Here are some pretty simple changes you can make to changes to take Google out of the picture for most things.

Applications

Something to keep in mind with applications is how you purchase them now. You likely have a credit card number on file with Google Wallet to make purchases easy. When you use a service like Amazon, you can have a card on file with them to make the purchase of applications just as smooth. Other markets may require a Paypal or offer other payment options.

Amazon App Store for Amazon

The Amazon App Store for Android is the most popular app store aside from Google Play (formerly the Google Market). A cool feature of the Amazon App Store for Android is there is a free application everyday that would normally cost you money.

Most of the applications in the Amazon App Store for Android are what you will find in Google Play. There are some difference though. You can’t get the Google applications like Gtalk or Google+ apps. There are other 3rd party apps that can manage these services though if you need to access your accounts.

GetJar

Getjar is a smaller alternative Android market, but GetJar has several applications for free. The Free Android applications are in the Gold category. When you use Getjar, you will be more likely to find lesser known applications that would normally get buried in the larger app stores.

Email

There are a lot of email providers out there. Choosing one that suits your needs can be easier for some people than others. While email is basically for sending and receiving information, Gmail offers a lot of cool features that are hard to pass up. Getting an email service offering most of the same abilities will be tough, so you will need to decide what is most important to you in an email service.

Yahoo Mail

Yahoo is an ever-evolving email service. The Android application is pretty basic and will let you send and receive emails. You can also move emails from folder to folder. Syncing your contacts is pretty much the only extra feature.

Hotmail

Your MSN, Live or Hotmail account will fill a basic need for email on your Android phone. If you have an organizational folder system in your Live account, you can see these folders and transfer emails to other folders from your inbox. You can choose to sync your contacts and your Hotmail calendar with your Android.

Calendar

People are pretty particular about their calendars. If you use your Android calendar a lot, you may rely on Google Calendar too. If you switch to a service like Hotmail, you can sync their calendar with your Android phone.

Keeping your calendar in sync is a breeze with Hotmail. Add an appointment in either your phone or your web account and it will sync.

Browser

For those who browse the web from their Android phone, you may not want to give Google information about how you search and what you search for. Using a different browser other than the pre-installed Android browser will help.

Firefox

Firefox is a really cool mobile browser. The Android version of Firefox offers a lot of the same add-ons you may be using for your desktop Firefox making the download to your Android a good choice.

Dolphin HD

Dolphin HD is a feature-packed Android browser that gives desktop browsers a run for their money. You can download extensions to customize Dolphin HD to create your ultimate mobile web browsing choice.

Music

Music lovers will be happy to see there is another choice to using Google Music

Amazon Cloud Player

Google music is pretty cool. However, Amazon has a similar service letting you store your personal library and MP3s you purchase through Amazon on their servers. Amazon Cloud Player was also around before Google Music too. You can stream your songs right from the cloud or have them available for offline playing.

Conclusion

Google is awesome at what they do but too much of a good thing can be bad. Sure,by putting all of your information in one spot, you can make your life easier, but if you aren’t comfortable with every bit of your life being in one place, know there are other options while still using an Android device.

Now, to the poll of the week: How comfortable are you to entrust your personal data to Google?

Take Our Poll

Related Posts:

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• Sync And Listen To Your Music With Google Music Beta
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Most of the websites on the Internet have tracking software installed on the web pages. Although the information sent to the website owner can be harmless and may help better serve your needs, it is not always the case. If you are also concerned about your privacy over the Internet, here are a few tools and services which can help you in preventing the websites and services from tracking you online. You will become completely anonymous while browsing the Internet.

Do Not Track Plus

Do Not Track Plus is my favorite tool which I am currently using for my online privacy. Since I use Firefox as my primary browser, I have installed “Do Not Track Plus” as a Firefox Add-on. It is also compatible with Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. Do Not Track Plus can prevent tracking of social buttons, ad networks and other tracking companies. The thing I like about Do Not Track Plus is that it shows the information about tracking website in a pop-up when its toolbar button is clicked. Do Not Track Plus protects your online privacy from more than 600 trackers. The tracker database is updated regularly to combat new emerging trackers.

