Firefox Security Hole Is Why You Need An Adblocker And An Update

Windows:

• When I clicked "Help" then "About Firefox" it immediately downloaded the patch.  
• Click on the "Restart Firefox To Update Button"

Linux (Debian)

Assuming you have "real" Firefox installed and the sources in place.

• Open Terminal as Root.
• Smile because you have Root.
• apt-get update
• apt-get upgrade
• Restart Firefox when you click on the button that appears.

Other Linux Distros will vary, of course.

Mac apparently does not have the problem.

What happened?  Hackers.  Simply put, a Hacker exploited a hole in Firefox so that advertisements could push some code onto your machine to take it over.

Now, this business about ad blockers.

I run one and I use it very aggressively. It is for this reason.  It is also that I truly hate being pandered to and watched.

The latest trend is to watch what you are doing via "tags".  A 1 pixel "dot" of a picture will be pushed to your browser as an anchor for them to watch what you are doing.

The best thing for you to do is to run an ad blocker.  You tell it what to block, and yes, it gets very technical because you have to take responsibility to block these things.  For the most part, an ad blocker with (free) subscriptions will block most, but never all, of these nasties.

When you run an ad blocker you will also notice that your browser runs much faster since it isn't trying to paint all those ads for all those products that you will never use.

Lets be honest, have you ever actually clicked on an ad intentionally?

Me neither.

Heck, I don't even see youtube commercials because I run an ad blocker.

The easier one to use is Ad Block Plus.  It is controversial because they allow certain advertisers to pay *them* to be allowed past the blocker.  I would recommend this for basic users because unless you want to learn how to use it, it's pretty simple.

The one I am using is called uBlock.  I'm still learning how to use it.  It removes the ads, but I haven't figured out how to make it remove the blank space the ad created.

It's up to you.  Ads and Hackers, or a better browsing experience.  I know what I chose.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a browser to restart.

Firefox Now Blocks Flash As Default Until Next Version Of Flash

If you are using Firefox, I have a question:  Is your browser acting up on you?

What happened is that Mozilla pushed through a well intentioned update.  It now blocks Flash as a default, and while you can turn it on if you like through the settings, I'm thinking I got into a chain of weirdness here that ended up with my having to do some tweaks.

Flash is that piece of software who has its origins back before the dawn of time, or rather 1999 or so that serves up videos, games, and the worst of all features of the modern web, advertisements.

You've got it on your computer unless you took steps to avoid having it.  I'd be willing to bet on it.  If I lost that particular bet go outside and enjoy the great outdoors since you Win One Internetz you 733t D00D!


For the rest of us, Flash is a bit of an annoyance.  Use is something you may not have thought about, an it's starting to fade away.  Personally, I won't miss it but I do keep it up to date and protect myself by only allowing it to run when I tell it to.

Back to that Flash thing.  I am now getting a black stripe at the top of my browser when Flash wants to be activated on any specific website.  In my case, that is exactly how I want it to act.  I want it to nag me when I hit a webpage that wants to use Flash so I know if I'm about to get a virus.

The reality is that when Facebook's head of security, that time sink of a website that mines what you are doing to serve it back to the advertisers that are paying for the site, says that it is Time For Flash To Die, you are witnessing the beginning of the end of an era.

In my own specific case, it locked my Firefox into "Safe Mode" and refused to let me out.  I had to "Refresh" the browser which meant I lost all my configurations and settings.  It took me the better part of an hour to get them back.  I also lost "Adblock Edge" and am having to retrain myself on something called uBlock Origin which is nowhere near as user friendly as the one I was using.

In order to re-enable Flash, and I do not recommend you turn it on for everyone but leave it nag you when it wants to be on:

Go to your Plug In Check Page
Click the scary "Update Now" button

The midsized scary red button will open a webpage for you to download the latest version of Flash, Manually.  Make certain that you clear the check box for their latest crapware download of McAfee Security software.

In my own opinion, there really isn't any reason to download anything from McAfee but that's my opinion.

Once you have done the install, it will force you to restart your browser.

Bad form, Adobe, Bad form.  Then again, it's always been this bad form so we are used to it by now.

So after you restart the browser, Windows Update had a fix for Flash as well.  After applying that update, and a final reboot, the resulting "about:addons" page that allows you to activate or disable your addons was no longer scary red.

The Plugin Status page still had the scary red big button, but the update now button was green and happy.

Lather, Rinse, and Repeat as necessary for all your computers.  Every IT person will be going through this sort of thought process for a bit, or have someone do it for them.

New Firefox and Other Browser Update Weirdness

I'm settling in to get some things done and notice a blurb.

There's going to be a rollout of the next Firefox over the next few weeks.  I pay close attention to that because I use Firefox extensively.  I'd be lost without it. 

I'm so tightly trained to use Firefox that I have to step back and actually "think" how to use any other browser.  Since I use Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Mac OSX Mavericks, and Debian Linux on a daily basis as well as Android and an occasional toe dipped into Apple's iOS, I have to remain as flexible as possible and Firefox is on all of those computers. 

Except the iPhone but I hardly ever use them.

