Google's Broken Search Provider for Internet Explorer

Adding Google as a search engine in Internet Explorer is quite complicated. Most browsers include Google in the list of search engines and Google is usually the default option, but IE ships with a single search engine: Bing. Adding Google involves visiting a Microsoft web page, finding Google and more clicks.



Google has a page that is supposed to make it easier to add Google as your search provider in IE. As Thomas P. noticed, it doesn't work. Google's XML file that includes the details about the search engine has the following address: http://67.223.228.48/google.xml and that IP has nothing to do with Google. For some reason, that file requests the browser to send search requests to https://dhpdse.googlegoro.com/search?q=. Googlegoro.com is owned by Google, but you won't get Google search results. Instead, you'll get a Google App Engine sign in form and then an error message.

The entire thing is weird. Why would Google host an important file on a domain it doesn't own?



{ Thanks, Thomas. }

Does Alexa Rank Really Matters?

Alexa Rank is one of the most over rated term when it comes to judge quality of a blog/website.Most of the bloggers and Webmasters are obsessed with Alexa Rank.

So, What is Alexa Rank?

Alexa defines themselves as web information company and it is owned by Amazon Inc.

• Alexa Rank gets updated on regular basis.


• They rank every website based upon their algorithm.

Alexa ranking algorithm is very much peculiar.They only count those hits which pass through their system.That means they only count those visitors who have installed alexa toolbar in their browser.

• So if a website has good alexa rank doesn't mean that it has good traffic.It only mean that it has good number of visitors who have installed alexa toolbar in their browsers(Mostly Techy Guys)


• Generally alexa rank will be higher for the websites which are related to Blogging ,Technology , Design etc.

Should you really bother about Alexa Rank?

Again it depends upon your own perspective.

• If you want to attract more advertisers to your blog and earn more then alexa rank is crucial.


• Generally advertisers look for blogs with good alexa rank.So if your blog has good alexa rank then chances of getting direct advertisement are more.


• If you depend only on Traditional Advertising like Adsense and Textual Advertising then you should not really bother about Alexa Rank.

As already said Alexa has nothing to do with your traffic and search engine ranking.Your search ranking are neither shows a positive impact nor negative impact as well.So if your alexa is lower than other website then you need not worry about the search ranking or search traffic.

Do you want to Increase your Blog/Website Alexa Rank?

Increasing alexa rank of your website is not that tough.You can easily by following few simple tips.I already wrote an article on complete guide to increase alexa ranking do check it out.

Conclusion:

If you want to build a website to earn more and attract more advertisers to your website then alexa rank is very crucial but if you want to build a website which serves only traditional type of ads as mentioned above like Google Adsense then you can completely ignore Alexa Rank.

Let us know whats your take on this in your comments.

How To Add My Computer To Windows 8 Start Screen

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The My Computer or Computer icon is used to open Windows Explorer or File Explorer in Windows, which shows connected hard disk drives, devices with removable storage, and also free space available on each disk drive. The Computer icon is one of the two icons (the other one is Recycle Bin) without which the Windows [...]

Download Office 2010 SP2 Beta

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Microsoft has just released the Beta version of its forthcoming Service Pack 2 for Office 2010 productivity suite. Interested Microsoft Office 2010 users can now head over to the download link (provided at the end this article) to download Service Pack 2. Microsoft hasn’t revealed detailed information about the included fixes and updates in Service [...]

What Can You Do To Speed Up Your Browser?

If you’re like me and you spend a huge portion of your day browsing the web (whether it’s for research, leisure, or just sheer boredom) then you understand how frustrating it is to have a slow, bloated browser that seems to be on its last leg. While some of that slowness can stem from issues unrelated to the browser, like ISP and computer hardware, there are some steps on how to speed up browser speeds.

I should make a note here that if you’re expecting a drastic, mind-blowing speed increase, you won’t find it in this article. Switching to a faster ISP package and upgrading your computer hardware (in particular, RAM) will offer the biggest boosts. The following tips can and will make your browsing experience somewhat sleeker, but don’t expect a “zero to hero” transformation.

Keep Fewer Tabs Open

My first encounter with tabbed browsing was with Firebird (an earlier incarnation of Firefox), though I’m pretty young so there may have been tabbed browsing before then. But here’s my point: tabbed browsing has been around for a long time and many of us, myself included, have started taking them for granted.

When people are over my place and happen to see my browser, they inevitably remark at how many tabs I have open. Maybe you’re like that, too. I do it out of convenience and I wouldn’t have it any other way. When I’m browsing and I come across something that seems interesting, I’ll open it in a new tab to browse later. If there’s a page that I want to save but it isn’t important enough to bookmark, I’ll keep it open in a tab, too.

