freeware – Technobabbles

Archive by category "freeware"

Why I’m Always Promoting Dropbox

dgw 2010-01-27 - 15:30 2011-11-22Android, Dropbox, freeware, internet, opinion, tools 2

Image via CrunchBase If you’ve had much interaction with me regarding computers, no matter what the medium—Twitter, Facebook, email, dinner conversation, small talk during a gathering—I’ve probably mentioned a service called Dropbox. A few of you have already succumbed to my uncharacteristic marketing tone and signed up, but I thought I’d blog about it and perhaps get more people on board. I’ll start with the reasons I like the service, and then explain why, exactly, I’m doing this a little later. The site bills itself as an online synchronization and backup solution. I use it mostly for the backup, but…

WOT 3.0 Review

dgw 2008-04-20 - 14:00 2015-10-31Firefox, freeware, internet, Internet Explorer, tools, w00t, WOT 1

I decided against delaying this post until next weekend, because this way it comes before the press release and will inform people (potentially) before the new version is pushed out. I’ve been sitting on the new version of WOT for a little while now, after having been invited to the beta-test team (thanks guys!) on April 15. Almost a week has gone by (well, five days), and I feel I have played around with it enough to form a reasonably complete opinion. The Good First of all, I’d like to say that the new rating icon is wonderful and much…

Portable Computing

dgw 2008-04-16 - 13:15 2009-11-02Firefox, freeware, ideas, MySQL, opinion, PHP, strange, technology 0

I really have no right to talk about this subject, as I have never actually done it. I thought it might make for a good hypothetical post, though, especially since I don’t have any other good ideas right now. What can I say, it’s on my mind. That’s because of where I was when I wrote this. I’m thinking about portable computing right now because I keep everything on my hard drive. Well, stuff that isn’t email or associated with a Web service. Applications and stuff all live on my computer. When I go somewhere else, I can’t get at…

StartClock: Save Taskbar Space

dgw 2008-03-24 - 08:09 2009-11-03freeware, tools, Windows 0

You know how Windows has that clock in the taskbar? It takes up a good 50 pixels on my screen, and that’s valuable space where taskbar buttons or tray icons could be. And I know exactly what that big (green) button in the lower left does, so why do I need it to say “start” all the time? With the freeware StartClock, you can change this: to this: What it does, through some AutoHotKey magic, is put a clock where your computer’s taskbar usually says “start”. The Start button functions normally; it just has numbers in the place where letters…

WOT Going 3.0

dgw 2008-03-22 - 08:04 2012-05-05Firefox, freeware, internet, Internet Explorer, tools, w00t, WOT 0

WOT, a website-rating (think McAfee SiteAdvisor, not StumbleUpon) browser extension available for Firefox and Internet Explorer, will soon be testing another new version. I was sent an invitation to test their last release before it was launched, and the upgrades there were pretty substantial. WOT 3.0 will include comments and a plethora of details on sites rated using the add-on, including categorization, popularity, server location (country), and a direct WHOIS lookup link. It sounds even more impressive than the last upgrade. I’m excited! I’m not sure how I found the WOT site, but when I first started using the extension,…

Google Browser Sync: Buggy and Vengeful Yet Loved

dgw 2007-11-26 - 08:03 2009-11-11Firefox, freeware, Google, internet, strange, tools 2

Everyone in the country has heard of Gmail by now (and if they haven’t I’d like to meet them and find out why), and people have definitely heard of the Google Toolbar, but Google has lots of other services and browser extensions. One of those is Google Browser Sync, an extension for Firefox that (supposedly) synchronizes your bookmarks, search history, browsing history, passwords, and sessions across computers. I say supposedly because it doesn’t always do its job. There have been numerous reports on the Google Firefox Extensions group that Browser Sync deletes bookmarks, or adds in loads of additional spacers.…

WOT Upgrade: Changes, Feedback, and More

dgw 2007-11-16 - 06:53 2015-10-31Firefox, freeware, internet, Internet Explorer, WOT 0

Looks like I’m . Not even published for ten minutes and that last post of mine is hereby obsolete. No matter; it’s all mostly a thought dump anyway. 😉 So, as promised, here’s my run-down of new features and changes in the latest WOT release. First, the interface has undergone a major overhaul (?). The rating bars are bigger, and now have distinctly colored rating blocks instead of a full-length gradient. I do like that; it makes ratings easier to figure out. What I don’t like is the fact that the indicator of your own current rating is about 40…

New Version of WOT Released

dgw 2007-11-16 - 06:29 2015-10-31Firefox, freeware, internet, Internet Explorer, w00t, WOT 0

WOT‘s that you say? “What’s WOT? Why should I care about a new version?” Well, you should care, and I’ll explain what WOT is right now. WOT (identified in about:config parameters as “weboftrust”) is a browser add-on (currently for Firefox only, but an Internet Explorer version is coming soon [scroll down]) that provides ratings for websites you visit. Think of it as an entirely user-driven McAfee SiteAdvisor (don’t bother asking about them, please; not worth the time because of ). Sites are rated in four categories: Trustworthiness, Vendor Reliability, Privacy, and Child Safety. I’ll cover the old and new interfaces…

Mozilla to Leave Bugs in Firefox 3?

dgw 2007-11-15 - 16:13 2015-10-29Firefox, freeware, internet, security, technology 0

Apparently, Mozilla will be fixing only 20% of the bugs currently on file for Firefox 3’s final release. There are now about 700 bugs marked “blockers” in the tracker, but only 140 of those will be fixed before the final FF3 release. (Blockers are bugs that justify delaying a release, by Mozilla’s terminology.) It’s surprising to me that Mozilla would be willing to leave as many bugs in; the planned bugfix schedule leaves around 550+ bugs still in the browser. Supposedly, they are prioritizing bugs based on their effect on everyday user experience, but I suspect the real reason they’re…

New Gmail + Tab Mix Plus = Problem?

dgw 2007-11-09 - 19:50 2007-11-09email, Firefox, freeware, Gmail, Google, hacks, internet 2

It is possible for users of both the new Gmail version and the Tab Mix Plus extension for Firefox to have problems downloading attachments. When clicking the “Download” link, the Gmail tab is blanked, and can only be restored by reloading. Tab Mix Plus developers are working on a fix. In the mean time, there are three possible workarounds: Go into Tab Mix Plus settings -> Prevent blank tabs when downloading files -> EDIT and remove the entries /disp=attd&view=att/ and /view=att&disp=attd/ from the list. Lock the Gmail tab. Middle-click or Ctrl+click on the link.

Category: freeware