Column Reader for Firefox, better widescreen monitor reading

If you have to read a lot when you are working on the Internet you have probably encountered situations where you’d have to read through a large document or maybe even a book that was published on an Internet site. Browsers by default do not really work that well in this case, and while it is certainly possible to read the document or book using standard browser controls, most users may prefer a set of tools that makes the whole process more enjoyable for them.

Extensions such as Readability, Tidyread or Evernote Clearly remove the majority of page elements from a web page so that only the actual text that you want to read is displayed on it. Many change the font type and size as well to take advantage of the space that is now free to use in the browser window.

Column Reader is another Firefox extension that aims to turn Firefox into a web reader that improves reading comfort in the web browser. The extension turns articles that you select in a column layout that newspapers all over the world use.

Instead of having to scroll down once you reach the end of the visible page, you now scroll to the side. The extension makes available a set of tools for you to use to make scrolling and orientating a pleasant experience. When you move the cursor down to the bottom of the page, you will notice that all pages are displayed in miniature format there. Here you see where you are position-wise and  have options to scroll page by page or as long as you want by clicking or holding down the mouse while moving it to the left or right.

But the bottom navigation is only one option that the author of the extension is making available. You get a number of icons at the top that change behavior as well as the look and feel as well. As far as scrolling goes, you can switch between normal, fast, slow or stepped scrolling. One option here is for instance to click once to scroll forward or backward one column.

Layout-wise, you have options to change the number of columns to a value between one and five, and to switch from the standard layout to journal or book mode instead. Here you can also modify page margins, fonts and colors used on the page. The controls give you options to change a page’s color scheme, invert the colors, or change the brightness or contrast gradually. Changes can be saved for individual pages or domains, with options to revert back to the default settings at any point in time.

Column Reader for Firefox is an excellent well thought out extension that can be especially helpful for widescreen monitor users who want to make use of the screen estate they have at their disposal.

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About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Tuesday September 4, 2012 -
Tags:Firefox, firefox add-ons, readability

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Read Free Kindle Ebooks with Kindle Reader Apps

Amazon’s Kindle Reader is a big success for the online shopping giant. One of the reasons for the success is the cross-promotion that Amazon is running on the highly frequented shopping portal website. Kindle Reader or Fire owners can purchase books optimized for the reader on the Amazon website. As part of the promotion, free Kindle ebooks are offered on the site next to regular ebooks that need to be bought before they can be read.

What many users do not know is that they can download and read the free ebooks even if they do not own a Kindle. How is that possible? With Kindle software readers of course. Amazon has created free reading apps for many mobile devices and desktop operating systems. At the time of writing, the Kindle Reader software is available for Windows PCs, Apple Macintosh systems as well as iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android and Windows Phone 7 devices. On top of that, there is also a cloud based reader application that lets you read the books right on the Amazon website.

The cloud reader requires Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Safari, with additional browser support promised.

The only other requirement is an Amazon account that you need to manage the books. You can purchase Kindle ebooks easily on Amazon, or make use of the free offers instead. Amazon offers thousands of free Kindle-ready ebooks in their store that Kindle users can add to their account.

The selected books get automatically synchronized with reader apps on the desktop, mobile devices or the cloud, just like they are on Kindle devices.

A good starting point to grab free Kindle ebooks is the top 100 free books list on Amazon. While you should not expect the latest bestsellers offered for free in the listing, you will certainly find some books of interest listed there. You can use the categories on the left to display the top 100 free ebooks for a particular category that you are interested in instead. Here is the current fiction listing for Amazon.com.

Some categories have sub-categories with additional book listings. Fiction is on the other hand just one of the categories. You also have nonfiction categories, biographies, graphic novels and other listings on the site to explore. You can use this page as the starting page.

Free books can be part of a promotion, for instance the first book of a series or a publisher promotion, or written by indie authors who want to make a name for themselves and attract a wider audience.

To add a free book to your collection do the following. Click on the book title to be taken to the item page on Amazon. Here you should see again that the book is currently listed for a price of $0.00. A click on Buy now with 1-click adds the book to the account. When you do that for the first time, you may need to select the reader app that you intent to use.

Future selections should not show that selection screen anymore. The book will automatically be synced with the selected reader app.

There are other sites that let you download free ebooks for Kindle devices. The Free Kindle Books site offers a selection of Kindle compatible compilations that link to book downloads that you can then open with the Kindle Reader app for your device.

Grab a reader app for your desktop PC, mobile device, or use the cloud readerCreate or use an existing Amazon accountAdd free ebooks using the links listed above to your accountStart reading free ebooks on Kindle Reader apps

The process is surprisingly easy once you have installed the reader app and logged into your Amazon account. If you like reading on the computer or mobile devices, then this option could be interesting for you. Amazon offers a large selection of free ebooks for Kindle in nearly every category imaginable. If you do not like to read ebooks at all, you’ve probably stopped reading after the first two sentences anyway.

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About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Tuesday March 20, 2012 -
Tags:ebooks, kindle, kindle reader, windows software

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Firefox 14 Gets Built-In PDF Reader PDF.js

Browser plugins may soon become a dying form of adding functionality to web browsers. We are already seeing first signs of that, for instance with Chrome’s built-in pdf reader, or the drive towards HTML5 video and media in general. The biggest issue with plugins, besides compatibility, is security, and here the need to keep plugins up to date to avoid attacks that exploit known vulnerabilities that have already been fixed in the latest plugin versions.

While there have been some attempts to inform the user when plugins are not up to date, it is still nothing that prevents users from running outdated plugin versions on their computer.

