A blog post announced that Google Chrome beta is getting a built-in PDF reader. That means that I will no longer have to have a temporary directory to download PDF files into manually just so that I can click on the downloaded file to open it up in my PDF viewer. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer have been able to handle this for years via useful, easy to use, extensions and plug-ins.

The developers of Chrome no doubt claim that their browser lacked such basic functionality because of security reasons. I never like this answer. As the user, I should get to make the decisions about how I do or do not want such things implemented. It’s the same reason that I hate how Microsoft IE has no option to automatically re-open the last browsing session for "privacy reasons." But, it is what it is.

Now, Chrome has a PDF viewer installed by default. When I click PDF links, they should just open and display within Chrome instead of having to open them later in Foxit Reader. According to the blog, the PDF files will be sandboxed. That means that today’s run of the mill PDF exploits won’t work when the file is viewed in Chrome. Guess the hackers will have to come up with something new. In the meantime, it would be nice if Adobe could pull their heads out long enough to make their reader more secure. Oh, and lighter and less bloated would be nice too.

With a PDF reader built into Chrome, the last major feature missing that is keeping Chrome from becoming anything more than my "lightweight" browser is a Print Preview function. Nothing prints with less consistency or more waste than webpages, which makes print preview a critical function for anyone who prints anything off of the Internet more than once in a blue moon. As a freelance technology writer, I need to be able to not only find data and information, but to digest it, compare it to other data, and then keep that data should anyone ever raise any questions about it. Something like Zotero, or OneNote, or a bunch of screenshots helps, but nothing makes an editor feel warm and fuzzy like good old paper.

The ongoing irony about Chrome is that as a browser by the techies and for the techies, it has managed to produce some amazing features, functions, and speed, but it has some glaring holes that are very big deals for the average computer user that Google insists should just be fixed by an extension, or when they really don’t like it, that you "don’t really need it anyway."

Here is to the new PDF viewer. May you be as stable and garbage-free as the built-in Flash support. In fact, may Google build in all Adobe products and extensions so that finally someone can do so in a way that isn’t overstuffed, unsecure, and instable.

Google Chrome Built-In PDF Viewer is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

Actually, I usually just do a Google search for how to use the software feature. It’s faster.

That’s why it is a very important aspect of business strategy for successfully satisfying your user community to always ensure that your product manuals are not only available online, but easy to find, and most importantly, indexable by search engine spiders.

LastPass Extension Won’t AutoLogin

I have been using LastPass, which has both a Firefox plugin, as well as a LastPass extension for Chrome, and even a LastPass Toolbar for Internet Explorer. Basically, LastPass is a cross-platform password manager for anyone who spends a lot of time online and needs usernames and passwords on more than a handful of accounts. I’ve tried LastPass before, but came back while looking for a means to improve online security for my small business as a freelance writer.

One annoying glitch I ran into is that LastPass won’t autologin to some of my websites. I checked the LastPass vault and checked the autologon box, but LastPass did not autologon to many websites, especially my own freelance writing projects, like my personal finance blog.

As I tried to troubleshoot LastPass and find out what the error was logging in automatically, it occurred to me that I might be making an assumption about how the LastPass autologin feature works.

You see, it isn’t that the auto-login from LastPass wasn’t working at all, it’s that it would not work on certain websites even after I turned the auto-logon on. What I couldn’t figure out was what it was about some websites that made them work with LastPass and what it was about other websites that broke LastPass autologin. The problem was that I was trying to learn what the issue was with the websites. Turns out that is not the bug.

I finally noticed the issue when I went to set a new autologin account for a website and crossed my fingers to hope that this was one of the websites that the autologon would work for. It did, and I was happy. Then, I added a new account for the same website and suddenly my LastPass auto-login was broken. And, the light bulb went on.

Fix LastPass AutoLogin Feature

Obviously, you can only log-on to a website with one username and password at a time. There are ways around this, of course, but at the time you load a website with a login screen, you can only enter one username and one matching password. If you have more than one user account on that website, you have to pick which one to login with. In the case of LastPass, you would have to let it know which account to use to autologin.

