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Browser Q&A Thread

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 11:06 pm
by ElTaco
MB suggested that we start a thread where we can answer common Browser related questions about Firefox and IE. If you have a question (and an answer), post it and we'll answer it.

Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:29 am
by Mister Bushice
I'll start it off. Feel free to chime in (anyone) to embellish what I start.

Q: NSFW (Not Safe For Work) avatars are ruining my 9 to 5 experience. Since I can't goof off when risky pics are on the screen, I have to actually do some work instead of posting! Is there anything I can do?

A: Firefox browser has a built in ad blocker that will work on images. For example, lets say some schmoe has an avatar of some naked chick. With the adblocker in stalled, You can simply right click on the image and select the option to "block image from xxx.com" ( xxx.com is listed as the URL of the offending pic) and voila! when you refresh the page the image is gone but all other content remains, and your job is safe - for now, anyway.

Adblock also has a more developed version called "adblock plus", which offers whitelisting, filter subscriptions and several other useful features, but if you just need the basics, then adblock that comes with the browser will work just fine.

Internet Explorer does not support adblock plus.

Here is a link to DL'ing firefox 1.5 ( the latest release):

http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

Burn it onto a CD and install it at work if they don't let you DL stuff there.

One more thing:

If you want to reinstate the image you have blocked just open firefox and go to:
tools-options-content tab-exceptions (across from the load images box) select any image on the list you want to re-instate and click on remove site, and the image will be allowed back on your screen.

Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:07 am
by Shlomart Ben Yisrael

Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 2:18 pm
by PSUFAN
Firefox also has a cool extension for BBCode.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/128/

Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 7:03 pm
by Mister Bushice
Martyred wrote:Don't install Firefox on your computer at work...

...run Portable Firefox off a USB stick, and take it and it's settings wherever you go.
I do this^ with my favorites. I just export them to a memory stick (from the File menu in Internet Explorer select "Import Export" and follow the wizard), and then when I'm on the road I can run right off the stick from my desktop bookmarks menu.

Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 7:06 pm
by Mister Bushice
PSUFAN wrote:Firefox also has a cool extension for BBCode.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/128/
As a caution this ^ does not yet work with the latest version ( 1.5.0.6), only the Beta 1.5 release.

Firefox

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:30 pm
by ElTaco
Just recently some firefox addons were suggested on our work IT list and I thought this would be a great place to replicate the suggestions:

First off, you can use your host file (in windows) to block ads on the web. Static files can be downloaded from the web from various locations, the problem is that the file doesn't automatically get updated so you have to manually keep it up to date so it blocks new servers as they pop up. This works for firefox, IE or any other browser in existance.
As MB has said, one tool you can use is the built in Adblock or even better, you can download Adblock Plus -- https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1865/ -- to block Ads on the web.
Also you can download Adblock Filterset.G Updater -- https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1136/. Filterset.G keeps an automatically updated filter list that is darn-near perfect.
Another tool that is worth getting is FlashBlock -- https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/433/ -- which blocks flash and replaces it with a play button so you only see it when you hit the play button.
Last but not least, a favorite of mine is NoScript because by default it blocks all scripts from all websites and then I manually enable the scripts for each website. Once enabled it will remember it for each site so after about a month of using it, your favorite (safe) sites will all work without any problems while new sites you go to will not play the scripts unless you let them.

Internet Explorer 7.0 Release

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:38 pm
by ElTaco
IE 7 Release

Ok so those of you who are stuck on IE, by choice or due to work, the good news is that October 18th, IE 7 is supposed to be officially released with all the new security updates and tabbed browsing finally. The bad news is that IE 7 will mean a new kind of headache for admins. From what I heard, later this month or early next month IE 7 will be pushed via windows updates to all the computers.

What does this mean?
New features: Tabbed browsing, and a whole bunch of new security oriented features are getting implemented in IE 7.

Problems: if you are using IE plugins to run special software now, its a good time to do a download and make sure they will work in IE 7. ESRI for example just released a patch so its plugins will work in IE 7. (ESRI does GIS/mapping software) I will have to test to make sure that our video monitoring software will work and our PACS system plugin will work. I'm sure there are other software that other people will use.

Good luck!

