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May 27

Big Oops: Mozilla Releases Compromised Vietnamese Language Pack

Posted in: Freeware, Mozilla, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on May 08, 2008 by CyberNet.

firefox bomb-1.png I think it’s safe to say that a lot of Firefox users associate the browser with security. It may normally keep you out of harms way, but that’s not the case if you downloaded the Vietnamese language pack after February 18, 2008. It turns out that Mozilla released a copy of that particular language pack which was modified by a virus on their system. Since November 2007 there have been over 16,000 downloads of the add-on, but they aren’t sure how many of those downloads came after February 18th.

The actual language pack itself does not contain the virus, but it was modified by a virus to load remote content. They believe that it was mostly used for showing the user ads, but they don’t deny that it could be used for more malicious purposes.

The script that was injected into the language pack will be detected as HTML.Xorer by most antivirus applications. It was first recognized as a virus on April 14th, but it wasn’t found sooner by Mozilla because they only perform scans when the add-ons are uploaded. There are no subsequent scans, but they assure us that this will be changing in the future.

This makes me a little leery of installing any add-ons now. Just because it is coming from a trusted developer doesn’t mean that the extension hasn’t unintentionally been compromised. We just saw it happen right here, and it affects all operating systems since it is merely a script that has to run. I guess this is even more of a reason not to install an abundance of extensions.

The Vietnamese language pack has since been removed from the add-ons site.

Mozilla Security Blog [via Heise]

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May 21

Restore Firefox 3 Smart Bookmarks

Posted in: Firefox 3, Software, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili

This article was written on April 27, 2008 by CyberNet.

Back in October 2007 we previewed a new feature in Firefox 3 called Smart Bookmarks. Firefox 3 has a more advanced bookmarking system, and keeps tabs (no pun intended) on the sites that you visit the most. When those two things collide they form what has come to be known as Smart Bookmarks.

Since the feature’s initial launch the number of Smart Bookmarks has been trimmed down a bit. They initially started with six, but have now dwindled down to the ones I put in bold:

Recently bookmarked pages
Recently visited bookmarked pages
Most visited bookmarked pages
Recently used tags
Most used tags
Most visited pages

firefox smart bookmarks-2.png

The question is how do you get these bookmarks back once they have been deleted? I expected that Mozilla would incorporate some sort of option into the Bookmarks Organizer, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Instead you need to dive into the about:config to get the Smart Bookmarks back:

Updated on May 19, 2008 to reflect Firefox 3 RC1 changes.

In the Firefox Address Bar type about:config and press Enter.
Find the option that is named browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion.
Change the value to 0 by double-clicking on it.
Restart Firefox, and you should see the Smart Bookmarks folder located on the Bookmarks Toolbar.

Now you’re back in business! I’m very anxious to see if someone creates an extension that lets you customize the Smart Bookmarks, and possibly even let you assemble your own based on visit frequency, date, keywords, and more.

[via Mozillazine]
Thanks to Jason for the tip!

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May 17

Less Than 3% of Firefox Users Block Ads?

Posted in: Firefox Extensions, Freeware, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on August 04, 2008 by CyberNet.

When you ask Firefox users what their favorite extension is they’ll commonly say Adblock Plus. It’s currently the second most popular extension on the add-ons site, and receives over 250,000 downloads every week. With numbers like that you’d expect the extension to be installed on nearly every copy of Firefox, but that’s not the case.

What I found out when I released CyberSearch was that any developer can choose whether or not they want the download stats of their add-on to be publicly available. Even more interesting is that anyone can go to this page to see a full list of extensions whose stats you’re able to view. Naturally I was curious how many people were using the Adblock Plus extension.

As of July 30th there were 4.42 million active daily users of Adblock Plus. In mid-July it peaked at 5.5 million users, and over the last year the number of people using Adblock Plus has been rapidly growing:

Number of Active Adblock Plus Users from July 2007 to July 2008
adblock users.png

How does this stack up against the number of Firefox users? The last time Mozilla reported on how many Firefox users there are was when they were going after the world record for the number of downloads in a 24-hour period. They said that there are 180 million users worldwide, which means about 2.5% of all Firefox users have Adblock Plus installed.

