Windows http://www.webupon.com/tags/Windows New posts about Windows A Good Alternative: the Opera Web Browser, and How It Stacks Up Against Firefox and IE http://www.webupon.com/Browsers/A-Good-Alternative-The-Opera-Web-Browser-and-How-It-Stacks-Up-Against-Firefox-and-IE.213695 The Basics

Everyone has used the Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer at some point in their life, and many have ended up trying/using Mozilla Firefox as a good alternative, but very few have used any other, except maby for Apple Safari which they accidently downloaded whilst updating Itunes.

Opera is a wonderful internet browser that at one time you used to have to pay to use. It has since been made available for free.

It's main version is for desktop/laptop computers, although they have recently made a version for mobile phones, but in this article we will just be covering the PC version.

Right From The Word Go

For a start Opera is very easy to download and install, going to the Opera homepage will point you towards the download section, or simply googling "Opera" will take you direct to the download page. From here you just click to download it and run it. Setup takes a few minutes and doesn't require a restart after it is finished.

After installing it, you can boot it straight up. The default homepage is a page about getting started with Opera, but it can easily be changed by going onto "Tools" then "Preferences" to change the homepage to whatever you want.

The Features

Tabs

Opera has tabs, much like Firefox and the latest Internet Explorer 7 (IE were really behind the times before Vista). This means that you can open up preety much as many pages as you want without having hundreds of windows cluttering your taskbar.

Mouse Gestures

Another great feature that seems to be very Opera specific (although once again add-ons for IE and Firefox will allow this), are mouse gestures. By holding down the right mouse button you can then move it in different directions to do cause different effects. Moving the mouse left with go back a page. Moving right will go forward to the next page on your browser. Moving down will open a new tab, etc. etc.

Although seemingly complecated at first, they are very simple and once mastered can save great amount of time and effort, and once you have started using them, there really is no way back. If you choose to start using Firefox, the first thing you will automatically do is download the mouse gestures add-on, purely due it's ease of use, and win over clicking the back button at the top of your browser.

Skins

These are available right from the start on both Opera and Firefox (but not available on IE), and both are very similar. Basically if you don't like the look of the browser when you first install it (the black is a little dull), you can apply a new "skin" which are created by other users, which will completly change the look of the browser. There are hundreds of skins, with something to suit everyone. Want everything bright blue? Done. Want a subtle vista matching colour scheme? Done. With a little searching you will find a skin that suits your taste.

Widgets

Widgets, despite their amusing name, can actually be very useful, and can be used for many different purposes. Widgets can do just about anything. There are widgets that show you maps of the world, widgets that allow you to play fun little games such as sim aquarium whilst browsing, some widgets can show you real time webcams from all over the world, others allow you to play radio stations or check the news, and some just tell you the time, or show weather forcasts.

Overall widgets are handy little extras that add that extra bit of entertainment or information whilst your surfing the web.

Torrent Downloader

Opera, unlike Firefox, IE, or any other browser I can find, has a built in torrent downloader. For the average person looking to have a nice looking browser that they can happily surf the net on, this won't effect them; but for those who know about downloading files through a torrent, this could be handy.

Rather than having to download a dedicated torrent program such as utorrent, all torrentsbei can be handled easily inside a seperate tab in Opera, which allows you to see all the usual information such as seeders and peers, aswell as being able to do all the standard tasks such as setting download limits etc.

This is probibly one of Opera's greatest achievements, as by having a built in torrent program, whilst it's competitors do not, it means it can appeal to a wider audience.

Easy To Navigate History

Ever looked at a really good news article, then crossed it down, then wanted to look at it but not been able to find it? Well Opera has it covered. All you have to do is type in whatever you want to find into the adress bar, and it will show you the websites/pages you have visited lately where the specific phrase has been used. A good example would be where I was looking at some motherboard upgrades earlier. If (for example) I couldn't remember the website that I was looking at that had them cheap, then I can just type "motherboard" into the address bar, and it will show that earlier I was looking at *whatever motherboard* on whichever page of ebuyer I was looking at it on. Overall this excellent way of browsing your history is just genious, and is great when you can't remember the exact thing you were looking at.

