Tag Archive: browser

Jan
03

SageTV Tip #4: SageTV Customizations

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January 3, 2007

SageTV provides lots of opportunity for third-party developers to provide enhancements and additions to core SageTV functionality. There are currently 3 general types of customizations: STV’s, STV Import Modules, and Other Customizations. Read on to learn about these types of customizations, what they are, where you can get them, and how they can improve your SageTV experience….

One thing that really impresses me about SageTV is that unlike some competing products, SageTV is very user-tailorable and user-extendable. This means that your investment in SageTV is not limited by what SageTV provides. Many dedicated and innovative developers have come up with customizations that improve upon and enhance SageTV’s core features. You have the opportunity to customize your SageTV experience into something that suits your personal needs.

There are generally three types of SageTV customizations: STV’s, STV Import Modules, and Other Customizations. I’ll be posting separate Tips that detail each of the customization types, but here is a brief summary:

1. STV’s
These define the look-and-feel of the User Interface, and define what functionality is available to the user. There are several custom STV’s that provide a wide range of alternate functionality from completely new UI’s to simple feature enhancements. These can provide a whole new way of using SageTV.

2. STV Import Modules (STVi)
These plugins called "STVi’s" are small add-ons that improve or extend core SageTV functions. Some examples include Customizable Menus, IMDB Search, and DVD Burning. These let you, the user, really tailor SageTV to your liking.

3. Other Customizations
This is the general category of all other SageTV customizations. These typically include more sophisticated enhancements that require installation of additional software or tweaking outside of SageTV. Though they may be a bit more complex, they also provide powerful capabilities.

The scope of SageTV customization is rather broad. Some customizations are seemingly as simple as displaying an on-screen clock to as complex as auto-detecting and removing commercials during playback. There are customizations that completely alter the look-and-feel of the user interface, and there is a plugin that will let you read RSS feeds.

There are customizations that provide amazing remote access to your SageTV through any Web browser, and there are add-ons that leverage external media players to handle a variety of common and obscure media formats.

There is’s even a plugin that, when your phone rings, will pause playback and pop-up a message displaying the caller ID info right on your TV!

And best of all, these are customizations that have been developed by enthusiastic SageTV users. If you like any of these customizations, or if you have suggestions, be sure to contact the developers and let them know. They really to appreciate the feedback.

The best place to learn about SageTV customizations is to visit "SageTV Customizations" forum, and notably, the "List of available customizations" page in that forum.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/sagetv-tips/sagetv-tip-4-sagetv-customizations

Jul
12

Google Notebook Tip #10: Printing Individual Notes

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July 12, 2006

At this time, Google Notebook only lets you print out entire Notebooks, not selected Notes. This can become very frustrating, especially if a Notebook contains a LOT of notes, and you only want to print one of them. So until Google adds a "Print selected notes" function, I have a workaround for this that's a bit of a kludge, but it works. Read on for details…

Open the Notebook that contains the note you want to print.

Next, click the "Actions…" dropdown and select "Print notebook". This will open another window or tab containing a formatted page of the entire Notebook and will open the Print dialog. Printing this, of course, will print the entire notebook and that is what we don't want, so…

Dismiss the Print dialog box by clicking the Cancel button, and navigate to the note you want to print.

Using your mouse, click on the beginning of the note, and hold the mouse button down. Drag the mouse cursor to the end of the note or notes you want to print. Release the mouse button, and you should now have a selected section of text and/or images.

Next, click "File" on your menu bar and select "Print…" from the menu. This opens the Print dialog again. Note: If you are using Internet Explorer, do not just click the print icon on your browser's toolbar–you must open the Print dialog!

Finally, click the "Selection" radio button, and then click the OK button.

Only the text you selected should print!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/google-notebook-tips/google-notebook-tip-10-printing-individual-notes

Jul
12

Google Notebook Tip #7: Moving Notes Around

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July 12, 2006

OK, so you have captured a number of notes, but you really don't like how they are organized. Google provides a very simple way to move your notes around letting you organize them as you prefer. Read on for details…

Google lets you Drag & Drop your notes both within and between notebooks. This gives you great flexibility to organize your notes in whatever order that best suits your needs.

Moving Notes Within A Notebook

To move notes within a notebook, you must first be logged into your Google Notebook Web page in a Web Browesr. At this time, this will not work while managing notes from within a browser extension–you must be browsing your Google Notebook page.

Next, hover your mouse over any note (collapsed or expanded) and notice that the left margin of the note turns into a grey selector bar. This helps you visually identify which note is "active". Hover your mouse over this grey area, you should see the mouse pointer change to four arrows indicating that you can drag the note.

