The Ultimate Browsing Experience. It's What you Make of it !

I want to start a Browser using of Course FireFox. And Then I want to deck it out with my favorite Add-ons*, Plug-ins*, Search Engines*, and Then I dive under the hood* and Twist and Tweak it*. But still Aesthetically what I see and use each day is my Theme. And let's face it, who isn't ever searching to create the perfect most eye appealing desktop ever to grace their Monitor ? Look No further, I have finally stuck pay dirt ! And I'd like to share it with anyone that will listen. There is a most handsome mature theme that's only a few months old, yet very mature and updated frequently called "300 Metal Lion" It's nice to have something the creator cares about enough to make it Open Source. It ensures it will blossom and Develop into it's most functionally advanced state. *(see previous blog entry)

Metal Lion - 300 1.8.1

is headed there full steam. It's motif is Roman Times Era. The Icons and Colors are all quite simple, yet appealing. The main Color is a rich Maroon w/ Gold and Brown accents. And heres how to make some sweet highlights to really make it Slick....
The Tabs in lion's 300 are slick, modern and make a perfect identical match with "Zune". It's a M.S. digitally signed Link, so it pops right in 1 2 3. It has a black style dark "Aqua" theme that you couldn't ask for a better match.
Customizing the icons with this theme is easy.You just Drag n Drop them all in. Many of the Add-Ons are represented and really "spiff" the place up nicely. A really cool effect is using the Bookmarks toolbar not only as a quick link, but as your own personal Gallery to display your favorite Site Icon Logos. Normally your lucky to end up with 8 or 9 bookmark Icons, if you right click and delete the Name from "Properties" you can fit at least 16 of them. I even have Bookmark Folders full of different themes. One is all College Crests. And it really makes this set up look like a million bucks. But above all else it's a great Work environment.
Now we need a matching Sound System ! I stumbled upon this Roman Times Era Skin for WinAmp the best all purpose system there is.
The only thing left is to go into your system's Theme settings to set the texts and colors. And the Desktop Picture tops all of it off !
If for any reason you want a Brighter look Substitute Metal Lion 300 for "Pimpzilla". It's the next best thing, just more bling ! PimpZilla is very bad in a very good way.

Compensating System Power Shortcomings.

Using an out of date stone age computer can get frustrating getting left behind in the online dust. But fortunately there are many online "tools" available to help get past these type short comings. One of the easiest ways is to capitalize on what Google has to offer. There are many privacy concerns that revolve around the depth one should climb into bed with Google, but the fact still remains that thus far Google has done good by it's follower's trust. And there are enough ways to simply shut the door on these issues anyway.
Probably the best of these things around is G Space which allows the space given with G-Mail and putting it to work as a "Virtual" hard drive. This frees up space workload on the system's real hard drive. GUtil! is a FireFox extension that puts all Googles 55+ utilities just 1 click away. One of which is "Writely" a easy to use online alternative to Microsoft Office. A few other notable good extensions are G-Mail Notifier, Customize Google, and there are constantly new ones coming to light. Using FireFox it is just too easy to take advantage of Google's power and not doing so would be foolish. I use Blackbox by default as my primary search engine. This provides assurance that my IP is not tracked or being fed a steady diet of "Cookies". Customize Google takes away ADs and additional cookies and tracking also.

P.I.M.P.'ed Out Desktop.

P.roxyfied I.nternet M.icrosoft P.ortal
Get a Computer System running XP in a highly responsive, anonymous,and totally secure Environment. This install's foundation from start to finish is security.Begin by using a "Trust No One" Policy.Everyone has different Desktop needs,but no one has to give control of their CPU over to someone to get them.NO Automatic Updates w/very Few exceptions.Your Security features like AVG'sSpyware,anti-virus which require and provide constant updating is fine.And there are other trustable venues.Such as permitting Firefox to update my Browser and Add-Ons,but only because there are ever constant evolving security issues, and at times FireFox may put out an emergency response to a online threat. Because I know them,and I trust them. And I know they respect this trust, Microsoft on the other hand...Coming off a fresh Install go

1. Directly To WWW.CONCISEFREEWARE,COM
   
2. Here download Windows XP Anti-Spy, AVG-antiVirus*(optional), AVG-antiSpyware, SandBoxie, FireFox(default),ThunderBird*, True-Crypt, C-Cleaner, WinAmp, GTK-2,(installed 1st**)TheGIMP**, Java, Flash, CDburner, Skype, WinRaR*, Kompozer(webBuilder) WAMP*{MySql/php5 & /ApacheLiteBundle), GoogleEarth, Audacity(SoundEditor) FoxIt(PDF), ???Along with whatever else you can find there that you see that you like.
3. Before you make a move, run XPAntiSpy shut anything Windows down. Nearly all options to take back control will be utilized. You might want use of Win'sMediaPlayer, but this is the only issue, but DO NOT allow updates or connections of any type. A much wiser option is to remove WMP in favor of WinAmp's full glory. Along with CCleaner, Win.Personal Care V2 has the same cleaning skills with an added Security, Spyware and opminization feature.
   
