https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6227

Firefox 3 Address Bar – Before installing oldbar

This is how the new Firefox 3 address bar looks like, showing both the title of the page as well as the url, in which Deimos thinks is totally unnecessary. Only the url should be shown, the page title is totally not needed, and causes much eye sore.

Firefox 3 Address Bar – After installing oldbar

After the installation of the oldbar add-on, the page title is no longer shown, much better.

Firefox 3 Address Bar – about:config

You might also want to tweak some settings by typing about:config in the address bar.

Firefox 3 Address Bar – urlbar

Type urlbar in the filter and you will see the above, set browser.urlbar.matchOnlyTyped to true and you will get much less results when you use the Firefox 3 address bar.

Deimos’s Daily Reads
A thorough guide about keywords, search engines and content – by Marcus Hochstadt.

Deimos’s Thoughts
Luckily, there is an oldbar add-on, as Deimos really dislike the new Firefox address bar.

Deimos Asks
Installed Firefox 3 yet? Do you love or hate the Firefox 3 Address Bar?

Select Norton Security Scan

Click the check box next to “Norton Security Scan” and then click “Install Software” to start downloading. The PC that Deimos used to capture this screen shot already has Norton Security Scan installed, so it shows up at the bottom “You already have this software:” instead.

Google Updater – Current Status

Once selected Norton Security Scan and clicked “Install Software” you will be asked to download and install the Google Pack software, follow the on screen instructions. The above screen is Google Updater’s “Current Status” which shows any software or updates that you are currently downloading, there is nothing above as the PC Deimos used to capture this screen shot is not downloading any softwares or updates.

Google Updater – Installed Software

Once finished downloading and installing, it will appear in the “Installed Software” section of the Google Updater. Click “Run” to launch Norton Security Scan.

Norton Security Scan – Windows Start All Programs Menu

Once downloaded and installed, Norton Security Scan will show up in the Windows Start All Programs Menu just like any other installed softwares or games.

Norton Security Scan – Title Menu Screen

Simple title menu, select Quick Scan or Full System Scan to proceed.

Norton Security Scan – Updating Scanner

Norton Security Scan will attempt to download updates before performing a scan. Please take note that Norton Security Scan will refuse to scan if it cannot be updated.

Norton Security Scan – Downloading Protection Update

Norton Security Scan will automatically update itself before performing any scans.

Norton Security Scan – Updating

Once finished with the update, the scan will commence.

Norton Security Scan – Scan complete

Scan finished, seems like there is one (1) item that needs to be resolved.

Norton Security Scan – Scan Complete

Select Fix to remove the tracking cookie.

Norton Security Scan – Scan Complete

From the above, it shows that the tracking cookie has yet to be removed.

Norton Security Scan – Security Assessment

This is what happens if you do not remove the tracking cookie detected earlier.

Norton Security Scan – All risks have been resolved

Green light! Tracking cookie repaired?

Norton Security Scan – Security Assessment

All green lights here, that is how things should be done.

Deimos’s Daily Reads
Every Saturday is swimsuit Saturday! Check out this week’s swimsuit Asuna – by Kenny.

Deimos’s Thoughts
Deimos did not bother himself with virus scanners until one day a virus infection caused him to require to perform a format and Windows XP reinstall to all the computers in his house hold. That would like three (3) desktop computers all together. Major pain in the rear end.

Deimos Asks
So what virus scanner are you using? Are you using any virus scanners at all?

Where is Firefox cache? Step 2

Look down, select the path next to “Cache Directory” and copy it.

Where is Firefox cache? Step 3

Paste the path into Windows Explorer. Note that the files in the Firefox cache are not named properly thus it can take quite some time to find a particular file. Larger files such as .flv or .swf might be easier to find compared against .jpg image files.

How to increase Firefox cache? Step 1

Click “Tools” then select “Options” and click it to open up the Options Menu Window.

How to increase Firefox cache? Step 2

Change the figure in the box (Red Circle) to anything higher than 50 (default cache size is 50MB) then click the “OK” button and the Firefox cache size will be increased accordingly.