But here’s the downside to convenience: each tab hogs up a bit of RAM and when you have too many tabs open your computer will be bogged down. It doesn’t matter which browser you’re using; sure, some browsers may be more efficient with their RAM usage, but ALL browsers will take up more resources with each new tab. God forbid some of those tabs are Flash-based, because those take up even more RAM!

If you’re a tab addict like me, channel that energy in other ways. Use bookmarks if you need to save items. If you want to mark an interesting article for later reading, use an extension like Instapaper or Read Later Fast.

Use Fewer Extensions and Addons

One of the biggest reasons why users will choose one browser over another is the plugin selection. Firefox calls them “addons,” Chrome calls them “extensions,” and other browsers will use other terms. But they all accomplish the same thing: extensibility and customization for your browser according to your needs.

It’s no secret that many users have dozens and dozens of plugins installed. You’ve got plugins that spruce up the tab bar, improve readability, and block pesky ads. But just like tabs (explained above), each active plugin ends up using a little more CPU and RAM on your computer, which can result in some big performance hits.

The quickest way to solve this problem is uninstalling every browser plugin that you don’t absolutely need. This is a subjective decision that you need to make. Do you really need that weather plugin? How about that plugin that changes your tab colors? If your browser is slowing down, try disabling as many unnecessary plugins as you can.

Delete Cache and Browsing History

In some ways, your browser is like a car: it needs routine maintenance. Imagine if you never took your car in for an oil change or inspection. It may run well for a long time, but eventually there will be a buildup of gunk and goo and nothing will run at maximum capacity. Similarly, you need to clean your browser’s cache and history every once in a while.

“But wait, isn’t the cache meant to speed up browsing?” Yes. Browsers will save certain pages and images locally so that the next time you visit that site, it can load them instantly without having to download them again. However, as your cache increases in size, the browser spends more time digging through those images and pages in order to find the right ones. Caches are most efficient when they aren’t filled with too much data.

In Firefox, you can go to Options and look under the Privacy tab where you can delete recent history, cookies, cache, and other things. In Chrome, open the Wrench and navigate to Settings, look at the Advanced settings for “Clear Browsing Data” to wipe out history, cookies, cache, etc. You can do the same in other browsers by looking in their preference settings.

Change Your DNS Servers

I recently wrote an article on DNS servers and how they impact your Internet speeds. In essence, the Internet relies on a network of DNS servers which are used to translate certain URLs (like www.makeuseof.com) into IP addresses. Your DNS servers determine which route your Internet connection takes, which can result in slow speeds if the routing is poor (a simplified explanation, but enough to understand why DNS is important).

Fortunately, there’s a tool that I recently discovered called DNS Jumper which easily changes your computer’s DNS settings to what you want. It’s portable (no installation), easy to learn, and has an internal database of different DNS services, including Google Public DNS and OpenDNS. If you don’t know which one to use, you can use the “Fastest DNS” option and DNS Jumper will select the fastest one for you.

If you don’t want to use DNS Jumper or if you’re on a system that doesn’t support it, then you can use a program like NameBench to optimize your DNS settings. It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Conclusion

Web browsers may seem simple at first glance, but there’s a lot of technology under the hood that keeps the web browsing experience as smooth as it is. Like any other machine, if you don’t keep your browser well-oiled and clean, it’ll start to hang and sputter and slow down your system. Keep the above tips in mind and your browser won’t feel as laggy as it normally does.

Have any other tips, tricks, programs, or plugins that might help with how to speed up browser loads? Please share them with us in the comments! We all know how frustrating it can be to have a languid browser and we’d all benefit from more suggestions.

Image Credit: Browser Via Shutterstock

The post What Can You Do To Speed Up Your Browser? appeared first on MakeUseOf.

How To Access Your Plex Library From A Remote Computer

Over the years, I’ve tried my hand at a number of media center software alternatives. Some people swear by XBMC, or swore by Boxee before it stopped developing the Boxee desktop application. In the end, I always come back to Plex.

Since our guide on How To Build A Great Media Center PC was written, Plex has matured a lot. Now, it’s not only on of the most eye-catching media center applications, it’s a easy to use solution I would recommend to most people looking to build a media center.

Plex is a dual media solution by default. There’s not one, but two Plex applications – Plex Media Server and Plex Media Center. The server application handles your media, and the Plex Media Center (or client) is used to enjoy it. If both are installed on the same computer, this makes for no remarkable story. However, by separating the two, it’s incredibly easy to access your Plex library on other computers, or even other networks.

Today, I’ll show you how to enjoy Plex on a remote computer.

