Firefox and other browsers with tabbed browsing

New Opera 9.5 fastest Web browser, run Web applications and Javascript faster

2008-06-15T09:57:00.002+08:00

Opera now has a new browser engine with the introduction of Opera 9.50. Opera now claims to the the fastest web browser in the world. It claims to start fast, download Web pages run Web applications and third party plug-ins faster. It is also claimed to have superior support for Web standard and render Javascript and HTML two times faster than the older Opera 9.2.

Blogger Poll blank space problem

2008-05-11T06:21:00.004+08:00

I had earlier complained about creating a poll and observing a blank space below it. Unfortunately, I did not take a screen shot nor noted other details like what browser I was using then. Someone asked, "anyone also see that blank space?"

When I saw that response, I immediately checked, and there were no blank space, and had to sheepishly responded that there were none before others begin other responses like I was in the twilight zone (which could also mean my age and could also mean senility, etc.) That happened while using the FireFox 2.0 browser.

Recently, I had reasons to go to the same blog where the poll had still not been created with Opera 9.27, and somewhat to my "relief", that blank space below the poll was still there. This time, I took a screen shot and you can view that below:

I tested with Internet Explorer 7, Flock 1.1.2, Netscape 9.0.0.6, Avant 11.6, Safari for Windows 3.1.1 and wanted to try xbBrowser (Xero Bank). However, that gave some problem but in anycase, is almost the same as FireFox so I think it is fine to leave out xbBrowser.

In conclusion, this poll with blank space problem is only with Opera, not any other browser I have.

Widen Blogger post editor window with Opera web browser

2008-04-18T12:54:00.004+08:00

Update 2.20am 19 April 2008: Please note that the ability to widen the normal pathetically tiny Blogger post editor window is not always repeatable. Sometimes, I can do it, sometimes not. I have seen it a few times but this is the first time I made a post about it with a screen shot and that screen shot is definitely not faked with Adobe Photoshop for this poor Blog*Star only use the free and very good Irfanview plus PC Paint which comes with Windows. This poor Blog*Star cannot afford to buy the expensive Photoshop. Anyone who wants something better than the free Irfanview photo editor can try the open source GIMP. Update posted here to avoid Blog*Star from being called a nut case.

This Blogger post editor window is opened with Opera web browser which as you can see is very wide compared with the woefully tiny normal Blogger post editor window. Unfortunately you cannot consistently get this and it is by chance. Under what circumstances you can get this, I do not know. Nor can I tell under what circumstances I can Expand (that is, both widen as well as elongate) this woefully tiny Blogger post editor window with Netscape Navigator. But to make sure other bloggers do not call me a nut case, I am going to do a screen shot of this as I am preparing this post and will upload it any use it as evidence below (you can click on screen shot to enlarge it). (PS got to publish and try to update later as Blogger post editor toolbar with the photo upload icon is missing as I am typing this):

And if you think that this blogger belongs to psychiatry ward, you can view the screen shots of the Expanded Blogger post editor window with Netscape Navigator. However, this also you cannot do consistently. Sometimes, you can only elongate, not widen the Blogger post editor window with Netscape Navigator.

Unfortunately AOL (American Online) has withdrawn support for Netscape Navigator and it looks like no one is going to take AOL's place as the sugar daddy.

Expand (elongate, widen) Blogger post editor window with Netscape Navigator browser

2008-04-16T19:53:00.005+08:00

I previously discovered that one can elongate the Blogger post editor window with Netscape Navigator web browser and uploaded a screen shot to prove it. It is a thing I did because when I announced it, a "renegade Blog*Star" said I was need to be admitted to the psychiatry ward. When he saw the screen shot, he became convinced but said I must have been in the twilight zone. Today, while preparing a post with Netscape Navigator web browser again, I not only can elongate the Blogger post editor window, but also widen it. Now just in case that "renegade Blog*Star" wants to put me in straitjacket, bundle me into an ambulance and lock me up in the psychiatry ward, here is the screen shot to prove it (click on screen shot to enlarge it):

Now just in case the above screen shot is not enough to convince you, let me upload what the normal tiny Blogger post editor window looks like:

Noticed the difference? Just in case it is not obvious to you, compare the brown bars in both screen and look the the field (empty box for you to type your text, etc.) in relation to the brown bars.

Browser cache

2008-04-03T09:02:00.002+08:00

What is web browser?

A web browser is a program which helps display pages designed to be displayed by various programming languages, usually HTML (hypertext markup language). You are able to see this page displayed as Blogger together with me planned you to see it with the help of web browser which interpret the page source and translate it into what you see. Examples of web browsers are Internet Explorer, FireFox, Opera, Flock, Safari, Netscape (no longer supported), etc.

What is browser cache?

It is common for web browser to save some of the data from those web pages you visit. This is so that when you next visit the web page, it may load faster, etc. This is what is referred to as browser cache. This can also be the source of a common complaint of bloggers. They cannot see newly published post or see changes in the template they have made.