I thought I was doing that by only checking the AutoLogin box on one username and password. Any other accounts for that web address were not set to autologin.

That is one way for the user interface to work, but it isn’t the only way. Another user might say that if there is more than one account, then the software should default to asking which account to use, which is how Last Pass does work today. If you have more than one account, it will not autologin, no matter how you have the boxes checked.

For my WordPress blogs, fixing LastPass’ autologin was easy enough. For security purposes (Wow, security really permeates everything these days, doesn’t it?) I do not use “admin” as my user account on my blogs. However, since I set up an Admin account in the first place, LastPass duitifully remembered the username and password. Actually, LastPass imported the username and password that were saved in Firefox, but the effect is the same.

For each of my websites, from how to make money writing online to my blog about adult ADHD tips, there were two user accounts. One was my “real” account, and one was the “admin” account. Since there were two accounts defined, neither one would autologin when I asked it to. After deleting the admin account from the LastPass vault, the other account does autologin without any trouble.

It’s one of those things that no matter how you design your software, someone will think of another way it could, or should, work. I’d like to see a button or checkbox that allows the user to set an autologin with a specific account regardless of the existence of any other accounts for that website. That way, the other usernames and passwords could be saved in the LastPass vault, even if they are never used for autofill or anything. Even better, would be a way to load a webpage while pressing the SHIFT key, or something, and in that case NOT auto-logging on, which would then allow the user to choose an autofill option.

Regardless, now that I understand how this nuance of the Last Pass password manager works, I can make it do what I want it to do, and that is the most important thing about good software design.

Now, if only I could get Microsoft to implement a way to restore the last session in Internet Explorer automatically the next time the browser is started instead of them insisting that they know better than the user, that would be great.

LastPass Firefox Add-On Autologin Problem Solved is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

Has anyone ever tried to count how many users run Firefox with the NoScript add-on?

How many users have JavaScript disabled in Google Chrome?

Do a lot of IE users have JavaScript turned off or restricted somehow?

Most importantly, if you added up all of the users with JavaScript unsupported or JavaScript disabled in their web browser, how big of a user group would they be as a percentage of all web users? Would that number be larger than the number of people still using IE 6? If so, wouldn’t it be prudent for website owners and webmasters to ensure that their websites function correctly without JavaScript, especially when so many of the elements using JavaScript are superficial like animated menus?

I for one test every WordPress theme or website template in Firefox with NoScript running to see what it looks like when it “breaks” because JavaScript is not enabled in a browser. If it still doesn’t render and function at a basic level, then I won’t use it.

Does anyone else do something similar?

Can the noscript tag be used effectively enough to compensate for non-JavaScript enabled browsers?

Support for NoScript JavaScript Disabled Browsers is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

The basic speed dial window all browsers have.

I usually don’t like to post stubs or preliminary articles like this, but I went all reviewer on Mozilla.org this morning and, of course, ended up writing a review of my favorite Firefox add-on of all time, Speed Dial. As that review got longer I felt myself wanting to show people how to really maximize productivity with this Firefox plug-in by configuring Speed Dial the way I have ended up tweaking it and setting it up. Don’t get me wrong, my why isn’t the only way, but when you see the power and customization of the Firefox Speed Dial plug-in in use in my setup, you can see why I think that Speed Dial is the most important Firefox add-on anyone can have. In fact, it’s the one real drawback to Google Chrome for me right now.

There is a Speed Dial extension for Google Chrome on the Google extensions website, but it is a pale imitation of this powerful Firefox add-on. It doesn’t have dial groups which is the main powerful feature of the Speed Dial plugin.

Anyway, it would be irresponsible of me to get into posting my Speed Dial Firefox extension review right now when I have deadlines barreling down on my like runaway trucks with no brakes on the side of a steep mountain. However, I don’t want anyone following the link I threw onto my review at mozilla.org to arrive and wonder where in the heck the review I promised is. Therefore, I’m going to post a couple of screen shots that I think will help any user with even a little bit of power browsing experience to understand the kind of productivity gains that are possible with this plugin.