1. Create a myPlex Account

myPlex is one of the most important parts of this tutorial. It’s a free ‘Plex account’ that bridges your different instances of the Plex server and client applications. These days, you’ll be asked to create a myPlex account upon installing Plex.

If you haven’t already, you can create a new myPlex account here.

2. Sign Into myPlex On Your Plex Media Server

You’ll have to make sure you’re logged into your myPlex account on your Plex Media Server. Again, this usually happens during the installation process, but you can do this manually as well.

Launch the interface for your instance of Plex Media Server by clicking the icon, or by browsing to 127.0.0.1:32400/web on your media center PC. In the settings, go to myPlex and sign into your account.

3. Publish Your Plex Media Server

Still in the myPlex settings of your Plex Media Server, choose to publish your media center. If this goes without a hitch, you can skip the rest of this step, but you’ll likely be faced with an error. This is because you need to configure your router to send all traffic to port 32400 on your Internet connection to the computer on which you’ve installed the Plex Media Server. In other words, port forwarding.

In essence, you’ll need to forward port 32400 (TCP and UDP) to the local IP address of the computer on which you’ve installed the Plex Media Server. The specific steps to forward a port to your computer depend on the type of your router. James wrote up a very good primer on port forwarding and how it can help you, which also includes useful links that may help you forward the port. You’ll also need to use a static IP address for your media server computer. You can learn more about static IP addresses and how to get one.

If you’ve never before forwarded a port, this is the most intimidating step of the article. However, the articles linked above should guide you in the process. If you have a special router provided by your ISP, try contacting them for help on the subject.

4. Connect With The Plex Media Center Client

Next, you’ll want to use the Plex Media Center client to connect to the Plex Media Server application. The main advantage of separating server and client applications is that you can use as many instances of the media center client as you want.

For example, I have one instance installed on my laptop, and one on an old computer connected to my TV. This way, I can access my media on both without hassle.

Fire up the Plex client application and go to Preferences -> System. Here you can log in with your myPlex credentials.

Signing in to myPlex has a dual purpose. First, it authenticates access to your media files. Second, it allows the media center computer to find the media server computer without having to specify the IP address. In fact, you can even access your media files when you’re on another network, although this will count towards your ISP’s upload and download quota.

After logging in with myPlex, your media files should appear in the Plex client home screen. If not, you can still add the IP address to your media server computer manually, via Settings -> Network.

5. Connect With Your Browser Using Plex/Web

The preferable way to access your media from another computer is probably through the Plex client application. However, using the recently added Plex/Web feature you can even access your media from a web browser!

To do so, head to the myPlex website, select a media server and press Plex/Web in the sidebar. Alternatively, you can connect directly through your media server computer’s global IP address. Just point your browser to GLOBALIP:32400/web, where GLOBALIP needs to be replaced by your global IP address. After logging in with your myPlex credentials, you can access and start streaming your media to your browser.

What does your media center set-up look like? Let us know in the comments section below the article.

The post How To Access Your Plex Library From A Remote Computer appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Get 700 Marvel Comics For Free From ComiXology Until Tomorrow [Updates]

If you like getting cool items for free, and you also like comic books, we’ve just found the perfect deal for you. ComiXology is bringing back its popular deal, and is giving away 700 free issues of Marvel comics for free. Of course, these are digital issues of the comics, so collectors will not be able to take advantage of this deal to bolster their collection, but getting to read a ton of digital comics is still nothing to complain about.

This is not the first time ComiXology has offered this great deal. Back in March, when the company previously offered these issues for free, the deal was so popular that it crashed the ComiXology platform.

This time around, the company is taking sign ups for the free comics starting right now, and continuing through 11:59PM EST on April 9 (tomorrow). On April 11t, the company will send the people who signed up a special email with download instructions for the free comics. The comics will remain free for 48 hours, which should provide plenty of time for users to pick up plenty of issues.

The issues in the previous promotion contained a slew of first issues, presumably with the goal of getting people hooked so they buy more comics later on. According to the company’s website, all 700 of the issues offered will be first issues again, so this is a perfect opportunity for a budding comic-book fan to get into some popular franchises, and find the kind of comics that interest them.

Are you going to sign up and get some free comics? What series do you hope to start reading?

Source: Venture Beat

The post Get 700 Marvel Comics For Free From ComiXology Until Tomorrow [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The Real End Of Clutter: All-In-One Sidebar Brings Everything You Need To Your Sidebar [Firefox]

When it comes to browsers, I’m on a constant, head-on war with clutter. If you’ve read some of my previous articles, you already know that I have a terrible case of the multiple-tab and multiple-window syndromes, and that I do what I can to minimize any kind of toolbar clutter, even if it means giving up on certain functions.

