Yes, apparently it is Google day in the Studio. And, yes, I said “pimping.” What else would you call customizing with Chrome? With the growing number of add-ons and extensions coming to a Chrome developers’ version near you, my indoctrination into all things Google is nearly complete. Mashable has a great list of social media extensions for Google Chrome, Google’s agile web browser, and you can read it here.

 You must be running a developers’ version of Chrome to use them. The extensions include a Gmail checker, a couple of Twitter extensions, a mini Last.fm bar, a Google reader gadget, and a Facebook notification checker. Nice cross-section of tools for budding Chrome-heads. For more gadgets and extensions, head over to ChromeExtensions for a more complete list.  

For almost two years now, I have been a heavy duty fan of Firefox, but as my browser has become more overburdened, the quickness of Chrome is heady and compelling. Now you can pimp your speedy Internet ride and keep tabs on all things social via Mashable’s add-on list.

SCRIBEFIREQMMmmszWSCRIBEFIRE

Vérification des certificats de sécurité, identification des sites à risque, authentification anonyme, détection des sites de phishing et des fichiers malveillants… ZDNet.fr sélectionne 10 extensions pour protéger sa navigation sur Firefox.

Suivez le guide >> ZDNet.fr

Let me just say, that I am thoroughly satisfied with my new HootSuite add-on!! Like I had mentioned in my earlier post, I recently signed up for HootSuite and it has become my favorite Twitter client!!!

And yesterday, HootSuite created an add-on for Firefox!! The add-on is a mini Hootlet dashboard, but what makes it so grand is that you don’t need to copy and paste links anymore, and no more switching back-n-forth from page to page working to set up your next tweet…

Just click on the cute little Owly icon  and it will shorten the URL, add descriptive text, then send it to any or all of your twitter accounts!!

WOW, I mean, WOW… how can it get any better!!

If you download the add-on, I must tell you that the HootSuite icon will not show up after restarting Firefox. It’s a little different from most Firefox add-ons in that you will have to manually place it onto your browser.

I’ll tell you how to do it…

Go to View > toolbars > customize > and drag-n-drop the HootSuite owl icon. Then, you’re good to go!!

Check out HootSuite here, if ya like… HootSuite

I will say, the one bad thing with HootSuite is that it does not yet allow you to view or manage your followers. I’ve read that they are working on some ideas to get this feature into the client. But, as I said before, HootSuite is really awesome if your goal is to share with the friends you’ve already got…

About a month ago, I signed up for a website called HootSuite. I came across this site from a retweet that was in response to an original tweet posted by Darren Rowse that was a ‘what social media tool could you not live without’ themed sorta tweet….

Anyway, I have been looking for something that is easy to navigate and quick. I dig tweetdeck all right, but maybe it’s too much for me right now. To me, it’s just another program that I have to start up, log into,  and that constantly wants to update .
That’s fine and dandy and totally understandable but not what I am looking for!  I’m looking for a simple twitter interface, but that allows me to tweet to several accounts at once.

Well, that’s what HootSuite is!! It’s a very simple website that acts a lot like twitter but allows you to tweet to more than one account.
You can set up automated tweets.
You can also check the click stats of each of your accounts.
I have found that it works best when my goal is to share things with my friends…

All I have to do is copy the URL from the site I like, then go to HootSuite ( in Firefox I always have at least 4 tabs going at once ) and paste the URL, shorten it, add a comment and post to any or all accounts. I can also add files and images.

Plus , there isn’t a ton of frilly stuff I have to work around like I do with tweetdeck.

Now, here is the exciting news, HootSuite has just created a Firefox add-on!!
Last night I downloaded about 3 add-ons for Firefox and since then, I have figured them out… for the most part. So my browser isn’t a link cluttered mess anymore!!

I’m about to install this HootSuite add-on. Let’s see how it works!!….
If you would like to check Hootsutie out for yourself, go here

and if you dig, here is the add-on from the Mozilla website…

Cheers

Is it possible?

Trying to maintain an organized work place online has become exactly the opposite. While trying to build my community and build my internet presence I keep coming across all of these tools and widgets and add-ons, and plugins, and websites, that at this point I have just added another 48 hours to my ‘to do’ list.

Now I must go into each site, load up a bio; go into my bookmarks and organize them once again; sign back into all of the forums and blogs I follow and add them to my new ‘fancy’ media tools…

I feel so ignorant!!Maybe eventually, I will figure this stuff out.

I do enjoy Firefox. It reminds me of a physical work space… little bins that are alphabetized for all of your random papers, a secret locked drawer for all of your private stuff, a place to store all of those uncompleted projects, and then the desktop, which is just covered in old, new, and unknown stuff.

AAAGH… where is the simplicity??

