Five privacy protection Firefox add-ons for Data Privacy Day

Happy Data Privacy Day! While Lee already published one roundup showing a multitude of various tools, this post is all about Firefox!

If you're reading Download Squad, you already know all of these classics. Kudos to you! Now go ahead and let your less computer-savvy coworkers or family members read this list, and make sure they install at least one of these if they use Firefox at all.

• HTTPS Everywhere is an add-on by the beardies over at the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation). It forces Firefox to communicate using HTTPS (secure HTTP) with a number of major websites, such as Google, Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook, PayPal and others.
• Ghostery focuses on those corporations and institutions bent on tracking your movements around the Web (or on their own websites). It detects when you're being tracked by Google Analytics, Facebook and over 400 other ad networks, and provides an easy way to block those tracking mechanisms while leaving all other JavaScript functionality intact.
• Web of Trust provides a clear "traffic light" indication showing which sites you can trust with your credit card details, and which sites you should be leery of. The ratings are user-generated, and you don't have to access the actual website in question to view them - they show up right on the search results page when you use Google, Yahoo!, Bing and even Wikipedia.
• NoScript is somewhat similar to Ghostery mentioned above, in that it also blocks JavaScript. But it's a more extreme solution: Rather than just block trackers, it implements a "white list", blocking all JavaScript except for scripts running on domains you trust. One of its many advantages is that it protects against cross-site scripting attacks.
• BetterPrivacy protects you against a different kind of cookie - one that you can't flush just by clearing your browser history. These cookies are called Local Storage Objects, or Flash cookies, and are put on your computer using the Flash plug-in. BetterPrivacy scrubs these cookies off your system every time your exit your browser.

Did I miss any of the must-have privacy add-ons for Firefox? Share your recommendations in the comments!

[Image credit: dcJohn]

Five privacy protection Firefox add-ons for Data Privacy Day originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/28/five-privacy-protection-firefox-add-ons-for-data-privacy-day/

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Verizon drops Samsung Fascinate, Droid Incredible, Droid R2-D2 to $100

You can call it a Valentine's sale or a pre-iPhone 4 blow out, but any way you slice it there's some pretty good deals on Android phones available from Verizon right now. That includes the Samsung Fascinate and Continuum, as well as the HTC Droid Incredible and Motorola Droid R2-D2, which are all now available for just $100 on the usual two-year contract (the Fascinate deal is apparently today-only). Unfortunately, the sale doesn't include the Droid X, Droid Pro or Droid 2 Global, but Verizon is promising some additional one-day only sales during its "ten days of sweet deals" from now until February 10th, so folks interested in one of those might not be out of luck just yet.

Verizon drops Samsung Fascinate, Droid Incredible, Droid R2-D2 to $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/31/verizon-drops-samsung-fascinate-droid-incredible-droid-r2-d2-t/

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HTC Thunderbolt might be getting simultaneous voice and data on 3G after all

We won't lie: we've been pretty skeptical of the rumors so far that the HTC Thunderbolt would have support for simultaneous voice and data over EV-DO -- SVDO, as it's known -- turned on. Perhaps more than any other US carrier, Verizon has a reputation for testing the living daylights out of devices and locking out hardware that doesn't meet its reliability standards, and so we were a little leery of some supposedly leaked internal communication not long ago letting reps know that although it'll be enabled, it shouldn't be discussed because it doesn't offer an "experience... consistent with [their] brand." Well, we've just been fed a second document that features the same wording, so it looks like this might be real after all -- and what's more, it's got updated verbiage stating that mobile hotspot capability will be available at launch, contrary to other leaks floating around today. This particular document is dated today, so we're feeling good that the information is current -- and if anything, it should get potential Thunderbolt buyers more excited than ever.

[Thanks, David]

HTC Thunderbolt might be getting simultaneous voice and data on 3G after all originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/L0wYqhh6NIM/

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The Engadget Show returns tonight at 6PM ET with Steve Wozniak!

Cancel your dinner plans, because tonight at 6:00PM ET, the inimitable co-founder of Apple Steve Wozniak will be joining us for the first Engadget Show of 2011! It will be a night to remember as Woz joins us for an evening of frank, eye-opening, and all-around awesome conversation. We'll be streaming live at 6:00PM from Cooper Union's Rose Auditorium and we've got about 200 seats available on a first-come, first-served basis if you want to join us in person. We'll also have music from the talented Zen Albatross and the usual crazy giveaways. Trust us when we say that this episode is going to be epic.

