mouseless bliss !

Lifehacker has a collection of cool articles describing how to achieve absolute (well, almost...) mouseless computing bliss - an absolute lifesaver for a geek.

_mouseless_firefox

Navigation from the toolbar

The address bar shortcut should be as instinctual as breathing by now, but there's a few more shortcuts to that top bar that you should keep in mind.

  • Select location bar: Ctrl/Cmd+L or Alt+D
  • Select search bar: Ctrl/Cmd+K
  • Back: Backspace or Alt/Cmd+Left
  • Forward: Alt/Option+Right or Shift+Backspace
  • Change search engine: Ctrl/Cmd+Down (Next) +Up (Previous)

The last shortcut, used to change the search engine, was a big discovery for me. I've always been interested in additional search bar plugins, but it was never worth the trip to the mouse. No problem any more.

Searching pages

The find-as-you-type feature was an epiphany. While Google is great at getting you to the right web page, Firefox's find-as-you-type feature gets you the rest of the way.

  • Find as you type text: /
  • Find as you type link: '
  • Regular old find: Ctrl/Cmd+F

The link search is very useful, especially when used in conjunction with...

Opening pages

Unless you do all of your browsing in one page, these shortcuts are huge when you don't want to go running for your mouse.

  • Open link in new window: Shift+Enter
  • Open link in new tab: Ctrl/Cmd+Enter
  • Open address/search in new tab: Alt/Option+Enter

Used together with their respective shortcuts (address and search bar shortcuts and the find-as-you-type link shortcut), the page opening shortcuts go a long way toward mouse-less browsing.

Grab bag

The following shortcuts fall into a more general grab bag of useful shortcuts.

  • Caret browsing: F7
  • Refresh: Ctrl/Cmd+R or F5
  • Refresh (override cache): Ctrl/Cmd+F5 or Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+R
  • Switch tabs: Ctrl/Cmd+Tab
  • Select tab (1-9): Ctrl/Cmd+[1-9]
  • Compose email: Ctrl/Cmd+M

The preceding shortcuts are of mostly obvious usefulness. Switching tabs and reloading pages are must-have shortcuts for any mouse-eschewing Firefox-er. A less-known feature, Caret browsing, inserts a cursor into the text of the page and is very useful for highlighting and
copying text.

_essential_windowsXP_keyboard_shortcuts_ {All possible XP shortcuts from Microsoft}

windows vista wallpapers

Some Stunning Vista Wallpapers : here, here and here. Thanks Brajeshwar.

Digg!

a major security flaw in firefox2

Mozilla's Firefox 2.0 has long been considered a safer Web browser than Microsoft's Internet Explorer, but a new flaw in the Firefox Password Manager, which lets users store usernames and passwords for trusted Web sites, could let hackers steal their login data.

The problem, known as a reverse cross-site request, or RCSR, appears on blogs, message boards, or group forums that let users add comments with embedded HTML code.

On sites that allow users to enter code, a hacker can embed a form that tricks the user's browser into sending its username and password information to the hacker's computer. Because the form is embedded on a trusted Web site, the browser's built-in antiphishing protection, which is designed to alert users to fraudulent Web sites, does not detect the problem.

Even worse, hackers can make the deceptive form invisible, meaning users can transmit their private data without even knowing it.

Bug #360493

Mozilla has acknowledged the problem and named it bug #360493. Microsoft has also admitted that RCSR attacks can affect Internet Explorer, but most reports indicate that Firefox is the more likely target because of the way it stores usernames and passwords.

Neither Mozilla nor Microsoft has released a patch for the problem, but users can avoid RCSR attacks simply by disabling their browsers' autosave features for usernames and passwords. In Firefox, the feature is found in the "Options" window under the "Tools" menu.

Mozilla has indicated that it plans a fix in Firefox version 2.0.0.1 or 2.0.0.2.

Digg!

Fool the Keyloggers !

You are uberGeek...and you knew this trick...didn't you ? Anyway, Private university Carnegie Mellon has written up an interesting [read...OLD and OBVIOUS] method for keeping your passwords safe from keyloggers at public computers.
Read the PDF.

Digg!

