Currency Converter

Today's post highlights a new type of category I'm introducing: Internet Info. This category will help you help yourself - it will include many useful tidbits and links for using the World Wide Web.

Today's Internet Info post is a currency converter. Definitely useful if you're vacationing to a different country!

Eliminate Fade Effect in Windows XP

Some people don't like how the menus fade in and out when they're pressed in Windows XP.

1. To fix this, go to Start, then Control Panel.
2. If you're in Category display mode, click Appearance and Themes, then Display. Or, in Classic View, just click Display.
3. In the Display Properties box, click the Appearance tab, then click the Effects button.
4. The very top option controls the settings you're looking for.

Download My Toolbar!

I just created a toolbar that works with both Internet Explorer and Firefox. It contains many useful items, like an e-mail notifier, weather reports, a pop-up blocker, and a lot more. Check it out, and if you don't like it, you can always uninstall it. Here are the download instructions.

Don't worry, it's spam free!

Happy Birthday, World Wide Web

Today (March 13), the World Wide Web turns 20 years old. It's already been twenty short years since Tim Berners-Lee proposed the original idea of sharing information through hypertext, which is a fancy word for clickable links. The triple-W has certainly come a long way since the beginning.

Here's to many successful years of delivering information across the globe.

Change Text of Windows Media Player Title Bar

This handy hack will let you change the wording of the Windows Media Player title bar, kind of like changing Internet Explorer's title bar. Here's how:

1. Go to Start, Run, regedit.
2. Navigate to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft.
3. Create a nested key called WindowsMediaPlayer (right-click on Microsoft, hover over new, and click key).
4. Make a value named called TitleBar and give it the following information: Data Type: REG_SZ, Value Name: TitleBar. For the Value Data, enter the text you want.

So, an example: If I entered Lando, the title bar would read Windows Media Player provided by Lando.

Quick Tip: Change IE Title Bar Text

Have you ever wanted to change Internet Explorer's title bar to something interesting? If you are a dialup user, your ISP may use this edit. You can too, if you follow these steps:

1. Like we usually do, go to Start, Run, regedit.
2. Go to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Main.
3. Make a new value called Window Title.
4. Fill in the new value with the following information: Data Type: REG_SZ, Value Name: Window Title. For the Value Data, enter the text you want.

Make Firefox Look Just Like Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer is really a love/hate kind of browser, and for many people, there's one good reason for this: design. In other words, how IE looks. However, Microsoft's browser drives some people paranoid because of security. So, how can we combine Internet Explorer's sleek looks with the safety of Firefox? There's only one option, since IE is closed source. We need to customize Firefox.

Step Zero: Download Firefox. Well, duh. Click here.

Step One: Download Plugins. For your convenience, I've rounded up a list of add-ons right here. These links direct you to their description page in Mozilla's add-on repository, except for Firesomething, which comes as a zip file you need to extract.

• Menu Editor
• Vista-aero
• Old Location Bar
• Firesomething - extract the zip once, then open it in Firefox (File --> Open File)
• PlainOldFavorites
• Tabs Open Relative

Step Two: Restart Firefox and Mess Around. Okay, just kidding about the messing around part. There's business at hand. But seriously, it already looks a lot better...WAIT! We have bookmarks and favorites? And I'm using Mozilla Superpossum? And (gasp) is that the Firefox logo?

Step Three: Fix the Name. Go to Tools, Add Ons and then Firesomething, and click on the Options button. Delete all of the strings of text in all of the scrolling boxes, and enter Windows for the vendor, Internet for prefix (you also need to add a space after), and Explorer for the name.

Step Four: Fix Menu Problems. Go to Tools, Add Ons, and then Menu Editor. Click Options. From the drop-down menu near the top, choose Bookmarks and uncheck the 'Visible' checkbox. Do the same for the History menu.

Step Five: Create a Shortcut on the Desktop. Click Start, then My Computer. Click Local Disk and navigate to C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox. Right-click the application called firefox and chose Create Shortcut. Drag the newly created shortcut to your Desktop. Single-click it and press F2. Type in "Internet Explorer" and hit Enter. Right-click the icon and choose Properties. Click Change Icon and paste this into the box: %ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe. Click OK a few times and admire your new icon.

So, that's it. It's really simple and straightforward. Now, your friends won't know that they're actually using Firefox when they think they open Internet Explorer!