Workers' Edge

There's no reason to take the Web as it comes. Not when there are Firefox add-ons that turn Web pages into putty that you can shape as you wish. These three--Zotero, MashLogic, and RSVP Reader--let you gather and store all or parts of Web pages, open a customizable info box for whatever topics you encounter, and convert a block of text into a string of phrases that flash in a box at a speed you control.

Turn your favorite pages into collections
A few days ago, I wrote about three add-ons that go bookmarks one better by letting you customize the Web pages you save. Zotero is like bookmarks cubed. Not only can you save text, images, or entire pages, you can annotate and categorize the information for easy retrieval.

My only complaint is that the Zotero window takes up half the screen and can't be resized. Fortunately, it's easy to close the window to get a full view of your browser. To reopen the window, click the Zotero button in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Save all or parts of Web pages and categorize the content with the Zotero Firefox add-on.

(Credit: Zotero)

Zotero's capabilities go far beyond collecting and tagging Web pages. It's designed for researchers and lets them attach files and notes to items, take a snapshot of the page, and add bibliographic references. All entries are time- and date-stamped, and you can even open a mini-text-editing window. I sure wish I had one of these when I was a student.

Add-on lets custom search tag along
If you can get past the tiny blue dots the MashLogic add-on places below text and links, the add-on comes in handy. Hover over the dotted item and a small window pops up with information about the item from the sources you specify.

The MashLogic Firefox add-on opens an info box with customizable content related to the item.

(Credit: MashLogic)

Click the MashLogic icon that appears to the left of the address bar to select the sources supplying the add-on's information. Your choices include Wikipedia, New York Times, Twitter, Yelp, and Guardian UK, as well as such categories as movies, books, music, shopping, and news and feeds. You can also suspend the dots for all sites or disable them for the site you're currently on.

Convert a page's text into a video stream
I was hoping to report how much faster I plowed through Web text with the RSVP Reader add-on, but I just couldn't get used to reading words as they flashed in a small box one, two, and three at a time. I still get a kick out of the novelty of a page's text appearing in bits and pieces.

RSVP Reader appears as a toolbar with buttons for making the text larger or smaller, and positioning the text in the box. In addition to the standard Play, Pause, Stop, and Rewind, buttons, you get buttons to speed up or slow down the text playback.

See a page's text by the word or phrase at your choice of playback speed with the RSVP Reader Firefox add-on.

(Credit: RSVP Reader)

I tried reading several text-heavy pages with different types of content (news, literature, even poetry) with RSVP Reader and the old-fashioned way, and even after experimenting with different text-playback rates, it didn't feel like I was going through the material faster the flashing-text-box way. I was disappointed that I couldn't reposition the text box, which is at the far right of the toolbar. But the add-on does offer a totally different way to browse.

Web pages aren't getting any smaller, but there are usually not more than a few paragraphs or a couple of images of particular interest on any given page. Firefox add-ons ICyte (also available for IE), Wired-Marker, and Trails let you save all or sections of Web pages and share your snippets with others.

ICyte makes sharing easy
Most of the time, sharing Web content means sending someone a link via e-mail, chat, or phone. The ICyte add-on for Firefox and Internet Explorer lets you highlight the important content on the page before you share it, or you can save and send portions of the page rather than the whole enchilada.

You must provide your name and e-mail address to use the service. After you download the add-on and restart Firefox, two buttons are added to the left of the address bar. Click the left button to create a Cyte for a new or existing "project." Here you can assign tags or a note to the Cyte. Click the button on the right to open your Cytes in the sidebar.

Annotate Web pages before you save and share them with ICyte.

(Credit: ICyte)

The Cyte entries in the sidebar show a thumbnail of the page, its name, the name of the project, and its comments and tags. When you click a Cyte to reopen it, a banner appears at the top of the main browser window showing the same information along with the date it was saved and a Live View button that returns to the original page. You can hide this banner to view more of the page itself.

Click the gear icon that appears when you hover over a Cyte in the sidebar to open its drop-down menu with options for editing the Cyte name and other data (but not the page itself), creating a copy, deleting the Cyte, sending it to someone via e-mail, or embedding it in a Web page. You can also share the sites you designate as public with others via RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks, though I didn't try these features.

