Google News, Inside.

Everything Microsoft is Doing Wrong

Google Chrome was launched with some minor success just nine months ago, in September 2008. Initially, it was only available for Windows users. Disappointing for Mac and Linux users? Sure. End of the world? No. Google Chrome for Mac is now available, but still fairly buggy.
When Firefox was announced, [...]

Flock is a Joke.

Flock is a browser that tried to take off. They tried to do something that no one else was doing, nor should they be doing. Flock has tried time and time again to gain market share in the social networking space. Flock is built on Firefox, or at least it was.

TechCrunch reports [...]

Google Toolbar Marketing in Gmail

Gmail has helped revolutionize what e-mail is and how it operates. Through Gmail, Google has changed the way people experience and interact with e-mail, and for that, I am thankful.
But one thing that still bugs me is the way their product marketing managers do not communicate.
The Google Toolbar is a great toolbar, one of [...]

Power Twitter Integrates with Google Maps

Power Twitter is a new Firefox addon, updated most recently as of yesterday. This little addon will enhance your twitter.com experience. I say twitter.com because it’s not a client, so you need to be using both the web and Firefox to have the enhanced experience.
One particular feature that this addon has is that [...]

Weekend Breakup: Firefox Leaves Google for Yandex

Most recently, Firefox, after having been in bed with Google for quite some time, is shopping around for a new [Russian] partner. According to Mozilla’s bug tracking system Bugzilla, there is a bug request to change the default search partner from Google to Yandex.
This is all despite Mozilla and Google having a long-standing partnership [...]

How to Kill Facebook Ads in Firefox

Here’s a nifty trick that really works. I hate ads as much as the next person does, so here’s how you can get rid of them for Facebook.
Website: Facebook.com
Browser: Firefox (v3.0.4)
OS: Windows XP
Here is where you need to be before you can begin.
Windows 95/98/ME
c:\windows\Application Data\Phoenix\Profiles\[profile-name]\[#s].slt\chrome\
Windows NT
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Phoenix\Profiles\[profile-name]\[#s].slt\chrome\
Windows 2000/XP
C:\Documents and Settings\[USER]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\default.tea\chrome\
*NIX
~/.phoenix/[profile-name]/[#s].slt/chrome/
Mac OS [...]

Firefox Porn Browsing (Shaved Pussy)

If you hadn’t noticed, but Google Chrome comes with “private porn browsing” mode which will basically let you browse the web and it won’t track your history, cache, or cookies.

Safari has had this function for quite a while.
But now Firefox has it too! For all those people that want to view porn without being [...]

The New Google Browser

Google announced today that they will be launching their own browser as of tomorrow (Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008).

The browser name? Google Chrome.
So what will make the Google Chrome browser better than Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer Opera? “On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple.”

“We also built a [...]

Google Extends Mozilla Partnership to 2011

Google and Mozilla’s partnership contract was coming close to an end, November 2008 (two months away).
But, at the Firefox Plus Summit, the contract has been renewed for another three years.
This image below sums up pretty well what is happening right now.

Here’s a quote from the post, “…the introduction of the browser concept series, developer releases [...]

Firefox 3 Launch Party

Two nights ago was the launch party for Firefox 3. We had a great time. The party was hosted by AdaptiveBlue, who provided the pizza and beer. Then notch.es sponsored the second round of pizzas which were devoured within minutes.

The party was a blast! We had such a great time. [...]

Google Trademark Basics (Part I)

Let’s visit some of the Google Trademarks out there right now. Google has a few guidelines for trademark usage, slogans, and logos.
What is a trademark?
“A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device (or a combination thereof) that identifies the goods or services of a person or company and distinguishes them from the goods [...]

Google Does Not Equal Perfection

Call me meticulous, call me observant, even call me OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) with websites, but one thing we cannot call Google is perfect. The screenshot below is what I just found in the Webmaster Tools area. Design is one thing I am very picky about. I’m using Firefox 2.0.0.11 on Mac OS X Leopard. It’s a small thing, but even the small things matter [to me].

