Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Freeware – Foxit Reader 2.0

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I ended up with a problem while I was away. I did not take my laptop, only my 1 GB USB Drive loaded with portable versions of Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice.org.

The problem was that the computers available in the business center wher I was staying did not have Adobe Reader, in any version, installed. I was therefore unable to open any PDF files.

I went looking around and found Foxit Reader 2.0 for Windows from Foxit Software http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader_2/down_reader.htm.

I downloaded it to my USB drive, double clicked on the FoxitReader.exe file and was able to access PDF files to my heart’s content and even fill in interactive forms, without having to install anything. On top of that it is much faster loading than Adobe Reader, in my experience.

Note: The paid version with enhanced capabilities does have an installer and writes to the registry, at least that is my understanding.

The free version does not have all the capabilities of Adobe Reader, but for the price and my uses, it is very adequate. I must say that I also have the full Adobe Acrobat 7 application on my main computer, with which I can generate PDFs and manipulate them, as well as just read or fill in interactive PDFs.

If I keep having no problems opening and reading PDF files in the next few weeks, Foxit Reader will become my default PDF reader.

Give this a try and you might be using it as your default PDF reader as well.

Gmail – Plus Addressing

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I like that Gmail allows me to use “Plus Addressing”, because it makes it easier for me to organize specific incoming email.

According to the Wikipedia Gmail entry, Plus-addressing section, as accessed 12OCT06 :

Gmail also supports “plus-addressing” of e-mails. Messages can be sent to addresses in the form: username+extratext@gmail.com where extratext can be any string. Plus-addressing allows users to sign up for different services with different aliases and then easily filter all e-mails from those services, however, a significant number of services do not support email addresses containing plus signs.

One I use all the time is gmailaddress+bu@gmail.com, the first portion is not my real Gmail address of course. This is for when I am sending myself a backup of information done at work to my Gmail account, and I have a filter set up to automatically label any emails to gmailaddress+bu@gmail.com with a specific label. More about Gmail filters in a post to follow.

I also use a plus addressed Gmail to sign up for things online, then if I have a problem or start receiving a lot of spam I can just set a filter to automatically delete any thing coming in to that address.

In effect plus addressing gives you unlimited disposable email addresses, at least I have not found anywhere that would not accept one.

I am sure there are some more creative ways to use plus addressing, and would like to hear from my readers about their different uses for this. Leave a comment on this or any post to let me know.

Related Article

Gmail – Overview (ctublog.sefcug.com)

Portable Apps – Firefox and Firefox Portable Settings Part 3

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This is a follow up of my 31AUG06 Portable Apps – Firefox and Firefox Portable Settings Part 1 and
07SEP06 Portable Apps – Firefox and Firefox Portable Settings Part 2
postings, in which items in the General, Privacy and Content settings
were discussed.

Part 4 will be concerned with the Advanced settings, and will be the final posting regarding the Firefox settings.

The version of Firefox being used at the time of this entry is 1.5.0.7.

Tabs

The Tabs tab, appropriately is where what the tabs do or don’t do, when using the tabbed browsing feature in Firefox. The following is a table, showing the different options and my preferences, which are the same whether using the standard or portable version of Firefox.

Firefox and Portable Firefox Tabs Tab
Option Secondary Comments My Preferences
Open links from other applications in:
Radio Buttons:
a new window
a new tab
in the most recent window
the most recent
window
A new tab in the most recent window.
Force links that
open new windows to open in:
Radio Buttons:
the same tab/window
as the link
a new tab
A new tab.
Hide the tab bar
when only one web site is open
Check Box:
Checked: Hidden
Unchecked: Showing
Checked.
Select new tabs
opened from links
Check Box:
Checked: Selected
Unchecked: Not Selected
Unchecked.
Warn when closing multiple
tabs
Check Box:
Checked: Warned
Unchecked: Not Warned
Checked.
I am reminded that I have more than one tab open, so that I can
Bookmark what I want to get back to, in case I have not already
done so.

Downloads

The Downloads tab contains controls for the handling of where the files are downloaded
and what can be done with them automatically.

Downloading a file and then finding it later is a problem for a lot of the users I know, so
I recommend that a specific folder be created and all downloads, of whatever nature, be set to download to that folder. Personally that is what I do and going even further, once my downloading is complete, I set up sub-folders within that download folder to organize and make
them easier to locate months or years down the line.

Firefox and Portable Firefox Downloads Tab
Option Secondary Comments My Preferences
Download Folder
Radio Buttons:
Ask me where to save
every file
Save all files to
this folder: (Offers a Browse
button to select a folder in Windows Explorer
Desktop and Laptop –
I set to save all downloads to a folder named Downloads on my
partition, to make easier to find after download.
USB Drives – Ask where to save every time, as I don’t know
what computer I will be using or what the USB drive letter will
be, usually have saved to the USB Drive for portability.

Show Download Manager
when a download begins
Check Box:
Checked: Shows
Unchecked: Does not Show
Checked.
Close the Download
Manager when all downloads are complete
Check Box:
Checked: Closes Download Manager upon completion of download
session.
Unchecked: Leaves Download Manager open until Firefox is closed.
Checked.
Download Actions
(Set to automatically download or open
files of certain types.)
View & Edit
Actions Button
Whatever the default for the extension is.
Change Action Options When downloading files.
Radio Buttons:
Open them with the
default application (Shows what the default option is)
Open them with this application: (Provides a Browse
button)
Save them on my
computer.
Use this Plugin
Whatever the default for the extension is.

If you have any questions or ideas for a better way to set up the options, please
leave a comment with this post.