Deimos’s Daily Reads
Check out this new trailer of the Incredible Hulk, courtesy of BaseGuardian.

Deimos’s Thoughts
Though every Firefox user ought to know this, Deimos believes that there could be some Firefox users that have yet to know this. Deimos has been using Firefox for quite some time before he knew where is to find the Firefox cache and how to increase it.

Deimos Asks
Do you know where is the Firefox cache and how to increase it?

Select Spyware Doctor

Click the check box next to “Spyware Doctor” and then click “Install Software” to start downloading. The PC that Deimos used to capture this screenshot already has Spyware Doctor installed, so it shows up at the bottom “You already have this software:” instead.

Google Updater – Current Status

Once selected Spyware Doctor and clicked “Install Software” you will be asked to download and install the Google Pack software, follow the on screen instructions. The above screen is Google Updater’s “Current Status” which shows any software or updates that you are currently downloading, there is nothing above as the PC Deimos used to capture this screenshot is not downloading any softwares or updates.

Google Updater – Installed Software

Once finished downloading and installing, it will appear in the “Installed Software” section of the Google Updater. Click “Run” to launch Spyware Doctor.

Windows Start Button – All Programs

The installed program will appear in “All Programs” too so you can run it from there, or send it to Desktop as a shortcut. However, Spyware Doctors is defaulted to auto launch whenever Windows starts up so there is little need to launch it manually.

Title Menu screen of PC Tools’ Spyware Doctor

A simple and easy to interface, click:

Green Arrow – Start scanning right away [Intelligent scan, faster, scans important areas]
Red Arrow – Choose what type of scan [More info in the following image]
Yellow Arrow – Enable real time protection [Not enabled in the PC that this screenshot is taken as the PC is quite ancient and this feature uses quite a lot of system resources]

System Scan screen of PC Tools’ Spyware Doctor

Intelli-Scan is much faster than Full Scan. Deimos uses Intelli-Scan most of the time, he uses Full Scan sometimes. Spyware Doctor also automatically runs scans periodically.

Scanning in progress screen of PC Tools’ Spyware Doctor

Scanning in progress, can stop it, and it will proceed to the next screen.

Scan Results screen of PC Tools’ Spyware Doctor

Various information about the detected spywares, adwares, malwares, trojans, keyloggers etc is shown here. Just click Fix Checked (Red Arrow) to remove them all.

Scan Summary screen of PC Tools’ Spyware Doctor

The summary screen after the spywares, adwares, malwares, trojans, keyloggers etc have been purged from the system. Since this is the Starter Edition of PC Tools’ Spyware Doctor, there is an Upgrade (red colored fonts) button there. The Starter Edition is good enough for Deimos for now.

Deimos’s Daily Reads
No reads today.

Deimos’s Thoughts
Nowadays, it is extremely easy to get infected with spywares, adwares, malwares, trojans, keyloggers etc if one is not careful while browsing. Deimos has been using Spyware Doctor for quite some time and he is quite satisfied with it so far.

Deimos Asks
Just some simple questions …
1. Have you heard of Google Pack and Spyware Doctor before?
2. What Spyware detection and removal software are you currently using?

Besides that, it is also very handy in knowing any particular site’s Alexa Traffic Ranking.

Download it here:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5362

Search Status Extension
Appears to have more functions than the Alexa Tool Bar – Sparky, this one also shows the Page Rank of the site. One of the features is – able to highlight the no follow links, so one is able to know whether those dofollow sites are really indeed dofollow.

Download it here:
http://www.quirk.biz/download-searchstatus

Browser’s viewing space totally unaffected
Please note that the Alexa Tool Bar – Sparky and Search Status Extension are totally not tool bars that “jams up the browser” unlike most tool bars.