If that is you, either install the plugin and start messing around with it. Just got to Tools -> Add-ons -> Options and start customizing away. (I recommend setting up either a Speed Dial icon on your toolbars, or doing like I did and setting the right click on a page to include the context menu option to Add to Speed Dial. You can make that work by right-clicking on the tab if you prefer, but I’m used to right-clicking on the page itself when I want to do something. One of the best things about this add-on is how much it can be customized to work exactly the way you need it to in order to help out with your own time management by making browsing faster and easier.)

The quick, quick, version of how to use Speed Dial to speed up your Internet browsing and boost your online power goes like this:

1. Use Dial Groups – Every web browser offers some sort of dial based start up screen. Opera was first, but Google Chrome has one now too. IE has a similar concept although it is done via text links instead of actual configurable dials. What makes Speed Dial great is the ability to have MORE THAN ONE page of dials.
2. Set Speed Dial to show up in new tabs instead of waiting to click something. Every time you press CTL-T you’ll get a list of your speed dials to use. Just make your current homepage the first dial on the first dial group to keep instant access to it.
3. Customize the dial group tabs – You can change the colors to make tabs easier to find. Just don’t go crazy or you’ll hate it.
4. Customize the dial groups – Need more than 9 websites for one dial group? No problem. One of the configurations is how many sites to show on a speed dial group. You can change both the default, and even better change on a per group basis. You can have 12 dials under Work and 6 dials under Facebook Games or vice versa, depending on your lifestyle – If you have a widescreen monitor take advantage of that width by setting your default dial group configuration to 3 rows and 4 columns.

Lastly, if you are a power user looking for maximum time savings, you’ll end up with a lot of dials that link to a lot of webpages. By default, the speed dial thumbnails refresh frequently which means you could end up with a slow running Firefox when running Speed Dial and switching through several dials because thumbnails are being generated for each site no matter how fast you click. (See the link for details.)

There is lots more power. Read the docs or poke around the settings to see what else you can do to improve online productivity with Speed Dial. Or, come back here in the next day or two when I get time to go on full tilt. Even easier, grab the Best Hubris RSS Feed to make sure you get the updated Firefox plugin reviews as soon as they come online.

Then you can check out my post about Firefox personas if you need to read more about the Mozilla web browser.

Best Firefox Addon For More Productivity is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

However, I do switch back and forth between Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox a lot. In doing so, I have developed a list of things that I wish Firefox did that Chrome already does. For the most part, these are little things that make surfing the web faster or easier, rather than make or break requirements.  That doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t really like to see these Google Chrome features show up in the next version of Firefox.

Chrome Better Than Firefox Features

The biggest one here has to be speed.  You have to give it to Google and their open-source browser project Chromium. What they have put together is hands down the fastest web browser. Each browser developer out there from Microsoft, to Opera, to Apple’s Safari, all have specific tests that they construct to showcase their browser’s speed. But, when it comes to real-world browsing speed, Chrome is undeniably the fastest.

Where Internet browsing surfing speed really counts is in a user’s ability to get to the Internet and then do what they need to do without having to wait for the browser program to load or refresh, or whatever. Start the timer when you click to run the program and stop the timer when your favorite website or homepage has finished loading and nothing comes close to Chrome’s speed regardless of which carefully chosen website the developer wants to use.

The reason is that Google’s Chrome browser has the fastest start-up speed. True, it cheats a little bit by displaying the interface and giving control to the user before it is actually ready to do anything productive (it keeps loading in the background), but even if you account for that extra boot up time, Chrome is still the fastest to start.

Firefox, on the other hand, is a NIGHTMARE to start-up, especially if you purposely left a bunch of tabs open to automatically reload the next time you started Firefox.  Here is the rest of the list. (I do know that some of these things can be done by plug-ins or add-ons for Firefox, and that is one of the great things about Firefox, but, frankly, I already have a TON of plug-ins loaded. I’d like to start cutting down on the number of Firefox add-ons I have, not increase them.)