Conclusion

Many things included here are including in add-ons for firefox, or by downloading the popular IE Pro for Internet Explorer users, but the fact that they come built in, means that the creaters of the browser really are in touch with their users, and that is always a major thing when it comes to creating any sort of program, be it a game, an application, or a browser.

Opera really does set a new standard for web browsers, and i'm sure when IE finally gets an update, or when the next generation of Firefox comes out, things Opera has already done, such as including a torrent downloader, or having mouse gestures, will become the new standard for browsers.

]]> Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:05:49 PST Things You Never Knew About MSN http://www.webupon.com/Services/Things-You-Never-Knew-About-MSN.171829 There are various things which many people do not know about MSN, even though Microsoft has gone out of their own way to code these in. These include hidden emoticons, ways to use MSN without having it on your computer, neat stuff like that.

Hidden Emoticons

Microsoft for some reason has not listed some emoticons which are coded into MSN. I think it's fairly obvious why the cigarette or handcuff emoticons are not listed but as for the others, I have no idea.

  • (brb) - Be Right Back
  • (ci) - Cigarette
  • (%) - Handcuffs
  • (h5) - High Five
  • (tu) - Turtle
  • (xx) - XBox
  • (yn) - Fingers Crossed

Use MSN From a Public Computer

Many computers such as those at school do not have MSN installed for obvious reasons. Don't worry, now with this website you can continue to chat with this free browser version of MSN.

Web Messenger

Find out Who's Blocking You

I'm really surprised that more people do not know about this. Basically, this program checks if the person is actually online. You enter their name and if it says that the person is online, then they have blocked you. Alternatively, they may have just set their status to “Appear Offline” so don't get mad as soon as you see that they are online.

Blockchecker

Remove Tabs on the Left

If you've ever wanted to get rid of those annoying EBay tabs at the side of your MSN window which you never seem to use, Microsoft has coded in a feature for disabling these tabs. Go to Tools/Options/Tabs/Check Hide Tabs. They should now be gone and your MSN window will be looking cleaner than ever.

Hide Tabs

]]> Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:58:50 PST Modern Tattoo Designs Reflect Computer and Web Consumer Choices http://www.webupon.com/Web-Talk/Modern-Tattoo-Designs-Reflect-Computer-and-Web-Consumer-Choices.160509 Tattoos have served as a means of self-expression for centuries, reflecting a person's societal status, personal beliefs and passions.

In reaction to our modern technological era, consumers have turned to computer and web-based logos for tattoo designs, often as a visual statement of a person's choice in software, operating systems or code platforms.

Operating Systems

The debate between the wisdom of choosing Mac, Linux or Windows continues; with consumers using their bodies as a canvas to state their personal choice.

Apple Mac Logo


Image Source

A bold, clear statement that the owner of the tattoo is a Mac user and proud of it.

Linux Penguin Logo


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A cute image that has been used as a tattoo design by many Linux users, especially female users.

Microsoft Windows Logo


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A colorful and easily recognizable image that is gaining popularity among Windows users as a tattoo design.

Connected to the Web

Web-based logo designs are becoming chic choices for tattoo designs, with the colorful Google and stylish Firefox logos taking to the streets in the form of body art.

iGoogle


Image Source

Because Google knows everything. The colorful, clear lettering makes it an attractive design for a tattoo.

Firefox


Image Source

Not only is the web browser a powerful and attractive piece of software, but the Firefox logo is also attractive and makes a stylish tattoo design.

Lock-in the Code

Mathematics, pieces of code and binary translations are often used in humorous or meaningful tattoos.

HTML


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Html code tattooed on the neck, using a snatch of code to create a humorous effect by labeling the head and body with html code.

