Jun
29
Greasemonkey: Customize the Web
Filed Under Firefox, add-ons, episode, greasemonkey, how-to, screencast, tutorial, userscripts | 1 Comment
Episode 7 -
Part 1
Part 2
Most websites are built to accommodate the “masses”. Yes, we are just a face in the crowd to most web designers! It’s time to take things back into our own hands and customize the web for ourselves!
Greasemonkey is a local Javascript plugin for Firefox (and some other browsers like Opera, Safari, and Flock) that allows the user to edit the websites they are viewing through the use of scripts.
Say what? You don’t know how to write scripts (code that changes part of the website you are viewing)?
Well that’s not a problem with the active Greasemonkey community. There are already thousands of free scripts you can download at will 
. You can do everything from removing ads and changing the look ‘n feel of a site to adding functionality or speed to another (like ebay!).
First things first.
Installation:
You can install the Greasemonkey Extension here.
If you are running another browser, you may have to do more work to find a way to install it. Here are a few popular browsers that can run Greasemonkey Scripts (not officially supported):
Getting Scripts:
Once you have installed Greasemonkey in Firefox, you can start installing scripts to your heart’s content.
A couple great resources are:
UserScripts.org
LifeHacker.com
You will probably see user scripts all over the place though, now that you are looking for them. They are more widespread than you might think.
Managing Scripts:
You can turn Greasemonkey on and off by clicking the little monkey face on the bottom-right of your browser.
Turn individual scripts on and off (or add/remove) by right-clicking the monkey and clicking “Manage User Scripts”.
Recommended Scripts:
I highly recommend the Better Gmail add-on for Firefox for Gmail users, which is actually just a collection of user scripts. (Firefox only)
As for individual scripts… there are just SO many! Here are a few though that I really find helpful day-to-day:
- Profanity Filter – Substitutes swear words for sillier words (ie: “pile of poo!”). Actually very fun to have!
- Ebay Ad/Iframe Remover – eBay just got a major slow down by adding many larger and animated ads. This blocker will ensure eBay.com performs well in Firefox again.
- Mailto: Compose in Gmail – Puts a little gmail icon near email addresses on the web you can click to automatically begin composing in Gmail (rather than a default email program).
Besides these though, head over to userscripts.org and run searches on your favorite sites. Most popular sites will have scripts written for them that improve them in some way. Google and Yahoo! sites get particular attention. Once you start using Greasemonkey, I’m sure you will find it to be essential to your browsing experience.
Stay tuned for my next article and video episode. For more tips and tricks, sign up for the Official Tech-Bites.com Newsletter! You will be the first to know whenever I release new articles and videos and receive special subscriber only articles and product reviews.
Jun
22
Ta-Da Lists: Get Your To-Do’s Done!
Filed Under GTD, Productivity, To-Do, episode, how-to, planning, screencast, tutorial | Leave a Comment
Episode 6 -
Everyone is trying to get organized these days to “Get Things Done”. While the Pencil and Paper approach may still be workable for some folks, many of us want something more.
Enter: Ta-Da Lists
While there are many competitors in this arena, sometimes simple and efficient is the best approach. Ta-Da Lists, from 37signals, is a easy-to-use To-Do list with some key features:
- AJAX – Seldom do you have to wait for the page to reload. Adding and checking off list items happens in real-time.
- Add links to your to-dos.
- Manage multiple lists.
- Share lists with others.
- Subscribe to a list via RSS (Google Reader, Netvibes, etc).
- Access from anywhere. Even workable from a cell phone!
To get started, go register for a free account at TaDaList.com.
Create a List:
- Simply click “Create a New List”
- Enter a Title
- And at least one To-do item
- Done!
Manage Lists:
You can view all your lists in the “My Lists” area. At a glance, you can tell which list has the most items left in it by looking at the size of the gray dot on the left of each list title.
Big Tip! If you are running Firefox, download Greasemonkey and install this script. This will add the “My Lists” links to the right of the website so you can switch between lists quickly, regardless of if you are already in a list. Very useful! (More on Greasemonkey in the next episode) thanks manalang!
You can also see any tasks you have shared here as well.
Sharing a List With Others:
When you are sharing a list with someone else (or more than one person), they will appear just below your normal lists. They work exactly the same as a normal list, with the exception that other users who are sharing the list will see any changes you make! You can use this feature to coordinate group projects very effectively.
