I was looking for a Firefox extension that would fill out certain forms automatically which would help me a lot because I’m filling out a lot of forms to test out new sites and register for products. The guys at downloadsquad found a nice Firefox extension called FireForm which does exactly what I was looking for.
Fireform is able to fill out most forms automatically when you right-click the icon of the extension in the status bar and select fill in this page – left-clicking the icon has the same effect. You will have to create a profile before you can start using the automatic fill option. The profile is independent from existing Firefox profiles and will be used only for the FireForm extension.
You can supply information like names, contact information (email, phone), address and misc information like birthday. Once the profile is created you can use FireForm or create more profiles for other users that use this computer.
There might be the time when you come upon a website that uses a field that is not covered by the default selection that you edited in your FireForm profile. It would then be time to add a custom field to FireForm by using the Display Fields option of it.
Now hover over the field that you want to add and FireForm should display information about that field, the most important is the name that the developers have chosen for it. Remember that name and go to tools > fireform > advanced profiles management and add a description that you can choose freely, a value that should be automatically entered and the trigger that was displayed when you hovered over the form.
Sites tend to use different names for the same subject and you will have to edit those settings often in the beginning. You can add additional triggers to a form by separating them with “;”.
Custom Search
Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Types of Wi-Fi Encryption You Can Use
There are many types of Wi-Fi encryption you can use on modern Internet routers. So which one should you use? Many people don’t even use encryption, and those that do just pick an encryption type at random without knowing what they do. Most encryption types are better than nothing at all, but some are more suitable than others.
For a long time, WEP was considered to be an extremely good method of encrypting wireless connections. The acronym simply means Wired Equivalent Privacy. Originally it was only available in 64-bit configuration, but soon after 128-bit and even 256-bit encryption became available. Entering a 64-bit WEP Wi-Fi key was as simple as choosing a ten character hexadecimal number. Each character represented 4 bits, making 40 bits in total, and then 24 bits were added to complete the 64-bit key. WEP however, was proved to have many flaws mainly involving the short key size, which were relatively easy to crack. WEP also does not provide for security against altered packets – a process where packets of information is intercepted by an intruder and then altered before sending them back, making it look like the intruder is valid user.
These days, WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2 have completely taken over from the old WEP encryption methods. You’ll probably still find WEP available on most routers, but it’s being phased out and someday it probably won’t be available at all. The main advantage WPA has over WEP is that it employs a powerful new feature called TKIP, or rather Temporal Key Integrity Protocol. TKIP is 128-bit, but instead of the key being static, it generates a new key for every packet of information that is sent, meaning it is a lot more secure. WPA also integrates a method of message integrity checks, used to defeat network attackers intercepting and altering data packets. WPA2 goes even further and replaces TKIP with CCMP. CCMP is an AES based encryption method that is much stronger even than TKIP.
In the home, you’ll probably want to use an encryption method called WPA-Personal. This is sometimes also called WPA-PSK. PSK stands for Pre-Shared Key, and is designed for home users and small offices where a server is not required for authenticating messages. It works by having each wireless device such as a laptop or smart phone authenticating directly with the wireless access point using the same key. Offices and large buildings may employ WPA-Enterprise. You can’t generally use this without a complicated authentication server set-up, but it does provide additional security.
Both WPA-SPK and WPA-Enterprise are available in WPA2, meaning even home users can now benefit from AES encryption over their Wi-Fi connections. All of these methods can transmit data at maximum speed, and you won’t notice any speed differences between each type of encryption. Therefore the recommendation is to use the best encryption you can. This means going for WPA2-PSK where you can in a home environment. There are new and more exotic types of Wi-Fi encryption becoming available, but for now even advanced users will find WPA2 more than adequate for most security applications.
If you are using wireless connections, you may want to check your router to make sure that it does not use encryption that can easily be cracked by users with the right toolset.
