CloudMagic - Intergrated Search for Google Services

A friend of mine shared this on facebook today, and I definitely want to try it out.  I installed the Firefox add-on, but since I have to restart Firefox to be able to use it, I have yet to check it out.  From watching the video, I think it definitely looks like it can make things easier.



CloudMagic is a browser add-on for Firefox and Chrome that provides fast, integrated search for these Google & Google apps account services:

• Emails
• Contacts
• Documents
• Spreadsheets
• Presentations
• Forms

Basically, it looks like you can easily search for and find anything in your email, docs, or contacts and use information from any and all of your services while working on an email or document, or whatever you are doing.  I'm all for anything that can make my life easier and more organized and that can save time!

Twitter and Facebook support is coming soon, too.

Related articles

• CloudMagic Searches Gmail & Google Docs at Lightning Speed (fakeiitian.com)
• CloudMagic Searches Gmail & Google Docs at Lightning Speed (mashable.com)
• Instant Gmail, Google Docs & Contacts Search | CloudMagic (cloudmagic.com)
• CloudMagic brings instant search to Gmail and Google Docs (thenextweb.com)
• CloudMagic 2.0 Adds Speedy As-You-Type Search to Google Docs and Contacts [Video] (lifehacker.com)

Zemanta for Better Blogging

Image via CrunchBase

I think I've mentioned this before, but it just upgraded when I started my browser this morning, so I was reminded. I've been using Zemanta for a while now, and I really love it.

Zemanta is a free Firefox extension that helps enhance your blog posts. It's also available for other browsers and supports all popular blogging platforms.

As you type your post, Zemanta automatically suggests images, tags, links, and related articles. You can include any of the suggested items with a simple click of your mouse. Zemanta also gives you the option to open images and related articles in a new window or tab so you can get a closer look before inserting them. I've found some very interesting images and articles this way - even if I haven't inserted all of them.

Here's a short video on how Zemanta works:

Zemanta in 60 Seconds from zemanta on Vimeo.

It's not required, but if you create an account with Zemanta, you can add your social networks so Zemanta knows who your friends are and can suggest them and their content for your posts. And Zemanta can suggest your own images if you set your Flickr username.

There's more - here's a whole list of advantages of using Zemanta. If you're not quite ready to download and install the browser extension, you can try the demo on the site to get an idea of how Zemanta works.

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Dress Up Your Browser

Image via CrunchBase

I just installed Personas for Firefox last night. How long has this been around? I'm not sure, but I'm really loving it. Personas lets you dress up your browser with easy to install and easy to change 'skins' for Firefox.

watch a quick video demonstration:

Getting Started with Personas from Mozilla Labs on Vimeo.

Not only can you choose from the many 'skins' available on the site, you can even create your own. The instructions are right on the page. Here are some my brother, who found this first, has created - Personas by krayeg.

I had a little trouble getting this to work at first, I think because I had a theme installed. When I went back to the default firefox theme and restarted my browser, it worked just fine. The fun with Personas is that you can very easily change the look of your browser, and you don't have to restart your browser for the changes to take effect. You can even preview the look before you intall simply by mousing over the designs in the gallery. I'm having a lot of fun doing that, but you don't have to visit the Personas gallery. You can choose and change your selected Persona any time simply by clicking on the little fox mask in the lower left-hand corner of your browser window.

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Foxmarks

If I had to choose my favorite Firefox extension, I would probably choose Foxmarks. If you use more than one computer, or if you just want a backup of your bookmarks, you'll probably love Foxmarks, too.

Once you install the add-on and register for a foxmarks account, it will automatically sync and backup your bookmarks. Install Foxmarks on every computer you want to use and register them with the same account. From then on, every time you add a new bookmark, Foxmarks adds it to your online bookmarks. It doesn't matter which computer you are using. The next time you open Firefox on your other computer, Foxmarks will automatically sync your bookmarks, and the new ones will be available on that computer, too.

I usually use my laptop, but sometimes I need to do things on the basement computer. It's nice to have my bookmarks available wherever I am. Foxmarks was also a lifesaver when I recently had to reinstall Windows and all my programs. When I reinstalled Firefox, the first thing I did was install Foxmarks, sign in with my foxmarks account, and get all my bookmarks back.

