[Computer Tips] [Part 1] Be an Advanced User of Web Browser

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In the middle of a maze of browsers — edge, chrome, firefox, and all the aluminium-bottomed rest — which one are you going to use?

They say chrome drinks RAM like water and firefox crawls like a turtle, and you wish you could just add more RAM and slap in an SSD.

They also say Add-ons are like energy drinks and User-scripts are like papaya leaves — so how do you use them?

This post shows you how to set up the popular browsers so they run smooth and clean without burning your eyes out.

1. Setting up the computer

1.1 Going back to the default settings

While using a computer, a lot of software asks to be installed, and it comes with bonuses like toolbars, junk software and so on.

The first thing you have to do is remove those toolbars

Go to Start, type Control Panel and open the Control Panel

Pick Uninstall a program

Next, find and remove every piece of software with the word “Toolbar” in it. Trust me.

1.2 Removing the unofficial browsers

An unofficial browser is a browser built on some browser’s source code and advertised as having nicer, fancier, better features than the original.

Trust me, those browsers will be completely crushed by the original if you keep reading this blog post

The unofficial browsers are (my subjective opinion):

  • Cờ rôm cộng / Cờ rôm
  • Comodo Dragon – bundled when you install Comodo Internet Security
  • Rockmelt
  • Waterfox
  • Pale Moon
  • And so on and so forth

1.3 Installing a genuine Web browser

For those of you who love high speed, low RAM usage and instant-noodle convenience, I recommend installing nothing at all and just using Edge.

If you are still on Windows 7, you can use Internet Explorer

That said, you need to Update Internet Explorer to the newest version here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/download-ie

But keep reading — plenty of nice things are waiting for you

1.3.1 Mozilla Firefox

Firefox is an open source browser, developed by the community and managed by the Mozilla Foundation.

This is the most “innocent” browser out there right now: it holds no user-behavior tracking tools, doesn’t support or endorse ads, and doesn’t leak users’ security information or passwords (it uses the 3DES encryption algorithm, judged safe until around 2020 — by then, with advances in science and technology and growing computing power, cracking this algorithm, or brute-forcing it code by code, will take less time)

Firefox has different versions for different audiences; overall you’ll want the main version, download it here: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

1.3.2 Google Chrome

Google Chrome is built by Google on top of Chromium, which is also developed by Google (that’s right, Google develops both).

The difference is that Chromium is open source — anyone can go read its source code, so Google can’t “do anything shady” in there unless it wants to be boycotted.

Google Chrome, on the other hand, is closed source, and comes with a lot of features Chromium doesn’t have, advertised as much better.

Chromium has no official release, and no stable build that lasts either, because Google’s intent is that you shouldn’t use it =]]. Chromium’s home page has a link pointing to Google Chrome =]], which shows Google’s deep scheming

And Google Chrome, being developed by Google, comes with plenty of bonuses you’d never suspect, such as user behavior analysis, location tracking, audio tracking, and so on and so forth. Your partner doesn’t understand you as well as Google does.

If you find all that acceptable, here is the Google Chrome download link: https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/index.html

And of course, if you already have one of the two installed, read on

2. Optimizing the web browser

2.1 Mozilla Firefox

2.1.1 Back to the default settings

Open firefox, go to options

If somehow you lost the button that opens this menu, in firefox press Alt and the old menu bar shows up; go to Tool > Option

Here you’ll find where to set the default web page that opens when you start Firefox. Set it back to Default or as in the picture

In the content section, you can turn on the Block Popup option

In Privacy > pick “Tell site I do not want to be tracked”; this stops websites that have a conscience from tracking your behavior on that site

Turn on all 3 of these options in the Security section

Finally, poke into Advanced > Network > Settings to check whether Firefox is using some sketchy proxy

If you see Use system proxy, or No proxy, then you’re done — your Firefox is “clean”

2.1.2 Removing the junk Add-ons and Plug-ins

To remove an Add-on, click the button on the side of firefox > Addon

Then pick the Extension row and Remove every add-on, keeping only the ones you know well or the ones on this list:

  • IDM CC
  • Noscript
  • uBlock origin
  • Lastpass

As for plug-ins, since they are installed by third-party software, you can’t remove them from firefox — however, you do have the option to never activate these plug-ins

Switch to the plug-in tab and pick never active for the suspicious plug-ins.

Note that some plug-ins are needed for Firefox to run

2.1.3 Installing the useful Add-ons

The list below is my own experience; whether you install them is up to you

2.1.3.1 Color that site

Download link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/color-that-site/

A rather nice add-on that lets you completely recolor a web page.

Most websites these days use a blinding white background, which is hard on the eyes and wastes power. Stare at it long enough and you just want to smash your machine, wishing there were some way to turn all the white into black and all the black text into white.

Color that site was born to let you change the color of every element on a website, except the images.

How to use it: after installing, you’ll see a small, garishly colored button next to the menu button. Open the web page you want to recolor and click it.

I’ll use tuoitre.vn as the example

A small bar shows up on the left side. Hit Go!

You’ll see a progress bar running; wait for it to finish and a settings panel appears. Open the Foreground colors section and pick Invert Colors

Then open Background colors and pick Invert Colors as well. Then switch to the Settings tab, pick domain to apply the change to the whole tuoitre domain, and hit the Save button

That’s it, you can admire the result. Tuoitre.vn is now easier on the eyes, but the text is still perfectly clear and readable.

2.1.3.2 Grease Monkey

Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/

Grease Monkey is an add-on that lets you run your own extra JavaScript on some particular website.

So why would I do that?

A simple example: when viewing a picture on flickr, say this one: https://flic.kr/p/oABXSB

You want to Download it, but downloading a picture from flickr takes many steps before you get the download link. With Grease Monkey, 1 click and it’s downloaded.

Another issue: you aren’t a programmer, so how would you write those scripts for Grease Monkey? The answer is that other people have written those Scripts for you. Some typical Script sites:

A few typical Scripts:

Some more advanced add-ons will come in part 2 of this topic

2.2 Google Chrome

2.2.1 Default settings

Open GG Chrome, poke the Menu button > Settings

Oh no, the settings are way too long. Scroll to the very bottom, pick Show Advanced Settings…, then keep scrolling to the very bottom and there is a Reset settings button. Click it to reset (note that doing this makes your GG Chrome like new)

2.2.2 Removing the junk add-ons and plug-ins

Also in the settings page, pick the Add-on section. Each add-on has a trash can icon at its start. Click it to Remove that add-on. Keep these ones:

  • Google Docs
  • Google Sheets
  • Google Slides
  • IDM Integration Module

2.2.3 Installing the useful add-ons

The number of add-ons on Google Chrome really isn’t as large and varied as on Firefox, but there are some equivalents

Part 2 of this post is here: Part 2