Things I Wish Firefox Did More Like Chrome

1. Load Faster
2. Search from the Address Bar – It’s awesome, but it doesn’t do this.
3. Paste and Go in the Address Bar – Nothing has saved me more keystrokes.
4. Incognito style privacy – I get why Firefox does privacy mode the way it does, but I really like being able to have a private session going concurrently with a normal browsing session. Getting to choose between the two types would be ideal.
5. One Tab = One Process – For research purposes, sometimes I right-click a dozen or more search results before I go look at what opened up in those tabs. Sometimes one of those websites is junk and ends up hanging the whole smash. In Chrome, I open the task manager find the garbage site and shut it down without even looking at in. In Firefox I have to wait until I get back control and then hunt down the offending site myself.

How about you? What features from Chrome would you like to see in Firefox?

Firefox Beats Chrome But… is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

Anyway, a lot of sites and feeds I read are starting to trickle out articles about why people are switching from Firefox to Google Chrome as their primary browser. 

When I read the reasons why these people think that Chrome is better than Firefox, I realize that they don’t use their browsers like I do.  They may think they are power-users, but until you’ve done 24 Google searches (still open in their tabs in case you still haven’t found what you need), opened 100+ sites, twenty or so online PDF files, clicked every one of the reference links at the bottom of eight or nine Wikipedia articles (Wikipedia is a good way to find sources, Wikipedia is not a good source for professional writers.) read through page 188 of a 533 page SEC public comments posting in order to find out just where the regulatory agency stands on what type of disclaimer is required in an investment related corporate email, all while still messing around on Facebook, Twitter, and Hulu, you don’t know what a power browser is.

Ironically, you don’t even have to push the browsers to advanced capabilities to see that Firefox is better than Google Chrome (at least for now.)

Why Firefox Is Better Than Chrome For Main Browser

When you are done running tests and calculating that Chrome loads a Javascript page in 1.834 seconds while Firefox takes 2.122 seconds, the choice comes down not to speed, but usability and functionality.  There are several critical features that are missing in Google Chrome, either intentionally, or someone just hasn’t gotten around to it yet.

I’m not talking about playful little plug-ins and things like moon-phase calendars or digital clocks or skins.  I’m talking about things that interrupt my workflow so dramatically, that it causes me to sit stunned for a few seconds while I try and figure out what the best way to proceed is.  Do I work around it in Chrome, or do I wait forever for Firefox to load and copy and past the link over there?

Here are the Top Reasons Firefox is Better Than Chrome As a Default Browser

1. File Handling – I don’t care if Chrome’s built-in download manager is better or not.  Sometimes I don’t want to download the file (or technically, I want to download it in the background instead).  PDF files come to mind.  There are hundreds of PDF files that are linked to out there.  In Firefox, it opens Foxit Reader and loads the file.  I can scan it and decide whether to read it, save it, or get rid of it and move on.  In Chrome, it downloads it, puts a button at the bottom of the screen and waits for me to decide what to do with it.  That’s after it asked me where to save it.  I had to create a temporary directory just so I have a place to put all of those little files that I have to fully download and store in Chrome, just so I can access it.  I also get no choice to Open, Run, or anything else.  You can’t get through 40 PDF files on a website by doing it this way.
2. Google Updater – Yeah, I know, they finally pulled their head out and started doing it in a way that makes sense, but I spent so many months killing, deleting, closing, and stopping Google Update from starting automatically with Windows, that I don’t even know how to go back to letting it run.  By the way, even if it doesn’t run all the time it still runs every single hour and doesn’t bother checking with you to see if now is a good time to update.  If you are pushing a tight deadline and trying to download, proof, and re-upload some big files, too bad.  Google Update will be wasting your bandwidth (and number of connections) downloading the upgrade from version 2.1.03.2 to 2.1.03.3, because we all know that is more important.
3. No Print Preview – Seriously, how hard is this to code? There is nothing quite like printing out what you think will be 2 pages only to get 14 pages thanks to all the extra stuff that prints funny.  I also hate that one extra line that prints on a new page. I never print without preview first, and Chrome doesn’t have one.
4. Plug-ins – No Zotero, no default browser. The same people that used to say plug-ins were one of the main reasons Firefox was so much better than Internet Explorer, now say they don’t need them. Not me.  Some of my plug-ins are optional, but plenty of my add-ons are not optional.
5. Bookmark Tags – No tag support for bookmarks? I long ago passed the point where folders were sufficient to find my bookmarks efficiently, this is a deal killer.