For a long time, WEP was considered to be an extremely good method of encrypting wireless connections. The acronym simply means Wired Equivalent Privacy. Originally it was only available in 64-bit configuration, but soon after 128-bit and even 256-bit encryption became available. Entering a 64-bit WEP Wi-Fi key was as simple as choosing a ten character hexadecimal number. Each character represented 4 bits, making 40 bits in total, and then 24 bits were added to complete the 64-bit key. WEP however, was proved to have many flaws mainly involving the short key size, which were relatively easy to crack. WEP also does not provide for security against altered packets – a process where packets of information is intercepted by an intruder and then altered before sending them back, making it look like the intruder is valid user.
These days, WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2 have completely taken over from the old WEP encryption methods. You’ll probably still find WEP available on most routers, but it’s being phased out and someday it probably won’t be available at all. The main advantage WPA has over WEP is that it employs a powerful new feature called TKIP, or rather Temporal Key Integrity Protocol. TKIP is 128-bit, but instead of the key being static, it generates a new key for every packet of information that is sent, meaning it is a lot more secure. WPA also integrates a method of message integrity checks, used to defeat network attackers intercepting and altering data packets. WPA2 goes even further and replaces TKIP with CCMP. CCMP is an AES based encryption method that is much stronger even than TKIP.
In the home, you’ll probably want to use an encryption method called WPA-Personal. This is sometimes also called WPA-PSK. PSK stands for Pre-Shared Key, and is designed for home users and small offices where a server is not required for authenticating messages. It works by having each wireless device such as a laptop or smart phone authenticating directly with the wireless access point using the same key. Offices and large buildings may employ WPA-Enterprise. You can’t generally use this without a complicated authentication server set-up, but it does provide additional security.
Both WPA-SPK and WPA-Enterprise are available in WPA2, meaning even home users can now benefit from AES encryption over their Wi-Fi connections. All of these methods can transmit data at maximum speed, and you won’t notice any speed differences between each type of encryption. Therefore the recommendation is to use the best encryption you can. This means going for WPA2-PSK where you can in a home environment. There are new and more exotic types of Wi-Fi encryption becoming available, but for now even advanced users will find WPA2 more than adequate for most security applications.
If you are using wireless connections, you may want to check your router to make sure that it does not use encryption that can easily be cracked by users with the right toolset.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Google Plus For Everyone, No Longer Invite Only
It took Google some time to open their social network service Google Plus to the public. Up until now it was only possible to join the service after receiving an invite, or by accessing the site when Google removed the invite-limitation temporarily.
Google today over at the official Google Blog announced that Google+ is now available for everyone which means that anyone can sign up for Google+ without invitation. This step marks the transition from field trial of beta.
Users who want to sign up can head over to the official website at google.com/+ or http://plus.google.com/ to sign up for the service.
Google notes on the sign up page that Google+ is in Beta, which means that users may run into technical issues and other problems on the site during that time.
The very same blog post announced a slew of new and improved features. This includes hangouts on the phone. Users who connect to Google Plus via their phone can now join Hangouts just like desktop users can.
Hangouts are currently only supported on Android 2.3 and higher devices with front facing cameras. Google notes that iOS support will come soon.
Hangouts on Air is another new feature which allows Google Plus users to record a session. This session can then be watched by anyone. Hangouts got additional extras, including screensharing, a sketchpad, Google Docs support and an option to create named hangouts.
Google last week launched the Google+ Api that allows developers to create services and features around the social networking site. Today, Google is releasing an api specifically for Hangouts. Developers find more information about the available Apis over at the Google+ Platform blog.
More interesting to the majority of Google+ users is the improved Search in Google+. The search is now finding relevant people and posts, and “popular content from the web”.
You can read the full announcement over at the official Google Blog.
Google today over at the official Google Blog announced that Google+ is now available for everyone which means that anyone can sign up for Google+ without invitation. This step marks the transition from field trial of beta.
Users who want to sign up can head over to the official website at google.com/+ or http://plus.google.com/ to sign up for the service.
Google notes on the sign up page that Google+ is in Beta, which means that users may run into technical issues and other problems on the site during that time.
The very same blog post announced a slew of new and improved features. This includes hangouts on the phone. Users who connect to Google Plus via their phone can now join Hangouts just like desktop users can.
Hangouts are currently only supported on Android 2.3 and higher devices with front facing cameras. Google notes that iOS support will come soon.