Download Do Not Track Plus for Firefox

Ghostery

Ghostery is another useful tool which can do the same job as Do Not Track Plus. Ghostery is compatible with Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera and Internet Explorer. It also supports mobile version (iOS). When a website is opened, Ghostery will list down all the trackers on the web page on the upper right corner of the browsing window. Ghostery gives you more control over which site to block and which one to allow. You can block the trackers you want and leave others as it is.

Download Ghostery (You can download Ghostery for each browser separately)

Adblock Plus

Adblock Plus is by far the most popular tool for blocking ads. Since most of the trackers are advertisements on the webpages, Adblock Plus can be handy in fighting online privacy issues. Adblock Plus supports Firefox and Google Chrome. Adblock Plus, rather than blocking the tracking of any service, blocks all the advertisements on the webpage. This can be beneficial if you are not interested in the advertisements. This can help improve browsing speed as most of the Javascript and advertisements are blocked.

Download Adblock Plus

NoScript

Most of the tracking is done through Javascript. If you disable Javascript in your browser, most of the privacy issues can be solved but the problem is that it is not always possible to disable Javascript and use all the functionality of the website. NoScript is a Firefox add-on which can prove very beneficial in this regard. NoScript does one thing and does it very well. It prevents Javascript and Flash based contents from running on a webpage without your permission. If you are extra cautious about your privacy, NoScript can be the tool of your choice.

I hope these tools will make your life easier and will help you fight against hidden leakage of privacy. Which tools are you currently using for protecting your privacy?

Image credit: alancleaver_2000

Related Posts:

• Sync Your Desktop Browser to Your Android Phone
• Want Your Privacy Back? Install and Run Tor in Ubuntu
• How to Switch A Tab to Incognito Mode Easily in Google Chrome
• Cocoon For Firefox Gives You A Secure And Private Browsing Session

Your starting page can be a very useful tool if you let it be. In the past, we have talked about different homepage choices here on Make Tech Easier. All have their pros and cons. Start.io is another option that might just fill your needs.

Why you need a start page

If you are planning to use a different start page, you should make sure it is better than the one you are already using. Personally, I toggle back and forth between Google Chrome and Firefox as my browser of choice. Google is my Firefox homepage and the new tab option showing recent sites and installed apps is my Chrome start page.

Sure these are great default options, but they aren’t all that helpful most of the time. This is where a homepage web app like Start.io can help.

What can Start.io do for you?

For starters (no pun intended), Start.io can be your gateway to YOUR web. You likely have several sites you visit with great regularity. By having links to your Google Reader, Gmail, Facebook, Quickbooks online, job boards, local news or whatever you like right on your start page will save you typing and clicking.

Add links to categories you create. Group things you like together.

The setup

You will need to sign up for an account. This  will save your information and settings. Once you have an account, you will be able to start tweaking Start.io to your liking. The key is to make your homepage full of links you need and easy to find groups.

Links

As you can imagine, the links on your homepage are what this is all about. You can add links you frequent manually or if you are already using a bookmarking or homepage replacement, you can import a OPML file or file from your browser.

There is also an option to use a bookmarklet to add links to your Start.io start page.

Layout

When you click the layout tab, you will have the choice of a few different looks. There are a few different looks to make your new homepage more appealing and usable.

If you are a bit more technical, you can edit the code to make your homepage exactly what you want it to be. This is not something available on any other start page web app I have seen in the past.

Final thoughts

The simplicity and the customizing options Start.io gives you are the perfect combination for anyone to use. Anyone with the desire to create a replacement start page can make just what they are looking for.

Being able to upload your bookmarks from another application, web app or browser is not something all of the other home screen options offer.

What do you use for your browser start page?

Related Posts:

• Favitt: Add Useful Features to Your Browser Start Page
• Tips To Use Less Google On Your Android Phone
• 4 Must Have Browser Addons To Protect Your Online Privacy
• The Search For The Best Mac Browsers

Below we take an updated look at each of these options and a few wildcard alternatives too, in an attempt to see what it is that each web browser brings to the table.