I will eventually install Firefox on the Windows machines when it tells me that it is available.  I'm not in a rush.  The last time they changed the way it looks, the User Interface or UI, it borked it for me.  I ended up installing things to make it look the way it did before I updated the browser while growling at Firefox in general.  Keystrokes and mouse clicks and all that moved.  They removed the status bar. The bookmark strip got lost, or rather hid, and that stores some of your bookmarks.  They removed the title bar.

Why?  Never heard a reason, but I installed Classic Theme Restorer and it brought it all back.  Immediately after that I installed Adblock Edge to get rid of the blasted adverts and other nasties that hitch a ride onto your computer as a result.  More Privacy means for a faster experience as well as fewer viruses and spyware pushed onto your local computer.  Nobody actually "Likes" ads anyway, we accept their presence and usually are annoyed or distracted by them, but "Like"?  I doubt it.

Rule Number One of Software User Experience (UX) is if you change the way something looks, you will break the way people work.  I learned that back in the days of the Mainframe and College. 

Rule Number Two of Software User Experience is that if you do change it there will be unintended consequences.

In My Case:

I have a computer that has what they call a "Clickpad".  It's also running Debian Linux.  I know Linux in general fairly well, but Debian Linux doesn't manage Clickpads well.  Clickpads are those weird trackpads that are flush with the case.  You click on the pad instead of having normal buttons like every other Synaptic trackpad. 

I do know that is fixed in the next version of Debian, and I do know how to fix it now, but it is an annoyance that I have to deal with.  It basically forgets that it has a physical button in Debian Stable/Wheezy, and you're stuck with whatever you touch on the trackpad.  I only get a Right Click when I tap.  I have since configured a two fingered tap to be a Left Click.

What that all did change did is to break the way Firefox works.  You see, on that particular computer, I can't Right Click.  I can't get the pop up context menu.  They changed the UI right away from it. 

Since that machine is Debian Linux, I have to wait for the next version anyway.  It isn't even using Firefox, but something rebranded as "IceWeasel".  To put it short, and sarcastic, Debian had a spat with Firefox over the branding.  Since Firefox/Mozilla doesn't want anything proprietary at all on their default install, someone in the Debian Project grabbed the source code, recompiled it, created the graphics, and renamed everything to IceWeasel.  It works like Firefox but is Older.  About a version back. 

If you're running Stable, or Wheezy, you could be quite a few versions back.  Jessie has a more current Firefox, but it also has a lot more annoying bugs in it because it is "Testing".

But Windows?  Yeah, you'll get it soon.  Just remember Classic Theme Restorer and Adblock Edge, and you'll be fine.

As for the Mac?  When it is available, you'll get a blip on the bottom of the screen telling you you're ready for an upgrade.  You can also go back to the old theme if you want, but I do recommend Adblock Edge as well.

Why the harping on the ads?  It's a much faster browsing experience when you surf a page without the ads.  No blinky pictures, crawling things, or text ads.  If you don't download them, you use less data.  Things pop faster.

Trust me on that one.  You can always turn it off later.

So how DO you know when your phone is obsolete?

I have a friend who visits about once a year.  I have a standing request that he brings his "Daily Driver" computer with him when he comes.

He calls it a tune up.  What I generally do is go through the machine, run a virus scan, uninstall spyware, and send him on his way.  It runs much faster because I've cleaned out the junk.

He's also been using that machine for longer than even I have expected.  He's gotten newer machines, but he keeps coming back to that beast of a 17 inch "laptop" because I'm able to keep it going.

Eventually, he'll have to stop using it, and then it will have a second life as either a table leveler, something to hold a shelf down in the linen closet, or I'll put Linux on it and it will be good for another 5 years of use.

I'm leaning toward Linux, but that is because I actually do like using the environment.

Computers have a longer life than the manufacturers want you to believe because they exist to make money by selling you new.  It's Planned Obsolescence.

With a phone, it appears much more clear cut.  Especially with a smartphone, things have a shelf life.  The vendor puts out a new model, it can do more, but does it really warrant you getting a new one?

Again like with my friends beast of a laptop, to me, it appears that it is software driving the decision.

There are two schools here.  Apple and Android.  Not looking at this as a fanboy of either set up, I have a preference for Android because I can do things with it like use the phone as a multimedia computer much easier than I can with iOS.  I look at it as a use case to form a decision as to which works best for me.

Your Mileage May Vary.

With Apple, there is a clear end of life with their phones.  When you can no longer run their current operating system, it is time to consider moving on.  Apple has always done this with their computers as well.  For a while their PowerPC computers were supposed to be the best thing out there.  Then they came out with Intel based computers that made their old computers look horrible and they stopped supporting them after one more upgrade.

My iPhone is an old 3GS.  It will still make calls, but as a computer, Apple is actively pushing it away.  I have software that ran on it until I updated it, then all the sudden the older software is gone, and the newer one doesn't work because I don't have the current operating system.  One after another app is going away and eventually that will be the end of it.

Of course if you have the latest iPhone 6, it's obsolete when you drop it on the ground on the first day it's out because you just broke the screen.



Android is a different animal.

Android support varies with the company that made the phone or tablet.  Typically, an Android phone will get updates within the operating system version that it was bought with.  After that you are on your own.

