Yes, the evil (Get Windows 10 aka GWX) KB3035583 update somehow installed itself this morning on my main Windows 8.1 machine. I was doing some housekeeping on my school Windows 7 laptop as I am between semesters right now. Thought it would be a good time to remove some unneeded programs (Oracle Virtual Box and Microsoft Project Professional) that I am not going to use and update Flash, Java, Thunderbird and Firefox. While I was running Malware Bytes on the laptop I started checking for updates on my main machine. I did look at the updates that were available I was…
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People are still complaining about how Mozilla is removing support for NPAPI plugins (Silverlight and Java specifically) in the upcoming Windows 64-Bit release of Firefox (now tentatively scheduled for Firefox 42 in November) even though the move is not that unusual given the trend to move away from NPAPI plugins by other browsers. Microsoft’s Edge Browser (Windows 10 only) does not support Active X or any of the NPAPI plugins (Flash is integrated not a plugin). On Tuesday, September 1st Google released Chrome 45 which ended the browser’s support of NPAPI plugins as well. I found this out when I…
Adobe Flash is one of those browser plugins that a lot of people can not live without, with Java being a close second. Problem with Flash (and Java) is there are major security exploits that are being discovered daily. Adobe just release an updated for Flash last week and already has plans on releasing another update this week to patch an exploit just discovered in the last fix. Some people such as Grand Stream Dreams blogger Claus have opted to do away with Flash (and other Adobe products) on some their systems: Taking Flash Player out to the Bins. Unfortuantly,…
This is a continuation of The Three Pillars post as the article referenced in that post also discusses this as well. In another email, Dave Camp is “Revisiting how we build Firefox”. This one is a lot more technical as it focuses a lot on getting Firefox away from XUL and XBL. However, in the beginning of the email he does talk about speeding up deployment: Since Firefox began, the industry has continually evolved how it deploys code to users, and today it isn’t done on an 18-week cycle. We think there are big wins to be had in shortening the time that new features reaches users. Critical…
Ever come across a site that won’t allow you to right-click? Some sites block the ability to right-click usually via JavaScript so you can’t say copy or download images. However, it is rather frustrating on a site such as a message board where Firefox underlines a misspelled word, but you can’t right-click to correct or ignore. A very quick about:config settings change will “fix” this for you: In a new tab type in the address bar about:config and press enter If you get a warning about “Voiding your Warranty” click the I’ll be careful, I promise button to continue In the Search box type context In the…
Browsers extensions are great as they enhance the usability and your experience with your browser. However, there are some extensions out there that will actually do the opposite. This seems to be a bigger problem for Chrome but there are a couple known ‘spying’ extensions in Firefox. These ‘evil’ extensions may track you or as in the case with Scott Hanselman inject ads into sites you are viewing. My perspective on JavaScript-based browser extensions has been far too naïve until this point. We were all burned by bad toolbars or evil ActiveX add-ons in the past, so when I run IE I run it with…
No, the title is not a typo. Microsoft has announced today they are skipping over Windows 9 and going directly to Windows 10. Originally codenamed Windows Threshold, the new operating system essentially does away with the tiled “Metro” user interface that Microsoft had attempted to implement across its entire device line, from desktop PCs to Surface tablets and Widows Phone devices. It is such a substantial leap, according to Microsoft’s executive VP of operating systems, Terry Myerson, that the company decided it would be best to skip over Windows 9, the widely expected name for the next version. So it…
I’ve never been a fan of Apple products. They are over-priced and use proprietary parts and accessories. Yes their products are high quality. In the case of a phone or computer I figure the Apple brand is going to last the same amount of time as the non-Apple brand. So in that case I’d rather spend the money on getting more features (and be able to use third-party after-market parts and accessories). I have never owned a Mac, iPad, iPhone or even iPod (well, I did own an iPod touch for a couple days). I refuse to use iTunes, even though there are times I can get…
Yes, you read that correctly. An out of work electrical engineer with a background in computer science and a particular expertise in open source from Finland built a device which will send out Tweet every time the toilet is flushed. The first reaction to the Twitter feed at @iotoilets may be a chuckle. But the idea behind this and what it illustrates is serious. It tracks water usage, offers a warning about the future of privacy in the era of the Internet of Things, and just might say something about the modern job hunt. Ruecker built his device on a recent…
Earlier this month I went through the process of installing theme and plugin updates for all the WordPress sites I host. I actively try to keep the sites updated as a I learned the hard way the damage and out-of-date plugin can cause. On the old gallery site I was using ZenPhoto which unlike WordPress, is not an easy application to install updates. So I had neglected to update the site for a while. One morning a couple years ago, I get online to find dozens of emails from my Firefox Blog followers (and a couple from my hosting company)…