My Favorite Firefox Extensions

Firefox is the best browser I have seen to date and with the capability of add-ons such as extensions and themes which apart from changing the looks of the browser, also give new capabilities to it. I have used opera too, but didn't find it that impressive. Some sites that I visited didn't render properly in Opera (like Gamespot). IE, to me it seems that there always some or the other vulnerability to it quite a few times in a week.

I am not totally praising Firefox nor criticizing the others but it's just that Firefox suits my needs and provides me with plenty of tweaks that I can ask from a browser.

There are plenty of extensions on the net for Firefox but I my Favourite are :

• Scrapbook - ScrapBook is a Firefox extension, which helps you to save Web pages and easily manage collections. Key features are lightness, speed, accuracy and multi-language support
  
  
• ShowIP - See IP addresses of the site you visit.
  
  
• Adblock - Block unwanted ads from web pages
  
  
• StumbleUpon - StumbleUpon lets you "channelsurf" the best-reviewed sites on the web. It is a collaborative surfing tool for browsing, reviewing and sharing great sites with like-minded people. This helps you find interesting webpages you wouldn't think to search for.
  
  
• CustomizeGoogle - Twaek google as per your need.
  
  
• Pdf Dowload - Allows to choose whether you want to view a PDF file inside the browser (as PDF or HTML) or you want to download it!

• TabX - It puts a cross at each tab opened, just like opera.
  
  
• Paste and Go - Copy the URL and click Paste and go, saves you one click.

I find Scrapbook concept much similar to Yahoo My web which is in beta stage that stores either only the links ( similar to del.icio.us) or it can store the whole page as it is.

Using Abstract or interface Class?

Ever faced that question in java while programming..then Ray bao's Weblog at Jroller has a really good comparison of both which helps to decide which one to go for.

In most cases, interface is easily to handle compared to abstract class which I haven't used much..but by seeing this post I think will have to now experiment more with the abstract class.

Timed Shutdown Of PC

I greatly needed a software for automatic shutdown of my pc on certain time.Though there were many options available I finally settled for Switch Off. Its very good,free,small and does the job fine too.I am very happy with it and users who need only little functionality such as shutdown,logoff,standby etc should definitely give this software a try.

Overview:
Switch Off is a tiny easy-to-use tray-based system utility that can automatically perform various frequently used operations like shutdown or restart your computer, disconnect your current dialup connection, lock workstation, etc. It also provides fast access to this operations through system tray icon. Utility has fully customizeable Web interface, that allows you to initiate operations mentioned above remotely from any computer with web browser installed. Web interface includes WAP support, so you can control your computer from mobile phone. This utility is intended to be used by either novice or professional user, because of its intuitive interface and professional features.

Installing ATI drivers

I have a ATI Radeon card and when its time to update the graphics card display driver, the approach recommended is to first uninstall the previous drivers and then continue with the setup of the new one.Though theres nothing wrong with this approach, sometimes I feel uncomfortable to restart the pc after uninstalling, then rebooting, then installing the new drivers and then again rebooting , finally making the new drivers come into effect.

The alternative approach I used requires ony 1 reboot (though thats not a big point) but I really like it as compared to the above.

Its simple.I download the new drivers...run the exe so the files get extracted to C:\ATI (which is default) and when the setup starts I cancel it.Then I go to device manager from My Computer and then select my display adapter from the list.Double click on it to view its properties and finally in the Driver tab click on update driver ..then by specifyng the have disk option I give the path of C:\ATI\Drivers folder.Click on either a .inf file named something as CX_??? (for XP) or CK_??? (for Win 2K). Thats it.Requires only one reboot and I am done.
Ofcourse this is to update only the display driver and not the control centre but I since I don't use it much..I find this method quite comfortable

In case you wish,try the above procedure at your own risk.

GTASA online community

GTAComplex is a very good site letting you access and modify various modules of this beautiful game.There are mods,trainers,saved games,videos and many more things regarding the game.This game has a very good online community too at GTA forums.

Java Community

I now find that jroller at Jroller is the best blogging community for java.One can find various sorts of articles ranging from simple workaround programs to the most complicated tweaks/hacks.Couple it with Javalobby and you have a perfect couple giving you the latest happenings in the java world.

I have really learned many things from these two sites alone making them one of my favourites.
There may be many sites that are comparable to these...but as far as I know and what I have seen...I really like these sites.

Freeware

Was just browsing the net when I came upon a Gizmo's page of freeware....The site has some impressive list of freewares which I had never heard before.
Will surely check few of those.

My new blog

Finally I have now jumped in blogging.This is my warm HELLO greeting to everyone reading this post.This blog will on programming,life,philosophy...so readers do keep checkin for new posts.