Better Facebook

There are a lot of things that annoy Facebook users, especially when FB makes big changes. Some changes are good and take some getting used to. But a lot of changes can make things more annoying. Better Facebook is a script that works in all browsers except IE. It combines controls that many different scripts have individually into one great script. I was using FFixer, Unfuck Facebook, Facebook Comment Fixer, and a couple of Adblock Plus filters to make Facebook work in a better way. I've switched to only using Better Facebook (for now, as of Sept. 2011) as it takes care of all that the above-mentioned did and more.

Go to

http://betterfacebook.net

to install.

If you have Greasemonkey in Firefox, and you know how to use it, you can install it that way instead (make sure to disable other scripts first before installing Better Facebook as there may be conflicts) 

Here are my settings in Better Facebook

• all the recommended default changes plus:
• Added the old Comment button
• Lock the header bar at the top so it scrolls
• Change profile images in Chat to names
• Force the News Feed to be chronological and hide Top Stories
• Layout, Right Column: Hide the live feed (The Ticker) of friends activity (you can do this instead of using the AdBlock Plus filters).
• Chat: Show all online friends in chat list, Group friends by online status, Use compact chat list,
• Theme: Light Sky (yes, there are different themes available that will change the background from white to other things)

Facebook Notifications Overload

Since the recent Facebook updates (Sept. 2011), you may have noticed that you are getting far more notifications than before. This is most likely due to adding some people into the Close Friends group. Depending on how you have arranged your lists, you may need to follow these instructions for more than just the Close Friends list.

To get the notifications back to normal (this applies to notifications from everyone on the list):
* In Facebook, on your Home page
* On the left, click on Close Friends
* In the top right, click on Manage List
* Click on Choose Update Types ...
* You will see: Updates to Show - under this: Status Updates, Photos, Games, Comments and Likes, Other Activity.
* The one that will generate the most notifications is Comments and Likes. Un-check this. I would also recommend un-checking Games if any of your close friends play Facebook games because now, you will be sent a notification any time they do anything in a game
* Depending on how many things show up in your notifications you may want to leave checked or un-check other of the items on this list.

If, for some reason, you like all the notifications you are getting, but just not from certain individuals, you can adjust only the notifications from each person by hovering over a link to their name, hovering over Subscribed, and then choosing which items you want to be notified about or not.

More Facebook Changes - Ticker, News Feed, Lists...

Facebook has just rolled out more changes as of Sept. 21, 2011.

Ticker
This is a mini real-time news feed at the top of the right column. Many people find this very annoying/useless and would like to hide it. Here are some tips on hiding it:
How to Kill the Facebook News Ticker
The AdBlock solution should work until FB changes the code again.

News Feed and Ticker
Here is more information about the changes to the News Feed, and scroll down a bit for more info on the Ticker.

Menu Bar
Links on the menu bar have been changed. Now, to get to your profile, click on your name. To get to the regular home page, click on Facebook, or Home. The arrow beside Home will show other options, like your Account and Privacy settings. 

Friends Lists/Lists
Facebook has also made some changes to Friends Lists, introducing some handy (or not so handy) default lists, allowing you to merge lists, and more. How to edit your lists has changed. 
To see and edit Friend List(s) now, you will need to go to Lists, on he left, and hover over Lists and then click More, to the right of it. You should now your various lists and the new default lists. To manage/edit a list, click on it. Now you will see a feed of those people only, but to the top right, there will be a Manage List button. You can make adjustments to the list here. For more info on this, click here.

If you want to see a list of all your friends, click on your name at the top of the FB page, then click on Friends on the left side. They have added more ways to search, but seem to have removed the Recently Added Friends list. If you know where to find this, please let me know.

Subscribe
Information about this here.

AVG Free 2012 - Installation Guide

The new version of AVG Free is out. Here are my instructions for installing/upgrading to AVG Free 2012. 


Download the latest version from these links and save the file to your computer.


32 bit version
64 bit version


Which version should I use?
To find out if your operating system is 32bit or 64 bit, click on Start, Control Panel and System. This will bring up a window that will show this information.
If that is too complicated: If you are running Windows XP, or if you got Vista as an upgrade, or, if you got Vista when it first came out, you should most likely pick 32 bit.
If you got Vista later, or if you are using Windows 7, you should, in most cases, download the 64bit version.

What if I install the wrong version?
If you are running a 64bit operating system, it will allow you to install either version. Either version will work fine in a 64bit system (but the 64 bit version will run faster). If you are running a 32bit operating system and you try to install the 64bit version, it won't let you install it. When in doubt, try installing the 64bit version first. If it lets you install it, then you have made the right choice. If not, ho harm, download and install the 32bit version.


These instructions assume you are upgrading from a previous version of AVG Free.
If you are installing AVG fresh (not upgrading from a previous version), the steps may be slightly different.


Print these instructions out before continuing.


Installation
Once you have downloaded the installation file (see link above), run the file.
* Accept the License Agreement
* Choose Custom Install. [Vista and Windows 7: also un-check Installs and displays the AVG Gadget...], Next
* Un-check Additional installed languages, Next
* Un-check both: I would like to set AVG Secure Search... and Improve my Internet protection..., and Next.
... wait for it to install ...
* Un-check: I would like to get news...
Choosed to check or uncheck (doesn't matter): I want to improve...
Restart Now
....
* Double-click on the AVG tray icon to open the interface. [Win7 - if it has disappeared, click on the little up arrow in the Notification Area, choose Customize, scroll down to the AVG icon and change the setting to Show icon and notifications. Okay]
* Hide Notification at the bottom (this is an ad for the paid version)
* Click Update Now. If there are any updates, Update Now. Repeat this until it says you are up to date - Update completed successfully.
 
Note: Although AVG automatically checks for updates once a day (once for definitions and once for the program), you should manually check when you first install it as there might be updates waiting and updating right away after installing lessens the chance that you might have to restart the computer again after a day due to a special program update).

Configuration
* Tools, Advanced Settings, Scans. Click on the tiny arrow beside this to open the subsections. Removable Device Scan. Enable, and check off (leave the other things checked that were checked off already - do not uncheck them): Automatically heal..., Report enhanced set of ..., and drag the slider under Adjust how quickly Scan ... all the way to the right. Apply, OK.

* Also in Advanced Settings: Schedules, Scheduled Scan: Enable this task. Run at specific time interval. Check for once a week. Default setting is every Wed at noon. Leave if this is okay for you, change if another time is better.

Note: if you have a computer that is less than 5 years old, then the AVG automatic scan should run fine in the background without slowing down your computer. If your computer is older and the AVG scan is slowing things down while you try to work, right-click on the tray icon, choose Running Scans and then Pause all scans. When you are done working, un-pause the scan.

* Make sure Run on computer startup if task has been missed is checked off. Apply, OK.
 
You can ignore My Apps, PC Analyzer, Family Safety and LiveKive.

* Close interface.
* Done.

It will download and install updates automatically, and run a weekely scan automatically. Sometimes program updates will require you to restart your computer. It will ask you to do this when applicable.

Note about the trial paid version.
If you do make the mistake of installing the trial of the paid version, and you would like to have the Free version instead, remove AVG (In XP: Start, Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs. In Vista/Win7: Start, Control Panel, Programs and Features). When you initiate the removal procedure, you will be given the option to convert to the Free version.