Firefox 6

For a long time, the first choice for those not wishing to use Safari, Firefox lost significant market share to newcomer Google Chrome and was seen to stagnate somewhat. Mozilla seem to have taken note of this however and, after a period of adjustment to the new Gecko layout engine, have hit back with some big changes in an effort to once again give Firefox great speed, while retaining the features which has made it one of the most successful web browsers to date.

Though it hasn’t quite caught up to Chrome speed-wise, Firefox now comes close enough to be competitive and loading web pages is not a painful experience when moving from one to another. Of course, swiftness is not everything and Firefox offers far more customisability than any other mainstream Mac web browser, enabling power users to tweak it to their exact specifications.

Best Point: Unparalleled flexibility
Worst Point: Cannot match speed of Chrome

Google Chrome

If there is one thing which Google know a lot about, it’s the Internet. It’s no surprise that when turning their hands to web browsing, a fantastic application which bears all the hallmarks of a great Google product has resulted. A beautiful minimalist UI, functioning extensions and commitment to constant improvement all make Chrome a force to be reckoned with.

If you’ve never used Chrome before, one thing is immediately apparent; Chrome is fast. Websites load with remarkable speed and the strong library of extensions mean it’s no slouch with extensions either. However, for those who have privacy concerns and feel uncomfortable with a powerful corporation having access to so much personal data, Google’s patchy record on privacy may negate any such great features.

Best Point: Incredible speed
Worst Point: Privacy concerns

Safari

Apple’s own web browser has always been popular with OS X users due to its speed, stability and beautifully designed minimalist user interface, but it seemed to suffer slightly in the wake of the swift rise of Google Chrome (which shares Safari’s rendering engine, Webkit). However, a recent update has brought some well considered tweaks and features, especially to OS X Lion users, such as the Reading List, Fullscreen and increased gesture support. In addition, there seems to be a return to the perceived stability and speed which was lost with the introduction of extensions.

Despite being a long Firefox loyalist, Apple have, temporarily at least, won this user back to Safari due to its good overall compromise and excellent features, in addition to the OS X Lion gestures which it now makes use of.

Best Point: Seamless OS X integration
Worst Point: Fewer extensions than competitors

Opera

Long consigned to life as the “other” web browser which most people didn’t use, Opera has increased its user base significantly with its speed, stability and increasing standards-compliance. But perhaps it is the non-typical approach by which Opera approaches web browsing which wins its loyal support.

Opera’s clever approach to passwords and its ability to run widgets or check email may not be particularly striking, but the browser is capable of much more; downloading torrents, making use of a very impressive server-side compression engine ‘Turbo’ to speed up slow connections and extensive gestures support – all combining to make Opera the choice for web-savvy Mac users looking for something different.

Best Point: Unique approach
Worst Point: Still less standards-compliant than major competitors

TenFourFox

Considering PowerPC users may have bought their machines as recently as 2005 and that the higher-spec models are often still very powerful and capable computers, the dropping of PPC support by Firefox was understandably seen as an upsetting development for users of PPC Macs. Luckily, up stepped TenFourFox: a project with a commitment to producing PPC-compatible versions of the latest Firefox build, in a package which will work for those still using that architecture. There is no need to delve into TenFourFox’s features here as they almost mirror that of Firefox 6, just rest assured that it’s a great browser for your PPC Mac!

Best Point: Brings the power of FF6 to PPC
Worst Point: Dependent on the work of smaller third party developers

Lynxlet

I admit that the inclusion of Lynxlet may be seen as pointless, but don’t be too hasty to write this text-only browser off as a gimmick just yet.

For those of us who love to tinker in the command line but don’t want the hassle of launching Terminal, Lynxlet provides a clickable icon to launch the command-line Lynx web browser. Since it is text-only, pages load very quickly even on slow connections and it is also a very secure browser, owing to the lack of plugins for hackers to exploit.

Not to forget that Lynxlet looks so technical, that anybody who’s not computer savvy taking a looking over your shoulder in the library will assume you are working hard at programming rather than surfing the Internet.

