USB 3.0 Finally Arrives

When you're in front of your PC, waiting for something to transfer to removable media, that's when seconds feel like minutes, and minutes feel like hours. And data storage scenarios such as that one is where the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0's greatest impact will be felt first. As of CES,17 SuperSpeed USB 3.0-certified products were introduced, including host controllers, adapter cards, motherboards, and hard drives (but no other consumer electronics devices). Still more uncertified USB 3.0 products are on the way, and they can't get here fast enough.

Glance Backward

The beauty of USB 3.0 is its backward compatibility with USB 2.0; you need a new cable and new host adapter (or, one of the Asus or Gigabyte motherboards that supports USB 3.0) to achieve USB 3.0, but you can still use the device on a USB 2.0 port and achieve typical USB 2.0 performance. In reducing some overhead requirements of USB (now, the interface only transmits data to the link and device that need it, so devices can go into low power state when not needed), the new incarnation now uses one-third the power of USB 2.0.

The theoretical throughput improvement offered by USB 3.0 is dramatic -- a theoretical 10X jump over existing USB 2.0 hardware. USB 2.0 maxed out at a theoretical 480Mbps, while USB 3.0 can theoretically handle up to 5Gbps. Mind you, applications like storage will still be limited by the type of drive inside; so, for example, you can expect better performance from RAIDed hard drives or fast solid-state drives (SSDs) than from, say, a standalone single drive connected to the computer via USB 3.0.

The real-world examples are fairly convincing -- and underscore USB 3.0's advantage for high-def video, music, and digital imaging applications. Our early test results are encouraging as well: We tested Western Digital's My Book 3.0, the first USB 3.0-certified external hard drive. The performance was on a par with that of eSATA-but the benefit here is that USB 3.0 is a powered port, so you don't need to have another external power supply running to the drive (as you do with eSATA; unless the eSATA drive you're using is designed to steal power from a USB port while transferring data over the eSATA interface).

New Entries

While the WD drive was the first to announce, a slew of other hard drive makers either announced products at the show, or discussed plans to release products in the coming months. Among them: Seagate (which is doing a portable drive), LaCie, Rocstor, and Iomega. Even non-traditional hard drive vendors like Dane-Elec and A-Data showed products they billed as USB 3.0 (the latter two even had USB 3.0-connected SSDs, the first external drives to use solid-state storage inside.

One of the things to look for in the coming months is the certified SuperSpeed USB 3.0 logo. Products are currently filling the queues at the official certification testing labs, but presence of that certification logo will give you some peace of mind that the product you're buying truly does live up to the USB 3.0 spec.

Given that the certification labs are jammed up, though, you can expect companies to release USB 3.0 products without official certification. (Buffalo Technologies' drive, released late 2009, is not certified; LaCie's drives are in the process of certification, but will initially carry LaCie's own logo for USB 3.0, and will gain a sticker on the box once certification is completed.) And in those cases, it will be hard to know whether the device truly lives up to its performance potential.

Compatibility Guarantee

And this time around, the way the USB spec is written, says Jeff Ravencraft, consumers should have an easier time finding products that are truly USB 3.0. Before, in the transition from USB 1.1 to USB 2.0, the USB 2.0 spec was written in a way where it "encompassed low, full and high-speed USB," explains Ravencraft, president and chairman of the USB Implementers Forum. "Since those are all encapsulated in the USB 2.0 spec, [vendors] could have a certified product that's low-speed, but still call it USB 2.0.

"We don't have that issue with USB 3.0 To claim you're USB 3.0, you have to deliver 5Gbps. There's no other way to get the certification."

Ravencraft adds that the group is prepared to protect the USB 3.0 logo, to make sure that only manufacturers who go through certification use it. "We'll take legal action if anyone infringes on our marks."

By end of year, Ravencraft says the loggerjam of products awaiting certification should be past, and the organization's network of worldwide test labs will be handling USB 3.0 certification.

According to In-Stat Research, by 2013, more than one-quarter of USB 3.0 products will support SuperSpeed USB 3.0.

