CHRISdotTODD

With the change to Firefox 2, restricting third-party cookies is no longer available through the Options dialog. The only option within the Options dialog is to either allow all cookies or no cookies. Fortunately you can still do this through About:Config. (If you are unfamiliar with About:Config, see my blog post on November 5, 2006 .) I recommend you disable third-party cookies to avoid companies, such as DoubleClick, from tracking your behavior across sites. Open About:Config, and use the Filter dialog box and type network.cookie.cookieBehavior (it will be the second item once you have entered network.c). Double-click on network.cookie.cookieBehavior and change the value to 1. This will now permit only cookies from the same domain you are visiting to save cookies on your computer. Here are all possible values: 0 (default): Enable all cookies 1 : Allow cookies from originating server only 2 : Disable all cookies 3 : Use P3P policy to decide (see MozillaZine Knowledge Base , network

Have you wondered how you might change settings in Firefox, yet not found any options in the Tools | Options... section? Firefox uses a file called About:Config to manage options that are not configurable through the Tools | Options... menu. Just type About:Config in the Address Bar to access these additional options. The Mozilla knowledge base has a list of options to set. Here are just a few that may be of interest to you. Set the check document frequency (browser.cache.check_doc_frequency): This is the option as to how frequently the browser check to see if the page has been update. 0: Check once per browser session 1: Check every time you view the page 2: Never check (always use the cached page) 3: Check when the page is out-of-date (default) Default Search (browser.search.defaulturl): Just as the name says. The default is Google, http://www.google.com/search?lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q= Search Open (browser.search.openintab): Set to true and your search results will o

Did you know that you could use your Gmail account to store files? With nearly 3 GBs of space, this is an easy way to store files that you may want to access from multiple computers or that you want to make sure get archived off site. Rahul Jonna has created a simple Firefox Extension , making it very easy to store files from Firefox. I made a 1.5 minute how-to movie to demonstrate how this works. [The quality of the movie does not match my desire, but I had to use a program that would output a format that could be accepted by Google.] Be sure to watch the last 3rd of the video as it demonstrates how to write a filter in Gmail, so the files do not show up in your inbox.

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I do not recommend being an early adopter of new software. I let others try it first, and wait to hear the news. For example, I still have not updated to iTunes 7. Likewise, I will wait as long as possible before getting Vista. On a side note, if you are thinking of getting a new PC, I would recommend you get it now before you are forced to take an early version of Vista. You want to wait as long as possible until the majority of the security issues are solved. Anyway, back to Firefox... I have installed version 2 and have used it both at work and home without any problems. I did have to update an extension and removed the anti-phishing, as it is now built into Firefox, but other than that all is good. I do not see a big difference from 1.5 to 2.0. My hope is that it does a better job managing memory -- occasionally in the past, if you surfed a lot and/or had the browser open for a long time, it would begin to slow down as it consumed mor

Firefox has a very powerful bookmark feature. By simply giving the bookmark a keyword, you can reference it in the address bar, instead of searching through your list or typing the URL. You can extend this functionality and have it take a variable. Let me tell you through a few examples. First bookmark a site, say this one: http://the-cream.blogspot.com . Now open up the Bookmark Manager (or find the bookmark in your list) and open the Properties field. Add a keyword and save it (OK). Go to the Address bar, type in the keyword and hit enter. You should now be directed to this site. Let's try another example. Suppose you want to see all the blog posts specific to one label (i.e. Firefox or security). The URL to view all the Firefox blogs is: http://the-cream.blogspot.com/search/label/Firefox . Create a bookmark with this URL. Go back to the Properties and add your keyword as before. Remove Firefox from the end (this was the label), and replace it with %s . Save it (OK). Go to the Ad

I had so much fun assembling the Windows XP Keyboard Shortcuts, and they proved to be so popular, that I put together another one just for Firefox . In addition to the shortcuts, I included additional reference information for configuring Firefox . Download the Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts tri -fold. Just as with the latest version of the Windows XP Keyboard Shortcuts, do not forget to print double-sided on a single sheet of paper. Also be sure to validate the driver is set to print in landscape.