My tablet, a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, got updates until the current OS came out.  That doesn't mean that the tablet is unusable, it merely means that it will get more behind the times as I run into the same problem that my old iPhone had.  Software won't be written for it.

There is another problem with the older versions of Android.  The browser that shipped with every version of Android except the current one has a rather nasty bug in it.  The short of it is that if you have an older Android device, do not use the default browser.  Disable that browser, and install another.  I did that at the start and I use Firefox which is the suggestion that is made by most security groups.

Why is that a problem?  Because if you don't have a current device that runs the current Operating System, you aren't going to get an update and you are on your own.  That means you have just hit the wall with using that phone, it's now obsolete - if you want to be secure.

It all seems a bit alarmist, but considering how many people use their phones and tablets as their main computing devices these days, it really does pay to be aware of what that device is capable of doing.  It is a computer and they do need to be kept up to date.  But when you can't do that any more, you have to be aware what not being up to date can mean.

Raspbian Gets a New Browser - Epiphany

I saw an posting on Raspberry Pi's Blog announcing that the team behind the default browser on many Linux distributions called "Web" was being brought to the Pi the other day.

Great.  It's an epiphany.  Ok, enough with that particular pun.

"epiphany-browser" is the name of the package itself.  "Web" is what it calls itself when you look at the about screen.  No matter what it's called, it's there and it is an improvement on the older Midori browser that was shipped with the version of Raspbian that I installed on my Pi.

Midori is a scaled down browser using the same underpinnings as Safari.  That's great for a limited memory computer but it was a bit too scaled down.

Epiphany will bring better HTML 5 support, a Javascript JIT "Just In Time" Compiler, as well as and most importantly to me, Hardware-accelerated Video Decoding.  It also will be the default browser in Raspbian in future installs.

It will result in a more robust experience.  Since I have basically "locked up" Midori with four tabs open, I'm looking forward to that.  On the other hand, I went to www.fullscreenweather.com and was able to get a radar map on Epiphany where Midori would have simply been too slow to use.

Just like anything in a Debian derived Linux Distribution, it's easy to get.  It is available via Synaptic, or you can install it from the command line as usual:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install epiphany-browser

The whole install took about 15 minutes on my Pi.

The reason why it's called "epiphany-browser" and not just "epiphany", by the way, is that there's a game out there called epiphany which is a "boulderdash" clone.

Outlook.com - How To Block Messenger

Microsoft, please don't annoy me before 6AM.

I had gotten in after the dog walk, settled in for some iced tea, and wanted to check my email once the computer got started.

Using www.outlook.com has never been a pleasure for me.  I want an email service that stays out of my way with extra "features" that I don't want.   Having a chat service tied into an email program that is a bloated mess was not my choice.  Even Hotmail.com was better than the steaming pile of garbage that Outlook.com has been bloated into.

At the lower left of the browser screen was a helpful "Messaging" area with little icons of people who I have written in the past.  I found myself immediately looking for a way to turn it off.  After wasting a half hour in the "Byzantine" settings menu in Outlook, I went to do a search for how to do it.  I found this page suggesting that I add an entry into a low level file and restart my computer.   The low level file is a text file called "Hosts" that your computer reads in when it starts.  What Hosts does is to override networking.  

In Windows it is at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc and Linux keeps it at /etc/hosts which would be where I would expect to find it on Mac OSX.

Some very basic and oversimplified networking concepts.

If you type in http://www.ramblingmoose.com your computer doesn't know what that does. It consults your network stack, finds the gateway, and then talks to your internet service provider.  In this case it looks at a giant phone book called your DNS and gets the IP Address of the site.  Since my blog points to a blogger site, that number changes, and it's hosted by Google anyway. 

But I can change that.

If I bring up Hosts in notepad or any other TEXT editor, I can add in a line saying that a specific IP address is to be used when you go to a specific web address or URL.

For example, if I want to block Google, I add a line to the file:

127.0.0.1  www.google.com

Save the file and restart the computer.

This works for some sites that are advertising providers and other nuisance sites.  My own Hosts file is pretty large having gotten one that has most of those malware and advertising sites that were known at the time.

But all this is annoying to maintain.  Fortunately, there is an easier way to do it.

Adblock Edge or Adblock Plus in Firefox and whichever other browsers it supports.  Adblock Edge is always the first thing I add when I install Firefox.  It allows me to block ads, hide pictures, and even block whole websites (domains) if I choose to from a semi-friendly interface.

Simply add a custom "rule" to adblock to block the following URL:

geo.gateway.messenger.live.com

It would be a whole lot simpler if Microsoft had decided that it would give you a way to block that Messaging app within Outlook.com settings, but they chose not to.  Luckily I can turn it off and get some things done.

How to add a custom rule:

• Ctrl+Shift+F will open a window called "Adblock Edge Filter Preferences".
• Click on the "Add Filter" button in the upper right of the window.
• In the blue box, enter geo.gateway.messenger.live.com and Enter.
• Close the window by clicking the Close Box.
• When you refresh Outlook.com in your browser, it will be blocked in that browser only.

Annoyed With The New Firefox Look And Feel? Here Is How To Fix It.