Binary Code


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Name initials in binary code - A personal expression of self, using a Binary translation of this person's initials.

Mathematics


Image Source

This tattoo has a meaning to the person who chose it, though the symbolism may be misunderstood by those who see it. As with many tattoos, the chosen design often has a meaning that appeals to the owner of the tattoo, but isn't immediately clear to others.

A Walking Advertisement

Some people have decided to use their bodies as a walking billboard for their website.

GrownUp Geek


Image Source

This tattoo is an advertisement for GrownUp Geek. Advertising takes many forms, but this particular advertisement is paid for once, doesn't weather the way outdoor advertisements do, and will be the topic of many conversations.

Geek tattoos of games, computer symbols and hardware

Mario Brothers


Image Source

A Mario Brothers "Game Over" tattoo. There are many Mario Brothers tattoo designs available, often with the Mario character in a large, colorful scene with other gaming characters. This one, however, is a series of separate images and has been tattooed on the neck, a painful and very visible area for tattoo art.

Mac Command Key


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A bold, clean image with interweaving loops, similar to the popular trinity tattoo.

Space Invaders


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A fun image from the classic computer game, shown here in its original pixilated form.

Power


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Another simple, yet bold design that holds a deeper meaning for the owner.

Mac Finder


Image Source

A modern, graphic design used in Mac operating systems that is both friendly and colorful.

Dell


Image Source

This guy is obviously an avid fan of Dell, to have had the logo covering such a large area of his body. The clean lines and bright color of the logo make an impressive statement in a tattoo.

Many tattoos serve an aesthetic role and are simply an artistic decoration on the skin.

These tattoo design choices express the views and passions of computer and web consumers, and one can only hope that the company logo designs will not change before the tattoos fade.

]]> Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:50:04 PST 10 Things Web Designers Do That Offend Users http://www.webupon.com/Web-Design/10-Things-Web-Designers-Do-That-Offend-Users.139274

  • Bad Search

    Some search engines cannot handle typos, plurals, hyphens, and other variants. This offense makes such search engines very difficult to use, especially if the user is elderly. Otherwise, it hurts all users. When a search engine prioritizes search results based on how many query terms are in the content, it undermines the user's quest for an important document.

    When navigation fails, search is the user's last hope. A simple search works better than advanced search, so make your site simple to use, add a little box for the user's search.

  • PDF Files Interrupts Free Browsing

    Do you know that many users hate to encounter PDF files while browsing? Reason -it breaks their flow. The simplest commands like save or print, and other standard browser commands do not work here. Worst still, PDF files are hard to navigate, layouts rarely match the user's browser window, thereby calling for smaller fonts. I pity the elderly! Please, designers, convert any information meant for reading on the screen to normal web pages.

  • Not Changing Color Of Past Navigated Links

    Any web designer that does not help the user keep track of past and present visits is the web designer's worst offense on the user. Changing colors lets the user know already seen pages and keeps him away from unintentionally going back there all over again. When visited links do not change colors, it is an offense on the user because it keeps him disorientated.

  • Non-Perusable Text

    This is another web designer's worst offense on the user. A page made entirely of only text is deadly for interaction with the reader, intimidating, boring and painful to read.

    To make it easy for users to peruse text pages, use simple formats:

    • Subheads

    • bullets,

    • Highlight Keywords

    • short paragraphs

    • simple writing style

    • inverted pyramid

  • Compulsory Font Size

    CSS style sheets allow websites and web designers to disable a user's “change font size” button, thus giving him a compulsory or fixed font size. Most of the time, the size is tiny, making readability difficult especially for the elderly. Please let the user resize text, respect his needs. Specify font sizes in relative terms, not as an absolute number of pixels.

