Browser Tips: Google Chrome

While Google Chrome is far from the most widely used browser, it is steadily gaining market share.  Many people who use it are Google enthusiasts or are simply after a smoother, faster browsing experience which Chrome purports to offer.  These are the same people who are happy to learn new tips and tricks, so I hope that you’ll find something useful here today.  If you’ve never used Chrome before, perhaps these will provide you with an incentive to download it and give it a play today.

1. Google have simplified the toolbar, so rather than using a dropdown arrow to view your recent history, you’ll need to hold down the forward or back buttons.  Once the menu opens, you are free to let go of the mouse button and select what page you’d like to go back or forward to.  This is essential for new users to know, because otherwise you will struggle to really use the browser to its full potential.
2. Accidentally close a tab?  It’s simple to get it back, just hit ctrl, shift, and t at the same time.  Your most recently closed tab will open up again in a new tab.  Keep hitting it to bring up as many tabs as you’ve opened in this session, although be warned that there could be quite a few of them.  This is a really useful tool and can save you a lot of time digging through your history looking for where you just were.  Your previous history for that tab is all saved, so you’ll be able to go back and forward from where you were when you closed it.
3. The address bar at the top, where you type in web addresses and search queries, can also be used for calculations.  I didn’t know this until just recently, but it does make sense as Google itself does calculations for you too.  For example, if you put in “2 ounces in grams”, Chrome will tell you that the answer is 56.699043.  You can also use Google and create shortcuts to search your favourite sites automatically, like “wiki” for Wikipedia or “dict” for dictionary.com.  But you knew that already I’m sure!
4. Drag and drop support is amazing on Google Chrome.  You can pull out a tab to start a new window or drag it back in once you’ve finished with it.  You can drag downloads out of the window onto the desktop or into other folders, so it’s ridiculously simple to get things to go where they belong with hardly any extra work.  In the newest beta incarnation of Google Chrome, you can even drag and drop the extension buttons around the top of the page or hide them, without digging through any menus or anything like that.
5. Though this may be obvious to anyone using Chrome, for newbies, it’s worth knowing that Instant Search is available from the normal address bar.  In fact, for me, Google Instant started working on Chrome before it did on IE and Firefox, so clearly its support is more native.  If you type something into the main address bar, your search results will instantly appear and change just like they do in the normal window.  This is again only available through the beta version, but will shortly be released to all Chrome users.
6. If you’re using multiple computers on a daily basis, you might consider syncing your Google Chrome data so that you have the same settings, bookmarks, and history between computers.  You might want to sync your home and work browsers, for example, if you do a lot of work at home.

Let us know in the comments if any of these tips help you use Google Chrome!  Stop by next week for browser tips on Internet Explorer.

Browser Tips: Firefox

If you use the same browser every day, you tend to get stuck in certain patterns.  Just like any other aspect of your life, you’ll find you often do things the same way without really thinking about whether you could do them better.  You’ll often find, however, that there are a few time saving and efficient tips that could help you tighten up your use of various browsers.  Today we’re focusing on Firefox and a few relatively little known features that can make it easier for you to use the popular browser.

1. Mouse Gestures.  You’ll have to install a plugin for this one, but mouse gestures allow you to do a variety of tasks without ever clicking your mouse again or digging through menus.  You’ll need to hold down a chosen button for the gesture, most likely the right mouse button.  For example, if you drag your mouse left, you’ll go back; right, forward.  If you want to close a tab, simply drag your mouse down and right.  To open a new tab, drag the mouse up, and to open a new window, drag it down.  If you want to open up a sequence of links in different tabs, drag the mouse across the links to the right and end up with an up and left.  It sounds a bit tricky, but once you start using them you’ll be amazed that you ever did without.
2. Use extensions.  If you don’t know they’re there, you can’t possibly make use of the many awesome features Firefox can have.  There are extensions to block ads, take screenshots, avoid malicious scripts, view and edit the code of any webpage, sync settings and tabs in any instance of Firefox, and even easily download YouTube videos to your PC.  You can also install social media extensions or listen to music in your browser window; you’ll never have to switch between programs again.  They’ll open up a whole new world of productivity and convenience.
3. Take advantage of the handy search in the toolbar.  You can not only access Google, but a huge range of search engines of your choice.  Save yourself the trouble of typing the sites in by simply choosing the one you like the most and making it your default.  You’ll be surprised that you ever went to the sites to start!
4. Edit the toolbar to suit your own convenience.  Despite how simple this is, many still use the standard Firefox toolbar.  Just go to View -> Toolbars -> Customise, and then drag the options you’d like to the place you want them to go.  Personally I always add the new tab button to the toolbar; that was where it was when I started  using Firefox and it’s just easier for me to remember.  You can move buttons for your extensions and bookmarks there, as well as standard buttons like cut and paste.
5. My final tip is to use the bookmarks toolbar wisely.  Organise your bookmarks into folders so they take up less space but are still easily accessible.  Make use of bookmarklets, which allow you to instantly update content on other sites; you can use one to gather links for blog posts, submit sites to social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon and Digg, or add links to your social media profiles.  These can really help you visiting different websites and going through copy and pasting over and over again; it’s much easier just to click once and be done!

We hope these tips will help you use Firefox more effectively; stay tuned for the following weeks when we can cover Google Chrome and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Preparing to Repair Your Desktop Computer

Even if you think you know what’s wrong with your PC, it’s important to take steps to ensure that you don’t harm yourself or the computer through your efforts.  This guide will not include instructions on what to repair or how to repair it, simply a few tips to keep you from causing more harm than you’d like when you’d prefer to repair your own computer rather than calling an IT support company.

