firefox posts

Turn Off Pesky Tool Tips

by Jon Chase (RSS feed) — Nov 16th 2009 at 7:30AM

Put an end to those nagging yellow Tool Tip boxes that pop up whenever you hover over a hyperlink in your browser. Mac OS X Tips revealed this godsend for Mac users:

Close Safari, then open Terminal (in Utilities) and type:
- defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitShowsURLsInToolTips 0
Restart your computer.
To restore Tool Tips, go back to Terminal and substitute a 1 for the 0 in the above command.

For Firefox, hit the above link for detailed instructions. Windows users can hit this link for instructions on how to remove Tool Tips from any application.

Tags: disable tool tips, DisableToolTips, firefox, safari, techtip, terminal command, TerminalCommand, top

Computers, Web

Internet Explorer 8: Best Browser for Your Battery?

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Sep 15th 2009 at 7:32AM

What's The Best Browser for Your Battery?

The War of the Web Browsers mostly takes place on one battlefield: speed. And while Google's Chrome is the clear winner on that front, there are other skirmishes -- like those over add-ons and resource usage -- of which Firefox is the clear victor.

Until now the only victories that Internet Explorer could claim were 'Largest Install Base' and 'Most Vulnerable to Hackers.' But tech blog AnandTech decided to pit the browsers against each other based on how quickly they drain your laptop battery. Surprisingly, IE8 wins with the longest Web surfing time.

Tags: battery life, BatteryLife, browser, browser wars, BrowserWars, chrome, firefox, internet explorer, InternetExplorer, opera, safari, top, web browser, WebBrowser

Computers, Web

Spyware Posing as Flash Update Hits Firefox

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Aug 31st 2009 at 12:49PM

There's some sneaky, new malware on the loose, and this time, it's after the users of Mozilla's Firefox browser. According to Laptop Magazine, the plug-in poses as an update for Adobe's Flash Player. Users are taken through some fake steps and are lead to believe the installation was completed. No harm done, right?

Wrong. The plug-in replaces ads on Google search pages with its own ads, and worst of all, the spyware has the ability to track what pages you browse and what you search, according to TrendLabs Malware blog. In other words, you lose all privacy. This is certainly not the news folks want to hear. Especially since most users switched from Internet Explorer to Firefox because of malware problems similar to this one.

While this attack proves that not even Firefox is invincible, you can still safely surf the Web. All it takes is a little common sense. Remember, don't download an add-on called 'Adobe Flash Player 0.2.' If you feel like you do need a legitimate update for a flash player or anything else, always make sure to download directly from the developer's Web site. Think before you click, and you'll avoid problems like this. [From: Laptop Magazine and TrendLabs Malware blog]

Tags: adobe, firefox, flash, google, malware, mozilla, security, threat, top, web

Web

Why Many Don't Upgrade Their Firefox: Porn Collections

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — Aug 28th 2009 at 4:31PM

Even though Firefox 3.0 set a Guinness World Record back in 2008 for the most downloads in a 24-hour period, there were, apparently, still people hesitant to upgrade from the previous version. According to Download Squad, Firefox personnel have been sending questionnaires to users who declined to make the switch in order to figure out why.

Results revealed that people who stuck with 2.0 did so for one primary reason -- to keep their Web activities private and hidden. The upgraded 3.0 version included a text-match feature, which automatically brought up corresponding bookmarked sites as a user entered letters into the address bar.

Tags: browser, cookies, firefox, firefox 2, firefox 3, Firefox2, Firefox3, porn, privacy, top

Web

Firefox Hits One Billion Downloads

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Jul 31st 2009 at 4:30PM

It's time for a cyber celebration, folks. Mozilla's popular Firefox browser, which launched in 2002, reached the 1 billion download mark today, making the browser akin to McDonald's Big Mac in popularity.

According to TechCrunch, Mozilla will mark the occasion by launching a new site, www.onebillionplusyou.com (going live on Monday), that will display photos and information about folks who love and use Firefox for their surfing needs. TechCrunch reports that about 30–percent of all people who access the Internet do so with Firefox while about 54-percent use Internet Explorer. That's a dramatic increase when you see consider that about 90-percent used Internet Explorer only a few years ago.

