this is a model of the introduction page you get when you click on the Space Patrol logo on the real thing.
SPACE PATROL POWER CONSOLE for FIREFOX
Turn FIREFOX into a killer cyberSpace Patrol cruiser
NOTEs:
- This was designed around FireFosx 2. FX 3.0.4 is better, which you have an opportunity to download and install, and might not work in IE or a non-Mozilla/Gecko-based browser
- This is the "HOME MODEL"; a spinoff of another project. However, the filename will still be'"spconsolebeta.zip" This is to keep it consistent so I am not having to store uneeded files at the site
- This was designed to be updatable, upratable and upgradable see SERVICE. A key component in the desing is that the console face is always the same so that, even if there is a total upgrade as in Jan '09, it all works the same way. Although you can add a key if you choose to customize it and add new functionality (I did on mine: I added a MORE key next to the Math & Science header, to open a new subconsole that can accommodate about a dozen new task consoles)
In 1953 "Space Patrol" was the watchword for a poweful 30th Century police force in the scientific utopia that was the civilization of the United Plaets of the Solar System. They prowled the space-lanes in powerful rocketships equipped with the hottest tech in the known universe in this wildly popular, with both children and adults, television show of the same name. It was this program that made Ed Kemmer;1921-2004 (Buzz Corry) The Astounkding B Monster's #1 All Time Spaceman, ahead of Kirk, Picard and the rest.
In the Early 21st centruy, "Space Patrol" means a powerful resource that turns FIREFOX into a mighty cyberspace patrol cruiser that packs the wallop of Commander Buzz Corry's TERRA V Space Patrol flagship cruiser. Three major sections turn FIREFOX into a powerful general purpose console, math and science console and lookup console second to none. Just how good is it? Well, everything that was used to build it can be found with it - And much, much more. Whether it's languages, search, business, web resources or math and science, you have more power to get the job done than with any other single application. You can
- Use the Search Mill Task Console to run Full Bandwidth searches: Decide on the topic, call up an engine or a list of engines related to that topic, select the engine of your choice and run the search.
- Lookup resources for phone, mail and timezone as well as general lookup
- Use the calculator that is on the main console or select the very robust math and science console that offers you the number cruncing power of an array of applications. You get a choice of 6 calculators, one being augmented for mathematics and science, one being augmented for geomtric, trig, hyperbola, graphing and equations operation, the third just being good for every kind of calculation, the fourth is a windows caluclator-style calculator as part of a business calculations package, the fifth is a 3-calulatro screen with the calculator from the front console, the windows sytle calculator and the EniG basic unit, and #6 is a heavy duty online one. Calculate, compute, convert, solve equations, Look up Tables, graph and do functions. The Resources page features the best sites for additional material. Just as the "real" Space Patrol got kids interested in science, which brings with it engineering and math, and becuase these areas have many thing to do, we lean heavily there: Very heavily!
- Call up an Urban Legends console for matters of science, medicine, UFO's and all the rest. DON'T BE SUCKED IN.
- Get major world news, travel, weather, music, sports and TV info
- Do financial calculations with our business calculators section
- Web resources: Hosting, networks, javascript, free software, etc.
- A choice of language tools
- Explore an omniverse of worlds:
- From next door to the farthest reaches of space.
- From the very earliest civilizations to the stallar empires of the far future
- From the mundanely common to the most wildly exotic
- From the hardest fact to the furthest-out fantasy
it's all there; whether you're an astronaut, cybernaut, chrononaut, infonaut or psychonaut.
- The space Patrol Power Console is expandable, augmentable, customizable and upgradable/updatable/debug-able and comes with the tools and supplies to do the job. and access to a service department.
This all started some 5 years ago because I was not happy with the standard Windows calculator. the keypad names were too poor in contrast for me to read. I am also not really happy with the FireFox calculator; it really does not look like a calculator. I was so very successful at finding replacements for that calc it wasn't funny; enough so to start me collectiong virtual calculators and other scripts, I even found virtual Texas Instrments calculators, including my long dead and beloved SR-50 and my next project is a virtual "fantasy" 1970's slide rule calulator dubbed the ZENTR-X 51HyperAdvanced.
Teamed up with GUtil and some of the other functional Add-ons and a properly stocked Bookmarks Toolbar, the Space Patrol Power Console turns FIREFOX into a powerful toolkit. It can replace the Calculator and brings added functionality in over a dozen categories and some 35 sub-categories with over 100 functions and activities. which is what makes it a "power console" and why the typical dropdown menu just won't do. Use a meta-search engine for the default search bar engine and you're unstoppable.
Who benefits from the Space Patrol Power Console? Count 'em
- anyone who uses a besic screen calculator; why not get one with a bit more going for it?
