Your Questions

I finally finished a couple large project with more to come. I can now spend more time on Vista 366.com and Vista Is Here To Stay.

This Tuesday I will recording Vista Is Here To Stay. If you have any questions or comments about windows Vista leave them here. I will answer them in and podcast and here in this following week.

Firefox 3 - Password Manager

I have always love the password management system in Firefox. Since Firefox 3 the password management has gotten less intrusive.

When you type a log in and password for a particular website, and bar will drop down on to the top of the webpage you are currently visiting. Off to the right is three buttons.

When you left click on the far left button, Firefox remembers your password and log in for that website you are currently visiting. This is great because so many website have forum, buying information that you have to log in to retrieve.

The middle button tells Firefox to Never remember information that you type into this website. I don't about you my banking information is not trusted to a web browser. I have a special encrypted password manager for that kind of information.

The far right button reads, Not Now. This button is for logging in to a website when you are not sure about the log in or the password. You could also use this button if you know you will be changing the password after you log in.

Firefox 3 - Address bar

Yes, Firefox has even expanded the amount of information that is in the address bar. You not only get the url, (Uniform Resource Locator) but the title to the website, along with the favion or mini logo.

This is great if you are like some people who know the website's name but can not remember the its' url.

Like with other web browsers, now days, you do not have to type in http://www. before the name of the website. All you have to do is type in the address bar the first few letter, and Firefox will fill in the rest. If you want to go to EFCussins.com and you have been to the website before, start typing ef.... and Firefox will show you the options. This could also be the different pages visited on the website.

Firefox 3 - Download Window

Firefox has improved on the amount of information that you will get from the download window.

As you can see in the right window you can see my last download was a compressed file. The file name, the files size, and from the website I downloaded it. Off to the far right you see the time I downloaded it. Looking below you will see the previous week days that I downloaded other files.

Some may consider this to much information about a file that has been downloaded. That is okay. As I get older, I would prefer to have available as much information as I can.

Firefox 3 - Intro

There is more people who use Firefox, than Microsoft would like to admit. There is no doubt Firefox is the number one alternative web browser.

Last week, I downloaded Firefox 3 on my Vista work computer. Since then I have been very happy. It does not use as much memory (over a period of time) like previous versions of Firefox. Along with the under the hood changes, Firefox has some neat user interface changes. That is what I will be taking this week to go through. There are a few negatives, but I figure they will fixed in updates, within the next month or two.

One of the reasons why I like using Windows is the customization. I like to have my own themes. I like to have add-ons that make my work easier.

When I installed Firefox 3, I lost my themes It does not give me the option to add. It is not enough for me to quite using Firefox, but it is one of those nice things I like.

For more technical detail about Firefox 3 click here

Extras for Internet Explorer

On last visit to the add-on's for Internet Explorer before we move on to other subjects. Today, I want to share with you Microsoft's recommended add-on's for you web browser.

• Silverlight -Microsoft's lastest release to help you experience media. If you want to know more; click here.
• Surfulator - This add-on allows you to surf the internet and save text, images, and complete webpages. Surfulator can be called an information tool for you web surfers. read more
• RoboForm - I have wrote about this program before. It is by and large on of the most favorite password and personal information program.
  
• Bloglines Browser Plug-In - If you use Bloglines RSS feed reader. Here is a neat little tool for you get the RSS feeds you want. More details
• Me.dium - I wrote about this instant message client. I still have not used it sucessfully. If you like it post you comments. More details
  
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Computer Users Bill of Rights

Everyone who sits down behind a computer has certain expectations. Some are realized others are met with anger over the results. This has lead to a wide variety of people with a wide variety of experiences and attitudes when it comes to computers.

In my weekly podcast, I talked about the following, "Computer Users Bill of Rights". I hope to hear your comments about these.

• It Turn On and ready to use in 2 minutes.
• My Computer Will Not Crash After Installing A Program or Update from Apple or Microsoft, or Linux.
• My Computer Is Secure from Viruses’, Spyware, or any other malicious attack with normal use.
• My computer should run reasonable fast and responsive.
• There should be an easy efficient means to back up all my files.
• Tech support should be by people who speak my language and have good communication skills.
• When I get an error message it should be relatively to understand.

Passwords and ID Security

We all struggle with remembering password for the shopping, banking, and other websites we visit on a regular basis. Then there are those who would shop online if it was not fear of getting their credit card or other personal information stolen along with their money. Today, I want to share with you a good tool that is secure and easy to use.

I am writing to you about Robo Form. It has been around for years. It start out as free. Today, Robo Form is only $30. A very small price to pay for the peace of mind, and the ease of use.

RoboForm allows the login process of user name and password to be fast and easy. Once you have install RoboForm, it memorizes and securely stores each user name and password from the first time you log into a website. It will automatically supply the approbate fields with required information upon returning.

When you click RoboForm will navigate to a Web site, enter your username and password and click the submit button for you. Even when it comes to filling out those long registration checkout forms is simple. Just left click on your RoboForm Identity and RoboForm fills-in the form for you.

You will no longer need to remember what seems like hundreds of passwords. Just remember the master password, then you have access all the others.

IE7 Add-on - Spell Check

Are you of the many who have gone to what is called "Cloud Computing". Cloud Computer is a term, that has become more common, in the last year. It refers to using Internet Explorer to write and edit blogs, and any other function that would otherwise require a program installed on your computer.

I use my web browser mostly for posting to blogs and and social network website. Because I am not using MS Word, my bad spelling becomes very evident. So when I found that I could add a spell check to Internet Explorer, I became very happy.

ispell is a little add-on for you web browser that will underline in red if it thinks that a word is misspelled. Once you down load the program it is installed and attaches itself to Internet Explorer.