Click on the grey area to "grab" the note, and drag it up or down holding the mouse button down. If you have more than one note in your notebook, Google Notes displays a horizontal blue line in the notebook indicating where the note will be placed when dropped. When the note is positioned where you want it, release the mouse button, and the note will be moved to its new location.

If you have Section Headings defined, you can also Drag & Drop Notes from Section to Section, and you can Drag & Drop Sections within a Notebook to reorder them! (Note that a Section Heading must be expanded for you to drop notes into it.)

Moving Notes Between Notebooks

You can also move notes from one notebook to another. Simply follow the steps above to grab the note, but this time, drag it over one of the notebooks listed in the left column. The notebook name will highlight. Dropping the note on the notebook will move it into that notebook and remove it from the current notebook. (Note that at this time, Google Notebook does not have a "copy" function–you can only "move" notes.)

Open the other notebook, and you should see the note you moved into it. If you have multiple notes in the notebook, you can then Drag & Drop the note to your desired position in the notebook as described above.

If you have Section Headings defined, you can also Drag & Drop entire Sections from one Notebook to another!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/google-notebook-tips/google-notebook-tip-7-moving-notes-around

Jul
12

Google Notebook Tip #3: Clipping Web Pages

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July 12, 2006

Google Notebook provides an easy and fun way to clip sections of Web page right into your Google Notebook without leaving the page you are browsing. It's the "Google Notebook Internet Explorer Extension" for Internet Explorer, and the "Google Notebook Firefox Extension" for the excellent Firefox browser. Read on to see what the extension does and how to make the most use of it…

When you connect to the Google Notebook site and login, if you have not already installed the browser extension, you will be prompted to do so. Follow the instructions on the screen to download and install it. The installation should be pretty seamless. Once installed, you will probably need to close and restart your Web browser.

I use the Firefox Web browser almost exclusively, so I'll be using its extension as a reference, but the Internet Explorer extension should function almost identically.

The first thing you should notice after restarting your Web browser is a new icon in the Status bar. It's a little blue notebook icon labeled "Open Notebook". Clicking on this opens a small window at the bottom of your browser. It lists all notes in the most recently opened notebook. Here are some basic navigation features:

·    Clicking on the "expand" triangle icon on any of note will expand it for easy viewing.

·    Double-clicking an existing note opens it in the note editor. Like the full-screen version, you can select multiple notes and perform various "Actions" on them.

·    You can also click the "Add note" button to enter your note.

·    Clicking the "expand" icon to the left of the "Add note" button will open a list displaying all of your Notebooks. Clicking on one of these entries will open that notebook.

OK, so now you have the basics, but just how is this any more useful than the full-page version? Well, the first obvious answer is that it is displayable while browsing any Web page. Big deal, right? Well, as the TV commercials say, "But wait, there's more!"

The real power comes while browsing a page. Open up any favorite Web page and right-click on the page. In the context menu, you should see an entry, "Note this (Google Notebook)". Click on this, and the Google Notebook extension will open the notebook window and create a new note for you. The note consists of the words "Empty note" as the title, and a link to the page you are browsing. If you edit that note, you can jot down any notes about that page. This can be very useful for later reference. The handy thing about this is that it automatically maintains the URL of the page you are browsing, so you don't have to mess with copying and pasting. It just works!

There's also another variant that's even more powerful. Ok, so you created a note that points to a Web page, and you entered some textual notes about the page. But what if you want some text and graphics from the page itself in your note? The Google Notes extension lets you clip sections of formatted page content. Navigate to any Web page and highlight any section of it like you were going to copy it. You can include text, links, images, etc. After you highlight a section of the page, right-click the highlighted section. Again, you should see that "Note this (Google Notebook)" entry. Google Notes will create a new note for you with the page URL as above, but this time, it inserts into the note whatever you had highlighted. It's fully editable, so you can add to it, modify it, or whatever you want.

The Google Notebook Extension can add lots of power to your Web surfing experience by enabling you to easily and seamlessly clipping sections of Web pages directly into Google Notebook. The uses are only limited by your imagination!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/google-notebook-tips/google-notebook-tip-3-clipping-web-pages

Jul
12

Google Notebook Tip #2: Creating New Notes

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July 12, 2006

Creating a new Note within a Google Notebook is very simple: Just open Google Notebook and click on the "Add note" button. A simple editor opens where you can type in your note content. You can format it using some basic editing tools. When you are finished, click the "Save" button. Simple as that! But this, of course, is not the only way to create a note! Read on for some other ways to create notes…

Copy & Paste

You can copy both plain and formatted text from many sources into Google Notebook. This can be as simple as text copied from Notepad or your favorite text editor, to more complex, formatted text from sources such as Word and Excel documents, and even Web pages. Simply Copy the text you want to store, switch to Google Notebook in your Web browser, and Paste into the note editor. Plain text is formatted based on the current editor settings, and formatted text will be pasted with its formatting retained.

