Reopening accedently closed tabs on Firefox

How often have you accidentally closed a tab on Firefox only to realize that you needed again? In my case, it seems to be a very common problem. Luckily, the designers of Firefox anticipated the need to add a feature that will allow absent minded people like me to reopen a tab that was closed without any forethought on the necessity of the tab.

The method to open a 'recently closed tab' as it is called is fairly simple. First click on 'History' in the menubar. Then scroll down to the Recently Closed Tab menu item and as soon as you hover over it, Firefox will reveal a list of tabs that were recently closed by you.


Simple enough isn't it? Remember though, that if you close a tab and reopen it, the page is loaded again, so you might loose any changes made to a page that uses heavy ajax or loose all the contents of a filled a form. However, if you accidently close a tab at least you can reopen it without having to search for the page again.

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Insert symbols on a Windows Computer

Ever wonder how your friends have those cool symbols their MSN names or how to add special characters in your forum posts, emails and messages? Well you con do so by using the character map, and a couple of other key combinations that you can memorize!

Method 1: Using the Windows Character Map to insert special character symbols in e-mails, messages, documents, letters, posts, MSN Nicknames....

Using the Windows Character Map is the easiest, not as easy as doing it on the Mac though, but nevertheless easier then memorizing something.

1. Click on Start
2. Click on All Programs
3. Click on Accessories > System Tools > Character Map
4. You can then choose the symbol and then copy and paste it into the desired place

Tip: You can click the Advanced box and search for character too!

Method 2: Inserting special symbols through keyboard shortcuts

Sometimes, it is easier to memorize how to add in the heart symbol ♥ rather than using character map to find it.

To add the heart symbol to something you'll need to do the following (yes, you can use character map, but this way will save you a whole lot of time!):

1. Enable (turn on) numlock... you can do this on most computers
2. Hold down Alt (DO not let go of it) and simultaneously press the number 3 on your numpad (the laptop number pads are bit harder though, so you'll need some practice to do this quick... don't forget to turn off numlock after you're done!)

Viola! Instant ? symbol!

Similarly, the following key combinations give you the following symbols

Alt + 1 = ☺
Alt + 2 = ☻
Alt + 3 = ♥
Alt + 4 = ♦
Alt + 5 = ♣
Alt + 6 = ♠
Alt + 7 = •
Alt + 8 = ◘
Alt + 9 = ○
Alt + 13 = ♪

Of course, there's more, but its best if you experiment, and then only remember the symbols that you like the most.

One other note about using these in web-pages -- The page that you are using this on needs to have UTF encoding. So if you're trying this out on your own webpage and it isn't working you'll need to specify it in your DTD (doctype definition). So you're document should begin with:

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How to insert symbols on a Mac

Often it is necessary for us to use symbols, especially if you tend to do a lot of stuff in the field of Physics and Math. Most people using Windows XP or Windows Vista already know that they can access the character map to insert symbols. On a mac though, things are a bit different and as usual a bit easier too if you know what to do. In fact, depending on the application there are several different ways with which you can insert symbols or even equations if you happen to use Microsoft Word into letters, documents, blog posts, spreadsheets and so on.
As always there are a lot of options that can be used. A couple of them are mentioned below.

Option one: Be patriotic and use the character palette

Note: Using the character palette is the quickest way to insert symbols in any application.

1. Click on the system preferences icon in the dock
2. Click on international
3. Switch to the input menu tab
4. Check the checkbox beside "show input menu in menubar"
Doing so will place a flag that pertains to your region in the top right-hand side of your screen in the menubar.
Once this appears, click on it and then click on show character palette. And from the character palette you can simply choose the symbol you want to copy and then paste it or insert it (make sure the cursor is in the correct place before hitting the insert button) inside the application of your choice. On a mac, you can even search for symbols if you don't know where to find it.

Option two: Use the application itself to insert symbols

If you're working in an application such as Pages or Microsoft Word, it is possible to insert symbol directly from the application itself although I much prefer the first way, especially since I can show of the Canadian Flag on my desktop. Yes I'm Canadian, eh.