Download Google Screensaver without installing Google Pack

This is short guide to download and install the Google Pack Screensaver without downloading any of the other software in Google Pack or the even the Google Updater software. The Google screensaver will be installed without the Google Logo.

The Google Screensaver is probably the best piece of software in the entire Google Pack. The screensaver displays a slideshow of your digital pictures full screen or as a collage. The collage effect gives an impression as if someone is dumping Polaroid images on your desktop over time. Google screensaver works even on dual monitor screens.

Though the screensaver installer is only a few kilobytes, you need to download the entire Google updater application from pack.google.com to install the Google Screensaver.

If that is too much work for you, here is a quick tip to download a standalong google screensaver and as a bonus, this modified screensaver doesn't display the Google logo on the top right corner.

Download this standalone Google Screensaver (.scr file) and save the file to your Windows folder (generally, C:\Windows in XP and C:\WinNT in Windows 2000).

The Google screensaver is now installed on your computer. To configure your screensaver and set it as the default screensaver on your system, follow these steps:

1. Right-click on your desktop and select "Properties" from the menu that appears
2. Select the "Screen Saver" tab from the "Display Properties" dialog
3. From the "Screen saver" drop-down, select "Google Pack Screensaver" then click the "Settings" button
4. From the settings window, you can select the transition, timing, and selection of photos in your screensaver.

Original Article : {DigitalInspiration}

Digg!

Adding Google sitemap to blogger.com blog account

You can now add Google sitemap to your blogger.com account and increase your chances of being indexed in Google search engine result. You can add a Sitemap to your account to give Google more information about the pages in your site to help Google crawl them more effectively.

Step # 1: Login to sitemap account

At the top of screen you will see option to add site. Just paste URL of your blog (for example http://geek-o-pedia.blogspot.com/)

Click on Ok button. Next you will get confirmation message. Your site has been added to your account.

Step # 2: Now you need to verify your ownership of blog to view detailed statistics. Click on verify link. Google offers two methods of verification. You can either upload an HTML file with a name we specify (which is not possible with Google Blogger account), or you can add a META tag to your site’s index file. Adding META tag via template code is possible so just select Add a META tag from drop down menu:

It will generate code for you, copy the meta tag and paste it into your blogger.com template section).

Step # 3: Go to your blogger.com and login to your account. Goto your blog > Click on Template
Paste the META tag code after section:

Click on Save Template changes button

Click on Republish Index only button > Wait for few seconds so that your blog being published successfully.

Step # 4: Now goto sitemap account and click the box that read as follows:

I’ve added the META tag in the home page of http://cyberciti.blogspot.com/. Click on Verify button.

Step # 5: Now your site is added to sitemap account and verification is done. Next you need to add actual sitemap url. Since blogger.com account doesn't allow you to create a text file or anything else you need to add your site feed (ATOM xml) file as a site map. Click on add a sitemap link:

Step # 6: You can add a Sitemap to your account to provide Google additional information about about your blog. Google will process your Sitemap and provide information on any errors in the Sitemaps tab as well your sitemap will be downloaded everyday to index your blog fast.
Select type as : Add General Web sitemap

Now you need to add Atom 0.3 feeds. Generally, you would use this format only if your site already has a syndication feed and this is the only way to add sitemap to your blogger.com account.

Paste url of your Atom feed: For example

http://geek-o-pedia.blogspot.com/atom.xml and click on Add Web sitemap:

<>: If you are using a new blogger beta system, use http://yourblogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/full as a feed url.

You will get confirmation:
You have added a Sitemap to http://cyberciti.blogspot.com/. Reports may take several hours to update. Thank you for your patience!

And you are done and your blog will be now index very fast (depend upon your posting and content).

Search fonts with SearchFreeFonts

If you dig Fonts, this is the place to be. SearchFreeFonts is a search engine that licks around 13,000 free fonts.

watch GoogleTalk.

We all know that Google is full of geeks. Google TechTalks are "regularly scheduled presentations offered by Googlers or our guests on a wide variety of subjects." And when they say wide variety, they're not kidding: I found presentations ranging from the video above titled "Human Computation" to "Zero Configuration networking with Bonjour."...go Geeks !

