Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on November 22, 2006 by CyberNet.

Web Browser Wednesday

One thing that I have heard several complaints about with Firefox 2 is that the tabs are not themed to match what your operating system is using for a theme. Maybe you don’t like the darker color of the default tabs but don’t worry, it is so unbelievably easy to change that you’ll cry. Okay, maybe not as easy as a checkbox but close enough for those of us that have a little knowledge of computers.

First, I’ll show you what I’m talking about. These are what the standard tabs look like in Firefox 2, correct? Just nod your head and agree.

So, after you complete what I am about to tell you to do your tabs will take on your operating system’s properties. This is what the new tabs look like for me in Vista (the left-most tab is a background tab, the middle one is being hovered over with the mouse, and the right-most tab is the currently selected tab):

In Windows Vista when you hover over buttons and other objects it applies a light-blue glow which is exactly what happens in Firefox now. I’m not sure how this will look in all operating systems but I’m sure some people will like it better while others will probably hate it.

So if you want to give this a shot there isn’t much that you need. You will be creating a custom style sheet and you can do it manually but I recommend just using Stylish. If you use Stylish you also don’t have to worry about restarting Firefox to see the changes.

Once you have the extension installed open up this text file that I uploaded (I would have pasted it here in the post but it is 165 lines long). Copy all of the code and place it into the Stylish box:

Save your new style and the look of your tabs should now match what your operating system calls for. Pretty cool, huh? The beauty of using Stylish is that you can easily remove the new look if you decide that you don’t like it.

I am kinda torn right now because I like having the light-blue glow when I hover over a tab but at the same time I miss the rounded corners on the tabs that the default theme offers. Sometimes I am so indecisive.

I found this solution at UserStyles.org but at the time of this writing the site was down, but I was still able to get it from the Google Cache.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

CyberNotes: Your Week In Review With Sunday’s SummaryHelpful Tip: Restore Firefox Tabs & WindowsCustomize Your IE 7 Theme for FirefoxFirefox 3 Mac Theme for WindowsSlick Firefox Theme Even Impresses Me

This article was written on October 27, 2006 by CyberNet.

One of my favorite features in Windows Vista is the ability to click on the time in the system tray and a popup window will display a calendar. I use that calendar all of the time mostly to check what day of the week a specific date falls on.

When I just opened the calendar a little bit ago I noticed that it forewarns me of the upcoming Daylight Savings Time. In earlier versions of Windows the computer would always tell me after it had adjusted the clock for Daylight Savings but now it gives me an advanced warning…which is something that I really like.

So I guess this is a reminder for all of you as well that this Sunday at 2:00 AM the clocks go back an hour! Woo hoo…an extra hour of sleep!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

Save Money When Purchasing Multiple Licenses of VistaMicrosoft Releases Vista 5728 To Connect TestersVista Computers Save about $75 per Year in EnergyVista Transformation Pack 5.5 ReleasedHow’s Your Weekend? Oh Yeah, Vista Is Already Leaked And Cracked?

This article was written on March 05, 2008 by CyberNet.

So far all that we’ve known about Internet Explorer 8 was that they finally decided to push for web standards, and for that I’m extremely grateful. Microsoft has, however, posted an IE 8 Readiness Toolkit likely in preparation for MIX08 which starts today and runs until March 7th. In the toolkit they have download links (which we’ve posted at the end of this article) as well as a feature guide.

UPDATE: The downloads are now available.

We’ve taken the liberty of outlining all of the features below, but you won’t be able to get your hands on the browser quite yet. While the links to the IE8 Beta 1 downloads are available they have yet to be activated… you’ll get an error page if you try to download it at this time. Be patient though because I would expect them to be available shortly.

Okay, lets move on to the good stuff…

–Internet Explorer 8 Features–

As part of the readiness toolkit Microsoft has assembled a new features page which outlines what appears to be the big new things in Internet Explorer 8. I have to admit that some of them are actually really nice additions.

• Activities – Activities typically involve two types of scenarios: “look up” information within a webpage or “send” web content to a web application. For example, a user is interested in a restaurant and wants to see the location of it. This is the form of a “look up” Activity where the user selects the address and views an in-place view of the map using his favorite map service. [Learn how to develop Activities]
  
• WebSlices – WebSlices is a new feature for websites to connect to their users by subscribing to content directly within a webpage. WebSlices behave just like feeds where clients can subscribe to get updates and notify the user of changes. These sound a lot like Firefox’s Microsummaries, except IE’s are way better in my opinion. [Learn how to develop WebSlices]
  
• Favorites Bar – The Links bar has undergone a complete makeover for Internet Explorer 8. It has been renamed the Favorites bar to enable users to associate this bar as a place to put and easily access all their favorite web content such as links, feeds, WebSlices and even Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents.
  
