Why I'm Considering Dumping NoScript in Firefox

Don't get me wrong - I love the idea of NoScript.  Not having to run Javascript code I do not need to run a page, potentially making it faster, is a grand idea.  Plus, it potentially adds some security by not having every script run.

But NoScript has a problem.  It will block scripts but not show them in the NoScript menu for me to enable - and I need them for some pages to run.  I have verified this by running a similar add-on in Chromium (Chrome) which shows more scripts to unblock, which NoScript does not even show.  At this time, I have no desire to move to Chromium, mainly because I like having a menu bar, and it appears the only way to have one is to use Chrome on OS X, whose UI forces a menu bar at the top.

Firefox 3.6.4 and Gmail issue

I've been having problems in Firefox 3.6.4 (I may have had them with 3.6.2, but that version went away quickly) reading mail in Gmail. Mail will be loading, but will never finish loading, so I can't read the mail at all. Chromium has no issue with loading and reading the mail. Things work fine in Gmail when I disable javascript, and as the chat section appears to not be loading, I am wondering if this is an issue with the crash protection that Firefox added.

HTML Validator

HTML Validator is a Firefox add-on that lets you validate pages from within the browser. This is great if you don't want to have to rely on sending data to an external validator or if you need to validate pages on an Intranet. It's also great if you are working on web pages without a network connection.

CS Lite add-on

CS Lite is a Firefox add-on that is like a NoScript for cookies (at least, once you globally disable cookies). Once you are at a site that requires cookies, you can then choose to allow cookies for that site permanently or temporarily.

It's taken a little bit of work on some sites to get them working properly, but I haven't had any major stoppers yet. It's a great way to take control of the cookies on your system.

Firefox and NoScript Preferences

I'm trying to get NoScript working in Firefox, but the preferences do not appear match the default preferences that come with the NoScript extension. On top of that, even if I try changing the preferences, the OK button is unresponsive - it doesn't close the window and save my preferences.

I originally thought that this was a result of Gentoo's noscript ebuild, but I'm getting the same thing when loading the extension through the Firefox extension Web site. For now, it looks like I will block javascript with Adblock Plus.

In other news, I now have a Technorati Profile.

Sans serif fonts in Firefox

By default, Firefox uses a serif type font for HTML pages where a page does not declare a font to use. Sans serif fonts are much easier to read on the screen whereas serif fonts are better for printed material. To change the default font Firefox uses, go to Preferences (which can appear under Tools in Windows, Edit in Linux, and I believe Firefox in OS X) and select the Content tab. Change the default font to a sans serif font such as Arial and make those same changes under the Advanced button.

Thunderbird also uses serif fonts by default, including for any e-mail you may send someone. Change the default font to sans serif in the Preferences area of Thunderbird under the Display section, Formatting tab, and select the Fonts button.

Gentoo Firefox Issue Solved?

So far, I would say yes. This Gentoo forum post describes the issue I had while running 64-bit Gentoo and had again with 32-bit Gentoo where an X window (or as described by one poster, unmarked windows) would pop up while using Firefox and Firefox would eventually crash. The Gentoo bug page for this problem shows a solution of compiling Firefox using a +moznopango use flag. I recompiled Firefox with that use flag and have had no problems for 3 days. As a bonus, most of the text in Firefox looks a lot better. I'll be using the +moznopango use flag when compiling the 2.0.0.6 version of Thunderbird and the next version of SeaMonkey.

Gentoo for x86 now installed

I removed my amd64 installation of Gentoo and replaced it with the x86 installation so I wouldn't have to face the Flash issues anymore. I was also experiencing problems with Firefox, with windows mysteriously opening and making navigation difficult. I'm having the problem on the x86 side as well and suspect that one of the add-ons I installed is causing the problem. I'm guessing it may be the NoScript add-on. I'm working with very few add-ons right now and will add more, one at a time, making sure one of these isn't causing the issue, and probably avoiding NoScript unless I find something that suggests something else is the problem.

I'm also waiting to see if I will have issues with X crashing when using Mplayer, but am waiting for a moment when I have nothing critical running.

Mysterious Flash Outage

I noticed yesterday that Flash stopped working for me in Gentoo Linux. I'm guessing it may have been from an update to Firefox version 2.0.0.4, but I thought I would've noticed something like that on Sunday or Monday at the very latest. I simply had to re-emerge netscape-flash and Flash is working once again!

