browster plug in!!!

gate1975mlm · 03-20-06, 02:04 PM

http://www.browster.com/how_it_works.htm

Holy Cow you guys really need to check out this new software plug in for your browser!

It is something we all could use. Very handy.

I wish I had this long ago. Just found out about it today.

ngp · 03-21-06, 07:55 AM

Just installed it for both IE and Firefox and its pretty cool...thanks for letting us know about it!

namja · 03-21-06, 09:37 AM

Spent the last 15 minutes reading up about it (including the 6 minute video). Sounds pretty cool. Will post again after using the plug-in.

lotsofdvds · 03-21-06, 09:46 AM

Punky Browster?

Groucho · 03-21-06, 09:54 AM

Since nobody's explained what this does, I will. Browster allows you to preview a webpage without actually clicking the link.

For some reason I can't get precaching to work with Firefox. You're supposed to be able to right-click a link and get an option to add a website for pre-caching, but I don't get any such option. I do get the option in IE. Any ideas?

Numanoid · 03-21-06, 10:21 AM

This is freakin' sweet.

Numanoid · 03-21-06, 10:24 AM

matome · 03-21-06, 10:46 AM

Pretty sweet. Doesn't work with the Maxthon browser though

namja · 03-21-06, 11:59 AM

Okay, I've been using it for two hours now. Here's my take.

This works great on sites that it prefetches (such as google and other major search engines, ebay, craigslist, etc) as that is what this plugin is designed to do. Since the links are prefetched, you get an instant preview of the links. And you can use the scroll wheel to go from one search result to the next. Within the preview, click on any blank area (the "white" area which is not a link, form, drop-down box, etc.) and your original window will navigate to the link that you are previewing. Within the preview, right-click on any blank area and the preview will close. You can also close the preview by moving the mouse out of the preview.

On the sites that are not prefetched, this plugin is pretty useless. To get the preview, you need to hover over a link causing a small lightning icon to appear about 1/2" above the link, then you need to move your mouse up to hover over the lightning icon (if you miss, then the icon disappears and you have to go back to the link), then you'll get the preview of the link, then you can mouse out or right-click to close the preview. My old way (shift-click to open the link in a new window, ALT-F4 to close that window) is still faster.

Here are my major complaints about this plugin:
* Having to hover exactly over the lightning is a nuisance, especially on sites that aren't prefetched since you have to hover twice (once over the link, then over the lightning icon).
* If you accidentally mouse out of the preview (which happened a LOT), that causes the preview to disappear.
* Any click or right-click within it will cause an action. You have to very gentle with the preview, otherwise it'll go away.
* You cannot open links in new windows from previews.
* The preview apparently cannot play certain media such as the imploding videos found on links in this thread.
* You can manually select links to prefetch, but AFAIK, that's only on a link-by-link basis. You cannot select an entire domain (like dvdtalk.com) or subdomain (like the Tech Talk Forum) to be prefetched. For example, to prefetch the threads in the Tech Talk forum, you have to right-click on each thread and select it to be prefetched; you cannot choose all the threads in this forum to be prefetched with a single command.
* The prefetching uses up a lot of bandwidth and a lot of hard drive usage. Whenever I do a google search, I hear a lot of HD noise since it's prefetching all the links in the background. I can hear the HD jiggling for a good 15-20 seconds after each google search. The same goes for craiglist or ebay. Every time a page loads, the HD goes nuts for a good 15-20 seconds to load all the other pages. It's good for instant previews, but it's also eating up unnecessary bandwidth as well as wearing down on your HD.

Conclusion:
I'm gonna keep using it for now, but only on the sites that it prefetches by default. I won't be using it on other sites as it's more a nuisance than it is a benefit.

IDrinkMolson · 03-21-06, 11:45 PM

This is pretty cool, thanks for the heads up. I've been using it, and I like it.
Except for the very first link I tried, it's been fine. For some reason the first one wouldn't close, so I had to end task on IE to get it to close.
I've been using it on DVDtalk and other sites that don't prefetch with no problems.

03-20-06, 02:04 PM	#1
gate1975mlm Suspended Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 86	browster plug in!!! http://www.browster.com/how_it_works.htm Holy Cow you guys really need to check out this new software plug in for your browser! It is something we all could use. Very handy. I wish I had this long ago. Just found out about it today.

