DemoGirl

If you spend a lot of time on the web, whether for work, play, or research, you probably spend a lot of time jumping from one service to the next to get the information you need.  Vysr wants to help solve the problem of skipping around the web with their application, RoamAbout.  RoamAbout is an application, that once downloaded, will give you one-click access to a ton of useful information.  It comes in two packs – RoamAbout Business and RoamAbout Social, and each one comes preloaded with sites that you may typically visit during the day.  RoamAbout Social will give you access to Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and games.  RoamAbout Business allows you to access stock quotes, news, weather, Wikipedia, and more.  The nice thing about RoamAbout is that all of these sites are contained in a small pop-up window that you can easily toggle on and off.  You’ll also never need to leave the page you’re currently on when you want to use a site in RoamAbout.  All of the information you need appears in a small window layered on the page you’re currently viewing.  You can highlight text on any page and view relevant news articles, Wikipedia entries, and YouTube videos.  Both of the packs are also customizable, so you can add or remove whatever sites you need.

My only gripe with RoamAbout is that you can’t simply open the maps icon and search for an address, you need to highlight an address on a page and then RoamAbout will map it for you.  The same goes for the weather icon, you need to have a city or zip code highlighted in order to view the weather.  Other than that, it’s really a handy tool for getting the information you need, no matter what website you’re viewing.  Here’s my screencast tour of RoamAbout:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 3m26s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

[via WebWorkerDaily]

People like to browse the web in so many different ways, and that’s why it’s great that there are so many different types of Firefox Extensions to please just about everyone. With that said, these 4 Extensions may not be for everyone, but they could be just what someone out there needs to make their browsing experience more enjoyable.

Craigzilla allows you to view personalized craigslist ads, right in your browser window. After you install it, you just need to set up the preferences to match what you are looking for. You can set it up to auto alert you after a specified amount of time, displaying new ads that match your query. It’s a great tool if you’re looking for something specific on craigslist but don’t have the time to keep checking back to see if there are new ads.

FlagTab is a great tool for people who like to keep their tabs organized by color coding them. After installing FlagTab, you just need to double click on a tab and it will change colors. Every time you double click, the color will change again and again. You can customize the colors of the tabs and the font that appears in the tabs. I know it’s not for everyone, but some people really like to keep their sh!t organized .

Shrinkify is probably the most ridiculous Firefox Extension I’ll ever review on DemoGirl because it doesn’t really need a screencast. It does one thing, shrinks a long URL. The reason I chose to share it is because it does it so quickly and you literally don’t have to put forth any effort. Simply right click on any page with a long URL and it’s automatically copied to your clipboard. From there, you just need to paste it wherever you want to share it. Short and sweet.

Netopi allows anyone to leave and read reviews about any site on the web. Of course, you need to install it first but then any time you’re on a site that you’d like to make a comment on, just click on the Netopi icon and your sidebar will pop open. This is where you can leave your comment about the site and read what other Netopi users have said. You can also remain anonymous and not sign up for a Netopi account, which I really like. The site reviews are pretty minimal right now because not enough people are using Netopi but it could turn into a really nice way to see what people think of your site without forcing them to comment on a specific post. It could also turn out to be a great hangout for spammers. Only time will tell.

If you’d like to see all of these Extensions in action, click the link below to watch a 4 minute screencast:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 3m56s

Want this screencast on your site? Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

I have to say, whoever came up with the idea to hold a contest for the best screencasts for Firefox support, deserves a big, fat, raise.  It’s really an interesting idea and it gets people who love Firefox a chance to have their work out there to help other Firefox users.  Why do I think the brains behind this operation deserves a raise?  Well, because they just saved their company a bunch of time and money.  To top it all off, contestants have to use Firefox 3, so they just got that many more people to download the newest version of Firefox.

As for the contest details, there are few requirements.  You need to use Firefox 3, it must be flash based, and you can’t include audio.  They have a list of the top 100 support articles that you need to choose from, and from there you just need to be creative and stay on topic.   The top submissions will win a T-shirt designed especially for this contest (I want one) and the grand prize winner will receive a shiny new flip video camera.  So bust out your favorite screencasting software and start making those screencasts!

Here we are again my lovely DemoGirl readers. It’s Friday and you’re ready to punch that time card and head out for the weekend. I know that attention spans can be minimized in the afternoon on one of the greatest days of the week, so I’ve decided to profile three applications in just three minutes that may help you out this weekend. One to help you keep track of new episodes of your favorite TV shows, one that may help you find a great deal while shopping online, and one to help you find your lost cell phone.

MyTvRSS allows you to create an RSS feed that will update you every time one of your favorite TV shows has a new episode. All you need to do is select the shows you like, and MyTvRSS will create the feed that you can add to your reader of choice. This is especially useful for people like me who never turn on the TV, but probably would if they knew a that a new episode of House was going to be on.