There are some other things that need to be considered, such as alternative ways to block ads (other extensions, Greasemonkey scripts, etc…). I’d also assume that heavy Firefox users will be more likely to have some sort of ad blocking system installed over those people who just get on once or twice a day to check their email.

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May 16

Official AOL Toolbar Beta Released For Firefox

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on December 26, 2005 by CyberNet.

AOL has released a beta version of a toolbar for Firefox. I am not a huge fan of AOL and currently only use the Google toolbar (which is beyond useful). However, I do know that there are AOL fans out there so you might want to check out this OFFICIAL AOL Toolbar for Firefox!

News Source: Official AOL Firefox Toolbar

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May 15

No, Firefox 3 Isn’t Ready for Prime-Time

Posted in: Firefox 3, Freeware, Pre-Release, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on March 21, 2008 by CyberNet.

firefox spotlight There is a lot of talking going around the Internet about Firefox 3 Beta being ready for mass usage. It’s because of an article by Reuters where the creators of Firefox supposedly told them that the Firefox 3 Beta is ready for everyone to use after months of being in development.

The problem is that Reuters is really making it sound like everyone should go out and download Firefox 3 Beta as if it was officially released. I’ve been using nightly builds of Firefox 3 for months, and I can say that it has come a long ways. However, I wouldn’t go putting it on my mom’s computer because there are still some things that need to be polished before the browser is pushed out the door.

What I noticed is that Reuters doesn’t explicitly quote someone from Mozilla as saying that it is ready for prime-time, but they do have Mozilla’s Vice President saying that it is “much more stable than anything else out there.” Sure it might be stable, but what about the dozens or even hundreds of extensions that aren’t going to work like they do in Firefox 2? The developers and power users who are already using the Beta know what they could be getting themselves into.

I have a feeling that Reuters took some things out of context and drew up their own conclusion as to whether Firefox 3 Beta is ready for the masses, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see an announcement by Mozilla saying that this isn’t meant for everyone quite yet. I mean really, if everyone should be using it then why hasn’t it been officially released?

If you do want to give the latest Firefox 3 Beta a whirl I highly recommend snagging it from PortableApps. That way you can see what it has to offer and determine whether it is ready for you without having to install a thing, and your previous Firefox profiles will remain untouched.

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May 15

Firefox Fennec now available for WinMo in alpha form

Posted in: Today's Chili, Windows Mobile, WindowsMobile, winmo

Up until now, if you wanted Mozilla’s dearly anticipated mobile port, you had a couple options: you could buy a Nokia N800 / N810, or you could score a Touch Pro and deal with a build ominously described as pre-alpha. Now the software’s finally matured enough to hit Alpha 1 status — although the Touch Pro requirement’s still in place, so you fake Touch Viva owners are sadly still have to hold off a while longer. The major release improves memory behavior, moves the UI to a CSS-based solution that’ll make resolution independence easier, and — here’s the biggie — adds support for add-ons, so it seems like it’s a worthwhile download if you’re doing even a modicum of browsing from your phone. Next up, Mozilla plans to tackle overall Fennec performance on the WinMo platform head-on; maybe they’d care to have a go at Firefox 3 while they’re at it?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Firefox Fennec now available for WinMo in alpha form originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 May 2009 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 13

iReader is Snap Alternative – Previews Pages in Words

Posted in: Firefox Extensions, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on February 21, 2007 by CyberNet.

We’ve said enough about Snap Previews already, but it’s going to be mentioned once more. This time around, there’s another option to getting previews that’s similar to Snap, but yet very different. It’s called iReader, and instead of the pop-up screenshot previews of linked sites, it gives you a preview in words.

iReader is made by Syntactica who previously had a run with a search engine which, according to Read/Write Web, got shut-down by Google. The linguistics behind that search engine have been put to use again with iReader. You can read in detail how it works here, but in a nutshell, it weighs parts of speech differently, and analyzes the concept in the context of the sentence structure. From that it determines what’s important, and turns it into a bulleted summary.

Ireader

As far as previews go, I’d say it’s better than Snap for a few reasons. First, the Snap Previews are so small that you really can’t see what you’d actually be getting into by clicking. But more importantly, iReader is an extension for your browser which means you, the reader is in control. It’s your choice if you’d like to use the tool or not, which is not the case with Snap where control lies in the hands of the publisher.

