Firefox Add-ins and Hyperwords

Firefox's Add-ons page (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/) allows you to easily customize the Firefox browser. There are hundreds of add-ons available, ranging from changing the appearance of your browser to managing bookmarks, downloads and RSS feeds. Many are merely odd, some are engaging enough to actually change the way you use your browser.

I'll focus on one I find particularly useful here: Hyperwords (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1941). Hyperwords adds a right-click menu to your mouse button so that by selecting text and right-clicking you can select from a dizzying array of commands. Search Google for the selected text, look up a dictionary definition, translate it one of 16 languages, copy it to your clipboard, even shop for it on Craigslist. The screenshot below shows how to search for YouTube videos of Pedro Martinez simply with a right-click and a couple of menu commands.



This is just one of the hundreds of add-ins available on Firefox. I urge you to follow the link at the top of the post and take a look. it will change the way you use your browser.

Google Wave - The Future In Web Communications

Google Wave is a new tool for communication and collaboration on the web, coming later this year. This tool seems to combine email, instant messaging, blogging, tweeting, image sharing, document collaboration, and other forms of communication into one amazing tool. Potential uses seem almost endless. At this time, there has been no announcement for a release date, but you can request that Google contact you once the tool has been released. Watch the video demo below.

Sources:

- http://wave.google.com/
- http://anotherubuntu.blogspot.com/2009/05/google-wave.html