Notice that I didn’t say anything about Ad-block Plus or NoScript or other Firefox add-ons that make browsing less annoying.  If those are your main reasons for using Firefox, then by all means, switch over to Chrome.  But, until I have usable bookmarks, usable printing, usable file handling, and my can’t-live-without-them add-ons, Chrome will be my secondary browser.

Chrome Is Faster

Don’t get me wrong.  Chrome is faster, way, way, faster.  The quicker start-up time alone is worth the extra resources I use up having another browser.  When I need to check something out quickly, Chrome is my go to browser.  But, when I’m settling in to get some real work done, it’s worth the wait to start up Firefox.

Firefox 3.5 vs. Chrome 2 Why Firefox Wins For This User is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

Seriously?  You can’t think of a single reason other than surfing porn that you would want a privacy mode for?  If so, you are either too naive or too obsessed with porn.

Let’s start by saying I don’t want other people accessing my computer to know what I do on my personal time no matter what it is.  It’s none of their business if I play fantasy baseball, if I shop at Costco, or if I’m looking for a new dentist.  So, yes, I’ll be using privacy mode for that.  Just because it isn’t red-faced embarrassing, doesn’t mean it isn’t private.

Then, remember that privacy mode doesn’t just keep websites from writing new cookies, or tracking, or whatever to your computer, it also keeps them from reading the ones that are already there!

If it weren’t for people manually deleting their cookies, or installing new programs to do it for them, websites both legit and not could track you FOREVER with your cookies and other things on your computer.  Are you really OK with Sears knowing (before you enter any personal information or tell them who you are) that you bought tires from them in 2001 and then searched for wiper blades but didn’t buy any in 2006, and that now you are back looking at the automotive section?  Since you paid full price the last two times you visited, maybe they should not display the sale prices while you are browsing?

Does Sears do this? No. Could they? You bet.

There are dozens, or maybe hundreds, of very useful thing that can be using the new privacy modes whether it’s Google Incognito, Microsoft InPrivate, or Firefox Private Browsing.  The only reason it seems like you don’t need private browsing is because users developed tons of add-ons, plug-ins, and settings to control their privacy. 

Controlling what a website keeps track of on you and your computer used to involve downloading a whole new program like CCleaner, or having to dig into the Tools-> Options-> Privacy menu on your browser. Some people even resorted to learning how to use the semi-hidden profiles feature of Firefox and then creating a separate profile in order to do certain tasks.

Doesn’t privacy mode sound a lot easier?

Here are some great reasons to use your browser’s privacy mode including some that used to take much more complicated measures to get the same results.

Top Reasons to Use Privacy Mode That Are Not Porn

1. See what your Google search results would look like without "personalization" – Now you don’t have to listen to SEO consultants who tell you that just searching something to get results is not an option.
2. Research Products and Services so that when you are ready to buy, they don’t know that you have ever been there before.
3. Use Coupon Codes, Shipping Discounts, and more that are only good for "new customers" or those who have never been to a website before. Thanks to privacy mode, they won’t see that cookie or authenticated session that makes you ineligible.
4. Get a new registration or user name at a website or forum that you already use without the hassle of having two registrations. (Just always use privacy mode for the 2nd one.)
5. Keep your boss, co-workers, or spouse from knowing how much time you spend on Monster.com.
6. Avoid "personalized" offers from online merchants.
7. Or research whether those offers are really personalized, or just the same ones everyone else gets.
8. Respond to a post, debate, or review without giving away who you are.

The list could go on and on.  Research info on new banks, doctors, jobs, services, and more without them knowing and without the next person on your PC knowing.

Let’s also not forget that the world is full of embarrassments that are not porn.  What about online dating, weight loss, plastic surgery, medical conditions (unusual bowel movements, anyone?), collections (you still collect stamps? figurines? baseball cards? beanie babies? – Do you want the creepy guy in accounting to know that?)

