extension

Weekend picks #019

Babis Konstantinidis | November 18, 2007

Making Firefox better

[1]

Read it Later - Firefox Extension BETA
Read it later is a small extension for Firefox that permits you to save web pages so that you can read them later. It works similar to the bookmarks but it’s easier. All you have to do is click a button and the page is saved for later. If you want to go back at some point later click the second button and you will see the list of your “read it later pages”. After you have read the page click again in the first button and the page is gone. No bookmarks, no deleting, no e-mailing a link or all the things we usually do when we see something in the web but we don’t have the time to read it. I use it a couple of days now and it’s really helping. Give it a try. You can find it here . Check also the rest of the site; it has some pretty cool ideas.

[2]

Restarting Firefox
When installing a new extension in Firefox you always have an option of restarting the browser. You do not have the same option though when you uninstall an extension or when you want to change a theme. This is easy if you do not have any open windows or tabs but if you are working in something you will have to save as bookmarks all tabs, close Firefox, re-open it, and open all the tabs. There is a much easier way and it’s call extEMM 2.0. With extEMM you can restart Firefox just without losing any opened tab. You can find it here

[3]

GTDinbox for Gmail
And as we talking about Firefox Extensions you should definitely keep an eye for GTDinbox for Gmail. The extension is not working now (I would assume due to latest changes in Gmail) but the creator promises that would get a working update as soon as possible. The latest non working version right now is 1.33. I will come back to this when they fix it. You can find it here

Until next time... Keep on smiling. It will make your friends happy and your enemies crazy :-)

Weekend picks #014

Babis Konstantinidis | October 7, 2007

I really like searching the net. You start in one point and you never know where you will end up. :-)

[1]

Broadband Speed Test and Diagnostics
If you have problems with your connection to the Internet like I do, then you will find Broadband Speed Test and Diagnostics 1.1 a valuable tool. It is, yet another, extension for Firefox  [I can’t believe it; it seems that there is a Firefox extension for everything]. In the latest version the Broadband Speed Test and Diagnostics can perform a diagnostic check in your Network card, DHCP server, local gateway, DNS server and the web site that the browser failed to reach. It can also run and present a bandwidth performance test [download and upload]. Download it here

[2]

ActiveWords
I came across this blogpost yesterday where someone was saying “let me know and I will shoot you a copy of the WordBase to test. We have had great success with people who use David Allen’s methodology.” Well I always liked free software and testing it in my computer so I left a comment saying that I would like to test Wordbase. Few hours later I had new mail [thanks for the immediate response Buz] with the WordBase attached. Ι had already downloaded and installed Active Words They have a 5 days trial version which you could extend to 60 days trial version by simply registering. Wordbase is actually an add-on for Active Words for the users of Microsoft Office 2007.
ActiveWords is a really different and cool way to use your computer. You can assign a word as a shortcut to everything. Every time you write down this word you have an option by simply pressing F8 to launch a program, site or whatever. The clever part is that you don’t have to write that word in a special box [although you can do that also and press Enter]. You can write it in every program that permits you to insert text. You could for example write down excel in a notepad or a Word document and by simply pressing F8 to lunch Excel. [I have already add the word anb as an active one to lunch in a Firefox window what else, the www.anabubula.com. You can even use it as a Spelling Check program just like Autocorrect in Office but you can use it in every text box even in Windows Explorer when renaming a file. ActiveWords comes with 1800 common misspelled English words that you can use it to correct them automatically as you type them. If you use a tablet PC it is even easier. Just write with your pen the Active word and that’s it!
There a lot of free add-in “applications” for the ActiveWords, you can check them out here .Hey Stefanos there is one for MindManager also.

I was so excited with the ActiveWords that I didn’t “test” the WordBase at all [sorry Buzz]. I will look into it and come back later in the week with a full review.

[3]

Vista Rebooting
What’s this rebooting thing for Windows Vista? I left my computer on last night because I started downloading something only to find out in the morning that a few minutes after I went to sleep the computer downloaded an update from Microsoft and rebooted! I have to start all over again. I thought that UAC [User Access Control] was the most annoying thing about Vista but I now believe that rebooting whenever they feel like it, is by far the winner.

Until next time. Keep on... thinking different!

