The Future, Now! Firefox 3.7 Theme

Firefox 3.5 just launched, but the Mozilla folks are hard at work showing off 3.7. I love the Firefox web browser and get a little giddy anytime there are future updates in the works. Thanks to Boneyardbrew, we have a mock-up of FIrefox 3.7 available for download. However, there are some extra steps involved:

Installing this theme isn't quite as simple as you are probably used to—you'll need to first enable the All-Glass Firefox extension for the Aero effects, the Personal Menu extension to hide the menubar and add the Tools button, the Stylish extension for a tweak that fixes the text, and then drag the mockup theme's *.jar file into the add-ons window to install it.

Once you've successfully completed all of the steps—which are detailed on the download page—you should have an impressive browser style that looks very similar to the screenshot.

Personally, I just downloaded the theme from Boneyardbrew's page and it looks fine to me, minus the tweaks that the other add-ons provide.

Enjoy.

Snap Links for Firefox 3.5

Snap Links is one of my favorite Firefox add ons. With a single click and drag, multiple links can be clicked at once. With Firefox 3.5 rolling out, it was time to find a new version of Snap Links.

After digging high and low, I finally found a compatible version in Snap Links Plus.

Enjoy!

Update: 3 Aug 2009 - This works with Firefox 3.5.1.
Update: 31 Oct 2009 - This works with Firefox 3.5.4.
Update: 11 Nov 2009 - This works with Firefox 3.5.5.
Update: 20 Dec 2009 - This works with Firefox 3.5.6.

How To Install Google Calendar Sync on XP 64

Since I'm knee deep in a project between my company and Google, I've started using Google Calendar Sync at work to sync my Outlook Calendar to my Google Calendar. It's turned out to be a neat little tool and I've been meaning to install at home. However, I use Windows XP Pro 64-bit edition at home and Google Calendar Sync does not support it. Fortunately, with a simple little "hack", I've got it up and running just fine.

Get the Google Calendar Sync installer.

1. Right-click on the installer file and select Properties.
2. Next, select the Compatibility tab.
3. Turn on "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select
Windows XP from the drop down box.
4. Click OK.
5. This will run GoogleCalendarSync_Installer.exe in compatibility mode for XP 32-bit, allowing the program to run on an XP 64 system. There are no issues that I have found running it this way.

Now, this trick works surprisingly well for a lot of software that does not support XP 64. Give it a try and let me know if there are any questions.

Left 4 Dead: Fixing Black Textures/Missing Textures/Video Problems

Recently, Left 4 Dead has gone dark on me. In my search for solutions, I stumbled across the following for nVidia card owners:

If you are using Riva Tuner, please follow these directions:

1. Launch Riva Tuner
2. Click the "Customize" button next to "ForceWare Detected".
3. Click the Direct3D/DirectDraw button
4. Set the "Surface Format Settings" to "for DirectX8- Applications"
5. Check the "Enable FOURCC DXT..DXT5 surfaces" box
6. Select "OK" and you will be prompted to restart your computer

For step-by-step with pictures and a guide for ATI video card owners, click here.

Left 4 Dead: Boomer Tips and Tricks

I have started playing Left 4 Dead, Valve's new slaughter-the-zombie-hordes co-op shooter. It is a terrifyingly fun game to blow a few minutes on, whether playing against or alongside other players. The more I play, the more I feel like I am not using the Infected (zombies) classes very well, so I went in search of some tips.

I found a very detailed thread on the Boomer class over on the official Steam forums. I have saved a copy below:

Tips for Battlefield 2 : Special Forces

I'm writing this tips for Battlefield 2 : Special Forces for all the knuckle heads out there that are still trying to play Special Forces as though it was regular BF2. Special Forces is not and will never be like regular BF2 and therefore you need to adjust your current way of thinking.

1. Squads! Squads! Squads! Joining a squad is key to success in any Special Forces game. Special Forces is grounded in the work of squads! This is a good tip for regular BF2, but is magnified 10x in the Special Forces expansion.

1a. While in a squad spawn on the squad leader! Most of the time they are setting up for a flag cap and its easier to sneak one person in than 5. Spawn and cap... makes for a great surprise.

1b. A squads success relies heavily on its combination of classes. A good rule of thumb is to always have a medic and two anti tanks. Anti tanks are always needed... a single tank will always win a stand off against a squad that has no AT. Even if you have Spec Ops you need to assume you will not have the jump on a tank. Resupply doesn't hurt, but you also need to have some decent firepower and until EA fixes the supply weapons accuracy they are not more important than a Spec Ops or Assault.

2. They added grapling hooks, zip lines, gas, and flash bangs in for a reason!

2a. Grappling hooks and zip-lines. The Special Forces maps are full of buildings and obstacles that can be bypassed. This makes it harder to defend flags, but in the end it makes the game 100% better because there isn't finite choke points to bottleneck at.

If you see your squad leader tossing up a rope be kind enough to follow. Chances are he is looking to get high to a) clear out any enemies below and b) get high enough for a zip line into the flag.

2b. Zip lines. As with grappling hooks they are keys to Special Forces. I guarantee a good squad will always be zipping into flags and you would be very amazed at how quickly the flags get capped. The key to the zip line is to deploy it and use it right away. If you hesitate at all you're never going to make it down.

2c. Flash bangs and gas. These two items can allow a squad to go into a packed spawn and remove every target before they have a chance to react. Employ with a zip-line and you can zip line into a flag covered by gas.

Flash bangs are useful, but don't get happy with them. They are tricky to throw and usually the effect is not enough to throw someones aim off that much.

Update: 29 Nov, 2009 - Edited post, corrected spelling, and applied labels.

How To : The key to the World of Warcraft Auction House

This is a cut'n'paste of my response on Tobold's MMORPG blog about the World of Warcraft auction house. Find the article here.

Controlling the market is key. I have the items I watch and I will buyout and low sellers and undercutters. Then I will repost at my price. I usually can bully out the undercutters because they are usually aren't dedicated AH watchers. They got some cash and that's all they cared about.

My keys to AH riches while still playing the game are as follows...

1. Pick your poison and stick with it. Don't switch back and forth between multiple items unless you really want to waste hours in the AH. If you are a disenchanter... stick with it. If you are a miner... stick with it.

2. Own the market every login. Take the few minutes to buyout every undercutter. This is tough at first because you probably will take losses on some purchases, but you are ensuring your future market.

Don't be afraid the mail people if they constantly undercut you. Don't be mad at them! Explain to them that you would like to purchase at a set price and see if they will stop using the AH. It is MORE profitable for them to sell lower to you because they are NOT losing money on AH fees.

3. Don't flood the market. You have bank space... SO USE IT! If you find the market empty and a demand for your goods you will have the "stock" in the bank to fill up the market... and usually you can charge a bit extra.

30 minutes a day can make you 100 gold a week easily and I've proven it time and again. Just the question of what to buy/sell... I'll let you figure that part out.