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If you’re wondering what you’re really getting then check out this impressive site which looks a lot like a Porsche dashboard. Simply click the yellow pyramid on the map and the speedos will show your connection speed.
Regardless of what your connection speed turns out to be, this week’s Weblife is here for you with a quick guide to how to pimp up your internet and get the most out it for free!
The days of the solo computer brand are long over – Microsoft is no longer the only name dominating the shelves or the geeky internet forums. In fact it’s never been easier to find decent alternatives to all the programs Microsoft has to offer. Firefox is the ultimate web browser. It’s faster, more secure, more adaptable and prettier than Internet Explorer. Not only that, it's completely free and easily downloadable from mozilla.com.
Now you have your ultimate web browser, it’s time to exploit the work of geeks! A massive and highly dedicated bearded community has invented countless numbers of Add-ons for Firefox. To access the fruits of their labours open Firefox then go to “Tools” and “Add-ons” – from here you can select all the exciting things you want your web browser to do. Here are a few recommendations:
This is one of the greatest features of Firefox as it will block every single piece of web advertising. You will never be annoyed by an advert while browsing again! It’s far superior to your average pop up blocker as it doesn’t load the adverts embedded in websites, instantly reducing the time it takes to load a page.
This changes your code to request pages at a quicker rate so you get your content faster. Pretty nifty! (Don’t even ask me why we don’t all have this magical code anyway)
Makes it incredibly easy to upload pictures to websites.
So you have downloaded Firefox and are enjoying the benefits of faster browsing. But don’t you wish there was more? Well wish no longer! There is a way to make it that little bit faster…
Firstly, you can download Google’s free Web Accelerator tool. Not everybody knows about this but it’s an excellent little program which will have you saving literally hours a week! You can download it free from Google.
Secondly, crank up your download speed by 400% with freshdevices.com . This free site breaks down the file you’re after then reassembles it onscreen.
Are you a YouTube fanatic? Get faster videos by picking up the Speedbit Video Accelerator. It opens a load more connections to the video’s source file, apparently.
Well done... give yourself a pat on the back... you’ve taken your virgin steps to unlocking the true power of the internet. Now go forth on your voyage of discovery and if you find anything else to boost your browser feel free to post it below.
Kudos for recommending Firefox. However, I cannot seriously believe that you are recommending Fasterfox. With more research on your part you may understand why "we don't all have this magical code". Read the independent review at http://mattkirman.com/blog/archives/41 to see why it is so bad.
go firefox! its certainly very good for use when developing websites (with the firebug extension), its much more standards compliant than IE. (I use Konqueror myself most of the time though).
One of the reasons firefox is good is that it is Free software (free as in free speech, not free beer). This means anybody is free to get the source code and improve it.
If you feel like a change from microsoft altogether, look into trying a distribution of the Linux operating system (i.e. it can replace ms windows entirely). Because it is free software, it costs nothing, is not vulnerable to viruses/spyware, and doesn't need restarting all the time / reinstalling every few months.
Whats more most distributions come with stacks of great software
.
Bear in mind also that the only way to measure your broadband bandwidth through a website is to transfer data and time it. This means that you should make sure you have nothing accessing the internet except your browser, and should expect slightly lower results than your stated bandwidth anyway.
For those who prefer Internet Explorer, Maxthon is a based on it and includes lots of useful bits like Firefox does.
James, if you haven't already, you should check out the Web Developer toolbar for Firefox - very useful.
True about Linux comment 2 - It’s a great alternative to Microsoft and Ubuntu is a great alternative to windows. It looks amazing (more like a Mac, in fact).
Linux was often thought to be too complicated for the non computer savvy. But nowadays anyone can use it. You can download Ubuntu free from ubuntu.com . The forums are good if you get a little stuck and need sorting out. 
mitch: yep, got it 
. they're the only two extentions i have in fact.
I'd agree with Anon up to the point where something goes wrong. Things are a lot harder to fix when they break on Linux than on Windows. Oh, and games - unless you're going to shell out for Cedega as well as the money you already spent on the game.
i think the "how easy to fix stuff" argument relating to linux depends a lot on experience. Mr average computer user probably has much less experience using linux than windows so its not really a level playing field.
Sadly there aren't many commercial games for linux, but a couple of my faves have been ported by Linux Game Publishing
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