Hangouts on Air is another new feature which allows Google Plus users to record a session. This session can then be watched by anyone. Hangouts got additional extras, including screensharing, a sketchpad, Google Docs support and an option to create named hangouts.
Google last week launched the Google+ Api that allows developers to create services and features around the social networking site. Today, Google is releasing an api specifically for Hangouts. Developers find more information about the available Apis over at the Google+ Platform blog.
More interesting to the majority of Google+ users is the improved Search in Google+. The search is now finding relevant people and posts, and “popular content from the web”.
You can read the full announcement over at the official Google Blog.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Use Windows 7 Backup to Schedule Automatic File Backups
Backing up your work is essential. Many of us keep important documents on our computers that include work files, pictures of the kids, insurance documents, even bank statements. Many of these files are lost forever if your hard drive fails and you have no backup. You may think that hard drives these days are better than they used to be, and never fail – a computer expert will tell you that all hard drives fail eventually. It’s not a matter of if, but when, the data storage on your computer will fail. On top of that, your computer is always at threat from viruses and malicious software, or from theft. Therefore it’s a wise precaution to have a backup, so that your precious files are in more than one location at any time.
There’s a lot of software out there that can be used to backup files to an external hard drive, or even to the cloud. But did you know that Windows 7 actually has some pretty sophisticated backup software built in? It can be used to make a single backup, or to regularly backup your files to keep your archive up to date.
You can backup to either a portable hard drive, to USB flash drives or to CDs or DVDs. The most popular method is to backup to a portable hard drive, as these are very cheap and can be easily connected and carried around. Portable drives are also very useful if you want to keep an off-site backup of your data.
You can find the options to backup your computer’s files from the control panel. Simply click on “start”, and then “control panel” and then find the option to backup your computer under the heading of “system and security”. You’ll be taken to a screen where you can set up a new backup or restore files if you already have an archive. You’ll need to be a computer administrator to do this, as you’ll see by the shield icon next to the link called “set up backup”. Clicking on this will start a wizard where you can set the parameters of your backup job.
You’ll need to select the device you want to use to hold your backups. Plug in a portable hard drive of suitable size to hold all the files you want to archive. The wizard will tell you the size of your drive, and the amount of free space you have on it.
On the next screen you can choose whether to manually select the files you want to backup, or let Windows 7 decide for you. If you have specific files and folders you want to backup, then do it manually but in most cases the automatic selection will work best. Click on next, and now you can see a summary of your selections. You also have the option here to set up a schedule for backups. A weekly backup is usually good enough, but if you are a heavy computer user then maybe select a daily backup.
You should now save your settings by clicking on the button to end the wizard. Congratulations, you’ve set up a backup job on your computer. All you need to do now is wait until the time you selected on your schedule, or you can click on the button “back up now” to start immediately.
There’s a lot of software out there that can be used to backup files to an external hard drive, or even to the cloud. But did you know that Windows 7 actually has some pretty sophisticated backup software built in? It can be used to make a single backup, or to regularly backup your files to keep your archive up to date.
You can backup to either a portable hard drive, to USB flash drives or to CDs or DVDs. The most popular method is to backup to a portable hard drive, as these are very cheap and can be easily connected and carried around. Portable drives are also very useful if you want to keep an off-site backup of your data.
You can find the options to backup your computer’s files from the control panel. Simply click on “start”, and then “control panel” and then find the option to backup your computer under the heading of “system and security”. You’ll be taken to a screen where you can set up a new backup or restore files if you already have an archive. You’ll need to be a computer administrator to do this, as you’ll see by the shield icon next to the link called “set up backup”. Clicking on this will start a wizard where you can set the parameters of your backup job.
You’ll need to select the device you want to use to hold your backups. Plug in a portable hard drive of suitable size to hold all the files you want to archive. The wizard will tell you the size of your drive, and the amount of free space you have on it.
On the next screen you can choose whether to manually select the files you want to backup, or let Windows 7 decide for you. If you have specific files and folders you want to backup, then do it manually but in most cases the automatic selection will work best. Click on next, and now you can see a summary of your selections. You also have the option here to set up a schedule for backups. A weekly backup is usually good enough, but if you are a heavy computer user then maybe select a daily backup.
