I’ve been testing out a few newer Firefox Addons (post to come about that), but I wanted to mention a new one called Web of Trust that has been a pretty good one. It’s touted as:
WOT is a free Internet security addon for your browser. It will keep you safe from online scams, identity theft, spyware, spam, viruses and unreliable shopping sites. WOT warns you before you interact with a risky website. It’s easy and it’s free.
The price can’t be beat. 
I like the search features– a green circle appears on images and next to links that are approved as safe; gray circles are not known, and red circles are warnings of security problems (spyware, etc). I do not like the window that sometimes pops up when I enter a site warning me of a problem. Well– let me clarify that– if I select “ignore” I am allowed to pass on, but the next time I visit the site, the same window appears with the same warning. :S Maybe it’s an issue with my install?? I find it odd that it would not remember my choice.
So far, so good. It’s a solid addon (doesn’t make Firefox crash or work too hard). Might want to be something you check out, especially if you do a lot of web surfing.
![[Slashdot]](http://slashdot.org/favicon.ico)
![[Digg]](http://digg.com/favicon.ico)
![[Reddit]](http://reddit.com/favicon.ico)
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif)
![[Facebook]](http://www.facebook.com/favicon.ico)
![[Technorati]](http://technorati.com/favicon.ico)
![[Google]](http://www.google.com/favicon.ico)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.stumbleupon.com/favicon.ico)
Tags: addon, Firefox, WOT
Like the sands of the hourglass, like the political tweaking of the Medicare supplement plan, software updates are ever with us. Two biggies hit the scene this month. Here’s what’s up…
Firstly, if you use the Firefox browser, it is advisable that you update to the latest version, 3.5. The update fixes some serious security bugs. There’s a video explaining more about the update at the Mozilla website. I updated and didn’t notice very much except that two of my favorite AddOns no longer work (one of them being TabMixPlus). 
But I use Opera whenever possible.
Secondly, Microsoft has officially released Vista Service Pack 2, after several months of beta. There’s a great post by PC World Six Things You Should Know About Vista SP2, and another informative article here. Microsoft has their own basic bones explanation (as basic as MS can get, anyway) about the SP2.
I still have Vista SP1. I don’t have any intention of rushing to get SP2, unless it will improve my graphics card performance. I have a Nvidia GeForce 9100… not top of the line by any means, but it should be able to handle my tasks, especially since I have a quad-core machine. But it’s starting to stutter, and I’m wondering if a Vista update may be responsible. (I do have the latest driver for the card). I’m really cautious about Service Packs; a few years ago, XP SP 1 messed with my computer. So download at your own risk, until Microsoft works out the bugs (more).
Tags: Firefox, Microsoft, updates
I use the Opera browser. I just love it. I had always been a Firefox user, but after the 3.0 upgrade, it just never worked well for me, not on any of my computers. The other computers in the house had the same issue. And then, Firefox would no longer work when I went on the wireless with my laptop. The connection would last maybe 1-3 minutes, and Firefox would always say “loading” but never load. I tried EVERYTHING to resolve it. Finally, in frustration, I dumped FF and downloaded Opera.
Opera takes some getting used to (remember how hard it was to adjust from Internet Explorer to Firefox??), but it’s worth it. It’s much, MUCH faster than Firefox, and it has some nice additional features, like a notepad area in the sidebar. But I like it best of all because it is so fast.
Here are some pros and cons I have found. I hope the Opera dudes continue to develop the browser, as it has a lot going for it.
Pros:
Intense speed
Reliable, rarely crashes
Different skins and colors
Has excellent Options features
Very user friendly
Can customize keyboard shortcuts– tons and tons of options!
Cons:
Some javascript didn’t work (and therefore some blog themes look messy)
Does not have an Auto Complete (I really miss that feature)
Doesn’t have many addons (the widgets you can download are very lame)
Doesn’t resize some photos in my WordPress Admin blog pages
Doesn’t have as good a search toolbar as Firefox (no Groowe toolbar)
No toolbars will work with it
I found this little table at the Opera site– it’s a list of preferences for your Opera config preferences data (Firefox has this option, too– type “about:config” in the address bar.
I’d like to see Opera developed more. Perhaps as more people realize what great browser it is, it will be developed more. If you are looking for speed and reliability, check out Opera.
Tags: browsers, Firefox, Opera