Now, each browser have its own browser cache and the cache is different for different browser. So if you are having problems like those described above, one way to get around it is to just use a different browser to try to see what you failed to see with the current browser. With this strategy, you get get around your problems cause by a particular web browser cache by using a different web browser which do not have that problem page cached and without resorting to the commonly advocated solution of clearing cache.

Different browser display web pages in different ways: One more reason why Webmaster should have more than one browser

2008-03-20T05:47:00.005+08:00

I have previously explained Advantages of having more than one browser and emphasized with another post What to do when you cannot upload photos, download web pages, sign in, get error messages, etc., (not a "cure all").

Webmasters (professionals who are in charge of a website) especially need many browsers for they should be interested in how the website they are managing is seen by visitors who may be using all kind of web browsers. Bloggers are by default webmasters though their job is made easier as much of what professional webmaster have to do is done by their blogging software/platform. But the necessity of having many web browsers still apply to them.

As an example, I tried to center a Google AdSense site search box in a blog Header. For this, you will need to apply for a Google AdSense account which you can do so via a link in

I use the pair of inline CSS (cascading stylesheet) <span style="text-align:center;"> and </span;"> to surround the script to display the Google AdSense site search box to try to center the search box. But let us look at how the site search box is displayed in different browsers:

Centering Google site search box in Internet Explorer 7.0.5730.131C

Internet Explorer 7

The search box as well as the text that is added below the script in the New Blogger HTML/Javascript Page Element is centered as intended.

Centering Google site search box in FireFox 2.0.0.12

Note that while the text below the site search box is centered, the Google AdSense site search box itself is aligned to the left, and not centered as intended.

Centering Google site search box in Opera 9.26

Note that in Opera web browser, the Google AdSense search box is also not centered while the text is centered.

Centering Google site search box in Flock social web browser

Blogger and Opera web browser: Problem

2008-03-16T10:17:00.003+08:00

I have used Opera to publish posts with Google Blogger and till today, had no problem. In fact by having target="_blank">more than one browser, including Opera, I have managed to solve various problems easily.

However, today, when I started a new Blogger post using Opera, I got a pop-up:

What does this mean? I will try to find out.

Flock social web browser searching for real estate bargains while keeping track of Facebook friends

2008-03-01T10:35:00.006+08:00

Most people would have heard of the sub-prime crisis, what one blogger described as an unfortunate crisis created by financial alchemist (alchemist are ancient chemist who see ways of turning cheap base metal into precious, expensive gold). For some it is a crisis, for those with cash to invest, it may be an opportunity for grabbing bargain real estate investments while still keeping tract of the latest status of your Facebook friends. Below is a screenshot of how I may do it:

The above shows a foreclosures website as viewed with the Flock social web browser on the right side while in the left sidebar one can see our Face friends with their latest status. So now, while you are seeking real estate bargains, at a glance, you are informed of what your friends are doing, what is their mood, the circumstance there are faced with, or whatever they may want to put in their Facebook status. Note also the numerous tabs at the top of the screenshot showing you can doing many different things with a single window.

Florida is a good place for retirement plus as investment as it is a popular tourist destination with its plentiful theme parks plus a winter migration target for those from colder region. I heard property prices can be pretty high in Florida (do your own research, this information is unverified), so this might be the chance for you to grab the property you always wanted at a price you could never can get before this sub-prime crisis which is flooding the market with foreclosures.

Arizona is where I have a sister-in-law with a Chinese restaurant (Yuma) and although it may get very hot in summer, there is always nearby California to run away to for cooler climate.

Flock social web browser

2008-02-03T09:52:00.001+08:00

I am a heavy multi-tasker, and for me Flock is an ideal web browser, especially when I am logged into my Facebook account. Just have a look at what I see in the Flock social web browser in the screenshot below (click on screenshot to enlarge):

On the left of my screen, I can see myself as well as many of my Facebook friends plus their status. With just a click, I can open the profile of my Facebook friend and perform various actions such as sending them a message, etc. Not too long ago, when my son-in-law was in London, while doing my other tasks, I found out that he woke up at 5 am in the morning, then later saw that he had a headache and still later sad to find out he was sore at some of his clients, so obviously having a bit of a problem. Right now, I see Amanda, the wizard (or wizardress?) of www.bloggerbuster.com just updated her profile 38 minutes ago.

Now don't fear invasion of privacy because the more private things that we can see are what Facebook members themselves chose to display, not the really private part of his or her life. But is is a great way of keeping an eye on your friends while doing your normal tasks. If you like social networking, you should definitely get Facebook social web browser.

More on Facebook browser later.

Browsers and computers

2008-01-28T05:31:00.000+08:00

There are lots of web browsers out there, great majority (I think all) are free. However, not all are independent of the type of computers you buy or the operating system they use (Windows, Linux, MAC OS, etc. Some web browsers are cross-platform, meaning they work with PC (Personal Computers) and MAC plus different operating systems. Some only work with specific type of computers and/or specific operating system.