Best Point: Fast, retro fun
Worst Point: Unsuitable for the vast majority of Internet users

Camino

The Camino browser was originally launched in an effort to make Firefox more ‘Mac OS X-like’ and made impressive strides as a lightweight, stable and swift browser – indeed Camino is the often the first browser which springs to mind when thinking of Mac web browsers. Camino is written with Cocoa which basically means that it is more integrated than most web browsers, working with OSX’s built-in dictionary and Keychain.

Unfortunately, the community-driven project has suffered slightly from Firefox’s dropping support of Gecko embedding and it faces an uncertain future, as outlined in the Camino Blog

Best Point: Lightweight, visually pleasing
Worst Point: Future of project uncertain

The Best Of The Rest

RockMelt

RockMelt is a social network orientated web browser based upon Chromium. Though still quite young in its development, it’s already proving very popular and has gained positive reviews.

iCab

iCab sports one thing not often seen in a web browser; a purchase price. Despite this apparent stumbling block, the shareware browser has many fans and has a commendable habit of offering support to older machines and operating systems.

Iron

Previously covered here on this site, Iron browser purports to be a safe, secure and privacy-respecting alternative to Google Chrome.

Conclusion

By their very nature, browser roundups go out of date quickly and each version brings more features, speed or bloat but hopefully this brief look at most of the mainstream choices of Mac browser (and some lesser known) will leave you better armed to make an informed choice for your browser without going through the hassle of individually testing each and every one. Have I missed out anyone’s favourite? Please let us know in the comments if there’s any other browsers which you feel are worth looking at.

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1. Create an account with BT:Engage. Note: BT:Engage is still in beta and you will need an invite to be able to create an account. (Yes, we have an invite for you. Refer to the end of this article for more detail).

2. Once you have logged in, it will direct you to the theme design area. Here you will see two sections: the top section showing the header of the browser (the part where the theme will appear) and the bottom section with all the custom background and images that you can use.

3. As a start, you can click on any background at the bottom section and it will be applied to the header immediately. You can then drag and resize it to suit your needs.

4. There is the logo tab where you can click and add your own logo to the theme. All logo will be placed at the left corner, beside the Back/Forward button.

5. The “Buttons” feature is what made BT:Engage really useful. You can add custom buttons or quick shortcut to your theme to provide a one-click access to your site. For example, I have added several buttons to provide a one-click access to the various categories of Make Tech Easier.

6. Once you are done with your design, click “Finish”. It will then proceed to create the Firefox and Internet Explorer theme extension for your design. It will also be automatically be populated to the gallery where people can browse and download the theme. Optionally, you can also download the extension and distribute it in your site.

BT:Engage Invite

The BT:Engage team has gladly us provided us with an invitation code to share with all of you. Go to BT-engage, enter the invitation code “maketech” (without the quote) and you will be able to sign up for an account.

Enjoy!

BT:Engage is a product of BrandThunder.

Related Posts:

• 4 Must Have Browser Addons To Protect Your Online Privacy
• 7 Design Considerations You Should Follow When Designing A Firefox Theme
• Sync Your Desktop Browser to Your Android Phone
• 5 Firefox Add-ons For Better KDE Integration

That’s the knock against the Safari browser on iPhone. While the desktop version of Safari keeps being revised to include a lot of interesting features such as a graphic showing your top sites and Cover Flow, the mbile version used on iPhone has made very limited changes since its inception.

Thankfully there are other iPhone browsers out there that are better and came with fun and useful options.

1. Opera

While Firefox and Google Chrome don’t have apps for the iPhone, Opera does. Opera has its own verison of top sites, Speed Dial. It shows nine easily adjustable sites in the view. It also allows you to sync your bookmarks with your desktop version of Opera.

2. Mercury

This one also has a Speed Dial type of favorites menu. Plus, it works directly with Dropbox to transfer downloaded files through Dropbox. However, with the files I’ve tried, it didn’t send it to a download menu and just opened up the attachment for viewing instead. It has a lot of other extras, though, with a quick sharing menu to go straight to Facebook, Twitter, or Email, the ability to browse privately, themes, and more.