03-21-06, 09:37 AM	#3
namja Stealth Moderator Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: High Definition Posts: 24,791	Spent the last 15 minutes reading up about it (including the 6 minute video). Sounds pretty cool. Will post again after using the plug-in. __________________ life in high definition

03-21-06, 09:54 AM	#5
Groucho DVD Talk Godfather Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Posts: 62,095	Since nobody's explained what this does, I will. Browster allows you to preview a webpage without actually clicking the link. For some reason I can't get precaching to work with Firefox. You're supposed to be able to right-click a link and get an option to add a website for pre-caching, but I don't get any such option. I do get the option in IE. Any ideas? __________________ Xbox Live: Runner Groucho PSN: RunnerGroucho "The Borg is a species" -- Tracer Bullet (Citation)

03-21-06, 10:46 AM	#8
matome DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: NY Posts: 12,304	Pretty sweet. Doesn't work with the Maxthon browser though __________________ DVD/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD \| Blu-Ray only \| Laserdisc

03-21-06, 11:59 AM	#9
namja Stealth Moderator Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: High Definition Posts: 24,791	Okay, I've been using it for two hours now. Here's my take. This works great on sites that it prefetches (such as google and other major search engines, ebay, craigslist, etc) as that is what this plugin is designed to do. Since the links are prefetched, you get an instant preview of the links. And you can use the scroll wheel to go from one search result to the next. Within the preview, click on any blank area (the "white" area which is not a link, form, drop-down box, etc.) and your original window will navigate to the link that you are previewing. Within the preview, right-click on any blank area and the preview will close. You can also close the preview by moving the mouse out of the preview. On the sites that are not prefetched, this plugin is pretty useless. To get the preview, you need to hover over a link causing a small lightning icon to appear about 1/2" above the link, then you need to move your mouse up to hover over the lightning icon (if you miss, then the icon disappears and you have to go back to the link), then you'll get the preview of the link, then you can mouse out or right-click to close the preview. My old way (shift-click to open the link in a new window, ALT-F4 to close that window) is still faster. Here are my major complaints about this plugin: * Having to hover exactly over the lightning is a nuisance, especially on sites that aren't prefetched since you have to hover twice (once over the link, then over the lightning icon). * If you accidentally mouse out of the preview (which happened a LOT), that causes the preview to disappear. * Any click or right-click within it will cause an action. You have to very gentle with the preview, otherwise it'll go away. * You cannot open links in new windows from previews. * The preview apparently cannot play certain media such as the imploding videos found on links in this thread. * You can manually select links to prefetch, but AFAIK, that's only on a link-by-link basis. You cannot select an entire domain (like dvdtalk.com) or subdomain (like the Tech Talk Forum) to be prefetched. For example, to prefetch the threads in the Tech Talk forum, you have to right-click on each thread and select it to be prefetched; you cannot choose all the threads in this forum to be prefetched with a single command. * The prefetching uses up a lot of bandwidth and a lot of hard drive usage. Whenever I do a google search, I hear a lot of HD noise since it's prefetching all the links in the background. I can hear the HD jiggling for a good 15-20 seconds after each google search. The same goes for craiglist or ebay. Every time a page loads, the HD goes nuts for a good 15-20 seconds to load all the other pages. It's good for instant previews, but it's also eating up unnecessary bandwidth as well as wearing down on your HD. Conclusion: I'm gonna keep using it for now, but only on the sites that it prefetches by default. I won't be using it on other sites as it's more a nuisance than it is a benefit. __________________ life in high definition

03-21-06, 07:55 AM	#2
ngp DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Twilight zone Posts: 2,157	Just installed it for both IE and Firefox and its pretty cool...thanks for letting us know about it!

03-21-06, 09:46 AM	#4
lotsofdvds Suspended Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Florida Posts: 4,790	Punky Browster?

03-21-06, 10:21 AM	#6
Numanoid DVD Talk Hero Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Down in 'The Park' Posts: 26,991	This is freakin' sweet.

03-21-06, 10:24 AM	#7
Numanoid DVD Talk Hero Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Down in 'The Park' Posts: 26,991

03-21-06, 11:45 PM	#10
IDrinkMolson DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: DE Posts: 2,781	This is pretty cool, thanks for the heads up. I've been using it, and I like it. Except for the very first link I tried, it's been fine. For some reason the first one wouldn't close, so I had to end task on IE to get it to close. I've been using it on DVDtalk and other sites that don't prefetch with no problems. __________________ My DVD Collection