Ok, this isn't a Hey You Kids Get Off My Lawn thing.

Change is sometimes good.  When someone looks long at how something works, makes a tweak, you will know if it is right.

If it isn't right for you, then sometimes there is a way to fix it.

When I was presented with the opportunity to give my computer a wholesale upgrade, I thought long and hard about going to Windows 8.1.  I don't like it, many of us don't.  So why bother?  I installed Classic Shell, and now my Windows 8.1 looks like Windows 7. 

I did it because the new full-screen Modern or Metro apps are useless to me, the live tiles are worthless to someone who lives on the Desktop, and they are a vector for advertising that I have not found a way to block.  I completely uninstalled most of them and since I work very heavily on the desktop, I feel no loss.

Windows 8.1 is faster, slightly, than Windows 7, so I'm enjoying the minor slight speed bump.  I'm still not liking it any time I have to jump into the ugly block land of the Metro apps, but it is only when I have to fiddle with the system that I have to go there.

Why the Windows nonsense on a Firefox post?  There's a reason.

Firefox changed the way everything looks on the newest update called "Australis" on Windows 8.1.  The old "shine" is gone.  Everything is flat and mostly "Primary colors". 

I describe it as simply ugly.  The old shine had a great effect, you could find things at a glance on a very busy screen easier.  Granted, you were trained to recognize that the individual elements were separated by color and separators were very visible as a dark line, the most current tab of a tabbed interface was lighter, the other tabs were darker, but did not blend into the background which was a third color.

There is a good reason for this.  Humans are good at pattern recognition.  This is why the "Big Dipper" is a constellation resembling a dipper.  It LOOKS like SOMETHING.  It isn't a random pattern, although in actuality it really is since some of the stars in the Big Dipper are much closer than others.

So when Firefox upgraded, they went with a new look and feel.   It looks very Windows 8.1 Metro Modern.  Which is to say "Flat and Blocky".

I don't like Flat and Blocky.  I have open dozens of tabs at any given moment, sometimes more than one hundred.  It slows me down.

If you want to fix that and find it ugly and want to go back to the old school way of doing things, thankfully Firefox recognizes that you still can.  It is even in their official documentation how to do so.  This update is all about giving you the power to customize the browser. 

Unfortunately they removed the add on bar at the bottom of the browser completely and that broke my weather app that I depended on heavily for current conditions.  I'll have to go out and write a webpage to monitor the weather itself.  While I could use the practice in HTML 5, I'd prefer it not to have been forced upon me.

You can follow their instructions here.

Simply put you will be adding an "Add On" to Firefox.  It will change it back to the way it looked "yesterday" before you did the upgrade by default.  Install it and you are done.  Add Ons typically work on all versions of the browser, although I haven't tried it out on my Mac or my Linux machines, I expect this will not be a problem.

All I wanted was my old square edged tabs back in grey with the current tab bright silver, and it gave me that back.

The steps are simple:

• Start Firefox
• Surf this page to get Classic Theme Restorer. 
• Click the green "Add This To Firefox" button.

Don't worry, if you want to turn off Classic Theme Restorer, you can within its own preferences found in the Firefox Tools Menu.

It will install the theme restorer.  With that you can change a lot more of the way Firefox looks.  If you really do like the curvy tabs, you can put them back by selecting the proper theme elements.  My biggest problem is that the visual clues are not at all obvious with this new "Australis" theme.  The break between the inactive tabs is much less obvious and the result is that it slows me down.

With Classic Theme Restorer, I can put that back.  There is a Curved Alternative Theme that looks almost exactly like Google's Chrome tabs so if you like that, feel free.  I just tweaked it to look that way now, and my browser looks like a file drawer full of old grey Manila folders inside Pendaflex holders.

Skeuomorphism to the rescue!

After all, if customization was the goal, I took advantage of it.  I bent the browser to my will and customized it - back to the way it was. 

Useable.

Now Homeland Security Suggests You Stop Using Internet Explorer Especially With Windows XP

You know things are getting dicey when the Department of Homeland Security gets involved.

Personally I never liked Internet Explorer.   It's the browser that is baked into every version of Microsoft Windows out there since Windows 95.   The problem is that it's a single point of failure.   If there's a deep problem with the browser, your whole computer is at risk.   Slowdowns caused by Internet Explorer are common, and in my own experience it runs like a "Lead Sled".

I try to use another browser wherever possible.

Now a little more tech jargon.  You may have read about some shadowy problems.  A "Zero Day" or "0-Day" attack.   Simply put, it is an attack at that low level of your software.  You won't even know that you "got hit" and will be added to a hacker's portfolio.

Every version of Internet Explorer that is in use since version 2 is involved in this mess.   No matter what version of Windows you are using, you are at risk.  Since they aren't updating that old software, you really should have upgraded that old copy of Windows 95 well before now.

There is a fix from Microsoft, and you can now get it in Windows Update, and it didn't even whine at me to restart Windows 8.1.  Until you do there are a few things to consider.

First, get a second browser.   I prefer Firefox, others choose Chrome, still more choose Safari, and there is always Opera.   Pick one and use it.  It is your choice!