You should now save your settings by clicking on the button to end the wizard. Congratulations, you’ve set up a backup job on your computer. All you need to do now is wait until the time you selected on your schedule, or you can click on the button “back up now” to start immediately.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
4 Reasons to Help You Figure Out The Unexpected Computer Shutdowns
During the daily using of computer, there are always something unexpected. When you are playing a fantastic computer game or watching a fierce and live ballgame, your computer may suddenly close down automatically. Such situation will always make us feel so annoyed. But when it happened frequently, you should notice that there are must be something wrong with you computer. So today, let's find out the reason and solve such bothersome problems.
1. Virus is the first thing you should blame.
Once you find that there are frequent unexpected shutdowns occurred, you should have your computer checked and find out whether it is invaded by computer virus. We know that virus was produced after the computer was invented. Since the Internet become widely used in nowadays, this also provide a better opportunity for virus to spread. One notorious of the virus is Shockwave which caused great damage to computers all over the world at that time and would close down your computer and restart it automatically.
In this case, we can seek help from the latest anti-virus software. After the whole check of your computer, such software will find out whether you computer is infected or not under most circumstances. Also some hackers will invade other's computer maliciously and place Trojan program in the computer in order to control every activity of it. And it is very easy for these hackers to make your computer shut down. On this occasion some of the Trojan cannot be clear away, so you'd better reinstall the operating system.
2. The accumulated junk files will cause automatic shutdown too.
We all know the junk files are everywhere in the computer. The old installing files, registry, and error reports documents are all junk files. Once you do not clean such files timely, they will accumulate and take up lots of the limited system resource, which will slow down the system and lead to unexpected shutdown.
In order avoid the automatic computer shutdown, you need to empty the recycle bin regularly and install some pc cleaner to clean up all kinds of junk files. Personally, I think the Advanced Systemcare Pro will be a good choice. Besides the function of system optimization, it also can sweep the useless information and delete it.
3. If there is something wrong with the CPU, then shutdown happens.
You can start your computer and enter the desktop normally even when some function circuits and the second level cache of CPU are damaged. While if you want to execute some special function, such as playing game or drawing a graph, the shutdown will occur immediately.
So if your shutdown is caused by such reason, first you can try to shield the second level cache or session level cache in CMOS. The next step is checking the system to find out whether it can operate normally. If not, you'd better replace the CPU with a new one.
4. Unsteady voltage also will cause the computer to close down.
Generally speaking, the power supply voltage range of a home computer is from 170 to 240 volt. If there is something wrong with the power supply, let's say the voltage of electric supply is under 170 volt, the computer will restart or close down automatically. Therefore, we can purchase an uninterrupted power supply or a wide switch power supply from 130 to 260 volt to ensure the steady operation in regions that supply instable power frequently.
Knowing the detailed reasons can helps us to solve the bothersome problem effectively. And I hope what I write will be useful.
Hi, I hope what I have shared in my articles can help you. I love to write about love, relationship, sexual health, skin care and everything that I'm interested in. For more information about Systemcare Software, check IObit.com and it's very helpful.
1. Virus is the first thing you should blame.
Once you find that there are frequent unexpected shutdowns occurred, you should have your computer checked and find out whether it is invaded by computer virus. We know that virus was produced after the computer was invented. Since the Internet become widely used in nowadays, this also provide a better opportunity for virus to spread. One notorious of the virus is Shockwave which caused great damage to computers all over the world at that time and would close down your computer and restart it automatically.
In this case, we can seek help from the latest anti-virus software. After the whole check of your computer, such software will find out whether you computer is infected or not under most circumstances. Also some hackers will invade other's computer maliciously and place Trojan program in the computer in order to control every activity of it. And it is very easy for these hackers to make your computer shut down. On this occasion some of the Trojan cannot be clear away, so you'd better reinstall the operating system.
2. The accumulated junk files will cause automatic shutdown too.
We all know the junk files are everywhere in the computer. The old installing files, registry, and error reports documents are all junk files. Once you do not clean such files timely, they will accumulate and take up lots of the limited system resource, which will slow down the system and lead to unexpected shutdown.