Weekend picks #013

Babis Konstantinidis | September 30, 2007

This was a busy weekend. I don't know if I am good at Getting Things Done but I am sure that I will try harder. This weekend is all about GTD.

[1]

Getting Things done guru David Allen speaks to Wired Magazine.
If you are in this Getting Things Done thing, then you certainly heard of David Allen. You can find his interview in Wired here.

[2]

GTD or GTDF? [Getting Thing Done… Faster]
Well it’s the same more or less approach of GTD but with a stopwatch added.
Five main steps.
1. Set time limits [This is where you will need the stopwatch].
2. Keep Focused
3. Maintain Energy Levels
4. Use the right tools.
Read about it here

[3]

gtd-php: Getting Things Done with php
gtd-php is a web based implementation of the Getting Things Done personal organization system. This wiki serves as the community brainstorming bucket, as well as a place to start documenting the program and outlining the development path...
Download it here

[4]

Do you know anything about Cookies?
Every site you are visiting use these small text files to store information about you in your computer so you they can track you the second time you visit them again. If you want to see what kind of information these cookies contain and you use Firefox you can install the View Cookies Extension for Firefox. You can find it here

[5]

Look@Lan Network Monitor
Look@Lan Network Monitor is a network monitor that can monitor your network and create detailed statistical graphs, HTML reports and can scan a single computer about services among other things. The best thing about it along with the simple user interface is that it’s free. You can download it here.



Until next time... Just keep having a good time!

Weekend picks #012

Babis Konstantinidis | September 23, 2007

This weekend is all about Firefox and its extensions. I won't get in the battle which browser is better [IE 7 or Firefox]. I use both and I truly believe that the real power of Firefox is the number of extensions that permits you to build literally your own browser.

[1]

Simple Delicious
Simple Delicious will bring your Del.icio.us bookmarks in a toolbar inside Firefox. You can add or delete bookmarks from the browser menu and it will keep them synchronized in real time.

[2]

BlogRovr
If you are into this blog thing and you use Firefox then you must see BlogRovr. This extension will search your favorite blogs to fetch anything related to the page you are viewing. Then all you have to do is to click on the summary and you can read the full story. You will have to create an account in BlogRovr (it's free) and manage from there the list of your favorite blogs but it is easy enough and the site suggests some of the best blogs.

[3]

Shareaholic
You digg a lot? Maybe you prefer del.icio.us, facebook, google bookmarks, ma.gnolia, reddit, stumbleupon or twitter?. With Shareaholic you can either submit the page you are viewing to these sites or mail it to a friend [well you can do that by simply right clicking somewhere in the page and selecting "Send Link"]. It will even show you if the page you are viewing has been dugged or how many times it has been saved in del.icio.us.

Off topic

Can I do that?

Apple iPhone

A friend of mine is visiting United States these days. I was thinking of asking him to buy an iPhone for me. The initial price in United States is $399 for the 8GB model. Add to that 14% taxes and it goes up to $454. With the current ratio between dollar and euro the price is €322.
And now I am thinking, ΟΚ I will pay more than €300 to buy a phone that's doesn't support yet my language, it is GPRS only, has a camera of only 2MPixels and above all that it's big and heavy. I would pay more than €300 just to have a very nice gadget but a not so nice mobile. I love the interface , the multi touch screen is awesome... I am confused, I think I''ll wait...

Tip

If you want to make a currency conversion and you don't know where to look for the current ratio just go to Google and type XXX dollars in euros if you want convert dollars to euros (where xxx is the amount of dollars).

Until next time... keep on making noise, only this time try to think out of it.

Share files with Firefox

Babis Konstantinidis | September 21, 2007

Keep folders synchronized and share files with your friends and family with Allpeers and Firefox.

I was trying to find an easy way to keep two folders (one in my PC at home and the other at work) synchronized. Allpeers does not only that but it will let you share files (any kind of files, any size) with your friends. Just install it as any other Firefox extension. It will permit drag n drop files and you could even set it to automatically download any new files your friends share with you. It will even let you download torrents with Firefox and I really liked that it let me share them with my contacts.
The current version has a limit of 300 hundred files but this will change in future versions.

You can find it here
UPDATE: The AllPeers service is no longer available