Windows PowerShell 1.0 released

Windows PowerShell
Earlier this week Microsoft released the final version of Windows PowerShell 1.0. PowerShell, formerly known as Monad, is a powerful text-based command shell for Windows, basically the command prompt on steroids. There's a wealth of information at Microsoft's TechNet web site as well as the official PowerShell blog.

Microsoft is trying hard to push PowerShell adoption, however, with a script repository and a scripting sweepstakes in which 12 Xbox 360s are being handed out.

Find out who gives away your email address with Gmail trick. - uberGeek

When you give your email address to a website, you hope that they don't sell or trade your address to a bunch of spammers. Well if they do, here is a simple way to see what sites are responsible for what particular piece of email. This requires you have a Gmail account.

If your Gmail login name was username@gmail.com and you went to samplesite.com to fill out a registration form, instead of just entering username@gmail.com as your email, enter it as username+samplesitecom@gmail.com instead. When Gmail sees a "+" in an email address, it uses all the characters to the left of the plus sign to know who to send it to. In this example it would still send it to username@gmail.com.

Now whats cool is if you search Gmail for username+samplesitecom, you will see all massages that were sent to that email address.

To see who is responsible for sending a specific message click the Show Details link and you will see the complete address.

do a disappearing act...

Freeware programs AlphaXP Lite and MenuShade are Windows and Mac apps that add transparency to your taskbar or menubar (respectively).

Your taskbar/menubar will remain transparent until you hover over it with your mouse, at which point it smoothly fades back to opacity. Aside from cleaning up the workspace, these apps also (to an extent) expand your viewable workspace. If you're someone who lets your taskbar/menubar distract you come work time, one of these programs could be perfect for you. AlphaXP Lite also does windows transparency duties if you're into that sort of thing. Both apps are freeware, both apps are cool.

Recover corrupted/deleted LOCAL emails in Thunderbird.

I have always loved Thunderbird...but my love crossed all bounds today. Somehow in the morning, somehow (dont blame the birdy) my local folders got corrputed and I missed lots of mails from a specific very dear folder...I panicked but my faith in the birdy never wavered. I remembered that birdy never actually deletes any mails until I compact the folders. I tried to google and found this superb article.. In a nutshell, you can recover those long gone mails as follows : (Disclaimer : This will work only if you have not compacted the folder)

- Turn off Thunderbird, do not compact.

- Using your OS, locate the file without an extension and with the same name as the Thunderbird folder where the messages were last (might be Trash) in your profile folder http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder#Thunderbird
For example, the Inbox file rather than inbox.msf or inbox.sbd.

- Open this file with a simple text editor.

- Change the digits after X-Mozilla-Status all to zero for those messages you wish to undelete if they still exist.

- Save the file

- Turn off the text editor

- Delete the file of the same name with the extension .msf. Example Trash.msf. This will rebuild the message index.

- If you are religious, say a prayer to the deity or saint of your choice

- Say a prayer to Murphy and the God of your choice.

- Restart Thunderbird

This works like a charm....

Change XP Themes Without Installing 3rd Party Software

Do you hate the way the default windows visual scheme looks? Do you hate the fact that you can only choose from two schemes? Well there are some solutions to fixing this problem. If your lazy and dont care about your RAM usage or other vital stuff - you can install a 3rd party style manager such as Style-XP or some Stardock product. But if you ask me those always up space, RAM, and cpu usage.
I’d rather go into display properties on my desktop and change the visual style there. However - Microsoft prevents you from adding any more visual style due to their “uxtheme.dll” file. Therefore - we must either acquire a hacked version of the file that disables the restriction of adding additional visualization themes, or we can hack it ourselves. You could of course hex edit the dll yourself, but why go through the trouble when someone has already done it for you.

Grab it here
.