I installed it in my Firefox browser, but it’s also available for Internet Explorer and can be used on both a PC or a Mac. Now, would I actually use it? Probably not. When I hovered over a link, it took about three seconds for the preview to appear. In that time, I probably could have actually clicked on the link which would be more useful than reading a summary.

Another issue that I ran into was that it started pulling information from sidebars. For example, I tried it on CyberNet, and after hovering over a link, the first two bullets told me about CyberMarks which came from the left side column and had nothing to do with what I would have been clicking through to.

This browser extension is still in Beta which means it should only get better over time. If I had to pick between Snap Previews and iReader, it would definitely be the latter, but yet I still am not overly impressed. You can find the download for iReader here.

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May 07

CyberNotes: Using Keyword Searches In Firefox And Opera

Posted in: CyberNotes, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on September 12, 2006 by CyberNet.

Time Saving Tuesday

I don’t even want to know how many searches I do in a days time because it would probably be insane. My Google Search History shows that my average day consists of 100-200 searches but I probably only do 60% of my searching with Google. I do a lot of other searching in forums and on websites.

The primary reason that I do so many searches is that I have a lot of keywords setup to make searching a breeze. Both Firefox and Opera offer this feature and it is super simple to use, but most people never take advantage of it. All you have to do is right-click on any search box and select the appropriate option to make the keyword search:

Keyword Search in Opera and Firefox

After you have selected the option from the menu it will have you enter in the keyword that you want to use for the search. I normally try to use just one letter for the places that I search frequently such as Google, which I use “g” for. That way I can just type in “g cybernet news” into the address bar and it will do a Google search for “cybernet news.”

Opera already has several keyword searches set by default but one thing that I always missed was the ability to type something into the address bar and have it do an “I’m Feeling Lucky” search on Google. Using Opera’s nice built-in search manager that is easy to do. Just open up your options, click on the Search tab, and click Add:

Opera Search Manager

Now all you have to do is type in the keyword that you want for the search and choose the address from one of these (right-click to copy the URL):

Browse By Name
I’m Feeling Lucky

If you’re not sure what the difference is between those two searches then you’ll probably find this post to be helpful.

Also, I have had several of my friends say they don’t like Opera because it doesn’t have Firefox’s “Find as you type” feature. Well, that’s not exactly true. In Opera as soon as you type a period it will activate the feature and then you can start typing in the word(s) you want to search for.

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May 05

Download The NewsGator Toolbar For IE And Firefox

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on August 09, 2006 by CyberNet.

Download The NewsGator Toolbar For IE And Firefox

NewsGator just released a beta version of a toolbar for both Firefox and Internet Explorer users. It will make it easy to subscribe to feeds in your NewsGator Online, NewsGator Inbox, or FeedDemon RSS readers. So is it worth the download?

I strongly dislike they way it is implemented into Firefox because they don’t have just a simple extension you can download. You have to download the installer and halfway through the setup process it asks you if you want to install it for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or both. Being a Firefox user myself I was greatly discouraged to download the toolbar because of the installer.

I gave in and decided to try it out. I was expecting to see some pretty sweet features since it does take up a whole toolbar. After playing with it for a few minutes, in Firefox 2 Beta 1, I came to realize that the toolbar served no purpose for me other than taking up my precious screen space. I can already choose how I want to subscribe to feeds using the built-in features that Firefox 2 has. The only nice thing is the pop-up window that is displayed after you click to “Subscribe.” I like that it shows the number of subscribers to the current feed but the numbers are only for NewsGator users.

You may end up loving the new toolbar but for me it just isn’t worth it. It is in the Beta stage so they might still add more functionality but they could at least make a separate Firefox extension.

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May 04

CyberNotes: The Funniest Firefox Extensions

Posted in: CyberNotes, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on September 13, 2006 by CyberNet.

Web Browser Wednesday

I thought today I would do something a little different than usual. Sure I have done lists of Firefox extensions before (tabbed browsing and security) but this one takes a unique approach. It isn’t focused on productivity or usefulness, instead we are taking a look at funny extensions. Some of them are even great for pranks.

