http://addons.mozilla.org/ - perhaps the best time saving site ever created?

The biggest advantage FireFox has over other browsers such as Chrome, is the vast collection of free add-ons there are on offer!

Over the last five years, FireFox has been developing and growing at a substantial rate, establishing itself as the most used open source browser. Why has it come such a long way? Well, when users go onto FireFox, they find it to be easy to use, clean interface and most importantly the extensions ( add-ons) which makes online browsing oh so much better and beneficial.

Browser Extensions

Browser extensions refers to codes that are able to be installed inside the browser in order to add an extra feature or function for the user. Hence, we call these jigsaw of codes, add-ons. In addition to adding a new feature, extensions allow us to change the browser interface, adding a language translator, altering the browser’s look and feel by displaying a new theme and more!

For a wide selection of all of Firefox’s add-ons just visit Mozilla’s add-on site. Here you can see and download over 9000 add-ons which are bound to be useful in one or another! Also, when you install all add-ons they arrive in .xpi format but do not worry you’re computer will change it for you.

In this post. I will display what I think is Firefox’s hottest 10 add-ons available to download in sequence. Thus, let’s begin!

1.Greasemonkey

Greasemonkey was one of the first ever add-ons i downloaded into FireFox. Effectively, it allows you to install scripts to any HTML web-page and each time you revisit that page, the changes will always be there. With the scripts you download and manage them, create new ones as well as use manipulation on them and the ability to edit the ones you have downloaded. Another aspect that makes Greasemonkey the best add-on is because you can activate and deactivate any one of your scripts with one click!

Once you have installed Greasemonkey and restarted your browser, you should click on the symbol which enables the application. In order to find already built user scripts visit here. When you find a script you like, merely click install and Greasemonkey will do the rest for you and then supplies you with information about the sites compatibility circumstances.

The whole application revolves around Greasemonkey’s context menu. Here you can enable, disable or un-install any script you have and in addition you will find all the scripts that are obtainable on the left hand side. If you select a script you can see you a full description of each script. Right at the beginning, I found it hard to find how to create a new user script, as silly as it sounds, but all you need to do is go to click on Greasemonkey Menu/New user script.

Greasemonkey is a fantastic application once you get used to it but the initial stages are a bit tricky. Nevertheless, it is an add-on that is easy to use,manage and make user scripts which will make more features to all websites you visit as well as save some valuable time!

Rating : 10/10

2. Adblock Plus

Adblock Plus is also an extremely useful add-on and it was a hard decision putting it at second. This is because the add-on blocks the biggest waste of bandwidth on the Internet, all the advertisements. Instead users, would like to see the content not to look at unattractive ads suggesting You can lose 2 stone in 1 week which everyone knows is not possible!

Adblock Plus allows the browser to filter and stop online adverts, make up your own rules, blocking of flash format and white-listing function. It is a great updated version of Adblock but with many more useful features. In order to enable Adblock Plus, well it’s really quite simple!  Just follow these steps below to make these blockers function properly!

• Add a filter by right clicking on the item you want to discard and click on the Adblock image. You need the web address of the banner you want to get rid and finally check the blocking filter box.
• If this isn’t enough protection for you, go to advanced view where you can block one whole domain.
• In Adblock Plus’s preferences, you can find out what filters have been set for which sites. Thus, it shows the your exceptions, ad blocking rules and filter subscriptions. From here, you are able to add, enable, disable, remove and edit any filters you please.

Overall, Adblock Plus is possibly the most useful add-on out there since it blocks out adverts that ruins your online experience and the settings are easy to customize for your use only.

Rating: 9.5/10

3. ReminderFox

Reminderfox is a sort of add-on that is accustomed to users who either have a bad memory or users that are constantly going to the same site over and over again on a daily basis. The growing add-on allows us to easily manage lists that you need to do/reminders, integrated alarms and notifications and automated synchronization of reminders to your handheld devices!

As soon as you have set a specific reminder, Reminderfox produces a ribbon-like icon in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. In addition, there is almost colour key that shows you the importance of each reminder. The key is as follows:

• Red signifies the reminder is on this day, thus being red-hot in importance.
• Blue represents that it is an upcoming reminder, i.e. two or three days.
• Grey shows that there are not any reminders in the next couple of weeks of any importance.

When you hover over the ReminderFox image, a calender will appear in front you showing you important work you must complete. Here is where you are able to add, delete or edit any reminder you want by selecting Add Reminder. When you are in this option, there are more specific things you can do such as set a time, date or any other notes you prefer to have to help you. Other features include synchronization of the calender with reminders, to -do lists, notifications or customized lists made by you. In addition an alarm can be put on so if you have trouble waking up in the mornings, this can be your assistant!

Overall, this add-on is great for everyone because if you are always on the Internet browsing or working, this application can remind you instantly so there is no way you will forget that haircut appointment at 1pm!