[feedomit][/feedomit]

3. Mango

It’s a very basic browser, but still sems to offer more than Safari. One feature is AR mobile. It allows you to utilize the cameras to view your surroundings while you type and browse the Internet. It also has a very unique way to set and save tabs, allowing you to input the addresses in large tabs to flip through, instead of mini tabs that get confusing.

4. Vanilla Surf

The tabbing functions in Vanilla Surf allow you to manipulate them in much the same way you would on a desktop browser. You can control whether new tabs and links open in a new tab or same tabs, easily Clear History and Clear Cookies, and also to surf privately.

5. Private Browser With Fullscreen & Multi-Tabs

While Mercury has private browsing as an option, that’s the standard function of this browser. It forgets your sites visited, passwords, etc., upon exit. If you do private browsing as a rule, you might want to consider this one. However, it has no other big extras.

6. Secret Browser

The main function of Secret Browser is the same as Private Browser, to keep your browsing history known to you and no one else. Additionally, it has small ads at the bottom as it works to keep it free. But you can also remove the ads if you pay for the app.

7. 360 Lite

This one is really unique. It has two separate dials that include many of the options. Ideally, by having the options in these pop-up dials, it can make them quicker to access than paging through windows. However, it can take some getting used to.

Compare these browsers to Safari, and you’ll find Safari literally has nothing extra. The problem is that while the iPhone allows you to add all these great browsers, it doesn’t allow you to set them as the default browser. The only way to do that is by doing a hack. If you don’t want to jeopardize your phone in that manner, you can still use these other browsers; you just can’t go straight from clicking a link in an email to having it go live in your alternate browser.

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• Preview Windows Phone 7 On Your iPhone
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Poll results and this week’s poll after the jump.

The question for this week’s poll is: What is your favorite browser?

Let’s the voting begin.

Take Our Poll

Feel free to leave in the comment your favorite browser if it is not in the list.

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Kadaza is a more visual homepage. It works in a similar way as many of the others, but adds a little bit of flair. It looks pretty simple, but it has a lot of variety; over 25.000 different preset sites. The best part is, there is no account to sign up for.

To start out, go to http://kadaza.com you will see the standard start page. The page will have 24 different logos for popular sites. To go to the site, click on the logo. Pretty straight forward stuff.

You will also see 22 other categories to the left. By choosing one of these categories, you will see logos that have to do with travel or career or dating.

When you are in a category like photo for example, you will see some links over to the right of the logos. These are sub-categories. It further narrows your the choices to very specific sites; many of which I did not know existed.

Now that you have explored a little and you have a feel for how things work, it is time to add the sites you really want. Just above the block of 24 logos, click on customize. The only differences you will see on the screen are arrows in the top right corner of the individual logos and where it used to say customize, it now says Finished? click here.

To change the site logo, click on the arrow. This will open up a pop-up window will show an address bar and a list of popular sites. Type in the name of the site you wish to see and hit enter. A list of the most relevant results will display. Pick the one you want by clicking on the text.

If you do not find the site you are looking for, you can send them an email to have it added. Don’t worry, Make Tech Easier is on there. ;-)

To make things a little more usable, you can drag and drop the logos into an order that makes the most sense for you. When you have everything just the way you want it, you can click Finished? click here. This will save everything.

The last step is to make Kadaza your home page. It is not any different from adding iGoogle or Netvibes as your homepage. If you need help, click on the link just below the lock of 24 logos for instructions.

With all of the homepages out there, the final decision comes from how it fits your needs and browsing habits. I have mentioned before how for the start page for Portable Firefox, I like something very light weight and not a lot of graphics so it loads fast. On my other browsers I tend to use iGoogle or something similar. Even if you have something that works for you, it doesn’t hurt to know what else is out there; it may work even better.

What needs do you have in your homepage?

