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Weblog MakeUseOf highlights five lesser-known Firefox tips, including one simple tip we’ve never covered before:

Instead of right-clicking on a download link, choosing “save to target” and pressing enter, just drag the download link to the “downloads icon” in the toolbar. The download will start automatically.

You can actually drag download links to either the Downloads icon (which needs to be added to the toolbar manually through the Customize… option) or directly to the Downloads manager. It may not be fancy, but it does save the default multiple-click download process. Aside from the simple download tip, the post suggests other previously mentioned Firefox tips like deleting mistyped or unseemly URLsfrom your address bar or search box. Got your own favorite obscure Firefox tip? Let’s hear it in the comments.

Five Firefox Tips You May Not Know About [MakeUseOf]

[Via Lifehacker]

A Washington, DC area father gave his daughter a gift of an iPod classic this Christmas, surely thinking she would be thrilled. Sadly, when his daughter opened the iPod she didn’t find everyone’s favorite MP3 player waiting for her. Instead she found a note which read, ‘Reclaim your mind from the media shackles. Read a book and resurrect yourself. To claim your capitalistic garbage go to your nearest Apple Store,’ and a few books about leading a more enlightened life.

The father returned the iPod to WalMart, where he purchased it, for a full refund. WalMart explains that this had happened to another person,and that Apple is responsible for it (though it seems much more likely to me that someone bought a few iPods, replaced the devices with these letters, and returned them).

First rocks, now letters, what is next to show up in an iPod box?

[Via TUAW]

Looks like there may have been a possible leak of the next version of Apple’s iPhone firmware, 1.1.3. According to Gear Live, it can now handle SMS to multiple recipients, the springboard (home screen) supports reordered icons and pagination (as well as web bookmarks), and Google maps gets hybrid view and that nifty cell-based location system. If this is all Steve plans to announce iPhone-wise at Macworld next month, we think there will be more than a few disappointed iPhone users out there. Then again, home screen pagination would kind of imply an SDK to make use of all those slots, so maybe the real news is under the hood.

[Via Engadget]

More than 50 percent of U.S. households now own a digital television (DTV), according to new research released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA^�). As the nation transitions to digital television, consumers are adding DTV to their homes at a record pace.

�I am proud to announce our nation has hit this digital milestone. With 50 percent of U.S. homes able to experience the reality of digital television, we have crossed a critical threshold,� said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. �2008 will continue to demonstrate the growth and success of DTV, with nearly 32 million units forecasted to ship. Consumers are particularly keen to add HDTV to their homes, with high definition expected to account for 79 percent of total DTV shipments in the U.S. in 2008.�

According to new CEA sales projections, manufacturers will post 11 percent revenue growth, to over $25 billion, from sales of digital televisions in 2007. CEA also forecasts 13 percent revenue and 17 percent unit sales growth for digital television in 2008.

This strong sales growth of DTV is reflected on the show floor and in conference sessions at the 2008 International CES^�, the world�s largest consumer technology tradeshow, running January 7 - 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada. DTV and related products are prevalent throughout the record-setting 1.8 million net square feet of show floor space. Exhibitors are showcasing the world�s largest flat panel displays, next generation DTV products, technologies to enable consumers to view HDTV on the go and a host of other new products and technologies. In addition to the 2,700 exhibits on the show floor, DTV will be a hot topic at multiple events and conference sessions.

On Saturday, January 5 at 2:00 p.m. in The Venetian, Bellini 2105, Steve Koenig, CEA Industry Analyst and Shawn DuBravac, CEA Economist will present a complete analysis of the state of the industry. This presentation featuring CEA�s latest market research will include key trends and forecasts for various DTV and high definition product categories.

The Conversion to Digital TV: Government Coupon Program and Retailer Participation session, Monday, January 7 at 12:00 p.m. in the LVCC North Hall, Room N254, will focus on the details around the U.S. government�s $40 converter box coupon program. Kyle Rogg, senior vice president, business development, CLC Services will present the requirements and the process for retailer participation in the program and ensure retailers understand their important role in this transition.

The Goodbye Analog, Hello DTV conference session, Monday, January 7 at 1:30 p.m. in the LVCC North Hall, Room N262, will bring together top leaders in the industry who will discuss the educational efforts underway to ensure consumers receive the necessary information to successfully transition to digital television. Moderated by Jason Oxman, Consumer Electronics Association, panelists include Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at NTIA Meredith Baker; Debra Berlyn, AARP; Jonathan Collegio, National Association of Broadcasters; Catherine Seidel, FCC; Rob Stoddard, National Cable and Telecommunication Association; and Tony Wilhelm, NTIA.

In a one-on-one conversation on Tuesday, January 8, at 10:30 a.m. in the LVCC North Hall, Room 255-257, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and CEA�s Gary Shapiro will discuss their thoughts on the digital television transition, cable compatibility, spectrum allocation and other issues critical to the consumer electronics industry.

For more information about the 2008 International CES, please visit www.CESweb.org.

[Via BusinessWire]

Macworld Expo 2008 is fast approaching (it takes place in San Francisco from Jan. 14th to the 18th) and people’s social and conference calendars are filling up. If you don’t get a chance to cram enough Mac talk in during the conference itself why not stick around for a Mac centered BarCamp called MacCamp?

BarCamp, in case you aren’t familiar with the term, is a type of ‘user generated’ conference. There is no set schedule, no set speakers. Attendees make up the schedule as the event goes along, creating sessions that they want to participate in and attend. MacCamp is a two day event starting around 6pm on Friday, January 18th. The schedule isn’t set, but you can see who will be coming at its Upcoming page and check out more on its wiki page.

Wii modchips have been around since the start of the year in one form or another, but some folks at the 24th Annual Chaos Communication Congress just demoed a new Wii hack that lets them have full access to the console, including all the hardware. By using a custom serial interface, they were able to grab access to the encryption and decryption keys during runtime by doing memory dumps. Don’t worry about the details if you’re not sure what’s going on, just know that you’re going to be able to run even better homebrew and “backup” Wii games in the near future.

[Via Gizmodo]