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Do you need Windows 7? If you're happy with your current PC—whether it runs Vista, XP, or some other operating system—probably not. But if you're in the market for a new system, there's a lot to like about Windows 7, particularly in the look-and-feel department.

You can read all about Win7's new features on Microsoft's official Windows 7 site. But some of my favorites are the subtle interface tweaks that can be easy to miss.

Starting with the basics
I like to keep the Windows desktop free of icons, so the first change I make to any new Windows setup is to right-click the desktop, choose View, and uncheck Show Desktop Icons. Windows 7 gives me a reason to keep those icons in view. Move your mouse to the far right end of Windows 7's taskbar to "Peek" through all open windows to the desktop.

Windows 7 also lets you "Shake" a window to hide all other open windows and shake it again to get them back. Or "Snap" a window to the top, bottom, left, or right side of the screen to fill that portion of the screen, which is great for comparing files or folders.

The Notification area gets a facelift in Windows 7. To open the new-look Notification Area Icon Control Panel applet, right-click the Start button, choose Properties > Notification Area > Customize. The options to hide icons, always show them, or show only notifications are the same as in Vista, but the interface is slicked up a bit.

The Notification Area Icons options have a new look in Windows 7.

(Credit: Microsoft)

A new icon in Windows 7's Notification area is the Action Center, which centralizes all pending system alerts. Hovering over the Action Center's flag icon displays the number of messages in the queue. The How-To Geek explains how to customize Action Center messages and also provides instructions for disabling the feature.

Jump to a recent file or open window
Previous versions of Windows have offered ways to return to files, folders, and applications that were opened recently. Two new methods in Windows 7 are Jump Lists, which appear when you right-click a taskbar icon, and Aero Peek, which previews files when you over their taskbar thumbnails.

A new look for some old favorites
I've been using Paint and WordPad for so long the programs—both of which have been baked into Windows for years—feel like old friends. I was delighted to see that the versions of these apps in Windows 7 sport ribbons similar to those in Office 2007 programs. Of course, not everyone likes the ribbon interface, but I think it's easier to access the items I use most.

Frankly, I'm just glad Microsoft hasn't remove these Windows stalwarts the way it jettisoned Windows Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, and other formerly-built-in components to create the separate Windows Live Essentials.

Getting a feel for the Windows 7 interface
Perhaps the most impressive interface tweak in Windows 7 is apparent only to touchscreen users. Any iPhone user will appreciate the ability to control screen elements by using your fingertips to drag and tap elements on the display. CNET Senior Associate Editor Seth Rosenblatt gives a video demo of Win7's touch features.

But touch will be a novelty until significant numbers of PCs with touchscreens arrive. As Ina Fried explains in her Beyond Binary blog, consumers have balked at the added price of touch-enabled systems. However, as the price of touchscreens drops and software arrives that takes advantage of the feature, you may find yourself spending less time clutching your mouse.

Roughly speaking, powering a desktop PC with a 17-inch LCD 8 hours a day, 20 days a month costs about $35 a year. That's according to the energy-use calculator on Michael Bluejay's Saving Electricity site.

The same site indicates that computers and electronics represent less than 10 percent of the average energy bill in the U.S. That's about the same amount we spend to power our refrigerators and a third of what the typical home pays for heating.

But if you're looking to reduce your carbon footprint along with your electric bill, minimizing your computer's power consumption can make a difference. Here are four steps you can take to use less power.

Adjust Windows' power plans
You probably set your PC to go into standby, sleep, or hibernate mode after a period of inactivity (please tell me you don't still use a screensaver). In March 2008, I described how to customize Vista's power plans and XP's power schemes. Greg Schultz of Tech Republic examines the new feature in Windows 7's PowerCfg command-line utility that analyzes your current power plan and spots problem areas.

Turn your PC and monitor off completely
It's true that Windows' various power-down states save almost as much energy as pulling the plug entirely, but that little trickle of electricity drain adds up quickly. According to Penn Computing's estimate of PC power use, the machines are draining a watt or more of power when they're off and plugged in.