Second, if you are on Windows XP, you need to upgrade, Now.  Windows XP will not be fixed at this point.  Microsoft may go back on its word, but you are at this point vulnerable.

Third there is another wrinkle to this mess - Flash.  It's the most common way most people look at those cute cat videos and the video that I embedded below about this bug.  It has its own Zero Day exploit and needs to be upgraded to version 13. This Flash Bug is also a problem for Mac OSX and Linux, so I will have a busy day upgrading things around the house.  Basically everyone gets hit by this one no matter what computer you have!

With Windows7 and Firefox, you can check by following these steps:

1. Start Firefox.
2. Follow this link to the Plug In Checker.  It will open in a new page or browser window.
3. Any plugins that you run that are out of date will show up with a red button on the right that says "Update Now" - click that button.
4. It will open another page for Flash.  
5. Click the check box to refuse the offer of McAfee Security Scan Plus since you just do NOT need that software.
6. Click the Yellow Install Now Button.
7. It will open another page, wait a bit, then ask you to save a program.
8. When your download is complete, run the installer to update.  Flash does not do this behind the scenes.  You will find it in your downloads directory and you will have to run it separately.  The program it downloaded was called "install_flashplayer13x32_mssd_aaa_aih.exe" but it will change through time and versions.
9. It will ask you if you want to install it, and personally I tell it to tell me to upgrade instead of doing it automatically.   Personal preference.
10. When you get the green check and the "Installation Complete" message, you can click Finish.
11. It will then bring up a message saying that you're done and ask you if you want to get this fantastic deal from someone who I can't see because my ad blocker has blocked it.   Shoo, Adobe, I don't want your deals!

Yeah, 11 steps but it goes quickly.

Microsoft has a fix out now for Internet Explorer, but you really do need to get a different browser.   One that supports ad blocking since they're also a vector for spyware and viruses.

The video from USA Today is at this link if you want to see if your Flash has been updated.

Forecastfox - Getting Radar My Way in Firefox

I find myself setting this up from time to time.  I end up creating a new computer, or a virtual computer and want a little strip of weather info in my browser.

ForecastFox does what I need.  It works fairly well, supports multiple locations, and does have a bit of flexibility in how you can configure it.

It comes "out of the box" set up for New York City.  Since I live in South Florida, that doesn't work for me.

Since I also have quite a few years of programming, I can fix that. 

The nice thing is that "fixing" that isn't that tough.

They give you a helpful search box that sets everything up for you.  Type in your US Zip Code and it will find your city.   The defaults work nicely, but the address for the radar doesn't work for me.  Radar doesn't change with the city so you end up looking at the temperature and conditions for "your area" and the radar for the Northeast US.

Not so helpful.

Also it makes a small radar display which, while it works, we can do better.

First, install Forecast Fox.  I'm going to assume that you know how, since it's one of the more popular updates to Firefox or Chrome.

It should put a web page up before you telling you that it will update your information immediately.

If it didn't, hover over the current conditions and right click on them for the pop up.   Select "options" and the web page will open.

In the locations box, type in your zip code and hit enter.   It will create a basic profile for that location.  You can then hover over the other profile for New York, NY and Remove or Rename the extra one.

If you want multiple locations, tick the box and it will switch through them every minute or more.

The bit I need to change is the Toolbar Display.  Since the radar sites are not linked, I go through the same steps every time I do this.

First, in another window or tab, I surf to www.wunderground.com.  It will try to detect your location, if it doesn't search for your zip code or city name.

The radar display on the page has a link on it if you hover over top.  Select "NEXRAD" radar.   Zoom in and out until you get just the view you want.   Click on the "Animate" link to make the radar move.  On the bottom left of that display you will find a link that says "View/Save This Image", click on the link. 

The  result is that you will now have a browser page that will show the view you just had.  It will be animated, and there will be no extra bits like ads or controls to move it. 

Copy the address of the picture by right clicking on the image and selecting "Copy Link Location" from the pop up.

That picture and the url are what you want.   But you can do better...

Go back to your Forecastfox Weather configuration page and find the Toolbar Display section.  In the Radar (Or Satellite) box, select Custom.   Click inside the URL box and do the following keystrokes:

1. Ctrl+A
2. Ctrl+V

That will select everything in the box and paste the copied URL from the picture into the box.  What I do here is change the size of the picture to something a bit larger.  The width and height can be changed to the size you want.  Default was 480 by 320 but I changed mine to 1024 by 768.

Why did I do that?  Because, Radar.  More specifically, I have a large screen and would like to use it.  Now when I hover over that little green radar icon in my status bar at the bottom of my browser, I get a big picture instead of a little one.  

You can also turn on some of the other weather data, and change the number of days displayed.  Mine is 5 days and 2 text labels.

The end result is this oversized picture that is below.

Browser Basics - Where Do I Type The Web Page?

Some of you will look at this discussion and wonder why someone would do what I'm going to describe.

I was looking at the statistics for this blog and thought I'd lend a helping hand.

Most browsers, when you start them, will put you at a search page.  Typically that is Google for Firefox and Chrome.   I think Safari drops you onto www.apple.com on the Mac.  I try hard to forget anything connected with Internet Explorer these days.

