Mozilla Archive Format, with MHT and Faithful Save :: Add-ons für Firefox. Asked about something like this today, my knowledge was a bit outdated, so I googled again and this seems to be the most interesting extension to save complete pages (including images, styles, and JS). Practical, for example, if you want to put together a dummy for presentations.
firefox
ShareMeNot. Firefox extension that filters out the various social buttons, so that the corresponding services cannot see the visited pages (because this data is also transmitted when the buttons are not clicked - for example, the icon is usually hosted by the service provider and they can see the visited pages in the logs via the referrer, provided you are logged in to one of the services, they can also see the user who visited the page via the login cookie).
Mozilla Firefox Add-on Builder and SDK - for creating extensions with HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. The Builder is a web-based IDE and the SDK provides a whole stack of APIs for programming extensions.
Linux.com | Encrypt and sign Gmail messages with FireGPG - could be interesting. However, I still don't like Firefox on the Mac - it's just not a Mac application in behavior.
FireFox is already strange
I really like the Web Developer Toolbar as an extension, but Firefox itself is sometimes quite a mediocre piece of software. For example, Firefox consistently refuses to display the icons for the Web Developer Toolbar on my Mac at home. And this isn't just with the latest version, but across several versions of both Firefox and the toolbar. The toolbar itself works; it appears as a strip and the menu items are there and functional. It's just that the icons absolutely refuse to appear.
And yes, I've already deleted and recreated the profile, hunted down and eliminated all preferences, reinstalled Firefox multiple times, and done all this with various versions. It's quite annoying, especially since there's no error message whatsoever that even hints at what the issue might be.
The fact that this whole situation runs completely problem-free at work on another Mac Mini (with 10.3, but at home, I've had the same problems with 10.2 and now with 10.4) doesn't make it any clearer.
I guess I'll stick with Camino and Safari for now. They may not be as extensible, but they are more deterministic in their behavior ...
NoScript - Whitelist JavaScript blocking for a safer Firefox experience! - what is it? - InformAction - and another extension, this one selectively blocks JavaScript. I wish for something like this for Camino.
Web Developer Extension - blogged about a thousand times, but only here as a reminder: the new Webdeveloper-Toolbar for FireFox 1.5. Essential for every web developer.
Userscripts.org - Universal Repository - a hub for Greasemonkey scripts. Mountains of scripts. For almost everything, and a bit of the impossible.
to flock - to gather
I don't know if the above is the right motto for me. Bookmarks in del.icio.us. Pictures in Flickr. Somehow, I prefer to have this stuff with me rather than with some central hosts.
What they do right: automatic indexing of page content, so you can find it again. If there were also an OS X version where the browser is really an OS X application (and not just an application that runs on OS X), that could really be appealing.
Lickr: Flickr, without the Flash
For those of us who don't like Flash in the browser but still occasionally click on Flickr links out of curiosity, you know the feeling: you feel cheated because no image appears. And you wonder what the Flash is actually for, after all, you just want to display a lousy image ...
The solution for us anti-Flashers: Lickr: Flickr, without the Flash - a Greasemonkey script that rewrites the Flash stuff before display into a normal HTML+JavaScript story that works perfectly in Firefox without Flash. And finally, you can admire all those stupid pictures.
My Firefox Extensions
New meme at Pepilog: Post Firefox extensions. Well, ListZilla makes it quite easy, here are mine:
- [Adblock][1] 0.5.2.039
- [Bookmarks Synchronizer][2] 1.0.1
- [BugMeNot][3] 0.6.2 (somehow it seems not to work)
- [Conkeror][4] 0.18
- [Disable Targets For Downloads][5] 0.8
- [Google Pagerank Status][6] 0.9.4
- [Greasemonkey][7] 0.2.3
- [Html Validator (based on Tidy)][8] 0.5.6
- [JustBlogIt][9] 0.2
- [ListZilla][10] 0.5.1
- [Live HTTP Headers][11] 0.10
- [mozcc][12] 1.0.0
- [QuickTabPrefToggle][13] 0.0.4
- [Resizeable Textarea][14] 0.1a
- [SessionSaver .2][15] 0.2.1.025
Resizable Textarea
Found at fx3.org: resizeable Textarea, a plugin that allows you to resize a text field in Firefox forms if it's too small. This is very practical for someone who frequently works with web interfaces of CMS or databases.
Html Validator for Firefox and Mozilla - wow. Great extension: it directly validates the displayed webpage and integrates into the source view for debugging errors. Very nice - and has been featured in several weblogs in recent days (I don't remember where I first saw it).