With Foxmarks you can also access all of your bookmarks online, so even if you're using someone else's computer or surfing the web at the library, your bookmarks are all available.

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Learn Firefox

I finally downloaded and installed the Read it Later extension I mentioned earlier. After I downloaded, installed, and restarted Firefox, I got a box asking me to drag the 'read later' and 'reading list' buttons to my toolbar. I hit OK, and it opened a box for me, but I didn't see those buttons to drag. I ended up closing the box, and then I couldn't figure out how I got it. I finally figured it out - right-click on the toolbar, and select 'Customize' - so that was pretty easy. When I reopened it, the buttons I was looking for were there. I simply dragged them to the toolbar, and they are waiting for me to use them.

Somehow I found this page that explained it all. I'm looking through the pages I was on, and I still can't figure out how I got there. One of these days I am going to keep track of my path through the Web. It would be quite interesting. I did pay attention to the main site that this page is a part of, and I think it should be quite useful. It's called Learn Firefox, and it's a visual guide to the Firefox browser. I just jumped in, downloaded, and started using the browser, but I don't think it can hurt to go back and see if there's something I can use here. For instance, there's a page here called Rearrange the Order of Your Tabs. I wish I had read this earlier, because I was using Firefox for ages, and loving the tabs, before I realized I could rearrange my tabs.

Learn Firefox has different categories such as themes, extensions, bookmarks, news, and more. It's nicely organized and easy to read, and it just might help you learn something you didn't know about Firefox.

What Browser Do You Use?

I've been using Firefox for quite a while now. Before that I used Netscape, and I still use it when I need to create or edit a web page. I'm linking to the Netscape Browser Archive because, when they came out with version 8, I think, it was just a browser. I like the complete Netscape package - browser, email, and composer. Those people who never create or edit a web page don't need the composer, so they don't really miss it. I haven't upgraded since version 7.1, and I probably won't. I appreciate that they keep the older versions available here so that you can download and install the version that meets your needs.

I know there are people who use that browser that comes with their Windows operating system, but I refuse to use it. There are a few times I have to open it to see what a web page looks like in IE, but I even try to avoid that. Usually I can assume that, no matter how nice the page might look in any other browser, it is going to be messed up in IE. I don't know why that is, but it irritates me to no end, and I usually don't know how to fix it.

In Firefox, I have the IE Tab extension installed so that I can check things, without opening that other browser. That's pretty handy. There are over a thousand useful add-ons for Firefox, making it easy to customize your browser and make it do what you want. Usually I just start browsing and installing the ones that interest me, but today I found this list of the Best Firefox Extensions - compiled and broken down into categories. Each one has a brief description of the extension and what it does, and the link to download it. Instead of having to browse through endless extensions trying to find the right ones, you might appreciate starting with this list. I'll be going through it to see what great extensions I've missed and don't have yet.

Also, in the future, I will be listing my favorite extensions here, too. Maybe I like some that haven't made this list.

Read it Later

I do this all the time. I surf the Internet. I find things I'd like to read, but I don't always have time to read them right then. I end up opening links in new tabs, planning to read them before I close my browser for the night. Many times I forget what tabs I have open, and end up closing everything - and never get a chance to read those things I thought looked interesting.

Today I found this Firefox extension called Read It Later.

Here's how it works:

1. When you come across something you want to read later, simply click the 'Read Later' button and the page is inserted into your reading list.
2. Then, later when you have some time, click 'Reading List' and it will randomly pull up something for you to read. (I'm not sure I like the random part, but I will have to play with it to see how it really works)
3. When you are finished, click 'Mark It As Read' and it will be removed from your list. If, after reading it, you feel that it's something you want to keep and add to your bookmarks, you can use the dropdown under Mark It As Read to do that.

Chances are I will use this to create a whole list of pages and news items that I want to read later, and I won't read most of them. Still, I like the idea of having an easy way to save them, so I don't end up losing them at the end of the day when I close my browser.