Fireday - Firefox extensions for September 8, 2006

This week: Fire Encrypter, GSpace, and Greasemonkey

September 8th, 2006 at 5:09am — Comments: (0) — By: Jonathan Danylko — Tags: Fireday

Let's dive right in...

Fire Encrypter

Fire Encrypter is an extension that takes plain text password keyphrases and returns an encoded value for you. The following cryptology methods are included in the extension:

• AES Encryption/Decryption
• Blowfish Encryption
• XOR Encryption/decryption
• Morse Encoder
• MD5 Hashing
• SHA1 Hashing
• SHA256 Hashing

I would consider this extension similar to the currency converter extension that are out there. Security analysts would find Fire Encrypter very handy in their line of work.

The installation was easy and the interface is simple enough even for beginners who are interested in how encrypting techniques work, but one downside is the extension only works for Firefox 1.5 and not the newest Beta 2.0 version. According to some comments I've seen, the author is currently working on a newer version, so we can expect a new version for Firefox 2.0 soon.

For those who have Firefox 1.5 and do not wish to update to Firefox 2.0 Beta yet, this extension will install just fine in 1.5.

Rating: 4/5

GMail File Space (GSpace)

So just how many Google GMail invites do you have?

I think I'm down (yes, down) to 82 invites, but I think everyone is wondering what to do with these invites. Here is your answer: sign up a couple of them and use them as storage.

The GSpace extension adds another item to your Tools pulldown menu. The GSpace extension looks similar to an FTP layout, except it works with your email. Very cool!

GSpace is very easy to use and can provide extra storage for users who are even encumbered by thumb drives (Yes, I know, there are some people out there like that). If you create additional email accounts for business, one for photos, and one for utilities/drivers (or whatever else you fancy), you will have your very own terabyte storage facility...offsite.

I like the extension a lot and if coupled with the GTD GMail extension, it may very well hold the key to a virtual office.

Rating: 5/5

GreaseMonkey

Ok designers and developers, this extension is for you.

The GreaseMonkey extension was a little intimidating at first, but once you find some user-based scripts, you'll start noticing other web sites that need "fixed up."

If you ever visited a site and don't like the way a particular JavaScript script is working or want additional functionality, attach a greasemonkey script to a web page and you are off and running.

The GreaseMonkey extension provides a way to attach JavaScript to a web page. For example, when you first start using Google Reader and you import a lot of RSS feeds, you don't want to read through every single article. Here is where GreaseMonkey comes in.

Attach the Google Reader Auto-Read script and run it. The next time you go to Google Reader, you'll notice a brand new option called Auto Read. Click it and it will start "auto-reading."

Back to the extension. After you install your Greasemonkey extension, go to userscripts.org or GreaseMonkeyUserScripts and right-click a link and select Install User Script. Very simple to add additional functionality to a web site.

I've been using GreaseMonkey for about a month and the community has been such a great help in assisting with custom user scripts. One site called Dive Into GreaseMonkey is designed to help with creating your own user scripts. Here, you can download a PDF ebook that takes you step-by-step on how to create one.

I think that these types of extensions are the way people will browse the Internet. If you don't like the way a site looks, give it a makeover by creating user scripts.

Definitely a great extension and, at this point in the game, I can't live without GreaseMonkey.

Rating: 5/5

Talk to everyone later and have a great weekend! Any comments? Contact me directly.