So you get a big helpful page with a box to type in your search query.  You typed in Ramblingmoose.  Hit enter.  It gives you a list of articles I wrote.  It should have the base web page at the top - http://www.ramblingmoose.com .

You used your mouse/trackpad/trackball to move the cursor to the link and clicked on it.  

If you did all that before I put this article up on the web page, you would see the picture, minus my writing and the little yellow box.

We all start somewhere, and if you aren't told how to do something basic, you will figure it out the best you can, and repeat it until someone whispers in your ear an easier way.

That would be me.

The little yellow box is where you should be typing that address, unless you really did mean to do a search.   It is called the Address Bar, generically, although I've heard other "Marketing Friendly" terms used.

In Firefox, at least, if you type in the majority of the name, it will try to "make" the most likely URL for you.   URL is the web address like www.ramblingmoose.com or some other website. 

So if you just type in ramblingmoose in the address bar, you may get here.  At least I just did when I tried it out on Firefox 25.0.1 on Windows 7 on this day in 2013...

Why is that important enough to warrant a blog posting? 

It saves you time.
About 10 percent of you do a search each day to get here.
I wanted to help.
That's why you came here.

Now I'll go back to finding Just The Right Font for this blog and annoy everyone with changes every couple minutes until I'm satisfied.  I just don't like Arial or Helvetica.  Bleah.

Firefox 23 is out - Now With Annoying Changes!

I use Firefox as the go-to browser.  
Internet Explorer is ugly and slow.
Chrome... well that's a google product and I don't trust it.  I know, Blogger is a google product, and I accept that.

Still.

I read that it was being updated so I checked to see if it was updated to version 23.  No, but helpfully it told me that it was downloading the update.   I didn't actually click on anything, but since I wanted it, I accepted this as "magic" and watched the donut roll downhill.

To Check:

1. Click Help
2. Click About Firefox
3. Read - the Version Number will be there and it will tell you "Firefox is up to date".

Now for the annoyances.   There are two, and they're connected.

I have more than a passing interest in Security.  Web pages that do things I don't like really make me go "red zone" fast.  Tricks with javascript under the hood really make me want to reach through the browser and find the webmaster and pretend I'm Homer Simpson strangling Bart.

So I would go in and set two tick boxes:

Do not allow javascript to move or resize windows.   You don't want this happening either.  Imagine trying to close a window that won't let you because it moves.   Plus everything is "just so" and I don't want something going full screen.   It's this size because I want it this size.

Do not allow javascript to turn off context menus.   If you right click on a web page, you get a pop up asking you what you want to do.   It can be turned off.  Tough, my browser, my rules.

Here is how to set it back - if you don't want my explanation, go to this link and read the geek speak on Mozilla's website.


Open a fresh Firefox browser window - Ctrl N
In the address bar type "about:config" and hit enter.  
There will be a helpful warning about not breaking anything, click "I'll Be Careful".
You are now in the Firefox configuration screen.  You really can make the browser misbehave here so - be careful.

First change
In the search box type "dom.disable_window_move_resize".
Click value until it changes to true.

Second change
In the search box type "dom.event.contextmenu.enabled".
Click value until it changes to true.

You can close that window, you're all done.

What you did was force Firefox to give you back control, and we will all admit that control is a good thing.

Really, Mozilla, what were you thinking?  Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Web Annoyances - Websites Where Keyboards Don't Work

This one gets me a lot.  
It's so basic that I have to wonder who on earth is making these web pages? 
Worse, who on earth is approving and testing them?

Oh, that's right, you can't do Proper QA any more since everything is written overseas on the cheap.

You get what you pay for.

Rant aside...

For the most part, even now, the place most people are doing their "heavy duty" web surfing is on a browser.  I'm basing that on this blog's statistics, and I feel confident that that feeling is backed up by most web services.

The proportion is roughly evenly split between Internet Explorer, Firefox (and its variants), and Chrome.

I personally have noticed this on Firefox and on Internet Explorer, on Windows, Linux, and on Mac OSX.

It just doesn't happen on a tablet or a phone since the way you use a webpage is different there.  You only have a mouse (touchscreen), you rarely have a keyboard.

I notice this on a daily basis on Monster.com, but it also shows up with many other oddball sites.

Here's how to find the problem on Monster:

• Surf Monster and do a search.  Doesn't really matter what kind of job you search for, your own zip code will be fine.
• You will be presented with a list.  Pick one from the list.   It doesn't really matter which.
• Now that you are looking at a page, a job really, use your Page Up or Page Down keys.

They don't work.

You actually have to click inside the body of the page to get the page to move.   You can tab around, cursor around, whatever you choose, but it just doesn't work until you click inside the page.

If you are a web developer and call this done, you are bad and you should feel bad.

Zoidberg doesn't like you and neither do I.

This also works with the Windows or Linux alternate page down, the space bar.  

Navigation is simply locked down until you click inside the page.

My best guess is that it's a function of working with the software behind the scenes (Ajax) and having reworked your browser so that all the keys are forced to do a certain special task.  Don't know but it's still wrong.

Now go back and fix your web page.  That's a rookie mistake.  If you're good, Robot Santa may leave you a gift.

