Google Talk on Port 80
This is a very short tutorial on how to connect to Gmail using Pidgin over port 80. Some of my beloved readers behind the Great Firewall of China and some on really restrictive networks have requested this. Enjoy.
1. Download and install Pidgin client.
2. Configure the client with the following settings do not make changes to anything that I don't specify in here:
Note: If you already have it install pull it up and go to: Accounts > Manage Accounts > Add
Basic (tab)
Login Options:
Protocol: Google Talk or XMPP
Username: Your Gmail username
Domain: gmail.com
Resource: Gmail
Password: Your Gmail password
Check the box Remember Password
Advanced (tab)
Require SSL/TLS: checked
Force old (port 5223) SSL: un-checked
Connect port: 80
3. Click Save
Deleting duplicates in Thunderbird
I've been looking for hands down the best email solution and I think I might have found it. I've been using Thunderbird for a while now and simply love Thunderbird 3.0 It'a greate email client overall however I did come across something that bugged me and finally figured out how to overcome it. I get a lot of duplicate emails daily. I'm not talking about the same request re-worded I'm talkign about the same exact email because someone on a form on email client re-sent me the same thing more then once. It's rather annoying and clutters up my inbox. I was hoping I would be able to set up a generic "duplicate" filter. However as it turns out there was none. I did find the correct way to do it by manually changing a configuration file setting for Thunderbird. So here is how you would change it so that duplicates get deleted once retreived.
1. Open Thunderbird (Really I had to tell you that ?)
2. Browse to: Tools > Options > Advanced > Config Editor
3. Look up: mail.server.default.dup_action
4. Double Click on it and set it's value to.
Posible entries for the value are represented by 1 numeric character. Here is what changes each number makes:
0 = Default Entry. Retrieves dups.
1 = Duplicates are deleted after they are retreived. (Should work well for most users.)
2 = Dups get moved to the trash.
3 = Duplicates get marked as read messages.
WARNING: I'm not responsible for your inability to correctly follow instructions or any actions you take for that matter. As a general rule. Please don't play with any settings you don't feel fully comfortable with.
Disabling the Firefox Delay Timer
Have you ever wanted to disable the little annoying count down that Firefox gives you when you try to install a plug-in. Turns our the original porpoise of that timer was to prevent novice users from installing random plug-ins without realizing they are doing so. If you are reading this you are probably not a novice and understand what plug-ins are and do in Firefox. So without further ado in order to disable this annoyance:
1. Pull up a new tab (ctrl+t)
2. Browse to: about:config
3. Find and set value for: security.dialog_enable_delay to 0 (numeric value 0 not the letter o)
What is a favicon ?
You see that little M logo on a black background in the address bar ? That is this site's favicon. A favicon is a small file preferably 16x16 pixels or 32x32 pixels that gets to be displayed in your browsers address bar when you visit a website. If you haven't noticed them yet. You should start looking for them. They are a very simple way to make your website a little more memorable. Some browsers even display the favicon for links that you have bookmarked. In short if it's something that sticks out it will help your visitors remember your site easier.
So lets get started. There are two methods I prefer over all others to create this little image/logo. One is to start with an image that you already have and the other is to create a text based favicon using a free tool. Lets start with the image as that is probably the most harder way. Lazy people skip ahead now. First you need to have a square image that you have either created or have rights to use on your website. Next you will need an image editor to scale the image down to the size we need and to save it as a favicon. The best free image editor that I know of is IrfanView it's great download and install it really quick if you don't have it. If you are using a different image editor good luck. I'm going to asume that you know how to use it. If you are using IrfanView drag the image into it and then go to Image > Resize/Resample... Leave all of the default selections as they are and only change the width and height to 32x32 after that Ok your way out of that menu and then go to: File > Save because this image is super tiny to begin with we don't have to be greedy with quality. Drag the quality slider all the way up to 100. Under the Save as type: dropdown select: ICO - Windows Icon name the file favicon (All lower case.) and Save it.
Great you just created your very own favicon. For the lazy ones out there there is free software online that will allow you to create a text based favicon. It is called AntyFavicon. I have a link to them in the sidebar at the very bottom. Check out some of the other great resources that I have for: Web Design/Dev Tools. Back to the favicon. Go to that website enter in some text pick your colors and click on the save as favicon file button. Doesn't really get any easier then that.
Now that you have your favicon either created from an image or text you will need to put it on your website. The cool part is taht there is no extra coding you need to do and nothing else to modify on the actual website. All it takes is for you to upload that favicon file into the same folder that your index.html file is located in also know as your public_html or www folder. Once you do that it should start showing up in your browsers address bar. If you don't see it right away you might want to try clearing your browsers cache (ctrl+r to force refresh) or using a differnet browser that has no cache 
Easier then you though right ?
Cloud
