Nicole's Notes

One of the appealing things about both of these products is how customizable they are. Not only can you "skin" them (and when I think of skins, I always think of WinAmp, since it was the first application that I used that had a variety of skins available), but you can also install lots of useful extensions. On that note, here's a few of the ones I think kick butt.

1. The Gmail Notifier. Yes, I know Google has their own version, but I like this one. It sits in the corner of my screen and just gives me a number. Right now it's telling me that I have one new message in my Gmail box. I really like Gmail for the mailing lists I'm on because of the conversation grouping ability. Makes keeping track of various threads less overwhelming.

2. ForecastFox. Next to the little Notifier icon, I have two weather icons. One is today (right now it's the moooooon), and one is tomorrow (Mostly Sunny). If I hover my mouse on them, it'll give me more info. Very keen.

3. BugMeNot. I hate having to create a login to access things that are supposedly free anyhow. And I never remember them once I have set them up. This utility just gives you the info to plug in. Granted, sometimes they don't work, but it's better to have tried and lost, then never to have tried at all. Um.

4. DictionarySearch. When you right click on a word, it gives you the option to look it up in another window. It's cool.

5. The GoogleBar. It's not just for Explorer anymore. :) You can add in the option to right click on a word or phrase to do a search in another window. Very handy. I use this ALL THE TIME.

My favourite skin is Neptune. I don't like the zebra stripes in the Thunderbird window, however, so I followed his instructions to get rid of them by editing userChrome.css. Oooo. Aren't I just the hacker chickie?

There are lots of handy-dandy (not to mention easy-to-follow) instructions kicking around online to help you optimize both Firefox and Thunderbird for your needs. Do a search in that handy googlebar.

Other news: we're switching to VoIP. That's Voice over IP. Still looking blank? Well, I'm sure you've seen the extensive ad campaign launched by Vonage. They provide phone services through your broadband connection, instead of the plain old telephone system, or POTS. Really, that's what it's called. You knew those - ahem - people - at the phone company needed to get out more, didn't you?

Anyhow, we won't be switching to Vonage because SpeakEasy our internet service provider, offers a slightly better deal. And they'll roll the broadband (well, partial T1, actually) and the phone service into one invoice. One less bill for me to pay. And the savings will be significant. All local, regional and US and Canada long distance fees included for $24. And voicemail, caller ID (which I've found far more useful than I would ever have thought), call waiting, yadda yadda yadda. You can also set up selective call forwarding, so while we're on vacation, if you call our house, it'll forward to where we are. Or to some phone sex line. What? I don't want to talk to you while I'm on vacation!

Provided this switch goes well (it'll take up to a month to actually port our number over from the regular phone company to VoIP), my next step will be to convince Jason to switch over his beloved Cow Town number. It's currently forwarding to his cell, and we're paying some idiotic amount (over $20) for it to do so. Plus we're paying his cell phone fees. Well, okay, his work is chipping in part. When he remembers to submit the bills. But still.

So that's my technophilia tonight. Just had to share.