Now if you want to use a specific browser, but currently have a specific type of computer or operating system which is not compatible with the web browser you want to use, you will have no choice but to get that type of computer and/or operating system that works with the browser you want to use. A place to start looking may be Coupon Chief. They have merchants which offers discounts and special offers classified according to stores and according to categories, and in the Computers and software category, you might just find what you need, and hopefully, at a deeply discounted price too.

If you are looking for something new, Dell home may be the merchant you want. At time of publishing, I see discounts like "$500 off...." and "50% off....", etc. However, this page offers mainly digital cameras and other computer accessories and related stuff. Can't remember how I found this page Dell Inspiron laptops, but I think it was by clicking on one of the links in the "Dell Home" page. Listed there are, of course, are Dell Inspiron laptops, but what I found interesting is that the sidebar in that page is different. Instead of merchants classified according to stores or merchants, they have computers classified according to price, screen size, weight, plus other sections including "Dell deals", "essential links" (including Windows Vista and Open Source PCs, and the last section, "shipping and returns".

Web Browsers, Websites and Web Hosts

2007-12-01T04:23:00.000+08:00

Web browsers and web hosts

What exactly are the relations between web browsers and web hosts? Well, before any website can be displayed on the web, the very first thing that need to be done is that their content need to be hosted on a web host in a coded form which can be understood by the web browsers. Web browsers then get the files from the web host and display them on the web. However, many things are involved when a web page is displayed on the web by a web browser. Very often, the same website can be displayed slightly differently in different browsers.

Here is an example. This is how the blog Header with the blog title and blog description is displayed in Internet Explorer 6 and FireFox 2.0 browsers:

This how the same blog Header is displayed in Flock and Opera browsers. Note that part of the blog description is hidden by the site search box:

Let me give you another example. In a blog, you have sections like the Header, the main column containing the posts, the sidebar where you can put various things, the footer. Now there is one common problem for which bloggers often asked help for. They will report things like their sidebar has disappeared. In most cases, what probably happened is the sidebar has been pushed to the bottom of the page, most likely in Internet Explorer. Refer to Troubleshoot sidebar pushed to bottom of page problem and Troubleshoot sidebar pushed to bottom of page problem Part 2.

There are things like templates which control how the web page is displayed. If your website is hosted by a web host like Personal Website Hosting, they offer products like website templates and flash templates which they say you can use to very easily and quickly make a quality website. Not only that, you can customize them to suit your needs and preferences. They also have Flash templates and Flash Introductions if you like fanciful websites.

If yours is a business websites, Business Website Hosting also have PHP-Nuke Themes, Logo templates and Corporate Identities in addition to the above templates.

You can browse through their huge inventory of templates at website templates.

How to enable Javascript

2007-11-02T14:48:00.000+08:00

Sometimes we get questions like "How come I can view AdSense ads in Internet Explorer but not FireFox.

The answer is simple. Google AdSense uses Javascript. If Javascript is disabled, Google AdSense ads will not display. The solution is to check to see if Javascript is enabled or not, and if not, enable it. If it is already enabled, but you still can't see it displayed, then refer to AdSense Support. I myself have had similar problems like that myself.

Enable Javascript for FireFox browser

For FireFox browser, what you need to do is to click TOOLS > OPTIONS in the menu bar at the top of the browser. You will get a "pop-up". Click the CONTENT tab and you should see what is shown below:

The CONTENT tab and the radio button to enable or disable Javascript are highlighted with red circles. If you want Google AdSense to be displayed in FireFox (click BACK button to get back to this page), make sure the radio button for "Enable Javascript" is ticked. If not, click on the radio button to tick it and click OK to save the setting.

Internet Explorer

This will be added later

Flock Browser

The Flock browser is based on the Mozilla FireFox browser. I use multiple browsers for my work and often have a few browsers opened at the same time. For reasons, refer to Why you should have more than one web browsers. I started using Flock when I could not sign into Google Blogger with the updated Opera. See Problems signing into Google Blogger with Opera browser.

How to enable Javascript for the Flock browser will be added later.

Enable Javascript for Opera browser

This will be added later.

Browsers that have tabbed browsing

2007-09-30T14:28:00.000+08:00

Ever since I downloaded and installed FireFox which have tabbed browsing, it has been my favorite browser. It still is, but I have started using other browsers which also have tabbed browsing. One of them is Opera. I invariably have more than one browsers opened in my computer when I am online for reasons explained in Why you should be using more than one browser. I have used Opera when I need to manage (publish post, edit, etc.) my Google Blogger blogs, but they must have auto upgraded it to a newer version. Now I am unable to sign into my Google Blogger account as explained in Problem signing into Blogger with Opera.

Now I use Flock browser. Flock is a web browser based on FireFox. It is frequently referred to as a "social browser" because it is able to interact with popular social networking web services such as Flickr, Del.icio.us, Technorati, Photobucket, and various popular blogging and news aggregation services. So far, I have had absolutely no problem with Flock.