- Anyone who needs to use an online almanac or encyclopedia
- Anyone looking for a good sci-fi "trip"
- Anyoe planning a real trip
- Anyone wishing to stay in touch with:
- Music
- News
- Weather
- Sports
- TV
- Logins: Ebay, Yahoo! msn, Flickr, Amazon, Netflix, IMDb, YouTube and like that
- Anyone looking up a phone number or rates
- Anyone who could use three cualculators at once
- Anyone wishing to send a package
- Anyone who plans on building a website or using the internet in some way
- Chemists and Chemistry Students
- Engineers and Engineering Students
- Surveyors and Real Estate persons
- Anyone considering buying stocks, taking out a loane or other financial calculations
- Mathematicians and students
- Phyisicists and Physics students
- Those looking for
- Games
- Pinball
- Hobbies
- Crafts
- Hardcore Retro
- Electronic Techs
- Anyone who needs a good calculator quickly or needs to do fractions, percentages and proportions, which is most everyone at one time or other; especially modelmakers
- Anyone who uses a slide rule for mathematics
- Educators and students of all kinds
- Writers and persons who need to translate things
- History buffs
- Anyone who needs to sort numerical, alphabetical or alphannumerical data
- Anyone who needs to find out what is an urban legend
- Anyone who wants to do a thorough search for which Google would only be a starting point and needs topic-defined search engines or references
- Anyone who sends Ecards, Enotes or the like
- Anyone who wants a homepage that is great right out of the box and can be enhanced, expanded and customized to one's liking: WITH the materials to do it. In short: YOU!
Perhaps the easier question would be "who wouldn't benefit form the Space Patrol Power Console?" AND it was designed for Real People. You don't need a 200+ IQ or a Ph D to use it, although being a little nuts helps a lot. In fact Brian the Brain wouldn't need all this math power as he'd know it all: On the other hand, dummies like you and I need all the math help we can get.
"All right: what don't I get? The banal stuff that is either useless or of limited use, Autos, health (most of which is outright fraud), horoscopes (ditoo),lottery, real estate, jobs and the like, most of which you can fined at Yahoo or msn.com (see, I just gave them to you) anyway or if you want you can customize into your IN TOUCH page. So you're missing nothing. Also, you can take out what you don't want, for example I've included in IN TOUCH the message boards to STARLOG and PREVERVATION OF OLDIES LOVERS: Don't want 'em? Go down the page, locate them and delete them, which is what I did when STARLOG.com went south and the POOL BBS got to heavily spammed to be useful. Pot your calendar and To do list on IN TOUCH.
DESIGN PARADIGM: Part of what makes the power console easy to operate is the "design paradigm". It is derived from video game theory, the operational sections are mostly limited to one screen, or, with rare exceptions, if there is any scrolling, it is minimal. This makes sub-operations easy to locate and use. You go from the main console to the detail work in discrete steps, called "successive approximations", "binary search" or "whittling down"; each getting closer to the specific one you want or need, sometimes just one and sometimes 3 or 4. Instructional and infomrational, or other text material is kpet below the recommended maximum of 5 screensful on one page
HOW TO USE THIS CONSOLE
It is very simple:
- FIRST. this dispaly works best in a full screen mode. Stock FireFox does not have a real full screen mode and ome of the sub-sections do not support the F11 full screen key. so, go HERE. Get and install the FULL SCREEN, FULLER SCREEN enhancement and FULL SCREEN toolbar button and all will be well.
- After you decide on what you want. call up the main console
- Locate and "press" the Topic Button
- The Main Console will chage to either a sub-console or a Task Console.
- If it is a sub-console, locate and press the button for the specific topic until you come to the task console
- If it is the Task Console select the task to be done.
- When you get to the Task Console just select the specific task that you want to do
- Follow the instructions, input the data or whatever is needed to get the result
That's it.
The Space Patrol Power Console is a derivative of one of the "webtoys" from my websites. While I did not write the specific tasks, I do have them to do with as I please as long as it is not a commercial ventrure. As a "free open source" project Firefox qualifies under thsoe licensing agreements and all copyright rules apply. I left each scrpt substantially intact as the author's request so they can be located and given due credit. By using this software, you implicitly agree to the licensing terms, mostly not making it part of a commercial enterprise since it is intended for private use only, not as part of a sold bundle.
SCREENSHOT OF MAIN CONSOLE
THE ONLY TIME THIS CONSOLE QUITS IS WHEN YOU DO. Just TRY IT AND SEE
To Get and use it:
- Create a folder spconsole
- open the link below and save the zip file to that folder.
- Go in and unzip thefile
- Open the page 000starthere.html
- Make it your FireFox Home page
- You're DONE
- To get the "users' manual" click on the Space Patrol Logo at the top of the "console"
SPCONSOLE-HM.ZIP: GET IT NOW