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• Easy Access To Your Android Phone From The Web
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Google Chrome to Phone Extension is a Google Chrome extension that make uses of the new AppEngine server in Froyo to sync between your desktop browser and Android browser. With it installed, you can easily and quickly send links from your Chrome desktop to your Android device using its Cloud to Device Messaging service.

1. Install the Google Chrome to Phone extension. Firefox users can install the Send to Phone extension.

2. Click on the Chrome to Phone icon. It will tell you that you are not logged in. Click on the login link to register your browser.

3. Download and install the Chrome to Phone Android app

4. Run the Chrome to Phone app in your Android phone. Select the Desktop Account to sync. Tap on the “Register Device” button to register the device with the network. Optionally, you can check the box “Launch browser/map directly” so that when you sync on the desktop, your mobile browser/map will also open immediately.

That’s it. Now, whenever you click the Chrome to Phone icon in your browser, it will send the link to your Android phone.

Other than links, the extension also supports Google Maps, phone number and copy/paste text. When you are on a Google map page, clicking the Chrome to Phone icon will open the Maps app in your Android phone. Similarly, when you highlight a phone number in your desktop browser, the dialer app will be activated with the highlighted number. Lastly, with a paragraph of selected text, it will be populated to the clipboard in your Android phone and it can be pasted on any text box.

I have no doubt that this is one of the best feature in the latest Froyo release. Hopefully, in the near future, we can see more features like sending SMS right from your desktop browser. Also, currently the extension only supports one-way sync. It would be great to see a two way sync in the future. If you happen to have an Android handset running Froyo, do try it out and let us know your experience.

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• Want Your Privacy Back? Install and Run Tor in Ubuntu
• 4 Must Have Browser Addons To Protect Your Online Privacy

Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.

What Tor does is to bounce your web communication around a distributed network of relays so that no one will know where you are from. By using Tor, it prevents anyone to learn what sites you have visited, and also sites to find out where you are from. (Note: For more information on how Tor works, check out its overview page for detailed explanation.)

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Tor in Ubuntu and how to get it running in your browsers.

Note: Windows and Mac users can also download Tor from the download page.

Installing Tor in Ubuntu

Add the deb file to your sources.list. Remember to change [YOUR_DISTRO_VERSION] to your current distro version.

sudo sh -c ‘echo "deb http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org [YOUR_DISTRO_VERSION] main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list’

Add the gpg key used to sign the packages:

gpg –keyserver keys.gnupg.net –recv 886DDD89

gpg –export A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 | sudo apt-key add -

Install Tor

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install tor tor-geoipdb polipo

Download the polipo configuration file to your home folder (Right click on the link and select Save link as…).

Backup the existing Polipo configuration file and move the new configuration file to the Polipo directory.

sudo mv /etc/polipo/config /etc/polipo/config.bak

sudo mv ~/polipo.conf /etc/polipo/config

Restart Polipo

sudo /etc/init.d/polipo restart

Enable Tor in Firefox

Install Torbutton extension for Firefox.

After you have restarted your Firefox, you will see a “Tor Disabled” icon on the status bar.

Click on it to enable Tor.

You can go to the Preferences page and click on Test settings to see if Tor is working.

Alternatively, go to https://check.torproject.org/. It will inform you if you are running Tor.

Configuring Google Chrome to use Tor

In Google Chrome, click on the Wrench icon and go to the Options page.

Go to “Under the Hood” tab and click the Change proxy settings button.

Change the proxy setting to “Manual proxy configuration”. Enter the following in the HTTP proxy, Secure HTTP proxy and Socks host field.

Click Close.

Similarly, go to https://check.torproject.org/ and you will be able to see if Tor is running successfully on your Google Chrome.

What Tor does not do

While it is easy to install Tor and get it running on your computer, it is also good to understand its disadvantages and what it does not do that might affect your browsing experience.

• Using Tor will slow down your browsing speed.
• Using Torbutton for Firefox will block browser plugins such as Java, Flash, ActiveX, RealPlayer, Quicktime, Adobe’s PDF plugin, and others as they can be manipulated into revealing your IP address.
• Tor might delete your cookies that they deem dangerous. You might want to use CookieCuller Firefox addon to protect any cookies you don’t want to lose.
• Tor is not 100% safe. It only encrypts the traffic within the Tor network. Any traffic outside of the Tor network is still unencrypted.

