Tech Tuesday Tip

I have a co-worker who is pretty tech-savvy, however yesterday I discovered that they were using Microsoft's Internet Explorer as their one and only web-browser.

So, let's get down to basics here.

Unless your computer is an Apple brand, or a Mac, you probably were told to click on the blue icon and you could visit the World Wide Web.

That's because Internet Explorer is pre-loaded on nearly all computers that are Windows based.

The problem with being so popular is that there are others who are trying to take you down.

There are hackers and other "bad guys" who are looking for vulnerabilities in Microsoft programs that they can exploit, and since Internet Explorer is the most commonly used program to go online, that's where they focus their activities.

Every Tuesday Microsoft issues "Patches" or fixes to their programs which you should download and install in most cases to keep your computer safe and secure.

However, I have noticed that these are less frequent than they used to be. Maybe it's because I am one step behind Microsoft. I have Windows Vista on my laptop not their latest version which is called Windows 7.

There are several alternative ways to go online, and these alternative browsers are free.

FireFox is my default browser. That's the second icon. Click here to go to their website and install it on your computer.

Another popular newcomer is from the folks at Google. They call it Chrome. That's the third icon. Click here to go to their website and install it on your computer.

Generally speaking, Firefox and Chrome are safer to use than Internet Explorer and they have all the bells and whistles, sometimes more, than Explorer.

I have all three installed on my laptop. The only time I use Explorer is when a website that I'm visiting does not function properly in Firefox, which these days is very rare.

Faster with FireFox

Sunday's are a prep day for me. Prepare for the work week ahead, Prepare many of the blog posts I can do ahead of time, (I will do a minimum of 40 each week, spread out over 4 or 5 blogs). So I found this article helpful, and I'm sure you will too.



I just used tip 5 to get the link to this article: http://thedanielrichard.com/2008/11/8-killer-shortcuts-a-blogger-should-master-with-firefox/

8 Killer Shortcuts A Blogger Should Master With Firefox

8 Killer Shortcuts A Blogger Should Master With Firefox - Image courtesy of thms.nl

As a blogger, we would have to go through our daily ritual of reading blogs, commenting, checking out updates on our RSS reader, emails, and so on. Here’s a list of the 8 killer shortcuts that you should master on Firefox to get those things done and help free up a whole lot of time that will be better utilized for writing your next big article.

• 1. Ctrl + T = New Tab

  The “New Tab” feature had been one big reason to why Firefox was exceptionally popular ever since it’s first launch on November 9, 2004.

  “New Tab” helps when you are about to look up for some references on Google or Wikipedia while writing. This too allows you to go get distracted on other media sites like Facebook to chat up with friends, or on Youtube to look for some videos like the ninja cat that sneaks up to the owner while not moving.

  The best use for this “New Tab” feature is to get you to your Wordpress (or any other type of blogging platform you are using), another tab for your email, another for your RSS reader, one more tab for anything else random of your choice, the first thing you load up your browser.

• 2. Ctrl + W = Close Tab

  After having about 15 new tabs opened thanks to the speed in opening new tabs, it is time to close them as fast as you can count from one to three - without the need to move your mouse cursor over to the close icon button (which would be blended into the entire tab on the browser).

  Using the “Ctrl + W” way to close a sequence of tabs is faster than using the clicking method.

• 3. Ctrl + Left Click = Open Link In New Tab

  Most likely you should have a RSS reader and have subscribed to a few blogs like mine as an example, or receive tons of emails that grabs your attention, and you find those that are worth reading and want to open the links in a new tab.

  The fastest way to get that done is to use the “Ctrl + Left Click” on the link to open up the page in a new tab. No need for the traditional way of going to the right click menu and clicking the option which takes tons more time.

  The cool part is that your screen won’t be taken to the new tab, but still stays at the same page where you can now open up let’s say, the 12 new updates that you have in your RSS reader in different tabs.

• 4. Ctrl + Shift + R = Full Refresh

  “Full Refresh” would be extremely valuable for developers and website designers. It will override the cache - means that new images that are uploaded or new javascript code can be reloaded with the new data that might not have been retrieved by a normal refresh.

• 5. Ctrl + L = Highlight URL (from address bar)

  Maybe it’s 4 in the morning and you have just published your new article and getting ready to send out your address for the entry to your friends. You are in the freshly published post, and here’s the best time to select the entire link by pressing “Ctrl + L”. Which now you can use the shortcut to copy and then paste it to wherever you require it to appear in.

• 6. Ctrl + Shift + L = Bookmark Page

  The “Ctrl + Shift + L” quick bookmarking feature allows you to bookmark that exceptional article or resource that you could refer back to later on in the day or week.