4. True-Crypt. My Security Guru Steve Gibson says it's flawless for it's encrypting ability. It is the best option for securely protecting your data I seriously recommend a Broadband NAT Router as your primary line of Defense though. The Next is your Firewall. While "Surfing" the Net Run a separate User account w/o Administrative rights.
   
5. Kerio's Personal Firewall has been sold to SunBelt. There is a download of it's last stable version available.If you have trouble finding it though try a Comodo Firewall. The Proxy is for all intensive purposes much more then any normal user should need . But Why dick around? Go for broke! Install Tor-Videlia-Privoxy. It comes in a pre-configured bundle, that unlike most incredibly complicated things, works by default.
   
6. Before downloading the GIMP first the, Gtk-2 was installed. The GIMP graphics handler will default all Images as both viewer and an even better yet Editor. Since Gtk-2 was needed with the GIMP, make the most of it. Besides GTK programs are notoriously quick, feature rich, Solid Aps.Abi-Word is no different. It's a lightning fast light weight(-25MB) text Editor. With ability to run Win.Office and OpenOffice Files natively, "Abi" is just like the Big Boys only faster and at 1/4 the file size.Wireshark (Formely Ethereal) Wireshark is yet another terrific GTK+-based program. It's the ultimate network protocol analyzer, or sniffer, that lets you capture and interactively browse the contents of network frames. BlueFish is another GTK Ap that's well at home within this elite crowd. And lives up to all the GTK's lean mean speedy machine prerequisites. Developers;BlueFish is a HTML text editor with a long list of credentials. It's a perfect example of Open Source success, and is very well supported throughout the O.S.Community.
   
7. CCleaner and WindowsPersonalCareV2 do a decent job cleaning house.Setting FireFox Sec. Options to empty caches,downloads,and cookies.Now FireFox Add-Ons get thrown in.Must haves are FoxMarks, CustomizedGoogle, G-Util!, Quick-Java, Tab-MixPlus, CoolIris, FlashBlock, ChatZilla(IRC), DownThemAll, and AdBlockPlus. Developers get ColorZilla, FireBug, & FTP.Get a Theme (MetalLion300), Pimpzilla, Spoof a Mac/Linux! W/ Sounds & Icons.And your plug-ins.a\Set+set/b Be sure to find Google Blackbox search engine,and the flash Kartoo is cool.
   
8. Now firefox can be adjusted using about:config. Here are some good tutorials{PTII). While under the hood make blackbox as your default search. Add the"Boolean Preference" so minimizing the windows shuts their RAM usage down, focusing power where you want it. Mozilla has other Browsers worth trying. Opera is nice, but I liked better SeaMonkey. It has "Built In" IRC Chat, POP Mail, & RSS Feeds. And a even Great Html Editor!
   
9. Sandboxie is the most important item,behind the Router,and Firewall. Think of it as the"holyGrail"of this configuration. Not just your browser, but all programs should be run sandboxed. If by chance any Virus or Spyware actually made it past the bouncers on the way in,there would be no threat level. Whenever I use Frostwire my preferred P2P, I check any file before "Recovering"it outside the sandbox onto the desktop. This set up is nearly impenetrable against spyware, viruses, and probably things not even discovered yet. But only when used, and used correctly.
   
10. By now everything should weigh in around 3-4GB, be Incredibly functional, highly Secure, and cruise the Net like a luxury Cadillac(Worthy of a Pimp!). Now to Top it all off in case anything gets in your way....For the arming of your Computer. WireShark is a great tool for keeping an eye on what's going on around you. Or better yet "who"is, If you aren't very skilled yet in the art of Ethical Hacking a good idea just until you get the hang of it(or the 2 wk trial expires,whichever comes first) is. NS Auditor this is an all in one Hacker's Dream.So easy a child could figure it out.It lets you watch any potential counter hacking, test your own defenses ,and Hunt the game of your choice quite effectively.The GUI is elementary level but the tools are not. Use it maturely.