Ravencraft says this is the fastest ramp up of USB products he's seen in the past ten years, across the previous versions of USB.

I say the change can't come fast enough. The trick, though, will be getting the interface into our notebooks (without requiring a kludgy ExpressCard adapter). So far, though, only HP and Fujitsu have announced limited USB 3.0 support on notebooks. And Taiwanese notebook and desktop maker MSI indicated that it wouldn't have USB 3.0 until, at the earliest, the third-quarter of this year; product managers for both notebooks and desktops cited manufacturing concerns like chipset availability in large quantities, and the need to test USB 3.0 chipsets.

And in the meantime, the only announced peripherals remain storage devices. At next year's CES, it's likely we'll hear more about specific consumer electronics devices such as digital cameras and camcorders and video cameras moving to USB 3.0. Hopefully by then we'll start getting a critical mass of PC hardware with USB 3.0 integrated

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Five Best Free Data Recovery Tools

The best way to recover from unexpected data loss is to be properly prepared. With one of the following tools on hand, you'll always be ready to save your data from the Reaper.

While the best defense against data loss is redundant and real-time backup, we understand that sometimes data loss sneaks right up on you. Whether your vacation pictures didn't make it safely from your camera to your computer or a bumbling roommate deleted the paper you've been working all week on, having emergency data recovery tools handy is crucial to getting your data back before it's gone forever. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite data recovery tools with us. We tallied up your favorites and now we're back with the nominees for best free data recovery tool.

TestDisk (Windows/Mac/Linux)

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TestDisk is a powerful open-source tool for recovering your data. Not only can TestDisk perform basic file recovery like undeleting accidentally deleted files from FAT, NTFS, and ext2 file systems, but it comes with a host of additional functionality. With TestDisk you can recover your boot sector from a backup, rebuild your boot sector, fix FAT tables, fix your MFT, locate the ext2/ext3 backup SuperBlock, copy deleted files from partitions to recovery media, and find lost partitions in dozens of formats to help you locate your lost data. It's a command line tool, so there's no GUI, but the menus and the documentation in the wiki should get you started without much trouble.

Recuva (Windows)

Recuva is a user-friendly Windows-based tool. When you run Recuva, you can resurrect missing files using either the file-recovery wizard or the application's manual mode. The file-recovery wizard is handy when you're sure your data is gone but you're not quite sure where it went or how to get it back. The wizard lets you narrow your search type to pictures, music, documents, video, or all files, and you can set the search location to everywhere on your computer, removable media only, in My Documents, the Recycle Bin, or a specified location. If you don't need the wizard you can jump right into manual mode and get to work searching where you know the file should be. Recuva uses a green/yellow/red light system to indicate how probable the recovery of your files will be, and when available, it can provide previews image files available for recovery. Recuva also includes a tool to securely wipe files you find, handy if you're attempting a file recovery just to ensure the files are actually dead and gone.

PhotoRec (Windows/Mac/Linux)

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PhotoRec is a companion program to TestDisk, also included in this Hive Five. Like TestDisk, this app is also devoid of a GUI, but likewise is quite powerful at file recovery. We're including PhotoRec independently of TestDisk because many users distinctly prefer PhotoRec as a safer alternative when deep disk recovery isn't necessary. This recovery tool won't mess with your partitions or help you rebuild your master boot record; it will, however, dive into your disks in a safe, read-only mode and ignore partitions and file systems in an effort to seek out your missing files. PhotoRec focuses on file types, is operating-system agnostic, and despite its name, isn't relegated to just photos. Overall, PhotoRec is a powerful tool for quickly and safely copying your deleted files to another disk.

Restoration (Windows)

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Restoration is a tiny, no-frills, portable recovery tool. You can use it in all versions of Windows and Windows file systems. It lacks some of the advanced functionality of other nominees but does have basic file-name search and the ability to sort by file parameters such as size and filename. Despite its tiny size, it performed just as well as the other nominees when tasked with restoring files from our test disks. Restoration weighs in at a mere 406k and would make a great addition to any Windows-based USB toolkit.

