
• How to Quickly Restore Deleted Data in Vista (10)
• How To Move My Documents Folder To A Different Drive (25)
• Windows Live Mesh: Get your Data on any PC from any Device (16)
• Vista Utilities Makes Configuring Windows Vista Easier (19)

It is obvious that Firefox has much more functionality because of these addons. Add to it the fact that the primary reason for not switching from Firefox to alternate browsers is the addons and you will get an idea of how great the concept of addons is.

Internet Explorer has always been late to incorporate industry-standard stuff, whether it is plugin architecture or valid XHTML rendering (in fact they’ve still not fixed it). However, ‘better late than never’ as they say. From version 7, IE supports addons. Although the variety is not as large as that of Firefox, there are still a few good choices.

Below, we present to you six addons that are useful for everyday browsing activities:

(1) C No Evil Toolbar : Comparable to the Adblock Plus extension for Firefox, C No Evil lets you do that literally – see no evil ads. You can block ads and replace them with custom images that you choose (any .gif or .jpg file). So, you can save bandwidth, speed up loading times and also get rid of those ugly ads.

(2) Video Downloader : Video Downloader can be used to save web videos (FLV) to your hard drive with a click (a right-click and left-click each, actually). This can then be converted to mpeg file by using one of the converter tools, or viewed directly using free VLC player. When downloading videos make sure to save them as .flv files (some_video.flv).

(3) FindAsYouType : Firefox has a useful instant search function, where text is highlighted as you type. With this addon, you can add that functionality into Internet Explorer. To use it, press Ctrl+F and type your query – results will come up as you type. No more clicking OK/enter key.



(4) IE Autorefresher : AutoRefresher does in IE what ‘ReloadEvery‘ extension does in Firefox, and the built-in ‘Reload every > xx seconds’ function (from right click) does in Opera. You can set the interval between automatic reloads, and this can be set for each tab separately. AutoRefresher can be useful in several ways – to monitor the live cricket scores page, or to monitor the number of Diggs for your story once it becomes popular (I have used this for that particular purpose).

(5) QDictionary : Having a handy dictionary is useful, especially if you browse around a lot and come across unfamiliar words. There are no irritating popups or assistants (think MS Office) in it – just highlight the word you want, right-click it and select “Look up” or “Thesaurus”. One problem is that you need to be connected to the internet, and this addon connects to m-w.com. But since you’re browsing (which is usually online), there won’t be any problems.



(6) IE 7 Pro : Little overwhelming and takes some time to get used to, but totally worth it. In fact IE7 PRO already incorporates several of the above extensions. Includes powerful tab manager, AD and Flash blockier, Session crash recovery, Web accelerator, Webpage capturer, Greasemonkey scripts support, Firefox style inline search, spell checker and an excellent mouse gesture feature that lets you assign various functionalities to simple mouse gestures.

(By) Sumesh is a blogger and freelance writer. Visit his blog TechZilo for blogging, web and software tips.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 11 Firefox 3 Extensions That I Can’t Live Without (40)
• Welcome to My Firefox: Extensions, Themes, Setup (14)
• Watch Videos In The Firefox Sidebar With YouPlayer (16)
• Ubiquity – Extend Firefox and Improve your Browsing Experience (9)
• Top 11 must-have Internet Explorer Addons (40)

During these times I would normally use the trusty SpyBot – Search & Destroy application because it’s superior in many ways, but if I don’t have it with me or feel like just doing a quick online check without having to install a client application, the few choices below provide a good alternative.

BitDefender – Easy on-demand virus scanner using powerful BitDefender engines. It scans system memory, files and drive boot sectors. It also automagically cleans infected files. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

CA – Online virus scanner. Just agree to a little ActiveX component and you’re scanning with ease in just a brief moment. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

ESET – Online malware scanner. With just an acceptance of ESET’s TOS, you can scan your PC for known malware including viruses, worms, Trojans, phishing, and spyware.

ewido – Simple cleaner for malware. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

F-Secure – Simple virus scan from web. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

Jotti – Simple file checker. Jotti uses several scanners to look into the file you upload to determine if it’s infected.

McAfee FreeScan – McAfee FreeScan is a great virus scanner using the award-winning McAfee Scan Engine. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

NanoScan – Great, fast scanning application previously covered by the MUO Directory.

Panda ActiveScan – Get a free Panda scan that checks for viruses, spyware and other various internet threats. Current count over 185,000 viruses, worms, and trojans. Uses ActiveX components (IE Only)

TrendMicro – Scans for Viruses and Malware. It also scans for vulnerabilities and and fixes them to prevent re-infestation.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Browse Safely & Avoid Viruses & Spyware With HHOTT (22)
• 7 Essential Security Downloads You MUST Have Installed (54)
• 3 Tools to Test Run your AntiVirus/Spyware Program (10)
• Trustware Bufferzone Has Your Browser’s Back (31)
• Stop & Delete Spyware With Malwarebytes [Windows] (29)

The answer is no. If you feel confident enough to change the Windows registry, then read on.

But the usual warnings apply. If you mess up your Windows registry, you could end up permanently crippling your operating system. As a precaution, back up your registry so you can change things back later if need be! To back up the registry, just open the registry by going to the start menu, choose run, type regedit then press return. The registry box will then pop up. Choose “My Computer” in the top of the left pane window, then go to “file” and “export”. Choose a name and save it somewhere, preferably a re-writable CD disk or a USB flash drive. Bear in mind though that the resulting file will be HUGE so make sure you have enough space to store it all.

