One of my neighbors struggles with some basic tasks on her computer. She often asks me to help her do something or simply to make it easier for her in the future. In exchange, she is always making me tasty food. It is a pretty darned good arrangement.

During one of her recent visits, I observed her doing something that added a step or two to a very basic process. She knew the URL of a Web site she wanted to visit and she typed it into the search box rather than the address box.

Below are screen shots of Firefox (top) and the evil Microsoft Internet Explorer (bottom) so you can see each of the boxes being discussed. I did not show Chrome as it only has a single box that serves a dual purpose.

In both of the browsers shown the “search box” is on the right side. It is possible they are in a different location on your computer. The box shown at the left is the “address box” where you can simply type the URL you want. Heck, you can also type a search term in the address box so it truly serves a dual purpose.

The downside to typing the address into the search box is that your browser will open Google or Bing or whatever search site you are using with results for the address you’ve entered. Since it should be an exact match, the top listing should be the address you entered. Now you have to click on that result to go to that page. Had you simply typed it into the address box, you’d save the extra steps of searching and clicking on the appropriate result.

While we were on this subject, my neighbor asked about making a couple of sites she often visits quickly available. Firefox and Chrome call them bookmarks, the evil Internet Explorer calls them favorites. I added the sites she asked and showed her how to do it should she wish to add a few more.

After adding the shortcuts to the sites she requested, I asked if she did any shopping at Amazon. Many people do shop there and I saw there was a shortcut button for it on one of the toolbars. She didn’t shop there often, but I asked if I could modify the link a bit so I would earn a small commission should she shop there. The link had been put there by HP and I just changed it to a slightly different address.

I would also like to ask all of you a favor. Could you please change any shortcut (bookmark, favorite) you have to Amazon to a link where I get a small commission. It still goes to the Amazon home page and will not change the prices in any way at all.

The address to use is listed below in plain old text. Just copy it and paste it into whatever shortcut, bookmark, favorite or other location. Your shopping is completely private, but I’ll earn a little bit if you shop with this link. Thanks in advance!
http://www.amazon.com/?tag=graphicsunleashe