This and That Technology Tips Eudora and Firefox January 25, 2005 Long time, no write, eh? A lot has happened since our last visit - Service Pack 2 for Windows XP (my condolences to all who had problems with this installation), Service Pack 2 updates, Apple releasing a ton of new products (Mac mini, http://www.apple.com/macmini/, iPod shuffle http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/, iLife 5.0 http://www.apple.com/ilife/, and many more) - and most surprising of all, I've purchased an Apple iBook, a small, well assembled notebook computer. I'm in no way going all Mac, but I thought I'd broaden my horizons a bit and help you all out with Mac/PC transition issues. We've always supported Macs and will continue to do so. We've now added "switching" (switching from Mac to PC or PC to Mac) to our repertoire. Enjoy, Clyde A Favorite Product Gets a Face Lift - A New Product is Released Eudora 6.2 (Clyde's favorite e-mail program) Mac & PC http://www.eudora.com   Eudora is the e-mail program I've consistently used since I got on the Internet in 1994. I've tried almost all of them - Pegasus, Outlook, Outlook Express, Becky, Thunderbird, NS Messenger - which all have their strengths. I consistently come back to Eudora for its ease of use, speed in making rules/filters, and customizability. The latest version adds "emoticon" support, strengthens the product's security, and checks URLs to see if they're suspicious. You can give it a whirl while still using your current e-mail program. If you’re using anything prior to 6.0, I suggest you update to latest version of Eudora for extra security and stability. Unfortunately, AOL, Hotmail, and Yahoo! regular are not compatible with Eudora; however, Yahoo! Mail Plus (paid upgrade mode) should work fine. Relieving Your Technology Stress for Computers that Misbehave: Our On-Site or Remote Computer Tune-Up Yes, it's true - we still come to your residence or small business and whip your computer, your digital camera, your scanner, your printer, your wired or wireless network into shape. As Ben Franklin used to say, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Let ITM Computing do all the necessary preventative measures and train you to keep your computer running in fine form. If you live beyond the SF Bay Area, join the growing number of out-of-state ITM clients (Vancouver, Australia, New York, Georgia, Connecticut are a few of the areas where we now provide remote support), who take advantage of our phone, e-mail, and remote desktop support. From our offices, we can fix almost any problem you're having. Call us today for your complimentary quote - 408.732.8500. Firefox (a new way to look at the web) for Mac, PC, Linux http://getfirefox.com This is the newest browser on the market from the mozilla.org folks. It's more secure than Internet Explorer (IE), it has very cool "tabbed" browsing, as well as tabbed favorites (so you can open a group of favorites at one time), runs faster, is less susceptible to spyware, has no ads or pop-ups, takes up fewer system resources than IE, and much more. Upon installing it, you will get your bookmarks/favorites imported as well as history and cache. There are 20 different languages supporting multiple operating systems (Linux, Mac, Windows, and more). All features in IE are available in Firefox. There's a companion e-mail product, Thunderbird, which imports your e-mail, settings and address book from Outlook, Outlook Express, and Eudora. It's at: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/. Both of these products are downloadable for your use without paying. If you prefer, you can buy Firefox, Thunderbird, and Open Office (a great MS Office compatible product) on one CD plus hard copy manuals at http://www.oooff.com/ - this is for all operating systems – for $29.95. Customizing Firefox (Themes and Extensions) There seems to be endless ways to customize Firefox. First off, you may want to add a few things that were left off Firefox which were on IE (ability to right-click and print, and to create a shortcut on your desktop). From there, you can have a ball, in a nerd-ish kinda way, and add all kinds of fun. It’s a little addictive – I can attest to that! Definitions Themes - These are ways you can change the look of Firefox. For instance, you can change the background color from white to walnut. This is just one of many examples. Extensions - Adding these extensions gives more functionality to Firefox. By default, Firefox gives you a basic, sleek browser. You can customize it to your needs by adding the extensions that fit the way you will use the browser. Each user will end up with a very different look and feel to the Firefox browser that’s on their computer. You can also have multiple “profiles” within Firefox, which allows you to have different customizations on one computer. This is handy for yourself, or if you have more than one user on a computer. You can also save your profile settings to a portable drive, and take your customized Firefox with you to use on any computer. So far, I haven't seen any performance degradation due to installing too many extensions, though I’m sure there is a point where this may happen. Installing Themes and Extensions Go to "Tools, Themes" and "Tools, Extensions" to get these items. Once there, click on "Get