One nice feature is that Excel cells will past as HTML tables. Just note that though formatting should retained, it should be close to the original, but may vary slightly.

Web Clipping

You can also install an optional extension for Internet Explorer or Firefox. This integrates slick functionality that lets you much more easily select and clip sections of Web pages. I'll be posting a tip with more details on this.

Currently, these are the methods of adding content to a Google Notebook. If Google adds additional methods, I will post them here!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/google-notebook-tips/google-notebook-tip-2-creating-new-notes

Jul
12

Google Notebook Tip #1: What is Google Notebook?

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July 12, 2006

Google Labs has released their new Google Notebook application which is a simple, online repository for storing notes, images, and "clips" of Web pages. With its optional browser extensions (for Internet Explorer and Firefox only for now) you can seamlessly add content to your Google Notebook while surfing the Web. Read on for some details on what Google Notebook is, what you can do with it, and how to get started…

What is Google Notebook?

Google Notebook is a Web-based application that lets you enter and manage notes. While that may sound simple, (and it is) it is a powerful and handy tool to let you store and manage countless bits of content that is easily accessible whenever you have Web access.

To better understand Google Notebook, think of the Google Notebook screen as a bookshelf. On that bookshelf, you can store one or more Notebooks, and within each Notebook, you can store one or more Notes. Notes can contain simple text content to complex Web page clippings. Notes can be ordered by moving them around, and they can be categorized by creating Section Headings. What content you include in your notes is completely up to you, as is how you organize your notes.

In later tips, I'll be discussing some simple operations such as selecting and moving Notes, how to clip Web pages, and some simple navigation and management operations. I'll also be including some tips on how to organize and make the most of your notes.

So, what's it good for?

Let's start with a short list of some things you can do with Google Notebook:

·    Store recipes
·    Store school notes
·    Create online shopping lists
·    Create a repository of your favorite movies
·    Plan a trip
·    Maintain a list of your favorite Web sites
·    Keep a journal
·    Write a book

This list is obviously not exhaustive–you are really only limited by your imagination. Just play around with it, and ideas should come to you!

But Google Notebook does have some limitations. Here is a list of some things that you cannot do with Google Notebook:

·    Store "objects" like programs, MP3 files, or standalone images
Google Notebook is not a file repository–it is a notebook. For storing things like programs and MP3 files, you will have to use other online storage options. For digital photos, check out Google's Picasa Web, a really nice photo album application that integrates with Google's Picasa2 Desktop application. It's at: http://picasaweb.google.com

·    Print individual notes
I do have a workaround for this, but by default, you can only print entire notebooks.

·    Make notebooks semi-private
A notebook is either private (viewable only through your Google account) or public (accessible to anyone.) There is no facility to restrict viewing Notebooks to specific users.

·    Email Notes or Notebooks
There is currently no facility to email your notes or notebooks. The best you could do is to make a Notebook public and then email the URL. Just remember that a Public Notebook is viewable by anyone.

·    Export Notes
Short of copying and pasting notes into another application, there is currently no facility to export notes. You could, however, select the "Print notebook" from the "Actions…" dropdown, to create a nicely formatted HTML page which you could save locally and than edit it using your favorite HTML editor.

Again, this list is not exhaustive. The Google developers continually work to improve all of their offerings, so I would bet that in the future, you will see refinements and additional features worked into Google Notebook. My recommendation is if you have suggestions for new features, feature changes, or to report bugs, go to the Google Notebook support page located at: http://www.google.com/support/notebook and log your request. Google will obviously not include every suggestion into Google Notebook, but they are noted for listening to their user base, so unless you voice your feedback, they won't know what you want!

How do I get started?

Point your Web browser at http://google.com/notebook and follow the instructions. IN short order, you will be ready to create new notes! But first, you have to complete a couple steps:

First, you must have a Google account in order to use Google Notebook. This provides authentication to keep notes private. If you already have a Gmail account, you are good to go. If not, just follow the instructions to create a new account.

The browser extension. Google wants you to install a browser extension in order to more efficiently create and manage notes, but this is optional. If you want to use the extension, by all means, download and use it. The extension works very well, and makes adding Web clippings a snap. I'll be posting a tip detailing its features and functions.

But for now, we want to skip this, so when you are prompted to download the extension, just look for the "Continue to your notebooks »" link and click on it. This will bypass the browser extension download and take you directly to your Notebooks. This is also useful for those times when you are using a public-access terminal. In that case, you won't want to install the extension (and probably won't have permission to do so) because you don't want your personal information to be tied to that device.