Mozilla has now started to integrate a native PDF reader into Firefox 14 versions. We have talked about pdf.js before, a script that is rendering PDF with HTML5 and JavaScript. While it may not look that different from Google Chrome’s internal pdf reader, it is not the same thing.

Andreas Gal, one of the authors of pdf.js, highlighted some of the benefits in a blog post in 2011.

Displaying PDFs directly in the browser would definitely improve the user’s experience. There are literally millions (billions?) of PDFs floating around the web, and on many devices loading PDFs switches to a different application (e.g. Preview on OS X and PDF View on Android). Also, external PDF readers and many plugins don’t support important PDF features well, including content links and fetch-as-you-go (HTTP range requests).

The traditional approach to rendering PDFs in a browser is to use a native-code plugin, either Adobe’s own PDF Reader or other commercial renderers, or some open source alternative (e.g. poppler). From a security perspective, this enlarges the trusted code base, and because of that Google’s Chrome browser goes through quite some pain to sandbox the PDF renderer to avoid code injection attacks. An HTML5-based implementation is completely immune to this class of problems.

Firefox 14, which is currently available in the Nightly channel, includes the pdf reader already. It is listed in the extensions menu of the browser, and deactivated by default. Firefox users who’d like to test the reader capabilities need to enable it first, before they disable any plugins in the browser with pdf reading capabilities.

The pdf reader opens pdf documents in browse tab. A small toolbar at the top allows you to go to a specific page, change the zoom level, print the document, download it, or bookmark the current location. It is quality-wise not on pair with Adobe Reader’s plugin, but still ok and comparable to Google Chrome’s pdf reader.

Firefox users who would like to try the extension right now can install a stable or nightly version of it from the project site. And yes, it works in all recent versions of the Firefox browser. (via Sören Hentzschel)

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About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Friday March 23, 2012 -
Tags:Firefox, firefox news, pdf reader

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5 simple and easy suggestions to help you pick a palm or tarot card reader for your next corporate or private event.

I'd like to share with you a few simple, easy, yet very important things to look for in selecting a palm or tarot card reader for your next party or event. You want your guests feeling great after the reading, and that the entertainment really enhances the special occasion.

1. You'd want to pick an entertainer that clearly likes people. Seems simple, yet like any business, some people just do it for the money. The best way, I think you can tell this, is how they speak over the phone. Are they happy to hear from you? Do they sound sincere? Do they really want to help you make the event unforgettable and special?

2. Pick someone that specializes in fun readings. You'd want a reader that is good enough to specialize in doing readings. Lots of entertainers are jacks of all trades. They are fire eaters, clowns, singers and on some weekends they're plumbers. As with anything, it's better to work with a specialist. You don't want someone that is a lung surgeon during the week and a short order cook on weekends. As the old saying goes: "Frank Sinatra doesn't move pianos."

3. Someone that is passionate about what they are doing. Have they written books or articles? Do they have lots of testimonials? Are they always trying to get better? Do they sound like they love what they do? Simple things, I know, but so important. You'd want an entertainer that loves what he or she does.

4. If possible meet in person. We've all seen great websites. Yet, the best way to really know is to meet them in person. Maybe get a fun reading yourself or for a few co-workers. This is not always possible, but when it is, it is a good idea.

5. Someone that isn't too cheap. Ok, Ok. This may sound little self-serving. It's honestly really not. As I'm sure you already know, the very best of anything in the world, may cost a little extra money. The entertainment is a big part of the success of your parties and events. Would you hire a heart surgeon that charges $50 bucks for a procedure? Of course not. How good could he or she be? This is a tricky one, everyone wants to save money. Use your good judgment and maybe a little of your intuition on this one.

Hope these few suggestions help you. Getting the right entertainment for your special events can be a little bit of a challenge. I'm sure you'll do a great job. Good luck and I wish you all the best.

Eric Lindsey discovered his psychic gifts at early age. At 9 years old he would pick up on the thought and feelings of his family and friends.

Today he is a feel good palm and tarot card reader for corporations and private parties. He also does private readings for a few select clients.

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GonVisor, Image, Comic Book and Ebook Reader

If you like to view comic books, ebooks, or image series on your computer you are probably using a specialized program like CDisplay or CoView for this which offer features that standard images viewers do not offer.

GonVisor is another versatile software that combines the functionality of an image viewer with ebook and comic book format reading capabilities and management functionality.

The program is offered as a portable version and setup on the developer website. One of the main program features is its support for a wide variety of files. GonVisor supports all major image formats, comic book reader files such as cbr, cbz or cba, pdf files, and compressed files containing images.

You are staring at a blank application window on startup, only the navigational menu at the top is visible. You can load files into the viewer in numerous ways, from dragging and dropping them into the program interface to using the File menu or associating the reader with specific formats so that you can double-click the files in Windows Explorer.

You will then see the first image displayed in the program, a self-retracting tools menu on the left, and a file selector on the right.

You can now use the back and forward button, the file selector, hotkeys, or the automatic slideshow to navigate between pages. Various tools improve the overall reading experience, from maximizing the page in the viewer over rotating images and displaying two pages next to each other, to zooming in or out or using the built-in magnifier. Pages can be bookmarked to continue at the page at a later time.

Some features, like color correction or the creation of comic book archive files require additional files that are not provided with the portable version. It is not clear if those files are included in the setup version of GonVisor. The main issue here is that there is no documentation where to get these files and where to place them.

GonVisor’s rich feature set it apart from other comic book readers. The lack of proper documentation is what pulls it down again. If you are looking for a comic book reader with management features, then GonVisor may be the program you are looking for.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. View Comic Books with CDisplay
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Comic Books Archive About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Thursday January 26, 2012 -
Tags:image viewer, portable software, windows software

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