Firefox issue

I'm not exactly sure what caused the problem, but when I opened up Firefox this morning, I was unable to use the menu or the icons; I appeared to only be able to right click the menu bar and left click the updated extensions icon. I had thought that one of the extensions I had upgraded the previous night was the problem, but deleting them manually did not fix the problem. I ended up having to delete my Firefox profile (backing up my bookmarks) and that fixed everything. I've reloaded the extensions I was using and things are still working. I'm wondering if the profile just became corrupt somehow, or if the theme I was using got updated even though it shouldn't have, as the updated extensions icon was showing up in a different place (I'm still on 1.0.7, as Gentoo Linux has not made 1.5 stable yet) and the latest version of the theme only supports 1.5 and up.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Firefox 1.5 is out

You have upgraded to 1.5, right?
If you are still using Internet Explorer, you really should check out Firefox. You will be glad you did.

Firefox Extensions, Part 2

More extensions that I use:

Disable Targets for Downloads: There are a number of times when I try to download something and Firefox opens a new window/tab. This extension simply removes that annoyance.

Adblock: Remove those ads that annoy you with this extension. This has been nice to use for those ads that play sounds. Remove just the single ad or completely block the server it comes from.

Tabbrowser Preferences: Tabbed browsing saves me from having a large number of windows open at the same time, but I never cared for the positioning of the tabs. I use this extension to have the tabs at the bottom of the screen.

PwdHash: It's difficult to keep track of passwords, especially when you have dozens of them, whether they be for your operating system, a special program, or a website. As such, most people tend to use the same password in multiple places, which isn't the wisest idea if someone figures out that password. PwdHash will automatically make a more secure password for a site while you continue to use that easy to remember password. Let the extension description and the PwdHash site explain it more. My only complaint about this is that I would like a way to know which sites I used PwdHash with - granted, I should just go through all sites and change my passwords to use this...

Firefox Extensions, Part 1

This is the first of a series of posts listing and giving some details of the Firefox extensions I use at work and/or home. Some you may have already heard of; others, I believe, are more obscure.

Extensions for web developers:
Web Developer: This is probably the standard extension you'll find on any web developer's computer. Disable just about any part of the web page, play with CSS, forms, images, display various information about the page, outline the various parts of the page, and more.

Aardvark: I don't see this extension mentioned as often as it probably should be. This is a nice interactive way to work with CSS. Once the extension is turned on, the various parts of the web page that you move your mouse cursor over will be outlined with a red box and show a caption that reports the HTML element type as well as the class and id if they exist. From there you can do various things with the element such as remove it from the page, make it wider, or make it narrower.

LinkChecker: Checking for broken links on your pages can be tedious. This extension will highlight the links on a page with a particular color to tell you if the link is good, broken, or forwarded.

ColorZilla: Use this extension to get the RBG value and hex code of a color on a web page.

View Formatted Source: Sometimes the code you see with Firefox's view source option is difficult to read. I generally use this extension for it's color coding of HTML code (which will also allow you to view CSS information for the elements in a page), but it is also capable of letting you select a "block" in the page and just view the source for that block.

MeasureIt: Measure the height and width of any element on a web page.

Firefox to the rescue at work

One of the computers at work, for whatever reason, refused to have Macromedia Flash working in Internet Explorer (Exploiter). It looks like it would install, but would refuse to load any Flash files. IT took a look at it, tried many things, but was unable to fix it. This was at least a month ago. The need for this particular computer to view Flash came up again, and last night as I was playing around, I noticed that Firefox used a different download for Flash than IE. I installed Firefox on this computer, then Flash, and it played Flash files just fine. Needless to say the user for this computer was pleased. I was pleased to see Open Source software once again succeed where proprietary software has problems (in case you were wondering, ask about my adventure in formating my brand new hard drives when I first got my current computer).

101 Things Mozilla Can Do That Internet Explorer Can't

Still using Internet Explorer? Take a look at the things you can do with Mozilla/Firefox that Internet Explorer can't.

http://www.xulplanet.com/ndeakin/arts/reasons.html

Thanks to cking from m202.net for the link.

Microsoft uses Firefox, so why aren't you?

This article says it all.