Undelete Plus (Windows)

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Undelete Plus used to be commercial software but has gone on a lengthy "limited time offer" freeware run. This file recovery app works on all versions of Windows and incarnations of the FAT and NTFS file systems. Like Recuva, Undelete Plus assigns a recovery probability to files it finds based on how damaged the file is. You can sort files by type, set filters based on time and size to avoid sifting through every deleted file on your disk, and keep folder structures intact when you perform your recovery.

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Now that you've had a chance to look over the contenders for best free data recovery tool, it's time to cast your vote and see who wins the crown.

Which Free Data Recovery Tool is Best? (Poll Closed)

TestDisk 19% (595 votes)

Recuva 45% (1408 votes)

PhotoRec 7% (218 votes)

Restoration 6% (182 votes)

Undelete Plus 7% (226 votes)

Other 16% (496 votes)

If you have a file-recovery tip, technique, or tool you're dying to share. sound off in the comments and help your fellow readers get their data back.

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Internet Marketing Optimization From Split Testing, Page Optimization and Monitoring

Internet Marketing Optimization isn’t a simple process, users can’t simply pick and choose a smart tag line, throw it up on Google Adwords and other publisher platforms and hope for the best, instead it requires split testing of ads, clearly targeted website pages that draw in a users attention and the constant monitoring of old ads and the ads of competitors. If you plan to optimize your internet marketing there are a few simple steps you can take to get you started, where you go from there is solely based on how your site or product performs.

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Split Testing Ads

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If internet businesses could become successful by throwing up a single ad and immediately reaping the benefits we would all be millionaires, the truth is finding the right ads for your pages and product can be tricky. Users should begin their internet campaigns with the expectation that campaigns may lose money before gaining. Start by creating several ads with different wording, for example you might try “Samsung Nexus S Free With Activation” if you offer cell phones and then try “Free Smartphone From Samsung” or “Free Samsung Android Phone Activations.” During each campaign write down the number of people who visited your site based on the number of impressions you served through your publisher platform, then determine how many people accepted the offer. The first number (site visitors based on page impressions) is your CTR (Click-Through-Rate), while the number of  buyers are your conversion rate (CTR / buyers). After a day of testing during different times figure out which ad works the best. After you choose a winner split test it against yet another ad until you are satisfied that you have the best converting ad for your website. Through split testing you can determine which ads are working during different times and then optimize your ad display times by ad to gain the biggest audience for the lowest future cost.

Here’s a simple chart demonstrating split testing:

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Website Page Optimization

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You can split test for weeks and still fail at advertising, however you can avoid the risk of failure by optimizing your website’s pages for better conversion. Start your optimization by installing a heat map on your website. A heat map is a piece of software which shows the “hottest” places on your website in terms of visitor click through rates. For example, users may click the top right ad on your page more than anywhere else, by understanding where a users eyes are traveling and their fingers are clicking you can place your best converting pages and products in those section.

Here’s an example of a Google.com heatmap, the red areas are where users tend to click the most:

Not only should you understand where users are clicking, you should also optimize your marketing materials for users. Write your pages for people and not for search engines. Engage your readers with exciting information and make sure they understand the importance of your products or information.

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Monitoring Results Against Competing Pages

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Creating checks and balances for your internet marketing optimization plan is just as important as setting marketing plans into motion. Split testing may provide results in the short term however trends change, users move on and it’s up to you to ensure they return. Once you have optimized your web pages and set your ads to timed intervals it’s important to continually monitor the success of those campaigns. If a certain page or product stops converting you may want to check your pages keywords or exact product names against competitor pages, are they using different keywords? Perhaps they are highlighting parts of the product or story you missed? If you’re using Adwords, Yahoo Ads or other ad platforms you may also want to check if your competitors are using ads that appear more engaging or offer a different angle.

Internet Marketing Optimization is not an exact science, even the best split testers and optimization firms are constantly tweaking their campaigns and testing new marketing practices, however by monitoring your ads and product pages and monitoring your competitors you can determine new and exciting ways to pitch your products to potential customers.