Do you think Tor is a good way to protect your privacy? What other ways do you use to protect your online presence?

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But what if you work on multiple computers every day? What if you use your home computer, portable laptop, office computer and Internet cafes for your daily web activities?

It is really problematic to install browser extensions on all the computers, sync the bookmarks and get the same feel and environment. However, Favitt is a neat web service which lets you create your own browser start page and use it on any computer, without installing any software or browser extension.

Search Multiple Search Engines from the Same Browser Tab

The most impressive thing about Favitt is the ability to combine multiple search engines at one place. You can search Google, Yahoo, Bing, YouTube, Flickr, Amazon, Wikipedia, Google News and other popular sources from the same browser tab.

This is extremely useful because you don’t have to open multiple tabs, type the address of a search engine, enter your keywords and search separately. With Favitt, you type the keywords once, select the search engine and see the results on the same page.

Here is how the search interface of Favitt looks:

To perform a search, simply type the keywords in the search box and select the search engine shown in tabs. Favitt will then load the results as shown in the following image:

You will see a list of all the popular search engines shown in the left sidebar. To perform a search on a different search engine, simply click the link from the sidebar and the results are displayed on the same page. There is no need to type the same keywords again. This feature can be very useful for Bloggers or webmasters, they can compare the results of a particular keyword or phrase very easily.

Add your Own Search Engine

There are times when you would want to search a specific site for content.You may not want to use Google, Yahoo or any other search engine and may want to search a specific blog for some article. In such situations, Favitt saves the day by allowing you to add your favorite site’s search engine to your Favitt start page.

To add a site specific search engine, all you have to do is go to your Favitt account and enter the URL of the site you want to add:

You can add up to 5 sites in a custom search list. If you want to add more sites, simply select another search tab and add the sites or blogs you want.

For example: I added the Maketecheasier search engine as one of the search tabs on my Favitt page. Hence, I can search for content that is published on Maketecheasier right from my browser’s start page.

Access your favorite sites

Favitt lets you add a list of sites to a sleek dropdown menu known as “favorite sites”. You can add any site or social network to this list, which is very handy if you want to access frequently visited websites quickly.

The advantage is that you do not have to worry about browser bookmarks, export and import them manually. All these bookmarks are saved in your start page, forever.

Upload Images to Your Favitt Account and Set them as background

You can upload images from your computer or add an image from a publicly accessible URL to your Favitt account. This image can then be set as the background of your browser start page. The interesting thing is that Favitt will automatically rotate your images on a daily basis, so you always get a refreshing background on your browser’s start page.

Do you use a browser start page? How do you like the features of Favitt? Share your ideas in the comments section.

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Iron browser is developed by a German software company SRWare. It is based on the open source Chromium source code and has the same feature as Chrome. What makes it different is that all the privacy features, such as Client ID, Google update, Google suggest are stripped off and it is able to provide a more secure environment for its users.

Here is a comparison of both Iron and Chrome’s privacy settings:

Features

Iron browser has the exact same features as Chrome. You can pull out tabs to new windows, open browser in Incognito mode, search from the URL bar and almost everything else that exists in Chrome.

Portable version

Together with the desktop version, SRWare also released a portable version of the Iron browser that you can install on your USB drive and bring it wherever you go. Simply download the portable version and run the exe file in your thumb drive. No admin rights needed.

Ad blocker

One of the useful features found in Iron, but not Google Chrome, is the ability to block ads, much like the Adblock Plus extension in Firefox. Download the adblock.ini file and replace the file with the same name in the IronBrowser main directory. Restart the browser. It should automatically block hundreds of advertisers, including the popular Google’s Adsense and Yahoo’s YPN, from appearing now.

Iron browsing blocking ads

Google Chrome showing ads

If you love Google Chrome for its slickness and features, but are very much concerned about Google collecting your data, Iron browser would definitely be a good alternative. The stable installer and the portable version are currently available for Windows only. The version for Linux and Mac is still at alpha testing stage and are not suitable for production use. Linux enthusiasts who wanted to test it can download the file here.

