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A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas.

Setup Firefox To Use Minimal Screen EstateYesterday

Firefox 3 displays five bars at the top of the application window before it is starting to show the website’s contents. There is the title bar, the menu, the navigation toolbar, the bookmarks toolbar and the tabs of course. They take up about 132 pixels in height on the screen which is more than a fourth of the screen estate of an Asus eeePC 7 and still an eights of the popular 1024×768 screen resolution.

If you analyse the elements of the Firefox header you notice that there is lots of free space there. That’s wasted space that could be put to much better use.

The following article is going to show how you can save more than 60% of that header space. It is not necessary to apply all the changes. If you feel that you need the title bar or the status bar then you are of course free to keep them. The article however will be radical and outline how to use minimal screen estate in Firefox.

All the changes outlined are applied by customizing the Firefox toolbars and installing several add-ons. Links are give when needed. Let us start:

Here is a picture of the default Firefox interface:

And here how it can look like after making the changes

Join Mp3 From The Command LineNovember 17

Lots of tools can join multiple mp3 files into one mp3 file that contains all the bits of the original files. Mp3 files but also files with the ogg extension can be concatenated easily because of the way the data is structured. The following command line argument will not work with many other file types like those created by Microsoft Office.

Only one line of code is needed to join multiple mp3 files: copy /b *.mp3 c:\new.mp3. That’s all there is needed. The /b parameter ensures that the files are copied in binary format. *.mp3 defines the source directory of the files. You can easily add a drive and folder structure in front. The wildcard * defines that all mp3 will be joined alphanumerically by the command. It is possible to limit the files by adding letters or numbers to the command, e.g. m*.mp3 to join all mp3 starting with the letter m.

The last part c:\mp3 defines the target directory for the newly created file as well as its name. A possibility to join files with different filenames is also available. Simply use the command copy /b file1.mp3 + aaa.mp3 + r3f.mp3 c:\new.mp3 for this. You may use wildcards as well for the process.

Several applications like Audacity can also be used to merge music files. Mp3 Direct Cut is another one for the purpose.

Joe Biden: Piracy’s New EnemyNovember 17

Now that the US elections are over and the results are out, it’s worthwhile looking at how the winners fare with technology. Everyone knows that Barack Obama actively used the Internet while campaigning but what are his views on other things technology related? Most notably, how do the new guys plan to tackle issues like online piracy?

One person who has acted on this subject in the past is Joe Biden. Yes, the same guy who’s now the U.S. Vice President. In fact, he’s been pretty active in trying to defend the rights of media companies. Let’s take a look at his accomplishments.

Joe Biden’s earliest tryst against piracy came in 2002, when he drafted a letter to the Justice Department, urging action against people who ‘intentionally’ allow copying over p2p networks. Then last year, Biden supported an RIAA-led bill to restrict Americans from copying songs from Internet radio services. His efforts got him invited to the MPAA’s party in favor of the Digital Millenium .google.com/~f/Ghacksnet?d=41" alt="Ghacksnet?d=41" style="border:0px solid;" />

Ask The Readers: Recommended Security SoftwareNovember 17

We have been writing about great free software programs for more than three years now here at Ghacks and it is finally time to create a list of programs that we can recommend fully to anyone who is looking for a software with that functionality.

It would not be Ghacks if we would not ask you to contribute to that list. The only requirements are that the software has to be free. It does not matter if they are Open Source, freeware or donation ware. If they are free they have a chance to make it on the list.

Asking for names for any kind of software program would make it very hard for us to turn the information into a list. We have therefor decided to divide the process into different articles which will only accept programs of one specific category.

We start with security applications. This can be anything from antivirus programs to antispyware, firewall or process monitors. Yes, some applications fit in more than one category. Name them whenever they fit in so that they can be included in the list.

Please include at least the name of the application. A link to the program’s website would be great and helpful as well. The results will be published at the Computer Software Recommendations article.

So come on. Let us create the best recommended software article ever.

Launch Applications With The MouseNovember 17

Hot Corners is a relative small Open Source application for Windows operating systems. It was written in the Auto It language which means that some virus scanners detect it as a virus although it is not. The basic application of the software program is to launch functions, programs or services by moving the mouse around.

The software program provides two basic options. The first is to start services or applications by moving the mouse into one of the four corners of the computer desk. Options like running a software program, locking the computer or handling windows. One action for every corner can be defined. It does work however best for the corners that are not occupied by the Taskbar especially if the taskbar is set to auto-hide.

The second option is to add the same set of functions to mouse movements. Only this time it can be activated by pressing the [Windows X] key while moving the mouse to the left, right, up or down.

The software program uses about 5 Megabytes of computer memory when running.

Launch Applications With The Mouse

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