Normally when I write my Tales from the Mousepad, it appears in the local newspaper first. Lately, they’ve had problems running it (for reasons I don’t understand), so this TFTM is only running in Logical Tips, so we can get back in sync.
Because it’s the holiday season, I have been a wee bit more prone to goofing off than usual. James consults at a large corporation, and the people there have also been goofing off more than usual. Apparently, the nerd speak turned to Firefox Extensions one day and James came home with stories of very cool stuff. So I had to check it out.
Although, it’s probably obvious, before you can use Firefox Extensions, you need to download the Firefox browser. For those who don’t know about it, Firefox is an alternative to Internet Explorer you can use to surf the Internet. Downloading is costs you absolutely nothing, and it’s available at:
According to our Web site statistics, about 25% of the people who visit LogicalTips.com are using Firefox, so apparently the word is out and some of you probably have it already.
What I didn’t know is that there are a huge number of people writing add-on "extensions" for Firefox. In Firefox, if you choose Tools, Extensions, a window appears. At the bottom is a link that says Get More Extensions. If you click it, you are taken to: https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/
Mozilla is apparently switching their sites around, so you also can find extensions at http://www.mozilla.com/extensions/
If you’re running Firefox getting new Extensions is really easy, since most of the Extensions can be installed with just one click while you are surfing using Firefox. In some cases, you may have to close Firefox to complete the installation, but many of them just sort of appear instantly.
I found a few cool Extensions that are helpful for developing web sites. For example, one called ColorZilla lets you use an "eyedropper" icon to find out what any color is on any web page. There’s also an automatic Link Checker and an HTML Validator, so you can check the links or syntax on any page you visit.
Of course, there are also dozens of less nerdy Extensions too. In my case for example, I loaded the 1-Click Weather Extension so I can keep track of exactly how cloudy it is outside.
While you’re surfing around Mozilla’s site, you also might be intrigued by the Thunderbird e-mail client. I haven’t tried it yet, but it is a holiday weekend, so who knows 😉