I hate it when I loose a sock. No mater where I look I can’t find it. No mater what kind of way I look, I can’t find it. After a few hours, it is just a lost cause. That is the same way I feel about using most Online search engines as well. Well, that was untill a BetterSearch came knocking on my proverbial door.

BetterSearch delivers many more choices and flavors when it comes to Online searching. It enhances Google, MSN Search Yahoo Search, A9, and many more by adding thumbnail previews, Amazon product images and information, and a preview feature.

It doesn’t stop there. It also lets you choose to “Open in a New Window”, find out more about the “Site Info” and a “Wayback Machine” link so that you can search the previous versions of the Web site as well.

Now there is one simple reason why none of these search engines do this on their own right now. It would mean they would have to work together with these other companies. That just ain’t going to happen. What it takes is imagination from outside the box to make these Web features and support work together as one.

We all want more form and functionality from an Online search, right? If you fall onto that waggon or one even close, then you should give BetterSearch a shot. With better searching tools at your fingertips, then you will hopefully be able to get out of the searches quicker and find what you are really looking for.

It happens to everybody. You want to see the Web page that is making all the news, and once you finally get the link to go there it times out on you. You can’t see the content and you will have no idea what folks will be talking about around the water cooler tomorrow. What is a geek to do?

The Firefox extension this time around is called Cacheout. What does it do?

Too frequently on sites such as Slashdot.org and digg.com, articles that are posted are flooded with thousands of people trying to simultaneously access the same Web site. Unless the article is being hosted on a provider that has the infrastructure to support massive hits, the server essentially stops responding to any more web requests.

The service they use to bring the Web sites back up is the Coral Content Distribution Network. Coral is very reliable for distributing the server loads around so that you can view a Web site that is in very high demand. Right now they are only using Coral for the back end, but if you know of any other content distribution networks out there, let them know.

Although the content for the Web page hasn’t gone too in depth with the extension just yet, I have high hopes for this extension in the future. Go check it out, and never be left out of the conversation at work again.

I like to listen to music while I surf around and work Online. It just seems to help pass the time better for me. Some people like more music, some people like no music at all. There are all kinds of flavors of music, but not a lot of ways to listen. Usually you have a standard media player on your computer. Well, FoxyTunes take some of the work of going back and forth to a media player. It brings the media player into your Firefox browser.

Some of FoxyTunes features include: Multiplatform – works on MS Windows, Linux and Mac OS X; Supports many popular media players, will support more players in future versions; Also supports the Mozilla Suite and Mozilla Thunderbird; Position anywhere in the browser – on the status bar or on one of the toolbars; Volume controls; Seek Slider; Configurable keyboard shortcuts; Currently playing track information; Customizable and collapsible; Auto-hide; Skinnable and localizable; Automatically launch your player when needed; Pop up and hide the player window with a click and more.

It also supports a plethora of players out there as well, such as: iTunes 4, Winamp, foobar2000, Windows Media Player, and Musicmatch Jukebox. There are also a number of skins you can download and use as well with the Firefox extension.

Like listening to music while you surf with Firefox? Then give FoxyTunes a test drive. You’ll be head banging your way through the Web in no time at all.

I remember in my youth when I used to go to the public library every Saturday morning to go check out a new book. Sure, the city I live in is small so chances are I probably got the same book more than once. These days, you don’t have to be bothered with the searching and hunting for the book you want. You can do that all from the comfort of your own home. Well, that is if you have a search plugin via Firefox for your local library of choice.

The Web page that makes all the magic happen is Library Search. Here is what they have to say about the project on the front page:

Library Search is a collection of Mozilla Firefox search plugins that search online library catalogs. There are currently search plugins available for 51 libraries, however this number is constantly growing. If you would like to be notified when new search plugins are ready, join our mailing list. To see if a search plugin is ready for your library [and/or] to install a search plugin, click the Downloads link at the top of this page.

