Browser. Mozilla Firefox

Everybody has different ways of doing things.  For ease of coaching and consistency this blog will teach things in only one particular way. One of these things is the choice of Internet Browser (the software that you use to  surf the Internet).

Many people use Internet Explorer. However, Dead Men recommends using Mozilla Firefox because it has many extra programs called Add-Ons and or Extensions which I would like you to benefit from in the future. These programs allow you to do all sorts of extra activities not possible in a basic browser  e.g. downloading YouTube videos easily within the browser. (Click here if you missed that post a few weeks ago).

Your computer can have more than one Internet Browser so don’t worry about this; each browser will have its own icon on your desktop and will be listed separately under ‘My Programs.’ You can choose to use either one and you can choose to make either your default browser.

To download and install Mozilla Firefox go to http://mozilla.com

Download the program and save it onto your desktop or simply run the program. It will install itself. It will ask you if you would like it to import all your favourites / bookmarks  from Internet Explorer.

Download and save YouTube videos

Downloading, saving and storing videos for later viewing (YouTube). There are a number of options. Here is my option of choice.

1) Mozilla Firefox is my browser of choice and it has an easy to use, media download tool as an add-on.

You can download a free copy of Firefox at www.mozilla.com/firefox. Install it by double-clicking on the downloaded file. Click here

Firefox can import your list of favourites and bookmarks directly from Internet Explorer if you ask it to during the installation. This process will not replace Explorer; you will now have two browsers on your PC and can use either at any time.

2) Fire up Firefox and go onto the Internet. You need to download, from https://addons.mozilla.org ,  the free Firefox add-on tool called ‘UnPlug‘ – it is a media download tool. (You will find it under ‘Download Management’). Click on the ‘Add to Firefox’ button. Your Firefox browser will now have a little green fish on the toolbar at the top. Click here

3) Now visit a website (like You Tube). Select a video. Click on the green fish icon. This will download and save the video to your PC. It will have a file name ending on ‘flv’

4) You cannot view an ‘flv’ file with an ordinary media player and so you will need to download a special viewer; I suggest VLC player as it plays EVERYTHING. Download it from http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html. Install it by double-clicking on the downloaded file. You can now use this program to open and play all manner of multimedia files. Click here

NOTE: With time this process will become easier as browsers see the need / demand for this type of task but to the best of my knowledge this is currently the easiest way to download and play YouTube videos.

NOTE: If the green fish icon does not appear on the Firefox toolbar you can choose, ‘View’, ‘Toolbars’, ‘Customise’ and drag it on with your mouse.

UnPlug Firefox add on. Media download tool

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Dead Men have White Collars is a recession proofing, one-day course that deals with career management in a chaotic world. It shows delegates how to use free Internet resources to create multiple income streams and a professional online presence using FaceBook, YouTube, blogs, websites, podcasts etc. Dead Men is based in South Africa although the DVD course will become available at the end of the 2009