REMINDER: The Show will be taking place in a lovely new venue, the Rose Auditorium in Cooper Union's New Academic Building (i.e. not the TimesCenter), located in Manhattan at 41 Cooper Square. Seating is extremely limited, so get there early!

Tickets are -- as always -- free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served... so get there early! Here's the updated info on our new ticketing policy that you need to know:

• There is no admission fee -- tickets are completely free
• The event is all ages
• Ticketing will begin at the Cooper Union New Academic Building at 2:00PM tonight, Sunday, January 30th, doors will open for seating at 5:15PM, and the show begins at 6:00PM
• We now have assigned seating, so the first people to get their tickets will get priority seating. This also means that once you get a ticket, your seat is guaranteed -- you won't have to get back in line to get a good seat.
• You cannot collect tickets for friends or family -- anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket
• Seating capacity is limited (only about 200 seats in the theatre), and once we're full, we're full
• The venue is located at 41 Cooper Square New York, NY 10003 (map after the break)
• The show length is around an hour

Unfortunately, we won't be running the usual text-to-win sweepstakes for this episode (we know it sucks, but it's out of our hands), so if you want a seat you'll have to show up in person. If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.


Subscribe to the Show:

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.

The Engadget Show returns tonight at 6PM ET with Steve Wozniak! originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/lerRft7Wg-8/

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Facebook Desktop brings every notification to Windows and Mac and Linux!

Created by a computer scientist at Adobe, Facebook Desktop does exactly what it says on the tin, for both Windows and Mac PCs. It links into your Facebook account and notifies you of every change to your account -- pokes, messages, friend requests, event invites, etc. -- with a little pop-up toast window on your desktop. The notifications appear in the bottom right of your screen whether you like it or not -- you can't change it to another corner, and you can't change their appearance.

Still, Facebook Desktop works. Beyond notifications, it also lets you publish status updates -- but as you have to go via a tiny system tray icon, and there's no way to set a global hotkey, it's probably easier to just pop open a browser window and update your status normally.

The only problem -- for some people, anyway -- is that Facebook Desktop is an Adobe AIR app. It's advertised as "lightweight", but a 45MB memory footprint for an app that pops up toast windows seems a little on the chunky side. By default it loads on computer start-up, too, which is a bit obnoxious -- you can disable that in the settings, though.

Oh, it also requests a truly insane number of permissions when connecting to your Facebook account (picture after the break). Understandably, it needs to check a lot of things, but it doesn't need permission to publish check-ins, or insight data for my Pages. Heck, why does it even need my name, profile picture and gender?

Continue reading Facebook Desktop brings every notification to Windows and Mac and Linux!

Facebook Desktop brings every notification to Windows and Mac and Linux! originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 15 Jan 2011 06:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/15/facebook-desktop-brings-every-notification-to-windows-and-mac/

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Gadget Lab Podcast: Sony?s Next-Generation Portable, Verizon iPhone and Macworld

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This week’s episode of the Gadget Lab podcast packs a healthy mix of mobile goodies.
We take a quick look at Sony’s new version of the PlayStation Portable, dubbed the Next-Generation Portable. It’s equipped with an OLED display, two touch panels and a cartridge [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/01/gadget-lab-podcast-101/

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How to make only part of a cell bold in Microsoft Excel

This week's series of tips will be focusing on handy little features for Microsoft Excel and Word. To see the previous tips, check our Tips index.

By default, when you click a cell in Excel and hit Ctrl+B or the B button on the toolbar, the entire text of the cell becomes bold. However, sometimes you may want to make just part of the text bold, and not the whole thing.

To do this, simply start editing the cell by hitting F2. Select the text you'd like to make bold, and hit Ctrl+B. This will make only this part of the cell bold.

You can use this same technique to color specific words in the cell: Select one or two words while editing a cell, and use the Font Color button to change their color.

How to make only part of a cell bold in Microsoft Excel originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/10/how-to-make-only-part-of-a-cell-bold-in-microsoft-excel/

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PSA: Change your old Amazon.com password for better security

Amazon's allegedly got an security flaw where hackers can find your password much easier than they would otherwise, and there's already a fix in place. But get this -- you'll probably need to change your password for the fix to take effect, if you haven't already done so in the last couple of years. According to Reddit users, the Amazon.com login system will actually accept any phrase so long as it begins with your password, such as "password123" when the magic word is simply "password" by itself. That apparently makes it that much easier for a computer to guess your password via brute force methods, no matter how counter-intuitive that seems, so if you simply change it immediately -- and to something other than "password," please -- you'll have much sounder dreams.

