Increase the Speed of Your Internet Connection

Does your ISP deliver the speed you pay for? It’s rather easy to test your broadband internet speed. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. For one, ISPs usually promise an “up to” speed, so you can’t expect top performance at all times, that’s part of the deal. During high traffic times your ISP will suffer from high loads and will certainly not be able to deliver the maximum speed. Thus you’d best perform different speed tests at different time points, to see whether you ever reach the top speed. Also, when running a speed test, make sure no other applications are using the internet, else the result will not be accurate.
Speedtest.net is a good place to test your internet speed. They operate through servers all over the world, so you can connect to a server near you, which increases the accuracy of your result.

As you may realize, your internet speed does not only depend on your ISP, it also depends on the hardware and software used on your end of the line. If you are using hardware provided by your ISP, there shouldn’t be a problem. The bottleneck for speed often sits in the connecting computer.
Here are a few tips to Increase the Speed of Your Internet Connection

(1) Connecting Port

This may seem obvious, but you should connect to the internet though an ethernet port, rather than a serial, parallel or USB port. If ethernet is not an option, it may be advisable to update your hardware.

(2) Enough RAM

Make sure your system memory can handle the load! If you want to browse fast, you will need to close other applications in case your RAM is maxed out.

(3) Fast Browser

Mozilla based browsers generally are among the fastest browsers, while still being comfortable to use. Whichever open source browser you pick, make sure you don’t overload it with extensions or addons, those will just slow your browser down dramatically. On the other hand, if speed and RAM are not an issue, go for the luxury!
Also there are a number of tweaks and addons to increase the speed of your browser.

(4) Increase Speed under Windows XP Pro

Windows XP Professional reserves 20% of your bandwidth for services like updates or spyware checks. If you would like to exploit this reserve, do the following:

1. Click [Windows] + [R] and type gpedit.msc in the Run window.
2. Under Computer Configuration expand the Administrative Templates.
3. Go to Network and click the QoS Packet Scheduler tab.
4. Double-click on Limit Reservable Bandwidth and enable it.
5. Finally change the Bandwidth limit to 0% and click Apply.
6. Reboot your computer and enjoy.

(5) Tweak Tools

There are a number of programs that promise to increase your internet speed. They may work, they may not. They all apply a number of changes to optimize your network settings. Whether or not they will really improve your internet speed or which one will work the best for you greatly depends on your system, hence it’s difficult to recommend an application.
For further reading I will refer you to a set of articles found on About.com. Start with DSL and Cable Broadband Speed Tweaks and work your way through the links at the bottom.

Firefox - Better Than The Best

FireFox is a web browser created by Mozilla, the original creators of the Netscape series of browsers. Version one was released in November 2004 and quickly gained new fans because of its open source license and multitude of features.

Open source means that the source code for the program is available to anyone who cares to download it. Any programmer can use the initial code to develop FireFox, whether they are creating customized options for themselves or working to improve the browser for all users. Being open source makes FireFox infinitely adaptable.

ome of FireFox's specialized features include pop-up blockers and advanced privacy settings. FireFox also offers tabbed browsing. You can open more than one website in your browser window and tabs on the screen allow you to easily switch between them.

The browser also has several advanced search options. There is a Google search built into the toolbar, but that's not necessarily unique. What makes FireFox stand out is the ability to create Smart Keywords that will work with your favorite sites the same way a Google toolbar search does. You can go straight to the information you want without having to visit unnecessary websites and menus. In addition, a specialized Find bar allows you to search for text within a site without having to bring up any additional editing prompts.

FireFox can be a highly personalized browser. And not just for programmers who can download the source code and tweak the browser to fit their needs. The average user can modify their toolbar look and settings and download extensions and themes. Themes simply change the look of the browser while extensions provide additional capabilities like mouse gestures or games.

Hoping to win computer users over from other browsers, FireFox features quick downloading and easy improbability of settings like bookmarks and passwords from other products.