As you can see from the screenshot on the left. The misspelled word is underlined in red. When I right click on the word, I am given several options as to the correct spelling. If I feel that I have spelled the word correctly, I can add that spelling to the computer's dictionary or just leave it alone.

I am always afraid to add a word the dictionary, that I think is spelled correctly, but in reality it misspelled.

Great Add-ons for Internet Explorer 7

It has been a couple of days since I have wrote in this blog. Part of the reason is that I have gotten involved with all the neat add-ons for Internet Explorer 7. So I am devoting this blog some of the top useful add-ons/enhancements.

As a review from the previous blog post, you can access the Add-on Manager from the Tools menu in the upper right the IE7. Another menu will pop out giving you two options. The first is Enable or Disable Add-ons. The second menu item is Find More Add-ons. It is the second menu item will look at in some detail.

Upon left clicking Internet Explorer will go to the Microsoft website that show you the safe add-ons you attach to IE7.

I am going to start by left clicking on the Browser tab. Up pops a list of add-ons you can attach to Internet Explorer 7. Under this tab, I like the following two adds.

• Stumbleupon -This a great way to browser the internet when you are looking for websites, pictures, or movies in a certain range of topics. Stumbleupon will add at toolbar. Before you start left clicking on the stumble button, you will need to sign up for an account. This will let you keep track you website you like.

• IE Snapshot - Have you ever want to print a webpage? But when it comes out of the printer, it is 100 pages only to be a little piece of the webpage. IE Snapshot will take a webpage put into a pdf and then you can print it as you see it.
  

Enhancements for IE7

No matter what web browser you use, at one point in time or the other you will add some plug-in or add-on to enhance you web surfing experience. In Internet Explorer 7 you can manage these add-ons from the Tools menu.

When you get down to the Manage Add-ons menu, you will have two choices. The top one is enabling or disabling the add-ons. The second is finding more add-ons. There is always little enhancement that you can go out on to the internet and get.

The add-ons will from from Shockwave and Flash, which are used watch movies and play game through Internet Explorer. Then there are ones that are toolsbars for quick search, like the Yahoo, Google and Stumbleupon. Even voice over internet services like Skype have their own add-ons.

Once you have them installed on your computer's and associated with Internet Explorer, you have the option to enable or disable. Remember that every time you ad plug-in or add-on to your Internet Explorer, it will pull resources from the computer to run the Internet Explorer with that add-on.

In the screenshot of the enable/disable window, you will see the Disabled add-ons in a separate listings than those that are Enabled.

Internet Explorer 7 - Tools

The place to go for changing setting both security and other features is done in the Tools menu. This is accessed by left clicking on the Tools menu which is at far right side of Internet Explorer.

You will see a drop down list of several item. Several of these item are designed for your security and privacy. Others are for managing the way you interact with Internet Explorer.

The top two options are rarely used from this location, because most people don't release that they are there.

• Delete Browsing History - Does just what is says. It erases all past record of locations you have visited with Internet Explorer.
• Diagnose Connection Problems... - This one of several places you can go to troubleshoot a problem when connecting to the internet.
  

When in doubt as to which option to select, go to Internet Options and left click. Here you will have more options for changing your settings.

We will go to the other items in this list in the following day.

Internet Explorer 7 - Intro

As long as Microsoft has had versions of Windows that connected to the internet, there has been an Internet Explorer. By using Internet Explorer people were given a relatively easy way to connect to the internet.

A short time before Windows Vista was release, Microsoft release through Windows Update, Internet Explorer 7. When Windows Vista was starting to be installed on computers, Internet Explorer 7 was packaged in it. The option of going back to an old an older version of Internet Explorer was not available.

Internet Explorer 7 is part of a drive by Microsoft to make computers and computer users from attacks from hacker who look to steal credit card numbers and personal information. Many of the tools and default setting in Internet Explorer 7 are for security purposes, they are seen as an annoyance by the everyday computer user.

In the next several blog post I will be looking at the setting an feature that are meant for you security. I will also you how to change them to better fit your personal needs along with keeping you secure.

Mother's Project

I know that money is tight. If you are like me you want to do something nice this Sunday for your mother or the mother of your children.

A few old photos scanned into your computer, that is running Windows Vista, can make a very big impression for Mother's Day. Converting a favorite song to MP3 along with a few spoken words in voice over of Window Movie Maker is all you need.

The video you see below took me only 3 hours. It says to mom who imiportant she is. The cost is only the time it takes to do it.

Photo Gallery - Importing

Importing pictures and video from a digital camera is not hard at all. All it requires is taking the SD card out of your digital camera and putting it in the card reader portion of your computer. If you don't have a card reader, just plug in your camera into the USB port of your computer.

Windows Vista will see it as a external data device and ask you what you want to do. Just left click on import into Photo Gallery. Windows will take care of the rest.

After the pictures or video is imported you can edited and/or organize them as you see fit.

Windows Media Player - Plugin Options

Once you have Windows Media Player open left click on Now Playing. Then go down to Plug-ins. Now another menu opens to the side. Left click on Options.


This opens a windows that allow you to customize your Windows Media Player as to how it interacts with other devices to what to do with audio and video files.

Don't get overwhelmed with other the options and setting. Unless you want some special to happen. Most people can leave them at the default setting. However, if you want perform a special function there is always help, read more.

Windows Media Player - Controls

Windows Media Player that comes with Windows Vista is a functional program for playing movies and music.

Along the bottom are several tools for playing your music or video.

The left most icon shows what you are currently playing, along with the title of the media clip. Then is the current time that has been played.

The center section of the bottom of the Windows Media Player are the basic controls that shuffle, repeat, stop, to the beginning, pause/play, to the end, mute, and volume control. Each list respectfully from left to right.