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Tag: Firefox

Free tool: Firebug (web development tools)

Price: Free (freeware)

Requirements:
• Firefox web browser
• PC, Mac, or Linux

Where to get it: See the “Installing” section below

What it is: Firebug is an HTML/Style Sheet debugging add-in for the Firefox web browser.

What it does: “Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of web development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.” (taken from the Firebug website: getfirebug.com/whatisfirebug)

Feature highlights

  1. Inspect and modify HTML code in real time through Firefox
  2. JavaScript debugger
  3. Network usage and performance metrics
  4. Tools to aid in CSS layout and formats

Continue reading “Free tool: Firebug (web development tools)”

Firefox 3.5 released with great speed improvements

Last week, Mozilla Corp. released Firefox 3.5, the next iteration of the Firefox web browser.Visually, Firefox 3.5 is practically identical to Firefox 3. The majority of the changes are behind-the-scenes.

Firefox 3.5’s biggest improvement is speed. Javascript execution (which virtually every website uses) is now two times faster than Firefox 3 and ten times faster than Firefox 2. Mozilla also added support for the upcoming HTML 5 standard including open audio and video.

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Simplify Internet browsing by using tabs

During the course of any web-browsing session, you may end up with several telescoping treks into many different sites. An alternative to opening 20 windows is to use browser tabs instead.

Browser tabs are supported in every major browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari). Think of a tab like adding a new page to the current window that can have a completely different website loaded in it.

For example, here’s a screenshot of my current tabs in Firefox:

Screenshot of Firefox tabs
Screenshot of Firefox tabs


Not only do browser tabs simplify your browsing experience, they can also save system resources and time. For instance, if you frequent a website that is slow to load, you can flip to a different tab and read that webpage while the other one loads.
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Xmarks, a bookmark synchronizer for web browsers

Anyone using multiple computers throughout the day knows how frustrating it can be to have different bookmarks on each machine. The browser add-on Xmarks (formerly known as Foxmarks) allows users to synchronize all of their bookmarks among various computers.  The bookmarks are then readily available whenever and wherever needed. It also synchronizes across different browsers.

Simply install the Xmarks add-on and create a username and password. The bookmarks are then uploaded and stored on a server. If you set up a new machine, just install the Xmarks add-on and download the bookmarks. This replaces the prior bookmarks and merges with current ones. You can even create different profiles for work-related or home computers. Once all of your bookmarks are set up, you can then view and edit them at my.xmarks.com and the changes will synchronize with any browser that currently has the add-on installed.

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Trend Micro Web Reputation Services enabled to help battle malware infections

To assist in the battle against malware that daily threatens K-State computers, Web Reputation Services (WRS), also known as “Web Threat Protection Services”, was enabled last week in K-State’s Trend Micro OfficeScan for those managed by the central IT Trend Micro server. WRS augments the antivirus and antispyware protection already offered in OfficeScan to add another layer of prevention against the rapidly evolving, increasingly sophisticated, quickly spreading, and growing number of malicious threats faced by K-Staters as they browse the Internet.

Web Reputation Services works by checking every web address you attempt to visit in a web browser and blocking access to those found in a list of known malicious sites. WRS works with all major web browsers, including Internet Explorer and Firefox.

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No more security patches for Firefox 2; upgrade to version 3 now

In December 2008, Mozilla released the last security update for all platforms of version 2 of the popular Firefox web browser (version 2.0.0.20 for Windows, MacOS X, and Linux). Version 2 has reached its end-of-life for updates, so all users of Firefox are urged to upgrade to version 3 as soon as possible. As always, K-State faculty/staff should talk to their IT support person before updating to version 3, in case they have special requirements for software installation on university computers.

To determine the version of Firefox you are using, open Firefox, select the Help pull-down menu, and click About Mozilla Firefox. Continue reading “No more security patches for Firefox 2; upgrade to version 3 now”