Negative points of Internet Explorer (IE)

Comparison	IE	Firefox
Controlled by a tyrannical corporation that abuses its monopoly.	YES	NO
Embodies pure evil	YES	NO
For the "benefit of the consumer" is pre-installed on every currently shipping version of MS-Windows and the uninstall option has been removed.	YES	NO
"Integrated" In to the OS so you can not have multiple versions of the web browser on the same computer.	YES	NO
Comes with the number one e-mail program for spreading viruses.	YES	NO
Bundled with active X security hole.	YES	NO
Will happily trash your hard drive if you install it.	YES	NO
Takes your entire OS with it when it crashes.	YES	NO
Sexually molests .dll files on your computer.	YES	NO
Causes system resource leaks.	YES	NO
Source code is safely locked away so nobody can see what is in it.	YES	NO
Active Advertising all over the place.	YES	NO
Automatic BS receiver.	YES	NO
Looks cool when set on fire.	YES	NO
Latest version refuses to run under Windows 95.	YES	NO
Browse your hard drive as a retarded web page.	YES	NO
Lacks versions for the bazillion other operating systems out there besides Windows.	YES	NO
Lacks a cool mascot.	YES	NO
Blatantly ignores web standards.	YES	NO
Installed with and required by just about every Windows application out there.	YES	NO
Breeds inside Windows PCs. When they mature a big slimy green hideous alien like thing bursts out of your CD-ROM drive.	YES	NO
If stupidity could be harvested as a fuel, the browser would power the entire planet for 1000 years.	YES	NO
Without warning drops support for commonly used standards such as browser plug-ins.	YES	NO
Replaces your desktop shell with itself for no humanly explainable reason.	YES	NO
Written by demons from hell.	YES	NO
When translated to English the EULA contains the phrase "all your soul are belong to us".	YES	NO
Has been declared an environmental hazard by the EPA.	YES	NO
Multiplies when fed after midnight.	YES	NO
Without warning will suddenly start translating your web pages in to Latin.	YES	Requires plug-in
Its primary food source is human brains.	YES	NO
Can be used to induce vomiting.	YES	Minimal support
CD makes a good coaster.	YES	NO
Inspires states to sue the company that makes it.	YES	NO
EULA forbids running the browser under any OS other than what it was designed for.	YES	NO
Is now the mandatory standard browser of the planet Earth.	YES	NO
Uninstalling this browser is forbidden by law.	YES	NO
Has mostly ceased development.	YES	NO
The web the way Bill wants it. (tm)	YES	NO
Brought to you by the fund to make Bill Gates ruler of the universe.	YES	NO
Its internals are fully undocumented.	YES	NO
Enables remote control over you PC by the company that makes the browser.	YES	NO
Support for M$-Bastardized HTML.	YES	NO
Bill has complete control over your user settings from his bathroom.	YES	NO
Built-in auto destruct.	YES	Add-on is download able from the Internet.
Zombies love it!	YES	NO
Will be responsible for the end of the universe.	YES	NO
Attacks and disables foreign software.	YES	NO
Inspires dozens of hate web sites.	YES	NO

Why Firefox is Better Than The Best

Firefox runs everywhere you want it
-Runs on Windows, Macintosh, Linux and more
-Pages view identically everywhere
-Runs on older versions of Windows
Take advantage of powerful new technologies
- SVG
- CANVAS
- XForms
- XML events
- DHTML, JavaScript, and DOM enhancements
- Improved CSS2 and CSS3
Embraces modern, open web standards
- Most complete implementation of any browser
- Standards are the future of the web
- These are in Firefox NOW
More secure
- Avoids ActiveX security holes
- Safer scripting
- Open code base enables anyone to audit it
Great for developers
- Test older or newer versions without needing a second machine or different OS
- Powerful DOM inspector/editor
- Javascript debugger
- Enhanced page source viewer
Easier to support
- Installing/Upgrading will never alter your OS
- No need to reinstall your OS just to fix the browser
- Completely uninstallable
Compatible with existing infrastructure
- Compatible with Microsoft Proxy Server / ISA Server
- Technologies such as Sun Java, Flash, and Windows Media Player
- Modern standards based internet and intranet applications
What Firefox will do for you
- Free you from vendor lock-in
- Make your Operating Systems a true commodity
Future and support
- Firefox is actively under development and always improving
- Numerous public support forums
- Optional telephone support is available at a minimal cost
Save money!
-100% Free (unlike IE which is paid for with Windows)
-Reduced need to upgrade older OSes
-Enables you to use other less expensive OSes