Tags: browser, download, firefox, internet, internet explorer, InternetExplorer, milestone, mozilla, top, web

Computers, Windows Software, Mac Software, Downloads, Web

Yet Another Security Flaw Hits Firefox 3.5 Web Browser

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Jul 20th 2009 at 7:11AM

More Firefox Flaws Lead Some to Question its Security

Here at Switched, we're big fans of Firefox, the once alternative Web browser from Mozilla that, within a few years, has become hugely popular, with nearly one in four Web surfers using it today. We quickly downloaded the 3.5 release when it was made available a few weeks ago -- alas, a raft of security warnings are making us wonder whether that was necessarily the best idea.

Not long after the eagerly-anticipated 3.5 release, a major security vulnerability was found -- a flaw that could have allowed shady Internet sites to infiltrate your computer and, possibly, install spyware. That flaw was patched last week, but now, just a few days later, another security hole has been found. It's called the "Unicode Data Remote Stack Buffer Overflow Vulnerability," and, as of now there's no fix from Mozilla.

Should you be worried? Probably not, as it's unlikely that more than a handful of sites are using this exploit, and they're surely relegated to the darkest corners of the Web. This is really just more of a black eye for the browser, which was pledged as a more secure alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Still, you should always be careful and be wary before you go to random sites you've never heard of -- and, when Firefox prompts you about an important security update in a day or two, you'd best install it. [From: SecurityFocus, via DownloadSquad]

Tags: browsers, firefox, firefox3.5, fix, flaw, mozilla, patch, security, top, vulnerability, webbrowser, webbrowsers

Computers, Web

State Department Employee Asks Hillary Clinton for Firefox

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — Jul 15th 2009 at 2:36PM

Despite new leadership from a relatively tech-savvy president, some government offices still seem a little slow to adopt popular technology. While the State Department might have promoted and encouraged Iranian Twitter activity, the Department is nevertheless lagging behind in other Web areas.

In a town hall meeting yesterday, a new member of the State Department, which uses Internet Explorer as its Web browser, pleaded with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to "please let the staff use" rival Mozilla Firefox. (Jump to 26:34 on the above video.) Pointing out that Firefox had been "approved for the entire intelligence community," and that it's a "much safer program," the rookie's question was met with a rowdy chorus of cheers and laughter.

Tags: firefox, government, hillary clinton, HillaryClinton, internet explorer, InternetExplorer, politics, state department, StateDepartment, top

Computers, Mobile Phones

The Beginning of the End for Tabbed Browsing?

by Evan Shamoon (RSS feed) — May 21st 2009 at 7:11AM

Mozilla Labs' Firefox wasn't the first browser ever to use tabbed browsing (that award went to the Opera browser back in 2000), but it did beat Internet Explorer to the punch. In fact, tabbed browsing was one of the features that set Firefox apart from its Microsoft-developed competitor.

Now, ironically enough, Mozilla is holding a design competition with the goal of making tabbed browsing a thing of the past.

Tags: design, firefox, mozilla, tabbed browsing, TabbedBrowsing, tabs, top

Computers

'Clickjacking' Threat Hits Firefox and Chrome

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Jan 29th 2009 at 3:06PM

Another day, another security risk, and while it pains us to bring you all this dire news so frequently, we figure someone has to keep you in the loop. Today's warning has to do with a new type of subversive Internet attack called clickjacking, in which you're tricked into clicking on links or buttons you can't see, possibly granting others access to your personal information. Two of the web's most popular browsers, Firefox and Chrome, have been found to be vulnerable.

Clickjacking is tricking a Web user into clicking on something they didn't want to, possibly on something they can't even see. It's possible to create a hidden overlay over a Web page and, within that hidden page, load up something like the login screen to MySpace. To the user the Web page might appear to be showing a game or the like that requires you to click on various objects, but in reality the user might be clicking on options in MySpace to make his or her information public or, disconcertingly, to change their password. Firefox and Chrome currently have no mechanism for preventing this kind of attack, but, surprisingly, Internet Explorer, a browser many consider to be less secure than the competition, is not susceptible to the attack.