Legend – Red: Search Status Extension | Green: Alexa Tool Bar – Sparky

Does not consume much extra memory
From the following screenies, it appears that the memory consumption appears to be the same after the installation of Alexa Tool Bar – Sparky and Search Status Extension.
=====================================================================
Before installation – Blank Page

______________________________________________________________________________
Before installation – ahkong.net

=====================================================================
After installation – Blank Page

______________________________________________________________________________
After installation – ahkong.net

=====================================================================

Source

http://www.dotsauce.com/2007/12/30/5-essential-firefox-addons/

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5362

http://www.quirk.biz/download-searchstatus

Deimos’s Thoughts
First, I would like to express my thanks to goldfries as it was him who introduced me to Search Status Extension via a reply in this particular article about Alexa Traffic Ranking.

Second, kudos to Saphrym for mentioning DotSauce’s linkie which allowed me to chance upon such an interesting screenie of Firefox.

Deimos Asks
So, fellow bloggers (who is eager to rise up the Alexa Traffic Ranking), have you heard of Alexa Tool Bar and Search Status Extension?

Installed it already?

Site visitors and or readers (if any), would you be bothered to install this?

Deimos’s Additional Reads
Deimos basically grew up with computers and software as he started using computers at the age of nine. However, he is a stringy mofo and only use those anti virus software which are freely obtainable off the internet. He does not use any web server software as he is a gamer, not a programmer. Some software tools such as GIMP did come in handy to manipulate images though. Filezilla would be a useful software to upload files and this is what he uses to upload files to his file server, while a local web hosting firm was engaged to host his files for his blog. Sometimes he blogs in Star Bucks via the wireless internet services provided there.

Upon completion of the test, a detailed analysis report is generated. At the end of the report, there is a summary which shows how well the site performed in various areas and offers recommendation if not doing too good in some of them.

Web Site Optimization
To get one’s site analyzed in detail, proceed to visit the following linkie:
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/

Just type in the url that needs to be analyzed in the “Enter URL to diagnose:” and click the “Submit Query” click-able button underneath the input box.

Please note that any url can be entered and analyzed, analyze one’s friends’ or competitors’ site and see how well or bad their site performed compared to one’s own site.

Pingdom Tools
Web Design Blogger Jay-Han suggested that this site analyzer is more useful:
http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/

Just enter the URL to be analyzed and click the “Test now” button, click the “Save test” checkbox if one wants to share the analyzed results of one’s site with others.

Click here to check out Pingdom Tools’ test result for ahkong.net

Pingdom Tools’ analysis has something that Web Site Optimization does not have – detailed load times for each item loaded! This is so totally cool! Totally useful!

PC Buying Guide guru goldfries also uses Pingdom Tools.

Deimos’s Summary by Web Site Optimization
* TOTAL_HTML – Congratulations, the total number of HTML files on this page (including the main HTML file) is 1 which most browsers can multithread. Minimizing HTTP requests is key for web site optimization.
* TOTAL_OBJECTS – Warning! The total number of objects on this page is 69 – consider reducing this to a more reasonable number. Combine, refine, and optimize your external objects. Replace graphic rollovers with CSS rollovers to speed display and minimize HTTP requests.
* TOTAL_IMAGES – Warning! The total number of images on this page is 39 , consider reducing this to a more reasonable number. Combine, refine, and optimize your graphics. Replace graphic rollovers with CSS rollovers to speed display and minimize HTTP requests.
* TOTAL_CSS – Caution. The total number of external CSS files on this page is 5 , consider reducing this to a more reasonable number. Combine, refine, and optimize your external CSS files. Ideally you should have one (or even embed CSS for high-traffic pages) on your pages.
* TOTAL_SIZE – Warning! The total size of this page is 520754 bytes, which will load in 117.59 seconds on a 56Kbps modem. Consider reducing total page size to less than 30K to achieve sub eight second response times on 56K connections. Pages over 100K exceed most attention thresholds at 56Kbps, even with feedback. Consider contacting us about our optimization services.
* TOTAL_SCRIPT – Warning! The total number of external script files on this page is 24 , consider reducing this to a more reasonable number. Combine, refine, and optimize your external script files. Ideally you should have one (or even embed scripts for high-traffic pages) on your pages.
* HTML_SIZE – Caution. The total size of this HTML file is 57399 bytes, which is above 20K but below 100K. With a 10K ad and a logo this means that your page will load in over 8.6 seconds. Consider optimizing your HTML and eliminating unnecessary features. To give your users feedback, consider layering your page or using positioning to display useful content within the first two seconds.
* IMAGES_SIZE – Warning! The total size of your images is 196788 bytes, which is over 30K. Consider optimizing your images for size, combining them, and replacing graphic rollovers with CSS.
* SCRIPT_SIZE – Warning! The total size of external your scripts is 244947 bytes, which is over 8K. Consider optimizing your scripts for size, combining them, and using compression where appropriate for any scripts placed in the HEAD of your documents.
* CSS_SIZE – Warning! The total size of your external CSS is 21620 bytes, which is over 8K. Consider optimizing your CSS for size by eliminating whitespace, using shorthand notation, and combining multiple CSS files where appropriate.
* MULTIM_SIZE – Congratulations, the total size of all your external multimedia files is 0 bytes, which is less than 4K.