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Reset a WordPress Password from phpMyAdmin

if you are managing a WordPress installation and for some reason, maybe a hacker, you no longer have access to your Administration panel using your user name and password, then it might be time to change that information using WordPress’ database.

Even if you don’t have CPanel, you should have access to phpMyAdmin. It is a simple, but powerful, application that allows you control over your databases, and can be easily used to change all kinds of information stored in the MySQL databases it manages.

Step 1: Do You Know Which Database WordPress Uses?

Before we do anything else, we have to assertain which database WordPress is using. If you only have one WordPress publishing system installed, this isn’t a problem. If you have used an automated means of installing WordPress, you probably don’t remember what database you have used.

Even worse, if you are like me and have over a dozen WordPress installations spread on a few different databases, with some using the same database, figuring out which one you need to change can be a nightmare.

The easiest way to figure out which database you are using is to FTP into your hosting, and open the wp-config.php file with a text editor. It will give you the database name, which we will use later in this tutorial.

Step 2: Getting to phpMyAdmin

In a CPanel environment, you will most likely have a button called MySQL Databases. It may or may not look like the image over to the right, but none the less, it should be there somewhere.

Clicking on it will list all of your current databases, as well as other information. Don’t concern yourself with all this right now. Move to the bottom of the page, where there should be a link that says, phpMyAdmin.

Step 3: Finding Your Users

A new window will most likely have opened. It will have two panes. On the left hand side you will have a list of databases. Click on the one related to the WordPress installation we are going to work with.

Look for a table called wp_users in the left hand pane. It is usually the last item in the list.

*Note: If your WordPress table prefix is not wp_ then you will be of course looking for your custom prefix user table. You can find your prefix in the wp-config.php file.

Click on the user table link, and in the right hand pane, the information will change. At the top there should be a few links. Click Browse.

It should then look something like the following image.

Step 4: Editing the Password

You will notice there is a field called user_pass. This is where the password is stored in WordPress. Find the user you want to edit, and click the pencil image next to the red X. This will allow us to edit the entry.

You will notice the password is strange, and not plain text. This is because for security reasons, WordPress stores the passwords as an MD5 hash.

We can’t just enter a normal text password, and should replace the MD5 hash of the password we don’t know with the MD5 hash of a password we do know.

To create an MD5 hash, I usually just search for “online MD5 hash” on Google, and come up with some great online tools for creating the result I need.

Example: Javacript MD5

In such tools, I enter what I want the password to be, click a button to process it, and it spits out the MD5 hash that I want to enter in the user_pass field.

Click Go to save the change, and then log in to WordPress using your new password.

Sidenote

If a hacker was able to change your password, or other information in WordPress, upgrading should also be one of the first things on your mind once you change your password.