Let us see how Flock with its tabbed browsing helps with sites like Coupon Chief, which is site that helps online shopper save on online purchases. If we want to keep Coupon Chief homepage opened, but would like to view the page listing all the categories, all we have to do is to right click on the "Categories" tab at the top of the page and select "Open in new tab", and a new tab will open listing all the categories that Coupon Chief have.

Want to look for products according to the stores? Right-click on the "Stores" tab, and another tab showing all the stores that are partnering with Coupon Chief will open without losing the other two. There sure is a very long list of stores there. Unless you are familiar with the store, you probably wouldn't know what the stores are selling, but you may be looking for flowers for your wedding anniversary to present to your loving wife.

No problem, just click the "Browse Coupons by Categories --- Coup.." tab of the Flock browser at the top of the page (under the menu bar) and you will be back to the page listing all the categories. Right-click on the "Flowers and Gifts" link and again select "Open in new tab" and the page listing all the flowers and gifts merchants will open in another separate tab. Slowly chose your pick.

The top of the Flock browser will look like this (click on screenshot to enlarge):

You can go from one tab to the other at will according to what you want to do. Just compare that to inconvenience of the old Internet Explorer 6 and under, which don't have tabbed browsing. It is only after a very long time that Microsoft finally caught up and came up with Internet Explorer 7, which have followed the other browsers and now have tabbed browsing. However, there is still one thing I don't like about Internet Explorer 7. In all the other browsers, when I want a new empty tab, all I have to do is to click "File" in the menu bar and select "New tab" and a new empty tab will open instantly. I do that in Internet Explorer 7, there is a significant pause before I get the new empty tab.

Advantages of tabbed browsing

2007-09-27T22:25:00.000+08:00

I love FireFox as it allows me to do tabbed browsing. What is meant by tabbed browsing? Let us take this interesting site Coupon Chief to use as an example. This is a site which helps people shop for things online and save money at the same time using coupons. If you are reading this page, you are most likely to be interested in things connected with the Internet, software and Computers. In the same window I can have pages (tabs) opened in the same window.

For example, I am interested in Computers and Software in the site linked to above, you will find a lists of categories of different products on the left sidebar. Under the "...by Category" section, 7th down the line you will see the category "Computers and Software" at the time of publishing. You can click on "Computers and Software", but it will mean you will lose your current homepage of that site as the new page opens in the same window. However, if you right-click on Computers and Software, a "menu" will appear where you have a choice of

Open Link in New Window
Open Link in New Tab

plus other choices. Chose "Open in a New Tab", and the page listing all the computers and software will appear in a new tab in the same window (second red arrow), and your homepage of "Coupon chief" will remain in the first tab in the same window (first arrow. Click on screenshot to enlarge so you can see the arrows better):

There are other categories listed which is likely to be of interest to those who blog or surf the Internet, like Wireless and Internet. Right-click on that and chose "open in new tab, and the page for "Wireless and Internet" will open in another tab (third red arrow in the screenshot above). I use a wireless modem router and wished I had bought that via Coupon Chief for I may have save some money using their coupon that way.

There is another section "Coupons by Stores", and I see 9 stores listed in that section. You may be interested in a store like Dell Home. Right click on this link or in the link under "Coupons by Store" section, and choose "Open in new tab" and "Coupon Chief - Dell Home" will open in another new tab (third arrow in screenshot above) listing all the Dell products you can purchase and save some money using coupons without losing your other pages.

Or perhaps you will prefer to see a list of all stores where you can save some money using coupons. Right-click on the "Store" tab at the top of the page and chose "Open in a new tab" and a page listing a long list of stores will open in another new tab in the same window.

You can easily navigate to any of the above named pages the same window at any time in by clicking on the tabs highlighted by the red window.

Search website which have no sitesearch box plus Yahoo search, etc

2007-09-08T05:54:00.000+08:00

You may often want to search for information on a website which did not provide a site search box, which is not a rare occurrence. In such cases, having FireFox with the Google toolbar will be a great help, for you can use the built-in Google search box to search only that site:

.

I find this very helpful in searching for information. In addition to searching only the site, you can also chose to search the whole web, search for images, search groups, news, Google Map, search for button, search your Gmail Inbox, even add search types such as Yahoo search, CNN, BBC News, Fox News, Yahoo mail, You tube, Google Earth, weather, etc. They will probably add more choices later.

Do not print background color and images of a webpage

2007-09-01T06:27:00.000+08:00

You may sometimes want to print a page from the web. This you can do by clicking FILE > PRINT from the menu bar at the top of the browser. Sometimes the webpage has background color. It may also have colorful pictures which you may not want. If you just print the page as it is, you will be wasting a lot of ink, especially if the page you want to print have a black background.

If you want to save on ink, click FILE > PAGE SETUP from the menu bar at the top of the browser and untick the "Print background (colors and images)" option before you press the "OK" button.