  • Unfriendly Page Titling

    Tag used as a clickable headline for listings on Search Engines Results Pages (SERP). Unfriendly page titling is one worst offense on the user. Search is the user's best friend, so a humble page title attracts new visitors from search listings. While a complex page title accounts for low search engine visibility. Remember that search engines show the first 66 characters of the title, and is contained within the HTML

  • Unfriendly Advertisements

    Web users are in the habit of not paying attention to ads that interrupt their important navigation. Therefore, selective attention is powerful in this regard. Worst still, users ignore legitimate design elements that look like adverts.

  • Violating Design Conventions

    One of the basic design rules is consistency. Users are not worried if things stay the same. Do not go out the way trying to impress users.

  • Too Many Browser Windows

    Many Web designers open new browser windows, keeping the old ones, not minding the size of the user's monitor where such windows fill up the screen. This act disables the “back” button, but users love to use it.

  • Failure To Answer Users' Questions

    The worst crime web designers commit is the failure of their site to provide users with the information they seek. Even when a user is about buying a product, you may lose that sale because of a simple specific not addressed.
    • ]]>     Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:01:41 PST     Defend Your Pc Against Viruses, Trojans, Malware and Other Gremlins http://www.webupon.com/Security/Defend-Your-Pc-Against-Viruses-Trojans-Malware-and-Other-Gremlins.112040 This guide will present a number of free and effective measures to help protect your windows Xp/Vista pc against an ever-increasing number of viruses, trojans, spywares, malwares and worms;

    1. Get a good antivirus, for this, I would recommend Avira Antivir, this is free, and Pc Pro achieved a great rating from Pc Pro, this is lightweight, but a great alternative to the far heavier (and more expensive) Norton and Kaspersky.
    2. Keep your system updated! Particularly windows Vista users, but it is important that your system is kept up-to-date, either by enabling auto-updates, or updating the system yourself.
    3. Replace the default firewall. Although a vast improvement on XP, the Window's Vista default firewall has better alternatives that are nonetheless free, for example, Comodo Firewall Pro, with compatibility back to Windows 2000. The free version of ZoneAlarm is also good, but I have found that to often be too intrusive compared to Comodo. Windows firewalls, because they are the default with all window.
    4. Get both of the following programs; Spybot Search and Destroy, and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware 2007, both of which are free (although there is a premium version of Ad-aware available), both of these are excellent at routing out spyware and malware, and although Spybot SnD is the more powerful tool, Ad-Aware is more user-intuitive, and both search for spyware in different locations.
    5. Scan your system regularly, at least once a week, scanning for viruses and malware separately, and, if this takes a long time, try defragmenting your hard-disks, as this should dramatically decrease the scan time of your system.
    6. Keep all your files backed up, and ensure these backups still work, either by doing this manually, or creating an ISO image of your files and burning that to a disk.
    ]]>     Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:37:20 PST     Five Great Sites for Desktop Wallpaper http://www.webupon.com/Services/Five-Great-Sites-for-Desktop-Wallpaper.82140 One day, you're going to become bored with desktop, if you aren't bored with it already; it's inevitable. Fortunately, though, there are many great sites where you can find a desktop that suits your tastes.

    These are the five wallpaper sites that I use the most; they usually have a broad selection of photographs or digitally created images. It'll be difficult not to find something you enjoy. Heck, if you only enjoy the wallpaper for a day, it doesn't take any effort to change it.

    Here's the list:

    1. Social Wallpapering

      I absolutely love this site; it has clear layout and is simple to navigate. This site also has a feature which allows people to vote up the wallpapers they enjoy and vote down the ones they don't. The highest rated wallpaper on their site that I found while writing this was +600; surprisingly, though, the lowest rated wallpaper was only -4, rather than something like -400. There is a large variety of absolutely stunning wallpapers here, and the unique (well, for a desktop site) up-vote/down-vote system works great.

    2. Wallpaper Database

      This site was a recent discovery for me; the majority of the wallpapers I have seen were nature-oriented, but all of them were true photographs and not digital renderings. What I appreciate about this site is the (usually) very large selection of resolutions to fit nearly any screen, from a 1080p screen to an iPhone screen.

