Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with webbrowsing

Why internet slow

Citizen Premier — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:56:24 -0800

Frequently, web pages time out and won't load--why is this happening? Now, I have a 512 kbps connection, which isn't that fast, but I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be that slow. I just got this internet service, and I've been able to download torrents fairly quickly. No, that's not the problem--I turn my torrent software off and it's still quite slow.

It's not my firewall. I also already tried opening more ports on firefox.

Oh yes, and I'm on a PC with Windows XP. And I'm not terribly knowledgeable. Any help will help.

Log Browsing History

phrontist — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 06:32:00 -0800

How can I get Firefox (3.0.1) to log my browsing history to plain text files (preferably XML, but any that isn't essential)? At a minimum I'd like the URL, page title, and a timestamp for when I loaded the page. It would be nice to have how the page was accessed (via a link? direct entry?) and how long was spent on it.

How do you limit the time in front of your computer?

technotheory — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:21:06 -0800

What limits do you set for yourself with regard to the time you spend in front of your computer? Does it work--any advice for enforcement? I'm not at all interested in recommendations for GTD or other productivity methods--I'm curious about any hard and fast limits that you try to set for yourself...and whether or not it's worked for you. I took a look at a MeFi thread on distractions and overcoming computer ADD, as well, and that did have a few ideas...but I'm curious what most people do as more and more of our lives are spent two feet away from backlit pixels.

Does anyone completely stop at 10pm? Do you pull the plug when your significant other is nearby? Do you capture the time you spend that's productive versus unproductive with tools like TimeSnapper or RescueTime? Have Firefox add-ins (like LeechBlock) or Windows hosts file modifications that restrict certain sites made an impact? Etc.

I'm curious what limits you impose and if they really work.

Firefox Plug-in similar to Apple's Spaces?

ISeemToBeAVerb — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:21:31 -0800

Are there any plug-ins for Firefox similar to the concept of "spaces" on Apple Leopard? For those not familiar with Spaces, I'm looking for a plug-in that will optimize my Firefox browser for different tasks, in other words, show certain bookmarks, plug-ins, etc.. while hiding others, depending on what task I'm doing at the time. Perhaps I have one set of plug-ins and bookmarks just for business tasks and another for entertainment, etc... This would be of GREAT benefit to me. I'm sure you all know how cluttered a browser can get when you do a lot of internet activities.

Can I Safely Exceed the Speed Limit?

NYCinephile — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 02:36:04 -0800

Should I install Google Web Accelerator? What are its benefits and risks? I'm using a Dell Inspiron 5000 w/a 448 MHz Celeron processor and am looking to speed things up in any safe way that I can. I noticed yesterday that Google is discreetly promoting the Accelerator at the bottom of its search results.