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Kamus Istilah Blogger

A-List: Sebuah daftar blogger-blogger yang memiliki blog dengan traffic relatif tinggi dan banyak dikenal di dunia blogging. Biasanya merujuk pada daftar 100 Technorati Blog.
Adsense: Jaringan periklanan online yang paling terkenal di internet. Adsense dimiliki oleh Google dan memberikan kesempatan kepada para blogger untuk melakukan monetisasi blognya dengan menampilkan iklan kontekstual di blog mereka. Setiap kali seseorang mengklik teks iklan Google Adsense, maka si pemilik blog akan mendapatkan sejumlah komisi.
Adwords: Kebalikan dari Adsense. Adwords memungkinkan perusahaan atau individu untuk memasang iklan dan mempromosikan produk, jasa atau situs mereka berdasarkan perhitungan cost per click (CPC). Seorang pemasang iklan harus menentukan kata kunci yang hendak dibidiknya dan berapa harga yang bisa ia berikan untuk setiap kliknya. Iklan Adwords bisa muncul di halaman hasil pencarian Google maupun di unit iklan Adsense di situs atau blog yang mengikuti program Adsense.
Affiliate Marketing: Disebut juga affiliasi, adalah sebuah cara yang sangat populer untuk mendapatkan uang dari internet dimana seorang pemilik program affiliasi memberi kesempatan orang lain untuk memasarkan produk atau jasanya dengan imbalan sejumlah komisi. Komisi bisa bersifat tetap atau berubah-ubah, dan bisa berdasarkan klik, leads atau penjualan yang terjadi.
Akismet: Plugin filter spam untuk blog berplatform WordPress yang sangat populer. Dibuat oleh perusahaan yang sama dengan yang membuat kode WordPress, Automattic.
Alexa: Sebuah perusahaan online (milik Amazon.com) yang memantau traffic semua situs yang ada di internet. Sistem ranking yang digunakan didasarkan pada data statistik dari toolbar browser pengguna internet. Belakangan mereka mengubah algoritme ranking ini untuk menghilangkan bias toolbar yang banyak menguntungkan situs-situs bertopik teknologi. Semakin rendah ranking Alexa, maka semakin tinggi trafficnya. Walaupun demikian terdapat sejumlah kontroversi mengenai akurasi ranking Alexa ini.
Anchor Text: Teks yang digunakan di dalam back link. Kebanyakan pakar optimasi mesin pencari (SEO) sepakat bahwa anchor text merupakan salah satu faktor penting yang mempengaruhi posisi ranking sebuah situs atau blog di hasil pencarian search engine.
Atom: Sebuah format sindikasi feed yang dikembangkan sebagai alternatif RSS. Atom memungkinkan seseorang mendapatkan updates artikel dari sebuah situs atau blog manakala ada posting baru.
Automattic: Perusahaan yang didirikan oleh Matt Mullenweg dan bertanggungjawab terhadap pengembangan WordPress.org (software blog) dan WordPress (hosting) selain proyek-proyek lainnya.
Backlink: Hiperlink yang tampil di blog atau situs lain dan menaut pada halaman utama atau halaman lain dalam suatu blog atau situs. Backlink penting karena Google dan mesin pencari yang lain mempergunakan jumlah dan kualitas backlink sebagai ukuran tingkat kepercayaan sebuah blog atau situs.
Blackhat: Gabungan teknik SEO dan online marketing yang seringkali tidak etis dan bahkan kadang ilegal dengan tujuan tertentu. Menyembunyikan teks dibalik gambar atau mempergunakan halaman doorway dengan re-direct adalah contoh teknik-teknik blackhat.
Blog: Suatu jenis situs dimana sang pemiliknya mempublikasikan pikiran, ide atau pengetahuan mengenai topik tertentu. Biasanya isinya berupa artikel, yang disebut post, dan disusun berdasarkan urutan kronologis. Awalnya blog muncul sebagai diary online, namun saat ini blog mencakup berbagai macam ceruk topik, dan bersaing ketat dengan media massa kebanyakan.
Blog Carnival: Sebuah event ketika para blogger berkumpul untuk untuk membuat sebuah koleksi artikel mengenai sebuah topic tertentu. Biasanya blog carnival hanya terdiri dari satu blog dengan sejumlah blog yang berpartisipasi mengirimkan artikelnya.
Blogger: Seseorang yang memiliki blog. Blogger juga merupakan nama komersil platform dan hosting blog gratis milik Google (yang lebih dikenal dengan nama ekstensi Blogspot).
Blogging: Aktivitas menulis sesuatu di dalam blog. Bisa juga berarti aktivitas yang lebih luas yang dilakukan oleh seorang blogger (misalnya berinteraksi dengan pembaca, mempersiapkan materi konten, dan lain-lain).
Bloglines: Salah satu RSS Feed Reader yang paling populer. Bloglines merupakan aplikasi berbasis web yang memungkinkan penggunanya untuk berlangganan dan mengelola RSS Feed. Blogosphere: Istilah yang dipergunakan untuk menjelaskan dunia yang diciptakan oleh jaringan blog.
Blogroll: Fitur blog yang sangat populer yang memungkinkan pemilik blog menampilkan daftar blog-blog lain yang direkomendasikannya. Fitur ini biasanya ditampilkan di bagian sidebar. Namun saat ini semakin sedikit blog yang menampilkan blogroll.
Comments: Hampir semua platform blog memungkinkan pembacanya untuk memberikan komentar dan meninggalkan feedback di setiap halaman posting artikel sebuah blog. Fitur inilah yang membuat blog menjadi sebuah media percakapan langsung dan telah menjadi salah satu faktor kesuksesan blog di dunia internet. 

untuk selengkapnya silahkan download sendiri  DIsini

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Enyah Kau Pishing dari Twitterku!