Available Soon in Cydia.

Transform the standard background when switching between web pages in mobile Safari to one of five wallpapers: RJs Portland, Bricked, Sunrise, Brushed Metal, or Deep Sea. For use with Winterboard.

Available Soon in Cydia.

Transform the standard background when switching between web pages in mobile Safari to one of five wallpapers: Burlap, Nature, Volcanic, Dark Fade, or Blue Fade. For use with Winterboard.

Two add-on .esp files for the Knights of the Nine expansion to Oblivion

Knights Essential: overrides the switching off of the essential flag on the knights, making them unkillable*
Knights Companion Quarters: adds a cottage, sleeping two, to the grounds outside the Priory. Also adds kitchen area to main priory building.

DOWNLOAD from ElricM

DOWNLOAD from Planet Elder Scrolls

*Sir Thedret is set to remain essential until the end of QuestStage ND10 (the end of Knights of the Nine). I couldn’t find the flag that removes the essential setting AFTER ND10, so the advice to the player is to be careful with Thedret after the end of the KOTN main quest and avoid placing him in danger.

For some reason in my game one of the beds in the cottage appears as a double bed, though it is definitely a single bed in the construction set.

Minor landscaping for the cottage might create issues with other mods using the same area. Changing the load order should repair any strangeness.

Smoked Trout Spread

Alex, I’ll take “Fish” for $800.

A:  This fish is sustainable and starts with a “T”.

Q:  What is Trout?

Mmm, smoked trout

Great.  I love sustainable.  I love smoked.  And sometimes, I love easy.  This spread is all of those things.  Easy to make, easy on your conscience, and nice and smoky.  Who knew that spending time at the car dealership would be a good thing?  I found the base for this little gem flipping through ”Bon Appetite” May 2009 while waiting for my car.  This is a handy dip to have in your recipe box.  It comes together in about 5 minutes and is sophisticated enough to serve for a fancy party (if that is your thing).  It tastes delicious spread on crusty bread, on crackers, or even with pretzels.

Trout fillets, ready to chop

To boot, I was looking for something like this.  Now that I have this spread, I’m ready to be invited to any party where people appreciate good food.

Spread Ready to Mix

Smoked Trout Spread

Adapted from Bon Appetit, May 2009

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

5 oz smoked trout fillets, skin removed

Additional dill and minced red onion to garnish, if desired

To Make:

In a mixer, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth.  Add the green onions, sour cream, dill, Old Bay seasoning, and hot sauce.  Beat to combine.  Coarsely chop the smoked trout fillets (minus any skin or silver lining), add to the mix, and beat lightly.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

To Serve:

Serve cold or at room temperature.  Makes about 2 cups.  Yes, it’s that simple.  Yes, it’s that good.

I like to see what add-ons and widgets are available for things that I use on a daily basis.  I love Twitter even though I don’t use it as much as I should, but yesterday I found a new add-on for Firefox called PowerTwitter.  It lets you update you FB at the same time, TwitPics, show on your Twitter page and you get a preview of any links that are posted.

More on the work front…the Royal Variety Performance is in Blackpool this year so we’re hoping to get some celebs wanting to use our services.  Just my luck we’ll get someone nobody’s ever heard of and Diversity will be living it up in a limo!

Adblock Plus

THE BEST AD BLOCK EVER!!!

https://addons.mozilla.org/downloads/latest/1865/adblock_plus-1.1.1.xpi

Tree Style Tab

This provides tree-style tab bar, like a folder tree of Windows Explorer. New tabs opened from links are automatically attached to the parent tab. If you often use many many tabs, it will help your web browsing because you can understand relations of tabs.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/5890

Xmarks

Great free tool for synchronizing bookmarks between multiple computers.

http://download.xmarks.com/

Change the stock LockInfo icons to the stock iPhone icons, also included is an optional header image that gives a nice top shine effect. Must have David Ashman’s LockInfo installed for this to work. For use with WinterBoard.

Here’s a handy listing of 20 Essential FF Add-ons for Web Designers (and Developers, IMHO).

Some of these I already know about and use a few (Firebug, Web Developer, IE Tab, YSlow), but I intend to add a few more to toolbox (Window Resizer, Page Diff, CSS Viewer).  The rest seem to either not very useful to me personally, or are duplicates of functionality I already get from Firebug and/or Web Developer, but hey, YMMV!

Be sure to hit up the hyperlink above for the full blog post!

Apple Cider Butter

So, what do you do when you get an email from one of your favorite U-pick fruit farms saying that they are closing for the season and offering buy-one-get-one 1/2 bushels of apples? If you are anything like us, you hightail it over to the farm before the apples are gone.