Get the latest version of Mozilla Firefox now!

How to Speed Up Firefox web browser, Internet Speed, Internet Tips and Tricks

How to Speed Up Firefox web browser, Internet Speed, Internet Tips and Tricks

Mozilla Firefox is a graphical web browser developed by the Mozilla Corporation. Started as a fork of the browser component (Navigator) of the Mozilla Application Suite, Firefox has replaced the Mozilla Suite as the flagship product of the Mozilla project, stewarded by the Mozilla Foundation and a large community of external contributors.

Mozilla Firefox is a cross-platform browser, providing support for various versions of Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Although not officially released for certain operating systems, the freely available source code works for many other operating systems, including FreeBSD,OS/2, Solaris, SkyOS, BeOS and more recently, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.

These are some Very Useful Tips to speedup your Firefox.

In your location bar, type about:config

Once it Opens You should see similar to the following screen



Tip No: 1
In the filter bar type network.http.pipelining
You should see the following screen



Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.
Once you finished this you should see the following screen.



Tip No: 2
In the filter bar again and type network.http.pipelining.maxrequests
Once it Opens You should see the following screen



Default it says 4 under value field and you need to change it to 8
Once you finished this you should see the following screen.



Tip No: 3
Go to the filter bar again and type network.http.proxy.pipelining
Once it Opens You should see similar to the following screen



Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.
Once you finished this you should see the following screen.



Tip No: 4
Go to the filter bar again and type network.dns.disableIPv6
Once it Opens You should see the following screen



Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.
Once you finished this you should see the following screen.


 

Tip No: 5
Go to the filter bar again and type plugin.expose_full_path
Once it Opens You should see the following screen



Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.
Once you finished this you should see the following screen.



Tip NO: 6
Now you need to Create new Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer



Once it opens you should see the following screen



Here you need to type nglayout.initialpaint.delay and click ok



Now you need to enter 0 in value filed and click ok



Once you finished this you should see the following screen.



Tip No: 7
Now you need to Create one more Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer



Once it opens you should see the following screen



Here you need to type content.notify.backoffcount and click ok



Now you need to enter 5 in value filed and click ok



Once you finished this you should see the following screen.


 
Tip No: 8

Now you need to Create one more Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer


Once it opens you should see the following screen



Here you need to type ui.submenuDelay and click ok



Now you need to enter 0 in value filed and click ok



Once you finished this you should see the following screen.


 

Some more Tweaks

Enable the spellchecker for inputfields and textareas (default is textareas only)
layout.spellcheckDefault=2
Open lastfm://-links directly in amarok
network.protocol-handler.app.lastfm=amarok
network.protocol-handler.external.lastfm=true
 
Firefox Memory Leak Fix

Open a new tab. Type “about:config” without quotes into the address bar and hit enter/click Go. Right-click anywhere, select New, then Integer. In the dialog prompt that appears, type:
browser.cache.memory.capacity
Click OK. Another dialog prompt will appear. This is where you decide how much memory to allocate to Firefox. This depends on how much RAM your computer has, but generally you don’t want to allocate too little (under 8MB), but if you allocate too much, you might as well not do this. A good recommended setting is 16MB. If you want 16MB, enter this value into the dialog prompt:
16384
(Why 16384 instead of 16000? Because computers use base-12 counting. Thus 16 megabytes = 16384 bytes. Likewise, if you want to double that and allocate 32MB, you’d enter 32768.)
Click OK to close the dialog box, then close all instances of Firefox and restart. If your Firefox still uses the same amount of memory, give it a few minutes and it should slowly clear up. If that fails, try a system reboot.
Now your Firefox will now be 3 - 30 times faster in loading pages.