–Ad Bar (Download)–
Firefox Ads Duh, this is what Firefox has been missing all along. Ads!

This extension will display ads in Firefox much like how Opera used to. If there are some relevant ads to be displayed from Google it will do so, otherwise you will see a Firefox ad like the one pictured above. Before you jump the gun…no one is making money off of this because the Google ads use a “test” mode:

If adbar were to generate revenue from ad clickthroughs, it would violate the AdSense policy that disallows client software from showing the ads. While Google has made an exception for the free version of Opera, it did not respond when I asked for an exception for adbar.

Two of the other FAQ’s will give you a good laugh as well:

Can I register and get rid of the ads?
Of course! Paypal $19 (51% cheaper than Opera!) to me or the Mozilla Foundation, then uninstall adbar using the Extension Manager in Firefox’s Tools menu.
When I visit porn sites, why do I get public service ads instead of ads for porn?
Good question.

They say “51% cheaper than Opera” because this extension was last updated back in 2004…you know the days when Opera didn’t offer a no cost version that was ad-free.

–Firesomething (Download)–
Sick of your title bar always saying “Mozilla Firefox”? Then have it say something a little more random. Firesomething will replace the word Firefox with Fire**** where the asterisks are random words.

I’m sure the title of this extension makes a lot more sense now.

–Hammer Time (Download)–
So you’re trying to introduce your Grandma to the Internet but she just doesn’t understand how the stop button works, right? I know, that is a common issue but the Hammer Time extension will solve all of your woes! You can now replace the stop button with an MC Hammer icon. I mean how can anyone forget what that button does now…”STOP! Hammer Time..”

–Remove Links (Download)–
If you find yourself browsing the Web too much then this extension will definitely solve that problem. Why? It will remove every link so that you have nothing to click on. If you can’t click then there isn’t much you can do.

–Anti-Paranoia (Download)–
If you are constantly watching over you back, can’t sleep at night, or stressed out at work then you need the Anti-Paranoia extension.

It will add an option to the Tools menu that says “I am afraid” which activates the extension. Once it has been activated you will see a notification box every 3 to 7 minutes popping up in the bottom-right corner of Firefox with comforting messages like “Everything is good” and “The world is a good place”.

–Random Theme Switcher (Download)–
This extension does have some usefulness to it but I would say it would be awesome for performing a prank. All you have to do is install a bunch of crazy themes and this extension on someone’s Firefox and they will go crazy…especially if you make it a point to tell them that a virus has been going around lately that infects Firefox which makes it constantly change its appearance.

–Goodbye, Cruel World (Download)–
Someone thought the Hello World program was a little too cheery. Enough said.

–Mood Tap (Download)–
Mood Tap Firefox Extension This extension will let the whole world know how you are feeling. Just select your mood from the list of options and it will add it to the other statistics on MoodTap.com. It looks like right now the world isn’t feeling too good.

–Office Poltergeist (Download)–
Sure you could setup someone’s computer so that you could remotely control it but why not just hijack their web browser? All you have to do is download this extension and install it on your friends existing Firefox installation.

Once installed you will be able to access the computer by typing in http://IPADDRESS:666 to if installed on a PC and http://IPADDRESS:13013 if the computer is a Mac. Once you are in control you can change the URL of the site they are viewing, make an alert box popup, play a sound, shake their window, or replace every word on the screen with another word.

This extension can give you hours of amusement when installed on a friends computer.

–Autobrowse (Download)–
This extension will take all of the pain away from finding search results. How? Just activate it from the Tools menu, choose the search term, and pick the search engine. Once it has that information it will automatically start surfing through the results!

Related Posts:

Hasta La Gadget!

Big Oops: Mozilla Releases Compromised Vietnamese Language Pack

Restore Firefox 3 Smart Bookmarks

Less Than 3% of Firefox Users Block Ads?

Official AOL Toolbar Beta Released For Firefox

No, Firefox 3 Isn’t Ready for Prime-Time

Firefox Fennec now available for WinMo in alpha form

iReader is Snap Alternative – Previews Pages in Words

CyberNotes: Using Keyword Searches In Firefox And Opera

Download The NewsGator Toolbar For IE And Firefox

CyberNotes: The Funniest Firefox Extensions

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