Search Tips 101: Results Prefetching

On some searches, Google automatically instructs your browser to start downloading the top search result before you click on it. If you click on top result, the destination page will load faster than before. This part of Google is a special feature unique to Firefox and Mozilla browsers. Here’s how it works. By default, the feature is turned on. But, if you’ve like to turn it off,

A Lucky Chance, Firefox for the win!

Sometime last week, I can’t remember the exact day since I deleted all those e-mails from the Mozilla Grouphub e-mailing list, I received an e-mail in regards to The Rock Your Firefox team. Immediately I opened it up and climbed on-board. If you’ve been reading this blog very long, you’ll be fully aware that I’m a huge Firefox fanatic. I love to write about Firefox extensions or

Facebook Seeks to Acquire, Not be Acquired

Loren Baker makes some great statements here about activity of Facebook lately. I can’t see where the rumor is coming from yet, but it looks to be promising.
Under the spotlight of acquisition rumor talks, Facebook has started its own agenda of purchasing Internet start-ups with the buying of Parakey, a web to desktop application company which is run by Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt, two of the founders of the Mozilla Firefox browser.
So why would Facebook consider acquiring companies instead of just being acquired? Vision.

Alexa.com’s Sparky Toolbar for Firefox

The Alexa.com team has finally released an official toolbar for Firefox. It had been quite some time for this release, but it’s finally here. Until now, Firefox users were only able to use hack plugins such as the SearchStatus extension to utilize the Alexa.com ranking information. Official download link: click here System Requirements Firefox 2.0 or higher Features Related Links: Find sites that are similar to the one you are currently visiting. Traffic Trend: A sparkline showing the traffic trend from the last four months. Reach Meter: A neat little indicator that shows the site’s Reach. Traffic Rank: Shows the current site’s Alexa Traffic Rank.

OpenDNS Search Techniques

I recently started using OpenDNS again because I was unhappy with the speed of the current DNS that Time Warner was providing me here in New York. When I find something that is unacceptable, I quickly go find something that is acceptable to me. With that in mind, this does not mean I encourage the use of OpenDNS yet, I am simply giving it another shot. Previously,

Firefox Extension Review: Adblock

Operating System: Windows XP SP2 Browser: Firefox 2.0.0.3 Plugin Name: Adblock – 0.5.3.043 Homepage: Adblock Homepage Click here for screenshot This extension is exactly what it says. It blocks ads. This is another Godsend from Heaven. Browsing around Facebook … and occasionally MySpace, I never see ads — or at least it’s rare. I use asterisk modifiers for all the normal advertising domains, such as domains like ‘fastclick.net’ or ‘http://oascentral.*.*/*’ so it blocks all oascentral advertising platforms. The plugin is very basic but does an amazing job at making web browsing cleaner and more efficient — the pages load faster because of no ads. I have installed this on quite a few of my friends’ computers as a helpful tool for them. I highly recommend it to everyone as it really helps create a better browser experience. Direct Download Link

Google Introduces New Products into the Google Pack

Google announced today that they are releasing new applications as part of their Google Pack.
So what does it come with now?

Google Earth
Picasa
Google Photos Screensaver
Google Desktop
Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar
Norton Security Scan
Adobe Reader
Spyware Doctor Starter Edition
Google Talk
RealPlayer
Skype
Google Video Player
GalleryPlayer HD Images

Enlarge Google Images with Ease

click to enlarge Here’s a nifty Greasemonkey script that lets you enlarge images when viewing Google Images without moving away from the page. If you want to use this script though, you will need to have Greasemonkey installed already in your Firefox browser. View script source

Firefox Extension Review: MeasureIt

Operating System: Windows XP SP2 Browser: Firefox 2.0.0.2 Extension Name: MeasureIt 0.3.6 Homepage: MeasureIt MeasureIt is a strong and useful extension. I say strong because it’s simple but very powerful. MeasureIt does one thing: measures things on the page. So why on earth would that be useful in Firefox? For someone like me it’s very useful. Before, I would find myself taking a screenshot and then measuring it in Photoshop. But now I can just click the little icon in the bottom left, measure it and it’s done. Often I will need to know the size for an image I’m creating or for the size of an ad banner or just anything that I’m doing in Firefox. It’s a simple yet powerful extension. If you ever find yourself measuring things in Firefox often or even just sometimes, it’s worth the install. So head over to Mozilla.org and download it today.