In order avoid the automatic computer shutdown, you need to empty the recycle bin regularly and install some pc cleaner to clean up all kinds of junk files. Personally, I think the Advanced Systemcare Pro will be a good choice. Besides the function of system optimization, it also can sweep the useless information and delete it.
3. If there is something wrong with the CPU, then shutdown happens.
You can start your computer and enter the desktop normally even when some function circuits and the second level cache of CPU are damaged. While if you want to execute some special function, such as playing game or drawing a graph, the shutdown will occur immediately.
So if your shutdown is caused by such reason, first you can try to shield the second level cache or session level cache in CMOS. The next step is checking the system to find out whether it can operate normally. If not, you'd better replace the CPU with a new one.
4. Unsteady voltage also will cause the computer to close down.
Generally speaking, the power supply voltage range of a home computer is from 170 to 240 volt. If there is something wrong with the power supply, let's say the voltage of electric supply is under 170 volt, the computer will restart or close down automatically. Therefore, we can purchase an uninterrupted power supply or a wide switch power supply from 130 to 260 volt to ensure the steady operation in regions that supply instable power frequently.
Knowing the detailed reasons can helps us to solve the bothersome problem effectively. And I hope what I write will be useful.
Hi, I hope what I have shared in my articles can help you. I love to write about love, relationship, sexual health, skin care and everything that I'm interested in. For more information about Systemcare Software, check IObit.com and it's very helpful.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Password Protect Firefox Bookmarks
Firefox bookmarks are accessible for all users of a computer system if one user account is used instead of individual user accounts. This can be a issue if you want to protect data from being seen or accessed by other users. But even if there are multiple user accounts, chance is that some may have access to your Firefox profile folder. A system administrator for instance would have that access.
Firefox bookmarks cannot be protected from prying eyes by default. Users with access can see the link titles and destinations of all bookmarks. Sometimes you may want to password protect and obscure links so that they cannot be opened or identified by third parties.
The Firefox add-on Link Password offers those options. The add-on adds two new options to the right-click bookmark’s context menu. This works both in the Bookmark’s Manager but also if bookmarks are displayed via a button in the Firefox user interface.
Encrypt this link password protects the link, with an option to randomize the link text as well to obscure the bookmark further and avoid identification of the link destination this way. When Encrypt this link is selected, a new window is displayed where a password needs to be entered. The Rename links box is optional.
The link will be replaced by a linkpassword url, the link title by a random page title. In this case, the link title was replaced by “Canada – Yahoo! Search Results”.
It can happen that a very strange looking link title will be selected. One of the links for instance was renamed to “Evighetens Filosofi – Visdomsord som passa dig… – Soker “Blue”, Sida 1″. It may make sense to select a custom link title manually instead, especially if you come up with a system that tells you – and no one else – where the link leads to.
When you open a password protected bookmark, you are asked to enter the password to decrypt the link and open the website.
This may be a bit inconvenient for bookmarks that you open a lot in Firefox, as you need to enter the password every time you open it in the browser. An option to enter the password once and store it for the browser session would be handy. I’d also like to see an option to protect all bookmarks with a single password automatically that you could enter to make all links available. This would make the extension more comfortable to work with.
Firefox users can install the Link Password extension directly from the official Mozilla Add-on repository.
Firefox bookmarks cannot be protected from prying eyes by default. Users with access can see the link titles and destinations of all bookmarks. Sometimes you may want to password protect and obscure links so that they cannot be opened or identified by third parties.
The Firefox add-on Link Password offers those options. The add-on adds two new options to the right-click bookmark’s context menu. This works both in the Bookmark’s Manager but also if bookmarks are displayed via a button in the Firefox user interface.
Encrypt this link password protects the link, with an option to randomize the link text as well to obscure the bookmark further and avoid identification of the link destination this way. When Encrypt this link is selected, a new window is displayed where a password needs to be entered. The Rename links box is optional.
The link will be replaced by a linkpassword url, the link title by a random page title. In this case, the link title was replaced by “Canada – Yahoo! Search Results”.
