Google Chrome

Firefox uses a lot of memory.  The longer I use it, the more memory it uses, and the slower it gets.  I tried different methods suggested by various websites, but it is no use.  Those suggestions even messed up my Acrobat configuration that I had to reinstall Acrobat.

What are the alternatives?  How about I try Google Chrome.

I downloaded Google Chrome a few days ago and installed it.  When I ran it for the first time, it started to import my settings from Firefox.  When it was importing my searching settings, it just kept going and going.  I couldn’t even terminate the import process with the “Skip Import” button.  Needless to say, I immediately uninstalled it.  After googling around, it appeared that other people have the same problem.

Well, I decided to give it another try today, thinking that they probably have fixed the problem.  When I clicked the blue “Download Google Chrome” button, a window popped up, probably determining my system configuration or preparing for the install.  I don’t remember since everything happened so quickly.  What happened next was that I got the Windows blue screen and my computer automatically restarted!  I can’t believe this.  This is a product from Google.  I expect better from Google.

Now, do I dare to click the blue “Download Google Chrome” button again?

[Windows XP Pro, Firefox 3.0.8.]

How to install Flash Player in Ubuntu 8.0.4 and Firefox 3.0

There are many ways to install Flash Player.  But I found this to work the best.  I did not have any luck trying to install Flash Player 10.

1. Close Firefox.

2. Open a Terminal window in Ubuntu.

3. Update the package list.  Type:

• sudo apt-get update

• Wait until the list is updated.

4. Get the flash player and install it.  Type:

• sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

• This will install Flash Player 9.

5. Check it is installed.

• Open FireFox.  Go to the plugins page by type this into the URL.

  • about:plugins

• You should see Shockwave Flash in the plugins page.

Adobe Flex3 – First Impression

Continuing with my research on RIAs, I looked at Adobe Flex next.  I already had Flash Player 9 installed.

I went to http://flex.org/showcase/ and explored several Flex apps.  All the apps ran fine.  The experience was much better than JavaFX.

One notable app is the Flickr Gallery (http://gallery.worldsware.com/).

From the showcase description:

“Flickr Gallery is an experimental virtual environment I built using Papervision3D. It shows Flickr’s “most interesting” photos of the day in an art gallery format you can walk around it. Zoom in for closer detail and pop up a photograph’s Flickr page or view a map for geo-tagged images.”

The Papervision3D website (http://www.papervision3d.org/)  is very cool.

JavaFX – First Impression

Curious about JavaFX, I went to http://www.javafx.com/ and clicked this link to watch the Sun video.  I saw the Java animation logo which indicated it was loading the video.  I waited and nothing happened.  I opened the Java Console and found this error message:

BadFieldException[ Cache must be enabled for nativelib or installer-desc support,http://dl.javafx.com/Decora-SSE-natives-windows-i586__V1.0.0.jar]

I guessed there was some configuration problem, so I opened the Java Control Panel.  In the “Temporary Internet Files” Settings, I selected the checkbox “Keep temporary files on my computer” and adjusted the location and the disk space.  After I did that, I went back to the page where it was loading the video.  And it worked.  But there are two Java icons in the Notification area.

Would a typical internet user know to open the Java Console to see why the video is not loading?  Would a typical internet user know to open the Java Control Panel and select the checkbox “Keep temporary files on my computer” when he or she sees the “BadFieldException” error meessage?

I think Sun needs to make it easier for a typical internet user to run JavaFX.

How to completely erase files, directories, or hard drives

Requires OS.

Windows:

Eraser – http://www.heidi.ie/node/6

Linux:

Use Secure-Delete Tools.

Reference: http://www.techthrob.com/tech/securedelete.php

Bootable CD. Erase a hard drive.

Use Darik’s Boot And Nuke.

1. Create the bootable CD.
   • Download the .iso file.
   • Burn it to a CD.  For example: use InfraRecorder.
2. Boot from the CD.
3. The program will detect any hard drives on the computer.
4. Select the hard drive you want to wipe.  Optionally change the method that is used to wipe the hard drive.
5. When ready, press F10 to start the process.

How to access shared folder in Windows host from Ubuntu guest

1. Create shared folder in Windows.
   The is the source folder.  For example: e:\ubuntu_share
2. Specify the shared folder in the Ubuntu guest configuration.
   
3. Create destination folder in Ubuntu.
   For example: /myshare
4. Open a Terminal window in Ubuntu.
5. Type:
   sudo mount -t vboxsf <source folder> <destination folder>
   For example:
   sudo mount -t vboxsf ubuntu_share /myshare

avast! anti-virus

Recently, I received an email with attachment in my Yahoo Mail Inbox.  Yahoo Mail indicated that the attachment contained no virus after scanning it with Norton Anti-Virus.  So I proceeded to download the zip file.  Thankfully, I have avast! anti-virus installed.  avast! warned me that the zip file contained Trojan Horse.  I quickly canceled the download.  I highly recommend avast!anti-virus.  There is a free version for home users.

Useful Firefox add-ons

Here is a list of useful Firefox add-ons that I currently use.

Addblock Plus

• Blocks ads.
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

Customize Google

• Removes adds from search results.
• Rewrites links to point straight to the images in Google Image.
• Blocks Google Analytic cookies.
• And many other features.
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/743

Flashblock

• Replaces Flash object with a button so you can decide whether to play it or not.
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433

Forecastfox

• Displays current weather condition and weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com in status bar.
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/398

NoScript

• Allows active content to run only from sites you trust, and protect yourself against XSS attacks.
• The drawback is that you have to build a list of sites you trust.
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

Nuke Anything Enhanced

• Allows hiding of almost anything via context menu ‘Remove Object’.
• This is useful when I just want to print some section.  “Print Selection” works, but it takes some effort to select the sections, especially when the page is long.  Also I can’t preview.  This add-on allows me to preview the page after the objects have been removed.
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/951

PDF Download

• When you click on a link that points to a PDF file, this add-on asks you if you want to download it, open it, view it as html, or bypass it.
• This is a great add-on to have to prevent Firefox from been unresponsive when downloading large PDF files or you just want to see the content of the PDF file without downloading it.
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/636

References:

• Firefox add-on page.
• LifeHackers Top 10 Must-have Firefox extensions.

Domain Registration

Nowadays, it is easy to register a domain and find a hosting company to host it.  The hard part is coming up with the name.  I tried several times before finding a domain that hasn’t been registered yet.  I didn’t want anyone to register it and I didn’t want to pay the full price of monthly web hosting service because my website was not ready.  I found the perfect solution.  1 & 1 Internet.  Domain registration only costs $6.99 a year.  In addition, I get many things like emails, private domain registration, a 5-page website, etc.  1 & 1 Internet also offers Linux and Microsoft web hosting.  The price looks pretty good, although I haven’t tried it.

NBC Olympics 2008 Website – No Support For Linux

I was very disappointed to see this when I went to the NBC Olympics website.  Companies still focus only on Windows and Mac.  I was wondering if I could use Wine.  When using Windows, the website requires Silverlight 2.0 (beta?).  The executable is Silverlight.2.0.exe, but I thought Silverlight is still in beta.  A search on Wine AppDB reveals that Wine doesn’t support Silverlight.

NBC Olympics 2008 - No Support for Linux