Fonts and FireFox

2007-08-28T06:20:00.000+08:00

In FireFox, you can either set the browser to use the font and color specified by the webmaster or use the font and color specicied by you. To set this, in the menu bar, click on Tools > Options, then the CONTENT tab (see screenshot on the left) in the "pop-up". In the second section is "Fonts and colors" where you can chose your preferred font by clicking on the "down" arrow and selecting the font from the list that had been installed in your computer. Click on the font you prefer. You can also specify the font size by clicking on the "down" arrow for the font-size and selecting your preferred font size. If you want to specify the color, click on the color button and select your text and background color. These will be the choices if the webmaster of the web pages didn't specify one.

Irrespective of what you set, you can chose the font and color the pages (what is specified by the webmaster) specify, in which case your computer will search for the first defined font, and if that is not available, the next, then the next, and so on.

A wise webmaster will specify a browser safe font family for their web pages, a list of which you can get from here:

http://www.ampsoft.net/webdesign-l/WindowsMacFonts.html
http://www.webspaceworks.com/resources/fonts-web-typography/60/
http://www.ahfx.net/weblog.php?article=22

If you are the type of surfers who go to websites where the webmasters uses unusual fonts, you may want to download and install extra list fonts into your computer. A link to one such site is given in this post Special fonts for your blog clickable graphic header without having to remove the text blog title. The link is entitled "Urban fonts". If you want more, you can always google for them using the search box above by typing in "download font" or some other search terms and ticking the (.) Web radio button.

The importance of a domain name

2007-04-04T19:28:00.000+08:00

IP address like 218.111.16.127 are how surfers get to your site. They have often been compared to telephone numbers, a very good illustration. However, IP address like the one are, first, hard to remember and doesn't tell much about a website compared with http://www.buydomains.com/. For this reason, there are Domain Name Service (DNS) which translates domain names (computer hostnames) to IP addresses.

Domain names serve another important function. Search engines uses it to help determine the nature of your site. It is thus important to have relevant key words in the domain names to make your site more easily found by search engines. Thus before you register a domain name, it is important to do some keyword research.

All this is well and good. You do your research and have decided that a particular desirable domain name is what you want, but when you proceed to try to get that domain name registered, there is a high possibility that you will find that it had already been registered and not available. What do you do then? You can try to be creative and come up with alternatives or you can turn to http://www.buydomains.com/ which have 800,000 domain names registered for sale. Not only that, they also offer flexible financing where you can pay for the domain name over a period of 12 months.

However, http://www.buydomains.com/ doesn't just sell domain names. If you are creative and good at thinking up of desirable domain names which may be well sought after, you can register it with http://www.buydomains.com/ who will help you to sell your domain.

What is FireFox and why you should be using it?

2006-09-29T14:20:00.000+08:00

If you don't already have FireFox, I strongly recommend you get Firefox with Google toolbar via the Make your PC more useful. Get the free Google Pack" referral link above. You will get a list of tools that can make your PC more useful and that include FireFox with Google toolbar plus other stuff which you can choose to ignore if you don't want them.

What is FireFox

FireFox is a free cross-platform graphical web browser developed by Mozilla Foundation and hundreds of volunteers. It is like Internet Explorer but is superior in many ways. Cross platform means you can use it on computers with different operating systems like Windows, Macintosh, and Linux etc. You can install it with other browsers into your computer with no harm done, only you will have the advantages of having more than 1 browsers (see post Why you should be using more than 1 browser

Why you should use FireFox

FireFox is a Web browser that is smaller, faster and more secure than Internet Explorer. It has a cleaner user interface and faster download speed. It has many features which are missing from Internet Explorer. Some of them are dealt with below.

Tabbed browsing

The availability of tabbed browsing is one big advantage FireFox have over Internet Explorer and it is at the top of the list why FireFox is my preferred browser. What is tabbed browsing? Tabbed browsing is one that allows multiple panes of information to be contained within a single master window, using tabs to navigate between them. See screenshot below (click on screenshot to enlarge it. Current tab circled in red. You can go from tab to tab within the same window):

You can open new web pages in tabs in the same window rather than having to open many windows to view them. This create a smaller memory footprint and reduces the system resources required on the operating system. You can conveniently switch from page to page by clicking on the tabs. You can also drag and drop tabs to group similar pages together. You may be, for example, preparing a post for a blog, and you wish to use Google to check for some information, but don't want to lose you current page. You can open a collection of tabs to read at a later time. If while you are doing something like preparing a post for a blog, and you want to search for information, you can just click on File in the menu bar and select New Tab and a new tab will open in the same window (or click ctrl+T). You can use the built-in Google (or other) search-box to search for the items, get the information you want, then go back to your former page. Or you may have done a Google search and you are in the search result page. You can open the links in different tabs to read at your leisure without having to exit from the search result page, and you can go back to the search result page at any time. You can also group together all related Web pages in a window and bookmark that. In that way, you can easily get back to all related pages by just opening one bookmark. If you have a slow connection, or even with a high-speed connection you can save a lot of time by opening a few tabs and downloading a few Web pages simultaneously, and you will be able to read some while the others are downloading in the background.save a lot of your time.