Update Oct. 3: A recent article from eWeek suggest that the claimed bug in Firefox may be just a hoax . Naturally the Mozilla folks are taking this seriously until they can absolutely rule out that their is no issue. ==================== Just to be fair, since I have hammered Microsoft quite hard because of their security holes in Internet Explorer (IE), there are new reported security problems with Firefox . The basic issue is related to how Firefox handles JavaScript -- this is one of many areas we have seen exploited in IE too. Despite this, I am still sticking with Firefox for three reasons: Firefox is less of a target by hackers than Microsoft Firefox has a history of fixing bugs faster than Microsoft Using the Firefox NoScript extension is a much easier way to manage JavaScript access that through the Microsoft security options

Recently I posted about another security issue with Internet Explorer -- Microsoft has since released a patch -- a rare case for Microsoft to release a patch outside their monthly "patch Tuesday" cycle. I also push Firefox fairly hard as an alternative to Internet Explorer. To be fair, Firefox has had as many issues as Microsoft, but it still is a better alternative for two reasons: 1) Firefox does not have the same tight integration to Windows as Internet Explorer, therefore the problems are typically not as severe; 2) Firefox releases fixes much faster than Microsoft. All that aside, if your machine gets a virus, spyware , or other malware from browsing, it is more difficult than ever to remove. So of course you need to be diligent in keeping your browser and operating system (OS) up-to-date, as well as your security applications. If your system is compromised, you might as well just plan on re-installing your OS -- a very time consuming effort -- and consider yoursel

Did you know that Firefox has a safe mode? I did not. If you find that Firefox crashes on you, perhaps after installing a new Extension, you can run Firefix in safe mode to correct the problem. Simply restart Firefox with the following switch: " -safe-mode ". Do this either through Run... , " firefox.exe -safe-mode ", or add it within the properties of your Firefox shortcut.

John Carey, Matt Shichtman, and Beth Gordon pull of a "Crazy Awesome" thing -- a Firefox crop circle. I like this because when you see the video, you see a lot of folks dedicating their time to something they like so much; they are happy; and they are having fun. It's also neat to see that it was done so close to home. I found thes pictures on the Oregon State Linux User Group site: OSLUG Gallery . This is not the first Firefox promo done by this group. In viewing the OSLUG pages, I found two other references: Take Back the Sidewalk and Take Back the Sky . They appropriately named the crop circles project: Taking Back the Field .

Are you still using Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)? If so, then you are what I call security ignorant. eWeek recently published two articles on how Firefox adoption has slowed down and that it will be more difficult for Firefox to grow further. (See " Internet Explorer Loses More Ground to Firefox " and " Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 Is No Slam-Dunk ".) Their argument is based on usability, and that Microsoft will release IE 7 as part of a security update. Hmm... that should be a clue right there. Perhaps Firefox is not familiar as Internet Explorer; perhaps Firefox does not display all of your websites the same as Internet Explorer. I say, so what -- security, which includes your privacy, are more important than having to learn a new browser. And if your favorite website looks different or does not work right -- tell the web master and/or find a new favorite site. I have been using Firefox for some time now, I other than visiting Microsoft.com for some Windows updates

If you have not replaced Internet Explorer (IE) with Firefox , you are really leaving yourself open to security threats plus missing out on an improved browsing experience. In addition to not supporting ActiveX, which will solve most of your security concerns, Firefox offers hundreds of extensions to improve your security and enhance your browsing experience. Take for example the extension, No Script . With No Script, I specify which domains, if any, can run JavaScript the web page I am viewing. In most cases, I always accept the local domain, but no others. For example, if I visit Pogo.com , which has a lot of free games, I allow Pogo to run JavaScript, but I miss all their ads because I do not allow DoubleClick.com and other domains from running JavaScript. Another great extension is SiteAdvisor , which is now owned by McAfee. Site Advisor displays a green, yellow, or red indicator on search results, as well as on the bottom of my browser window to indicate their rating of the site.