Now apply the patch and reboot. After that, you have to install some themes. Here are some great websites where you can get themes from:


http://www.deviantart.com/

http://www.xptheme.info

http://www.deskmod.com

http://www.winxptheme.com/

http://www.windowspro.net/

http://www.themexp.org

http://winxp.rb-338.com/

http://www.belchfire.net/

http://www.aqua-soft.org/

http://www.getskinned.org



So anyway at this point you picked out your selection of themes that you like and have the zip files and your wondering where to put them all. Well its a simple matter of extracting ALL THE FILES found in the zip files to your “c:/windows/resources/themes” directory. After you have finished extracting the files, right click on your desktop then click on “properties.” That will open the Display Properties dialog box. Then:

A. For themes with the “.msstyles” file extension: click on the “Appearance” tab then choose your desired theme from the “Windows and buttons” dialog box, then choose which color scheme you prefer from the “color scheme” dialog box (most themes only come with one color, but some come with more). You should see something like in the screenshot here:

msstyles extension

Click “apply” then close the display properties dialog box.

B. For themes with the “.theme” file extension, make sure the open “display properties” window is the “Themes” tab (it’s the default window, so you should already be looking right at it.) Choose your theme from the “themes” dialog box like below:

Screen2

Once you’re done just hit apply.


C. For themes with both the “.msstyles” and “.theme” extensions, use the “.theme” version if you want to use any included icons, wallpaper, etc. Use the “.msstyles” version to use the “visual style” only without using any of the included icons, wallpaper, etc.

You’re done! Yeah, right, wouldn’t that be nice? You only wish it was that easy, because I know I do. So keep reading.

There are certain things that must be in place in order for themes to work correctly, so I recommend you double check to make sure everything is good to go before you do any of the above. So go ahead and open the “c:/windows/resources/themes” folder, and follow the below directions:

1. “.Theme” files must be directly within the “c:/windows/resources/themes” folder, and not within individual folders. Check out the screenshot to see what I mean:


Screen3

If you find any in individual sub-folders, simply move the *.theme* file directly to the “c:/windows/resources/themes” folder.

2. “.Msstyles” files *must* be within their own individual sub-folders within the “c:/windows/resources/themes” folder like in the screenshot

3. After doing the above, you will need to check each individual sub-folder within the “c:/windows/resources/themes” folder, *including* the ones you didn’t have to fix, or create yourself. Why? Because:

a. It is essential that the name of the sub-folder match the name of the “.msstyles” file exactly, and caps, lower case, spaces, underscores, etc., ALL count - i.e., the file “generic.msstyles” must be in a folder entitled “generic,” “Generic_01.msstyles” must be in a folder entitled “Generic_01,” etc.

b. Some “.zip” files will extract files into what I call a “sub-sub folder.” For example, the file “generic.msstyles” might be in a sub-folder of a sub-folder; i.e., “c:/windows/resources/themes/generic/generic.” If this is the case, you will need to move the “.msstyles” file into the first sub-folder, “c:/windows/resources/themes/generic.” Delete the “sub-sub” folder after you’ve moved the “.msstyles” file.


4. Some “.msstyles” themes include what is known as a “shellstyle” (”shellstyle.dll”.) “Shellstyle.dll” should be in its own sub-folder entitled “shell” within the “.msstyles” theme sub-folder, “c:/windows/resources/themes/generic/shell”. Sometimes, the “shell” sub-folder has its own sub-folders, for example, “c:/windows/resources/themes/generic/shell/normalcolor”. If this is the case, “shellstyle.dll” should be in the “normalcolor” sub-folder.

Phew! There you go, now you have a FREE way to making your desktop look great. Not only that, but you’re saving your RAM by keeping extra programs out. More often than not, you wont have to go through the trouble to check all of these things, usually the author organizes the files properly.

Google - uberGeeked !

I have tried to compile the best usage of Google to get almost everything in the search results :

Basic Usage:
  • Use quotation marks ” “ to locate an entire string.

    eg. “james gosling” will only return results with that exact string.

  • Mark essential words with a +

    If a search term must contain certain words or phrases, mark it with a + symbol. eg: +”james gosling” books will return all results containing “james gosling” but not necessarily those pertaining to a book


  • Negate unwanted words with a -

    You may wish to search for the term bass, pertaining to the fish and be returned a list of music links as well. To narrow down your search a bit more, try: bass -music. This will return all results with “bass” and NOT “music”.

General Tips:

  • site:www.microsoft.com

    This will search only pages which reside on this domain.