    3. DeviantArt

      This site is likely to be one of the more well-known wallpaper galleries. DeviantArt has a thriving community of artists and as a result a near-endless supply of wallpaper. The number of categories this site has for its wallpaper submissions is very diverse; the main point of this site is for its members to share their artistic side, their creativity. There are a lot of categories/sub-categories, so I highly recommend checking out this site. It'd be quite surprising if you could not find something here.

    4. Desktop Nexus

      Another intuitively designed, easy to use site. This site was the source of my current wallpaper: a beautiful shot of an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. This site does tend to be better for those looking for celebrity wallpapers and car wallpapers.
      Don't think it's limited to just those categories, though; they, too, have quite a variety of cool wallpapers.

    5. Interfacelift

      This site is not only a great resource for wallpapers, but also for icons and themes for both Windows and Mac. The wallpaper galleries are simple to navigate; it's easy to look for the most popular wallpapers (by downloads, ratings, comments) as well as by resolution. Having sections for icons and themes, and then to have both Windows and Mac sections makes this a great site for those who have a computer, PC or Mac.

    In all honesty, five sites is only a small fraction of all the desktop/wallpaper sites out there. These are the five I enjoy using the most, and share the same important qualities: an intuitive layout, a diverse wallpaper gallery, and a proper selection of resolutions, whether you're on widescreen or fullscreen.

    Now that you have the knowledge, go and swap out that uninteresting desktop background of yours into something more intriguing.

    ]]>     Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:28:21 PST     Firefox 2.0 vs. Netscape 9.0 and Faster Alternatives http://www.webupon.com/Browsers/Firefox-20-vs-Netscape-90-and-Faster-Alternatives.62240 Mozilla Firefox 2.0 and Netscape 9.0 are virtually identical (including source code) except for Netscape's theme (packaged for Firefox at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4784 ) and integration of Propeller.com, a social-news site (available as the Firefox addons https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4033 and https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4034).

    Bottom line: There is practically no difference.

    But if you want a fast browser, then you should look at the following options.

    K-Meleon

    SeaMonkey

    And always remember about skins and themes. K-Meleon skins are avaliable here while here is a link to Seamonkey.

    ]]>     Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:53:18 PST     Which Online Anti-virus Scanner is Best? http://www.webupon.com/Security/Which-Online-Anti-virus-Scanner-is-Best.60113

  • F-Secure Online Virus Scanner



    No virus will survive against F-Secure. Program perfectly kills viruses, Trojan horses and backdoor programs. Spyware and rootkits has a better chance to hide from F-Secure, that's why I also recommend scanning your PC with an anti-spyware.

    You should use Internet Explorer, because other browsers are not supported. If you are using Firefox 2, you can install an extension, which is called “IE tab”. It will make F-Secure think, that you are using IE.

  • Trend Micro Housecall



    If you are being attacked by popular viruses, than you need to scan your PC with Trend Micro Housecall. This scanner easily finds and kills popular viruses. But on the other hand, rare viruses usually aren't found by “Housecall” and Trojan horses escape too. “Rootkits” has even bigger chance to hide from this program.

  • Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner



    That is the only one scanner, which works with Windows Vista. It perfectly detects popular viruses, but most of the spyware, Trojans, rootkits and other pests were not detected. And we also need Internet Explorer to use Windows Live Scanner.

  • Softwin Bitdefender Online Scanner



    It kills all popular viruses, but most of other pests were not detected. I recommend this scanner only if you don't have many free HDD space, because this scanner needs only 13 MB.

  • Panda Software Active Scan



    “Panda” scanner will save us from popular viruses. Another good thing is that it scans our e-mail too. But on the other hand, this scanner doesn't perfectly detect Trojans and backdoors.