• 7. Backspace (in a tab) = Go Back One Page

  This is particularly useful when you may have proceeded on to a following page from a link in a page by accident, and would like to go back to the place where you were from.

  Press the “Backspace” key helps to go back one page with ease.

• 8. Ctrl + Alt + Del = “The Last Resort”

  You won’t have to use the “Ctrl + Alt + Del” function with Firefox. Unless… there’s more tabs opened than you can get to visit in a week at one given moment, with half of it coming from video clips, and another quarter of them happen to be sites that uses huge flash files or running several java applets at the same time.

  That’s when you will invoke “The Last Resort” to kill off the entire processes and get back your laptop resources that the browser would have hogged from the fictional scenario mentioned.

Of course, there are many more shortcuts created for Firefox that you too could use for a faster browsing experience. But you will still be better off with mastering these 8 first. You will actually use them and find them very reliable and helping you to be a more effective blogger!

Yes, you can now track 800 blogs with ease with these killer shortcuts!

Do share in the comments some of the other shortcuts that you use in your life as a blog owner and writer, and how much faster they had been in your own personal experience.

Setting up your own On-Line Biz

Yesterday I posted some tips from Kim Komando on setting up an online business. Click here to read them.

I have also advised others in the basics of setting up the actual website and here are my usual guidelines.

• Try Google Aps. It is extremely affordable and you don't have to learn code or programming. I have one site that I'm working on building right now that the only cost was $10.00 per year and that is for the domain name through GoDaddy. I was able to buy it by going through the Google Aps site.
• Make sure everything is current. I had a client with old phone numbers and addresses and it hurt his business more than helped it.
• Make sure it works in different browsers. 70% to 85% of the world still uses Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Apple owners have Safari as their default browser. You can download a free version for a PC. Then there's the browser I switched to a few years ago, Firefox. When I took over the VP of Communications role for the Advertising Federation of Fort Wayne this summer, I also took over the role of updating the website. I check the site in all three browsers.
• Make sure it works period. Have someone else test your site and all the links on their computer.
• If you need professional help and a professional designer, let me know. I know several local pros that I can recommend.
  

Kim Komando's FireFox Tips

I get Kim's computer related newsletters each week. There's a daily tip, daily cool site, daily news, and a weekend edition. You can get them too by signing up here. In the meantime, from her weekend edition here's tips on using Firefox as your web browser:

FREEBIES TO BETTER THE BROWSER
There’s more than one way to surf the Internet. There’s Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari and many more browsers. I use Firefox. Why? Firefox is not part of Windows. That makes it safer than Internet Explorer.

If you have not tried Firefox, download it this weekend. Here’s a link at my site. It’s free and really easy to set up. I think it’s also faster than IE.

I'm a bit of a geek, so I customize Firefox with extensions. These are programs that add functions to the browser. You can learn more about them in this free column.

Here's a list of my favorite Firefox add-ons or extensions. They are all free:

• Stop music and videos from playing automatically on Web pages
• Get IE Favorites in Firefox
• Tools for college students
• Improve your typing skills
• Download Flash videos
• A price protection tool
• Surf Google anonymously

Hope you like them!

How to create a free virtual office

Please check out the update regarding Microsoft Office here.

In my continuing desire to stay organized, productive and take advantage of technology, I have been trying different systems that are internet based and free. You can click on the links and see them for yourself.

First of all, I have settled on Zoho to manage my appointments and to do lists using the Zoho Planner. There are a lot of on line tools that Zoho offers and I may play with more of them as time goes by. It appears that Zoho offers many of the same features that Google also offers, but I like the layout of the Zoho planner.







Other online organization tools that you might prefer are listed here.






I also am moving to online storage for audio files of radio shows, and other non-sensitive paperwork that I don't need access to on a continuous basis. First I tried DropBoks, then I discovered Xdrive, which I prefer because it appears to be faster and offer more storage organization. Xdrive is an AOL service, and gives 5 GB free storage. Xdrive is a little more complicated to set up, but once you do, it is easy to use. DropBoks is a simpler system if that's what you prefer.




When I bought my latest laptop, which is the only computer I use for work and personal use, it came with Windows Vista Home Premium which I like. I did not buy the Microsoft Office suite, instead I have Open Office which is free and compatible with all my Microsoft Office documents that I created in Excel, Word, and Powerpoint. (Google and Zoho have online substitutes, but I do not always have internet access). Please check out the update regarding Microsoft Office here.







I use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, and Thunderbird instead of Microsoft's Outlook for email. And what started out as a backup to my Favorites and Bookmarks, is Del.icio.us which saves your bookmarks on line.





Finally, I want to mention that I need to edit audio files at times and there is a free program that I have been using for the past year, Audacity.





Check these out and increase your productivity without spending a dime!