Who doesn't need some privacy while working on their computer--watching some video or browsing the web. Here are two options for Windows that can get you some privacy at your home or in office.

Secret Firefox agent: Being spotted surfing the "restricted"Web might not be greatest of the adventures but can be very embarrassing. You can save yourself from any such awkward situation by using BossKey add-on for Mozilla Firefox in Windows.

BossKey preferences can be changed by accessing it through Tools>Add-ons in the Firefox menu bar. You would like to choose "Close to tray" option for completely hiding Firefox. Also choose a hot key to hide and restore Firefox. But don't use "Ctrl+W" as your hot key. Better save it for closing tabs in Firefox.

Stealth mode: If you wish to extend this "secret service" to other applications running on your Windows PC, you can download a small (>300KB) executable application--Dad's Around. Download the 7-Zip file and extract it to any desired place. If you have trouble extracting the archive file, download and install 7-Zip. Right-clicking the Dad's Around icon will activate it and place an icon in the system tray.



To configure the application, right-click the tray icon to access the menu. Default hotkey to hide applications is "Win+z". Pressing the key with Windows logo and z key will hide all the active windows. Windows Vista users need to change the hotkey as it clashes with default Vista hotkey. Click inside the hotkey box and press desired keys to change the settings.

So, next time your boss, father or anyone is about to look at your computer screen over your shoulders, just press the hot keys and pretend you were doing something else--writing a project could be a nice option.

Firefox add-on: BossKey
Windows app: Dad's Around