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Creating multiple login accounts on a website is never an issue. Accessing them simultaneously is. Most browsers have their own centralized cookie management system. When you are logged in to a website in one instances, you won’t be able to login to the same website using another account, even if you open a new tab or window. Personally, I have more than 2 Gmail accounts, Yahoo accounts, Facebook accounts and multiple login IDs to my own blog. There are times when I need to login to different accounts to access a particular emails, or to check the setting/status of the other accounts. Below are some of the ways that I used to access to different accounts (of the same website ) simultaneously.

Install multiple browsers

This is definitely not the most effective method, but it is surely one method that works 100% of the time. Since all browsers have their own cookie management system, you can easily login to one account in Firefox, and another in IE/Chrome/Opera/Safari etc. The downside of this is that they clutter up your desktop, take up lot of memory and storage space.

Firefox

To be able to login to various accounts in Firefox, the best way is to install the extension CookiePie. What it does is to create different instances of cookies in different tabs and windows so you can login to the same website with different login ID simultaneously.

1. Install the CookiePie extension from the Nektra site.

2. In the current tab, login to your account with the primary ID

3. Open a new tab, right click at the tab and select Toggle On/Off Cookiepie.

You will now see a cookie on the tab.

4. On this new tab, you can now go to the same website and login with another ID.

Note: CookiePie conflicts with some of the extensions, like Tab mix plus and TooManyTabs. It might not work properly with these extensions.

Internet Explorer 8

Internet Explorer 8 comes with a New Session mode that allows you to start a new window with a brand new session.

Open IE8, go to the URl of the site and login with your first ID.

Go to File->New session. This will open a new window. Navigate to the same site and you should be able to login with another ID.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome comes with a incognito mode that allows you to login to two different instances of the same website.

1. Login to the the website in Google Chrome.

2. Glick on the Tools icon and select New Incognito Window. Alternatively you can press Ctrl + Shift + N to open a new Incognito Window

3. Navigate to the same website and you should be able to login with another user ID.

What other methods do you use to login with different accounts on the same website simultaneously?

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The second problem is that Microsoft doesn’t allow you to install several versions of IE in the same Windows (unless you hack it). If you install IE 7, it automatically replaces IE 6 and if you upgrade to IE 8, your IE 6 and 7 are gone. Even if you want to test your site in the various IE browsers, you won’t be able to do it (easily) within the same Windows.

If you are facing the above problems, then IETester could be the solution for you.

IETester is a Windows based software that allows you to view your website in IE5.5, IE 6, IE 7 and IE 8 simultaneously. It doesn’t require you to install all the IE browsers, except that you need IE 7 for it to function properly.

When you first open IETester, you will find that the interface is very similar to Microsoft Office 2007, especially with the Ribbon menubar.

On the Ribbon bar are buttons that allow you to view your site in IE 5.5, IE 6, IE 7 and IE 8. One good thing is that it allows you to open the browser in tabs so you can switch from one browsers to another easily. You can also place them side by side to view the rendering effect simulanteously.

IETester does not goes well with IE 6. If you are still using IE 6 in your system, you will find that you won’t be able to access the IE8 tab and the software crashes regularly. The solution to this is to upgrade your system browser to IE 7.

Another problem that I have found is that even when you have IE7, if the first tab you open in IETester is IE 6, the software will crash. What I did to overcome this is to first open an IE 7 or 8 tab, then follow by the IE 6 tab. Everything should work fine from then on.

If you have installed the Debug bar from the same developer, you can even open up the debug sidebar to check the flow of your code and hunt down the bug.

There is also an option for you to view the source code right within the software. It even allows you to view how IE interprets your code.

While IETester is still in the alpha version, I have found it to be useful and stable. No doubt there are still some bugs in the software, but the overall experience has been a very positive one. For Web developers and designers, this is definitely a great software you must have.

Does IETester works for you? What other ways do you use to check your website for cross browsers compatibility?

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