  • related:www.yahoo.org

    This will display all pages which Google finds to be related to your URL

  • link:www.digg.org

    This will display a list of all pages which Google has found to be linking to your site. Useful to see how popular your site is

  • spell:word

    Runs a spell check on your word

  • define:word

    Returns the definition of the word

  • stocks: [symbol, symbol, etc]

    Returns stock information. eg. stock: msft

  • maps:

    A shortcut to Google Maps

  • phone: name_here

    Attempts to lookup the phone number for a given name

  • cache:

    If you include other words in the query, Google will highlight those words within the cached document. For instance, cache:www.google.org web will show the cached content with the word “web” highlighted.

  • info:

    The query [info:] will present some information that Google has about that web page. For instance, info:www.google.org will show information about the Google homepage. Note there can be no space between the “info:” and the web page url.

  • weather:

    Used to find the weather in a particular city. eg. weather: jabalpur

Advanced Tips:

  • filetype:

    Does a search for a specific file type, or, if you put a minus sign (-) in front of it, it won’t list any results with that filetype. Try it with .mp3, .mpg or .avi if you like.


  • daterange:

    Is supported in Julian date format only. 2452384 is an example of a Julian date.

  • allinurl:

    If you start a query with [allinurl:], Google will restrict the results to those with all of the query words in the url. For instance, [allinurl: google search] will return only documents that have both “google” and “search” in the url.

  • inurl:

    If you include [inurl:] in your query, Google will restrict the results to documents containing that word in the url. For instance, [inurl:google search] will return documents that mention the word “google” in their url, and mention the word “search” anywhere in the document (url or no). Note there can be no space between the “inurl:” and the following word.

  • allintitle:

    If you start a query with [allintitle:], Google will restrict the results to those with all of the query words in the title. For instance, [allintitle: google search] will return only documents that have both “google” and “search” in the title.

  • intitle:


    If you include [intitle:] in your query, Google will restrict the results to documents containing that word in the title. For instance, [intitle:google search] will return documents that mention the word “google” in their title, and mention the word “search” anywhere in the document (title or no). Note there can be no space between the “intitle:” and the following word.

  • allinlinks:

    Searches only within links, not text or title.

  • allintext:

    Searches only within text of pages, but not in the links or page title.

  • bphonebook:

    If you start your query with bphonebook:, Google shows U.S. business white page listings for the query terms you specify. For example, [ bphonebook: google mountain view ] will show the phonebook listing for Google in Mountain View.


  • phonebook:

    If you start your query with phonebook:, Google shows all U.S. white page listings for the query terms you specify. For example, [ phonebook: Krispy Kreme Mountain View ] will show the phonebook listing of Krispy Kreme donut shops in Mountain View.

  • rphonebook:

    If you start your query with rphonebook:, Google shows U.S. residential white page listings for the query terms you specify. For example, [ rphonebook: John Doe New York ] will show the phonebook listings for John Doe in New York (city or state). Abbreviations like [ rphonebook: John Doe NY ] generally also work.

Putting it all Together:


Now it’s time to start to get creative with our search terms and really narrow down our results. Now that we have the basics, let’s start to combine them all into one search term.

Example #1: Search for some MP3s

Let’s say you’re a Beatles fan and want to see if you can find some of their songs on the Internet without using Kazaa, etc. Try this query:

“index of” + “mp3? + “beatles” -html -htm -php

or you could try this query:

* “index of/mp3? -playlist -html -lyrics beatles

Wonderful interview with Richard Feynman - the uber-uber-geek

Excellent short 40 min documentary interview with Dr.Feynman Here.

Super Windows XP Tips.

Yahoo! News offers up their top 10 Windows XP tips of all time. They’ve covered a wide range of topics from display tips to bits on how to increase disk space and performance. I was impressed by some very geeky tips. Check it out.

Identify unknown files and processes running under your nose.

Website WhatIsThatFile.com offers a simple, handy little interface that lets you type in an unknown filename or filetype and gives you as-you-type results.