So, let’s give the whole "porn-mode" thing a rest.  You’ve made your point, if you every had one.

Actually, nobody has ever been better at getting along without a privacy mode than those who surf for porn, because they knew that they needed to watch their privacy-backs.  It’s all of those other things that people naively do on their computers that are leaving things that they wish wouldn’t be left there that need privacy mode.

Enjoy.  I’m off to get credit for a referral to a website that I’ve already been to once or twice in the past.

Brower Privacy Mode and Small Minded Fools is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

The reaction to Google’s inclusion of a browsing privacy mode was ironic, considering the considerable heat the company takes from the same group of users for its own privacy policy and data collection techniques.  The same users who wail about how much Google might know about its users and what it does with that data was the same group to suggest that the only people who need privacy from their browser are perverts who look at pornography all day long.  This begs the question why these writers are so concerned then with their privacy for searches; presumably because they are searching for porn all day long. That being said, there have emerged several very useful needs for the privacy mode included in browsers like Google Chrome, and now Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Top 5 Uses For Internet Browser Privacy Mode

1. Pure Search Results – When you search via Google and other search engines, the search results you get are often colored by your past searching and other online behavior.  Thus, if Google’s systems detect that in the past you have searched regularly for tree root watering kits, then your searches for “root kits” are likely to have results returned that have something to do with watering plants, while a heavy searcher of Unix utilities would find the same search slanted toward computer based root kits.  This makes it difficult to get an idea of what a “pure” search ranking looks like. The standard techniques to avoid this require things like creating a separate Firefox profile, or using a different browser, and so on.  A quick click over to Privacy Mode, though ensures search results that are not colored by previous searches.
2. Testing New User Experience – Likewise, many websites offer a different experience to users who are returning users versus the one they offer to new users.  Also, many sites behave differently depending upon whether or not the user has logged in before from a specific computer.  By entering into Privacy Mode, or an Incognito Window, users can see what it is like to approach a site as a new user.  Using the privacy mode to see such things is much easier for someone like the Director of Marketing than maintaining and switching to a different profile or program to see the same.
3. Shopping Without Suggestions – Several websites seek to make a user’s experience more valuable by providing suggestions based upon your past behavior and purchases.  While this is a noble goal, there are times when you would prefer to not have your suggestions influenced by your past.  For example, if you are looking for something different or completely new to you, those helpful suggestions aren’t so helpful.  Getting movie or music download recommendations based on the universe versus based on Bob Smith can provide for a perspective broadening experience.
4. Providing Honest Input – Ever been to a website that you have an affiliation with?  Maybe one that you work for, or one that advertises on your website, and then wanted to comment on something, but were afraid of possible retaliation or a misunderstanding?  While privacy mode is no excuse to become a jerk, constructive criticism can be important for both the user and the provider.  A quick jump into Incognito mode helps ensure that your comments aren’t linked to your seller ID.
5. Actual Privacy – Whatever the teenage boys trapped inside grown-up bodies might say to the contrary, there are plenty of reasons to just want a little extra bit of privacy as provided by IE Privacy Mode or Google Incognito.  Between auto-complete web addresses, the Speed Dial like functionality of Google’s default page, and web form auto-fill, there are a thousand ways that someone jumping on your computer browser to handle a quick task could ruin your privacy.  Most mainstream companies point toward online shopping as the reason you might want some privacy, which only fans the red-faced finger pointing.  Imagine instead, the co-worker (you know, the gossipy one) who wants to check the company Intranet at baubles.net and upon typing “b-a” gets an auto-complete suggestion of “baby-advice.com” and suddenly turns around and asks if your wife is pregnant in a loud voice.  Frankly, you would probably prefer they thought you were looking at porn.  It doesn’t take long to think of 50 other instances that might arise, all of which can now be quickly and easily handled without having to turn off useful features like auto-complete, or managing different profiles.
6. Using Multiple Accounts Without Logging Out – Whether you need two Gmail accounts — one for personal use and one for business use — of if you want to run 18 different Twitter accounts, privacy mode gives you the ability to login in as one of the other accounts without having to log off of your other account. Just open up an Incognito Chrome window or fire off a Private Browsing session. When you get to the login page, you won’t get any hassle about already being logged in.