Rating: 9/10

Credit: https://addons.mozilla.org/

4. SmarterFox

SmarterFox is one of my favourite add-ons because the job it does it genius. It allows your browsing to be 2x as fast by speeding up common tasks. This means you get quicker searching, downloading, visiting, copy/paste option and much more.

When searching for a particular keyword, for example, ‘football’ the application highlights it and displays icons linking back to Google, Youtube, Amazon and Wikipedia. If you click on the Youtube icon it takes you to videos that are associated directly with ‘football’ so it could come up with players who are currently big in newspapers. There are many other features to Smarterfox, but I will just share a few below:

• Save bandwidth by downloading all images/videos on the same page.
• Change between rival search engines with just one click!
• Search by highlighting a block of words and then clicking on the desired bubble.
• Results from Google already show whilst typing in your search bar!
• Alter text based urls into clickable links to websites.

Don’t like one of these features? SmarterFox also allows you to disable any one of them by going to Tools/Smarterfox.

In conclusion, Smarterfox is a great tool saving time and bandwidth. From the name, you can see the add-on is always one step ahead of the game and from just a few of the unique features, we can see this! Fast, reliable and smart. A great tool for any user!

Rating : 9/10

5. Web Developer

Web Developer is a neat little add-on which acts as a supplementary toolbar that is integrated into FireFox supplying an assortment of tools for developers and website designers. The add-on gives code validation tools, a vast selection of keyboard shortcuts, a context menu and a View Source option.

The increasingly popular extension is installed as an extra toolbar and thus can be played with via the view menu and when you have tampered with a few of the options, you will see how effective this add-on can really be as well being easy to use.

What does the toolbar contain?

The toolbar has many aspects to it that is in the best interest of all developers out there. To start proceedings, the toolbar contains:

• HTML editor and source viewer/editor.
• User-created spreadsheets and the ability to edit CSS web pages.
• Resources aimed at developers for scripts, forms or styles.
• Useful individual tools such as links, tables and line guides.
• If you have the latest FireFox version, you can use the Document Object Model (DOM) inspector which allows you to inspect, browse and edit the DOM of all the documents you see.
• Validation tools include Feeds, HTML, CSS, Links and WAI.

Subsequently, this tool is a must-have for all web developers as it looks as if it is useless but can turn a normal website designer into one of the worlds best.

Rating : 9/10

Credit: https://addons.mozilla.org/

6. Wolfram Alpha Google

Recently, I have installed this new add-on but I find it to be one of very good use! The new knowledge search engine, Wolfram Alpha, have effectively joined forces with Google making an great add-on. When you install the add-on, which is a simple process of selecting install, type into google something that interests you, for example a famous place like London the add-on will load some brief information about the city. It will load for this particular example the city’s population, weather, time, elevation and where it is located in England.

This is a great extension because it is bringing detailed, useful information into one search because let’s face it, no one wants to search a ten thousand word page on wikipedia to find just one figure! It is a great new feature which will be beneficial to every user since its mathematical, specific and right down to the point. You are able to search for just about anything and still find some very interesting information, if anything! Much more additional features to come since there is so much more developers can add to this extension!

Overall, a great FireFox extension that is valuable to users, especially for students, who need to know distinct facts and figures for their research. A needy add-on for all as you can save huge amounts of time and bandwidth!

Rating: 8.5/10

7. FireFTP

FireFTP wipes out the need for another client outside Firefox such as SmartFTP. This open source add-on contains everything you need to transfer files to your website. FireFTP includes:

• Support for recursions of SSL/TLS/SFTP/CHMOD.
• File condensing and hashing.
• Regular checks.
• IPv6 support.
• 100% secure sessions
• Directory synchronization
• FXP support and much more.

As soon as you have completed the installation process, you can go to FireFTP by the Tools menu. The user space opens into a new tab and out opens a three section page. One for the server directory( located right), one for the local directory (located left) and the remaining one lies across the bottom of the page is for the status of what is happening in the transferring of files and logs it.

In order to commence transferring files across to your web space, you first have to make an account via FTP Host. Login entering your user-name and password and when you have logged in for the first time, you can login from any other FireFTP add-on in the world!

Overall, a good add-on for both beginners and advanced website holders. Though, this is a more compressed version of the desktop edition of FTP client, it still displays many of the advanced features that the more established version contains.

Rating: 8.5/10

Credit: https://addons.mozilla.org/

8. FoxyTunes

Media Player extension, FoxyTunes, is a relatively fresh FireFox add-on however it has been a big hit with the users that is for sure, with over ten and a half million downloads in less than four months! FoxyTunes enables you to see your iTunes or Windows Media Player at the top of your screen whilst still switching between websites!  Some of the valuable features include:

• Ability to toggle with volume, next/previous track button and play-lists.
• Search for the lyrics of a specific song, pictures for an album, artist biographies as well music related to the genre you are currently listening to!
• Auto-hide button
• Supports iTunes, WMP, Songbird, Winamp, VLC and many more!
• Ability to stream from sites like last.fm straight to your media player via FoxyTunes!