Google has pledged to release a fix in short order, and we presume Firefox will be patched quickly as well. But, the best news is that nobody is actually aware of this sort of exploit being used in the wilds of the Internets so, for now at least, we wouldn't lose any sleep over this one. [From: CNET News]

Related Links:

Tags: browsing, chrome, clickjacking, firefox, hack, hacking, internet, internet explorer, InternetExplorer, safety, security, top, vulnerability, web, web security, WebSecurity

Computers

Internet Explorer Continues to Tumble in Market Share

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Jan 2nd 2009 at 4:21PM

Ok, maybe it's a bit early to start playing 'Taps' over the corpse of Microsoft, but there is reason to believe that a little thing called "the Internet" is slowly hacking away at the computing giant.

Stats for November show browser behemoth Internet Explorer taking another hit in browser market share, dipping below 70-percent, while Firefox held on to more that 20-percent of global market share for the first time ever. A 50-percent market share gap may seem like an unquestionable dominance, but consider that only five years ago Microsoft's browser accounted for 90-percent of global Internet traffic.

Browsers like Safari, Firefox, and even upstart Chrome spank IE when it comes to speed, features, and standards compliance, but the real reason users are defecting from IE probably has to do with its terrible record on security. Years of advice from security experts, blogs (like this one), and geeky nephews have prompted more and more people to start using other browsers at home and in the workplace.

The battle is far from over, but it seems pretty clear to us that Firefox, and companies like Google, are leading us into a post-Microsoft world. [From: Silicon Alley Insider]

Tags: firefox, IE, internet, internet explorer, InternetExplorer, microsoft, top, web

Computers

Firefox Extension Links to Free, Illegal Downloads from Amazon

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Dec 4th 2008 at 5:25PM

New Firefox Extension Links Directly to Illegal Downloads

If you're a user of Mozilla's fine and free browser, Firefox, chances are you have a few extensions that you've installed to help you customize your surfing experience (if not, might we recommend a few of our favorites?). There are extensions for all sorts of tweaks and changes, but we've never seen one quite like Pirates of the Amazon, which is making quite a stir by effectively allowing users to steal stuff listed on Amazon.

Pirates of the Amazon is a new extension that links from Amazon directly to illegal downloads on the Pirate Bay, a notorious source for subverted copies of music, movies, games, and more. After installing the extension, you'll often see new links on Amazon.com that say "Download 4 free." Click there and you'll be given the opportunity to download an illegal copy without paying a cent.

We don't think Amazon's particularly worried, as the people who use this are likely already downloading software illegally, but it'll be interesting to see if they make some changes to their site to circumvent this extension. If so, it'll surely turn into another back-and-forth battle of updates with no winners. [From: CNet News]

Tags: amazon, extension, firefox, firefox extensions, FirefoxExtensions, pirate bay, PirateBay, pirates of the amazon, PiratesOfTheAmazon, web

Computers

NY Times Launches a Social Network

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Sep 23rd 2008 at 2:39PM

Not surprisingly (since everyone else is doing it), the New York Times has launched its own social network called TimesPeople. The New York Times has experimented with social features on its Web site before, but the launch of TimesPeople marks the integration of the paper's previous hodgepodge of disconnected features.

TimesPeople is primarily a vessel for commenting on and recommending articles, videos, and blogs from the New York Times Web site (like a site-specific Digg), but also integrates with Facebook. Via the Facebook app, users can share recommendations with a broader network of people. TimesPeople began life as a Firefox extension, but has now been integrated with the NY Times homepage to make sharing and commenting as simple as possible.

