http://malektips.com/web_browsers_help_and_tips.html Tips, tricks, and technical support for a variety of web browsers. Topics include browser customization and optimization, increasing security, adjusting default search engines, keyboard shortcuts, and more. en-us Fri, 3 Jul 2009 19:12:06 GMT Fri, 3 Jul 2009 19:12:06 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Custom webmaster@envprogramming.com (Andrew Malek) webmaster@envprogramming.com (Andrew Malek) http://malektips.com/graphics/logo_88x30.gif http://malektips.com/web_browsers_help_and_tips.html 88 30 http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-favorite-keyboard-shortcut.html Create a keyboard shortcut that opens up a Favorite website, even if Internet Explorer is closed.

Sure your favorite websites in Internet Explorer 8 may be easy to access - just open up the "Favorites" menu or click the Favorites button. You may even have Favorites accessible via the Windows Start Menu. But how about making them easier to access from anywhere by creating a global keyboard shortcut that opens up your browser* and displays the website?

1. From Internet Explorer 8, click the "Favorites" button in the Command Bar....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 3 Jul 2009 19:12:04 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-favorite-keyboard-shortcut.html http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-wayback-machine-accelerator.html With an Internet Explorer 8 Accelerator, access the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to see archived copies of a site you are browsing or a hyperlink on a page.

The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine is a growing archive of billions of web pages going all the way back to 1996. With it you can see how your favorite websites looked in the past or display sites that no longer exist.

Via an Internet Explorer 8 Accelerator you will not need to access this site directly. Just visit a website in your web browser, right-click, and use "Find with Wayback Machine" to view archives. Or if you find a link to a website that is no longer online, right-click the link and use "Find with Wayback Machine" to see archives of the page....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 2 Jul 2009 18:24:14 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-wayback-machine-accelerator.html http://malektips.com/safari-windows-folder-downloaded-files.html Configure Safari for Windows to download files to another folder besides the 'My Documents' folder.

When you download files from the Internet via Safari for Windows, files are normally placed in your "My Documents" folder. If you'd rather place files elsewhere by default, do the following:

1. Press the general Safari settings menu button near the top-right of the browser (it looks like a gear)....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 2 Jul 2009 15:21:54 GMT http://malektips.com/safari-windows-folder-downloaded-files.html http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-ftp-folders-explorer.html If you cannot access FTP sites through Explorer windows, ensure a configuration option has not been unchecked.

Internet Explorer 8 lets you access FTP sites inside folders in Explorer, providing a familiar interface to browse directories and drag-and-drop files to download or upload them from or to remote computers. If this feature does not work in that opening an FTP site, for example ftp://ftp.adobe.com, from the Windows Start Menu opens Internet Explorer instead of a folder in Explorer, make sure a configuration option has not been changed.

1. Access the Internet Options dialog box. If the menu bar is visible, you can select "Tools" - "Internet Options". If the Command Bar is visible, click the "Tools" button and select "Internet Options". If neither are available, try typing Alt + T then O....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 1 Jul 2009 13:57:59 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-ftp-folders-explorer.html http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-weather-channel-accelerator.html With the Weather.com accelerator, you can highlight a city name or US zip code to open a new tab that displays the weather forecast.

Visiting a travel website or another site with city names or US zip codes via Internet Explorer 8 and want to display the weather forecasts? There's no need to visit a weather website directly, then key in the desired city or zip code and press the "Search" button. Instead, highlight the city or zip code and view the weather forecast from The Weather Channel in a new tab via an Accelerator.

1. From Internet Explorer, visit the following URL: ...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:34:28 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-weather-channel-accelerator.html http://malektips.com/safari-windows-menu-bar.html If you're used to working with menu bars in Windows applications, display the menu bar in Safari for Windows.

Like some other Windows applications, Safari for Windows hides the menu bar by default, encouraging you to use other onscreen elements to access program features.

