On the Bookshelf at O.N.Z.C.D.A™

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Browsers you may need.

For modern web development today it’s important to test web sites in more than one browser. The best practice is to first test in one that has good support for standards and then move on to the older ones and fix your site for them.

‡Mozilla Firefox is a great browser and a serious challenger to Internet Explorer. The best web development feature of Firefox is all its extensions that are available. I have made a special section about good extensions to use below.

‡Safari is a good Mac browser everyone should know about. One of its great merits is that it was one of the first browsers to complete the Acid2 test. If you are a Mac user this one is a must have.

‡Internet Explorer (IE) is the browser that is used by most people over the world (because it ships with Windows, not because it’s the best one). Whether you like it or not you do need to test with it so make sure you have a computer available with it installed. I have linked to Windows Update above, just click the link above and select all updates that have to do with Internet Explorer.

‡Opera is another good browser with many users. The Opera team has put great effort to make any standards compliant site work in Opera so there are no reasons why your site should not work.

One can never too much battery power. We always more, more and even more! The truth is that like most things in life, it costs a lot of money. But you can choose to use it sensibly and maximize the unplugged time.

‡The screen draws the most power from the battery so when you are working unplugged dim the screen to the lowest brightness setting possible.

‡There are certain running processes ( like Bluetooth and a WiFi network detection ) that eat up the CPU in turn affecting the battery. It is a good idea to switch them off when you are on battery.

‡Refrain from watching movies or playing graphic intensive games and you will see your battery lasting longer.

‡If you are using a USB mouse, unplug it every once in awhile and use the touch pad. It will save you the power that the mouse is drawing from the USB port.

Most of us like to be online at all times without realizing that it draws quite a bit of battery power. So, it is imperative that you learn how to function offline.

‡Use Outlook Express or Thunderbird to save all your e-mails offline. This way you can work with them while you're disconnected from the Internet.

‡Use a desktop RSS reader to download all your feeds and read them while you are offline.

‡Save Web pages on your hard drive so you can view them offline. Not only are you saving battery power, but you are also ensuring that your work does not stop if you are in some place without an Internet connection.

Since you take your laptop everywhere the chances of it being damaged are a lot more risky. All that wear and tear could easily lead to a component failure. Usually it is the hard drive that fails first and losing vast amounts of data will never make you feel good.

‡Always back up data to a zip drive, DVD, CD or external USB hard drive. It will help you sleep better knowing your personal desktop at home has all your laptop data saved safely.

Chances are your laptop is traveling to all sorts of places. From the bus / rail station to the office to the restaurant to your child's school etc. The cracks in the keyboard could be home to anything from dust to hair to bread crumbs.

‡To save your laptop from this menace buy a laptop keyboard cover to protect your keys. Some of the keyboard covers also perform the task of protecting the screen from keyboard scratches.

‡If you already have the dust between the keyboard cracks, use a Post-it sticky note to do the dusting by running the adhesive edges through the cracks to clear out the dust. To be even more effective, use compressed air with cotton swabs to clean between the keys.

If you are someone who likes to use open wireless networks make sure you have a good firewall installed on your laptop. Be certain that any sort of folder sharing is turned off and that no local servers are running. If possible, encrypt your data and use very strong passwords. This helps to protect your personal information when you use these open wireless connections or in case your laptop gets stolen.

Laptops tend to easily heat up especially if you run a lot of CPU hogging software, games or if you use your Laptop for long hours and unless you are feeling the cold of winter you will not be thrilled with all the heat. Use a non-heat conducting material between the laptop and your legs. Sometimes the top of the keyboard might also get hot so you could wear long sleeved shirts to reduce the effect. The easiest way to get rid of this problem is to use a desk while working with your laptop.

Transporting a laptop is a daily chore for many of us. We hang them from one shoulder; they bump into people, things, doors and worse and none of these events do the laptops any good. Try to invest in a good carry bag for the laptop. It might seem expensive but it is a very useful one time investment you can make.