PSA: Change your old Amazon.com password for better security originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/zEw43OjLTQo/

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Study shocker! Mobile users piddle around on the internet while watching TV

Shocker of shockers, folks: people do more than just watch TV when they're watching TV. A study of over 8,000 willing individuals from Nielsen and Yahoo recently discovered that some 86 percent of mobile internet users tinker around on their devices while situated in front of the tube. It seems that Googling random facts, checking their Facebook news feed and seeing who has tweeted in the past 30 seconds were atop the list of activities to do while watching, but strangely, a full 20 percent confessed to search for more information about a commercial they recently saw. Hit the source link below (PDF) to be instantly bombarded with facts and figures, but first, refresh that TweetCaster feed. Ah, so much better.

Study shocker! Mobile users piddle around on the internet while watching TV originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/xddIs1E4Hbk/

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Skyfire For iPad Arriving Soon

Many iPhone users have been enjoying the Skyfire web browser since November and a lot of people have been patiently waiting for an iPad compatible version. If all goes well Skyfire should be available for the iPad very soon, perhaps before Christmas which is a good possibility according to a Skyfire spokesman. The iPad version [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ipadbuzzblog/~3/4VSn23GwYD8/

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Focus the taskbar and switch windows with the arrow keys in Windows 7

This week, we're running a series of keyboard tips and tricks that help you make the most of Windows 7. To see the previous tips, check our Tips index.

The taskbar seems like it was meant to be used with the mouse only; it's a very visual thing, especially in Windows 7. But it turns out there's a way to "switch" to the taskbar and then work with it using the keyboard only! Hit Win+T to focus the taskbar, and then use the arrow keys to cycle between the icons. Whenever the focus switches to an application that's currently running, its Aero Peek pane will show up. To start an application that isn't running, press Enter.

What's nice about this system is that it takes your taskbar's orientations into account: for a vertical taskbar, Up/Down will switch windows, while Left/Right would activate the Aero Peek thumbnail pane; for a horizontal one, Left/Right would switch windows and Up/Down would activate the thumbnail pane.

This little nugget concludes our weekly Keyboard Tips series. I hope you've enjoyed it, and maybe even learned some new tricks! Check out Sebastian's list for a comprehensive rundown of many other hotkeys.

[Image credit: orangeacid]

Focus the taskbar and switch windows with the arrow keys in Windows 7 originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/07/focus-the-taskbar-and-switch-windows-with-the-arrow-keys-in-windows-7/

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Deal of the Day ? Sony VAIO P-Series 8? Atom Netbook

Today?s LogicBUY deal is a $200 savings on an 8? Sony P-Series Lifestyle netbook in black. This VAIO has a 1.6GHz Atom cpu, 2GB memory, 1600 X 768 LED-backlit LCD, webcam, 802.11n WiFi, card reader, Windows 7, and a 128GB solid-state drive. $899 – $200 off = $699 with free shipping ? this is the [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/01/27/deal-of-the-day-%e2%80%93-sony-vaio-p-series-8%e2%80%9d-atom-netbook/

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Panasonic adds Sandy Bridge to Let's Note J10, N10, S10 and B10 laptops

You can rest assured that hundreds -- if not trillions -- of new laptops will be rolling off of production lines this quarter with Intel's Sandy Bridge platform inside, and those looking for a little love over in Japan won't have to wait much longer. Panasonic has just updated its Let's Note line with four new Sandy Bridge models: the B10, S10, N10 and J10 have all been blessed with new silicon. The B10 in particular ships with a Core i5-2520M, 4GB of memory, a 15.6-inch 1080p display, HDMI output, Blu-ray drive, SDXC card slot and 802.11b/g/n WiFi. The N10 and S10 are outfitted in similar fashion, while the J10 goes diminutive with a 10.1-inch panel. There's also a higher-end J10Q variant that steps up to a Core i5, 128GB SSD, 2GB of RAM, WiFi, HDMI output, inbuilt WiMAX model and an SDXC slot, with the craziest aspect being the claimed 12 hours of battery life. Hit the links below if you're hungry for pricing clues and ship dates, but it looks as if the whole gang should be out and about by the close of March.

Panasonic adds Sandy Bridge to Let's Note J10, N10, S10 and B10 laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/28/panasonic-adds-sandy-bridge-to-lets-note-j10-n10-s10-and-b10/

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Turn Your iPhone 4 Transparent [Iphone4]

When you replaced the old iPhone 3G cover with a transparent case, it revealed a fugly side. But with the iPhone 4, the inner workings and hidden guts are surprisingly good lookin'. Here's how to turn your iPhone 4 transparent. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Gla7-4-NLnQ/turn-your-iphone-4-transparent

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