As much as I hate clutter, though, I’m only human. And humans need quick access to downloads; humans sometimes need to access bookmarks and history; humans, especially those who try to minimize add-ons, need frequent access to their add-on window; and humans definitely need multiple browser windows. At least some of the time. So how, in the name of the browser Gods, do you get easy access to all these things without going crazy on clutter and add-ons?

The secret lies with an old-timer add-on, which I nonetheless discovered only recently: All-in-One Sidebar for Firefox. We already mentioned this brilliant add-on in How To Load Google Search Results In A Preview Panel (On The Same Page), but this article only touched on a very small part of this add-on’s capabilities. While somewhat similar to Vertical Toolbar, All-in-One Sidebar is much more than a toolbar, making Firefox’s most overlooked feature – the sidebar – actually useful.

The Basics Of All-In-One Sidebar

Ready to give it a try? Head over to the add-on’s page to install it. Once that’s done, you’ll find a new vertical toolbar sitting on the left side of your browser window. All-in-One Sidebar, or AiOS as I will refer to it from now on, comes with many options and features, and finding your way around can be a bit confusing at first. So let’s take it step by step, and see what this add-on has to offer.

AiOS comes in two parts: the toolbar and the sidebar. By default, the toolbar comes with six different icons, which you can customize as you would any Firefox toolbar (right click -> customize). The default buttons are: bookmarks, history, downloads, add-ons, MultiPanel, and page info. Each of these opens the sidebar, giving you easy access to some useful information.

The toolbar itself can be customized too. Right click it to change the buttons’ appearance, and to choose the toolbar’s position relative to the sidebar.

Use the button on the top right to toggle the sidebar automatically so it’s never in your way, to open a tab’s content in the sidebar or the sidebar’s content in a tab, and to close the sidebar. Every button on AiOS comes with an informative tooltip, teaching you exactly how to activate each feature.

Making Use of The Sidebar

AiOS brings almost every important Firefox feature to the sidebar. Not only do you get quick access to your bookmarks, history, downloads and add-ons, you can also customize the experience to make it even faster. Click on the Tools button to reveal more relevant options for each section. For bookmarks and history, for example, you can have AiOS remember which folder you were looking at last and automatically focus on it, which can be extremely useful, especially for bookmarks.

The Downloads section is a real life-saver if, like me, you hate the obscurity of the Firefox downloads window. To get it to be more like Chrome, I’ve been using Download StatusBar for ages now, but AiOS takes care of this by giving you quick access to all your downloads right in the sidebar.

You can search within any of the sections to find specific bookmarks, pages you’ve visited, files you’ve download, etc. The search is live, so just start typing to see instant results.

When it comes to add-ons, you can search for, install, disable, and remove add-ons right from the sidebar. If you have any Greasemonkey or Stylish scripts installed, you can access these too from the sidebar.

The MultiPanel option lets you open two websites side by side, one in the sidebar and one in the main tab. You can change the sidebar’s width to fit your needs, or choose the “Small Screen Rendering” option, if the the website supports it. Using this option, you can have your email tab always visible, easily browse search results, etc. You just have to be creative. You can also bring up detailed page information for any webpage you’re viewing, tweak permissions for specific sites, and more.

Each of the available AiOS sections can also be called upon via keyboard shortcuts. Many of these are the same ones you may already be used to from your pre-AiOS days, so there’s not going to be much of a learning curve.

More Options

Want the sidebar to appear on the right? Want to open it with mouse hover instead of click? Or maybe you don’t want downloads to open in the sidebar for some reason? You can tweak almost anything you can think of from the Options (Ctrl+Shift+F4 or “All-in-One Sidebar Options” from the top menu).

From here you can also set the sidebar’s default minimum, standard and maximum width, change the keyboard shortcuts, add and remove menu entries, and more. More advances settings are available through the Settings button. All advanced options are marked in red to help you tell the difference.

To make sure you won’t lose your settings after spending valuable time tweaking them, you can export them to a TXT file, and import them into the add-on again on a different computer. This is also a great way to back up your settings, just in case. You can even copy your settings to the clipboard.

Bottom Line

I’m not easily impressed with add-ons, but All-in-One Sidebar is an excellent addition to anyone’s Firefox browser. Yes, you shouldn’t install too many browser extensions, but AiOS can easily replace several you’re already using, and comes with so many different functions, I didn’t even come close to describing them all in this post. AiOS feels like an add-on programmed with actual users in mind, and as such, it won’t stop surprising you.

Don’t forget to check out our free Firefox guide for more useful Firefox tips.

Which are your favorite add-ons? What do you think of All-in-One Sidebar?

The post The Real End Of Clutter: All-In-One Sidebar Brings Everything You Need To Your Sidebar [Firefox] appeared first on MakeUseOf.