Category Archives: Firefox add-ons

Rediscover Prism by Mozilla (Ubuntu, MAC and Windows tips)

In 2007, when Prism was launched, there were some enthusiastic reviews about this application. Then the widget era began and Prism popularity decreased. Anyway, Prism is still a powerful application for all that people who desire to run their more often used web application saving RAM and CPU resources. Prism, based on XULRunner, is multi platform, easy to use and very flexible. To use it on Ubuntu you can launch the Terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install prism

or using the Synaptics Package Manager (System —> Administration —> Synaptics Package Manager). Then go to Applications —> Internet —> Prism and a small windows appears. Now, fill in all the required information: the web application URL, the name you prefer, settings and do not forget to click on the Desktop shortcut option. At this point you will find a new rough icon on your Desktop with the name you chose. The first time you use it, with the right mouse button click on it and go to Properties —> Permissions and Allow executing file as program. If you want to change the icon you have to click on it (with the right mouse button), go to Properties —> Basic and choose your favorite icon clicking the icon on the upper left corner. If all are steps are annoying for you, it is possible to use Prism as add-on for Firefox. In this case, on Firefox, go to Tools —> Add-ons —> Get Add-ons and type Prism on the search bar. You will install Prism as a simple add-on for Firefox. Now, you can automatically generate a Prism application just clicking on Tools —> Convert Website to Application when you are in the web application page.

On Windows or MAC we suggest to download the standalone package directly from the official web page or install Prism as Firefox add-on following the same steps we described for Ubuntu. If you use the Prism standalone package you have to decompress it in your favorite location. For Windows users: when you set up a new Prism application, try the tray menu option but do not forget to click on the Desktop shortcut or you will not be able to find again the application after you close it.

In my experience, Prism is really useful with all the Google web applications, with Zoho services and Pandora. Try and enjoy it!

How to repair Flash on Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty

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This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish), we have written some easy instructions to repair the flash plugin on Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty. In fact, after a brand new install on my Acer Aspire Athlon X2 I had big problems in visualizing Flash contents on Firefox 3. I tried to reinstall the plugin different times but the result did not change. Finally, reading a page in ubuntuforums.org I find the right solution for my problem. First of all you have to open Synaptic Package Manager (in System – Administration) and remove all the swfdec packages (in my case swfdec -mozilla and swfdec -gnome). Then, using the Terminal you have to type sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree. Now you restart Firefox and Flash contents will be available again. We believe that this solution is really fast and practical but if you know a better one which could permit us not to install non free code please let us know.

How to install the Linux version of Cooliris add-on in Firefox 3.1

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This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) , we posted a brief post to focus your attention on Cooliris in its, not well known, Linux version. In fact on Linux, you are not always allowed to install directly Cooliris as Firefox add-on and the same happens when you try to install Cooliris using the Firefox Add-on official webpage In this case, the only solution we have, is represented by surfing on the Cooliris homepage and click on the Linux version in the Downloads Page. The xpi file will be immediately opened and in just few clicks it is installed. Cooliris allows you to search videos, images and photographs in many sites (Google Image Search, YouTube, Flickr, Hulu, online retailers, and other sites), watch them on a 3D wallpaper or on a full-screen slideshow using the toggle button. This program contains also an interesting bunch of channels as News, Sport, Photos of the day, Music Videos, Comedy, etc.. UsingCooliris you can also share your multimedia stuff with friends or keep them in your Favorites. At the moment this Linux version of Cooliris runs on Firefox 3.1+ using Ubuntu 8.04+, Fedora 10.0+ or OpenSuse 11+. Recommended!

Firefox add-ons: use Foxmarks to keep your bookmarks safe and synchronized!

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This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish), we posted a brief review about Foxmarks, a simple but effective add-on for Firefox which can seriously help you to manage, save and restore your bookmarks. In the past, we wrote some reviews about Online Bookmark Manager, Febe and Cleo but, at the moment, we truly believe that Foxmarks is the most flexible between all of them. It is cross-platform (or multiplatform if you prefer), easy to use and very intuitive thanks to its interactive wizards. Foxmarks can be used to simply sharing your bookmarks with your friends or as a professional tool to sync profiles via web between all your PCs. Last but not least, I would like to focus your attenyion on mobile.foxmarks.com which allows you to access bookmarks on all your web-enabled devices. Recommended!

Jeteye: a versatile online free bookmark service for your links and related stuff.

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This week, in our Freeware Page, we posted a brief review about Jeteye, an interesting add-on for Firefox which we have tested few days ago. First of all, it is necessary to highlight that Jeteye is a free online service you can join in just few minutes. The Firefox plugin is available directly from the Firefox add-ons site. Personally, we were really delighted by Jeteye because we were able to create virtual folders, divided by topics, were we put not only links but also all the stuff we were selecting about a specific task (e.g. photographs). Using Jeteye you can create all the folders you want and, if you prefer, you can decide to share them with all the web-surfers or just with your friends. Unfortunately, at the moment there is not any possibility to migrate the info collected in Jeteye to Firefox bookmarks or to other online free services; de facto this represents a real limitation to the possibilities of this software. In fact, after some days of tests we would like moving some data to our desktop Firefox but we could only open each link and manually bookmark it one by one. Interesting add-on!

FEBE and CLEO the best solution to save (and reinstall) your Firefox settings: extensions, themes and bookmarks!

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Today, in our Freeware Page (traditionally in English) we have added an effective post (in Spanish) about FEBE and CLEO: two fantastic Firefox extensions which allow you to backup all your personal Firefox settings. FEBE is a multiplatform add-on (Linux, Windows, and OS X) easy to install and to manage. In fact, the “FEBE Options” is a complete menu where it is possible to choose: what to save, where (destination folders) and frequency of the backups. Personally, I do suggest to change the default options and not to backup your usernames, passwords and cookies using FEBE. In fact, the backup file, a .xpi, could be stolen and easily reinstalled on a third part computer. Last but not least I want to underline the key role of CLEO which allows FEBE to create the installable .xpi file with all your settings. Recommended!

Open Source Living and Iconlet: two multiplatform open source “mines”!

Sage = how Firefox let you to easily read all the web feeds you prefer!

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This week, in our Freeware Page, we have posted a brief review about one of the most interesting Firefox add-on we have found in the Mozilla website: Sage. This particular add-on allows you to easily read and manage all your favorite web feeds directly using Firefox. Sage contains also a feed discover who allows you to find RSS simply typing a keyword, moreover it is possible to import and export your web feeds through the OPML format. The graphics is very enjoyable and complete and after few minutes you forget the RSS reader you have used till now. Something to try!