Firefox Screen Space on Netbooks

Got a netbook computer? No doubt you struggle to get more screen real estate while using your web browser. If you are using Firefox in Windows or Ubuntu, here's a small tip to give a little more screen space than the default "full screen mode". Mozilla does not support this on their site.

However, there's an extension called Autohide, that gives you more control over which toolbars to show/hide/autohide when in your browsing sessions. Once you install it go to Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions -> Autohide -> Options to configure it.

Download - Autohide

The Missing Dropbox iPhone App

Dropbox is one of my most frequently used, hidden tools at home, office and on the road. By hidden I mean, it's seamless and well integrated into my computing lifestyle regardless of platform or hardware. As good as Dropbox is though, in my opinion it's only weakness within my workflow is it's lack of a native iPhone application.

Before I move on, it's important to note, that Dropbox does currently have a mobile web formatted version available to the iPhone and other mobile devices. Indeed, they are also working on a true native iPhone app that will appear in the near future. Could be days or weeks, but it is coming, and promises to address all your iPhone needs and then some.

That said, I set out to mash together some ways to access and manipulate my Dropbox account from my iPhone. I came up with 2 solutions, which may help fill the void for you as well, as we wait for the official iPhone Dropbox app to arrive.

Click to read more ...

Preview your fonts Online

If you often work with desktop publishing, graphic design, or even regular word processing, then you have no doubt found the need to examine your fonts in a quick minimalist view at some point or time. There are different ways of doing this in each operating system, but here's a quick way to achieve it from any computer using nothing but a web browser.

Flippingtypical.com is a web application that will compare your installed fonts live on your browser. Select the type under the font title on top, and type a phrase to preview how it would look using the fonts on your computer. Select the top font title, and change the actual font name for an instant preview on the main phrase. Or just click on a desired font for a different look. This is a great way to view your fonts side by side and make your day more productive.

Enjoy - www.flippingtypical.com

Monitoring your Macbook's Health

 

Its important to keep an eye on your battery usage over it's lifetime. In my case, it happens to be a macbook pro. Knowing its capacity, charge cycles and more will help you maintain it, and know if you are having issues that are battery related.

I like to use an application called Battery Health Montior from Sonora Graphics. It's free, and works on Macbooks, Powerbooks and iBooks. Battery Health Monitor provides information on:

• Current Capacity
• Original Capacity
• Current Charge
• Charge Cycles
• Voltage

Checking up on these bar graph values will indicated changes in the lifespan of your current battery. A very important part of extending your battery's life, is to let it run down completely and then fully re-charge it at least once a month. I try to do it once a week, since my macbook is on AC power most of the time.

Coconut Battery is another free application I've used in the past worth noting.

Download - Battery Health Montior

Mac OSX's Preview - hidden jems

For the most part, there are certain workhorse applications I use daily, such as Adobe Photoshop & Acrobat for heavy lifting on my projects. That said, for most of my other regular everyday computer usage, I don't require the power and overhead of those applications. Enter Mac OSX's PREVIEW.

The Preview application does quite a bit more than just reading PDFs or viewing common image formats. Most users never bother browsing through it's menus. In actuality, Preview is a very versatile little program. For instance, without having the Adobe Acrobat suite installed, you can Annotate PDF's, Delete Pages, Rearrange Pages, even Merge PDFs.

Most importantly for me though, are it's image editing capabilities. From basics such as Cropping, resizing, and rotation to color/exposure adjustments, and Alpha Mask Extractions. For producitvity purposes, it's capable of doing many of these operations in Batch mode as well.

An added benefit to using Mac OSX's implementation of PDF in preview, is that you are not subject to the same recent security flaws found in Adobe's PDF product. Don't forget there's also PRINT to PDF built right into the operating system.