Don’t let the giggling, eye-rolling, finger pointing stop you from dropping into privacy mode whenever you feel like what you are doing is nobody’s business, or if you just need a little peak at what something looks like “from the outside.”  You’ll be surprised at how often you end up using it.

Top 6 Uses for Google Incognito Windows and Internet Explorer Privacy Mode is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

The reaction to Google’s inclusion of a browsing privacy mode was ironic, considering the considerable heat the company takes from the same group of users for its own privacy policy and data collection techniques.  The same users who wail about how much Google might know about its users and what it does with that data was the same group to suggest that the only people who need privacy from their browser are perverts who look at pornography all day long.  This begs the question why these writers are so concerned then with their privacy for searches; presumably because they are searching for porn all day long. That being said, there have emerged several very useful needs for the privacy mode included in browsers like Google Chrome, and now Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Top 5 Uses For Internet Browser Privacy Mode

1. Pure Search Results – When you search via Google and other search engines, the search results you get are often colored by your past searching and other online behavior.  Thus, if Google’s systems detect that in the past you have searched regularly for tree root watering kits, then your searches for "root kits" are likely to have results returned that have something to do with watering plants, while a heavy searcher of Unix utilities would find the same search slanted toward computer based root kits.  This makes it difficult to get an idea of what a "pure" search ranking looks like. The standard techniques to avoid this require things like creating a separate Firefox profile, or using a different browser, and so on.  A quick click over to Privacy Mode, though ensures search results that are not colored by previous searches.
2. Testing New User Experience – Likewise, many websites offer a different experience to users who are returning users versus the one they offer to new users.  Also, many sites behave differently depending upon whether or not the user has logged in before from a specific computer.  By entering into Privacy Mode, or an Incognito Window, users can see what it is like to approach a site as a new user.  Using the privacy mode to see such things is much easier for someone like the Director of Marketing than maintaining and switching to a different profile or program to see the same.
3. Shopping Without Suggestions – Several websites seek to make a user’s experience more valuable by providing suggestions based upon your past behavior and purchases.  While this is a noble goal, there are times when you would prefer to not have your suggestions influenced by your past.  For example, if you are looking for something different or completely new to you, those helpful suggestions aren’t so helpful.  Getting movie or music download recommendations based on the universe versus based on Bob Smith can provide for a perspective broadening experience.
4. Providing Honest Input – Ever been to a website that you have an affiliation with?  Maybe one that you work for, or one that advertises on your website, and then wanted to comment on something, but were afraid of possible retaliation or a misunderstanding?  While privacy mode is no excuse to become a jerk, constructive criticism can be important for both the user and the provider.  A quick jump into Incognito mode helps ensure that your comments aren’t linked to your seller ID.
5. Actual Privacy – Whatever the teenage boys trapped inside grown-up bodies might say to the contrary, there are plenty of reasons to just want a little extra bit of privacy as provided by IE Privacy Mode or Google Incognito.  Between auto-complete web addresses, the Speed Dial like functionality of Google’s default page, and web form auto-fill, there are a thousand ways that someone jumping on your computer browser to handle a quick task could ruin your privacy.  Most mainstream companies point toward online shopping as the reason you might want some privacy, which only fans the red-faced finger pointing.  Imagine instead, the co-worker (you know, the gossipy one) who wants to check the company Intranet at baubles.net and upon typing “b-a” gets an auto-complete suggestion of “baby-advice.com” and suddenly turns around and asks if your wife is pregnant in a loud voice.  Frankly, you would probably prefer they thought you were looking at porn.  It doesn’t take long to think of 50 other instances that might arise, all of which can now be quickly and easily handled without having to turn off useful features like auto-complete, or managing different profiles.

Don’t let the giggling, eye-rolling, finger pointing stop you from dropping into privacy mode whenever you feel like what you are doing is nobody’s business, or if you just need a little peak at what something looks like “from the outside.”  You’ll be surprised at how often you end up using it.

Top 5 Uses for Google Incognito Windows and Internet Explorer Privacy Mode is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC