Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on July 12, 2006 by CyberNet.

For all of the past Firefox 2.0 builds I have not written a review so I have figured it is time to do so. This review will cover all of the new features that have been implemented since Alpha 3 but it will also cover older features for those people that are starting with Beta 1 as their first Firefox 2.0 build.

You can also download Firefox 2 Beta 1 and test it for yourself. If you are a little weary of testing a Beta build then you can download the portable version which leaves your current profile and settings untouched.

I will be referencing my guide several times throughout this article. It covers some tweaks for many of the features I will mention here. Okay, so why don’t we go ahead and get started.

–Branding–
The first thing that you may have noticed when running the new Beta 1 is that everything has now been branded as Firefox. Each release up to this point had the Bon Echo logo which can be seen here. This will hopefully help Mozilla get more testers by providing a familiar icon and name. Think about it, how many people that you talk to actually know that Bon Echo is the codename for Firefox 2?

–Suggestive Search Box–

The new search box has become more useful and a little more sleek. You can see here a comparison of the old search box to the new search box. The old search box doesn’t have the nice magnifying glass that is used to process your search when clicked. The down arrow next to the magnifying glass is used to select which search engine you would like to use with Google being the default of course.

You will also notice that when you are typing in a search you will see search suggestions. These suggestions work for the Google and Yahoo search engines. If you have enabled Firefox to remember items in the search box you will see recently searched for items above the "Suggestions" divider.

–OpenSearch–
Some sites that you visit may support the OpenSearch which will make future searches a breeze. An example of a site that supports the OpenSearch is Technorati. When you visit Technorati the drop-down search box will display an an option so that you can add it to your list of search engines.

–Search Engine Manager–
The Search Engine Manager is a great addition to the browser. It allows you to easily add, remove, and reorder your search engines in just a few clicks.

If you are looking for more search engines then you just have to click the "Get more search engines…" link.

–Add-ons Manger–

Click on an image to enlarge it

The new Add-ons Manager has two different "tabs", one is for managing extensions and the other is for themes. The extension manager reveals three buttons once you have selected an extension: Options, Disable, and Uninstall. This makes it easier for the user to see which extension they are currently dealing with and prevents them from accidentally uninstalling the wrong extension. The disable feature is especially nice because some extensions you only need once in awhile and now you don’t have to constantly install/uninstall them!

–Anti-Phishing–

There is now a built-in anti-phishing feature that will check to make sure the site you are visiting is not fraudulent. This was in previous builds but they have changed the wording now. Before the title read "Web Forgery" and the body said "This page is very likely to have been designed to trick users into sharing personal or financial information. Entering any personal information on this page may result in identity theft or other fraud." The new text isn’t that much different but they tried to make it read a little easier.

If you go to the Options-> Advanced-> Anti-Phishing you will notice a few options that you can select. By default Firefox will only check to see if the site is a scam by using a locally stored list. That means that the list may not be completely up-to-date so I would recommend using the option "By asking Google". That way it will check Google each time to see if the site is a forgery.

–Feed Subscriber–

The new Feed Subscriber is one of my favorite features in Firefox 2. I am constantly adding new feeds that I find to my Google Reader and the Feed Subscriber makes it a quick process. When you try and subscribe to a feed Firefox will use the Live Bookmarks by default. If you select the "Change Reader" option located near the top of the Web page you can customize how you want to subscribe to feeds. You can either use an external application, Google Reader, Bloglines, My Yahoo, or the classic Live Bookmarks. If you want to add NetVibes or another Web site to the list you will find the step-by-step process in my guide.

Also note that you can have Firefox automatically open a feed in your chosen reader by selecting the checkbox at the bottom in the options. This will completely bypass the preview screen that you see in the image above.

–Inline Spell Checker–

Now this is my favorite feature by far. I do so much posting and commenting on sites that it is always good to have something check my spelling while I type. If it finds a misspelled word it will underline it in red so that you can fix it right away. You can always add a word to the dictionary if it is something that you frequently type but it marks as misspelled, like the word Firefox as seen above . I have noticed that some smaller fields, like a text box for your name, are not checked for spelling by default. You can always right-click anywhere in the text field and select "Spell check this field".

–Microsummaries–

Microsummaries are the bookmarks of the future. Instead of assigning your own title to a bookmark you can choose to assign a "Live" title. The live title will update itself with information as it becomes available.

To get Microsummaries to work you need to go to this site and install a generator by clicking on it. I chose the eBay Auction Item generator and after I installed it I went to ebay.com to find an item. Once I found an item I selected "Bookmark This" and selected the name dropdown menu. As pictured above you can see that I can choose the static bookmark name that will never change or I can select the "Live Title". The Live Title, for eBay auctions, will update information like the current price so that you can easily keep a watch on it.

Make sure you check out the Microsummaries site above because they have cool generators for tracking your FedEx and UPS packages, too! Heck, you can even track your stock quotes using Yahoo Finance.

–Session Restore–

The Firefox Session Restore is also among my favorite features. By default your session will be restored if you install an extension or upgrade Firefox and choose the option to restart the browser. After either of those two things occur your session will automatically be restored for you upon a restart of the system.

If the system crashes you will be prompted with a message when you try to restart Firefox. It will give you the option to either restore your session with all the tabs and windows that were open before the crash or you can just start with a new session.

I decided that I wanted to make full use of the Session Restore feature so I found out how I could make Firefox restore my session every time I restarted it.