• Automatic Crash Recovery – Automatic Crash Recovery (ACR) is a feature of Windows Internet Explorer 8 that can help to prevent the loss of work and productivity in the unlikely event of the browser crashing or hanging. The ACR feature takes advantage of the Loosely-Coupled Internet Explorer feature to provide new crash recovery capabilities, such as tab recovery, which will minimize interruptions to users’ browsing sessions.
  
• Improved Phishing Filter – The Safety Filter continues to block known Phishing sites and now blocks sites known to contain malicious software that could harm users’ computer or steal their information. Beyond this improved protection, the Safety Filter operates more quickly than ever before to ensure that users can browse both safely and quickly.
  

–Download Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 (IE8 Beta 1)–

Here are the links you need to download Internet Explorer 8:

• IE8 Beta 1 for Windows Vista & Windows Server 2008
• IE8 Beta 1 for Windows Vista x64 & Windows Server 2008 x64
• IE8 Beta 1 for Window XP SP2
• IE8 Beta 1 for Windows Server 2003 SP2
• IE8 Beta 1 for Windows Server 2003 SP2 x64 & Windows XP SP2 Pro x64

[via ActiveWin]
Thanks a ton to Oliver for the tip!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

Download Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3Download The Updated IE7 Beta 3Download The Official Version Of Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 PreviewInternet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Now Works With eBay TurboListerInternet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Released By Microsoft

This article was written on October 03, 2006 by CyberNet.

Several complaints have been submitted to the Windows Live Writer (WLW) team regarding a lack of support for Blogger Beta. Here is what the WLW team had to say about why the last version didn’t support Blogger Beta and where you can download the new version that is compatible:

In our latest Beta update release (build 141), we added support for Blogger Beta. However, just after we completed our final testing, Blogger Beta released an update that caused Writer to not work correctly.

We have fixed the problems and have updated our Beta (in build 145). If you’re using Blogger Beta, you should download and install the latest version of Writer. You can just install over your existing version of Writer, it will upgrade it automatically. When you configure your Blogger Beta account in Writer, everything should work fine and you shouldn’t be required to take any manual steps.

I am impressed that the WLW team fixed the issue so quickly and released another build. There was even a few comments on our site regarding the apparent lack of support that WLW had for Blogger Beta. Hopefully those people that are using the service should have their issues resolved with this release.

The last build that was released had quite a few changes as well as several plug-ins that were officially made available. Checkout my last post for more information on what was new and a brief description of the plug-ins.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

Windows Live Writer now has XHTML SupportWhat will the next Windows Live Writer Look Like?Microsoft Is About To Release Windows Live WriterDownload Microsoft’s New Windows Live WriterYou Can Cross Out the Beta on Blogger Beta!

This article was written on January 12, 2007 by CyberNet.

So, what’s the junk on your computer worth? You know, all of the “craplets” that are loaded on it before it gets delivered to your house if you purchased from an OEM? In other words, when companies like Dell install a bunch of useless ISP sign-ups or other programs, how much is all of that junk worth?

Notoriously, Dell has been placing crapware on computers.  Why do they do it? Well, it’s an issues of money.  They are paid by companies to have  software already installed on computers when they ship. If you’ve bought a computer from Dell or other such companies, you know what I’m talking about. And to make it worse, they don’t provide you with the operating system CD without having to pay for it.  Sure, you can restore the system, but it will be restored with all of the unwanted programs installed. I do wonder, how many times do you think AOL has been installed and uninstalled over time?

According to Ars Technica, one of their reps was at CES this week and sat down with Michael Dell to talk about this problem.  Dell asked the people participating in the conversation how much they were willing to pay to get a computer without all of the junk. Someone in the group said they’d pay $60 to get a clean computer, and Dell’s response? Sold!

If you’re wanting to buy from an OEM, either you’ll have to live with all of the crapware, or pay up! Another way to get around this dilemma is to just get the OS disk and do the clean-up job yourself.  Last December, Ryan actually posted an article, Get your Dell OS CD’s for Free, and explains how he went about getting the OS disk for a Dell Desktop that he’d purchased for free, and over-nighted to him. Yet another alternative is a program that will do it for you called PC Decrapifier. Give it a try. All of that junk is worth something, and you’ll end up paying for it one way or another.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

Helpful Tip: Use the Internet to Save $$$ Eating OutSpammers, Do They Ever Give Up?Review Of Symantec pcAnywhere 12CyberNotes: WinDirStat Shows What’s Hoggin’ Your DriveHelpful Tip: Clean Your Keyboard & Mouse