Browsing the internet should be easy! Unfortunately, with all of the toolbars, icons, labels and preloaded bookmarks of the most used internet browsers (IE, Firefox) your viewable space can get a bit messy. If you have found yourself a bit overwhelmed by the “clutter” that has accumulated within your browser or simply want to see more of the web pages you are browsing, we have something for you. Welcome to JumpstartMyFirefox! We’re going to show you how to take your browser from A to B.
Over the past few years, Firefox add-ons have grabbed my attention more and more. Each time I found myself with a browsing need or problem, a quick Google search led me to a solution using add-ons, which are basically mini-programs that work within Firefox to customize some part of the browsing experience. I have installed and tested many add-ons during that time and today I bring you my own collection, titled JumpstartMyFirefox, to help you take back your browser.
With all of the social networking tools available today, it is easy to get wrapped up in the fun of it all and forget about the basic rules of life. One of the biggies – Don’t announce to the world that you are not home. Unfortunately, people are happily volunteering this information (along with plenty of other personal tidbits) to the entire world without understanding the potential dangers of doing so. Social media sites/tools are making it increasingly easier for thieves to track your moves and know when you are not home. A great new site PleaseRobMe.com pokes a bit of fun at the phenomenon and aims to educate the masses by showing what NOT to do.
“Listing all those empty homes out there” is the tagline for PleaseRobMe.com and categories like “Recent Empty Homes” are used to demonstrate the dangers of location-aware services. Location-aware services is a broad term that basically means any software, device or site that allows you to share your current geographical location with others. There are a lot of advantages to sharing your location (mostly social) but users should understand the dangers associated with broadcasting your whereabouts. Mainly, telling people you are at point X means you are not at home, thus making your home a target for thieves.
So, you have a question about… anything. Depending on who you are or how you operate, you are probably going to do one of two things. You are going to ask friends, family and co-workers for the answer or you are going to go directly to the internet (specifically Google). Sure, there are other options like phone books and ….. well, I don’t know. I think the vast majority of people in the world will use one of these two options. Now, thanks to Google Social Search, these two methods might begin to merge into one very useful solution.
Google Social Search is a new way to search the web. You simply Google as you always did and a new section will appear in the results, aptly titled “Results from your social circle.” These results will include more relevant, personal web content from your friends and online contacts. These links, images, blogs, etc. are taken from the social networking sites that your friends are part of, like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, etc. We could explain it further, but this video (by the amazing commoncraft) does it so well.
What is a blog? A year or two ago, most people had no idea what a blog was or why they would ever want to read one. Now, blogging is part of everyday life and most of us are familiar with the concept and even follow a blog or two. As we near our 100th blog post (today we hit 86), I thought it would be fitting to take some time to explain blogs and the programs available for readers and would-be bloggers.
A blog (web log) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Many blogs provide commentary on a particular subject while others function as more personal online diaries. (definition taken from wikipedia.com) Although the term “weblog” was coined in 1997, it has only been over the past few years that the majority of us have become familiar with the concept.
Each morning I try to decide what to write about and the topic is often presented to me by my surroundings. Most often, the answer comes from one of the many web sites that I frequent, but today was a little different. As part of my morning routine, I listen to The Rod Ryan Show on TheBuzz.com and today one of their topics was “funny things that come up as suggestions in Google Search” I had seen a few screen shots of these funnies before, but never really spent any time reading them.
Yesterday, JumpstartMyPC.com began a week-long look at the concept of a Social Media Credit Score. In case you missed it, Social Media Credit Score is a measurement of social risk, for an individual, based on information available through social media outlets. Today we are going to focus on the elements that make up your score, so you’ll know how you are seen and what you need to keep an eye on.
Although the idea of a Social Media Credit Score is based on the more well-known financial credit score, there are some key differences that make the development of a formula very difficult. This social media measurement (SMCS) has no governing body and there is no required reporting that most be followed by users/creators of social media web sites. Also, most areas of measurement are not black or white, but gray. As we look at the components of the SMCS, you will see the difficulty in developing a true formula for your Social Media Credit Score.
The idea I want you to walk away with is this. How do others see me? “Others” can be defined as any person/group who has an interest in you as an individual (an area that we will focus on later in the week.) What are the first impressions of a would-be researcher? How do your actions, or the actions of others, (in social media) portray you? Are you a positive or a negative? Are you a strength or a liability? These are not numbers or a traditional “score” but they are a measurement of an individual nonetheless. (more…)
For years, I have been a Google fan. I remember the day I first entered google.com and was stopped in my tracks by the white space that presented itself. It was… different! At the time, I think something like 70% of all internet traffic started at Yahoo.com, but their page was getting a little cluttered and distracting. I liked this new Google thing and I knew then that I had found my new entry point for the web.
Over the years, Google has added a multitude of services and I have tried many of them. Their products are always clean, easy-to-use and almost always FREE (which I like a lot). Because their products are FREE, I tried as many as I could find. Gmail, Google Reader, Google Chat, Google Calendar… The list goes on and on. Over the last year, I actually had to start a folder of shortcuts for all of the different services that I was using. I couldn’t remember how to get to half of them. Enter Google Dashboard.
Researching the past has always been available to me. I could step into a library or even read a magazine article to find out more about what has already happened. Over the last 15 years, thanks to the growth of the internet, researching the present has even become a common, everyday practice. Now, thanks to Google Alerts, you can even search the future. That’s right, the future.
At one time or another, we have all needed to look up information for a school, business or personal project. Past and present information was great, but maybe you wanted more. Did you ever think to yourself “I’ll come back later and research this topic again. Some new information is going to surface.” You had great intentions, but you either forgot or it just took forever to get back to the research. A great example of this would be investigating your family tree. Thanks to tools like ancestry.com, you have a great way to research the past, but what happens when someone posts new information in a month or two. Maybe another of your long, lost relatives is doing the same elsewhere and has just the information you were looking for. Wouldn’t you want to know about that?
Our blog posts so far have really covered a wide range, from “Defragging Your Computer” to “Facebook mentions.” If you have read more than one of them and know that our goal at JumpstartMyPC.com is to help PC users get the most out of their PC, you might be wondering how all these topics fit. Yesterday, I saw it all come together in a few seconds.
A friend of mine posted a YouTube video to Facebook. I clicked on the link to find it was a commercial from Norton Antivirus, and it was pretty funny. The content, writing and filming were all great but I was laughing for a different reason. The makers of Norton Antivirus were hyping their Norton Internet Security software, with no mention of purchase price or subscriptions. They were using this free advertising stream (Facebook) and the comedy of a quick, short video hosted on YouTube (also free) to market a product that will cost you, the user….
What is a blog? A year or two ago, most people had no idea what a blog was or why they would ever want to read one. Now, blogging is part of everyday life and most of us are familiar with the concept and even follow a blog or two. As we near our 100th blog post (today we hit 86), I thought it would be fitting to take some time to explain blogs and the programs available for readers and would-be bloggers.
Each morning I try to decide what to write about and the topic is often presented to me by my surroundings. Most often, the answer comes from one of the many web sites that I frequent, but today was a little different. As part of my morning routine, I listen to The Rod Ryan Show on 
Yesterday, 
For years, I have been a Google fan. I remember the day I first entered google.com and was stopped in my tracks by the white space that presented itself. It was… different! At the time, I think something like 70% of all internet traffic started at Yahoo.com, but their page was getting a little cluttered and distracting. I liked this new Google thing and I knew then that I had found my new entry point for the web.
