Greetings! This blog was designed to host information that can potentially save users like you time and trouble in the future. However, the author, which would be yours truly, wishes to also post travelogues of his adventures through the Internet. Perhaps some information will become available that will assist you in your own future research endeavours.
To wit, productive Internet research needs a well-designed web browser. Not only does the browser have to support the full collection of standards available comprising the almighty Internet, but information must be presented in an orderly fashion to best classify research.
For instance, until tabbed browsing came along, users were forced to open each web page in a separate window. Tabbed browsing allows users to open multiple web pages in one window. A natural progression from here is to use separate windows of tabs for further classification or organization.
For instance, if one were to wish to find out information about carnivorous monkeys, with basic tabbed browsing one would open an initial page to a search engine and type something akin to 'carnivorous monkeys' (with double quotes). The resulting page would have links to carnivorous monkeys. Open each relevant link in separate tab and review them individually for applicable information.
If a link leads you to a treasure trove of further links, the current page or applicable link can be opened in a new window and additional tabs can be opened after within the window. This keeps your session separate from the main results.
However, when tabbed browsing was first introduced, I was dismayed to find that there was no way to categorise related tabs in the same window. This would allow me to conduct extensive research within a single window: topics could be nested to represent different phases or areas of the research session.
Enter: FireFox and the Tree Style Tab add-on. I currently have my list of tabs to the left side of the browser window, listed from top to bottom. When I open a link in a new tab, it will place the tab as a child of the current page. I can then click on the new sub-tab to view the details.
FireFox also supports standards better, from my experience, than other browsers. Secunia.com reports only two unresolved security issues. In contrast, Internet Explorer (any version) is found to be the least secure and least able to support current web standards. Opera (9.63) has no reported security issues, but the standards and Java support are lacking for my liking. I don't trust Chrome because I don't trust Google to keep my information secure, and Google openly wishes to track the web habits of all of its users.
If you have no particular comments regarding this, I would like to know about your favourite Web browser. Which features does your Web browser offer that enriches your Web browsing experience? Do you bother with plugins or add-ons?
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I have only tried IE and Firefox, and my choice is definitely Firefox. Much faster, MUCH more secure, opens in tabs. My only add-ons so far is a dictionary, but I'm seriously considering the download manager. Plug-ins - I have a flash player.
ReplyDeleteFirst time I hear of Tree Style Tab, but it sounds like just what the doctor ordered.
Ulla.
Hello, Ulla, and thank you for your comments. I'm curious as to what functionality the dictionary add-on offers you. Myself, I allow whatever ghosts to run on my system that take care of the red underlining for me, which should be using the internal Windows XP dictionary. I suspect your dictionary offers more use, though.
ReplyDeleteAnother handy FireFox add-on I've found is AutoPager. On supported sites, information from subsequent pages (like web search results) are read into the same page and separated by unobtrusive bars. I find it's faster than navigating through each page separately. If I need to review prior result pages, I don't have to reload them, either.
The dictionary, yes. No offence, but I do not like American spelling. That's why I added a British dictionary. That simple. I could add a Danish one too, I guess, but I know how to spell in my native language.
ReplyDeleteWill check out the AutoPager.
And you can add words to the dictionary; it's just a right-click. Then I don't see red underlining every time I write my husband's or niece's name.
ReplyDelete