Re: Internet Explorer 7.0 Release

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:25 pm
by Shlomart Ben Yisrael
ElTaco wrote:
New features: Tabbed browsing,
Congratulations, Microsoft. Welcome to last decade.
ElTaco wrote:...and a whole bunch of new security oriented features are getting implemented in IE 7.
Still implementing Active X controls?

Buh-Bye.

Re: Internet Explorer 7.0 Release

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:52 pm
by Mister Bushice
ElTaco wrote:IE 7 Release

Ok so those of you who are stuck on IE, by choice or due to work, the good news is that October 18th, IE 7 is supposed to be officially released with all the new security updates and tabbed browsing finally. The bad news is that IE 7 will mean a new kind of headache for admins. From what I heard, later this month or early next month IE 7 will be pushed via windows updates to all the computers.

What does this mean?
New features: Tabbed browsing, and a whole bunch of new security oriented features are getting implemented in IE 7.

Problems: if you are using IE plugins to run special software now, its a good time to do a download and make sure they will work in IE 7. ESRI for example just released a patch so its plugins will work in IE 7. (ESRI does GIS/mapping software) I will have to test to make sure that our video monitoring software will work and our PACS system plugin will work. I'm sure there are other software that other people will use.

Good luck!
Turning off automatic updates will help with this. It would be my recommendation to wait to download any IE7 immediately updates, as it is pretty much a guarantee it will be released with bugs, and fixes will be issued over the next few months.

I don't use automatic updates. I do it manually twice a month, and I only download the ones I really need, such as the security flaw updates.

I also rarely use IE6. Firefox has been working well for me lately after I fixed the download freeze problem.

Edit: One thing IE does better than firefox is find a dropped network signal. I have a wireless router in my house, and for some as yet unknown reason it drops out at random times. IE has better luck finding the signal than firefox, which seems to lock onto the cached info and keeps saying it cannot find it. After using IE to find it, however, firefox then has no trouble.

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:18 pm
by Mister Bushice
I'd also like to give kudos to ETs suggestion for add ons. Noscript is an excellent tool. If you use it you will be surprised at how many websites employ multiple scripts that get opened in your browser and cookies jammed into your computer without your knowledge. It is very non invasive, just pops up a strip a the base of the browser window, which you can click on to view which scripts want to be run.

This is also a nice feature to use if you cruise any unsafe websites, such as hacked program downloaders or porn sites.

The only other thing I would add about add ons is that there are a TON of them out there, many cater to specific browsing needs, for bloggers, video downloaders, music enthusiasts, even developers. Definitely worth checking them out at:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/extensions/


If you're not using firefox for some of your browing time, you're missing out on a lot of cool features that can make things a hell of a lot easier and safer.

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 10:24 pm
by Donovan
Mister Bushice wrote:
PSUFAN wrote:Firefox also has a cool extension for BBCode.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/128/
As a caution this ^ does not yet work with the latest version ( 1.5.0.6), only the Beta 1.5 release.
BBCodeXtra is a decent replacement.
I have a wireless router in my house, and for some as yet unknown reason it drops out at random times.
Let me guess, you're using a D-Link router. I had nothing but problems with mine.

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 11:48 pm
by Mister Bushice
Here's a useful looking extension for firefox.

Video downloader. lets you DL videos from youtube and such. Have not used it yet, just found it.


https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2390/

Re:

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:28 pm
by Goober McTuber
Mi[size=150][/size]ster Bushice wrote:The only other thing I would add about add ons is that there are a TON of them out there, many cater to specific browsing needs, for bloggers, video downloaders, music enthusiasts, even developers.
I see no mention of porn consumers. :sniff:

Oh wait, that would be video downloaders. Nevermind.

Re: Browser Q&A Thread

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 2:57 pm
by PSUFAN
Where I work, IE 7 still hasn't been "deployed" yet...and 8 is already being pushed by MS. Most users do not have administrative access to install programs, so they've been stuck with 6. I do have that access, and I have about 35 different browsers installed, mostly for testing...and IE is still the buggiest, be it 6 or 7. At home, I have been using Chrome most often. I really only use FF for the plugins, so if Chrome opens that up, I may switch over entirely.

Re: Browser Q&A Thread

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:42 pm
by ElTaco
Chrome has become my browser of choice as well, mainly due to the layout. I think the user interface/layout is just awesome, maximizing the screen space for web pages. I occasionally find pages that don't entirely display correctly, or text displays on top of other text but these are rare and I figure soon they'll be fixed anyway.