Managing Firefox tags
For me, Firefox is just like an operating system, with the add-ons like the applications.
I always have a problem on managing the tags of Firefox 3. Unlike the bookmark system of the other web-browser, tagging is allowed for the Firefox. The tagging feature is based on the SQLite database in Firefox.
I had an experience that I corrupted the tag because of installing the Wizz RSS in Firefox. Thus, I seldom manage the tags. And previously, I installed StumbleUpon toolbar, this add-on generated a lot of tags which I don’t like.
Feeds reader
Previously, I was using FeedReader to read the news with RSS and Atom. I like it, since it has the portable version.
But after I uses Xmarks (previously Foxmarks) for Firefox, the bookmark synchronisation helps me a lot. Because No matter which PC I used, the bookmark will always sync to the server.
But the news feed reading is quite troublesome. Because I need to update for both PCs if reading news feeds using the desktop client like FeedReader. Then I tried to search around which can solve my problem. The web-based service is the solution.
Google Chrome alternatives
I have tried Google Chrome. Sure it is nice, because it is clean and simple. But, I still prefer Firefox as the default web browser. So, if you are interested in Google Chrome, and still using other default web browser, you can try the followings:
Portable Chrome (Chromium)
SRWare Iron
I am now using Iron portable version. Very nice.
Experience of Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
The ISP in my area just upgraded their system. So, there is another challenge for me to setup my home network.
First, my condition is very weird, the ISP gave me an Ethernet cable. And to online, first need to access any website, then the ISP server will redirect me to a website, then key in the username and password. Only then, I can access internet.
So, the router I know cannot solve the problem like this. So, I searched from Internet and found that there is a method, “Internet Connection Sharing” in Windows XP.
Music related software
These days, I learnt to read the Gregorian chant music score. Then I tried to figure out how to play the music score through the PC (virtual piano). I used MidiPiano Suite before. It is quite nice. It can save and open the MIDI files.
Then, since open source cross-platform software development is very active currently, I tried to search some cross-platform music related software from the Internet. The followings are the software I found (including close source freeware), but I haven’t tried every software:
One-click hosting downloaders
If you want to download the file from Rapidshare or Megaupload frequently, a suitable download manager is needed. This type of websites for file hosting is called one-click hosting. So, I have tried several downloaders, not only support Rapidshare and Megaupload, but also other sites like hotfile.com, badongo.com, sendspace.com, etc.
Universal Share Downloader - Russian freeware. First file hosting downloader I used. Good.
RapGet - I always failed to download the file using it.
RDesc - Spanish freeware. Not bad. Just as good as Universal Share Downloader.
JDownloader - Just found it recently. Very good. Requires JRE.
A prayer of St Teresa of Jesus (Chinese)
Just read the Chinese version Catechism of the Catholic Church, this is the prayer of St Teresa of Jesus:
何事扰你意?何物乱你心?
万般皆易逝,唯主不移真。
心有天主者,坚忍百事成。
夫复何所求,有主心意称。
(圣女大德兰)
Windows managment tools for XP
When we are busy using our computer, normally we will open a lot of windows, web browser, word processor, file explorer, audio player, video player, PDF reader, etc. Especially, we need to open a lot of word processors and refer to one another.
There are 3 tools I used in Windows XP to help me for the window management.
allSnap - All the windows has the snap feature when we resize them. So, you can adjust them with better arrangement.
Taskbar Shuffle - When we open a lot application, our taskbar will be full of items. If we switch off the “group similar window” feature, then there will be a lot of items in taskbar. This tool allow us to drag and drop our own taskbar item manually, so we can put two word processors side by side.
TaskSwitchXP - Alt-tab replacement. Too many applications, alt-tab might be useless, because we need to tab tab tab to the application. But still don’t get what we want, because we can only see the icons. This tool allows you to preview the application and integrate with the mouse.
Visual Tooltip - Mouse over to the taskbar item, a thumbnail will be shown. Just like Vista.