Many organizations with huge PC networks have been paying attention to these numbers and have invested in sophisticated power-management systems for all their office equipment. Networked PCs may need to be activated remotely to apply patches and perform other maintenance tasks. But for most home computers, there's no need for them to be left in standby, or even to be plugged in when they're not in use.

Take the hardware approach to power conservation
TrickleStar sells products designed to turn off your PC's peripherals when you turn the machine itself off. This might be a great way to save energy, but according to Gizmos for Geeks' review, it could take as long as 12 years for the device to pay for itself in lower energy bills.

Hang on to your old machine a while longer
As Netbooks become more popular, I can't help but think we've entered the age of the disposable computer. And that's not good. It takes a lot of energy to build and deliver a new PC. And while Windows 7 has convinced a great number of people that the time is right for a new system, that old one has to end up somewhere--perhaps in an unregulated landfill in Asia.

It's true that dumping your CRT in favor of an LCD will reduce your monthly electric bill, but be sure to dispose of your old equipment responsibly. Last March, I discussed the pros and cons of recycling vs. donating your old PC.

Tools help you save energy around the house
Since your computers and other electronics equipment represent less than a tenth of your overall energy consumption, you might be wondering how you can minimize the other 90 percent. The Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Change site lists energy-saving tips for home owners, travelers, office workers, and schools. The site also features a Household Emissions Calculator.

Enter information from your gas, electric, and other utility bills to find your estimated annual CO2 consumption. Then find out how much CO2 you can conserve by driving less, washing your clothes in cold water instead of hot, and taking other energy-saving measures.

With or without the money savings, using less has got to be good.

Web shoppers are a suspicious lot. That's the conclusion of a recent poll conducted by Zogby International and funded by Symantec and the National Cyber Security Alliance. The survey found that 63 percent of online shoppers abandoned a purchase due to security concerns.

Among the reasons given for failing to complete the transaction were sites that asked for too much information, uncertainty about how their personal data would be used by the site, and lack of faith in the site's security. These are all valid concerns.

CNET News reporter Greg Sandoval describes recent Congressional hearings on bogus online loyalty programs that sucker Web shoppers into offers that are loaded with fine print. Sandoval's follow-up report indicates that few of the big-name sites profiting from these programs intend to end their relationships with the companies being scrutinized.

Even if you've been making Web purchases for years, it pays to review the top five tips for avoiding unpleasant online-shopping surprises.

Know who you're dealing with
You can get an indication of a site's trustworthiness by using a site-rating browser add-on such as the Web of Trust, LinkExtend, and McAfee SiteAdvisor. I described these and other security add-ons for Firefox in a post on Nov. 17, but these and similar site-rating services are available for Internet Explorer and other browsers as well.

The BBB Online's shopping tips suggest that if you're not sure about completing a Web purchase, look for a toll-free phone number you can call to place your order. Just remember not to volunteer more information than necessary, whether you make your purchase via a Web form or telephone.

Know exactly what you're getting—and when and how you're getting it
Document as many specs as possible about the products you're purchasing, including model numbers, dimensions, item numbers, and guarantees of authenticity. Know beforehand all delivery and handling charges, warranties, and return/refund policies. Get the tracking number of the delivery service the vendor will use.

In my experience, the ability of Amazon and other reputable Web sites to deliver products when they promise goes down as the heart of holiday shopping season approaches. To avoid Christmas morning disappointments, shop very early or stick to brick and mortar for your most important purchases.

Watch for prechecked or disguised 'offers'
Just as you can find your browser sporting a new toolbar if you rush through an update of your media player or PDF reader, being in a hurry when you make a Web purchase can cause you to "sign up" for unwanted offers. Technologizer blogger Harry McCracken found himself an inadvertent enrollee in the SavingsAce affinity program run by Vertrue, which is one of the companies under investigation by Congress.

Maintain a complete paper trail
Print out all transaction records, invoices, order-confirmation e-mails, warranties, return and refund policies, and anything else that documents the transaction. The BBB Online recommends printing Web pages showing the vendor's name, physical address, and telephone number. Also print pages with information about the product you're purchasing and the seller's privacy policy and legal terms.

Watch for unexpected charges after the fact
Some of the most unpleasant surprises may not manifest themselves until you receive your next credit-card statement. Be ready to challenge any unauthorized fees or other added charges. Watch out for mystery charges from third-party vendors such as Harry's experience with SavingsAce.