Inserting symbols if you're using Pages or any other application created by Apple:

1. Click on Edit in the menubar
2. Click on "Special characters"
3. Use the Characters window in the same way as stated above.

Inserting symbols and Microsoft applications (not recommended):

1. Click on insert in the menubar
2. Click on Symbols
3. This will open Microsoft's Symbol window... which is not as extensive as the one that comes with the operating system. Therefore, it is advisable to use the first option if you tend to use symbols often.

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Restore missing recycle bin icon to desktop in Windows Vista

If you use the computer a lot you probably need to use the recycle bin a lot as well. But sometimes you might find that the recycle bin is missing from the desktop because you have accidentally deleted it. This can be quite bothersome if you want to keep your desktop neat and clean and get rid of all the unnecessary files on your computer. This wasn't much of a problem in Windows XP, however things have changed in Windows Vista and it is possible to accidentally delete the recycle bin icon. Here’s a quick and easy way that you can use to get it back.

How to put the recycle bin icon back on your desktop

1. Right-click on the desktop and click Personalize
2. Under the 'Tasks' list on the left hand side click Change desktop icons
   
3. In the window that pops up check the checkbox beside 'Recycle bin' and click OK.

Now the recycle bin icon should be placed back on your desktop. And in case you accidentally delete the recycle bin icon again now you know how to fix it.

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Taking screenshots of web pages

Ever wondered how people can take a screenshot of a whole web-page without having to take multiple screenshots of your browser windows and patching them up together? Well the technique of taking screenshots of web pages is very simple. The most simples method involves using extensions with FireFox, however other methods do exist out there.

Method 1: Using Firefox

Firefox is a very versatile web-browser that can do most things better than other browsers can. However, the most important thing that sets it apart from using is its capability of having extensions that can be added-on to the browser to customize it even more and allow you to do much more than what an ordinary browser.

1. Page Saver - As the name implies, this extension allows you to save a page onto your desktop as a picture. Pearl Crescent offer a Pro and Basic version of the extension, although the basic version should suffice for most users. It is also available in many languages.

2. Screen Grab - This is a nifty little extension that although doesn't have as many features as Page Saver has, it does the job quite nicely. Also, it doesn't have as many options as Page Saver has in terms of choosing a file format to save it as.

Method 2: Using a Downloadable Application

1. Paparazzi (Mac Only!) - A downloadable application that allows you to take screenshots of web-pages and has a user interface. If you want to use a command line interface instead (or rather show of your uber cool typing skills) you might want to check out webkit2png.

2. Webpage Capture - A free little tool that allows you to capture HTML as BMP, GIF, JPG or PNG images and at the same time allows you to create thumbnails of web pages too. The free version does place a logo at the top though, however that can easily be removed with a image editing program.

3. WebShot - A user interface oriented application that goes to a website, captures the screenshot and saves it in a specified location. Not exactly intuitive but it works never the less.

Method 3: Use an Online Website

1. Browser Shots - A great service used mostly by web-designers to verify if their website design works in a specific web browser. You too can use this to grab screen captures of web pages. This site allows you to choose many different options such as the screensize, colour depth, disabling javascript (so that no 'funny things' pop up while your screen capture of the website is being taken) etc.

2. BrowsrCamp - This website, also primarily created for web designers allows one to see a website as it is displayed on Safari. It is usually used for testing purposes by poor designers who can't afford to buy a mac (like me) to verify if their website works in safari properly, but who says you can't use it to get a screenshot of a website for posting it onto a blog. Plus you can choose between high quality / low quality JPG and PNG formats.

As you can see, there are a lot of choices to pick and choose from. So next time if you see something interesting on a web-page and would like to show it to the world. Take a screenshot of the whole page instead of just a window like I did once. And just may be they won't say that it was 'Photoshopped'.