Wah! Eleven (11) items, I got two (2) Greens, two (2) Yellows and seven(7) reds!

Deimos’s Thoughts
A very useful web site, I say! With these information, I will be able to know what thingies to tweak in order to come up with a better optimized site! From the reports, it appears that my site’s performance definitely has room for improvement! Gah! Must optimize it!

Deimos Asks
How well does your site perform? Are you happy with your site’s performance? Would you do something in an attempt to better optimize your site after analyzing your site?

There are various methods, this is one of them.

Visit the following linkie:

http://keepvid.com/

Copy and paste the URL into the address bar, select YouTube and click the “DOWNLOAD” button.

Click the download link to download the file, remember to rename the file from get_video into desired_filename.flv when the download has completed.

There you go, it is that simple!

Recommended Websites
Wikimapia.org
http://ahkong.net/find-your-way-with-wikimapiaorg/

Classifieds.MalaysiaKini.com
http://ahkong.net/classifieds-malaysiakinicom/

Internet Speedometer
http://ahkong.net/cool-internet-connection-speedometer/

Do you already know how to download YouTube videos off YouTube.com? Do you download the videos off YouTube.com or you watch the videos while streaming it live?

Download linkie
http://www.download.com/IrfanView/3000-2192-10021962.html?part=dl-IrfanView&subj=dl&tag=button

Some IrfanView features:

* Many supported file formats (click here the list of formats)
* Multi language support
* Thumbnail/preview option
* Paint option – to draw lines, circles, arrows, straighten image etc.
* Toolbar skins option
* Slideshow (save slideshow as EXE/SCR or burn it to CD)
* Show EXIF/IPTC/Comment text in Slideshow/Fullscreen etc.
* Support for Adobe Photoshop Filters
* Fast directory view (moving through directory)
* Batch conversion (with image processing)
* Multipage TIF editing
* File search
* Email option
* Multimedia player
* Print option
* Support for embedded color profiles in JPG/TIF
* Change color depth
* Scan (batch scan) support
* Cut/crop
* IPTC editing
* Effects (Sharpen, Blur, Adobe 8BF, Filter Factory, Filters Unlimited, etc.)
* Capturing
* Extract icons from EXE/DLL/ICLs
* Lossless JPG rotation
* Many hotkeys
* Many command line options
* Many PlugIns
* Only one EXE-File, no DLLs, no Shareware messages like “I Agree” or “Evaluation expired”
* No registry changes without user action/permission!
* and much much more

Deimos’s thoughts
I often find myself resizing the various photo images taken using high mega pixels digital cameras, thus my main usage for an image editor is to able to re-size the resolution of images quickly and IrfanView does an excellent job at that.