PriceAdvance is a Firefox Extension and Internet Explorer plugin that gives you instant price comparisons of items you’re shopping for. It doesn’t necessarily only give you better prices, it just lets you see what everyone else is charging for something you’re thinking about purchasing. The affiliate merchant sites are somewhat limited so you may not see results if you’re looking for something like sneakers or a set of white wall tires, but if you’re looking for electronics or DVDs, I’d definitely give PriceAdvance a try.

PhoneMyPhone needs minimal explanation – it will ring your phone for you at any time you tell it to. There’s no voicemail task reminder service, no free text messaging, and it won’t tell you how to get anywhere. It will, however, help to get you out of a boring meeting, help you to flee an excruciating blind date, or ring your phone if you’ve lost it somewhere. Done, done, and done.

Here’s my Friday Quickcast Special:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 3m

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

[via downloadsquad, CenterNetworks, and MakeUseOf]

Update Scanner is a Firefox Extension that will alert you whenever a Website has been updated.  It installs an arrow icon in the lower right hand corner of your browser window.  When a site you’ve added to Update Scanner has changes, it will turn purple and you’ll see a small toaster notification.  You can add a site to be alerted about with a right mouse click or you can add sites manually.  You decide how often you want Update Scanner to check for updates – anywhere from every five minutes (not recommended) to once a day.

Now I know that most Websites have an RSS Feed, but that’s really not all Update Scanner can be used for.  If there’s an interesting comment thread you want to keep your eye on but don’t really want to subscribe to it in your Feed Reader, you could have Update Scanner notify you every hour with changes.  You could do the same for threads in a forum.  If you have a friend (or Mother) who doesn’t really understand the whole RSS thing, you could install Update Scanner for them and add the few sites they may frequent.  Then just show them how they’ll know when there’s new content “because the cute little arrow will turn purple, Mom!”.  Here’s my screencast tour of Update Scanner:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 2m48s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

[via MakeUseOf]

If you’ve jumped on the FriendFeed/Twitter wagon but you’re not all that impressed with Alert Thingy or Twhirl, then you may want to have a look at MySocial 24×7.  It’s a Firefox Extension that allows you to connect with your FriendFeed account in your sidebar.  You can view what your friends are posting all around the Web, share links, add comments, and even reply to Twitter from MySocial 24×7.  It’s really a handy way to quickly see what you’re friends have been up to, especially if you don’t want to download applications like Alert Thingy or Twhirl.  Here’s my screencast tour of MySocial 24×7:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 2m21s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Taboo is a Firefox Extension that allows you to easily save a tab you want to return to later. Taboo not only saves the tab but it also saves it exactly as you were viewing it. For example, if you were in the middle of reading a long blog post and needed to close the tab, you could save it with Taboo and then be able to return to the exact spot where you left off. It also saves any form fields you may have been filling in. All of your saved tabs are displayed as screenshots and you can view them in a grid format or on a calendar, so you can see what you saved on a particular day. Here’s my screencast tour of Taboo:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 2m21s

Want this screencast on your site? Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

[via Lifehacker]

Stylish is a Firefox Extension that allows you to easily edit the way a website looks.  After you install it you can browse through styles that have already been created for popular sites like Google, YouTube, and Wikipedia.  Once you find a style that you like you just need to load it into Stylish and when you go to that page, you’ll see the changes.  If you’re familiar with CSS then you can also create your own style to be loaded into Stylish.  You can also edit existing styles with the advanced options.  Here’s my screencast tour of Stylish:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 2m42s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

InFormEnter is a handy Firefox Extension that saves you the trouble of repeatedly typing the same information into forms. After you install it, you just need to set up your different profiles. A profile is where you store different information. For example, if you wanted to set up a profile for signing up for new web services, you would just add things like your first and last name, your email address, and maybe throw in a few hobbies or favorite movies. Whenever you go to a site where you need to enter in the information, just click on the little arrow you’ll see next to the form field and a box will pop up will all of your profile information. Simply select the text you want added to that field, and move on. Something like this is probably way more useful for someone like me who has to sign up for, at a minimum, about 5 websites a day. Here’s my screencast tour of InFormEnter:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 1m44s

Want this screencast on your site? Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

CustomizeGoogle is a Firefox Extension that does just what you’re probably thinking it does.  It allows you to completely customize your Google search experience.  You can remove ads from Google searches, filter search results to not include specific websites (like that pesky about.com), block Google Analytics cookies, and add other search sites to your search result page so you can easily compare results.  CustomizeGoogle does a whole lot more so I highly recommend taking a look.  Here’s my screencast tour of CustomizeGoogle:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 3m

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

[via Digital Inspiration]