Internet Wasting Your Time? Apps that Might Help

When I was first introduced to the internet, the best I could hope for was a 14400 baud connection and access to a text browser. Times certainly have changed; most kids now don't have any idea that there were text browsers and they certainly wouldn't be able to use them. Now we have a wide variety of browsers with expanded capabilities like social networking plugins, built in music players and weather notifications, and customizable interfaces.

I've used Internet Explorer (IE), Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari, Flock, and others. I still keep IE around in case I need to use it because a page is not compatible with my preferred browser. I'm having to use it less and less, though, as other browsers become more compatible with Microsoft technologies. By and far, the best browser in computing today is Firefox. It has a long history of customizable themes, extensions galore, and support for the vast majority of web technologies available.

I have certain favorite ways of tweaking my browser to do what I want it to do and to appear the way I want it to appear. Many people have some of the same desires for their browser, so here are some tips. One of the most simple ways to personalize Firefox is to install a theme (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:2). Another nice way of making Firefox look nice is to install Personas for Firefox. This allows you to skin your browser to further customize your browser's existing theme. For more experienced and technical users, there is also the Stylish extension, which allows users to use CSS to customize every little piece of Firefox, from the adjusting the height of the tabs to hiding the status bar altogether. There are predefined styles at http://userstyles.org/ that can be used to customize your browser itself or the appearance of certain web pages and web applications. Another useful extension is Colorful Tabs. It gives each tab a different color to be able to more easily differentiate between tabs. It is especially useful if the theme you are using makes the tabs all blend together.

In addition to tweaking the look and feel of your browser, you can add functionality that can create a more convenient browsing environment. I often like to listen to music while I'm on the internet. I'll get my music player going and all of a sudden a song will come on that I don't want to listen to, so I have to minimize my browser and open the music player window to click on "Next". It doesn't seem like a lot of hassle, but doing time after time can get annoying after a while. With FoxyTunes, you can control your music player from the status bar of Firefox. It's a quick and convenient way to listen to music while browsing the web.

Much of the time I am on the internet I miss the local newscast because I am listening to my mp3 collection. This can be a problem with our very cold winter temperatures, snow storms, summer thunderstorms, and all the other crazy weather that has been plaguing Wisconsin the past few years. To keep tabs on the weather I use 1-ClickWeather. It's interface is customizable through an easy to use wizard and it doesn't install any adware like some of the other weather add-ons can.

One task I perform sometimes is uploading and downloading files over FTP. If you use FTP, you know there are plenty of crummy FTP applications available and plenty that cost more than they are worth. With FireFTP, you have a free FTP client that has most (if not all) features provided by other applications.

The last category of tools I like to attach to my browser has to do with social networking. For a general solution, I use the Yoono sidebar. It logs you in to Facebook, MySpace, AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo, Twitter, Flickr, and more. It allows you to save notes, to see email, and do much more. You do have to sign up for an account with Yoono, but for all the functionality it may be worth the hassle.

Another tool I love is TokBox for Facebook. It allows you to make video calls to Facebook friends who are also online. You must have a webcam and a TokBox account to use this. However, it makes for an easy, cheap way to communicate with people internationally.

I also find one extension absolutely necessary: AdBlock Plus. It blocks ads on nearly every site. One of my pet peeves is the overwhelming number and obmoxious nature of ads on Facebook. I even contacted Facebook about trying to remove the ads. The only way I have been able to peacefully use Facebook is with AdBlock Plus. It makes browsing more pleasant and more secure.

With Firefox and these extensions, you can bet your browsing experience will be greatly improved. But do you have another browser or extension you like or can't live without? Please leave a comment to help us all improve our experiences.