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Enable/Disable low disk space error message in Windows

Are you tired of Windows XP or may be even Vista asking you over and over again to free up space on your hard disk drive? Then you can either do one of two things, clean up the junk on your computer or disable the message that pops-up at the most inopportune time altogether. This article deals with the latter, if you want to clear unnecessary files that you computer doesn't really need then refer to the remove junk from your PC post.

The most critical fact that you need to keep in mind is that what you are about to play around with is a very powerful tool. This article tells you how to back up your windows registry. Keep in mind that one wrong click in the Windows registry or even a little typo can render your system incaple of even starting up. So BACK UP THE REGISTRY!.

Oh and you'll need an account with administrator privileges in order to do the following:

1. Log in with your administrator account
2. Press the Windows Key along with the R letter key on your keyboard. Alternatively you can click on Start and click Run.
3. Type in Regedit in the box that opens
4. Using the column on the left hand side click on the little plus sign to the left of HKEY_CURRENT_USER, then Software, followed by Microsoft (you'll have to scroll down a little bit) > Windows > Current Version > Policies> Explorer
5. Double click on NoLowDiskSpaceChecks
6. If low disk space checking is enabled, then the value in the box that pops up will be 1. Change this value to 0 and click OK.
7. To enable the option again, go back to the same area listed in step 4 double click NoLowDiskSpaceChecks and click ok.

At this point your screen should look something like this:

If it does then go ahead and restart your computer. Once you restart, say bye bye to low disk space errors! But remember, windows will function a whole lot better if you get rid of the junk on your PC.

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Free up disk space and get rid of junk on your PC

It is a well known fact that computers tend to get slower as time goes by and so does the hard drive space. If you're in such a situation then here are a couple of things you can do to get rid of all the junk on your Windows XP or Vista computer. Additionally, the speed at which the computer will run at will also significantly improve. These tips area also especially useful if you're getting those low disk space errors.

Option 1: Using Disk Cleanup

The first and foremost thing that you can do to clean up the junk on your system without downloading anything is use the appropriately named built-in utility in Windows (both XP and Vista have this) known as Disk Cleanup.

To access this click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. A window will pop-up saying that it is looking for Junk in your Hard Drive. If you have one or more hard drives or partitions, Windows will then ask you a partition to choose.


Once Windows finishes doing this, it will show you an overview of the junk/unnecessary files on your PC. You can then pick and choose the things that you dont need and click OK. I usually delete all the files Windows thinks is not necessary for normal functioning. However, sometimes doing so is not a good idea. So, my advice is that if you are running this tool for the first time, go through all the options and read what it says in the box below.


If you want to delete more things, switch to the More Options Tab where you can delete system restore files etc. But don't get too excited that you'll be able to reclaim a lot of space and delete all the restore files, if you do so then you might not be able to recover your system to a working state in case of a problem.

Option 2: Using Crap Cleaner (CCleaner)

Crap Cleaner (also known as CCleaner...) is a much more powerful application that can delete a whole lot more from your system. And, if you use browsers such as Firefox, it can help you even delete the cookies that are associated with Firefox, which of course Disk Cleaner is incapable of doing.

Using CCleaner is dead simple. All you need to do once you download the application (you can download it here is open it and choose the things you would like to delete. One thing you might want to keep in mind during installation is that the CCleaner installer at one point asks you if you want to install the yahoo toolbar. If you blindly click yes then it will install it for you, so if you're like me and don't want any additional toolbars you might want to pay attention while installing it.

As you can see from the screenshot above, the interface is very trivial. Simply click Analyze for CCleaner to take a sneak peek at your data and then click Run Cleaner to delete the Junk on your system. You can also use CCleaner to delete unnecessary registry entries for more information on doing so refer to my post on the real way to keep the Windows registry tidy. Also, please BACK UP THE REGISTRY before you use the delete unnecessary registry features.

BONUS TIP: If you have just invested in a new windows computer, especially if it is a Dell or Sony or a computer from an OEM you might want to get rid of the junk that comes with it. To do so please take a look at my post on how to delete junk that comes with a new computer.

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