TorPark

If you're serious about online privacy, you probably already anonymize your browsing sessions at home, but what about when you sit down at an Internet cafe or public terminal where your decidedly non-anonymous use could be tracked back to you? The solution, of course, is to take your privacy with you, and that's what TorPark is here for. Download TorPark for your language, and put it on a USB Flash keychain. Plug it into any internet terminal whether at home, school, or public. Run Torpark.exe and it will launch a Tor circuit connection, which creates an encrypted tunnel from your computer indirectly to a Tor exit computer, giving the appearance of having the Tor exit computer's IP.

Ubuntu / Windows Dual Boot Video Tutorial

Installing a dual-boot system using Windows XP and Ubuntu . The video details the entire process, from partitioning the harddrive to walking through the install procedure. read more

Configuring Apache 2 and Tomcat 5.5 with mod_jk

A configuration nightmare simplified....

1 : Download the mod_jk.so from here .
2 : Rename the downloaded .so file to mod_jk.so and copy it to
/modules folder :
Usually on Windows :C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\modules Linux :/usr/lib/apache/
3 : Open the httpd.conf from your /conf directory
and put the following lines just after the last 'LoadModule' entry.
# Load mod_jk module
# Update this path to match your modules location
LoadModule jk_module "C:/Program Files/Apache
Group/Apache2/modules/mod_jk.so"
# Declare the module for (remove this line on Apache 2.x)
# AddModule mod_jk.c (Gotcha : Remove this is you have Apache 2.x)
# Where to find workers.properties
# Update this path to match your conf directory location (put workers.properties
# next to httpd.conf)
JkWorkersFile "D:/Tomcat 5.5/conf/workers.properties"
# Where to put jk logs
# Update this path to match your logs directory location (put mod_jk.log next to
# access_log)
JkLogFile "D:/Tomcat 5.5/logs/mod_jk.log"
# Set the jk log level [debug/error/info]
JkLogLevel info
# Select the log format
JkLogStampFormat "[%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y] "
# JkOptions indicate to send SSL KEY SIZE,
JkOptions +ForwardKeySize +ForwardURICompat -ForwardDirectories
# JkRequestLogFormat set the request format
JkRequestLogFormat "%w %V %T"
# Send everything for context /examples to worker named worker1 (ajp13)
JkMount /tomcat-docs/* worker1
Note : Change the paths according to your setup

Hack : Even in Windoze machines, we need to provide '/' for path separators
Never give patch like 'D:\Apache' it will never work. Always give path
as 'D:/Apache' in ALL the config files.

4 : Open workers.properties files from your /conf folder
and add the following lines :
# Define 1 real worker using ajp13
worker.list=worker1
# Set properties for worker1 (ajp13)
worker.worker1.type=ajp13
worker.worker1.host=localhost
worker.worker1.port=8009
worker.worker1.lbfactor=50
worker.worker1.cachesize=10
worker.worker1.cache_timeout=600
worker.worker1.socket_keepalive=1
worker.worker1.reclycle_timeout=300
5 : Save all the files.
6 : Restart Apache and Tomcat.
7 : Go to Firefox and give the following URL : http://localhost/tomcat-docs/
8 : You should be able to see the correct page from this apache URL
--Some great information is found here, here, and here.

How to get a perfect shave

MSNBC’s got a fluffy yet informative piece on the “lost art” of the perfect shave, from ye olde classic non-disposable razor to wet chin method to an old-fashioned hot-towel and cut-throat barbershop jobbie. Boys, give this a read if nicks, cuts and rashes are a regular occurrence for you.
How to get that perfect shave [MSNBC]

How to live longer

Forbes lists 10 ways to live longer, including having more sex (woo), not sleeping too much (boo), getting a dog, reducing stress,eating your fruits and veggies and marrying “well.”
This entirely oversimplified list is apparently based on actual scientific research, explained beneath cutesy graphics in a slideshow that accompanies the article (click on the sidebar to see).
Ten ways to live longer [Forbes]

The Hacker’s Diet: a problem-solving approach to losing weight

I found the The Hacker’s Diet by John Walker, self-described “engineer by training, a computer programmer by avocation, and an businessman through lack of alternatives” says, “This is a diet book by somebody who spent most of his life fat.”

How to delete autocomplete entries for forms in Firefox

You know the scenario: You've accidentally entered some wrong username or other information into a form field and now Firefox always suggests this wrong data in the grey auto-complete dropdown too.