If you temporarily want to display the menu bar, just press the Alt key. The menu will stay open until you select an option or click on some other elements in Safari. To permanently keep the menu bar displayed:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:28:09 GMT http://malektips.com/safari-windows-menu-bar.html http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-amazon-visual-search.html Shop Amazon directly from Internet Explorer 8 by performing a search, displaying matching images as search suggestions.

If you frequently shop on Amazon from Internet Explorer 8, why not add the ability to search the site directly from the browser? With Amazon Visual Search you can do just that, plus view images of matching products as you type via search suggestions.

First visit the following page from Internet Explorer:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:29:17 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-amazon-visual-search.html http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-new-york-times-web-slice.html Display a selection of headlines from The New York Times on the Internet Explorer 8 Favorites Bar.

Want to keep up with the latest news by browsing the headlines, but don't want to jump back and forth between your web browsing and news websites?

With Internet Explorer 8 you can browse the latest news from the New York Times via the Favorites Bar. First visit the following website with Internet Explorer:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:25:08 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-new-york-times-web-slice.html http://malektips.com/safari-windows-bring-front.html Move all open Safari Windows to the front of other windows for easy access.

Do you have multiple Safari for Windows browser windows open as well as windows for other applications, and need to view websites open in the other windows but find them covered up by a word processor, spreadsheet, or Explorer folder?

The following menu option brings all Safari windows to the front:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:24:17 GMT http://malektips.com/safari-windows-bring-front.html http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-baseball-web-slice.html Add a Web Slice displaying news about a Major League Baseball team to your Internet Explorer 8 Favorites Bar, via ESPN.

Are you a fan of Major League Baseball and want quick access to your favorite team's scores, next game times, and division standings?

With Internet Explorer 8 you can get such information and more by clicking an ESPN link on the Favorites Bar. First visit the following website with Internet Explorer:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:12:43 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-baseball-web-slice.html http://malektips.com/firefox-about-about-plugin-cache-mozilla.html The "About:About" extension offers convenient shortcuts to several "about" pages in Mozilla Firefox such as the cache, configuration, and 'Book of Mozilla'.

You may or may not know that Mozilla Firefox contains several "about:" pages that display the memory and disk caches, Firefox configuration options, "The Book of Mozilla", Firefox contributors, and other information. However, if you do not know the syntax for these pages, they may as well not exist.

MR Tech's "About:About" extension adds shortcuts to these pages from Firefox's "Help" menu, providing easier access. To install:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:10:39 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox-about-about-plugin-cache-mozilla.html http://malektips.com/safari-windows-move-tab-new-window.html Too many tabs open in Safari for Windows? Take a tab and move it to a new window.

As with other modern web browsers, Safari for Windows supports tabbed browsing. While many people use just a couple of tabs, research or heavy browsing may involve opening a dozen tabs or more.

Unfortunately this can make switching between websites confusing as their titles will no longer fit in their tabs. Thus you may find it useful to move an important tab to its own window. This also makes it easier to find a particular website if you are performing a lot of task switching between application windows. Here are three ways to do so:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:41:59 GMT http://malektips.com/safari-windows-move-tab-new-window.html http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-suggested-sites.html Internet Explorer 8 can display sites similar to those you are browsing. Learn how to toggle this feature on or off.

Internet Explorer 8 comes with a "Suggested Sites" feature that lets you click a pull-down in the Favorites Toolbar to display sites similar to those you browse often. If you keep browsing the same sites on the Internet, this feature lets you find similar sites you may not have seen otherwise.

While some people might like this feature, providing them lists of new websites in which they might be interested, others may be concerned about their privacy as the web addresses to visited sites are sent to Microsoft to create the suggestions. You may wish to turn this feature completely off, or you might want to turn it on or off depending on the sites you are browsing. For example, when accessing web e-mail and other tools where URLs could contain identifiable information, you may wish to turn Suggested Sites off....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:23:00 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-suggested-sites.html http://malektips.com/firefox-snake-game.html Play the classic snake game in Mozilla Firefox. Grab the food while dodging the borders and yourself as you grow.