Selepas kasus bobolnya account Twitter Obama dan beberapa tokoh terkenal lain, Twitter mengeluarkan nasihatnya. Nasihat ini berlaku juga untuk pengguna layanan lain.

Nasihat Twitter ini terkait dengan adanya aksi phishing yang mengintai pengguna layanan microblogging tersebut. Berikut adalah rangkuman nasihat tersebut

Apa itu pishing?

Menurut situs ensiklopedi Wikipedia, pishing adalah salah satu bentuk kriminalitas ketika pelaku mengincar informasi-informasi sensitif seperti username, password, dan nomor kartu kredit dari alat komunikasi elektronik, lewat penyamaran sumber yang seakan-akan terpercaya, misalnya situs palsu.

Cara kerja pishing awalnya dengan mengirimkan email berisi notifikasi pada penggunanya. Email tersebut menyediakan link yang jika diklik akan mengarahkan pengguna pada halaman yang seakan-akan adalah halaman utama Twitter.

Bagaimana Mencegahnya?

Jika terlanjur mengklik dan tiba di situs Twitter bohongan itu, jangan buru-buru memasukkan username Anda sebelum melihat URL-nya. Perhatikan alamat yang tertera di dalam Address Box pada bagian atas browser.

Jika URL tersebut memiliki domain di luar twitter, namun tampilannya sangat mirip dengan twitter aslinya, lebih baik Anda tidak melakukan sign in.

Kalau Terlanjur Kena?

Bagi yang sudah kena pishing, yaitu mereka yang sudah memberikan passwordnya di situs palsu tersebut, pelaku akan dengan mudahnya membuat pesan-pesan yang bisa mengecoh para follower. Hal ini sama dengan yang terjadi pada Obama, Britney Spears dan tokoh lainnya. Dalam kasus seperti itu, Twitter akan proaktif mereset password.

Nah, bila suatu saat Anda gagal login ke layanan Twitter --atau lainnya-- padahal Anda yakin seyakin-yakinnya kalau username dan password sudah sesuai, gunakanlah layanan reset password. Pengelola biasanya akan mengirimkan e-mail balasan untuk memulihkan password tersebut.

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IE 'Mengurus' Digerogoti Firefox, Safari dan Chrome

Popularitas browser Internet Explorer (IE) mulai meredup. Pelan tapi pasti, browser Safari Apple, Firefox Mozilla dan Chrome Google menggerogoti pasar browser besutan Microsoft tersebut. Walhasil pangsa pasar IE menjadi 'kurus'. menurut laporan perusahaan analisa web, Net Applications, di bulan Desember, IE digunakan sekitar 68,15 persen user, turun dari 69,77 persen di bulan November, dan 71,27 persen di bulan Oktober.

Tentu saja meredupnya popularitas IE ini mendatangkan berkah bagi browser lain seperti Safari, Firefox dan Chrome.

Popularitas Firefox semakin menanjak. Pangsa pasarnya meningkat menjadi 21,34 persen dari 20,78 persen di bulan November, dan 19,97 persen di bulan Oktober.

Sementara itu Safari melesat dari 6,57 persen di bulan Oktober, dan 7,13 persen di bulan November menjadi 7,93 persen di bulan Desember.

Tak mau ketinggalan dengan lawan-lawannya, pangsa pasar Chrome juga naik dari 0,74 persen di bulan Oktober, dan 0,83 persen di November menjadi 1,04 persen. Sedangkan Opera mengantongi pangsa pasar sebesar 0,71 persen.

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Plug-in Ciamik di Browser Firefox

Firefox merupakan salah satu browser yang pertumbuhan penggunanya paling banyak. Bagi pengguna Firefox tentu sudah tahu kalau browser besutan Mozilla tersebut memiliki banyak plug-in.

