They do this by offering a saved password option. This might be okay if you’re using a private computer, but can be dangerous if used in a shared one.

So in case you have no choice but to use a public terminal, here’s what you can do to make sure that the browser does not store your username and password:

For users of the latest Internet Explorer, load the Internet Explorer browser. Click on Tools and choose “Internet Options.”

Click on the “Delete” next to “Browsing History.” A new window will pop up. Delete the “Passwords” history.

This will delete all the passwords and usernames you’ve typed in all the sites you’ve visited.

A must install when working on shared and public terminals (provided that you can install Firefox add-ons). Keyloggers often target web browsers since it’s that particular interface where a lot of user authentication happens. Well sure, some jealous husbands and wives install them to check whether their respective spouses are cheating on them but if you are ever so loyal, then you should be more concerned with keyloggers making records of your online transactions.

KeyScrambler is a Firefox add-on that scrambles your keystrokes in the kernel driver level then decrypts them at the browser level. Keyloggers often situate themselves somewhere in between these levels. With KeyScrambler, keyloggers would just record gibberish.

Download KeyScrambler Firefox add-on here.

There’s also an IE and Flock add-on available and there’s also the Premium and Professional that offers a chock-full more goodies like support for other browsers, password manager link-ups, online poker, and MS Office support. Visit their homepage for more info.

I always prefer to connect and log-in to websites via https. They’re a lot more secure and is highly recommended for those leeching off free Wi-Fi connections, using Internet cafe terminals, and to those who are just plain paranoid.

Previously, you can only do this by manually entering the https://mail.google.com in your URL bar, or perhaps bookmark it, or use a Firefox plug-in to automatically do it for you. But Google is kind enough to create an always https option inside Gmail.

Accessing Settings -> General in Gmail would show you this option at the bottom. By enabling it, Google will be kind enough to switch you to an https connection automatically.

Caveat for Gmail Mobile users though.

Quite some time ago, we featured Cooliris Previews as a must-have add-on for Firefox. Knowing what the linked page contains before actually clicking it does have its perks. From the same company comes PicLens – another browser add-on (though not just exclusively for FF, you can get with for IE and Safari) that redefines how you view popular websites.

If you want that aero-feel to browsing web content, PicLens just gives you that. It gives you 3D browsing of photos and videos, say, in websites like YouTube and Flickr. New additions for the latest version are:

• Shop Amazon – The 3D Wall transformed image search. Now PicLens launches online shopping into the 21st century. Browse and buy seamlessly just like window shopping!
• Discover – MSNBC, ESPN, movie trailers…Get the latest news, photos, and video feeds.
• Return to PicLens – An essential for playing with pictures: toggle in and out of your desktop, the browser, and PicLens!

Now if it could just be possible to view every site via this interesting app.

Download PicLens here.

I am still an out and out Firefox fan but anything that involves my OS’ manufacturer deserves a look somehow. And when news has it that the new Internet Explorer 8 would be standards-compliant, it definitely has my attention (though I can’t seem to avoid not snickering when I get to think of “standards compliance” and “Internet Explorer” in the same line).

Standards-compliance offers a lot of advantages. This means that if you properly use semantic code (XHTML and CSS), then you can pretty much determine how one design would look. That would mean less problems for designers and developers. IE8 would even have a set of integrated developer tools to quickly debug codes and scripts. The browser passes the Acid2 browser test and fully supports CSS 2.1

IE8 also contains two new features – Activities (which are “contextual services to quickly access a service from any webpage. Users typically copy and paste from one webpage to another”) and WebSlices (which allows websites “to connect to their users by subscribing to content directly within a webpage. WebSlices behave just like feeds where clients can subscribe to get updates and notify the user of changes”).

A few more features are: a Favorite toolbar, Advanced Crash Recovery, and Improved Phishing Filter.

Download Internet Explorer 8 BETA here.

Huzzah! After nearly a year of not posting anything related to Internet Explorer (that’s how I hate using that non-standards compliant browser), here’s one. Not that I don’t use IE since I do for IE Tab to log-in to multiple accounts at the same time.

Anyway, one feature that Firefox has that readily trumps IE is its find as you type search feature. For IE, you still have that Find feature which you have to hit OK and cycle through instances to find a portion of text that you need. Quite tedious. So here’s one IE7 add-on that adds that functionality to your browser. Find As You Type by Ooki Software replaces you Ctrl + F find option with a search bar similar to Firefox and searches text as you type. Quick, simple, and efficient.

Unfortunately, this add-on is for IE7 in XP and newer only. So for the lot of you who are still using IE6, why not upgrading to IE7 and have this add-on installed?

Download Find As You Type here.

Via gHacks

1. Launch Calculator (either through the Start Menu or the keyboard ninja way Windows Key + R and type calc then hit Enter)
2. In Calculator, click Help -> Help Topics
3. Right-click on the left hand side of the title bar just near the icon and click Jump To URL…
4. Type in the URL (make sure that you include ‘http://’) and go about browsing

This essentially works since the Help for some XP applications are HTML based and uses the IE engine as well.

Via Hackosis

One thing about Word is that, once you type in something that has “http://”, “www.” and a “.com” in a sequence, it automatically creates a hyperlink pointing to that specific URL. While keyboard ninjas would swear by Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V combo. There are still more ways to create hyperlinks in Microsoft Word. Here’s a nifty trick that you can do using the right-click and drag technique.

From a Folder Window

Hyperlinking to a local file or folder can still have its perks and can be pretty. To create a hyperlink to a local file without having to fidget around with paths, all you have to do is to right-click and drag a file in a folder window (or on the desktop) to your Word window. This will open a context menu in Word giving you options to move, copy and create a hyperlink.

From Internet Explorer

If you’re dealing with links to web pages online, you can still use this same process to create links in Word. One way you can use the right-click and drag combo is to use it on the page icon just before you see the “http://” of the URL in the address bar. That is, if you’re going to create hyperlinks to the page. If you want to create a link from existing links to another page without having to open them in a new tab or window, you can simply right-click and the drag the hyperlink to Word. However, this process might prompt an IE security pop-up to show. Just allow the action.

IEPlus is an add-on that gets you a lot more mileage by enhancing IE’s default features, crash recovery included. And here’s a list of its features

• Close tab when double clicked
• Super drag and drop
• Browse history management
• Multi-proxy management
• Mouse gesture
• Ads block based on URL and content, URL shortcuts
• Enhanced crash recovery
• Hotkey
• A power plugin system ready to be extended

Download IEPlus here.

• Store and serve application resources locally
• Store data locally in a fully-searchable relational database
• Run asynchronous Javascript to improve application responsiveness

Imagine web applications continuing to work while you’re offline. Lo and behold, there’s an “Offline” link in my Google Reader. Apparently, it’s the first Google service that can be ported through Gears. It’s currently available in BETA for Windows, Mac, and Linux for IE and Firefox. I can’t wait to have the other applications work offline. Increased productivity all around!