Firefox Extension Review: Mouse Gestures

Operating System: Windows XP SP2 Browser: Firefox 2.0.0.1 Extension Name: Mouse Gestures – 1.5.2 Homepage: Mouse Gestures Mouse Gestures (”Gestures”) may be the most useful extension I have installed. What does it do? Here’s a little background first. I’m a person that doesn’t like to waste any time or any energy doing something I don’t have to. If you’re anything like me, you’re efficient

Google Partner Pages

Last night, well rather this morning at 1:45am when I should have been sleeping but I was up late…playing games working on homework business, I thought about some short domain names because I was trying to resolve a new domain of mine.
So I typed in dan.net and the normal blah blah blah, then thought about the domain john..tried john.com blah, john.org..blah..but john.net was something special.
I did this in Firefox 2.0, but when I tried it in IE7, it came up with different results.

iTunes Party Shuffle Features

Every so often, you’ll get a product review from me. Maybe it’s about iTunes, maybe it’s about an Adobe product, maybe it’s a Firefox extension — who knows, the possibilities are endless! These aren’t paid reviews or even reviews people asked me to write, I simple write them because I find them useful for me to learn more about products and applications, and you get the benefit

Cleaning up the Dust Around Here

So when I started Google Inside (www.ginside.com), it was never intended to have a default or ‘template’ look and feel to it. I always intended to create a unique and well-designed theme. The time has finally come that it’s out with the old and in with the new. The old theme is going away and the new theme is here! The theme has been tested for

Firefox Extension Review: Remember Mismatched Domains

Operating System: Windows XP SP2 Browser: Firefox 2.0.0.1 Plugin Name: Remember Mismatched Domains – 1.3.3 Homepage: Remember Mismatched Domain Remember Mismatched Domains came to my attention just yesterday. I was thinking, there’s got to be a way to get around the security issue of mismatched domains. When I’m constantly looking at awstats for my sites, I would always get this error box because the SSL cert

Toolbar for Firefox Updated

Google has released a new version of their toolbar for Firefox. More details here

AdWords and Firefox Not Mixing

As I was viewing my AdWords account, I decided to roll my mouse over one of the buttons which was otherwise unavailable before. As I did, it started loading the AJAX script and then began to display this weird screen. Click the image below to see what I’m talking about. This was using Firefox 1.5.0.8 on Windows XP Pro, but I’m still puzzled to why they wouldn’t have checked to see this problem before. Below is what it looks like in IE7 — which is what it should look like.

Google Reader: Get Notified

If you’re an avid Google Reader user for all your RSS feeds (such as mine), you will obviously want to know when the recent news came out — such as this post. But instead of visiting Google Reader every ten seconds to see what happened on ginside.com, you can now just sit back and relax .. and only check it when you really need to. I actually don’t use this plugin because I use FeedDemon by NewsGator and that gets the job done just as well for me. I try not to have too many windows (100+) open at the same time. I normally average around 20-30 tabs at the same time just because I’m always doing a lot, but this is just one less tab I need to keep open. Thanks Ionut for the tip. DOWNLOAD LINK

Firefox Extension Review: Fasterfox

Operating System: Windows XP SP2 Browser: Firefox 1.5.0.8 Plugin Name: Fasterfox – 2.0.0 Homepage: Fasterfox Fasterfox is a pretty simple plugin to use. Essentially it’s a very rodust caching system for your browser. There are five different settings you can set your plugin to: default, courteous, optimized, turbo charged, and custom. The screenshot above shows you how to set it and the plugin describes each setting to you. What this plugin does is it makes browser a lot faster and easier on the user. For an average user, this plugin wouldnt be that useful because they just want the latest version of the page from every browser and maybe the image doesn’t matter whether it’s cached or not. But to a webmaster, caching is critical and everything matters. Take a look at it and you might find that it improves your browsering experience. Plugin homepage Direct download