It's easy to delete a single entry from the grey autocomplete dropdown:

Just start to type in into the form field until the grey dropdown appears, then use the cursor keys to move to the entry to be deleted and press the SHIFT key and the delete key Voila!


Just for completeness: In IE (Internet Explorer) just press the "Del" key to clear the selected/highlighted string.

Remove accidental IE Restrictions.

I just returned from a 20 day vacation to find that suddenly my IE 7 did not allow me to access the 'Internet Options'. IE spit these dirty error on me...

This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.

I was shocked and was going to throw in the towel when something within me rebelled. I googled a lot to find the following tweak to remove the restriction.

  • Open the Registry and find the following Key :
    • [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions]
  • Set the value of NoBrowserOptions to 0 instead of 1.

Inshort, set the following keys and values :

User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions]
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions]
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = disable restriction, 1 = enable restriction)

Save the registry and restart the browser.

Top Firefox 2 Tweaks.

In honor of the newly released FF2.0, today we'll dive deep into the bowels of the fox's config with a handful of my favorite Firefox 2 (and older) tweaks.

How to modify Firefox's configuration (about:config)

All this "advanced config" talk got you worried? Fear not, my friend. Here's the deal: Firefox's configuration is a long list of keys and values. To view this list, type about:config into the Firefox address bar. Then, enter the name of the key you want to update in the "Filter" field. The list will narrow to only the entries that match your keyword as you type, as shown.

fxaboutcfg.png

(The key, of course, is knowing the key. More on that below.) To modify the value of a key, double-click on the value field and update the entry. To see your changes, restart your browser. Easy as pie.

Got it? Good. Let's get to tweaking.

Session restore

Fx 2.0 only: As a blogger and web mail user, it breaks my heart to recount how many times I've composed a long post or email message, then accidentally closed the tab or browser and lost all my work. No more! With Firefox 2, set the browser.startup.page key to 3 to restore your browsing session - with form entries intact! - every time you start your browser or undo close tab after a wayward click. Note: By default, Firefox 2 automatically restores your session if your browser crashes - but this does it every time you restart your browser normally. Thanks for the tip, Arun!

Update: To do it the normal person way, from the Tools menu choose Options, and in the Main area, select "Show my windows and tabs from last time" from the "When Firefox starts" dropdown. D'oh!

Tab width before scrolling kicks in

Fx 2.0 only: The biggest interface changes in Firefox 2 involve tabbed browsing. Power surfers who open more than a dozen tabs will notice that Firefox 2 minimizes tabs to a certain width, then sets the excess to scroll off the tab bar with left and right arrows. As someone who often has more than a dozen tabs open, not being able to see them all made me crazy. One solution is to reduce the minimum tab width so that more tabs fit in the bar before the scroll kicks in. The default is 100 pixels; I found that 75 worked better for me - page titles were still readable, but more tabs could fit. Compare 100 width, which fits 7 tabs across at this size (click to enlarge):

http://www.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2006/10/fxtabs100-thumb.png

To 75, which fits 10 across at this size (click to enlarge):

http://www.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2006/10/fx-t75-thumb.png

To disable tab scrolling entirely, set the value to 0.

  • Key: browser.tabs.tabMinWidth
  • Modified Value: 75 (fit in more tabs before overflow enables scroll)
  • Alternate Modified Value: 0 (disable scroll entirely)
  • Default: 100
Tab close buttons

Fx 2.0 only: Another tab interface change in Firefox 2 is the addition of a close button on each individual tab. I happen to love this, but some hate it, saying it causes them to accidentally close a tab when just trying to switch to it. If you're a hater, revert to the Firefox 1.5 behavior by changing the browser.tabs.closeButtons value to 3. This will not display close tabs on individual tabs, and turn on a single close tab button at the right end of the tab bar.

