One quick way to solve this bottleneck is using the browser’s built-in cleaning tools, which you can configure to clean up certain areas automatically every time you close Firefox. It’s as easy as going to Options > Privacy and check the option that says “Always clear my private data when I close Firefox“.

However, as there may be some elements you don’t want to get rid off (such as saved passwords, cookies and the likes), you can click on the Settings button and select exactly the elements you want Firefox to erase -  in this case, Download History would be enough.

1. The first thing you’ll need is a panoramic image. The best ones are those with very little detail both in the bottom area (asphalt, water, land) and in the upper area (ideally, blue sky). Also, try to use a panorama where the right and left borders fit as neatly as possible. I’ll use this New York City skyline.

2. Go to Image > Image size and resize the photo to a perfect square. Uncheck the “Constrain proportions” option and apply to Height the same value shown in Width.

3. Now go to Image > Rotate canvas and rotate it 180º. Don’t worry if it all looks odd, you’re doing a great job! (more…)

Mac: It’s a good idea to index all your media every now and then so that you keep a clear record of where all your video, audio and other files are and make sure they stay well organized. Media Catalog lets you index media on any drive and thanks to a powerful search tool, gives you quick access to every file. The statistics section gives you detailed info such as file size, number of volumes and amount of updates you’ve made.

Phones: Studying the Quran is an essential part of Muslim life but what about those times when you can’t get near a mosque or are on the road? Step forward Quran Reader, a mobile application that lets you read the sacred texts while you’re on the move using your Java-enabled mobile phone.

Outlook Express - Apple Mail - Finding Outlook Express excruciatingly slow every morning at startup? Apple Mail always starts up in a flash. Another thing I’m really surprised with Outlook Express is the lack of a truly effective search tool, where Apple Mail makes use of the lightning fast Spotlight. Add to that the great templates in Mail and the wide choice of third party plugins and you have a clear winner in Apple Mail.

Windows Live Messenger - Adium X - Why put up with the advertisement-ridden Live Messenger when you can use the open source and highly customizable Adium? The Mac messaging client lets you connect to almost any IM protocol like AIM, MSN or Jabber and can be customized with all sorts of icons, audio, styles and script. True it doesn’t offer voice or video chat yet, but you’ll still get encrypted Off The Record messaging.

Microsoft Office - iWork’08 - This one is a no brainer. iWork’08 is cheaper, smoother and creates better looking documents, particularly presentations under Keynote. You’ll also be able to work with any Microsoft Office document, whether Word, Excel or PowerPoint.

Internet Explorer - Safari - Apple’s homemade browser loads twice as fast as IE and integrates perfectly with Keychain, so your online account data is always safe and sound. The sleek metal view and clear bookmark also contrast with IE’s convoluted interface.

Nero - Roxio Toast Titanium - I’ve always found Nero too bloated a program and draining on PC resources. Roxio Toast Titanium on the other hand is much easier to use and offers a streamlined process so that disc of yours is catalogued, burned and ready to watch in no time. It now lets you watch movies on your iPhone and mix your own sounds.

Foxmarks - The undisputed king for Firefox users - works seamlessly 24/7

Bookmarks Unifier - Export bookmarks to hard copy for Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera

Mozmarks - An early predecessor to Foxmarks but with less synchronisation

Chipmark - Browser bookmarks plugin for both Internet Explorer and Firefox

Blinklist - Gives you access anywhere and reminds you of sites that you meant to visit

The previous version, Opera Mobile 8.5 already has something of a cult following among tech-savvy mobile users, but this latest release shows that it has enough to wow the mainstream. Once you’ve tried it, I guarantee you’ll never go back to the lumbering old beast that is IE which, unfortunately, comes bundled with every Windows Mobile handset. You can read my full review of Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta here, but here is an overview of what you’re missing out on if you don’t install it:

• Super-fast Web browsing - Opera has always been a browser synonymous with speed, even going back to its early days as a Windows desktop app. Opera Mobile 9.5 loads pages even faster than its previous incarnation, completely wiping the floor with Internet Explorer - despite the fact that it’s been crammed with even more features than before.
• Genuinely useful features - Far from throwing in a load of gimmicky but ultimately not very useful tools into its new mobile browser, it seems that Opera has been careful to include only things that will genuinely revolutionize your mobile Internet experience. So gems such as tabbed browsing, password management, page saving, auto-complete addresses, and content sharing via SMS now come as standard.
• Simple to use - Accessing the Web with Opera is much easier than ever, and the latest version finally gives those folk without an iPhone the chance to get excited about browsing the Web from their mobile. The user interface manages to be subtle yet practical, with large, touch-friendly icons, and quick-click access to many features. Plus, the new double-click page-zooming feature is simply irresistible.
• Far-reaching support for current Web standards - Boasting the claim of being ‘the most standards-compliant mobile browser available’, Opera Mobile 9.5 really ups the bar in terms of bringing compliance to the small screen. Support for the latest web technologies such as Ajax, Flash Lite and JavaScript can only enhance the credibility of this quite incredible browser.

Alternative download link:
Opera Mobile 9.5 on Softonic

There are some third-party apps with which you can add color to Windows folders and make them therefore easier to spot. But if you would prefer not to install anything, let me tell you a very simple trick to make the Windows folder structure more attractive, useful and easier to manage.

The trick consists on taking advantage of the folder’s capability to display an image. If you select the Thumbnail view in Windows Explorer, you’ll see that the folder icon displays any images saved on that folder, which comes in handy to identify them. What you may not know is that you can set a given image to be used on the folder icon. Simply right click on the folder, select Properties, click on the Customize tab and then click on the Choose picture button. You’ll be able to select the photo you want to have displayed on the folder.

There’s an even easier way to make Windows use a customized image on folders. Just enter the folder, choose the picture you want to use and rename it to folder.jpg. Windows will automatically display it on the folder. Besides making the whole folder structure more attractive and colorful, this trick is especially useful with large, structured file collections such as your music library or your photo collection.

• FireFTP - A fully functional FTP client embedded into your browser.
• DownThemAll - Download all links and images on a website with just one click.
• PicLens - View your pictures in this attractive, full-screen photo viewer.
• The Converter - A tool to convert between different measurement units on the fly.
• ScreenGrab - Capture complete webpages, from top to bottom.
• FireNES - Play thousands of games in this Nintendo emulator.
• FoxLingo - A fully featured translator in your favorite browser.
• Forecastfox - Check the international weather forecast right in Firefox window.
• FEBE - A quick, easy backup tool for all the important elements in the browser.
• FoxyTunes - Enjoy your favorite music without leaving Firefox

After showing you how to eject USB devices faster or even completely disable the autoplay window, here’s another trick that can help you improve the way you manage your USB memory devices in Windows. It’s called Desk Drive and it’s a small app that creates a desktop shortcut for your USB device as soon as you plug it into your PC. That’s it: exactly as Mac OS and Linux do.

Desk Drive works in a very easy way: launch the program and it’ll sit unobtrusively on the system tray. The moment it detects a USB memory stick has been plugged to the computer, it will create a shortcut for it on the desktop. Your USB device is ready to use!

The launch of Apple’s updated and revamped .Mac service, which is now called MobileMe, and should offer seamless synchronization between all your services, was also particularly disappointing. A high level of demand on Apple servers caused the service to run very slowly and many users complained that it took an excessively long time to load the Address Book. Some customers simply could not log on to it or found the MobileMe site to be unavailable. Apple has kept surprisingly silent over the range of troubles the launch had to suffer, but it seems all services are now slowly getting back to normal. Unfortunately, for many customers, it will be hard to forget such a disappointing event.

While you wait for Apple to fix all the issues with MobileMe, why not try using a synchronizing tool that will keep your iCal and Google calendars always up to date? Here are a few good alternatives that will get the job done for you.

•  Spanning Sync - Merges your Google and iCal calendars quickly and easily.
• BusySync - Share and edit iCal calendars with anyone online.
• Scalp - Share your iCal calendars with others via FTP.
• gsync - Syncs your iCal and Google calendars seamlessly.