by WebKeyDesign | Jan 20, 2006 | Firefox
In the last couple of weeks the reality of a portable Firefox browser became a reality. Not so much because there were not portable versions before, but that the idea seem to be catching on and the 1.5 release seems to now be available. So what exactly is a portable Firefox browser mean?
Today, we have access to more computers and while the idea of using a ASP (application service provider) seems appealing, right now most people just want to take their browser settings with them. For example, say you have access to a computer lab, but you do not want to leave your settings on a shared computer. The solution is an inexpensive flash drive and a customized version of Firefox which allows you to keep all your settings on the flash drive. This means you can take all your cookies, password logins, bookmarks, and even use all your favorite extensions. There are also portable versions of Thunderbird, the Mozilla email client, but in the case of email most people prefer HotMail or GMail to a portable application. Here are a few places to try in case you need a portable Firefox.
Portable Firefox at PortableApps
The recently launched PortableApps.com website has a full library of all kinds of portable apps you can use on your USB flash drive. The main ones are opensource related like OpenOffice and all the Mozilla apps, including Firefox, Thunderbird, and Nvu the web editor. Most apps can be started by clicking an icon that sets up the application to run without writing data to the main hard drive. The best thing of all is that all these apps work on any portable drive, or if you want use them on a local hard drive and then just copy them to a flash drive and you have all your settings with you. It really makes me wonder why Windows does not work this way to begin with!
U3 Firefox
Some brands of USB flash drives are U3 drives. These drives come with an application launcher and special software that runs U3 applications in a special environment, so that no data is written to the main computer’s hard drive at all. The difference between Portable Apps and U3 apps is that most U3 apps are not free. U3 is essentially a platform, and software vendors can make their apps U3 apps and then sell them just like regular Windows applications. Some apps though are free, like Firefox and Thunderbird. If you do not have a flash drive yet, you might consider a U3 drive since it makes application management easier. U3.com has a Software Central area which lists all applications that are available.
Portable Firefox Re-Loaded
You will find that plenty of people are revising John Haller’s Portable Firefox version to fit certain needs, like being able to have a portable version that runs on Mac OS X. The more interesting one is Cross-platform Portable Firefox, which claims to be able to run on Windows and Mac OS X at the same time. This is done by using a script for OS X to make the profile work correctly. Confused? Wait till Mac Firefox for Intel comes out, imagine how confusing that is going to be! But if you only want a straight OS X portable version, then you can try FreeSMUG.org’s Portable Firefox OS X version.
Recommendations
Personally if you are not a computer wizard, your best bet is to get a U3 drive and use one of the versions off of their site. Most likely by the time you read this, most U3 drives will come prepackaged with Firefox anyway. If you prefer an empty flash drive, then John Haller’s Portable Firefox seems to be the standard.
by WebKeyDesign | Jan 19, 2006 | Networking
Recently I had to help a friend get his RDP working on his home computer. He has Qwest DSL and just one computer connected directly to an Actiontec 54 Mbps Wireless DSL modem. For some reason these modems have a confusing interface. To get the port forwarding to work, you need to setup your PC with a static IP address first and then configure the Actiontec to forward to this internal IP address.
In the Actiontec web interface, go through the Advanced Setup and then when you get to the Port Forwarding screen, click Advanced in the lower right corner. The screen that comes up will say Advanced Port Forwarding. On this screen, at the top section add your ports and your internal IP address and then click Add. This will keep the setting and you will have restart the modem. This is the only way I got the modem to keep the settings.
If you still have problems after this and you have confirmed that the Actiontec retained your port forwarding settings, check your computer to make sure that you do not have a software firewall blocking the ports.
You might also look at troubleshooting ports on DSL and DSL router forwarding ports problem for more tips.
by WebKeyDesign | Jan 19, 2006 | WebKeyDesign
Back in May of 2005, I had this idea that I should start a web design and hosting business as a hobby, because I was really bored with my life and needed something challenging again to pick me up. I am positive some of my friends were skeptical and in some respects I agreed with their points, but hey I always preach to others that you can do whatever you want if you put in the effort. Well it’s now 2006 and WebKeyDesign is now more than six months old and so what exactly happened and what did I learn?
Google As Your Partner
If you have any kind of business, from a coffeeshop to an online business such as mine, then you really need Google for everything. Although I would like to think that in the future Yahoo and MSN Search will be as helpful and as important, for the time being Google is my most important search engine. From bringing plenty of visitors to WebKeyDesign.com, to allowing me to show my business in Google Local, to providing me with free tools like Google Sitemaps, Google really has a lot to offer small businesses. If you do one thing, learn all you can about what Google can do for you.
Business Decisions Are Costly
Most of the time I researched for weeks before I spent any money for the business and executed pretty well. However for some decisions I ended up going for it and it cost me. This happens to any business and let’s face it, there are going to be times when all the research in the world is still not going to tell you anything. Sometimes the only choice you really have is to take a chance, or play it safe and never experience any growth. Even if you lose money from a business decision, the least you can get out of the experience is what not to do next time you have a similar choice.
The Right Customers
There are always going to be people who need your services, but not everyone who asks you for help will be a right customer. What I mean is that being helpful and assisting non-customers is a great way to promote your business, so even if you do not get a paying customer from answering someone’s questions, you at least build a relationship that can hopefully lead to other customers. In certain instances helping out becomes a wrong customer. Some people are going to be rude or perhaps a drag on your time, in these cases you really do need to walk away from the situation and do it in a friendly manner. Undoubtedly many relationships do not work out and in business it is the same thing, you cannot work with some people and the sooner you find this out, the better your business will run.