Fresh apples

That is just what we did last Friday. We put Thing 1 and Thing 2 in the car and drove up to Northborough to pick 40 pounds of apples. It was a little strange because the day was gray and cool and the orchard was almost empty… it didn’t feel like a typical apple picking outing. The apples, however, were fantastic; large, sweet, crisp, and delicious. I think Thing 1 ate five of them while we were picking.

Apples chopped and boiling down

Now that we have all these apples we have to figure out what to do with them. We usually cut and freeze slices for winter apple pies, make applesauce, and eat lots of them.  This season however, we are starting with apple butter. I have never made apple butter before but I really wanted something that went beyond our classic apple applications. This recipe uses fresh apples and apple cider to make a delicious apple butter that isn’t too heavily spiced. If you decide to make this fall treat, make sure to review the appropriate canning techniques, which can be found here.

Jars ready for processing

I followed the recipe pretty much as listed with some minor adjustments to the spices. The most important change I made was to keep the cores and peels on the apples for the first boil. I then used a food mill to remove the skins, seeds, and cores. The cores have a lot of pectin which helps the butter thicken nicely. However, when I did it this way I had no where near the required 12 cups of apple puree, despite using the 6lbs of apples called for in the recipe. Therefore, I have adjusted the recipe posted below to reflect my yields.

Apple Cider Butter

Adapted from Freshpreserving.com

6 lbs of apples, mixed varieties, quartered

2 cups apple cider

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground allspice

6-7* (8 ounce) glass preserving jars with bands and lids

To Make:

Combine apples and apple cider in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until apples are soft, about 30 minutes. Using the fine disc of a food mill, puree the apples, discarding skins, seeds, and cores. Measure 8 cups of apple puree.

In a clean stainless steel saucepan, combine the apple puree, sugar, and spices and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture reduces, thickens, and holds it shape on a spoon.

Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready to use (do not boil, especially the lids). Ladle hot apple butter into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Remove bubbles and wipe rim. Center lid on jar and apply band until it is fingertip tight.

Process jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes (adjusting for altitude). Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. For any jars that do not seal after 24 hours, either reprocess or place in the refrigerator and use.

* The total number of jars will depend on how thick you like your butter

ADDONS.MOZILLA.ORG (AMO)

• Total compatibility up to 45% with 3.6.* (up from 34% last week)
• Hard work on the update queue has reduced it from 201 on 11/1 to 129 today.

  • Wait time is now down to roughly one week and we hope to get it under a week soon
  • We’re going to focus on nomination queue with goal of getting both down to manageable levels

FIREFOX

• Firefox 3.5.5

  • short-cycle release
  • shipped on Thursday!

• Firefox 3.0.16 / Firefox 3.5.6
  • patches still need to land (7 for 3.5.6, 4 for 3.0.16)
  • still lots of blockers needing patches (14 for 3.5.6, 5 for 3.0.16)
  • code freeze is tomorrow at 11:59pm PST

• Namoroka (Firefox 3.6)
  • Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 now has over 200,000 daily users; this is the fastest beta adoption we’ve ever had.
  • Nightly and beta users are encouraged to help us by reporting add-on compatibility
  • zpao’s “session restore optimization” patch landing this week for real for real
  • main development focus is on Firefox 3.6 Blockers
    • open blockers | not including “crashkill”
    • of the 15 non-crashkill bugs only 6 need patches, the rest are in review and ready to land
  • last week at the development and delivery meetings we decided to issue frequent updates to Firefox 3.6 Beta users on that update channel; aiming for the first update to be this week with:
    • DLL blacklisting patch (see bug 524904
    • syntax changes for CSS gradients (see bug 513395)
    • cycle-collector patch to stop cycle collection instead of crashing (see bug 521750)
    • other changes since beta codefreeze (link coming)
• Firefox 3.7

  • No Report

GECKO

• Gecko 1.9.2
  • News from the CrashKill front:
    • Now that we’ve shpped dbaron’s patch for bug 521750, we’re starting to see more movement from vendors who are causing the issue. Last week, I received responses from Move Networks, Relevant Knowledge (comScore), and DTToolbar and they claim to be making the required fixes to keep them from crashing the world.
    • For problem binaries where we can’t find fixes, we’ll be using dll blocklisting to keep them from loading. For details see bug 524904. This has landed already, and we’ll see it in the betas.
    • For the list of dlls to block, see bug 525103.
  • Blockers:
    • P1: 3
    • P2: 59
    • P3: 1
    • Other: 16
  • Team blocker numbers:
    • Layout: 6
    • Content: 12
    • GFX: 12
    • JS: 23

THUNDERBIRD

• TBird 3.0RC1 (Shredder)
  • No Report

Complete Meeting Notes