OK, with the registry backed up, here’s some tweaks that can make your Windows operating system less irritating :

1. Make the start menu open faster :

When you mouse over the start menu, there is normally a delay of a few seconds before the sub-menu you have chosen slides open. In computer terms, those few seconds can seem like an eternity. Here’s how to make it faster.

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Double-click the MenuShowDelay icon on the right, and change the “Value data” box from its default of 400 to something faster, like 0. Or if you think the menu opens too fast, you can increase that 400 to something bigger to slow the menu opening down. When you have finished, press Enter. You’ll now notice that the start menu opens much faster.

2. Show the administrator account on the account log-in screen :

The administrator account is the Windows account that controls all the settings on the computer. The person that holds the administrator privileges can make new user accounts, revoke existing accounts and much more. But if your PC has more than one Windows user account, the administrator account is cloaked. Here’s how to make it appear again on the XP welcome screen:

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList in the Registry Editor, and double-click the Administrator icon in the right pane. (If it is not there, right-click in the pane, choose New/DWORD Value, name it Administrator, and press Enter). Type 1 in the ‘Value data’ box, and press Enter. From then on, you will see the administrator account on the XP welcome screen and you can access it to give it a password or change its settings.

3. Change the title bar of Internet Explorer :

I don’t use Internet Explorer but my girlfriend does and she always mocks Firefox. So one day I got my revenge by changing the title bar of her beloved Internet Explorer. By default, Internet Explorer’s title bar shows the name of the Web site you’re viewing, followed by “Microsoft Internet Explorer”—or in some cases, your company’s name or the name of the ISP that supplied the browser.

To change the text (or to get rid of it altogether), navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main and double-click the Window Title icon in the right pane. (If you don’t see this icon, right-click in the pane, choose New/String Value, type Window Title, and press Enter.) When the box pops up, type what you want to see on IE’s title bar, or type nothing to show only the site name. Afterwards, my girlfriend opened Internet Explorer to see the title bar saying “Internet Explorer – the browser that sucks big-time!”. She was ranting for hours!

More Windows Registry tweaks in the next post! Stay tuned!

Mark O’Neill is a freelance writer, proofreader and blogger. Visit his blog at www.betterthantherapy.net

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Some non-Registry Windows tweaks (7)
• 10 Quick Fixes to Make your Windows Computer Faster (94)
• 5 Ridiculously Useful Tips (Firefox and Windows) (9)
• Three Quick Registry Tweaks to Customize Windows Like a Pro (13)
• The Cut Out and Keep Guide to Essential Software Programs (25)

Update: IE7 Pro was moved to the front due to the fact that it incorporates several frequently used features in one addon.

(1) IE7Pro (only IE 7) – little overwhelming and takes some time to get used to, but totally worth it. Includes powerful tab manager, AD or Flash blocking utility, Crash recovery, Proxy switcher, Web accelerator, User Agent switcher, Webpage capturer, Greasemonkey scripts support, Firefox style inline search, spell checker and some more.

(2) LeechVideo – handy IE addon that lets you download favorite videos from popular video sharing websites (i.e. Youtube, Google Video, DailyMotion, etc.). Other alternatives: Viloader | Video Downloader

(3) Inline Search – integrates an in-page search feature to Internet Explorer. Use ‘CTR+F’ to launch it in the left-bottom corner of your browser window.

(4) ShareThis – lets you quickly (1) email webpages (or embedded pictures or videos) to friends or contacts (gmail, myspace, facebook…) and (2) post notes to your Facebook/Myspace profiles.

(5) Convert with Zamzar – browser addon from a comprehensive, web-based file conversion service, Zamzar. Lets you convert and download desired files from your favorite websites at the click of a button on your browser toolbar. It can be a Youtube video that you want to play in Windows Media Player, a Flickr image that you need in JPEG format, or a word file that you need in PDF.

(6) Browster – integrates link preview capabilities into your browser. For instance, each time you search on Google, Yahoo, MSN or visit some popular website Browster places a special icon next to each link, hovering your mouse cursor over it triggers a pop-up window displaying the contents of the destination page. Other alternative: Cooliris

(7) FeedsPlus (only IE 7) – in case you’re using your browser to follow-up on feeds, then this is for you. It adds couple of handy features, i.e. ability to read feeds in a combined view and receive pop-up notifications when there are new items to read.

(8) ieSpell – allows you to spell check text input boxes on any webpage (i.e. web mails, forum posts, blog comments, etc.)

(9) McAfee Site Advisor (only IE 5.5 – 6.0) – slim and easy-to-use security addon, features include:

• protects you from adware, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams
• advises you about the safety of websites using a colored button in your browser
• places website safety ratings next to each search result

(10) IeSessions – lets you save the current state of all open windows/tabs, store it to a file and restore it anytime afterwards. Especially useful if you have to switch between multiple computers (i.e. office, home) during the day.

(11) Videoronk (only IE 7) – add ‘Videoronk’ to your search toolbar and you’ll be able to search on top 8 video sharing websites simultaneously (Youtube, Google Video, Vimeo, Metacafe, iFilm, Blip.tv, Revver, DailyMotion and Myspace Video).

BONUS: Internet Explorer Shortcuts

Here is another EXCELLENT find for Internet Explorer users. We put together a list of essential IE shortcuts for you. This will make you more productive and save you tons of time. You can download the printable shortcut sheet for Internet Explorer from here.

• 6 Internet Explorer Addons for Better Web Browsing (7)
• Welcome to My Firefox: Extensions, Themes, Setup (14)
• Watch Videos In The Firefox Sidebar With YouPlayer (16)
• Ubiquity – Extend Firefox and Improve your Browsing Experience (9)
• Transmute – Migrate Bookmarks Between Your Browsers (3)