Got Firefox? Time for an Upgrade to Firefox 22

You know it's an easy upgrade when you catch it doing it when you go to see where you're at.

Huh?

Simple...

I've been hearing that Firefox has just released version 22.

I looked at my version number to check where I'm at and it was in the process of upgrading.

Here's how to check:

Start Firefox.
Click Help.
Click About Firefox.
If the version is 22.0, it's already been done.
If the version is 21.0 click the appropriate button to update.

Mine just needed a "Restart to Update".

I'm done.   Actually, I used it all this morning and it feels about as fast as before.  It does feel a bit more stable.  I *think* it is using a little less memory and a little less processor.  The laptop feels a little cooler than it had but that could be me just "thinking too much".

Have fun.  Pretty painless.

Computer Basics - Resizing Web Pages and Changing Text Sizes - Picture

Yes, I said Basics, and I mean it!

I find myself looking at a lot of long lists in web pages.  A LOT of text.  I found myself getting annoyed at not seeing enough on a single page so I started changing the sizes of the page.  That's easy and works well, but only on that particular web page.  I wanted all the text to be smaller to fit more "stuff" on a page.

There are two slightly different ways to do it.

First method - Change "this" web page to be larger or smaller.  This is going to work for a given domain (from what I can tell) and will work on Firefox as well as Internet Explorer and probably on Chrome.

Three simple key commands -

• Larger - Ctrl and + (plus sign) at the same time
• Smaller - Ctrl and - (minus sign) at the same time
• Back to "normal" - Ctrl and 0 (zero) at the same time

 What that will do is bump the text up or down a step, and it will make the pictures get larger and smaller at the same time.   It's like moving closer or farther away from your monitor.

Second method - Change only the text to be larger or smaller.  This will work EVERYWHERE, so be aware.  Going up one or two steps, or down the same, works fairly well but it may make the web page look a little strange since the pictures will not change.   It also may not work at all on a specific web page since the web designer decided to force a specific size of the text on the end user.  Bad form and controlling but it does work.

Since this setting is going to stay stuck everywhere until you change it back, we'll call it "permanent" and leave things at that.

In Firefox, click Tools and Options to get the basic Options page.

1. Click on the Content Tab (circled).
2. Click on Advanced (circled).
3. Click on the Size Buttons (circled) to change the two sizes.  
4. Click OK and OK again on each window.

I recommend that you do each by one or two points and see how you well it works for you, but change them both by the same amount.

Windows XP? Consider Switching to a Different Browser or Upgrading

Still using Windows XP?
Are you using Internet Explorer?

Don't do that.

My friends will laugh and say I have always hated Internet Explorer.  I really do dislike "IE".  I have been steadfastly using Firefox since it was introduced.  Internet Explorer just felt slow and bloated and generally "icky".

I have an XP machine here at the house, and there are people in Corporate environments who still use XP.  It's around 1/3 of the PCs out there at this point and declining.

The problem is that there's a security change coming down the pike that will make Internet Explorer on Windows XP less secure.

The quick solution is to always use a different browser when you can.   I suggest Firefox, but Chrome as well will work.  The security change that you need is in the more modern browsers and Internet Explorer is not being kept up to date by Microsoft on Windows XP.

If you want the long story, you can follow this link to Naked Security.  

Bottom line is it's time to change your browser or upgrade the computer to run Windows 7.

Firefox 17 is out, but not for Old Macs

I haven't upgraded Firefox here to this version.  Maybe later today...

Firefox 17 has been released.   Most of those out there will get a little message saying "Hey, I've upgraded, click this and make all your problems go away.   I do mine Manually since I don't want to have to completely back out of my browser windows and stop what I am doing.

Firefox has been excellent for me.  I don't want to use another alternate browser such as Chrome or Opera.  I will stay here on Firefox for a while until its time to move on. 

The newest version of Firefox offers integration into the social networks.  I fail to see why that is needed, it just sounds like a massive security and privacy hole, but there really isn't that much privacy left unless you want to stick your head in the sand.   That's why I manage what I say online fairly closely, you should too.

There are also other features that will be helpful to the user and you can find the complete list here.

That Mac problem though ...

I support a few folks on Mac here.  It's a pleasant experience and to say I support them is a major exaggeration.  It's more like I get an occasional question and they go off into their happy world where Unicorns roam free and your kitchen sink gives you hot, cold, and Hot Chocolate.  

I even have a Mac here, but it is an aging beast that is really well past it's prime.   The old PowerPC platform is the problem.  When the sainted and departed Steve Jobs deigned that it was time to make the move to the same Intel hardware that most of us use in our desktops and laptops, he also said that he would limit the support to the old PowerPC platform to two more revisions of the OSX operating system.

Now we are three versions past that, at least another 5 years along.   Those machines are still around and if you believe the "Apple Distortion Field" they're heavily in demand.

They aren't but people who have them are trying to sell them like they are.

The biggest problem with modern computing is the Browser.  It's a huge security problem because it is where we do most of our "work".  Since all the major browser programs are stopping support for the older operating systems, you can look forward to more and more spam from friends who are on those computers because they surfed a "bad" page and now have a virus.