It can happen that a very strange looking link title will be selected. One of the links for instance was renamed to “Evighetens Filosofi – Visdomsord som passa dig… – Soker “Blue”, Sida 1″. It may make sense to select a custom link title manually instead, especially if you come up with a system that tells you – and no one else – where the link leads to.
When you open a password protected bookmark, you are asked to enter the password to decrypt the link and open the website.
This may be a bit inconvenient for bookmarks that you open a lot in Firefox, as you need to enter the password every time you open it in the browser. An option to enter the password once and store it for the browser session would be handy. I’d also like to see an option to protect all bookmarks with a single password automatically that you could enter to make all links available. This would make the extension more comfortable to work with.
Firefox users can install the Link Password extension directly from the official Mozilla Add-on repository.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Advanced Data Backup Considerations
In a home environment, many people neglect to backup their files and systems, and are then devastated when their computer fails taking all their precious files they’ve been collecting with it. Some people do backups, only to realise too late that the backups haven’t been working properly so when they’re needed they either contain data that is out of date, or in some cases, no data at all. If you’re really unlucky, you may find that the hard drive you’ve been using to backup your files onto is also damaged, or so neglected it doesn’t work. So how can you safeguard your files to make absolutely sure you are covered?
One solution is to have more than one backup disk. The more disks you have, the better protected you’ll be. With portable disk drives so cheap and easily available, it’s possible to have one backup disk for every day of the week. Label them up with that days Monday through to Sunday, and do a full backup onto each of them. After that, you can do an incremental backup each day, and you’ll effectively have seven backups of your hard-drive. So if one backup fails, you have six more to rely on. The chances of even two of your backups failing are remote, let alone seven. In fact, the odds of that happening are astronomical.
However, have you considered what would happen if your house were broken into or you suffer some kind of damage such as a fire? In these situations you could easily lose your computer and all your backups at the same time. In many cases, the data you own is much more valuable than the hardware, so you should make a plan to keep the data safe at all times. The best way to do this is to have a copy of your data offsite. If you work in an office, you could consider taking a backup disk to work with you. A simple rotation system would mean that you have a copy of your most recent data kept in your desk draw at work. You take a new disk with you one day, and bring home the old one. The chances of both your home and your office burning down or being broken into at the same time is just as remote as all your backups being damages. In addition, you’ll usually have a disk with you in transit, so at any one time you’ll actually have your data in three different places.
Other options include backing up your data to an online service. This can be just as costly as buying disks, and depending on the amount of data could take a very long time to upload and download, especially if you have movie files you want to protect.
You’ll also want to consider using encryption on your disks if you’re leaving personal data on your backups, especially in an unattended office overnight. There are many free programs such as Truecrypt that you can use to encrypt your data backups on the fly, to automatically protect your data.
One solution is to have more than one backup disk. The more disks you have, the better protected you’ll be. With portable disk drives so cheap and easily available, it’s possible to have one backup disk for every day of the week. Label them up with that days Monday through to Sunday, and do a full backup onto each of them. After that, you can do an incremental backup each day, and you’ll effectively have seven backups of your hard-drive. So if one backup fails, you have six more to rely on. The chances of even two of your backups failing are remote, let alone seven. In fact, the odds of that happening are astronomical.
However, have you considered what would happen if your house were broken into or you suffer some kind of damage such as a fire? In these situations you could easily lose your computer and all your backups at the same time. In many cases, the data you own is much more valuable than the hardware, so you should make a plan to keep the data safe at all times. The best way to do this is to have a copy of your data offsite. If you work in an office, you could consider taking a backup disk to work with you. A simple rotation system would mean that you have a copy of your most recent data kept in your desk draw at work. You take a new disk with you one day, and bring home the old one. The chances of both your home and your office burning down or being broken into at the same time is just as remote as all your backups being damages. In addition, you’ll usually have a disk with you in transit, so at any one time you’ll actually have your data in three different places.
Other options include backing up your data to an online service. This can be just as costly as buying disks, and depending on the amount of data could take a very long time to upload and download, especially if you have movie files you want to protect.
You’ll also want to consider using encryption on your disks if you’re leaving personal data on your backups, especially in an unattended office overnight. There are many free programs such as Truecrypt that you can use to encrypt your data backups on the fly, to automatically protect your data.
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