Many webmaster like to make their links open in new windows because they do not want to lose readers. With FireFox, you have the choice of making the link open in new tab instead. Just right-click on the link, select "Open in new tab" (or ctrl+click on the link or middle click on your mouse)

Tabbed browser is one of the major advantage of FireFox over Internet Explorer.

Security and Privacy

FireFox may not be inherently be more secure than Internet Explorer, but suffers from less problems of being hacked, getting spyware, adware and viruses. According to Wikipedia, as of July 2006, the FireFox usage share is around 12% of overall browser usage. So Internet Explorer is still the dominant browser from the point of view of browser usage. Hackers, spyware and virus maker like to focus on browser with dominant usage share, so they concentrate on Internet Explorer. There are many people hacking via Internet Explorer, there are much more spyware and viruses for Internet than FireFox. In that sense, FireFox is the more secure browser.

According to security monitoring company Secunia, if there is a security hole in Microsoft, they may make a patch within 3 months, but FireFox makes a complete fix within 3 days, sometimes not even that long.

Internet Explorer support Active X, tiny scripts that automatically download when you visit certain Web pages. This is another source of vulnerability as hackers use Active X to tweak code to damage your computer. FireFox does not use Active X technology. Some Web sites put Active X to good use, and to use their sites properly, your browser have to have support for Active X. However, these sites are very few and far between. There are plug-ins for FireFox for Active X support, but this will make your FireFox as vulnerable as Internet Explorer. It is far better to keep 2 browser with FireFox as your main browser, and when you come across a site that need Active X, and you trust that site, to switch to Internet Explorer to view that site.

With FireFox, it is also easy to clear cookies, cache, browsing history, passwords in just one step. Just click Tools on the menu bar, then click Clear private data, and a pop-up will appear (see screenshot)
FireFox privacy" />
With just one click, all the private data will be gone.

FireFox Extensions

Extensions are small add-ons that add new functionality to Mozilla applications. They can add anything from a toolbar button to a completely new feature. They allow the application to be customized to fit the personal needs of each user if they need additional features, while minimizing the size of the application itself. An example is the extensions for the very popular social bookmarking del.icio.us (see screenshot below. The extensions are marked in red) I use del.icio.us and find it very useful.

Another very useful extension is the session saver. SessionSaver restores your browser -exactly- as you left it, every startup, every time. Not even a crash will phase it. Windows, tabs, even things you were typing -- they're all saved. Use the menu to add + remove sessions; right, shift, or middle-clicking will delete. "Simple mode" for peace of mind, or "Expert mode" for advanced flexibility. Enabling this saves your session history every time the browser is shut down manually, and restores it when it is fired up again. Crash recovery remains enabled, independent of this setting.

Literally thousands of extensions are available to add functionality to your FireFox browser, but you should only install those that meet your needs.

FireFox and Google toolbar

(Click on screenshot to enlarge it)

You can have FireFox with the Google toolbar. With the toolbar, you can do many things. The above screenshot shows the Google toolbar. The first tool you see is the Smart Google searchbox. With this searchbox, you can search in many ways. A particularly useful feature is it enable you to search the content of the site you currently are on which can be very convenient when you want to search for a particular topic on a site. See screenshot below:

You can also search for images, Google groups, your Desktop, Google Maps, etc, as you can see from the screenshot.

With the toolbar, you can easily check the Google PageRank of your site or any other site with the Google PageRank tool .

You can check the spelling of the text you typed in online forms with the built-in Spell-checker .Click on the ABC button and after a short interval, you will see the form change color and the spelling mistakes highlighted. Click on the spelling mistake and you will see a list of suggested correction. You can also choose to correct your own. I find this very convenient when I publish posts for my Google Blogger blog, as the spell-check is done within the post editor rather than via a pop-up which can be very inconvenient.

When you do a search, you can also choose to highlight the search terms in the content by clicking the highlight button . This will help you zero into the relevant portion of the content quickly.

Google have also integrated the Safe Browsing extension into Toolbar to alert you when a page is trying to steal sensitive information. Get warnings about web pages that may be unsafe. It also has incorporated a very effective pop-up blocker which will very effectively block pop-ups.

Note: You can download FireFox directly from this page by clicking on the link "Browse the Web faster. Get FireFox with Google Toolbar" at the top of the right sidebar.

How to get the PageRank of your (and other) websites

2006-08-31T01:51:00.000+08:00

Easily get PageRank of your blog or blogs or any other websites by getting FireFox with Google toolbar via referral link above (below Search box) "Make your PC more useful. Get the free Google Pack". Google Pack will include FireFox with Google toolbar plus other Google Pack components which you can choose to ignore or to install.

