June 2015

If you have tasks that you want to complete every day but forget to do sometimes, you may find the free Android application Streaks useful as it can reminds you of tasks and keeps track of them for you.

Streaks works best if you need to complete daily tasks. This can be something as mundane as taking the trash out or feeding the cat, or something exciting like learning a language or completing 100 push-ups. Generally speaking, if it's a daily task it can be added to Streaks.

I wrote a guide a couple of days ago on adding dynamic components to Firefox bookmarks. This involved adding a variable and keyword to the bookmark to load specific pages on a site using the keyword followed by a page or directory name on the site.

A similar concept can be used to run searches on most Internet sites.

Firefox is one of the few browsers that is offering access to a dedicated search bar in its interface. While it can easily be removed, it provides flexible access to search as it enables you to switch between search engines quickly and may be configured to use a different search engine than the address bar by default.

Mozilla changed the search interface recently in Firefox which the organization was criticized for by part of the user base of the browser.

I have received the error message "Java update did not complete. Error Code: 1603" for months whenever I tried to update the Java installation on a PC running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

The error would come up at the end of the installation after Java files were downloaded and the software was seemingly installed on the operating system.

I first thought that this was related to the online installer only and tried the offline installer instead, but the error message remained.

I reviewed a third-party build of the text editor Atom for Windows back in 2014 and concluded that it was an excellent option for programmers thanks to the impressive set of features it shipped with.

Today, Atom 1.0 has been released and with it an official version of the editor for the Windows operating system that you can download from the project website.

If you have a hard time getting up, even if you have set an alarm or use an extra loud alarm clock, then you are probably looking for the next big thing that forces you to wake up and stay that way.

Most alarm clocks and applications offer convenient features such as a snooze button or a button to turn off the alarm with a single tap. While that is convenient, there is always danger that you use them and fall asleep again afterwards.

Convert.NET is a flexible program for the Windows operating system that offers language translations and other conversions in an easy to use package.

One of the main program features is language translation but it is not the only conversion option that Convert.Net offers as you can use it to decode, decrypt or convert as well, for instance between CSharp and VB.Net.

The program interface displays a small toolbar at the top that you use to select and configure the program's mode of operation, e.g. language translation.

When it comes to individual software programs spreading potentially unwanted programs (PUP), it is Adobe Flash and Oracle's Java that need to be mentioned in this regard in particular due to the immense reach both products have.

Adobe's been spreading McAfee Security Scan Plus with Flash downloads while Oracle had an agreement with Ask to spread the company's toolbar to user systems.

Whenever you visit a website in the Firefox browser, traces of that visit are stored by the browser automatically.

This happens when you use the regular browsing mode but also private browsing mode. In addition to that, information about the visit may also be saved manually, for instance in form of bookmarks or through extensions that interact with a website.

For instance, if you run NoScript and allow scripts to run on a site permanently, that option remains visible even if you used it in private browsing mode.

Add-ons are one of the cornerstones of the Firefox web browser. I know several Firefox users who stick with the browser because of extensions that they don't want to browse the web without with.

Some developers moved from Firefox to Chrome when Google started to introduce extension support in the web browser while others started to develop for Chrome right away.