more" and you'll be directed to a page full of choices. They can be quite overwhelming, so I've listed a few of my favorites to get you started. To install themes or extensions, click "install." You may be blocked, so you have to click on "allow site" at top of page. If the page doesn't look legit - don't download from it! Another trick, once you have extensions and themes downloaded, right click on the theme or extension in your list and you'll get a bunch of options. One of them is to visit the home page of the author. If they have a donate button, donate a few dollars. You'll also see many other themes/extensions they've created. Web Design - Build Your Business in 2005!! Are you getting the response you want from your website? Does your website need an extreme makeover? Are you anxious to kick your website into high gear? Look at all we do for you! The first 10 people who sign up for changes to their site will get our spam-proofing suggestion guidelines included in their job. *Website Maintenance* Removal of any content that is no longer pertinent; Implementation of new content; Removal of any broken links to other websites; Change of copyright date. *Visual Improvements* Touch up of design, or a new look entirely; Touch up of logo, or logo redesign. *Spam Protection* Implementation of spam-proof contact form if none currently in place; Consultation on how to reduce spam sent to your e-mail account. *Marketing of your Site* Submission or resubmission to the top search engines and online directories; Configuring or reconfiguring the most effective keywords for your business; Creation of a viral (meaning it will spread like wildfire) marketing piece; Design of new stationery and other printed materials; Design of print ads for newspapers, magazines, yellow pages, etc. Take a gander at our current portfolio with the newest websites up top: http://www.itmcomputing.com/webportfolio.php. Complimentary Quotation - fill out our form: http://www.itmcomputing.com/contact_web.php or give us a holler at 408.732.8500. Themes My faves are: Walnut, Firecat, Autumn Gold, Red Cats, and Scribble Kids. There are loads more too. These can be found at: https://addons.update.mozilla.org/themes/ (or clicking on "Tools, Themes" - Get themes) Extensions (My favorites) Create Shortcut - puts shortcut to website on desktop http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/#cs Forecastfox - Gives you weather forecast - all over the world - multiple locations via profiles http://forecastfox.mozdev.org/ FoxyTunes - Control any media player from Firefox and more... http://www.iosart.com/foxytunes/firefox/ Gmail notifier - Alerts you if you have Gmail Email http://www.nexgenmedia.net/extensions/ IE View - instantly view site in Internet Explorer - if needed http://ieview.mozdev.org/ InfoLister - List extensions - you can share with friends http://mozilla.doslash.org/infolister/ Spellbound - Dictionaries - need to use this after installing SpellBound http://dictionaries.mozdev.org/installation.html SpellBound - Spellchecker for Firefox and the Mozilla Suite http://spellbound.sourceforge.net/ Tiny Url Creator - makes long website names much shorter http://jgillick.nettripper.com/tinyurl   Here are a few of my favorite extension sites. They all provide numerous extensions to choose from, with descriptions of each one. Official Mozilla Extensions https://addons.update.mozilla.org/extensions/ Extension Room http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/main.php/Firefox Gorgias' Firefox Extensions https://addons.update.mozilla.org/extensions/ Jereym Gillick - Mozilla Extensions http://jgillick.nettripper.com/ Meatme (gross picture - good extensions) http://www.meatme.net/publish/ Pike's Mozilla Firefox Extensions http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/ Roachfiend Firefox Extensions http://extensions.roachfiend.com/ Robert's Firefox Information http://exchangecode.com/robert/infolist.xml Ted's Mozilla Page http://ted.mielczarek.org/code/mozilla/ ************************ Hope you enjoyed the ride.... Clyde Lerner, In The Moment Computing Phone: 408.732.8500 E-mail comments/feedback to: http://www.itmcomputing.com/contact_computer.php This newsletter is a service of In The Moment Computing and is Copyright 2005 Clyde Lerner. All worldwide rights reserved. If forwarding, please forward all of e-mail, not any portion therein. To see past issues of This and That Computer Tips newsletter, please visit the web at: http://www.itmcomputing.com/newsletter.php and click on "Archives." Please note: Unless requested, questions pertaining to this newsletter will be answered in a 3-4 week time frame. If you need a faster response, there will be a small consultation fee of $15 per e-mail response. You will receive a reply within 48 hours. "Complete Computer Help (Networks, New Computer Installs, Software Training) for Individuals and Small Businesses" "Designing your Perfect Website, at an Affordable Cost, in a Timely Manner" Eliminate and Destroy unwanted email: http://spamarrest.com/affl?1337207 Send a greeting card through the Internet so recipient gets card in their postal mailbox: www.sendoutcards.com/7197 - let me walk you through how to send a card - it's easy. ©2005 In The Moment (ITM) Computing. 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