That Smith » Sides

Summer Already?

Chad — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 21:15:47 +0000

I’m starting to enjoy this whole global warming thing, as long as it stays under 80° or so.

It’s nearly May so I figured I might as well post something. The wife and I are up to the same things we were last month, and I’m slowly looking for a job that pays better so we can get a house when our lease expires in December.

Our 7 month anniversary is Monday and I’m going to surprise Laura by taking her to Olive Garden. (She won’t read this so it’s ok.) Check out her newest story on Tato Stories.

Also, If anyone wants a free kitten you can have Laura’s. He’s really playful but doesn’t get along with the ferrets.

If anyone else happens to be job hunting, try Jobster.com. It’s a social networking site for the employed.

Firefox Add-on: Fission

Chad — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 05:03:02 +0000

The Fission add-on for Firefox combines the address bar with the progress meter to create a nice visual effect.

As pages load their progress is displayed in a user-defined color in your address bar rather than the status bar.

The Fission options menu lets you choose your desired color as well as other settings:

Loading an image as the page is rendered
Showing the standard progress meter in the address bar
Displaying the current connection status in the address bar
Displaying the address of the currently selected link in the address bar

This add-on is great because it frees up space in your status bar and looks awesome. Get it here. (I am told the Safari web browser for Mac does the same thing.)

In case you like this add-on, the next few I have to share will actually be tips on how to get the most out of your browsing space.

Firefox Add-on: MinimizeToTray

Chad — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:44:01 +0000

I am back with another useful Firefox add-on, and apologize for once again going on hiatus.

Today’s add-on is one of my favorites and is so useful I regularly forget I have it installed.

MinimizeToTray simply lets you hide your browser in the system tray.

The extension options allow you to configure your desired minimizing behavior.

The three options are:

Always minimize to the tray instead of to the taskbar.
Minimize to tray on close.
Require a double click to restore from the tray.

For additional options such as placing Firefox in the tray on startup use this with the Minimize To Tray Enhancer.

Get your weather with Ollie Williams – BlaccuWeather.com

Chad — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:25:41 +0000

If you’re a fan of Family Guy, then whats a better way to get your weather than from Ollie Williams?

BlaccuWeather.com is an actual weather site that was created for the rest of us by a fan of Family Guy.

Check it out here. If anyone happens to find a BlaccuWeather forecast add-on for Firefox let me know.

Firefox Add-on: Usage Counter

Chad — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 03:45:46 +0000

Just when I thought I was beginning to run out of add-ons to share, I checked my list of the 30+ I currently use and found the Usage Counter.

The usage counter (previously known as the wasted time counter) tells you how much time you’ve spent using Firefox and browsing sites.

In addition to your browsing time being displayed you can right click to reset the timer or manage and view other statistics such as how much time you’ve spent on particular sites (as you can see I have just started using this feature).

Life on Mars?

Chad — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 06:39:56 +0000

This picture taken by the Mars rover appears to be of sea shells. Check out this NASA site for more pictures. Visit Xenotech Research for more information.

Firefox Add-on: Forecastfox

Chad — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:45:45 +0000

Sorry, I haven’t shared any add-ons the past couple days because we have been busy looking at apartments. (We move to Wichita in days!)

Today’s add-on is probably one most of you have seen or used, Forecastfox.

Forecastfox uses your city or zip code to gather your local weather information from AccuWeather, and displays it in your web browser in an unobtrusive and lightweight way.

For you long-range planners and weather buffs, it can be customized to display nearly as much data as the leading desktop weather programs and can cycle through various locations.

Firefox Add-on: Organize Status Bar

Chad — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 05:44:04 +0000

Another great Firefox add-on I would recommend is the Organize Status Bar add-on by John Hansen.

After installing a dozen or so extensions, the status bar (the thing at the bottom of your Firefox window that says “Done”) can become very cluttered.

This add-on allows you to organize your status bar by moving around items and hiding those you don’t need.

Before

Organize

After

Firefox Add-on: PDF Download

Chad — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 05:52:18 +0000

One of the very, very few things I dislike about Firefox is how it automatically opens PDF documents inside the browser rather than asking what you would like to do.

Of course you can right click and select “Save Link As…” to download the document rather than opening it, but now more than ever it seems like many links end up redirecting to a PDF document, and before you know it it’s already opening Acrobat and slowing your browser in the process.

The PDF Download add-on saves you wasted time by asking what you would like to do when the link you click takes you to a PDF document.

Get the add-on here.

Firefox Add-on: Verizon/Cingular/T-Mobile Minutes Used

Chad — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 05:40:21 +0000

I was trying to choose a helpful Firefox add-on to share today and decided to go with the Minutes Used / Minutes Minder add-ons I came across a while back.

These add-ons (a separate one for each provider) check your Verizon, Cingular, or T-Mobile account and display how many minutes (and text messages) you have used. There is even one for T-Mobile To Go.

Get the Firefox add-on T-Mobile Minutes Used, Verizon Minutes Used, Cingular Minutes Minder.