TimesPeople is just the latest in a series of experiments from the NY Times in its attempt to stay relevant during the age of digital media. Print outlets are struggling not just to stay profitable, but to simply matter in a world increasingly influenced by blogs and other online outlets. The Times has done better than most at staying afloat, but whether or not TimesPeople turns out to be a successful venture remains to be seen. [From: Valleywag]

Tags: facebook, firefox, new york times, newspaper, NewYorkTimes, ny times, NyTimes, social networking, SocialNetworking, the new york times, TheNewYorkTimes, timespeople

Computers, Google

Automated Comment Snob Filters YouTube Detritus

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Sep 14th 2008 at 5:21PM

Dropping by the comments section on the average video on YouTube isn't going to do much for your faith in humanity. Flame wars, racism, idiocy, and just plain bad grammar can easily be found all within the span of a few posts. There's not much those hosting the videos can do, as trying to filter every comment would be a full-time job. But, YouTube fans can finally automate that process to a degree by using the Comment Snob Firefox browser plugin.

The Comment Snob will let surfers set criteria for which comments are up to muster. Users can filter posts with excessive punctuation, misspellings, too many capitalized letters, and of course, profanity. The rules are totally customizable and, with a little tweaking, you can make your YouTube viewing experience much more pleasurable -- now if only we could get YouTube to integrate this into the site itself. [From: The Telegraph via DownloadSquad]

Tags: firefox, plugin, youtube

Computers

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Released to Public (Hands-On)

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Aug 29th 2008 at 4:10PM

Internet Explorer Beta 2 Released to Public

Have you been itching to get your hands on the latest flavor of Internet Explorer? Yeah, we can't say we really have been either, but just the same, Microsoft has released the second beta version of Internet Explorer 8 for public consumption, and you can download it now and check it out if you like.

The first beta was only for developers, but after a number of updates and fixes, Microsoft is opening this new version to anyone. To save you the trouble, we threw caution to the wind and installed it. So far it's looking quite good; stable and noticeably faster in many tasks than IE7, which is looking more than a little dated compared to the recently released Firefox 3.0. At first glance, IE8 doesn't look that much different, but does include a number of tweaks and updates, including:

Private Browsing - Curious about the darker sides of the 'Net? Don't worry, most of us are, and IE8 is the first browser to realize this, giving you a mode called "InPrivate" that doesn't track where you go in your history, doesn't keep cookies, and doesn't store auto-complete information.
Accelerators - Highlight a word, and IE8 will display a button that will let you define it through Encarta. Highlight a street address, and you'll see an option to display the address on a map. Highlight words in a foreign language, and you can see a quick translation. There are lots of little context options like this, called accelerators, because they speed up the process of copying a line of text, opening a new browser window, and pasting it in somewhere to look it up.
Visual Search - This is another area where sites will be able to insert themselves into your browser. Here you can define visual searches for things like eBay, enabling you to start typing your search into the IE8 search box and immediately get results and pictures from listings right through the browser. You can then click directly on what you want. There are visual searches available for other sites like Wikipedia, YouTube, and naturally, Google.

There are dozens of other updates, including stability and compatibility, which should make IE8 an excellent choice for someone looking for an alternative to Firefox. So far, we've found the browser to be very stable, so we'd rate this low on the danger meter, but as always, install betas at your own risk! [Source: IEBlog]

Tags: downloads, firefox, ie8, internet explorer, InternetExplorer, microsoft, web browser, WebBrowser

Computers

Lifehacker Shares Its Favorite Software

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Jul 30th 2008 at 8:05PM

Productivity blog Lifehacker is a great resource online for software downloads, productivity tricks, and great DIY projects. Many readers out there take every endorsement or piece of advice from the blog to heart as words to live by. While we wouldn't go that far, the folks at Lifehacker certainly know a thing or two about using software and tools to be more effective and productive.

The editors at Lifehacker decided to share their personal favorite tools that they use in everyday work and life. The list includes many Switched-endorsed tools, such as Launchy, Firefox, Pidgin, and VLC and of course Web apps such as the suite of Google Apps, and online to do list Remember the Milk.

If you're feeling like you're not being as productive as possible with your home or work PC set up, check out these lists for some helpful suggestions. [Source: Lifehacker]

Tags: firefox, gmail, google calendar, google docs, GoogleCalendar, GoogleDocs, launchy, lifehacker, pidgin, productivity, remember the milk, RememberTheMilk, vlc

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'Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

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Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.

Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.

Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.

Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.

HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.

HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.

HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.

GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.

Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.

Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.

Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.

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