Looking for a quick diversion while browsing the web in Mozilla Firefox? Play the classic snake game where you must guide the snake to its food.

Every time the snake eats, it gets bigger and moves faster, and it has to keep moving. Touch a border or itself and you lose. ...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:19:47 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox-snake-game.html http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-tinyurl-accelerator.html Shorten an URL for distribution in a newsletter, blog, Twitter update, etc.

Have you seen a link to a great website that you want to pass along to others via a blog entry, newsletter, Twitter update, text message, etc., but afraid that its super-long URL may scare off some viewers? Or do you want to tell others about the URL over the phone but find the length of the URL too long to convey easily?

URL shortener services such as TinyURL can take large URLs and turn them into smaller URLs, easier to distribute. Now with an Internet Explorer 8 Accelerator, just highlight an URL you want shortened and have TinyURL create the shortened URL for you without having to manually visit the URL shortener site....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:28:37 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-tinyurl-accelerator.html http://malektips.com/safari-windows-fake-user-agent.html Have Safari for Windows claim to be another browser when surfing the web.

Will some websites not open in Safari for Windows, claiming they must be opened in either Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer? Are you developing a website and want to test to ensure the stylesheet changes correctly based on the browser? Or are you just curious if webpage content changes depending on the browser accessing the site?

For these and other reasons you can fake Safari's user agent string so that when you visit websites they think you are using Mobile Safari for the iPhone, Internet Explorer, Opera, or any other browser if you know its User-Agent string....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:42:48 GMT http://malektips.com/safari-windows-fake-user-agent.html http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-stock-quote-accelerator.html Access stock quotes by highlighting a company's symbol on a webpage viewed with Internet Explorer 8.

While browsing websites with Internet Explorer 8, have you ever come across a stock symbol or company name referenced in the text and wanted to display its full quote and other related information?

Instead of copying the company name or symbol and pasting it into a financial website, simply select text from Internet Explorer and access MSN MoneyCentral for a quote and other information via an Accelerator....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:13:37 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-stock-quote-accelerator.html http://malektips.com/safari-windows-spell-check-red-squiggle.html Toggle whether or not Safari for Windows should spell check typed text, underlining misspelled or unknown words in red.

When typing text into a form, search box, etc. from Safari for Windows, if you mistype a word or if Safari does not recognize it, the word is dotted-underlined in red.

While this feature can be quite helpful when writing blog posts, replying to a discussion, participating in an online chat, etc., in many other cases the automatic spell check may be annoying. For example, when searching for locations in Google Maps, you may often type in city or address names that Safari cannot recognize, such as "Wrigleyville, IL ", "Immokalee, FL", or "Montague Street, Brooklyn". Safari will dotted-underline the aforementioned bolded words, and you may find this behavior annoying. Thus to toggle this behavior, either:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:34:14 GMT http://malektips.com/safari-windows-spell-check-red-squiggle.html http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-feed-hungry.html For a limited time, Microsoft will donate money to food banks for every completed download of Internet Explorer 8 through a special website.

Curious about trying out Internet Explorer 8, but need another reason to upgrade or try a different web browser? Now you may have one.

Microsoft has teamed up with Feeding America to create a "Brower for the Better" campaign, where for every complete download of Internet Explorer 8 through that site, Microsoft will donate the equivalent of eight meals ($1.15 US), up to a total of $1,000,000, to associated food banks. The campaign runs from June 10th through August 8th, 2009. ...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:03:53 GMT http://malektips.com/internet-explorer-8-feed-hungry.html http://malektips.com/safari-windows-font-minimum-size.html Force Safari for Windows to automatically increase the size of small fonts for readability.

Do you have difficulty reading extremely small text on some web pages? With Safari for Windows, you can have the browser force a minimum font size. This may prevent you from having to use the browser's zoom feature.

1. Press the general Safari settings menu button near the top-right of the browser (it looks like a gear)....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 9 Jun 2009 15:43:19 GMT http://malektips.com/safari-windows-font-minimum-size.html