Firefox Extension Review: Tab Mix Plus

Operating System: Windows XP SP2 Browser: Firefox 1.5.0.8 Plugin Name: Tab Mix Plus – 0.3.5 Homepage: Tab Mix Plus This is the first of what will be a line of Firefox Extension Reviews. Just like I have my recently started SEO tips, this will be similar. The plugin I’m reviewing today is one of my favorite extensions for Firefox. Tab Mix Plus is the name

Google Toolbar Enhancement

As much as I love searching with Google and finding great sites, that’s not always the case. It may be the case that I find a site through Google, but in the end I find the site I was actually looking for within the external or internal links of that site. I use the Google toolbar for Firefox among other toolbars, but I use this one frequently.

Firefox 2.0 is Official

It is official. Mozilla Firefox 2.0 has been released today. With a long wait and much anticipation, it is finally here. I haven’t installed it and tried it myself yet (because of plugins I’m using), but I’m going to shortly and give a more in-depth report on it then. Until then, visit the Mozilla site to download it.

Gmail / Google Reader Integration

There is a nice little hack out there for Greasemonkey which will allow you to integrate Google Reader feeds straight into Gmail now. This isn’t just for Firefox though, there’s a plugin for IE as well. Thanks lonut.

Saved Locations Doesn’t Work

I was just browsing through my “saved locations” for Google Maps and they apparently are not working. What I mean by this is that when I select specific locations and try to delete them, the checkbox only gets unchecked and by no means does it actually delete the location. This has to be the first time I’ve seen Google have something public and it not be working. As a note, I’m using Firefox 1.5 under Windows XP. Edit: As an update, “Add”ing new locations doesn’t work either. This is disappointing :(

Uh Oh! — IE Vulnerability

We noticed that a recent security vulnerability in Internet Explorer VML has led some users and organizations to disable VML entirely. This disables polylines for Internet Explorer users of the Google Maps API. We expect to release a fix this week. Surprise surprise, another one bites the dust. The Google Maps API had a bug release and expects to have a fix for it later this week. Yet another reason why I use Firefox.

Google, Mozilla, and Real Networks Team Up

Google, Mozilla, and Real Networks have agreed to a multi-year contract between the three companies to distribute software together. There are three major sectors that these companies are fighting in. 1) Search — Google 2) Browsing — Firefox 3) Multimedia Player — Real Networks. These three companies have teamed up together and signed this contract to help distribute each other’s products and more effectively become the leader in each industry. This is not the first deal that Google has made with large companies, as there was a deal with Dell for pre-installed and bundled software with all their new computers. These large deals that Google is taking part in is helped decrease their competition and increase their own popularity.

And the Winners Are…

Cliff Schmidt – Best Legal Eagle – Apache Gervase Markham – Best Community Activist – FireFox Julian Seward – Best Toolmaker – Valgrind Peter Lundblad – Best All-Round Developer – Subversion Stefan Taxhet – Best Corporate Liason – OpenOffice.org Annouced just yesterday, these people have worked their tails off to win these awards. As large community members, Google wanted to help congratulate these individuals through The 2006 Google-O’Reilly Open Source Awards at the O’Reilly Open Source Conference in Portland, Oregon. Lets all take a moment and give them a good smile.

Maps: Zoom Zoom Zoom

Google Maps recently added some new zooming features which will hopefully make it easier to navigate around within the maps. I don’t know how I ever lived without Google Maps before…Map Quest and such services are just so 1990! Double-click to zoom. Instead of double-clicking to recenter the map, we now support left double-clicking to recenter and zoom in one level, and right double-clicking to zoom out