If you're unable to work out any problems with the vendor, the BBB Online recommends using the Better Business Bureau's complaint form, the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection complaint form, or the equivalent complaint form on the site of your state's attorney general.

Unfortunately, when I went this route with the faulty notebook computer HP sold me, I got nowhere fast. Still, you might have better luck with your complaints than I had with mine.

Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3, Google Chrome 4, Apple's Safari 4, and Opera 10 include features that block sites known to host malware and malicious downloads. All but Opera also let you browse without leaving any tracks. But just as important as these protections is ensuring that whichever browser you use is thoroughly patched.

Filtering out bad sites
Firefox's built-in antiphishing tool claims to update its bad-site database 48 times a day, according to Mozilla's Firefox security page. Firefox 3 uses Google's Safe Browsing service to automatically block sites that are known to host malware. The Google Code site describes how Safe Browsing works in Firefox.

To verify that attack-site blocking is enabled in Firefox, click Tools > Options > Security and make sure "Block reported attack sites" is checked.

Firefox will prevent known-bad sites from opening when "Block reported attack sites" is checked.

(Credit: Mozilla Foundation)

The same feature is built into Google's own Chrome browser. You can ensure that malware-site filtering is on in Chrome by clicking the wrench icon in the top-right corner, choosing Options, and selecting Under the Hood. "Enable phishing and malware filtering" should be checked. The Google Chrome Help site describes the feature. (Hint: This page looks very similar to the description on the Google Code site.)

Google's Chrome browser blocks known-bad sites when "Enable phishing and malware protection" is checked.

(Credit: Google)

The SmartScreen technology in version 8 of Internet Explorer blocks known-malicious downloads as well as bad URLs. Other new security features in IE 8 include automatic blocking of click-jacking and cross-site scripting attacks, automatic crash recovery, and highlighting of the actual domain name in the address bar. The Microsoft Security site describes the SmartScreen Filter and includes links to a SmartScreen FAQ and information for site managers.

Apple's Safari browser added phishing and malware blocking in version 3.2, which was released in late 2008; read about this and other security features in Safari 4 on the Apple Safari site. Likewise, Opera's Fraud Protection predates the phishing and malware filters in IE and Firefox and is enhanced in the latest version 10. But attack-site blocking is only one of Opera's many security features, which you can read about on the Opera site.

Browsing in private
To activate private browsing in Firefox 3, click Tools > Start Private Browsing, or simply press Ctrl-Shift-P. You can set Firefox to start in private-browsing mode by clicking Tools > Options > Privacy and check "Automatically start Firefox in a private browsing session." The Mozilla support site provides more information about this feature. Likewise, put IE 8 in private-browsing mode by clicking Safety > InPrivate Browsing, or by pressing Ctrl-Shift-P. You can also open a new tab and click either Browse with InPrivate or Open an InPrivate Window.

IE 8 also lets you control the information about your browsing habits that's shared with Web tracking services. To activate this feature, click Tools > InPrivate Filtering Settings and choose "Let me choose which providers receive my information." This opens the InPrivate Filtering settings dialog, where you can turn filtering off, choose which services to block from tracking you, or automatically block all trackers.

Internet Explorer 8's InPrivate Filtering lets you block some or all Web tracking services.

(Credit: Microsoft)

You can open an incognito window in Google Chrome by clicking the wrench icon in the top-right corner and choosing "New incognito window," or simply press Ctrl-Shift-N. The incognito icon (a shadow figure in a fedora and glasses) appears in the top-left corner of the browser window. The Chrome support site offers a more detailed description of this feature.

Opera lacks an equivalent private-browsing capability but does offer private searching and other identity-blocking features, as described on the Opera site. To activate private browsing in Safari, simply click Safari Settings Menu > Private Browsing.

Automatic and not-so-automatic browser updates
Patching is a way of life with nearly all software, but especially with browsers and the media players associated with them: Adobe Reader, the Flash Player, Apple's QuickTime, and Sun's Java, among others. All of a browser's security features can be rendered useless by a piece of malware that takes advantage of an unpatched hole in the program.

