Rick Mahn | browser

Trying Flock

Jul 6, 2007 | blog

Flock - The Social Web Browser I’ve reading a bit about Flock lately, so I’m going to give it a try. I’ll let you know how that goes. I’m looking for any way to tie together the social networks better than they are today.

Technorati tags: Flock, Social Web Browser

My Favorite FireFox Plug-ins

Mar 7, 2007 | blog

I’ve been using FireFox as my main browser now for about 9 months (maybe a little more) and have become a true convert from IE. Since there is much more expandability on the FF side, I’ve really started depending on a select group of plug-ins. This expandability that was never available in IE, has allowed my browser to take on new functionality that I never dreamed could be possible. So here is a list of my current FF plug-ins.

FireFTP – FireFTP is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox.
del.icio.us (classic version) – Keep, share and discover all your favorite things.
ClipMarks – With Clipmarks, you can clip the best parts of web pages.
GUtil – GoogleÂ® Utilities in your Firefox Menu and Toolbar
Cooliris – Cooliris Previews 2.1 for Firefox gives you the power to browse faster and send links instantly.
Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer – Install Foxmarks on each computer, and it will work silently in the background to keep your bookmarks synchronized.
Blog This for Firefox – The Blog This for Firefox adds a button to Firefox which starts a new Windows Live Writer blog post.
Google Notebook – GNotebook allows you to clip & collect information in private & shared notebooks.

So there you have it – the mainstays of my FF add-ons. The one other really powerful tool in FF for me is the bookmark toolbar. I wish there was a way to make a second toolbar for bookmarks as I have trimmed each entry down to one or two letters with the “favicon” for the site.

Do you have any great FF add-in suggestions? There are thousands out there and I know I’ve only scratched the surface.

Technorati tags: FireFox, FireFTP, ClipMarks, GUtil, Cooliris, Foxmarks, Google Notebook

Firefox 2

Oct 24, 2006 | blog

Nice upgrade, though it seems to be more of a security and small feature update than a larger release. Of course the changes in IE7 compared to IE6 are huge and are attracting a bit of press, as it should – it took MS long enough to upgrade the browser!

However, for daily browsing, Firefox seems to work best for me. I happen to use three browsers, the obvious two and Opera. Firefox is my “work” browser, meaning that I open all my email, blogging, Feed Reader, Search, and other task-based services in it. IE is my “default” browser – its just that, click on a link in email, opens in IE. I also use IE for additional research and news link following.

Opera is not used as much as FF & IE, its mainly for obscure sites – meaning that if the site is suspect, I paste the URL in Opera and see what happens – this simple trick has kept my IE install healthier than any other I have tried.

Anyway, FF2’s got game. Its not any one thing, just a great combination of usability in a browser. The only plugin that isn’t compatible at the moment is my Windows Live Writer “Blog It” plugin. Its a shame too, because that’s my most often used plugin! smile_wink