FoxyTune’s mobile toolbar can be moved anywhere on screen and can be customized to your liking by tweaking some keyboard shortcuts, colours and button types. This web media player can be even placed on your desktop so if you’re in the middle of playing a game and need some inspiration, FoxyTunes is for you! With the general hype of social networks and blogs, you can submit what songs you are listening to and which ones are your most played to your Twitter account to your WordPress blog as well as having an alarm clock synchronization option which, as we know, is extremely useful.

In conclusion, this FireFox extension is for those who love music and need to have it around with them throughout their tiring day. If you are not so fond of music, it is worth a look since it can perform a selection of actions and well can improve your online experience!

Rating: 8/10

9. Xmarks

Xmarks ( also known as Foxmarks) is one of the best, if not the best bookmarking tool and add-on. If you have use more than one computer daily, i.e. computer in the day and laptop in the night, this is the ideal extension for you. This is because Xmarks keeps all your bookmarks from all your browsers i.e IE, Chrome and Firefox in order. Astonishingly, Xmarks collects data from over seven hundred thousand bookmarking sites, each with a wide range of site suggestions and small bits of information regarding these sites.

In addition, once you have installed the add-on into your browser, the Xmarks icon appears on the right hand side of the address bar and thus displays some brief information about the site i.e. its niche and also lower down the add-on highlights five similar sites, that have been ordered against the number of people who have bookmarked that particular site. Some users may find it hard to synchronize their bookmarks with this add-on, thus let me break it down even further for you,

• Run the automatic configuration wizard, where all you need to do is enter you desired user-name and password. There is only a problem in this stage if Xmarks has identified a registered account with the same account, in which case you change user-names.
• In order to keep all your bookmarks in one group for a specific laptop/computer, you are able to make several profiles via the Profile Manager. You will need to create/edit other profiles. Here you can decide where all your bookmarks go i.e. to which profile and browser.
• Finally, you must assign yourself an individual PIN code as Xmarks may lose your password in the database and making sure account will not be hacked in the future.

This is a great little add-on to have as it helps your browsing substantially. Thus, when you are browsing to find some news on a classic, famous rugby player, Xmarks will give you sites that will be beneficial to your search.

Rating: 7.5/10

10. Glubble for Families

The Glubble add-on is very much ideal for close families with small children. This gives them the chance to connect on an online term as it enables users to take part in fun online activities, be on time for family outings ( which can be a pain in remembering), and the ability to send messages, photos, videos to other family members, effectively acting as a safe facebook. All of the preferences are set via the toolbar which is mostly taken up by family notifications.

Glubble seems to be for young children only as there is a child mode, which limits particular sites that the youth can go on, protecting them from the threatening side of the world wide web. In addition, there is a much more childish interface which users can change to their liking and the web page seems to be secure since the children need to figure out the parent password to get onto the real Internet, which is impossible since parents think of the hardest passwords imaginable. One nifty feature Glubble gives us is that you are able to approve certain sites for individual children, thus is one child is three and the other is thirteen, there is a distinct difference in what they would search/look at.

Overall, a great add-on for family users with all these secured features but a bit useless for all of the 66% of the population which is why i ranked it the lowest! Nevertheless, still a good extension.

Rating : 7/10

I hope this helps you on decision of which extensions to download since there is a huge selection…

Do you not agree with this list? Are there add-ons that are clearly better and are missed out?  Please feel free to comment below!

Wolfram's "answer-engine" still has much to do to outdo giants Google!

Wolfram Alpha- student’s antidote for homework!

The newly-launched “knowledge engine” was created and developed by Wolfram Research. The service is named after Stephen Wolfram, a British physicist who played a major part in the building of the engine and in announcing it publically.

The service itself is a student’s dream. Unlike Google, which lists web pages that could provide an answer, Wolfram Alpha users insert their question, for example if a GCSE student has forgotten how to work out momentum for his Physics homework, Wolfram Alpha will give these solutions:

As you can see, the "knowledge engine" gives accurate data including the general equation and the ability to change around the input values to their satisfaction

In addition to helping students complete difficult questions, Wolfram also targets online business personnel as, with the help of Alexa statistics, has the ability to distribute accurate data concerning a website suppling users with info like the number of daily page views . Taking TechCombo as an example, the “answer-engine” develops data including domain information and site rank, as you can see below.

What else can you search successfully on Wolfram|Alpha?