  • Symantec Security Check



    “Symantec Security Check” is the worst online scanner. It perfectly detects viruses, Trojans and spyware, but the problem is that to remove any pests, you need to buy an ordinary anti-virus.
    • ]]>     Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:28:28 PST     How to Setup Your Own Web Server http://www.webupon.com/Hosting/How-to-Setup-Your-Own-Web-Server.41734 Although not a simple project for the less than computer savvy users, this guide is designed for beginners. My aim is to make an easy Do-It-Yourself guide for people who have very little knowledge of how a web server works.

    This guide will include the steps needed in order to get your own web server running, however this does not include adding server side scripting, setting up a domain name for your server, or for that matter connecting your server to the Internet. The reason for not including the previous is because I plan on using those for other topics.

    Necessary Requirements

    First of all you will need a computer running Windows XP, any flavor of the XP family will work. You will also need an Internet connection in order to download necessary files.

    Getting Started

    To get things going you will need to download the Apache web server software from the Apache website.

    For this guide suggest using the most recent version Apache HTTP Server 2.2.4. Unless you are experienced and comfortable with compiling software, I also recommend when downloading the Apache web server software choose the “Win32 Binary (MSI Installer)” download. A note on security after the file is downloaded check its MD5 Checksum with the one provided on the Apache website, If unsure about how to do this try Google. After searching for “MD5 Checksum” the first link was to Wikipedia explaining what it is, and the second link was for a Windows program to check the MD5 Checksum of a file.

    Now that the installer file is downloaded rest of the processes is merely executing the program and following the steps. The first part of information this installer requires is the Server Information, this includes Network Name, Server Name, and Administrator's Email Address. The Network Name and Server Name are mainly for DNS purposes, the Administrator's Email Address part is used on error pages and other various programs that display the Admin's Email.

    If you plan on eventually having a domain name then use that information for this step. Otherwise use something simple like example.com for the Network Name, www.example.com for the Server Name, and Admin@example.com for the email. The next step is choosing “Typical” or “Custom” install, just choose typical and then resume the rest of the install. If all goes well you will eventually get a message saying “The Installation Wizard has successfully installed Apache HTTP Server...”

    Testing Everything

    To test your installation of Apache HTTP Server open your favorite web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) and go to your computer's loopback address, “http://127.0.0.1”, this is an internal address in the computer reservered for itself and only itself. If your browser displays a page that says, “It works!” then your installation was successful.

    Adding a Website to Your Web Server

    To add your own HTML files to the server you must place the files within the DocumentRoot directory. The DocumentRoot is basically the directory from which your server will serve content from. In this version of Apache this directory is located at “C:Program FilesApache Software FoundationApache2.2htdocs” where “C:” is the drive that you installed Apache on. After adding your HTML files you can test it out by going to your loopback address in your browser again.

    ]]>     Fri, 24 Aug 2007 06:21:12 PST     "Safari" - the New "Apple" Browser for Windows http://www.webupon.com/Browsers/Safari--the-New-Apple-Browser-for-Windows.32553 THE WORLD'S BEST BROWSER NOW ON WINDOWS!

    “Internet Explorer”, “Firefox” and “Opera” have a new rival. It's “Safari”, created by “Apple”. It was known only to “Macintosh” users, but now everybody with “Windows XP/Vista” OS can download it for free from apple.com.

    For the first 48 hours “Safari” was downloaded more than a million times. “Apple” says that “Safari” is faster than other browsers. Browser has a nice appearance, but it has many bugs.

    What “Apple” says about “Safari”:

    1. “Safari” is the fastest.
    2. Elegant user interface.
    3. Easy bookmarking.
    4. Say good-bye to pop-up ads.
    5. Search any text in a website with the integrated Find banner.
    6. “Safari” has tabbed browsing.
    7. Instantly snap back to search results or the top level of a website.
    8. Let “Safari” complete online forms for you, automatically and securely.
    9. Built-in RSS.
    10. Resize text fields on any website: Just grab the corner and drag.
    11. Private browsing with a single click.
    12. Apple engineers designed “Safari” to be secure from day one.

    ]]>     Mon, 02 Jul 2007 08:59:55 PST