Comments on: Firefox, pimped

By: » Blog Archive » It’s easy to implement Open Source Software LibrarianActivist.org

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:06:58 +0000

[...] The usual suspects of course: Jessamyn West. Learn how to Pimp your Firefox. Watch a video on installing Ubuntu. Make friends with Wikipedia. [...]

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:22:27 +0000

We have a test PAC Wellfleet, MA, that uses PCLinuxOS, Firefox and Openoffice.org. It also has Skype and IM.

Firefox has some good addons for privacy, :”auto restart” and “public fox” prevent users for seeing other user’s info and also prevent people from altering the Firefox configuration.

Some patrons will no longer use Windows.

The curious thing about PCLinuxOS is the ease of “re-mastering”, so I could send a Live-CD copy. It boots, runs and installs on most any old PC.

All free software. No spyware problems or viri, to speak of.

By: Lianne

Lianne — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:11:54 +0000

I recently installed the Meebo Message Notification to help alert us to incoming IM reference questions. We haven't officially started IM reference yet, but it's been working during testing. Also, not a Firefox extension, so I'm cheating here, but a really helpful little tool for IM reference is PhraseExpress, which will save common phrases and type them for you as you start typing (or you can use a keyboard shortcut.) Like MSWord's Autotext, but you can use it in any program/webpage. Great tool for those lines we tend to repeat.

By: James

James — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:12:46 +0000

My library uses Public Web Browsers for our PACs, so there isn't anything to do there. However, I added three search plugins for our library catalog which can be added from the library homepage. Visit http://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/library and you will see the three searches in your search engine dropdown box. I use Zotero with my Firefox browser to organize my own research.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:27:08 +0000

http://emailofchris.googlepages.com/Snapper1.3.xpi is the new version of Snapper that works in Firefox 2.0

We have Firefox on all our staff and patron machines. Trying to get the IE tab add on added to all the Firefoxs (it allows an IE tab to be opened IN Firefox.)

By: Fiona

Fiona — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 05:27:04 +0000

Hi Emma,

Alas portable apps doesn’t work – security is such that any non-installed exe file simply won’t run on any machine.

At least I can have Firefox at home :)

By: Emma

Emma — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:24:50 +0000

Fiona
Have you seen PortableApps.com – that lets you install things like Firefox to a USB stick. You’d have to do the actual install on a PC where you have install rights (at least, I set most of my PortableApps up on a PC that I had control over, and then tried to add a few other things on one that I don’t. They didn’t install, but I guess it’s possible you might be able to install some of them on a limited PC. I’ve just never managed it with the tools that I’ve tried!)

By: Bobbi

Bobbi — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:24:14 +0000

We currently have Firefox (as well as IE) installed on all of our adult public use computers. I try to remember to direct our patrons toward Firefox when I am helping them. Strangely enough, we have found that some websites that will not open in IE will open in Firefox. Several of our staff prefer the Firefox browser and use it as their main browser.

By: Stephen Francoeur

Stephen Francoeur — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:58:57 +0000

You can read my list in the article I wrote in Library Journal last December: Firefox at the Reference Desk. Library Journal declined to include my list of URLs for each of the add-ons, so I put them up in a post about the article on my blog.

By: Fiona

Fiona — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 06:38:42 +0000

I’d love to have Firefox installed. I do what I can with IE Bookmarklets.