Sometime back I wrote about 5 useful add-ons for Mozilla Firefox, the we also talked about creating a Persona for FF besides some easy and free tools for the world’s most loved browser. Firefox is gaining ground. I have now made a list of some useful add-ons for sharing with you guys, gals included The vary in category from getting updates on weather to finding a websites original location etc. Read on for some rich web surfing experience.

 1-Click YouTube Video Download. This add-on does exactly what its name says, it downloads the YouTube video that you are viewing with a single click in FLV, 3GP modes and saves it to the desired location on PC. The best part is its simplicity and ease of use. Upon installation a small button will appear on the left bottom window of the YouTube video screen, all one has to do is click it and Presto! Try it out, it is available here oh and watch the screenshot below.

Simply Click the Red Download button

The Mozilla Firefox RC2 is now available for download. As usual it is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux in over 70 languages. The release notes can be accessed here and known issues are documented here. Some of the features of Firefox 3.6 RC2 are:

• Support for WOFF font format.
• Support for latest web technologies like DOM, CSS and HTML5.
• They say the browser performance has improved considerably at startup.
• Automatic alerts for out of date plug-ins.
• Off course Personas come supported and are just a click away.
• A lot of bug fixes and improvements in stability, security and performance.
• The usual add-ons are also supported.

By the way Mozilla Firefox just recently made available the release candidate of Firefox for Maemo. All those in possession of a Nokia N900 or N810 can also get it from the Mozilla website for Mobile devices.

If there is one E-mail service that competes with Google that is Yahoo and one search engine that dares to stare at Google well its Yahoo too. Yahoo has recently added a few applications that be used form within one’s mail box. Yahoo was previously offering a number of goodies in My Yahoo like a Calendar, weather forecast etc etc. But this thing is way ahead. this is something new and worth a try.

.io is an application that has been developed by drop.io. This lets users attach files up to 100 MB in size. But before you click the Allow just read the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy which says that your email or files might be stored by the drop.io team! Anyways privacy issues aside it’s a nice utility to have.

Automatic Organizer is an application that scans one’s email inbox and after that organizes, prioritizes and summarizes the emails stored. This helps users prioritize their emails from real people thus making users lives easier. In order to use this service you will have to Agree to the sign in permissions. After that the system will scan your inbox for real emails, coupons, receipts, shipping notices etc and will send you an email giving the details.

I just came across this funny post where a web designer speaks about his designing experience of a website, his perspective is all about how client’s interference and ideas can get the design so messed up ( in real designers mind ) that it look like a design done by an amatuer.  I can feel where he is coming from and have experienced some similar clients while doing web design for them. Anyways the author’s illustrated comments and experience is really amusing, funny yet horrible ( as a creative person I can feel that ). Hit the link below to read the full post.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell

In the days when there was no Chrome from Google, Safari or even Opera in the browser arena Internet Explorer used to have almost 90% share of the web traffic. Netscape navigator used to be common then. Now things have changed a lot, IE is down to 62 % and Safari has a share of 4.46% of the total web traffic. Chrome however, has beaten Safari at its turf by getting an impressive 4.63% of the traffic. While this might not be much in terms of traffic but it certainly speaks of Chrome’s popularity since it was released just 16 months back. With these stats Chrome is the world’s third most used browser,  and the way it is gaining ground the time is not far when it might even beat the heavyweights and we know who they are .

Well we all know Firefox is five years old now. Humans are toddlers at this age but this Browser is flying if not galloping. Sometime back I wrote about Firefox add-ons which are great and worth trying out. Besides all this FF certainly gives users a chance to pep up the looks of the browser itself. Personas, may be applied by a single click. And the numbers are literally running in hundreds if not thousands.

Applying Personas is a simple process, visit the persona page, select the Persona you want to apply, mouse-over it and click apply. That’s it. However, if you want to go a step further and design your own Persona, it’s not all that difficult either. It can be done online as well as offline.

Creating a Persona. There are four steps to creating a Persona.

1.  Create a Persona header image. Dimensions should not exceed 3000 pixels (width) x 200 pixels (length). The file size should not exceed 300 Kb and the image has to be in Jpeg or Png format.

2.  Create a Persona footer image. Dimensions should not exceed 3000 pixels (width) x 100 pixels (length). The file size should not exceed 300 Kb and the image has to be in Jpeg or Png format.

3.   Test you Persona Image. This can be done on your own PC browser or by using the Cross-Platform Photoshop PSD Header Template. The detailed procedure is available at the Firefox Persona Page.

4.    Finally Submit your Persona. After you have tested the images it is now time to submit your Persona to FF. The will be a 24 hours delay at the most after which you will be contacted via e-mail in either case.