In the Firefox Help: Tips & Tricks I found the tip on how to block advertising images and videos with a user CSS. Certainly old news for most, but new to me. Nice, because for example Camino doesn't have a proper ad blocker like Firefox (yes, I'm back to Camino again ...).
Back to Camino from Firefox ...
... and back. Odyssey of the web browsers.
After working with Firefox for a few days, I switched back to Camino. Why? Well, under OS X, Firefox is suboptimal. For one, I have the impression that fonts are generally displayed smaller than in Camino or other real Mac programs. It might be an illusion. However, it is not an illusion that Firefox under OS X does not support Services. And that is annoying - what's the point if a bunch of programs hook into the Services menu and provide useful services that build on highlighted text in other programs, if the main application in which I spend my time on the computer does not support it at all?
Just as annoying was the fact that Tab-X is not supported under OS X. This extension attaches a close icon to every tab. I don't know what the UI designer of Firefox was thinking, but I consider neither the mandatory activation of a tab and then clicking on a tiny X at the right edge of the toolbar to be ergonomic, nor closing a tab via the context menu. Okay, you can get used to that if necessary.
Furthermore, I was constantly bothered by the fact that Firefox has its own password manager and does not use the KeyChain. I find it simply practical that all kinds of programs can register at a central location and that I can delete my passwords there if I need to. In addition, this helps to avoid constantly having to re-enter passwords just because you visit a page with a different browser.
Unfortunately, I lose all the nice things that are available via Firefox extensions - for example, the Web Developer Toolbar. Only that it doesn't work on my Mac anyway, who knows why - so I've only ever had it under Linux, and there I continue to use Firefox. I will miss the plugin for the Google PageRank status and the plugin for mozcc, however - both were quite practical. It's somehow stupid that I can't have both - a Firefox with proper integration into OS X, that would be it ...
Due to the pretty broken 0.8.2 of Camino, I downloaded and installed the 0.8.1 again. At least it has functioning tabs and doesn't crash all the time. I have no idea what they did with the 0.8.2, but it was definitely not to the benefit of Camino.
And of course, right after I wrote this, Camino started acting up. I can't believe it. The 0.8.1 had worked flawlessly before. Nevertheless, there were the same problems as with the 0.8.2 - probably triggered by some sites with which I work more frequently now than before? I have no idea - I haven't installed any special tools under OS X, on the contrary, I have uninstalled one.
So, trying other browsers again. Safari 1.0 under OS X 10.2.8 is clearly behind in features - but it would still remain as an alternative, but it crashes on some pages. OmniWeb is basically a souped-up Safari, but it crashes even more frequently. And Opera doesn't get along with the CSS of the WordPress admin at all - it's wildly mixed up. In addition, it always asks multiple times for passwords and Keychain access when I access some protected pages. And it has had this quirk for months - not very confidence-inspiring.
The IE for Mac is not even a desperation option. Netscape? No, sorry, but that's not necessary. Mozilla also not - then rather Firefox, because Mozilla not only does not integrate well into the system, it also looks completely different from OS X applications ...
The only really usable alternative browser under OS X 10.2 is - despite its problems - OmniWeb. As a last resort, Safari, but OmniWeb is more advanced in rendering on some pages. However, it still does not support things like clicking on the label of a checkbox to toggle it - it is used in the WordPress admin and avoids silly target practice. Except in OmniWeb or Safari. Okay, the fact that the QuickTag bar is missing in OmniWeb and Safari is intentional in WordPress - the JavaScript is not quite compatible.
So, back to the whole thing and use Firefox again and complain about the missing services (which, by the way, can also work in Carbon applications - if the programmer has considered this in his program)? Or just play with OmniWeb and see if you can get around the problems?
And what do we learn from this? All browsers suck. Even the good ones.
Google pagerank extension for firefox and mozilla is exactly what it claims to be: a display of the Google PageRank in the status bar of Mozilla or FireFox. Practical if you need to or want to pay attention to PageRank.
mozdev.org - conkeror
That's what I call dedication - in the documentation for a purely keyboard-controlled Mozilla:
You should never have to reach for your mouse. To make sure Conkeror remains pure, I do not own a mouse.
So if you're a mouse-phobic, you might find some relief with this browser.
And because I'm an experimentally inclined fellow, I naturally had to try it out right away. Ok, Emacs key bindings are terrible (hey, I'm a VI guy) but still the whole thing is quite usable - you could get used to it if only the other applications on your system had similar controls. And here's a tip for Mac users: yes, the whole thing works for you too. However, you do need to start the browser with a parameter, but that's not supported by Firefox.App. Instead, just enter the following command in the terminal (warning, one line!): /Applications/Firefox.App/Contents/MacOS/firefox -chrome chrome://conkeror/content
You may need to adjust the path to Firefox.App. After that, a small window opens with a rather spartan help file. Read it thoroughly, because if you don't at least remember how to open the help page, you'll be stuck. The big B goes back in the history, so if you get lost, you can always get back to the help with it. Oh yes, and to quit doesn't work with Apple-Q - after all it's Emacs. So press Ctrl-X and C one after the other.