–Undo Close Tab–
The Undo Close Tab is a feature that I didn’t expect to see Mozilla put in Firefox. This helps make up for all those times you accidentally close a site and you can’t remember what it was. There is actually more to the undo function than you think: what do you do if you close 3 tabs and realize that you need to get all 3 of those tabs back but you only have the Undo Close Tab feature to use? Well, if you select the Undo Close Tab option 3 times it will restore all three tabs! Some people think that it just remembers your last tab and nothing more, but that is completely wrong. Also, the History Menu (discussed below ) has a type of "trash bin" for your closed tabs.

–Scrolling Tab-Bar–
The scrolling tab-bar is probably my least favorite feature that has been implemented in Firefox 2. It may not be such a bad idea but the default settings only let me have 10 tabs open on my 1280×800 widescreen monitor before they start to scroll. Luckily I was able to find a way to adjust the settings using the about:config screen so that Firefox will not scroll the tabs so frequently.

–Red X (Close Button)–
Ahhh, that pesky little Red X that Mozilla placed on each tab which upset many people. I actually liked (note the past tense) having the close button on the tabs until I accidentally started closing windows all the time. The Undo Close Tab works nice to recover those pages but eventually it gets frustrating having to constantly undo a closing of the tab. I found some information on how to configure the close button in a few different ways: display a close button on the active tab only, display close buttons on all tabs, don’t display any close buttons, or display a single close button at the end of the tab strip (Firefox 1.x behavior). If you go here I will show you the quick process to change the settings yourself.

–History Menu–

There is no longer a "Go" Menu and now it has been replaced by a "History" menu. the primary difference is the new "Recently Closed Tabs" option that will show you a listing of tabs you have recently closed. This feature coincides with the Undo Close Tab that was mentioned above. I guess naming it "History" makes a little more sense because everything in this menu has to do with the past. It might also be a little easier for people transitioning from Internet Explorer because in IE there is a History sidebar.

–Overview–
I have been extremely happy with the progress Mozilla has been making on Firefox 2. I am a little disappointed that they couldn’t get the new preferences screen into Beta 1 but they have said that it should be ready by Beta 2. Hopefully by that time we will also be able to play with the new look that Firefox 2 is supposed to have. Keep up the good work Mozilla!

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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Mozilla Fixes 2300 Bugs In Firefox 2.0 So FarDownload The NewsGator Toolbar For IE And FirefoxUpdate For Tweaking The Session Restore In Firefox 2Comodo Firewall 3 Beta to be x64 and Vista CompatibleFirefox 2.0 Beta 1 Finally Released

This compact shoots movies at 1080p or at speeds up to 1,000 frames per second. It takes photos, too.

Hey, didja hear the news? PMA is just about upon us, giving all the camera makers a perfect opportunity to refresh their lineup. In no particular order, here’s what Samsung is providing, all set for a Spring 2010 release:

• New HMX-U15 ($230) and HMX-U20 ($250) 1080p HD pocket camcorders shoot H.264 and feature HDMI out, image stabilization, a 2-inch LCD, and some simple edit options. The U20 also throws in a 3x optical zoom and 10 megapixel stills, while the U15 instead takes 14 megapixel stills.
• The TL500 is a 10 megapixel camera with 24mm ultra-wide angle lens with an articulating three-inch AMOLED display, perfect for spying around the corner. It supports RAW format, shoots VGA video, and is due out for a hair less than $450.
• The 10 megapixel TL350 claims 1080p HD video recording with a maximum speed of up to 1,000 frames per second — which invariably drops the video resolution to 138 x 78, but hey, sacrifices must be made. The three-inch AMOLED display and look for it set you back about $350.
• A pair of 12 megapixel point-and-shoots for the lower end, the waterproof AQ100 ($200) and the “scratch resistant” SL605 ($130), both with 2.7-inch LCDs and 5x optical zoom. The former shoots video in 720p and the latter just VGA.

Plethora of pressers after the break, and we’ll be catching our flight to Anaheim shortly to give hands on impressions and take pictures of cameras that’ll put our DSLRs to absolute shame.

Continue reading Samsung’s PMA gifts: HD pocket camcorders, point-and-shoots with AMOLED screens

Samsung’s PMA gifts: HD pocket camcorders, point-and-shoots with AMOLED screens originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some supposed Nokia X10 “release documents” have been caught on video and are now making their presumably illicit way around the web. Of course, this would be pretty trivial to fake, so do please put on your skepticism pants before reading further. The docs detail a QWERTY sliders handset dubbed the X10, a seeming followup to Nokia’s capacitive-equipped X6, but which runs Symbian S^3. In fact, it claims to be the first phone to do so, with a ARM Cortex A8 600MHz processor to help it out in such a mission, along with 256MB of RAM, 32GB or 16GB of internal storage and a 3.2-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. The 5 megapixel camera listed is a far cry from the 12 megapixel N87 flagship that Nokia’s said to be prepping for this new OS, but we’re happy to see a front-facing camera for 15 fps video calls. Don’t believe a word of it? We hardly blame you, and you can check out the video for yourself after the break to confirm or allay your suspicions.

Continue reading Nokia X10 Symbian S^3 QWERTY slider revealed in leaked documentation?

Nokia X10 Symbian S^3 QWERTY slider revealed in leaked documentation? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patrick Flanagan orchestrates his three-piece robotic drum circle, Jazari, with two Wiimotes to control the rhythm, volume, and pitch.