What is PageRank

PageRank is a number from zero to 10 devised by Google to measure not only how many links point to a website, but the "quality" of the sites providing the links. It has significance in that when someone type a word or phrase connected to your blog in Google search, the higher the PageRank, the more likely it is to appear in the first few pages, and therefore your site is more likely to be found.

How to easily get the PageRank of a site

Here is an easy way to get the PageRank of your website/s or any other websites you visit. Install FireFox with the Google toolbar. To get that, or if you already have FireFox, but do not have the Google toolbar, get it via the "

In the toolbar, you will see the icon "PageRank" with a narrow band just below the text. If the PageRank is zero, you will just see a white band. For websites that have PageRank higher than zero, part of the band will be green. The higher the PageRank, the longer will be the green band. If you want the exact PageRank, let your mouse hover over the icon. You will see a "pop-up" giving the PageRank of the website. See the screenshot below (click on the screenshot to enlarge it):
Also, you can see the other very useful features of the Google toolbar in the screenshot. On the extreme left is the built-in Google search box. With this, you can search either the whole web or ONLY the website you are visiting. Also, as you type in the search terms, you will see useful suggestions for the search terms which if relevant, you can just click without having to type out the whole search terms. Also, you can easily get your recent search terms by click on the down arrow.

You can also do a spell-check on any text you enter in online forms. This is especially useful for bloggers using Blogger (blogspot), as the built-in spell-checker of the built-in spell-checker of the post editor involve a pop-up and is cumbersome to use. If you are using Blogger for your blogs, have a look at this post: How to do spellcheck for your Blogger post" target="_blank". With the Google toolbar spell-checker, you can also do spell-check in many languages. See screenshot below:

Note: You can download FireFox with Google Toolbar directly from this page via the referral link "Make your PC more useful. Get the free Google Pack" at the top of the right sidebar. You will then be given a choice of a large selection or useful stuff like FireFox with Google toolbar, Spyware Doctor, Google Earth, etc. Just tick the one you want and download.

Blogger: What to do when you can't publish, upload photos, etc.

2006-04-25T07:40:00.000+08:00

(see notes and updates below)

I have been using Blogger for my blogging for almost two years now, and occasionally, I have faced various problems like being unable to publish or republish, unable to upload photos, the tool for uploading photo (picture icon) not visible, etc. When faced with such problems, I switch browser and find that often that helps. If I am using Internet Explorer, I switch to FireFox, and vice versa, and often this helped. Only when this does not help would I think of other ways or of contacting Blogger support. (Note: whether this will help or not will depend on the situation)

Update: Recently, I tried to upload a picture using IE. It said DONE, I clicked and checked. The picture (or the HTML) was nowhere to be seen. I tried a few time. Same result. I changed to FireFox. I succeeded on the first attempt. This has happened more than once.

Update: Blogger Employee has also offered this piece of advice for the problem described: If your Done button isn't appearing, sign out of Blogger, clear your
cache, and then sign back in."

Update 7 May 2007: Someone reported having difficulties uploading photos with Safari (Mac). I recommended FireFox which is cross-platform. Here is his response: "It worked. Thank You!!!" You can read the thread here: Problem with Add a Page Element. There were numerous cases where I recommended changing browser and it worked.

By the way, if you are still using only Internet Explorer, I strongly recommend that you get FireFox. It is a far better and more secure browser. There are other advantages as well. It is good to be able to view your blog in more than one browser to make sure that the blog is displayed as you want it to be. For example, a common complaint of bloggers are that the sidebar or the content slide down to the bottom of the page. Often this occur with only some browser and not others. With more than one browser, you can check and be alerted to it if it happened. You may also install Opera, but I prefer FireFox. FireFox is better supported by Blogger, not Opera. There will be lots of things you can do when using FireFox for Blogger that you can't with Opera. I use 3, FireFox with the Google toolbar (most often), Internet Explorer and Opera (hardly). When using FireFox with the Google toolbar, you can do spell check within your Blogger post editor window which is very convenient. There are many other advantages, described further below.

Like others, I have more than one email account, some to control spam as I leave my email in some of my blogs. I find that by accessing the email accounts in different browsers, I can simultaneously have access to more than one email without having to log out. This apply to Blogger account as well, and sometimes it can be useful as I also happened to have more than 1 Blogger account. At times I want to transfer things from one account to the other.

Tabbed Browsing

A big advantage of FireFox over Internet Explorer is the availability of tabbed browsing where you can open multiple web pages in a a single browser window, and quickly flip back and forth. This alone is enough reason for you to get FireFox if you are using only Internet. Further, you can even drag and drop tabs to keep related pages together. There is also the possibility when a hyperlink is set to open in a new window, to right-click on it and select "open in a new tab" so that you don't open too many windows.

Pop-up Blocking

FireFox has a very effective built-in pop-up blocker which block irritating pop-ups and pop-unders. I find FireFox pop-up blocker is more effective.