Their last modern browser is Opera.  These holdouts on Tiger and Leopard need to stop using anything else and switch over.  It's a modern browser that has all the things we've come to depend on and works fairly well.

If that isn't what they want to do, there's always Linux.  Linux is a thriving operating system platform that is currently being supported on the ancient hardware.  I can say from personal experience that Linux on PowerPC runs amazingly well and actually faster than the Mac OSX that I replaced it with.  It won't run the usual programs in the Mac world so it means keeping the old hardware or buying a new computer.  On the other hand, you can run MOST windows programs on Linux using Wine.  I've run Wine in the past and it works well.

There you have it!  Happy updating!

Do Not Track - It's A Start But Only A Start

In the "modern" browsers there's a setting deep down that tells advertisers that you don't want to be tracked for advertising purposes.

Internet Explorer sets that on by default.
It is also in Chrome and Firefox.

For Firefox you can set it yourself by:
Click on Tools
Click on Options
Click on Privacy

Under Tracking, there is a tick box that promises to tell advertisers that you do not want to be tracked.

Mine is checked, but I don't believe it actually works.

You see you're telling someone that you don't want to be a source of their income.  That's how advertising works, they have learned that they can watch what you surf and build a profile of what you're doing.   They can tell pretty much everything you can do.

You can lower their effectiveness but you can't eliminate what they're doing unless you do something that is fairly "heroic" by installing all sorts of software or learning another operating system and surfing from that.  There is InPrivate mode in Internet Explorer but it also breaks sites sometimes.  Better solution than most, but nothing is perfect.

When I set up a computer for myself or anyone else, I immediately install a few pieces of software.

Firefox as a browser.

Then I install an extension that is also available for Chrome called "Adblock Plus".  That breaks some more of the advertising as well as some of their tracking.   The benefit is that I do not see advertising.  I can also block that sort of thing. 

For me, browsing a website on someone else's computer is a jarring experience.  Ads blink, flash, and sometimes even scream at me.  On my own computer, it's a blissful experience.

That and it also speeds up browsing. 

I've taken it a step further by adding a hosts file onto computers that I am not doing web development on which simply tells the computer not to search any web pages that are at a certain address. 

I went so far as to add a hosts file to my Android phone and it's quite nice not having to look at ads.  It's a great "advertisement" for "Rooting" your Android phone.

The software I use on Android is Adfree to help block advertising by placing that hosts file in the right spot.  Just because I want to be "complete" I also installed a Hosts Editor but strictly speaking I don't really need that.

Both of the above only work on Rooted Android phones.  If you're not rooted, you'll need to find a guide on how to do it for your specific phone, model, carrier.   It gets complex but usually there's a step by step guide to do the work for you.  Once I found mine, it took about 10 minutes.

They can't track you if they can't find you.

Consider Downgrade on Firefox 16.0

There was one of those exploits that you hear about found on Firefox 16.0 the other day.  As a result, the recommendation is that if you have Firefox 16.0 to downgrade to version 15.0.1 and wait for a fix.

You can check your version by doing the following:

Start Firefox
Click Help
Click About Firefox

If you have version 15.0.1 you're safe.
If you have version 16.0, you will want to downgrade to 15.0.1

The good news is that they're working on a fix and supposedly will have one out by today, October 12th, 2012... but you never know.

For more information, you can read up on the problem here, or look into their Security Blog here.

What the bug does is it allows an evil doer to see what you have done since you started the browser.  So if you plan on waiting it out, don't hit the banks.

That's what happens when you rush software out the door.

Fixing Flash Videos Showing Up A Green or White Screen

Over the weekend I got annoyed at the videos I wanted to watch.

They would show an entry picture, then when I clicked play it went to a green frame in the window.

See this video before.  It's a dog video, completely safe and really kind of cute.  You probably see a picture of a dog park, and a button to play in the middle of the frame.  Click on it.  If it plays you're good.

If you have Flash 11.3 like I do, it will only play the sound track.


To fix it:

1. Right click on the video.  
2. Select settings.
3. Uncheck the box that says "Enable Hardware Acceleration".
4. Click OK.
5. Close all windows and tabs with Flash running - or just restart your computer.
6. All Better?  Good, visit the original page for the video.  It's really a cute video and I am sure he'll appreciate it!

Flash Crash on Firefox

The latest update for Adobe Flash, version 11.3 does not play well all the time with Firefox.

The symptoms are that you go to a page with a video and it won't play, it will show as a black or grey box, or simply fail to load.   If you want to see Firefox's help page on it, you can read all the details there.

The suggestion is to "downgrade" Flash to the older version.

Luckily here I am not seeing the problem since I tend to be slow on Flash upgrades unless I see warnings on websites of dire doom and gloom.   They seem to be upgrading Flash almost every time I reboot this computer. 

Personally, I think it's a great technology that's time has passed.  There are other ways to manage that sort of video such as HTML5, which is coming down the pike.

If you are having some problems seeing the video that I have embedded below, you may want to follow this help link at Firefox's website for more hints.

The video is one of Border Collies herding sheep and is safe for all audiences.

Who doesn't love Border Collies?  Awwww! CUUUUTE!