I stumbled upon this Web page not too long ago, and I have to say I am very impressed. What does the Web page deliver to you? Well it gives you a long list of libraries to choose from. On the end of each link, you will find a Firefox search plugin to tap into your browser and bring the library home to you.

Here is only a small sample of some of the libraries they have listed: San Francisco Public Library, Santa Clara County Library, Ada Community Library, the Orange Country Library, San Antonio Public Library and many more.

Sure, not every library in the world is listed here. That is where you come in. If you know of one that isn’t on the list, let them know. That way if that library has an Online system that would allow for searching, a Firefox search plugin could be written.

It seems like this was a big week for Ajax development and Web hosting. There were two new tools that caught my attention this week on the Web Hosting Show which I thought I would share with you. There is no denying the fact that there are a lot of good things coming from the Ajax development world these days. These are the first two I have seen that have dealt with the Web hosting industry though.

SQLFusion announced the release of the first online site building application ever built with “AJAX” technology. This online web site builder, called Drag Drop Site Creator, is available at dragdropsitecreator.com. It is intended primarily for web hosting companies, which offer Drag Drop Site Creator as an additional service to their hosting customers.

Well maybe I am a little quick to say nothing good has come out of the Web hosting world as far as innovations go. I had the folks at SQLFusion drop me an E-mail earlier this week asking me to take a look at the new Drag and Drop Site Creator and I have to say, I am really impressed. With tools like this getting better and better, Web site designers might soon be a think of the past!

It seems like a lot of folks were happy with the domain name tool I featured on last week’s show, so I figured I’d go ahead and feature another one I found. This one goes into the Ajax and Web 2.0 category as well.

You can find it at ajaxwhois.com. What is it? Why it is another domain name lookup tool. Just type in the domain name you want, and it will do a real time search. The thing this one has over last week’s pick, is it isn’t limited to just .net or .com names.

The fun doesn’t stop there. You can also set it to do Whois searches on the fly. Just type in the domain name you want to find more information about. Another free, new and innovative domain name tool for you to use! Once again, I recommend you at least give it a shot at ajaxwhois.com.

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Running Time: 22 minutes | File Size: 4.88 MB

So are you an Opera browser fan who isn’t sure about the jump to Firefox? What if you could have the same theme, features and functionality you found in Opera while using Firefox? That is what Andrew Gregory has attempted to recreate with his Web page on the subject.

In the introduction to the Web page, its purpose is made pretty clear:

It should be obvious that my preferred browser is Opera. Not that there’s anything wrong (much) with Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla. I just prefer using an internet suite. The best suite (in my opinion) is Opera. The Mozilla suite is just too big, fat, and ugly. This section of my site is dedicated to anything I have to say about Firefox, Thunderbird and other Mozilla projects.

Personally, I would say all the things he said about Firefox to the folks who use Opera. It is always good to hear all sides in debate though. The more fighting that goes on, the better product everybody produces. Now with that said, he does list a long list of extensions you can install to give you that “Opera-like” feeling while using Firefox.

So want to make the change? Check out this Web page first, to see if you can comfort your browser changing blow you might take.

If you could open Internet Explorer inside of one of Firefox’s tabs, you’d have the perfect mix of browsing perfection, wouldn’t you? Well the new thing that everybody seems to be excited about is the new Firefox extension that lets you do just that.

This is great for viewing some Web sites out there that don’t come out very well in Firefox. One of them that comes to mind is Yahoo’s Music Launch Web site. You can open up the IE Tab from a right-click on a link or by clicking the Firefox logo in the taskbar of the browser.

All and all, it seems like a good idea but there are parts of it that just bug me right now. One issue I noticed was the Web page would load fully via Firefox, then it would reload using IE’s display engine. Little problems like that will probably keep me from keeping this extension for too long.

If you are still using Firefox 1.0.x, you will need to install another script into Firefox to get it to work. I have noticed a lot of people getting hung up at this part of the extension install. You can find it and more information on the IE Tab Web site.

