Skip to Content

Free TUAW iPhone app -- try it now!
AOL Tech

firefox-extension posts

Filed under: Utilities, Freeware, Browser Tips, Troubleshooting, Browsers

Vacuum Places Improved Firefox add-on speeds up Firefox

Vacuum Places ImprovedI have a love/hate relationship with Firefox. I love the functionality it gives me, but I hate how over time it slows down and acts like a bloated pig. Two of the biggest factors that will make Firefox drag are the amount of history it maintains, and defragmentation of the Places database. We've already told you how to fix both of those issues, but it turns out that there is now an extension that takes the place of pasting a command into the error console in Firefox to vacuum the Places database and remove any fragmentation.

Vacuum Places Improved is a very simple Firefox extension that adds a small vacuum cleaner icon to your status bar in Firefox. When clicked, it vacuums your Places database, just like the command that Lee described in his post in August, but with a single click of the mouse. In my case, the results were remarkable - starting Firefox went from taking about a minute and a half to about ten seconds.

[via Lifehacker]

Filed under: Utilities, Productivity, Google, Browsers, Web

Open Google Calendar in Firefox from any page

GCal Popup
GCal Popup is a Firefox extension for Google Calendar users too lazy to open a new tab when they want to enter a new appointment or check their calendar. Once the plugin is installed, you'll see a little calendar icon in your status bar. Click it and your Google Calendar will pop up, over the top of whatever page you happen to be visiting. Click the close button and it will go away.

If you're already logged into your Google account you won't even need to login to Google Calendar when the window pops up.

This is listed as an experimental plugin, which means you'll need to register for a Mozilla account and login before downloading. But the add-on seems to be stable enough and hasn't caused my computer to burst into flames. Yet.

[via gHacks]

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Productivity, Web services, Google, Freeware, Browser Tips, Search

Use Google to search your bookmarks with plugin from searchmybookmarks.com

searchmybookmarks.comHave you ever wished you could apply the power of Google's search algorithm to the bookmarks you have stored in Firefox? If you're okay with uploading your bookmarks to a relatively unknown site, you can do just that.

Searchmybookmarks.com
has a Firefox extension you can install that will upload all of your bookmarks to their server. Then, when you visit the site, you have the option of searching just your bookmarks, searching your bookmarks and the rest of the web (but giving preference to results from your bookmarks), or just searching the web.

In my brief testing, the site is clearly still in beta, as some obvious search queries that should have returned many results from my bookmarks returned no results at all when searching only my bookmarks. Yet, if I chose to search both my bookmarks and the rest of the web, those same results I was expecting the first time around came out right on top of the result set.

If you were ever sure that you had something bookmarked, but couldn't remember where, searchmybookmarks.com might just be able to help you find it.

Filed under: Internet, Web services, web 2.0

Never get Rickrolled again with LongURL

LongURL
URL shortening services like TinyURL are great if you're trying to convey a lot of information in a tiny amount of space. For example, if you want to share a link with your friends on Twitter. But if you're a cautious web surfer who prefers to know where a link will lead you before clicking, LongURL can help.

All you have to do is copy and paste a shortened URL into the text box on LongURL, and the site will let you know where the link leads. Better yet, you can install a Firefox extension or Greasemonkey script that will automatically show you the full URL for any shortened URL whenever you mouse over one.

LongURL supports more than a dozen popular URL shortening services including TinyURL, SnipURL, and Tweetburner.

[via Lifehacker]

Filed under: Linux

Ubuntu Forums Menu extension for Firefox

Ubuntu Forums extension
If you've just started using Ubuntu and you're the sort of person who likes to have 911 and poison control on speed dial, you might want to check out the Ubuntu Forums Menu extension for Firefox.

While Ubuntu is one of the easiest Linux distributions for new users to learn, we can pretty much guaranty that you're eventually going to run into an issue while trying to enable support for your hardware or when you're trying to install some application. Lucky for you, there's an enormous community of Ubuntu users and developers hanging out at the Ubuntu Forums who are more than happy to answer your questions. In fact, if you search the forums, there's a good chance you'll find out your questions have already been answered.

The Ubuntu Forums Menu extension adds an item to your Firefox menu bar to give you quick access to the forums. You can also access this menu via the right-click context menu.

[via Sizlopedia]

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Browser Tips

Domain Lookup add-on for Firefox

Domain LookupIf you're the sort of person who likes to purchase domain names as a hobby, you really need a life. But while you're working on that, you might want to check out Domain Lookup for Firefox. It's a Firefox add-on that could save you valuable seconds.

Domain Lookup lets you highlight text on any web site, hit the right-click button on your mouse, and check to see if the domain is available for purchase. Domain lookup will automatically remove any spaces, punctuation, or other characters that cannot be used in a domain.

You can select from a long list of domain lookup services, including GoDaddy, Moniker, 1and1, and eNom. You can also choose whether to search for just .com domain availability or if you'd also like to look for .net, .org and others. But to be honest, most domain registration services will automatically check the availability of .net, .org, .info and .biz when you lookup a .com, so this feature doesn't seem all that necessary.

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Productivity, Mozilla, Freeware, Browser Tips

StatusBars - multiple status bars for Firefox

StatusBars
Are you a Firefox extension junkie? Us too. Most of the extensions we have installed put useful information in the status bar, which is great, but causes quite a bit of clutter. Worse, when we need to launch a child browser window (like we have to all the time to write these Download Squad posts), those child windows are also populated with all of the status bar gunk that comes from our extensions.

What to do?

Well, most people would recommend paring down on our number of installed Firefox extensions. But we're not most people. Instead we went looking for a utility that will let us manage our status bar by creating multiple versions of the status bar, then mixing and matching which items would be visible in each one. Hello, StatusBars.

Now you might think that solving the problem of having too many extensions installed by adding yet another extension is unwise, and you're probably right. But hey, this is our machine, and we'll clutter it up as we please. Eyes on your own browser, mister.

Filed under: Internet

Mini Map Sidebar - Firefox add-on of the day

Mini Map Sidebar
If you're the sort of person who always has a map service open in a browser tab so you can look up locations, directions, and the nearest pizza place to order lunch, have we got a Firefox add-on for you.

Mini Map Sidebar opens up Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local in your Firefox Sidebar. That's not particularly impressive in its own right. But the extension includes some useful features like the ability to drag and drop addresses from your main browser window. Just highlight an address and then click and drag the highlighted text over to the gray box in the sidebar and the location will pop up in a map.

Of course, you can do all your usual mapping tricks as well, like searching, getting directions, finding latitude and longitude or e-mailing a map.

The extension also adds a Firefox toolbar item that lets you launch the sidebar. If you're tired of squinting at the sidebar, you can also open the same mapping tools in a full browser tab.

[via Google Operating System]

Featured Time Waster

Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures
Microsoft Security Essentials
Chromium Pre-Alpha on CrunchBang Linux
Safari 4 Beta
10 Firefox themes that don't suck
IE8 RC1
Download Squad at the Crunchies After-Party
Download Squad at the Crunchies
WordPress 2.7
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals
Windows 7 Hands On
Comodo Internet Security
Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store
Android First-look: Twitroid
Google Reader Android
Android Hands-On
Twine 1.0
Photoshop Express Beta
Mozilla Birthday Cake
Palm stuff
Adobe Lightroom 1.1

 


Follow us on Twitter!

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

More Tech Coverage

AOL Radio