Plug-in adalah tools tambahan yang bisa diinstal pada browser Mozilla Firefox untuk menambah suatu kemampuan atau fasilitas tertentu, meningkatkan kenyamanan berinternet atau mempercantik tampilan browser.

Ada ribuan plug-in tersedia di Firefox yang dapat diinstal dan didownload secara gratis. Berikut ini adalah lima plug-in Firefox yang berguna dan cukup populer di kalangan pengguna internet versi Techdream. Apa plug-in favoritmu?

1. Autocopy
Dengan menggunakan plug-in ini, Firefox secara otomatis akan mengcopy teks yang telah diblok. Kita tidak perlu lagi menekan tombol Ctrl + C sehingga lebih hemat waktu. Plug-in Autocopy ini dapat didownload di: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/383

2. Fire Uploader
Dengan plug-in ini, Anda dapat mengupload atau mendownload video, gambar ataupun file dokumen dari situs apapun termasuk Flickr, Google Picasa Album, Youtube, Facebook, Box.net. Interfacenya pun sangat user friendly. Download plug-innya di: http://www.fireuploader.com/#fupHome

3. GMail Manager

Plug-in ini sangat berguna bagi pemilik account GMail. Dengan plug-in ini, Anda dapat mengatur berbagai akun GMail dari Firefox dan memantau apakah ada e-mail baru atau tidak. Beberapa fitur yang menarik dari plug-in ini adalah:

• Secara otomatis login dan membuka inbox hanya dengan satu kali klik.
• Menampilkan jumlah email yang belum dibaca pada inbox.
• Daftar 10 pesan yang paling terbaru.
• Memunculkan alert ketika ada email baru masuk.
• Kustomisasi icon pada toolbar/statusbar.
  

Plug-in GMail Manager ini dapat Anda download di: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1320

4. Foxmarks
Plug-in ini memungkinkan Anda mengakses bookmark di komputer manapun karena plug-in ini akan menyimpan salinan bookmark yang ada di server. Walhasil, Anda dapat mengakses bookmark dari komputer manapun. Plug-in akan sangat berguna bagi Anda yang sering menggunakan komputer yang berbeda-beda. Untuk mendownloadnya, kunjungi link berikut ini: http://www.foxmarks.com/

5. IE Tab
Ada beberapa website yang hanya dapat berjalan pada browser Internet Explorer (IE). sehingga mau tidak mau Anda harus menggunakan IE. Firefox menyediakan plug-in bernama IE Tab. Dengan plug-in ini Anda bisa membuka tab baru yang merupakan tab IE pada browser Firefox, tanpa perlu membuka window IE. Download IE Tab melalui link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419

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Digerus Rubah Api, IE Kian Melempem

Washington - Browser Mozilla Firefox makin berkibar. Berdasarkan data terbaru dari biro penelitian Net Applications, Firefox menapak naik dengan menguasai 20,78 persen pangsa pasar browser pada bulan November, naik dari angka 19,97 persen di bulan Oktober. Firefox sukses menggaet user yang sebelumnya mengandalkan Internet Explorer (IE) besutan Microsoft.

Pasalnya, masih menurut data Net Applications, pangsa pasar IE kini menurun di bawah 70 persen untuk kali pertama sejak 1998. IE sekarang menguasai 69,8 persen pangsa pasar dari sebelumnya 71,3 persen di bulan Oktober.

Padahal di masa jayanya di 2003, IE pernah begitu dominan dengan menguasai sekitar 95 persen pasaran browser. Penurunan pangsa pasar IE ini disinyalir juga terkait musim liburan di AS dimana banyak perusahaan libur. Sebab IE banyak dipakai oleh kalangan perusahaan.

Adapun browser lainnya menunjukkan tren peningkatan. Apple Safari misalnya kini punya pangsa 7,13 persen dan Google Chrome sebesar 0,83 persen dari yang sebelumnya 0,74 persen.

Sementara pangsa pasar Opera mengalami penurunan dari yang sebelumnya 0,75 persen menjadi 0,71 persen saja.

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