09
May 06

Firefox on Mac – Useful Extensions (Part 1) – FlashGot Download Manager

Even in its default installation, the popular Open Source web browser, Firefox is quite feature rich. Most of the competing browsers are playing the catchup game, with the only exception is Opera. The key USP of Firefox is the ability to extend the default browser using the numerous extension available for free. There is a plethora of extension available at this site. There are extension for blocking web ads, for writing blogs, for tracking stocks, for managing downloads ………….

Over the next few days I will cover some of the most useful Firefox extension. For today, I intend to cover extensions for managing downloads. I am writing this post on Firefox 1.5.3 Mac OSX (universal).

FlashGot

Where to get : https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/220/

How to Install : From the above page click on the “Install Now” link.

How to configure: From Firefox menubar go to Tools -> Extensions. A new window pops up. Select FlashGot here and click “Preference” at the bpttom of the window.

At the time of writing this piece, FlashGot was the most downloaded extension on the mozilla.org extension site. The reason this extension is so popular is because the default download manager is firefox is quite inadequet for large file downloads.

Default Firefox Downloads Window

As you can see from the screenshot to the right, this is the stock download manager you will find in Frefox or Safari (this still is better than the one in IE6 or IE7 Beta). I still say this is inadequate because :

  1. It cannot resume broken downloads
  2. It cannot do multi part downloads which is critical is speeding the downloads

So, we have to depend on third party products like iGetter or Speed Download on Mac. Unfortunately the developers of these tools do not have plugins for Frefox.

FlashGot fills the important void by allowing us to seamlessly use these download acceletors from Firefox. This makes FlashGot a must have.

FlashGot supports lot of download managers or accelerators. After installation, FlashGot can autodetect which download manager you would want to us. In my case I use iGetter, and I will use iGetter as an example here.. Flashgot can autodetect downloads that needs to be transfered to iGetter by the type of content. Suppose, I need to download the latest update for firefox. FlashGot will see that this is a dmg file and pass this iGetter. Downloading with iGetter is far more secure and faster then the stock Firefox download manager.

FlashGot is designed for ease of use and can work without any custom configuration. For power users it also suports quite extensive set of configuration options.

Options

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08
May 06

Firefox Mac OSX Theme

Firefox Mac Theme
Firefox Mac Theme,originally uploaded by manaskb.

Mac OSX users can make Firefox look like Safari using the GrApple theme that can be found here : http://www.takebacktheweb.org/

Safari is a pretty good browser, still there are some people like me who would like to use Firefox (www.mozilla.com). Safari users who would like to move to Firefox would be at home after installing this theme.

How to Install :

Go to site : http://www.takebacktheweb.org/

find the Mac OSX theme you like. Just click on the “Install Now” button for the theme you have selected.

Other option : From Firefox ->Tools->Themes-> Get New themes; This opens a new browser window for the addons.mozilla.org site. On the search box, search for GrApple. You will get the Mac OSX themes for Firefox.

Note : These themes only work on Mac OSX. If you are on Windows, just get a Mac 🙂

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07
May 06

Auto : Honda City – Revisited

Luhit – Blog Archive : Honda City – Didn’t bother for a test drive

I did flirt with the idea of buying City for two reasons 1. It is a Honda Car 2. The great milage everyone talks of. As I looked at the specs, it just had 77 bhp. On a highway I would have struggled more then I did with my current Santro. There is nothing much to say about the City?s looks.

About a year back, the Honda City did not have much appeal for me. Agreed, this car gave a great millage, but what about the pleasure of driving ( whatever it means on a Bangalore street 🙂 ).I think Honda India has received a lot of feedback from people like me. Some six months back they launched a new variant of the City – the Honda city ZX. It has a VTEC engine that pumps 100 bhp. The extra 23 bhp gives the car the much needed pep feel. Honda still continues to sell the frugal 77 bhp variant.Now, why did Honda launch the ZX. Well, last six months has seen some high profile launches in this segment. First, Ford launched the Fiesta, then Chevrolet launched the Aveo. Both of these cars competes with Honda City. Even, Hyundai is about to launch a new car in this category.Since its launch, the Honda City has been a best seller in it’s segment. But, now it remains to be seen of the City can protect it’s turf with competition from Ford, Chevrolet and Hyundai hot on it’s trail.

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06
May 06

Firefox Mac OSX Theme

Firefox Mac Theme
Firefox Mac Theme,originally uploaded by manaskb.

Mac OSX users can make Firefox look like Safari using the GrApple theme that can be found here : http://www.takebacktheweb.org/

Safari is a pretty good browser, still there are some people like me who would like to use Firefox (www.mozilla.com). Safari users who would like to move to Firefox would be at home after installing this theme.

How to Install :

Go to site : http://www.takebacktheweb.org/

find the Mac OSX theme you like. Just click on the “Install Now” button for the theme you have selected.

Other option : From Firefox ->Tools->Themes-> Get New themes; This opens a new browser window for the addons.mozilla.org site. On the search box, search for GrApple. You will get the Mac OSX themes for Firefox.

Note : These themes only work on Mac OSX. If you are on Windows, just get a Mac 🙂

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06
May 06

Cricket: The New Stars

Luhit – Views, Reviews, Experiences….

Indian cricket has never been short of superstars. Indian players always excelled at individual records. Half of the Indian cricket team would be in the top-20 of the ICC rankings.

After following Cricket for all these years, one think I known about Indian Cricket. A losing team is full of bloated super stars. But, what of a winning team ?

In the months following the Sri Lankan tour of India (2005) the Indian team has continued to do well at home. Especially in the one day version of the game. The visiting English side nearly got whitewashed 5-1.

India has done well this season. They beat Pakistan, Sri Lanka & England. Most importantly India won against these countries with wonderful margin. The drawn series against South Africa and the Abu Dhabi series against Pakistan took some shine off the wonderful series wins.

Who would have believed such a good season for India without Tendulkar & with Sehwag totally out of his grooves. But India has won on the shoulders of some young & promising players. In one match or the other it has been a Pathan, a Raina or a Dhoni or a Seeshant who has seen India through. Each man in the side has come good in some match or the other. Emphasizing the point that Cricket is a team sport.

With a season of wins, no doubt someone must have played better then the others. In my opinion, one man has stood out this season.

If MS Dhoni took the elevator to stardom, this man took the stairs. This man is Yuvraj Singh. After years at the fringe and with years of lost opportunities he has finally come good. He has played the most critical link in the wins this season. He has been aptly rewarded with 3 man of the series on a trot.

The Indian media has gone heads over heel in heralding him as the new super star. Perhaps he is !!! I hope he remembers, it was the same media that made Ganguly the superstar once, and it is the same media which takes delight at writing rubbish on him now.

I am a fan of Yuvraj now. I hope he learns how to handle this new stardom. He is a team player to the boot, and I hope he continues to remain so. A man can be successful only if his team is.

The only Indian cricketer who has managed his stardom well is Rahul Dravid. With Captain Dravid at the helm of the team, I hope some of his modesty rubs off to the rest of the team.

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