Integrated Search Box

There is an search box integrated into the menu bar where you can search Google, Yahoo, eBay, Wikipedia, and any other search engine you fancy.

Customizable

You can select new button controls for your toolbars, install extensions to add new features, or change the look of the FireFox browser by changing themes.

Google toolbar

And with the Google toolbar, you can check the PageRank of any site easily. The built-in search box allow you to search the whole web or current site. The search term suggestion feature is very good also. Plus the Google toolbar’s auto fill function allows you to automatically have any form filled in based on your saved personal information.

With all these advantages, there is just no reason not to add FireFox with Google toolbar to your computer.

Update: A reply from Blogger Employee (Google Blogger official representative) when I made a recommendation at Google Blogger Help group to try switching browser on the Google Help group: "Unfortunately, it sounds like you guys might be experiencing the same difficulties some other users have been experiencing with uploading pictures. We have been investigating some issues with our image uploading feature and are working hard on a resolution.

In the meantime, Enviroman's (me) suggestion is something to consider. Also, a few other troubleshooting tips include:

- Ensure that JavaScript is enabled.
- Clear your cache and cookies, and then try again.
- Check for plugins on your browser. These sometimes cause unexpected
incompatibilities with the post editor. If you have any, try
temporarily disabling them to see if that makes a difference.

Additionally, for other ways that you can post pictures on your blog, you may want to check out our Blogger Help article here:
What other ways to post pictures are available?

Sorry for the inconvenience!"

An email from a grateful reader (posted with the kind permission of author): "Peter, I LOVE YOU! You are so wise! I begrudgingly downloaded FireFox figuring I was just on a long and ugly goose chase. BUT YOU WERE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! Smooches! That photo popped up and everything goes so much faster -- WOW! I am happy, blogging my brains out once again.. The Home Stretch". Check it out for a chuckle."

THANKS AGAIN!

Ann Kult
(Ann is a freelance humorous columnist. If you have need for one, contact her via her website via the link above.)

Another Blogger blogger, MaryK of Virgin Wool (close new window to return to this page) who found switching browser helped: This is what she posted in the thread Photographs (close new window to get back to this page) in the Google Blogger Help group: "I've found that switching browsers has helped out a lot with the photo issue. There are still issues on occasion, but the "no photo when clicking Done" issue has all but gone away since I started using Mozilla's Firefox rather than Microsoft's Internet Explorer to publish pictures to my blog posts. On good days I can upload five pictures at a time, which is especially nice, as that saves quite a bit of time."

Installing FireFox from this site will also install the Google toolbar which will block annoying pop-up's.

Note: You can download FireFox with Google Toolbar directly from this page by via the link "Browse the Web faster. Get FireFox with Google Toolbar" at the top of the right sidebar.

Update 6 August 2007: A blogger had problem dragging a Page Element in the Layout. I suggested try using different browser. His respond: "I don't know why, but your suggestion worked. Thank you". See
Move adsense header page element under header.

Recent personal experience. Tried to sign into my online banking account. No luck. Changed browser. Got signed in within seconds.

Books from Amazon

Firefox For Dummies

Firefox Secrets : A Need-To-Know Guide

Hacking FireFox : More Than 150 Hacks, Mods, and Customizations

Firefox and Thunderbird Garage (The Garage Series)

Firefox Hacks : Tips & Tools for Next-Generation Web Browsing

Get your own domain. It command more respect than a sub-domain like blogspot.com

2006-03-25T06:56:00.000+08:00

There are a few blogger platform which offers bloggers free sub-domains for their blogs. There is Google Blogger for example, where a sub-domain will have an URL like myblog.blogspot.com. This sub-domain remain the property of Blogger. Also, some have the opinion that blogspot address command less respect, rather like having your home address as your business address.

If they are of such inclination, it is easy to register for a domain name of your own. But the problem is, Internet have been around for quite some time, and most of the more desirable domain names have been already registered and not available. If you are faced with a situation like this, what should your do?

No sweat. You can always search for a suitable domain name to buy at BuyDomains.com. You can search by keywords or categories at BuyDomains.com or you can register to be alerted to new domain names available by keyword or categories at Alert Subscription at BuyDomains.com. You can also do an advanced search at Conduct an Advanced Domain Search.

If you are creative, and good at thinking up of good, in demand domain names, you can register the domain and put it up for sale at BuyDomains.com, and probably make yourself a tidy sum.

Buying and selling domains are not the only thing you can do at BuyDomains.com. You can have access to Small Business Resources at BuyDomains.com. You can get lots of free, useful articles at Small Business at BuyDomains.com.

However, as for me, I am a pensioner, and I don't want the hassle of having to renew my domain name subscription every year, and I know that by using the free blogspot.com address, even if I am not able to renew the yearly subscription, my blogs will still be up on the web. The price I have to pay for this is that my blog will command less respect than others who use their own domain name. Anyway, to each his own according to his needs and preferences.