To share one of your lists, simply click it’s name and click the “Share” button
Then enter the email(s) of the individual(s) you want to share with. If you only want to show someone your list, but not let them edit it, use the second option of the share page. You can just send the address of the list via email.
If you are sharing a list with others and they will be editing it, you may want to consider subscribing to the list via RSS so you are notified when the list is changed.
Simplicity is Beautiful:
That’s pretty much all there is to Ta-Da Lists! If you want ideas about what types of lists you can create, check out this list .
Time to go “Get Things Done”.
Stay tuned for my next article and video episode. For more tips and tricks, sign up for the Official Tech-Bites.com Newsletter! You will be the first to know whenever I release new articles and videos and receive special subscriber only articles and product reviews.
Jun
15
StumbleUpon: Never Surf Alone
Filed Under episode, fun, how-to, screencast, social, stumbleupon, tutorial | Leave a Comment
Episode 5 -
Though many people have come to trust Google’s ability to sort out the web, we still have one problem:
While we all appreciate Google’s enabling us to find an article on organic soy-free bird feed, there are times that we just want to peruse a more general topic, like “Self-improvement”. With over 2.5 million results and mostly businesses on the top results, how can we “discover” some quality information?
Well, you StumbleUpon it of course!
StumbleUpon is a service that lets you, in their own words, “Channel surf the internet with the StumbleUpon toolbar to find great websites, videos, photos and more based on your interests. StumbleUpon learns what you like and makes better recommendations.”
It is also community-driven and has over 2.5 million members! Well what do you know!? 2.5 million pages, 2.5 million members. Maybe we can figure this Internet-thing out!
There are 2 major benefits to using StumbleUpon:
- Previewed Sites: StumbleUpon takes what it knows about you (you tell it what you’re interested in) and what other users liked gave a “thumbs up” to and delivers sites it thinks you will like. When you start rating sites yourself (thumbs up or down), Stumble takes notice and “learns” what kind of sites to serve you. Oh… and it works pretty good!
- 5-star Results: Another cool feature is that, if you want it to, StumbleUpon inserts a 5-star rating system into your search engine results! So when your sifting through Google results, you can see which sites users liked.
Video: To see visual examples of the steps in this article, watch the video at the top of this page.
Getting Started:
The first thing you need to do is get an account and download the toolbar. Both IE and Firefox are supported. Click the link below to download it now:
(Firefox is used in these examples, but you should be able to configure IE similarly) Once you have the toolbar installed in Firefox (remember to restart the browser) you might want to add the Stumble button to your toolbar so that you can show/hide the toolbar at will to save space while you are not using it.
- Right-click in a blank area on your Firefox toolbar and select “customize”
- Drag the StumbleUpon button onto your toolbar, wherever you’d like it to be (see video)
Alright, now we’re ready to go!
Click the “Start Stumbling” button on your toolbar and type in your user name and password. After you’ve signed-in, you’re ready to start stumbling.
If you haven’t already, make sure to go to “preferences” on the StumbleUpon website to setup your “interests” in the “stumbling” tab.
Stumbling (excerpts from StumbleUpon Site):
Stumble!
- Click the
Stumble! icon on your toolbar. Stumbleupon will send you sites and pages based on the Topics that you choose. Stumble! as much as you want. Stumbleupon has millions of sites in its databases, all submitted and recommended by other Stumblers. There is a drop-down menu (beside the icon) that allows you to Stumble! in many different ways (more on this in the FAQ).
Exercise your thumbs!
- As you Stumble! you, click the thumbs
to tell the system what you like (or dislike). = I like this! (send me more like this, please!) = I don’t like this! (don’t send me any more pages like this, thank you!) Made a mistake? No problem! Simply click the same thumb again to un-thumb the page, or click the opposite thumb to change your rating.
Have your say!
- When you Stumble! a page or site, first thumb it, then click on
to see reviews & comments made by other Stumblers, and to add one of your own. On the Reviews page, click on: 
Add your own review and tag the page for future reference (more about tagging in the Help resources). Type your comment into the Review box, then press: 
Try it! (You will learn how to delete comments in the next step).