1. Completely disconnect your computer from the wall.  Simply having it off is not enough; it’s safest if there is no way the computer can actually come on while your hands are inside it.  Even if you’re not going to turn the PC on, you want to ensure that no one else can do it either.
2. Keep aware of static.  A spark from your hand to the delicate components inside your PC can fry them and you may not even be aware of it.  Always touch metal before reaching inside your PC and be very careful when moving items in and out of the computer.  Touching metal will remove the electricity from your body so it won’t harm the computer parts.
3. Carefully remove any parts and keep them nearby.  Do not immediately assume that they should be thrown away; if you remove a part and find that it isn’t the reason your computer is broken, you’ll be very sorry if you’ve already damaged it beyond repair.
4. You may need tools to unscrew your computer’s front and some parts, depending on how old it is and what slots each component has.  You may want to have nearby small screwdrivers, both flathead and Philips head, to make sure that you can remove components without searching all over your house with your computer wide open, only to return and destroy it with the electromagnetic static you’ve built up!
5. Remove all jewellery and accessories.  It’s very dangerous to lose something inside your PC and it’s worse if the item conducts electricity.  It’s best to take it off and then you won’t run any risk.
6. Finally, remember that you can turn the computer on with the case open to check if everything is still running correctly, but ensure your hands are no longer inside and that nothing that doesn’t belong is inside the case.  If the computer doesn’t turn on, unplug it and check that everything necessary is still connected, then try again.

Whenever you repair your PC yourself (a fantastic idea), keep these safety tips in mind so that both you and your PC can keep running for a long time to come.

How to Extend the Life of Your Laptop Battery

It’s difficult to find a laptop with a battery that lasts more than a few hours.  In most cases, it’s difficult to find a laptop with a battery that can get through just one hour, especially after the laptop and battery have aged over the course of a year or two.  This makes laptops increasingly pointless; if it needs to be plugged into the wall all the time, you might as well just invest in a desktop instead.

While you can’t realistically extend your laptop’s battery life into the stratosphere, you certainly can make it last just that much longer, and in many cases that little bit of time is enough to finish whatever project you happen to be working on at the time.  Here are a few of my favourite top tips to extend your battery’s life wherever you are.

1. Cut out non-essential programs.  This is easily the most important most effective way to help your battery last longer.  Open up Task Manager and stop everything that you’re not currently using – within reason, of course, some things are necessary for your computer to run.  Turn off any “helpers” related to devices you may have, for example, and get rid of instant messengers.  If you’re not connected to the internet, you don’t need your firewall or anti-virus protection (although be careful and turn it back on when you connect up again).
2. Streamline your startup menu.  You should know that starting up your computer is a huge investment of its power and that’s before you’ve even done anything to it.  Change your startup programs so that only the most essential, most used programs start with the rest of the computer.  Whatever you don’t absolutely need, you can turn on yourself after the startup process is over.
3. Dim the screen.  As long as you can still read what you’re doing, a dim screen can add on precious extra minutes to your battery’s life.  Move to a brighter location if you’re sitting outside and you might find that you can even see the screen better if you’re sitting in the sun.
4. Buy a spare battery.  While this doesn’t count as extending your battery life, if you really need your laptop to last more than an hour or two it’s well worth investing in an extra battery to carry along with you.  You’ll probably find that your new battery lasts longer than your old one and as such can really help you to make the maximum use of your laptop while out and about.
5. Turn off fancy graphics and optimise your laptop’s settings for the best battery usage.  Many computers will have this function available to you; nothing is more irritating than realising you’ve left your computer on the wrong setting and your battery has drained because of it.  Take advantage of all the features your computer offers you because they truly do help out.

Most importantly, keep a realistic view of what you’re doing and how you’re draining your battery.  If you’re simply browsing the web, checking your email, or using word processing software, you should expect reasonable battery life.  If you’re watching a DVD or playing a game, though, your battery will drain very quickly (which is only logical).  If you manage your expectations of your battery’s life realistically, you should be able to determine how long your battery should last and what you should then do about it.

How to Use Your Computer’s Downtime for Good

Many of us leave our computers on when we’re not looking at them.  Quite a few modern computers take more than just a couple of minutes to start up and shut down, so if we’re going to go back and forth, it generally makes more sense to leave everything running throughout the day and sometimes through the night.  In a sense, though, you’re wasting much of the computer’s power as it’s sat there doing nothing but playing your screensaver over and over again.  A whole host of organisations have sprung up asking computer owners to donate their downtime to good causes.  Instead of wasting energy, you could be helping to further human knowledge.

One of the most interesting programs, which has just made a discovery using spare computers whose owners donated their downtime, is attempting to prove Einstein’s theory that celestial events, like exploding stars or black hole collisions, create waves which then alter space and time.  These computers didn’t quite prove that, but they did discover a rare celestial object.

This project is run by the University of California Berkeley, is called BOINC, and you can participate in many other programs as well.  As long as you own your PC, the software is free to download here, and you can contribute to a vast number of science projects.  You might use your computer’s downtime to help cure cancer, detect earthquakes, or look out for aliens.

The search for aliens was the initial project for the BOINC program and has been going for almost eleven years.  The project, called Seti@Home, uses spare computers to more quickly analyse data from radio telescopes looking for signals of alien life.  They’re searching primarily for narrow-bandwidth radio signals, which as far as we know do not occur in nature, and as such would imply that there is some life out there.

You’re only permitted to use the program on computers you own, however, so while you might choose to install the software on your home computer, ask permission from your IT support before placing it on your work or school PC.