Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Clear Firefox Browser Cache
Browser Cache (or Internet Cache) is there to speed up your browser performance by saving sites and items you visited on the internet on your hard disk and recalling them when you visit them again. However there may be times when you want to delete that cache because it either consumes too much disk space (its size can easily climb to 500MB and more) or you do not want someone who has access on your computer to see what sites you visited. In Firefox there is a simple solution for this. Click on the main button and open the Options window:
Select Advanced and go to the Network tab.
The Offline Storage section shows you how large your cache is at the moment. Here you can use the Clear Now button to delete your cache.
If you stayed loyal to Firefox 3.6, go to Edit > Preferences instead.
Save Tabs on Current Firefox Version
From version 4 on, FireFox has disabled the option to save tabs when you leave the browser and left us with the Restore Session option on program start. To enable the option to save tabs again, direct FireFox to about:config and accept the prompt. In the filter bar, enter browser.showquitwarning and double-click the value to toggle it to true. Firefox will now ask you if you want to save your tabs again:
Firefox Private Browsing extended in Windows
If you want a private browsing session where there is no record taken of the pages you visited and the keywords you entered anywhere (search queries, passwords etc.), Firefox offers the right option for you. The Private Browsing feature saves your current windows and tabs and opens up a new empty window that does not save any histories or inputs. After ending the session, it restores your previously closed windows and tabs. To access it on Firefox 7, browse the Firefox menu and click Start Private Browsing:
If you are still using Firefox 3.6, go to Tools instead and choose the appropriate option there:
But apart from this option, to truly erase your footsteps you need to take another step. One could still simply enter
ipconfig /displaydns
into a command line and see what sites you were on. To prevent this, open a command line yourself by entering cmd into a Run… prompt and enter
ipconfig /flushdns
Handy Firefox Plugins
There is a large variety of Firefox plugins currently out on the market but only a small part of them is really useful for the casual internet user, that is why I tried some of them out and filtered the most effective and handy.
Tab Mix Plus
Tab Mix Plus is a great plugin that adds a large variety of functions when dealing with tabs. It can duplicate tabs, pin them to the tab bar in icon size, make tabs unclosable, undo the closing of tabs and reload them every once in a specified interval, which is incredibly useful if you want to watch videos on the internet multiple times.
Answers
Answers is a plugin that quickly provides you with definitions of whatever word you need a definition of. Simply click on an expression with the predefined key combination (Ctrl+Click on Linux, Alt+Click on Windows) and a notice will pop up that shows you one or more possible definitions:
All-in-One Sidebar
All-in-One Sidebar provides you with a flexible, slim sidebar that gives you quick access to your bookmarks, history, downloads, plugins and website and browser information. It also causes the Downloads window not to pop up but to open inside the sidebar on the same window.
How to Customize Firefox with about:config
Apart from the wide variety of plugins available for Mozilla Firefox and the option to configure it in the Preferences window, there is another, slightly more hidden feature to customize Firefox’ behavior . To access it, enter about:config into your url bar. You will be directed to a warning on first access which you should take seriously:
Once you hit the button you will find yourself inside a giant table of variables with a filterbar at the top which you can use to narrow your results down. Do not change any option when you are not sure of the effects! Here are a few ones you might consider changing to make Firefox a little more handy (if they are not present in your current table, you can add them by rightclicking on it):
dom.max_script_run_time – determines the time before Firefox gives back a timeout from a connection request (in seconds).
browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction – 0 will open all links as all new windows are treated by Firefox, 1 will allow no new windows and 2 is just as 0 except if Javascript tells something else
security.dialog_enable_delay – determines the delay before being able to download a plugin
accessibilty.tabfocus – determines which elements are selected when pressing the tab key, 1 is forms, 2 is other elements, 4 is links and 7 is all elements
browser.download.manager.closewhendone – closes downloadmanager after completion of download it true
browser.urlbar.autofill – autocompletes links entered in the url bar
middlemouse.paste – a click on the mousewheel will use the paste function, as in Linux
browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo – determines the amount of closed tabs you can recover
browser.sessionstore.max_windows_undo – determines the amount of closed windows you can recover
How to Let Your Tea Brew for the Right Time (Linux Mint)
If you would like an application that reminds you of your tea you have left brewing in the kitchen you may want to go to your Package Manager and download KTeaTime. KTeaTime is a small program running in the background for a specified period of time and popping up again after the time has run off.
You can configure the time to brew yourself and it already comes with some predefined teatime templates:
Of course you do not need to use this helpful app for tea, it can be used as a reminder for everything you need to keep track of while working.
How to Configure a Mail Account in Thunderbird on Linux
To add a mail account to your Thunderbird, go to Edit > Account Settings…
and hit the Account Actions button beneath the menu on the left.
Select Add Mail Account… and enter the name that will be shown to others, the email address that you want to add to Thunderbird and its password.
Hit Continue and Thunderbird should automatically search for your address on the given server. If it is not found you can also configure it manually. Select the IMAP radiobox as recommended to be able to view your mail on multiple computers and hit Create Account.
You should now be able to access your email account via Thunderbird. If this is still not the case you may have to complete your account name so that it is identical with your email address.