Firefox - IDN - 0 Info - 0 Transparency
Kai is ranting about Firefox - IDN - 0 Info - 0 Transparency - and he's right with his rant. You're used to this security secrecy from commercial providers, but with open-source projects it annoys me every single time as well. When will people finally understand that only early disclosure gives users a chance to protect themselves? Keeping bugs secret is based on the absurd assumption that you're the first to notice this bug. Which is simply silly: a blackhat who notices this bug will certainly not broadcast it but instead exploit this bug for as long as possible. And so only those benefit from keeping it secret for too long - the ones we shouldn't be helping anyway.
User security needs to be the focus of security considerations - and specifically the informed user who is capable of turning information into meaningful action. The uninformed user doesn't care anyway, they click on everything. But a sysadmin who knows about a problem can at least contribute through educating their own users so that they maybe act more cautiously for a certain period of time. An uninformed sysadmin doesn't even have a trace of a chance to do that.
Bookmarklets and Firefox
Since I temporarily rebuilt my environment and removed CodeTek Virtual Desktop, I was able to play around with Firefox a bit (which is incompatible with the CodeTek part and causes quite a bit of trouble when you use it with it). I noticed something strange: when I use the WordPress bookmarklet to blog a page, the little window always gets put in the background. Kind of annoying - you have to move the large website out of the way to get to it. Has anyone else seen something like this and maybe knows a solution?
For now I'm back to Camino as my browser. It's the same renderer anyway.
Problems with Firefox and Thunderbird on OS X 10.2
I recently wrote about (P2984) the problems I've been having with Firefox on OS X. It has since turned out what's causing it. It's the Codetek Virtual Desktop Manager. As soon as it's active (I constantly have lots of windows open and otherwise can't find anything in the mess - and no, Expose wouldn't really help either), both Firefox and Thunderbird exhibit various misbehaviors:
- after startup the menu is empty. You first have to click in the background and then back on the application window for the menu to work properly
- the keyboard focus isn't always correct. Then you have to do the same as with the missing menu.
- after switching desktops (or also when normally hiding and showing the application again) the window is completely empty - only resizing it brings the content back.
As I said, this only happens with the desktop manager. Unfortunately I can't use Expose because I don't have 10.3. Besides, it wouldn't solve my problem: I need many parallel workspaces in which I have all the windows open for the respective task. Expose would only handle that very inadequately.
Bummer.
Fangs: The Firefox Screen Reader Emulator Extension - Standards-schmandards
A screen reader emulator for Firefox. So you can see how your own pages would come across in a screen reader.
Firefox 1.0
I know everyone is thrilled about it as if it were the invention of sliced white bread. But I'm anything but happy with the new version of Firefox. Two annoying bugs are massively spoiling its use for me.
The first is an incompatibility with Codetek Virtual Desktop. Basically, it manages virtual screens where it hides windows and displays those of the new screen. To do this, it sends a redraw to the applications. Firefox then nicely paints its main window, but that's it. Only by changing the size can you get Firefox to redraw its content.
The second bug is even more annoying: every time I start it, the top menu is completely missing. It's simply empty. I have to send Firefox to the background and bring it back to the foreground to activate the main menu.
If you imagine how I work — multiple virtual screens, one for each important application, constantly switching between screens — then you can perhaps understand why I'd rather stick with Camino until Firefox becomes something stable and usable.
Even though it bothers me a bit that all the practical extensions are closed off to me because of this. On the other hand, that was already the case before — the prereleases never really worked well with the Web Developers Toolbar for me on OS X. Under Linux, Firefox is definitely my favorite browser, but the OS X version is a bit too buggy.
Firefox - Switch
Surely everyone except me already knows this, but I think this Firefox Switch campaign building on the Apple Switch campaign is kind of nice
FCKeditor - The text editor for Internet
A Wysiwyg editor for HTML source that runs in a browser textarea, implemented using DHTML (so Javascript, not as a Java applet) and should work on IE, Mozilla and Firefox.
I actually wanted to write something positive about it, but then Firefox crashed on me ...
Firefox is quite nice, but ...
... I find it somewhat annoying that I can't use bookmarklets anymore that open their own windows. These custom windows end up behind the current window as a matter of principle. Really inconvenient, that.