Look at Your Pages
- Click the
icon to see Your Pages – this is where your comments and reviews are displayed for you, and for other stumblers to read. From these pages, you can edit (or delete) your reviews, and Add Comments. When you have more than 10 reviews the oldest is moved off the front page – but you can still use the PREV and NEXT buttons to see ALL of your reviews! There’s another drop-down menu here: 
Stumble! a bit and get some reviews & comments on your pages before exploring this facility (or see how it works when you visit other Stumblers’ pages). Get to know the Toolbar
This guide has shown you the key functions of the toolbar, but there is more to discover. Lots more! Part of the fun of SU is in finding out some of the secrets for yourself, or to meet your fellow Stumblers and ask them How do you do that?! Take a look, too, at this icon on the toolbar: 
It reveals a drop-down menu that contains all sorts of useful stuff, including Toolbar Options which will let you customize your toolbar. You can update your topics here, change your password, and lots more.Extra Tips & Tweaks from Garrett:
- Tools > Toolbar Options > Configuration (tab) >
- This option will add a 5-star rating system to you search results and whether a site has been “Stumbled”
- Tools > Toolbar Options > Configuration (tab) >
- By checking “Not-for-me” StumbleUpon knows to automatically start Stumbling to the next page when you give a page a “thumbs down”
- Tools > Profile Preferences > Settings (link) >
- Make sure to set this option if you’d like to stay out/limit the social aspects of StumbleUpon. (as mentioned below)
Beyond This:
Actually, this service is pretty simple. You can get in as deep as you want. There are Stumbler blogs, favorites, forums, charts, and more… if you want to get involved in the social aspects of StumbleUpon. Also, check the selection of StumbleUpon scripts for Greasemonkey, if you run Firefox, for some cool modifications, such as adding del.icio.us reviews.
Stay tuned for my next article and video episode. For more tips and tricks, sign up for the Official Tech-Bites.com Newsletter! You will be the first to know whenever I release new articles and videos and receive special subscriber only articles and product reviews.
Jun
8
Gmail Introduction: Webmail, Conversations, and Tags
Filed Under email, episode, gmail, how-to, screencast, tutorial, webmail | 1 Comment
Episode 4 -
At the time of this writing, Gmail is a free email account from Google that comes with 2.8gb of space that is continually expanding. I use it to manage all five of my email accounts every day. It is a tremendous email client and, yet, most people do not understand how easy and powerful it truly is because it has changed the rules in the game of email. In this article we cover the basics of Gmail and how to use it to simplify and empower our email experience.
The Anatomy of Gmail
You can get your Gmail account at Gmail.com. Below are diagrams of Gmail’s interface:
The “Top”
A. Quick links to other Google services. (Calendar goes to Gcal, Photos to Picasa web, etc)
B. Settings: This link is very important for tweaking the many settings of Gmail. Most notably, you can add additional email accounts with gfetch, change your accounts picture (for other Gmail users), and turn on keyboard shortcuts (nice!). C. Google’s search functions are incredibly deep. But even for basic searches, you will find locating old messages an absolute breeze (Ideas: Search for the author you are looking for to see only their messages. Or try searching for “Registering” or “Password” to find all your old sign-up emails.)
D. FILTERS! By far, the most useful and innovative feature in Gmail. Think of them as folders. But unlike folders, you can place multiple filters on a message, which makes it superior. Plus they really are easier to use once you get the hang of it.
The “Side”
A. Write a new email. B. Return to your Inbox view.
C. You can use “Stars” kind of like a temporary filter to remind you to read a certain email or keep an email you think is important for easy access . Each email has a little star icon next to it, so adding and removing stars is easy.
D. Some of the best conversations occur in your chat box! You can read, and even search, your chat logs here.
E. Access your “sent” mail here.
F. If you don’t have time to finish the email you are writing, clicking the “Save” button will save it to the “Drafts” area so you can finish it later.
G. ALL your email can be found here, including those which have been archived.
H. Gmail’s spam filter is great, but check here just to make sure nothing important accidentally got filtered.
I. Items you’ve deleted go here. Use the “Delete Forever” button to remove mail from your account for good.
J. Add/Remove your contacts here.
K. This is your quick-contacts box. You can see who’s currently online and available for chat or send an email to them by clicking their name.
L. Labels are the names of your tags. You can click through your different tags here. Treat them kind of like folders, containing the messages you tagged with those labels.
