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Download Statusbar is another of my really-can’t-live-without-it extensions that immediately goes on to any new install of Firefox. The default settings that Firefox comes with is simply not even in the same league.

Without changing any default settings, any file you download is retrieved in the background, straight to your desktop. You can of course change the options in the settings to prompt you for a different location, or to ask you every time, which is nice. The alert slider is a nice visual clue that your file has arrived, but there’s nothing really useful about it as far as functionality goes. It would be intuitive for me to click the alert, which could either activate the file or bring up the folder it was downloaded to, but it does nothing. You need to bring up Windows explorer, or show the desktop in order to find it.

Download Statusbar, on the other hand, will let you open the file after a successful download, pause it or cancel it, all while letting you see the speed of the transfer, the estimated time of finishing, a progress meter, and a few other tidbits of information.

Let’s take a look at it:

It’s simplicity at it’s finest, while having any information you could possible want while in the process of retrieving a file. Everything is customizable- the information, the colors, the placement, buttons, etc. Devon Jensen has done a wonderful job with this, and I encourage anyone out there who assumes the standard Firefox behavior is fine to really try this out.

Download Statusbar

SuperDragAndGo has the dubious honor of being the first Firefox extension that I will throw out Mad Props and Unrequited Love to in this new series of blog posts. I’d like to write about every extension that I think is extremely useful, and this one is on the top of my list. I expect Firefox to use this behavior by default, so any time I have a new installation of Firefox, this is one of the first (if not the first) extension I install.

So what is it? Basically, it allows you to select text, link, or image on a page, and “throw it” any where on your screen, and a new tab will open in the foreground (or background, if you want to try out the experimental build, which works flawlessly for me). If you select text, you can do a Google search. If you select an image, you can download it. The options menu lets you customize its functions:

Works in current versions of Firefox. Check it out, I think you’ll find it pretty damned handy.

SuperDragAndGo installation page

I admit it, I’ve been a terrible blogger this year. I think I’ve gotten into this mindset that this place is all about Firefox extensions, which it is, but it can also be about a lot of other stuff. Sure, sure, the tagline is Firefox extension development, but the problem is I can’t write 365 extensions per year, or even 52 extensions weekly for a year. I need to branch it out a bit more- I won’t start discussing macramé or French existentialist poetry (does that even exist?), but I will be all about other developer’s ideas, and I’d also like to share some of my favorite extensions that I have absolutely no hand in developing.

I’m also going to make an effort to make the posts a bit more colorful. I plan on taking way more screenshots of future (and past) things, places, and ideas. I don’t know how you could take a screenshot of an idea, but I’ll figure out something.

To emphasize this last bit, here is a photograph. It happens to be of my new son, Asa, who admittedly (and rightfully so) took up a fair amount of any remaining free time I’ve had for the past four months:

They key to all of this is I realize that taking such long breaks in between posts is leading to a bit of a stale air around the site. I had to really lock down commenting abilities because of so much spam, something I will never be able to wrap my head around. It’s absolutely mind boggling how much of it exists, and I’m sure it’s hundreds of times worse for the Really Big Sites- I imagine slashdot and company keep an army of spam assassins, waiting by the delete key to annihilate any viagra ads or vicodin dealers.

So, along with all of that, I also made a resolution to drink more water. I will try my absolute damnedest to accomplish all of these things for you, dear reader. I don’t know how beneficial my consumption of water will be to you, but I guarantee I will be refreshed and have my thirst quenched. These are exciting times we are living in, no?

Sorry, but 150 entries of comment spam a day is 150 too many. I have every spam plugin you can think of, captcha images, and all of the settings are set as severe as possible. Akismet, Spam Karma, bad behavior plugins… spammers are crafty little shitheels, I’ll give them that.

Do people actually click on entries that encourage you to buy viagra? Or are people really curious about finding all about HOT SEX GIRL BUCKET RACINE TORPEDO? I have to admit, that sounds fabulous. Tell me more about racine torpedo bucket girls. I want to know all about them!

So now you have to register to post a comment. Sucks, but that’s the way the ball bounces sometimes.