Quix – A Command Line Bookmarklet For Your Browser

With Quix, all you have to do is provide a command to perform various different, regular internet tasks.


Quix is an excellent bookmarklet, that allows you to easily access all your bookmarklets and has various commands to perform a particular task.

All you have to do is drag this –> Quix <- to your bookmarklets bar or folder on your web browser. Once this is done, to use Quix, you just have to summon it. A text field will appear for you to provide a command to, after which the task will be performed.

For example, let’s say you need to find the meaning of a word using Google Dictionary. Now, without doing the entire process of going to the Google Dictionary website, all you need to do is open the Quix bookmarklet and type ‘dict’ and the word to direct you to the meaning of the word on Google Dictionary (as shown below).


Quix has several such commands, and you can even create your own commands to get more out of Quix. Access the entire list of commands here.

This bookmarklet basically reduces the need for you to maintain various bookmarklets for different tasks. Learn more about bookmarklets here. To set up Quix for a specific web browser, please visit this.

Related Reading: A Guide To Keyword Bookmarks

Create A Custom Start Page To Access Websites

Have all your favourite websites on one single launch page.


Homepage Startup is a great option for a default homepage that you would set in your web browser.

You can set links to directly lead you to your most visited websites. The homepage would also have a search engine within it. You can quite easily add or remove websites.

Register with Homepage Startup, and you will obtain a unique URL with your username within it. Use this URL anywhere you go and set it at your homepage.

An alternative to this is to set multiple homepages in your browser. For example, in Mozilla Firefox, you can set multiple homepages to start as soon as you boot the browser with a ‘|’ in between each website while setting your internet options. This would open all these pages at once.

Create a Goo.gl URL with it’s Chrome Extension

Shorten long URLs in Google Chrome with the goo.gl extension.


Google has brought out it’s own URL shortening service – Goo.gl. Though it is not openly available for use like Bit.ly or many others, you can install the useful Goo.gl Chrome extension and instantly shorten URLs from the web browser.

Get the Goo.gl Chrome extension here.

Related Reading: About Google Chrome Extensions

Get the Best Google Chrome Extensions

The Google Chrome browser adds extensions to it’s features. 


Like Mozilla Firefox’s add-ons, Google Chrome now has Extensions that can be installed on the web browser to add new features.

To get the most popular and featured extensions, simply head to the Chrome Extensions page, browse for extensions and click Install to get the extension.


In the screenshot above, you can observe the installation pop-up of the Google Translate extension that can instantly translate a webpage to a language of your choice.

Choose from a host of extensions available, that have been used by thousands of Chrome users from across the world.

Related Reading: More Tips on Google Chrome

Download Google Chrome for Mac

Google’s lightweight browser is officially available for Mac OS.

The Google Chrome web browser is now available for download in Apple Macbooks. The edition of the Chrome for Mac is in the screenshot above, and works perfectly well on Intel processors with the basic requirement of Mac OS X 10.5 or later.

Download Google Chrome for Mac here.

Related Reading: Why You Must Use Google Chrome 3

5 Firefox Add-Ons That Enhance Facebook

Simple add-ons that can help you do more in Facebook, than what you actually could.


If you use the Mozilla Firefox web browser, then you can do a lot more in Facebook than you actually are doing. Get these add-ons to have more fun in Facebook.

1. Archive Facebook

With the Archive Facebook Firefox add-on, you can archive the contents of your Facebook account to your hard drive. Save photos, activity streams, notes, messages and everything else permanently. Download the Archive Facebook add-on.

2. Facebook Dislike Button

Get that much-wanted Dislike button (there’s a huge community in Facebook that has petitioned for such a button) in Facebook with this experimental Firefox add-on. The plugin adds the Dislike button next to Facebook’s Like button. Download the Facebook Dislike Button add-on.

3. Boost for Facebook

Boost for Facebook allows you to customize your Facebook homepage by offering options to add themes, personalize the look, download videos and do much more. Download the Boost for Facebook add-on.

4. FacePAD

FacePAD allows you to instantly download all the photos in your friends’ Facebook photo galleries with a single right-click. Read our full post on other ways to download Facebook albums.

5. Facebook ChatBar+

Facebook ChatBar+ is an add-on that offers a host of emoticons you can add while chatting with your Facebook friends in Chat. Click and insert an emoticon from the selection provided. Download Facebook ChatBar+ add-on.

Related Reading: 10 Must-Have Firefox Add-Ons

Sync Bookmarks in Google Chrome

New Google Chrome Beta introduces Bookmarks synchronization option.

Google Chrome web browser’s latest Beta version has introduced a feature that allows you to synchronize your bookmarks across multiple machines.


Simply select the Synchronize my bookmarks option from Settings, as shown above, enter your Google account details and all bookmarks will be synchronized to Google Docs.


The next time when you need them on another computer, simply repeat the process and obtain your bookmarks instantly. Download the new Google Chrome here.

[Via Chrome Blog]

Related Reading: Why You Must Use Google Chrome 3

10 Must-Have Firefox Add-Ons

Simple Firefox add-ons that improve productivity. By a mile.

 
1. Video DownloadHelper

A simple tool that allows you to instantly download videos from YouTube, Metacafe and many other video sites. You can also use it to download those seemingly un-downloadable Facebook videos. Learn that here.

2. PDF Download

Save any webpage as a PDF document instantly with the PDF Download add-on. You can also email the web page as a PDF document and even convert files.

3. Wisestamp

The Wisestamp signature add-on inserts a customized signature into your email messages automatically. Define your signature (personal or business) and allow Wisestamp to do the rest.

4. Shareaholic

Share a web page instantly on several social media sources like Facebook or Twitter with the Shareaholic Firefox add-on.

5. SkipScreen

Skip pages that contain those irritating ads on websites like RapidShare, by installing the SkipScreen Firefox add-on.

6. FoxTab

Manage your Firefox tabs in 3D with this brilliant add-on called FoxTab. Choose your favourite 3D layout and switch between tabs easily.

7. Ubiquity

Bring more functionality into Firefox by installing Ubiquity, an add-on from Mozilla labs. Ubiquity will change the way you send or read email, tweet, use Flickr and surf the web.

8. Xmarks

Xmarks is the best Firefox bookmarking add-on around. Synchronize bookmarks and passwords and back them up easily with Xmarks.

9. FacePAD

FacePAD is a simple add-on that helps you download Facebook photo albums of your friends with a single click. Read more.

10. FastestFox

Speed up repetitive tasks, improve Firefox speed and search across various websites like Google, Twitter and Wikipedia with a single-click.

Related Reading: 7 Must-Dos before you start using Firefox

A Guide To Keyword Bookmarks

For users of Mozilla Firefox – increase productivity with these simple bookmarks.


If you are a user of Firefox, then you should consider optimizing use of certain regular websites by trying keyword bookmarks.

Keyword bookmarks are basically keyword-driven substitutes for URLs with only a mention of the search term required.

For example, to search for the meaning of a word, try the Dictionary keyword bookmark explained below.


Save this website address - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/%s – as a bookmark and provide “dict” as the keyword. 


Next time you need to search for a definition, simply type dict in your address bar, followed by the word to directly land on the Dictionary page of the word.

Try these other bookmarks of popular websites and set keywords of your choice for them:

Search Bing - http://www.bing.com/search?q=%s 

Do a Google search - http://www.google.com/search?q=%s

Update your status on Twitter - http://twitter.com/?status=%s

Search for a Facebook friend - http://facebook.com/s.php?&q=%s

IP Address Lookup - http://www.iptools.com/dnstools.php?tool=whois&user_data=%s

Translate Spanish text to English - http://translate.google.com/translate_t#es|en|%s

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=%s&go=Go

There are plenty of useful keyword bookmarks available here. Simply drag them to your bookmarks bar and provide a suitable keyword for each.

Related Reading: 8 Amazingly Useful Bookmarklets

How To Download Websites

Three free tools that help you surf the internet offline.


Ever wanted to download a complete website and then calmly browse the web offline? Well, here are three tools which are available for free and help you do exactly that.

1. SurfOffline

A freeware that helps you download the entire contents of a website and then browse through it using the SurfOffline browser.

2. HTTrack Website Copier

Another tool that you can download to help you download websites and surf them later.

3. BackStreet Browser

A free offline browser that provides a ‘Resume’ support in case you lose your internet connection while downloading a website.

Google explains Web Browsers

What Browser?

 
Google has come up with a simple website to increase awareness about web browsers. Now we all know what a web browser is, right? Well, not as much.

Basically, it comes down to this – on start up, find something called ‘Internet Explorer’, open it and browse the web. The problem is not entirely with Internet Explorer. But with a certain mindset to use whatever browser is provided on the system without feeling the need to explore another one.

The truth is there are other excellent web browsers available online and for no cost at all. It’s high time people started using other browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Simply because they make life (on the internet) easier.

Head to the website and get details about the web browser you are using currently, and also find ways to improve it’s performance.

Related Reading: 10+ Alternatives to Internet Explorer

[Via Google Blog]

Try Amazing New Themes in Google Chrome

Google’s web browser now features Themes by Artists.

 
Google Chrome’s Themes have been updated with a brand new section – Themes from Artists. You can now try many of these new themes (like this Porsche one for example), which add to Chrome’s impressive array of styling options.

Related Reading: Why You Must Use Google Chrome 3

Use Google Chrome in Internet Explorer

Download Google Chrome Frame plugin.

Google's speedy, light-weight web browser Chrome can now be used within Microsoft's Internet Explorer. 

Now you may ask why you would want to do that? Well, the simple reason is that Internet Explorer offers little or no support for open web technologies and hence richer applications do not work with it.

With Google Chrome Frame, you can use open web technologies within Internet Explorer and the Frame also improves Javascript performance. Read this earlier post that explains why Google Chrome is a great browser to use.

Download Google Chrome Frame. [Supports Internet Explorer 6/7/8]

Related Reading: Why You Must Use Google Chrome 3

10+ Alternatives to Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer ain't everything.

Here are 10+ great alternative internet browsers to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Ardent IE users can always use Internet Explorer 8, the latest and best version yet of IE, but you can also give these brilliant web browsers a try.

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox is one of the world's best browsers that is fast and comes with tons of add-ons to help you enjoy a better time on the Internet and also make it more productive. Learn a few starters before downloading it from here.

Google Chrome

Google's Chrome browser is a lightweight and super-fast browser that can be downloaded in an instant and is definitely worth a try given it's great features. Download it here.
 
Opera Web Browser

Opera's latest release, Opera 10, is a great alternative to Internet Explorer. It is fast and full of excellent features. Download it here.

Apple Safari

Apple Safari is a typical Apple browser that is available for both Windows and Mac. It is easy to navigate through and is a speedy browser with capabilities that vastly improve over Internet Explorer. Check out 150 Safari features here and download the latest version of the browser here.

Maxthon

Another brilliant browser on the lines of Firefox. Download Maxthon from here.

Flock

Flock is a web browser that specializes in integration of social media tools within the browser making blogging and staying on top of your social life online an easier task. Download Flock from here.

Amaya

Amaya is an open-source web browser from W3C. Download it from here.

Seamonkey

Seamonkey is another open-source web browser and internet suite. Download it from here.

K-Meleon

K-Meleon is a decent alternative open-source web browser that one can try. Download it from here.

Konqueror

Konqueror is fast web browser and file manager that can be downloaded from here.

Avant Browser

Avant is a brilliant alternative that includes a feed reader, includes ad blocking, provides users to automate browser operations with mouse movement and much more. Download it from here.

Follow Internet Simplified on Twitter. Subscribe to our RSS feeds.

Why You Must Use Google Chrome 3

Faster, sleeker, easier.

Google has come out with a new stable release of Chrome, their web browser. Here's a round-up of the features of Google Chrome 3 which make it a must-try browser.

1. Speed

Google Chrome is one of the fastest browsers around. Google claims that they've improved 25% over the previous version of Chrome in terms of speed. 

Javascript performance, which is basically presence of scripts that help make the web have enhanced interfaces and dynamic capabilities, has improved by over 150%! Pages load faster than ever before.

2. New Tab Page

Chrome 3 has a new Tab page which is much more easier to use than the previous one. The recently-visited websites are still there, but now you can re-arrange them in whatever manner you like using drag-and-drop. 

You can even create a Speed Dial page for websites that would display only the websites you would like on your Chrome Tab page. Pin websites to the page permanently by selecting the 'Keep on this page' option when you hover just a little around the top of the selected website.

3. Omnibox

Google Chrome has one of the most special address bars available in web browsers today, which is called the Omnibox. 

Search anything instantly without having to visit Google itself by simply typing your query in the Omnibox and tapping Enter. 

Search any website instantly by typing the website address and hitting Tab from your keyboard. The Omnibox is truly revolutionary when it comes to web browsers of this era.

4. HTML5 capabilities

Chrome has now added more HTML5 capabilities. You can try out videos that have been embedded with HTML5's video tag. 

Give this website a visit in Google Chrome and play videos by just hovering your mouse over them.

5. Themes

Users of Chrome 3 can now choose from a selection of themes to enjoy a wonderful browsing experience. Simply visit Chrome's themes gallery to set a new theme for your Chrome browser.

Download Google Chrome, if you haven't already.

[Via Chrome Blog]

Follow Internet Simplified on Twitter and Subscribe to our RSS feeds.

7 Must-Dos before you start using Firefox

And even while you are using it.

Here are 7 simple tips to become a Mozilla Firefox power user and enjoy the experience of the internet even more. Firefox is one of the world's most popular browsers, is completely customizable and has tons of Add-Ons to help you simplify many of the tasks we do online every day.

1. Upgrade to the latest version

Always download the latest version of any browser from it's official website. If by any chance, you are not using the latest stable version (Firefox 3.5.3), then you could probably be using a lesser version. Check your version from your browser's Help -> About Mozilla Firefox and head to the Firefox website to upgrade your Firefox to the latest version.
 
2. Speed it up instantly

Firefox (or any browser) is essentially configured to handle a single request for a webpage at a time. You can tweak those settings by allowing it to handle several requests at an instant which can hence speed up your web browser. You can also reduce the time Firefox takes to act on requests.

Learn how to do that here. A point to note here is that streamlining multiple requests is best done on a broadband connection. Avoid it if you are on a dial-up connection.

3. Get the best add-ons

What makes Firefox truly special is it's collection of remarkable, user-created add-ons. You can make Firefox truly your own and unique by customizing it. Find add-ons for bookmarking, sharing, automating daily tasks, improving the usage of tabs, downloading YouTube videos, taking screenshots and almost all other tasks that you do on the web daily.

You can surf for add-ons on the Firefox website here. Find a list of recommended add-ons and download them here.

4. Set multiple home pages

Improve your productivity by setting multiple pages as home pages. An alternative is obviously to bookmark your most important ones, but more on that a little later. But you could probably set all of your email accounts on the internet as your homepages. 

If you are a blogger, you could open your blog, a tracking website and your Adsense or Feedburner webpages all together to instantly get an update on blog activity. This is again a tip recommended for broadband users.

Simply set multiple home pages by going to Tools -> Options. Provide all the homepages you want with a '|' in between each.

5. Fill up the bookmarks bar

The bar that is displayed below the Navigation toolbar in Firefox is the Bookmarks bar. Add regularly-visited websites to this toolbar and instantly access them with a click. Shorten their names on the toolbar to accommodate more websites on the Bookmarks bar. 

Fill it up completely with your favorite websites and use them faster. Use Smart Bookmarks Bar to only show only the icons of the bookmarked links. Once you hover over the icon, the website's name is displayed as information. Get Smart Bookmarks Bar here.

6. Get all the best search engines

Firefox comes with a separate Search Bar within the navigation toolbar. You can select your search engine for anything you are looking to find instead of going to the website itself. While the best ones like Google and Yahoo! are already present, you can fill up the Search Bar with other search engines (Bing for example) by simply browsing the add-ons site.

Become a power user by using search engines without having to visit the search engine websites every now and again.

7. Learn Firefox shortcuts

Improve your experience on Firefox by learning the browser's shortcuts that make it faster and easier to use. You can find a list of keyboard shortcuts on Mozilla's website here. Shortcuts always make applications faster to use and with Firefox, browsing will only become much more simpler and better than it already is.

These basics should make you enjoy Firefox a lot more than other web browsers. And give you a great internet experience to savour.


Follow Internet Simplified on Twitter. Subscribe to Internet Simplified's RSS feeds.