How to Speed Up Firefox Browser

1. Step 1
    
   Open a new tab on firefox and type the about:config on the address bar.
   
   
2. Step 2
    
   Right click on any whitespace on your window and click New > Integer
   
   
3. Step 3
    
   Window will appear. Type the nglayout.initialpaint.delay
   on the box then click Ok.
   
   
4. Step 4
    
   The new window will appear. Enter 0 then restart firefox.
   

10 Tips to search Google Images

Google Image Search could be used in many ways.

1. If you want to know if a person is a man or a woman and the name doesn't help, do a search for the name.

2. If you don't know the meaning of a word, the pictures may help you.

3. A better search for Flickr. Google uses information from other sites that link to Flickr photos, so you may find Google search better.

4. Find what's interesting about a site, by looking at the pictures included. For example: wired.com.

5. Find a new wallpaper for your desktop by restricting your search to large images. You can automate this using an application.

6. Find random personal pictures, using standard file names from digital cameras.

7. Type the name of a painter and you can take an art class.

8. Install a Greasemonkey script so you can view the original version of the image directly by clicking on the thumbnail.

9. Find the color of a word. "Word Color is a windows program that uses Google Image Search to determine the color of a word or string of words. It goes out there, retrieves the top 9 images and loops through all pixels, calculating the average hue, which is later converted to a color."

10. If you want to grab search results, GoogleGrab is a tool that downloads images from Google Image Search. It even supports batch search.

Shortcut keys for Gmail account.

We can operate your Gmail account using keyboard shortcuts keys instead of mouse to navigate. Basically keyboard shortcuts keys help you to save time and you can perform any tasks without leaving the keyboard keys. Many computer applications help you to create your own custom shortcuts keys to enjoy even more flexibility.

Useful Gmail account Shortcut keys

Shortcut keys Action 

f Press simple f help you to forward email message to next

 

Shift+I Use to mark email message as read

 

Shift+u Use to mark email message as unread

 

r Reply to the sender of mail

a Reply to the all email recipients

 

Ctrl+c Use to save current email as draft

 

Z Press z key to undo any previous action

 

? Display the keyboard shortcut keys help

 

c Press c button to compose an new email message

 

/ Press / button to move your cursor in search box

 

u Press u key to refresh your email account to view latest email

 

! Press ! key to mark an email message as spam

 

p Press p key to move cursor to precious message

 

. Press . key to display more options

 

Esc Escape cursor from any current field.

increase u r browsing speed

Hi friends,

1. Go to Start-> Run-> and type gpedit.msc

2. Expand the Administrative Templates branch

3. Expand the Network tab

4. Highlight QoS Packet Scheduler

5. Click on Limit Reservable Bandwidth and check the enabled box

6. Then Change the Bandwidth limit % to 0 %

Once you have done this click apply and restart your PC. After rebooting you should see a noticeable improvement in your net speed.

Browse the Web Faster on a Slow Internet Connection, Internet Tips and Tricks

If your current Internet speed is very slow and you are living in an area where broadband connections are still not available, here are some ideas to help you download web pages faster on your computer. You may use the same tips to improve your web browsing experience on a sluggish USB modem.

Surf the Web Faster on Slow Internet

1. Turn off web images, the Adobe Flash plug-in, Java Applets and JavaScript from your browser settings as these files are often the bulkiest elements of any web page.