Right now I’d say the extension isn’t exactly perfect just yet. I ran into a few problems when using it, but it is the talk of the town. For another alternative, you should check out IE View.

I have said it before and I will say it again, Feedview is one of my favorite Firefox extensions out there today. It makes the world of RSS, XML, and syndication a little easier for new folks to understand and for that I am very happy and grateful. Now it looks like Feedview’s usability will be built into Firefox 2.0.

Via Feedview’s author’s Web site I learned this:

My tiny Firefox extension will be included in the main browser.

Originally it would be part of Firefox 1.5, but because of the urge for perfection the Mozilla developers needed more time.

The new Feedview will include most features that people have been asking for. Like correct date handling, better html viewing, the rss icon will show Feedview instead of a livemark dialog. I will keep the Feedview installer on the site up, but I will not update it anymore. Let’s just hope Firefox 2.0 will be here soon.

So the bad news here is we will have to wait till Firefox 2.0 to see a pretty interface to the XML in RSS feeds via Firefox. The good news is that once it does roll around it will be an interface worth looking at.

Hello, I am Mitch Keeler and I am a Web hosting guru. As a Web hosting guru, and host of the Web Hosting Show, I get asked a lot of questions. Some are good, some are bad and some are just plain odd. Instead of just doing one or two questions and answers, I thought I would quickly shoot through four random questions I received last week from some of my Web Hosting Show listeners.

1. I know all there is to know about basic HTML, should I learn about CSS?

Yes you should. CSS might seem a little tricky at first, but once you learn it, it makes life editing a Web site so much easier. One great resource for learning about CSS is the W3 Schools. They have lots of information on the topic. Once you learn the basics, find a Web site you like that uses CSS, save it to your computer and then tear it apart. Learn what does what and you will be on your way to becoming a CSS zen master.

2. One Web host has “silver” and “gold” plans while another Web host has “mega” and “ultra” plans. What is the difference?

There is no difference. These are just marketing terms so that they can define the Web hosting plans they offer by name. The things you need to pay attention to the most are bandwidth limits, disk space and price. Find the Web host that has the right mix for you, and you should be hosting your Web site in no time at all.

3. I keep seeing data centers mentioned on my Web host’s Web site. What is a data center?

A data center is a location where that Web host’s servers are stored. Now this could be across the street from the Web host’s location or across the country. You can have private data centers, which are used by only one Web hosting provider or you can have public data centers. Public data centers could be used by multiple Web hosts out there.

4. My Web host sells domain names as well. Should I purchase my domain name and Web hosting from the same company?

Many people would say yes to this, but I have to say no. Think of it as the old saying about having all your eggs in one basket. Sure, it makes them easier to carry. The thing to consider is that if you drop the basket, all your eggs will be broken. I like to have my domain name registered one place and my hosting registered somewhere else. That way if there is a problem with one, it will not become a problem with the other. Also if I become unhappy with either my hosting or my domain name provider, I only have one thing to pick up and move somewhere else.

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Running Time: 6 minutes | File Size: 1.27 MB

Do you sometimes get your tabs all mixed up inside of Firefox. Is it hard for you to tell which one you are currently on? Maybe you are just tired of your gray on gray interface and you want something prettier to look at when it comes to the tab department. No mater what your problem is, I have a solution just for you.

The Colorful Tabs Firefox extension is really unique. From some of the feedback I have seen already, I have noticed people giving this extension a bad shake. While I might not use it on a day to day basis, I do see one area where it would and could be used much more.

For people from an older generation, the colored tabs might be easier to look at than your standard gray on gray color scheme. When your eyes get older, it might be harder to tell where that 1 pixel wide tab border is on the browser window.

So give a few new colors in your browsing experience a chance. While some might see this as a rainbow of pain, others might find it very useful. I’m not saying it is the perfect solution to every problem that is out there today, it is just the solution to the problem of telling where one tab starts and the next one stops.