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Internet Tips

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Ranked #97,517 in Computers & Electronics, #1,561,240 overall

The internet is essential, yet it seems like few people really understand how to use it. My parents are content to bumble about with their computer, diligently running Internet Explorer and keeping up to date on the latest version of Norton Anti-Virus. For most people, even that much is an accomplishment.

For a few of you out there, however, you may be wondering how to get something more out of your internet experience. Perhaps you want to download free anti-virus programs and spyware removers to help your computer run faster. Perhaps you want to learn how to get the latest news delivered to you via RSS.

I will tell you how to do all that and more on this lens. I will review the latest Firefox extensions, and will highlight websites that are not only fun or interesting, but will save you time as well. Stay tuned...

First Things First

De-Crapping Your Computer

If you have had your computer for a while and have a ton of useless software, the first thing you need to do is back everything up (onto CD's or an external hard drive) and reformat the drive. **Before you do this, MAKE SURE you have all the software you need.** Typically, you can call your computer manufacturer and ask for a setup disk.

If you have never reformatted your hard drive before, it is important to educate yourself about the process beforehand. The best thing to do is read up on the process online, print out a set of instructions, and take an inventory of all the programs and documents you want to keep, and whether you have original installation disks or backups for each. A couple of resources you can use are:

1) CNet Instructions
2) ehow Instructions

A Brief Interlude

"The Machine is Us/ing Us"

Valuable Firefox Add-Ons

Before I post the links to these add-ons, let me just point out that even Mozilla screws up every now and then. That is because most of the add-ons that are developed for Firefox are actually from independent code-writers, building upon the Firefox browser.

The add-ons listed below are ones that I continue to use on a regular basis (especially the forecast add-on) and I think they are superior to other programs, or even other add-ons, that might do roughly the same thing.

StumbleUpon: StumbleUpon lets you "channelsurf" the best-reviewed sites on the web. It is a collaborative surfing tool for finding and sharing great sites. This helps you find interesting webpages you wouldn't think to search for.
Cooliris Previews: Cooliris Previews gives you the power to browse and share Web links and rich media faster. Just mouse over any link, and the Cooliris preview window immediately appears to show you the content. To email it, just click.
Foxmarks: If you use Firefox on more than one computer, you'll want Foxmarks. Install Foxmarks on each computer, and it will work silently in the background to keep your bookmarks synchronized. As a bonus, log in to my.foxmarks.com from any computer anywhere to access your bookmarks.
Forecastfox: Get international weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com, and display it in any toolbar or statusbar with this highly customizable and unobtrusive...
Download Statusbar: View and manage downloads from a tidy statusbar - without the download window getting in the way of your web browsing.
Sage: Sage is a lightweight RSS and Atom feed aggregator extension for Mozilla Firefox. It's got a lot of what you need and not much of what you don't.