* The Reader link is only available with the fantastic Firefox Add-on from Life-hacker.com, “Better Gmail”.
The “Center” (Inbox)
A.
- Archive – Use this frequently! Keep your Inbox clean. Your inbox should be for new arrivals and pressing email; everything else should be archived. Remember, you can always “star” items for later if you want to look at a message at another time.
- Report Spam – If any spam actually manages to get past the Spam filter, use this to report the violation.
- Delete – Remember, unless you “Delete Forever” in the Trash area, your deleted messages can always be recovered.
- Mark Read/Mark Unread – Always mark messages “read” unless you want them to be counted as new messages. Mail items are automatically marked “read” if you click them to read them.
B. These quick links are useful for selecting multiple messages (rather than clicking each checkbox).
C.
- To select a message, click the checkbox.
- Star the item just by clicking the little star.
- From
- Subject
- Date
D. Use this drop-down box to quickly “tag” a selected message with a Label or to create new ones.
Basic Operation -
The following instructional items I consider “necessary” for Gmail to be your friend, and not a frustration . Understanding Conversations:
Check out this YouTube video from Google about conversations.
Here is the official explanation:
“Gmail groups all replies with their original message, creating a conversation.
Let’s say you’re planning to have dinner with three of your closest friends. You send all three a message asking for restaurant suggestions. With Gmail, each of your friends’ responses will be grouped with your original message, creating a single conversation in your inbox. This puts the entire conversation in context and makes your inbox easier to manage.
In other email systems, each of your friends’ responses appear as a separate message in your inbox, forcing you to wade through all your mail to follow the conversation. Gmail makes it much easier — you can view all your dinner plan messages at once.
When you open one message in a conversation, all of your related messages will be stacked neatly on top of each other, like a deck of cards. We call this Conversation View. In Conversation View, each new message is stacked on top of the ones that arrived before it, so that the newest message is always the one you see first.“
Understanding Labels:
Google has also provided excellent basics here:
“Labels do all the work of folders and give you an extra bonus: you can add more than one to a conversation. Once you’ve created a label, you can view all the messages with that label by searching, or by clicking the label name along the left side of any Gmail page.
You can easily create, edit, and delete existing labels. Here’s how
To create a label:
- Select the message(s) you’d like to label by checking the box(es) next to the sender’s name.
- Select New label from the More Actions… drop-down menu.
- Enter the name of the new label in the text box, and click OK.
The selected messages will automatically be categorized under the new label.
To edit a label:
- Log in to your Gmail account.
- Click Edit labels at the bottom of the Labels box.
- Click rename next to the label you want to edit.
- Enter the new label name, and click OK.
All the messages categorized under your old label name will now be categorized under your new label.
To delete a label:
- Log in to your Gmail account.
- Click Edit labels at the bottom of the Labels box.
- Click remove label next to the label you want to delete.
- Confirm that you’d like to remove the label by clicking OK.
* Removing a label doesn’t delete the messages previously categorized with that label.
After labeling a message or conversation, you can remove it from your inbox by archiving it. Then, you can view archived messages by clicking All Mail, or by clicking the label name along the left side of any Gmail page.“
Use Filters To Apply Labels:
Do you receive a regular newsletter in you inbox from a particular person or company? You can automatically have it tagged with a label so that it is easy to sort later.
- Click the “Create a Filter” button by the search bar
- Enter their email (eg: name@domain.com OR whatever name appears in its place) in the “From” field
- Click “Test Search” to see which emails Gmail finds under your criteria
- Click “Next Step” and check “Apply Label” and select (or create) a label
- Lastly check “Also apply to conversations below” (if you want) and click “Create Filter”
Beyond this -
You can find additional tutorials and information at Google’s own Gmail help page that are very helpful. You can do an incredible amount of things with Gmail that will improve your email experience, but it’s best to take it slow . If you’d like to blaze ahead however, check out these great tips from LifeHacker.com.
Stay tuned for my next article and video episode. For more tips and tricks, sign up for the Official Tech-Bites.com Newsletter! You will be the first to know whenever I release new articles and videos and receive special subscriber only articles and product reviews.