2. Increase the size of your browser cache. If the static parts of a site (like background graphics, CSS, etc) are stored in the local cache, your browser can safely skip downloading these files when you re-visit the site in future thus improving speed.

3. Sometimes the slow DNS server of your ISP can be a bottleneck so switch to OpenDNS as it can resolve website URLs into IP addresses more quickly. If you aren’t too happy about OpenDNS redirecting your Google queries, follow this simple hack.

4. Finch can serve a light-weight version of any website in real-time that is free of all bells and whistles. For instance, the New York Times homepage with all external resources can weigh more than a MB but Finch trims down the size by 90% so the site loads more quickly on a slow web connection.

5. Flinch (mentioned at #4) is good for reading regular websites but if you just need to check the latest articles published on your favorite blogs, use BareSite. This service will automatically detect the associated feed of a website and render content quickly inside a minimalist interface.

6. The Google Transcoder service at google.com/gwt/n can split large web pages into smaller chunks that will download more quickly on your computer (or mobile phone).

7. Monitor your Internet speed to determine hours when you get the maximum download speed from the ISP. Maybe you can then change your surfing schedule a bit and browse more during these "off peak" hours.

8. You can use a text browser like Lynx or Elinks for even faster browsing. It downloads only the HTML version of web pages thus reducing the overall bandwidth required to render websites.

9. When searching for web pages on Google, you can click the "Cache" link to view the text version of a web page stored in the Google Cache. Alternatively, install this GM script as it adds a "cached text only" link near every "Cached" link on Google Search pages.

10. Move your web activities offline as far as possible. You can send & receive emails, write blogs and even read feeds in an offline environment. Also see: Save Web Pages for offline reading.

11. You can interact with websites like Flickr, Google Docs, Slideshare, etc. using simple email messages. Uploading a new document to Google Docs via email would require less bandwidth than doing it in the browser because you are avoiding a trip to the Google Docs website.

12. Applying the same logic, you may also consider using tools like Web In Mail or Email The Web as they help you browse websites via email. Just put the URL of a page (e.g., cnn.com) in the subject field of your email message and these services will send you the actual page in the reply.

13. Bookmarklets are like shortcuts to your favorite web services. You neither have to open the Gmail Inbox for composing a new email message nor do you have to visit Google Translate for translating a paragraph of text. Add relevant bookmarklets to your browser bar and reduce the number of steps required to accomplish a task.

14. Use the netstat command to determine processes, other than web browsers, that may be secretly connecting to Internet in the background. Some of these processes could be consuming precious bandwidth but you can block them using the Firewall.

15. Use URL Snooper to determine non-essential host names that a website is trying to connect while downloading a web page. You may block them in future via the hosts file or use Adblock Plus to filter out advertising banners on web pages.

16. If you don’t want to spoil your web surfing experience by stripping images and other graphic elements from a web page, get Opera Turbo. It will first fetch the requested web page on to its own server and then send it to your machine in a compressed format. Opera Turbo won’t change the layout of a web site but can lower the image resolution so that they load faster on slow Internet.

17. Change the user agent of your desktop browser to that of a mobile phone like Apple’s iPhone or Windows Mobile. This will help you browse certain web sites like Google News, WSJ, etc. much faster because they’ll serve you a light-weight and less cluttered mobile version of their sites thinking you’re on a mobile phone.

Take your contacts with you using Export option.

A cool tip to move your contacts list using Microsoft Outlook, because there is no any option to copy it. But using a Import and Export method you can create a printable or moveable document.

To create this text list, first open Microsoft Outlook. Here go to File option then you will find option Import and Export, to run the Import/Export wizard Click here then Next.

Here you can select what to import and export, Select "Export to a file" under "choose an action to perform" option then click Next button. Next you will get option "create a file of type" here you can specify the file type. In next step you will select which folder you want to export.

Select "Save Exported File as" option and give it a name and location. Click Next and Finish it. Now you have one easily moveable file and you can move it any where with you.