I admit – I love Firefox. Sure, it’s got its moments – but it ISN’T Internet Explorer, which means it’s all good.

Firefox can be extended with a variety of add-ons. Here’s a few of the add-ons I use (and couldn’t live without):

#1 – TwitterFox

Twitter is an amazing service. It’s sort of like a combination between microblogging and text messaging with conversational applications. You “follow” people and they “follow” you – it’s a way to keep track of friends and make new ones. If you look to the right on this blog, you’ll see my Twitter. Go to my twitter page to sign up for an account, or to follow me or see who I follow. TwitterFox puts a tiny, unobtrusive “T” icon in the statusbar of FF, with a number next to it. Click on it and you can see recent tweets from those you follow, and send tweets yourself.

#2 – NoScript

NoScript is what keeps me safe on the web. I ditched Norton Internet Insecurity a ways back (because it allowed Windows to get infected by a web-borne virus, then it deleted the infected files. Brilliant!). I’ve since replaced it with first AVG and Zone Alarm, and now just AVG Internet Security. NoScript adds an additional layer of protection to the mix, by preventing websites from executing scripts that you don’t know about. You can give site-by-site permissions.

#3 – ForecastFox

ForecastFox is simple and highly customizable. I get current and forecast weather for my town and also Lakeland, where Kayti is, displayed on the status bar. Alerts pop up if there’s a severe weather situation. FF rotates between the two every so often. You can have (in theory) as many locations as you like. Want to know the weather in Paris or Timbuktu? Just set it up in ForecastFox.

#4 – Alexa Toolbar

Alexa’s among my latest downloads. I’ve yet to see what the big deal is about it, but I’m told that using it will increase your pagerank (thus netting me more cash for the paid posts I do from time to time). So – there it is.

#5 – FireFTP

I don’t know how I lived before FireFTP. Seriously. Before, if I wanted to upload something to the site, I had to open a stand-alone application. No matter which one I tried, too, they seemed to be very crash-prone. With FireFTP, two clicks and I’m “in” – uploads, downloads, permissions, and the like are all available by drag, drop, or click. It’s the simplest and most wonderful little app in the world. ?

I’ve got more add-ons than this, but I need to get back to work. Might write about more later! Use the link below to find the above, or search for others. What’s your favorite FF extension?

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/recommended

Windows Vista – Who loves it and who hates it?

I confess that I have not taken the upgrade plunge yet. But I’ll also confess that this is the first time I’ve seriously considered upgrading, rather than waiting a few years and buying a new computer with the current operating system pre-installed (and in theory, at least some of the bugs out).

Yes, the commercials are lacking. But the OS? Microsoft might be onto something there.

My daughter saved her money all summer and bought a new HP Pavillion. It’s a sweet computer. She let me play around on it – a little. Then she jealously grabbed it back and started yakking via Skype video to friends all over the world.

I was impressed by the HP’s features – but what I really wanted to check out was Vista. Previous Microsoft new releases have been consistently terrible until major bugs have been worked out of them. I heard a little about that in Vista’s very early days – but now, it seems like most folks are pretty happy with it.

The first thing I noticed was that Windows Vista just looks very smooth. Not sure how else to describe it.

There are three features that made me happy. Ecstatic, even. The first is Instant Search, an always-ready and fast file search utility. Then there’s Live Icons and the Preview Pane, which show you what’s inside the file or folder you’re looking at. One thing I’ve always hated about word processors is if you’re looking for a file and you named it something dumb that you’ll never remember, you might have to open half a dozen Word docs to find what you’re looking for. That takes time and effort – but with Vista the problem is solved.

Vista’s got a lot of other features – whether you’re a casual user or an uber-tech, check it out.