Other recommended open source / freewares
Free Download Manager
http://ahkong.net/download-with-free-download-manager/

7-Zip
http://ahkong.net/7-zip-the-one-archiver-to-compress-them-all/

Sources
http://www.irfanview.com/

Deimos says
Do you resize your photo images? Do you use any image viewers or editor? What kind of image viewers or editors do you use?

It has been quite a while since I last used a download manager apart from the browser’s own default file downloader, seldom download big files that would require me to use a download manager. For fileplanet.com downloads, I use their down Download Manager.

When I revisited newgrounds.com again, I felt an urge to use a download manager to acquire the .swf files off that site. I have always been a collector in the physical realm, hence I am not much different in the cyberspace when it comes to acquiring files.

And so I google-ed for the key words “Download Manager wiki”, checked out the comparison table in wikipedia and finally decided to use this “Free Download Manager”. Without further delay, the details:

Official Home Page:
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/

Download link:
http://files.freedownloadmanager.org/fdminst.exe

Main Features:

• Increase your download speed and resume broken downloads
• Flash video download
• Enjoy easy file sharing
• HTTP/FTP/BitTorrent support
• GNU General Public License
• Enjoy safer and more rewarding downloading

So far I have found this Free Download Manager to be quite okay to use. I have download several .swf files off newgrounds.com using this. Does anyone else still use Download Managers?

[poll=8]

Open source softwares does not have this hassle, and yeah they can be as good as, or even better than non open source softwares.

Today, I am going to recommend the open source file archiver – 7 Zip!

(Click here to vote for the file archiver you are currently using)
Basic Information:
Official Home Page:
http://www.7-zip.org/

The following is a quote from their site:

The main features of 7-Zip

• High compression ratio in new 7z format with LZMA compression
• Supported formats:
  • Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR
  • Unpacking only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS
• For ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
• Self-extracting capability for 7z format
• Integration with Windows Shell
• Powerful File Manager
• Powerful command line version
• Plugin for FAR Manager
• Localizations for 63 languages

For myself, ever since I got to know about 7-Zip, I stopped using the rest, since Z-Zip is capable of unpack most of the types of file archive that I would ever come across.

What about you?

[poll=7]

As my Darling is currently hunting for a new job, she would need to attend interviews in place where we seldom go to. Like yesterday, we just paid a visit to Menara Multi Purpose which I recorded down in this summarized journal entry.

Upon launching the homepage of wikimapia.org with FireFox, I typed in “Menara Multi Purpose” in the search form at the top right corner, clicked the link and the map centered upon the location. Having found the place, I scoured the surrounding areas for any familiar buildings or landmarks so I can have an easier time find the place when I reach there.

Found Dang Wangi LRT station, used a paper ruler (courtesy of IKEA) to quantify the distance that we need to walk. Then we concluded that it is more convenient to take a from Bangsar LRT Station to Dang Wangi LRT Station, as the traffic is heavily congested during that period.

The only downside I discovered so far is that, it does not offer full zoom yet for our towns and cities. If you continue to zoom in further, you will be greeted with the “We are sorry, but we don’t have imagery at this zoom level for this region. Try zooming out for a broader look.” message.

Level 5 Zoom
Level 2 Zoom
Level 1 Zoom

It appears that major cities in the United States of America have up to Level 1 Zoom, while cities here in Malaysia have up to Level 2 Zoom, remote country side areas aka Kampungs have up to Level 5 Zoom.

So I guess wikimapia.org would only be useful for people living in cities? Personally, I find it quite useful to locate places that I would like to go to, but haven’t actually been there before yet.

Have you used wikimapia.org to find your way around before?

[poll=4]

Source: http://forum.iahgames.com/hellgate/showthread.php?t=2883

It is an internet connection speedometer, the above are my results. Just click one of the pyramids to start the test, by default it would have the closest server highlighted in yellow for you.

Upon completion of the test, you would be shown the above stats along with a poll to rate your Internet Service Provider (ISP) on a scale of 1 to 5. Malaysia’s very own TM Net Speedometer seems to be pretty lackluster when compared to this Speedtest.net by Ookla Net Metrics.

So, what is your speed?