Well, apart from answering the hardest Maths/Science questions and site info, you are able to see other structured data including:

- Interesting points in time like birth dates.

- Up-to-date stats and figures considering famous countries and landmarks.

- Stock comparison of companies such as IBM and Dell.

- Appealing little statistics that may make you giggle.

- Intriguing scientific data such as, how many calories you can burn whilst mowing the lawn.

There are a number of other features concerning the hyped up answer-engine. So, please feel free to add to the list by commenting below.

You can use the Wolfram|Alpha service here.

Our Opinion

Pros

• Huge database displaying a wide range of information in a sophisticated and easy-to-use way.
• Trustworthy professionals adding to the large database daily. Taking into account the queries that had been rejected for you and others.
• Beneficial tool for scientists, students, teachers, researchers and the general public.
• Mathematical calculations are by far Wolfram’s most advanced tool giving just about the correct method and answer to every question.

Cons

• Very slow when processing data that you have processed.
• Many of your initial searches will give you this irritating message saying, “WolframAlpha isn’t sure what to do with your input” showing the database may be accurate but other questions are not accounted for. Thus, showing up with nothing.
• In Firefox especially, the engine regularly crashes your browser.

Conclusion

We all know this will never live up to the high expectations of Google but I anticipate this will take many of Wikipedia’s visitors as it is effectively a more accurate and detailed edition of the online encyclopedia.

I feel that this shall be a huge success as the service is such a great idea, giving the public a reliable yet sophisticated engine. Though, the fact that the servers are frequently slow, and taking masses of time to respond will drive users away. However, this could be solved by bringing in more servers allowing for more bandwidth usage.

In time we will see how the service will develop, especially as it has been so hyped up over the last couple of months. I anticipate that Wolfram Research will perhaps release an “iPhone app” as they have an app for just about anything! But, overall I see Wolfram|Alpha becoming a great achievement, a site which will attract much traffic and will commercially gain lots of wealth.

Thank you for reading. Do you have any advantages or disadvantages to add? Or perhaps a query? Feel free to comment below.

The Wolfram Alpha search engine will be launched this month, and it could possibly revolutionise the web. It is not the regular run-of-the-mill search engine, it is a new system of software which will be able to understand questions and then provide tailored answers. This will be the first search engine of its kind on the internet.

Don’t mistake Wolfram Alpha for Google. It is completely different. It is a store of information which understands and responds to language like any other person. It is what people (especially students!) have fantasised about.There was a sneak peek of the Wolfram Alpha, last week at Harvard University (Videos below)

Although the system is still new, experts believe that this is a massive leap in the development of the internet- that this is part of the natural evolution of the internet. Computer and Internet expert, Nova Spivack, suggested that Wolfram Alpha could be as important as Google:

“It is really impressive and significant…In fact it may be as important for the web (and the world) as Google, but for a different purpose.”

Wolfram Alpha will not only give a straight answer to almost any random question such as ‘How long is the Amazon river?’, but it would also neatly produce relatedand sourced information. Therefore in this case, it might also provide a list of towns nearby the Amazon river or tributaries running off the river.

However, the most impressive feature of the Wolfram Alpha is its ability, as its inventor Dr. Wolfram put it, ‘to work things out on the fly’. You are not limited to asking a simple, straightforward question. Ask it to compare the heights of the Empire State Building and the Petronas Towers, and it will do it. Ask it about Chile’s interest rates the day the Berlin Wall officially came down, it will cross-check and find the answer. If you imply a question within a statement, e.g ’20 dice rolls for five 6′s’, it will guess you want to know the probabilities of dice rolling and will figure it out.

One burning question might be- ‘Is this like Wikipedia? Is the information trustworthy?’ The answer is that it is not like Wikipedia in that sense, because the results that you receive are assessed by experts and are made available only after a thorough verification. So there is no need to doubt any information in the Wolfram Alpha.

Dr. Wolfram, 49, who got his pHD in particle physics when he was 20, adds that the launch of the ‘computational knowledge engine’ later this month is only the start of the project. However, it is already touted as the ‘Google Killer’, and has raked up plenty of hype before its proper launch. But with Google being one of the world’s top brands, worth $100 billion, maybe Wolfram Alpha has the potential to be one of the biggest names in the planet.

My view is that Wolfram Alpha can’t be a Google killer because frankly, Google doesn’t have anything like this (apart from maybe their new public data search). But in any case Google will lead the market for normal search engines. Wolfram Alpha is something different, I would see it more as Wikipedia’s competitor, than Google’s.

What are your views on the Wolfram Alpha? It is overhyped or is it proof of the ‘evolution of the internet’? And is it going to be a ‘Google Killer’?

Wolfram Alpha

A Sneak Preview of Wolfram Alpha (Excerpt):

Dr. Stephen Wolfram’s Talk in Harvard University (Full):