Firefox 3 alerts users to the presence of an update and now also notifies you when your Flash Player is out-of-date. Internet Explorer 8 updates via the Windows Update/Microsoft Update services. Google Chrome made a splash by being the first browser to update itself in the background without requiring any prompting from users. Safari updates automatically via Apple's update service, which also serves up patches automatically for QuickTime, iTunes, and other Apple software. Opera also notifies you automatically when a new version is available.

But updating is too important to leave to others. Back in April, I described Secunia's Online Software Inspector and downloadable Personal Software Inspector, which identify out-of-date programs on your PC. The programs mentioned in that post have all been updated since, but Secunia's services should point you to the most recent versions.

(Note that Secunia sometimes reports a program as being out-of-date when in fact you have the latest version. On my PC, it continually reports my up-to-date Flash Player as being in need of an update, for example. But the free service Secunia provides is worth putting up with this and similar minor annoyances.)

There's no way to reduce to zero your risk of picking up some piece of malware while browsing. You need layers of security to keep viruses, Trojans, and botnets at bay—the more layers, the safer your browsing. (Of course, the more layers, the slower your browsing, too, so don't get carried away.)

Much emphasis has been placed on the enhanced security features of the latest versions of the popular browsers. Whether one is any safer than another is anybody's guess, but no browser gives you more ways to thwart a Web-based attack than Firefox via its wealth of security add-ons.

Link checkers add warnings to search results
Search results are often difficult to trust, even when the URL looks familiar. Phishers are adept at planting dangerous links that look like harmless ones. Link checkers provide you with an indication of the trustworthiness of sites before you click their links. (Note that several of the products are available for Internet Explorer as well.)

Some of the programs, such as McAfee's SiteAdvisor, give the thumbs-up or thumbs-down based on a single company's research. Web of Trust (WOT) bases its recommendations on the collective intelligence of a network of volunteers. LinkExtend is a link-check aggregator that combines the analyses of eight different services.

McAfee SiteAdvisor adds a safety indicator to Web search results.

(Credit: McAfee)

While the recommendations of link checkers are helpful in identifying safe sites, you can't take their yeas and nays as gospel. For example, sites that offer downloads of system utilities may be flagged as dangerous because the programs require access to the operating system and thus could do major damage in the wrong hands.

Track the trackers
You know popular Web sites download software that tracks your activities on their sites, but do you know who's doing the tracking? Find out with the Ghostery add-on that pops up the names of the trackers as the page opens. The program puts a small "ghost" icon in the bottom-right corner of the Firefox window that turns orange when trackers are present. Click the link that appears to the right of the icon to find out more about the trackers and block them individually or entirely.

The Ghostery Firefox add-on lets you know who's tracking your activities on the site.

(Credit: Ghostery)

View encryption specs
When you open an encrypted Web page, a lock icon appears in the bottom-right corner of the Firefox window and the URL in the address bar begins with "https." But there's more than one form of encryption, and knowing which type and strength of encryption in use can be handy.

The CipherFox add-on puts in the bottom-right of the Firefox status bar the Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) cipher and keysize currently in use. Double-clicking the entry opens the CipherFox dialog box, where you can disable RC4 encryption and display partial SSL/TLS. (Note that the developer accepts donations to support the product.)

Take charge of Web password management
Firefox's built-in password manager lets you create a master password and remember passwords for specific sites, but if you want to get serious about managing your passwords, get LastPass, a password manager that provides much more granular control over your sign-ins.

After you download and install the add-on, an icon is placed in the top-right corner of the Firefox window. Click it to open the LastPass menu, which lets you manage your identities, open the LastPass Vault, jump to favorite sites, and generate secure passwords. You can also import or export sign-in IDs, compose and print secure notes, and assign keyboard shortcuts for specific actions.

In addition to Firefox and IE, LastPass is available for Google Chrome and Apple's Safari browsers. LastPass backs up your passwords by storing an encrypted copy on its own servers. And because you can access your passwords via the Internet, you can use LastPass on any Web-connected device, although use of LastPass on an iPhone or other smart phone requires a Premium membership, which costs $1 a month. (You can also put LastPass on a USB thumbdrive for use with Firefox Portable and other portable apps.)