You should now be looking at the Google Notebook screen! Click on the "Add note" button, and you are on your way to creating and managing notes! I'll be posting more details about the functions and features of Google Notebook, so stay tuned for more Google Notebook tips and tricks!

Two Points Of Caution

Like any Web-based service, Google Notes is not necessarily a completely secure repository. My suggestion is that if you have sensitive information, you would probably be wise not to store it on Google Notes. This is not to say that Google takes security lightly–far from it. Just assume that anything stored online, especially if it is unencrypted, is simply not secure.

Second, please remember that, as with all online applications, many of Google's applications are still under development, and as such may occasionally be prone to bugs or problems. I recommend that you not store critical or irreplaceable information online unless you also have an alternate online or offline backup. Committing irreplaceable information to an online service–especially one still in development–is asking for problems.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/google-notebook-tips/google-notebook-tip-1-what-is-google-notebook

Mar
04

Page Creator Tip #1: What Is Google Page Creator?

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March 4, 2006

Google Page Creator is a free Web browser-based Web page editor, manager, and publisher that lets you easily create your own Web pages for others to view. Read on for more details about Google Page Creator…

The pages you create with Google Page Creator are hosted on Google servers, and are accessible at a URL in the form http://yourgmailusername.googlepages.com where "yourgmailusername" is the username of your Gmail account. (A Gmail account is required to access Google Page Creator.)

But is it a "page" or a "site"? Google defines a "page" as "a single document that lives on your site with its own unique web address…like a page in a book." And a "site" is "like the entire book; all your pages belong to a single site, which can contain as many pages as you’d like." Google Page Creator currently has a functional limit of 100 pages. Google has hinted that they will be soon providing site management (with domain regitration, etc.) but for now, we’re talking about "pages".

Pages can contain text content, images, and links to other Web pages that you created, or any other Web site on the Internet.

Google Page Creator is not meant to be an advanced Web page development platform. It is meant to provide quick and easy creation of simple Web pages.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/google-pages-tips/page-creator-tip-1-what-is-google-page-creator

Feb
28

Gmail Tip #39: New Feature! Gmail From Most Any Browser!

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February 28, 2005

From the beginning, Gmail has always required a “supported browser” to gain access and work with Gmail. Well, those crazy Gmail developers have done it again! Read on to see a new addition to Gmail that will please many…

Gmail now offers a “basic HTML view” that lets you access Gmail from almost any computer running almost any Web browser. Mozilla users and Safari users will certainly appreciate this one. According to the Gmail Help site, if you log into Gmail using a non-supported browser, Gmail will automatically revert to the basic HTML view. Just be aware that several features cannot be accessed from the basic HTML view, only the “full view”. From Gmail’s help page:

“Since your browser isn’t fully supported, you might notice that some of your favorite features aren?t available in the current view, including the following:

-Filter creation
-Settings
-Spell checker
-Keyboard shortcuts
-Address auto-complete“

Now to see if the basic HTML view works with my PDA…

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-39-new-feature-gmail-from-most-any-browser

Jan
13

Gmail Tip #38: Google Gmail Minibrowser

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January 13, 2005

“The Google Deskbar includes a minibrowser that you can use to quickly open your Gmail account in convenient window that automatically hides and can be accessed with a keyboard shortcut. Read on for more information about this tool…

The Google Deskbar is a little Google search tool for Windows taskbar. It can do most of the Google searches using shortcut keys too. (See the link for a picture.) It also include Google’s “Minibrowser” which is fast and cute. If you press Ctrl-Alt-G?by default, you can turn it off?you’ll go right to the bar. Typing a search, by default, will open in the mini browser?again you can turn it off if you want or have it use your default browser (Firefox, etc).

So here’s the tip: Go to Options > Customized Searches > Add. Name it “Gmail” and put in the url: http://gmail.google.com/gmail. For the shortcut I used Ctrl M. So if I press Ctrl alt G, then Ctrl M, instant GMail window in the Google Minibrowser! Awesome.

(Google Desktop isn’t included in the default searches either. (Yet!) But you can also add it in the customize dialogue to search your desktop just as easily. Since the minibrowser vanishes automatically it’s tres convenient to find a file!)

Thanks “Sketchee” for the tip!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-38-google-gmail-minibrowser

Aug
24

Vonage Tip #1: How to access the ATAs Web setup

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August 24, 2004

If your ATA is behind a router (which most people do) you will not be able to connect to your (Motorola’s) Web Settings interface because its IP address exists outside of the typical range of “home” LAN IP ranges. Read on to see how simple it is to access it…

Simply connect an ethernet cable from the NIC on any PC or laptop directly “PC port” on the ATA box. Open a Web browser and in 192.168.102.1

You should now be able to connect!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/vonage-tips/vonage-tip-1-how-to-access-the-atas-web-setup

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