  • Key: browser.tabs.closeButtons
  • Modified Value: 3 (revert to Firefox 1.5 behavior)
  • Alternate Modified Value: 2 (don't display any close tab buttons)
  • Default: 1 (display close buttons on all tabs)
Fetch only what you click

Fx .6 and up: Firefox has this wacky little feature that downloads pages from links it thinks you may click on pages you view, like the top result on a page of Google results. This means you use up bandwidth and CPU cycles and store history for web pages you may not have ever viewed. Creepy, eh? To stop that madness, set the network.prefetch-next key to false.

Limit RAM usage

All versions: Goodness knows I've done a good amount of belly-aching about Firefox's voracious appetite for RAM. (It's consistently the most memory-intensive process on both my PC and Mac.) Happily a simple config tweak got Mem Use right back down to a more comfortable number. Along with the previous prefetch mod, set your browser.cache.disk.capacity to a value that fits your total RAM.

  • Key: browser.cache.disk.capacity
  • Modified Value: Depends on your system's total memory. According to Computerworld:
    For RAM sizes between 512BM and 1GB, start with 15000. For RAM sizes between 128MB and 512M, try 5000.
Turn off chrome tooltips

fxtooltipblock.png

All versions: I have an irritating Firefox problem on my Mac. When I try to drag a bookmark into one of my bookmark toolbar folders, the tool tip gets in the way and prevents the drop from working. Argh! Like you, I already know what all the buttons on my browser chrome do, so the tool tips aren't necessary. To turn them off, set the browser.chrome.toolbar_tips key value to false. Bonus is, it solved my Mac's bookmark drag and drop problem.

  • Key: browser.chrome.toolbar_tips
  • Modified Value: false

Lastly, though 2.0's default value is a lot more reasonable than 1.5's, you can use about:config to put off that annoying Unresponsive Script dialog on Javascript-heavy web pages.

Update: From the comments, a few more good about:config tweaks:

  • layout.spellcheckDefault = 2 turns on Firefox 2's spell-checking in input fields as well as textarea.
  • browser.urlbar.hideGoButton=true turns off the rarely-used Go button at the end of the address bar, for more room to see long URLs.

See the MozillaZine about:config wiki page for the exhaustive list of Firefox preferences keys, their possible values and effects.

Stolen from original article at Lifehacker.

Managing \dllcache folder in XP

%WINDOWS%\system32\dllcache\ folder on my work machine gobbled up 500 Megs of my precious C drive and left me with a slow pathetic machine.

What on earth does it contain ? WinXP uses System File Checker to protect itself from system instability caused by 3rd party software overwriting important system files. By default, Windows File Protection is always enabled and allows Windows digitally signed files to replace existing files safely. To do that, the Windows File Protection service constantly monitors for any changes to the main system files. Well Windows XP keeps a cache (copy) of these essential files at the following location:

C:WINDOWS\System32\Dllcache (assuming C: is your system root which it probably is.)

Deleting this folder is easy, just say this at the command prompt:

sfc /purgecache

But this cache will be rebuild next time you restart the machine. But, its easy to redirect this cache to a larger partition. Just do the following :

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
Modify or create a subkey as follows
SFCDllCacheDir=[Disk:\Folder]

How to Tie a Tie...

If you've never been initiated into the secret society of tie-wearing, rejoice! For your ship has just come in, via this instructional tie-tying video.

How to Tie a Tie and also this, this and this.

Prevent RSI

Lets begin our journey to uberGeekdom with something important. Our n hour long stretches on the box has some alarming affect on our physique and psyche.

Among all the adverse effects, the most painful is RSI.
I neglected the numbing feeling in my right wrist for a while but could not ignore the shooting pain. I've been too laissez-faire about it myself, and I've suffered for it.
During last two weeks, I changed my working style and would like to share some tips with you.

  • Get yourself a tiny timer. Setup small timers. The timer should stop you at these small intervals and ask you to relax. The best tool I found was http://www.workrave.org/welcome/
  • Follow the instructions as per the timer program and try NOT to neglect the small breaks (the usual break I keep is for 30 seconds every 5 mins)
  • WorkRave also suggests exercises that you can do during those short breaks. Follow those.
  • DO NOT MULTITASK. Multitasking is good for machines, not for us.
  • Stop using mouse where keyboard would do. Learn common keystroke replacement. If you are uberGeek, use AutoHotKey
If you find some other tips ... share them.
Healthy Computing...