A colleague contacted me the other day with an odd problem: Microsoft Word 2003's default paper size was stuck on A4. Every time he changed the paper-size default back to Letter, it reverted to A4 with the next print job.

My first thought was that his printer driver needed an update. But driver updates often spell trouble, so I recommended that he look for the fix first in Word itself, then check Windows' print settings, and install a new printer driver only after the first two options come up empty.

Try a new normal.dot template
One potential cure-all for Word printer woes is resetting the normal.dot template (it's called normal.dotm in Word 2007). Microsoft provides instructions for doing so in Word 2000, XP, 2003, and 2007 in the inaccurately named article "How to troubleshoot printing problems in Word 2007 and Word 2003."

Interestingly enough, Microsoft offers another support article with information on finding the source of print failures. But the step-by-step approach in "How to troubleshoot print failures in Word 2007 and Word 2003" takes more time than some people will want to spend to find a solution. For deliberate types, though, it might be just the thing.

Reset Windows' own print settings
Microsoft tries to make it easy to troubleshoot Windows print problems by offering a one-click Fix it routine. The Help & How-to article also provides instructions for resetting the Print Spooler service when you receive an error message referring to spooler problems.

If the problem is with a network printer, check the FAQs in Microsoft's aptly named Help & How-to article "Troubleshoot network printer problems." Of course, uninstalling and then reinstalling the printer is a trick that predates Windows. (You also tried turning the printer off and then back on again, didn't you?)

Look for a printer-driver update
It's no surprise that Microsoft suggests you let Windows update your device drivers automatically. Instructions for doing so are provided in the Help & How-to article "Update a driver for hardware that isn't working properly." The company also offers the article "Find and install printer drivers," but the information there is pretty basic.

To take matters into your own hands, visit the support or download section of your printer vendor's Web site and search for the most up-to-date driver for your model. If the driver has a version number later than the number of your current printer software, download the newer release and save the file where it's easy to find.

Next, open the Printers Control Panel applet, right-click the printer whose driver you want to update, and choose Properties. Select the Advanced tab, click New Driver, and browse to and select the new driver you just downloaded. (The Printers applet in Vista provides an option to "Go to the manufacturer Web site" on the toolbar when a printer's selected.)

The consensus of experts is that Windows 7 is the best operating system Microsoft has ever released. I managed to perform a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate on an XP PC with no problems whatsoever, but not all Windows 7 upgrades go so smoothly.

In fact, I was getting ready to install Windows 7 Home Premium on a blank partition of my Sony Vaio laptop so I could dual-boot Vista and Win7 but was scared off by a handful of reports of serious upgrade problems. Call me chicken, but I count on my notebook PC and don't want to risk breaking it. (And besides, I don't dislike Vista near as much as many other people do.)

Some veteran PC users postpone upgrading to a new Windows version until the first service pack is released. Unfortunately, service packs often cause problems of their own. Back in 2008, glitches with Vista SP1 caused Microsoft to offer free support, as Suzanne Tindal reported. Microsoft provides the System Update Readiness Tool designed to resolve update problems for Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7.

You can minimize the chances that you'll encounter upgrade woes by doing two things beforehand: back up your data and save the Windows 7 drivers for your hardware to a removable medium. This applies whether you're doing an in-place upgrade (which preserves your data and settings) or a clean install (which wipes out the current Windows installation).

That's the theory, anyway. There's no guarantee that the official Windows 7 drivers will work without a hitch on your system. Paul Mah of the IT Business Edge reports success rolling back to the Vista driver for a device that balked under Windows 7.

Some Vista users fall into an infinite loop when attempting to install the Windows 7 upgrade. Microsoft provides a Fix-it for the problem on its Support site. Seth Rosenblatt describes in the CNET Download Blog two Win7 upgrade gotchas to avoid.

Microsoft's guide to upgrading to Windows 7 relies on the Easy Transfer wizard, but ZDNet UK's Adrian Bridgwater points out the risks of trusting your data and software settings to an automated process that can be "easy" to derail. (The wizard doesn't bring over the applications themselves, which have to be reinstalled separately.)

I may eventually upgrade my Vista notebook to Windows 7—probably long before Win7 SP1—but only after the early adopters have cleared a path.