Read More Books
Since starting the business, I have been hanging out at the library more and more. The stack of books that I go through has expanded ten fold. I have picked up books on every facet of my business, from accounting, to computers, to marketing, to more marketing. In the last month I have scaled back the book reading and now invest 40% of my reading time to business reading, and the rest to casual reading. This has happened mostly because I have found which books I like and can use, and which ones do not work for me. Now I concentrate more on the books I know are of value to me, and give myself a break by reading for pleasure. The idea is to find a comfortable balance between your business and your personal life.
Owning Your Business
The one thing that really sticks out to me after doing this is how much more respect I now have for other business owners. There is a lot of stress with having a business and anyone who can live with such pressures and still maintain their composure is truly unique.
by WebKeyDesign | Jan 16, 2006 | Firefox
While I use Firefox 1.5 on Windows as my default browser, on Mac OS X, Firefox just feels unfinished compared to Apple’s Safari. In Windows world, Firefox has leaped frogged the current IE in terms of features, (with stability being reasonable for a third party browser) which makes Firefox a no-brainer choice. However Apple’s Safari is a new browser and while it may not have actual extensions, it still has quite a feature list and it is comparable if not faster than Firefox.
The more annoying problems with the 1.5 release are web site issues. Forms which do not work at all on Firefox work just fine on Safari. I should be fair and say that I have had some issues with Safari along the same lines, but Firefox 1.1 had no such issues. Firefox’s own developers admit that the OS X version of 1.5 was less than stellar:
Firefox 1.5 was a major milestone on all platforms, but it was not quite what it could have been on Mac OS X. We just didn’t have the resources to test for and fix bugs fast enough when release time rolled around. However, not delaying the release was a decision that I was happy with because it was the right thing to do, even if it meant less-than-great Mac OS X support. Firefox 1.5 was still a major upgrade in terms of Mac OS X support, and nothing to be ashamed of.
The problem was that expectations were quite high for 1.5 and on the OS X platform, the expectations did end up being a bit too high. This leaves most OS X users waiting for 1.5.1, or even the 2.0 version, at a time when the Mac world is in drastic change with Intel processor changes. To make matters worse or better depending on what your opinion is, Microsoft has dropped IE for OS X completely. This leaves only Safari and Firefox (and of course Mozilla).
While 1.5 seemed to take forever to be released, Firefox as a whole is moving to more updated releases and stability is still a main focus for the developers. Eventually Firefox will be more competitive on OS X, and perhaps Safari will start changing as well to keep up with some of the ideas the Firefox developers are integrating into their modern browser.
by WebKeyDesign | Jan 16, 2006 | Out Of The Box
In today’s online world, writing skills are a must. Chances are that if you are going to blog, write in-depth reviews, or simply make some comments on why you hated the latest movie you rented from NetFlix, your points will carry more weight if you write them correctly and with style. If you happen to run into problems when putting your thoughts into words, consider the following advice.
The Difference Between Writing And Editing
The first thing to understand is that no one writes great works the first time around. I know there is that story of Jack Kerouac writing his famous book, On The Road in only one draft, but the truth is that there were many drafts and revisions. Most writing comes from a few inspirational moments when you open your mind and just let the words come to you, as natural as breathing. Once you have your inspirational notes written down, you put them away and come back to them later. Some writers then add more to their notes and form a first draft or if their work is long enough, they begin an editing process. During the editing phase, you correct words, phrases, even try to correct the points your are trying to make.
Writers often have what is called writer’s block, periods of time that they can not come up with anything to write about. It is especially important at these times to be open and jot down whatever comes to mind. We sometimes let the editing phase take place too soon, and nothing kills inspiration like an editor’s point of view! It may surprise you how well you do write when you are not thinking of proper grammar and punctuation.
Learning To Write From Others
It may surprise you to learn that being original has nothing to do with writing. Most works get their storylines and ideas from previous works. Writing is not about coming up with something new, but about saying it in a new and/or inventive way. This means that writing well, has a lot to do with studying your subject matter and the writers that write about it. If you want to write reviews of video games, then you need to read a lot of game reviews to see what the standard is. Who knows, you might find that these reviews all lack something which you feel can make your reviews stand out.
Another example is my growing fascination with basketball, which I am now trying to write about for my personal site. Much to my surprise I find myself having trouble writing about sports, to which I can only attribute to the fact that I have had very little exposure to sports writing in general. This is something I am trying to remedy by reading as many sports books as I can find at my local library.
So even if you find yourself stuck when writing about particular subject matters, it may not mean you are a terrible writer, but that you need to learn more about writing that subject matter.
Developing Style
Something which I myself find hard to explain is style. To me style is not something you learn from a grammar guide, but something you develop over your life time. Most of the time people refer to it as personal voice. As you read more authors, you will find that some appeal to you more than others, and some you will undoubtedly try to copy their style. This will lead over time to your own style, as you keep copying different styles that eventually you will find your own uniqueness. The process is slow, but the more authors you read, the more your technique will improve with practice. This is true of most art and not just writing. U2’s guitarist The Edge, Eddie Van Halen, and countless other guitarists all learned to play like Eric Clapton, before they developed their own styles. Yet U2’s music sounds nothing like Clapton’s.
