Enable streaming search results via the CustomizeGoogle's Web settings.
(Credit: CNET Networks/CustomizeGoogle)When I fired up my Mozilla Firefox browser this morning, I received an unpleasant surprise. I tried my first Give Me Back My Google search of the day, only to be confronted with a 10 search results and a "Next" button for more results. What the deuce?
I haven't seen a "Next" button for Google results in a few years, ever since I installed the CustomizeGoogle extension for Firefox way back when. Along with key features such as ad blocking, secure connections for Google Docs and Gmail, and alternative search-engine results, my favorite feature of the extension is the capability to "stream" search results.
Streaming results means that you never have to click "Next" and "Back" to view Google search results again. When you search Google, you'll be presented with your usual 10 results (or 50, or 100, or whatever your saved preference is). However, if you have "Stream search results pages" selected under the "Web" settings of CustomizeGoogle, you only need to scroll down to see results 11+. The further you scroll, the more result appear, all the way to No. 302,526 or whatever the number of the final search result.
Luckily for all of us, the developers of CustomizeGoogle released a new version of the add-on today. Version 0.76 fixes Google Suggest, adds Query Suggestions, restores links to other search engines in Google Shopping, and (most importantly for me) fixes streaming search results. Huzzah!
Google has long been one of the most useful tools on the Net, but frequent search engine users may find that they can make it even more efficient. CustomizeGoogle is a Firefox extension that adds options to an ordinary Google search, providing additional links to sources such as Yahoo, Wikipedia, or MSN. Depending on the specifics of the search, results might also include links to movie, music, or book search engines.
It's hard not to like the link to the Wayback Machine, which enables users to see pages that have vanished from the Net. The software filters out advertisements, numbers your results, and can block specific domains and sites if needed. It can also block GoogleAds, make your Google searching anonymous, and force Gmail, Google Reader, and Google Calendar to load in secure (HTTPS) pages.
As privacy concerns grow more prominent in the public consciousness, and the desire to control all aspects of your browsing environment increases, the abilities that CustomizeGoogle confers on its users are quickly moving from "useful" to "must-have."
Quiz time: What do CustomizeGoogle, GooglePreview, and McAfee SiteAdvisor have in common?
Answer: The ability to improve on Google search in the Firefox browser. For example, does this scenario sound familiar: You accidentally click on a sponsored link and have to return to the main results page to try again?
How about this one: You wasted 10 minutes clicking through search results because you can't remember the link by name, but think you can identify it by sight (so you check them all)? Or worst yet: You stumble on a dangerous link and get bogged down with malware that takes hours or days to fix. Terrible!
Yep, that trio of plug-ins we mentioned helps you avoid the common pitfalls that add up to a lot of wasted time. The best part about the extensions--other than their being free--is that they're compatible with each other, so you won't see any crashes if you choose to install all three. Watch this Insider Secrets video to see how they work.
The artwork for the Firefox 3 beta promotional campaign hints at a powerful galactic defender. But who are the menacing gray spaceships? ... Phishers!?!?
(Credit: Mozilla Foundation)The big news today in the software world is a new beta version for Mozilla Firefox. The world has been sitting on Version 2 for almost a year and a half now, but the open-source foundation is making sure that Version 3 is fully baked before releasing a final version.
The latest beta release promises "more than 900 enhancements from the previous beta," but a large number of those improvements are back end and mostly invisible. Two significant features in the fourth beta that I appreciate are: an improved password manager toolbar that replaces the old semifunctional dialog; and better performance for system-intensive Web-based software like Gmail.
As for the promise of improved memory usage, I'm not sure I can call it a rousing success. I personally noticed slight memory improvements with Firefox 3 beta 4 compared with Firefox 2.0.0.12, but no major leaps. By default, Firefox 3 beta is still a fairly big browser that will definitely suck up your system resources once you have a number of tabs open or Web apps running.
Learn what else is new in this latest release from a First Look article by Download.com editor Seth Rosenblatt.
Another big hit in the blogosphere today was the publication of "10 Killer Firefox Extensions That You Don't Probably Know About" from the community site WebUpon. It's a hit or miss list, and I wouldn't call most of those overlooked, but Firefox users sure love finding new extensions.
In response to WebUpon's list, I've got my own three favorite "overlooked" Firefox extensions that have been selected specifically for power downloaders. Even better, all of these extensions--DownThemAll, CustomizeGoogle, and Download PDF--are compatible with the latest Firefox 3 beta release:
Filters such as JPEG or MP3 can automatically detect all files on a given Web page.
(Credit: CNET Networks)There are certainly right and wrong times to download content in mass batches. The right time is with free, legal content, and this lightweight Firefox add-on will certainly ease the strain of your downloading chores.
It's a built-in download manager that quickly analyzes all of the given links to possible downloads on a Web page and then presents them for you to save locally as you see fit. For collectors of free music, images, and movies, it's a downloading dream. Less clicking makes everyone happy.
The interface for CustomizeGoogle is nothing special, but streaming search Google results are a must.
(Credit: CNET Networks)This long list of tweaks for Google's online services covers 13 of the software company's major applications, including Gmail, Web Search, News, Image Search, and Maps. Simply select a specific product in the left-hand navigation, then select from a series of customization options on the right.
Make Google Calendar automatically use a secure server. Add results from other product search sites in your Froogle/Google Product Search results. Best of all, you'll never have to click a "next" button on a Google search-results page ever again with the "Stream search results pages" option. You can stream literally hundreds of thousands of results (numbered, no less) on one Google search results page!
If you've ever gotten frustrated with PDF files pushing you around, PDF Download strikes back pre-emptively.
(Credit: CNET Networks)OK, OK, I admit it's tough to defend a product with 2,400 downloads last week as "overlooked," but it's underappreciated regardless. This simple little extension gives you complete control over PDF files. The problem with opening PDF files in Firefox is that it tends to slow down your performance, especially if you open a number of them.
Rather than stick you all alone with a browser-jarring PDF file, the PDF Download extension provides you the option to: download the file locally; open it with Firefox using the PDF download options settings; view the PDF as an HTML file in the browser; bypass PDF Download; or cancel the link. If it's a PDF file I know that I'll refer to later, I always save it locally, then open it with a separate viewer. I'll need the file locally to share; and I also avoid slowing down Firefox.
As mentioned, these three extensions are all compatible with the latest Firefox 3 beta version. I was a little surprised there weren't more extensions compatible with 3.0b4, but I suppose it was only released today.
What do you think of the new Firefox 3 beta version? What are your picks for the most overlooked Firefox extensions? Tell me about it in the comments.
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