So Many New Reasons to Love Firefox Even More
Firefox is simply a testament to the virtuosity of open source communities. Excellent bookmark organizing, tabbed browsing, spell check and the quick search box search engine list are so far superior to what other browsers offer.
But what really makes Firefox the Queen of all that is browsing is the ever increasing list of Add-ons. What a world of particular people there are out there. It’s like finding a new tribe.
There are two add-ons that I can no longer live without, it’s that simple.
Add-Block Plus blocks a huge majority of the advertisements on most web pages. And you can add to the list of blocked adds on your own computer, then share that file with all your student machines.
I’m doing a unit right now on advertising and I have the students view sites in both Firefox and Safari so they can see what they’re usually missing. I’m constantly horrified by the number of sites recommended for kids (Yahooligans anyone?) that are covered in advertising. I’m not sure if the teachers sending their students to sites with copious advertising even give it a second thought, but I wish they would. Give the kids a break, they get enough advertising outside of school.
Tab Mix Plus is more a tool for me than the students, I admit. But the excellent array of preferences for tabs is just the thing for this particular gal. Put your “close tab button” on the left side and you’re never go back. I also suggest having new sites always open in a new tab, so you’ll be reminded to go back whence you came.