A few things to remember are: Do not use images that are highly graphic in nature. Use preferably soft colors. Make use of an Image Editor like Adobe Photoshop, Gimp etc. Or you may as well use of Online Image Editing Resources available on the FF persona page. It’s a good feeling when you make your own Persona and even better when you can share it with the world by uploading it to Firefox repository.

For more info head on to the Firefox Persona Creation Demo Page.

It’s a Google Google world, that’s for sure. The Google Chrome browser has some very good extensions lined up for users. The various categories are Alerts and Updates, Appearance and Functioning, language & Translators, Music, Videos and Photos, Tabs etc etc. The basic purpose is very similar to that of add-ons in Firefox, making certain required actions easier by making them a one click effort.

In order to use these extensions one will have to upgrade to the Google Chrome 3.6b or maybe to some other Beta, depending on the type of extension you want to install. This shouldn’t be a problem, just download and start using. However, you will be asked if you want to participate in a survey which will notify each time your browser crashes. Adding an extension is as simple as downloading and installing it, again a one click process. After it is done you will see a small icon of the extension in the top right corner adjacent to the address bar. Extensions that do not shop up can be viewed/accessed from the “Extensions” in the Tools menu. Some of the extensions are really good and promise to make our lives easier. The selected ones are posted below, do try them out.

Custom Colors. For those of you who are tired of watching the same colors scroll by in the Google browser try this extension out. It will give the Chrome a new look and feel. This makes your browsing experience good and the change is definitely worth the effort. Link Custom Colors.

Firefox is not only my favourite browser, millions share this passion with me. This browser since its birth has been growing and attracting attention worldwide. Its small in size, fast and best of all free. Few years back Firefox add-ons started appearing and now there is huge library with thousands of add-ons covering various categories like appearance, toolbars, social networking, dictionaries and plugins etc to name a few. Five very useful ones are listed below.

DownThemAll. This add-on is the Firefox equivalent of leading Download managers like Download Accelerator Plus etc. Since its inception various versions and updates have been released. The latest being DownThemAll 1.1.7.Simply add to your Firefox browser and enjoy uninterrupted downloads.

Converter 0.9.3. If you want to make conversions while browsing a webpage there are easier ways then using a separate application for the purpose. Converter 0.9.3 makes it easy for users to make conversions while being online. Simply select the text and right click to view the converted value in a pop-up menu. Besides this the whole page can also be converted to various units and this app also allows users to make custom conversions. Install it now from here.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Add-on. Everyone of us needs to use a dictionary quite frequently and if one is online then opening up the book version seems such a big chore. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary add-on makes searching for words and terms from within a page easy. Simply type the word in the search window and select the Merriam Webster dictionary tool to find its meaning. The add-on is available here.

Facebook User Search. Users can search for old friends and acquaintances on Facebook using this Firefox add-on. Searches can be made using their names or email addresses. Very handy and easy to use. Install from this location.

TwitterBar. Twitter-aholics who can’t live without tweeting several times a day will find this add-on unavoidable. Users can make posts on twitter from Firefox’s address bar using the TwitterBar. It also allows users to see how many characters are left. The add-on is available here.

Nowadays if you are not tweeting then you’re not in the circle. Most of us tweet or retweet using a PC, however, there are other options available as well. One can make use of his/her mobile phone, PDA or smart device. The Zune HD that was hit the markets sometime back created quite a stir. Then came news of the Bing app for iPhone and now there is a Twitter app for the Zune HD.

Frankly, the kind of service Twitter offers suits mobile devices. I mean most of us tweet several times a day as random thoughts hit our minds. The convenience for tweeting offered by a mobile device is much more as compared to a PC/Laptop.

The application is free! It allows users to read updates as well as update their posts from the Twitter account. The Zune HD requires a WiFi connection so connectivity can be limited depending on where one is located.

Previously users had to use the Browser, now the app will make it easier to cache pages and view their tweets offline. I guess not we are waiting for a Facebook application. More info the app is available here.

Digg.com has introduced some very nice stuff that one can shop for while digging off course. This includes T-shirts of various types, apparel, under wears,dog shirts, mittens, laptop sleeves, blankets, bags and hooded shirts to name a few. Besides all this one can also design his/her own custom apparel using the T-shirt creation environment. At the same time you can also open an online shop at digg and sell the stuff you have designed.

An easy to use interface make sit possible for users to create apparel of various types, colors and shapes. Off course you need to log in and provide credit card details for buying stuff. The site is offering free shipping on all product purchases till 24th Dec 2009. See Digg for more info.