Jun
1
Bubbl.us Basics: Brainstorming and Mind-mapping Online
Filed Under bubbl.us, episode, how-to, mindmap, planning, screencast, tutorial | Leave a Comment
Episode 3 -
So you have this great idea for a website, book, product, etc. What now? How do you get it done? What else is involved in making your idea a reality? You’ve got a lot in your head that you probably don’t even realize is connected to your bright idea!You need to get those thoughts out of your head and into a format that makes sense. This is commonly referred to as “Mind-mapping” and is often part of the “Brainstorming” process as well.
Bubbl.us is a newcomer to this small, but important industry that strives to help you “clear your mind”. And frankly, they do an awesome job. Join me today as we discover this wonderfully useful and enjoyable tool.
Video: To see visual examples of the steps in this article, see my free video at the top of this page
The Anatomy of Bubbl.us
I highly recommend you get an account with Bubbl.us. It’s free and allows you to save your mind-maps for access later. If you choose though, you can use Bubbl.us without an account, but you won’t be able to save your projects.
Here are the primary parts of the software and their function: A. This is your starting “Bubble”. Most of your controls are actually contained here. This is the primary tool in Bubbl.us. Each new Bubble will contain the same controls, making expanding your document very simple.
See the video to see the Bubble in action. B. This section contains a few of the extra controls that you will need from time to time.
- Center – focuses the view back on the “main” bubble.
- Unpin All – returns all your bubbles back to there default positions.
- Undo - undo your last action.
Note: I prefer to use “Ctrl-Z”. - Zoom – Get closer or farther away from your project by clicking the “+” and “-” buttons.
Note: I prefer to use the scroll-wheel on my mouse to zoom because it is faster. - Set Print Area – Clicking this allows access to a box tool that lets you specify what area of the document you want printed (demonstrated in the video)
C. You can access your account details, contact the Bubbl.us team, or sign out.
D. The tabs here ONLY affect the area indicated by the box. It will not change your view.
- My Sheets – This is the “main” tab you will use. You can access your previous projects (called “sheets”), save new ones, delete sheets, etc.
- Collaborate – If you are “sharing” one of your sheets (one of the options in the “My Sheets” tab) or someone is sharing with you, you can open those sheets here so that you can work on the same sheet as a friend!
- Friends – You can find friends by name or email in this tab with whom you can share sheets. If your friend doesn’t use Bubbl.us yet, just click the “click here to invite them by email” too shoot them an invitation by email.
E. The menu button contains the following important functions:
- Send read-only link – Want to show your sheet to a friend but don’t want them to edit it? This is the ticket. Clicking this sends a link to the email(s) of your choice that will show your sheet to your friend(s) without the controls.
- HTML Embed Code – Outputs a snippet of code that you can insert in your website, blog, etc.
- Export and Import – You can save the xml code for your current sheet to your computer, or import a previously saved code into Bubbl.us.
- Editor Settings… – Allows you to tweak some settings in how Bubbl.us runs.
Example Project -
Here is a simple example of how you might create a Mind-map for that new Ferret business you were planning to start! Make sure to watch the video for visual examples of these steps.
Steps:
- Start by renaming your center bubble by clicking the name and typing “Ferret Biz”. Press “Enter” when you’re done to automatically create a child bubble.
- Name the new bubble “Website”. Because this is not the only child we want under “Ferret Biz”, press “Tab” when you are done, instead of “Enter” to create a sibling.
- Name this bubble “Ferret Resources” and press “Enter” to make a new child.
- Type “Ferret Kennel” and press “Tab” to create a sibling.
- Name it “Ferret Product Vendor” and click outside the bubble to enter the text.
- Because our website will probably list the products of our “Ferret Product Vendor” we can connect these two by clicking and dragging the little blue circle on the right-bottom of the “Website” bubble to the “Ferret Product Vendor” bubble.
Those are the basic tools for constructing your own mind-maps, large or small!
Beyond this -
You can use Bubbl.us for planning projects or businesses or you can use it to brainstorm and map-out your thoughts on any subject (goals, values, business opportunities, etc). Share it with your friends and partners, print for your records, or use it to make a project road-map that you can post on your blog or website.
With so many possibilities, the Bubbl.us developers really deserve a pat on the back for creating such a flexible and easy-to-use system.
Stay tuned for my next article and video episode covering Gmail Basics. For more tips and tricks, sign up for the Official Tech-Bites.com Newsletter! You will be the first to know whenever I release new articles and videos and receive special subscriber only articles and product reviews.
