Tracking down Firefox plug-ins

My last posting was about upgrading the Adobe Flash Player, a Web browser plug-in. Adobe Systems just released a new version that fixes critical bugs in older versions, so everyone should update to the latest version.

Adobe’s Flash tester page displays the version of the Flash Player being used by your Web browser. Sometimes though, the Firefox results may not be what you think they should be. I’ve run across a couple instances in which Firefox was not using a newly installed version of the Flash Player.

The rules for where or how Firefox loads plug-ins have changed over time, and all software vendors may not have a perfect understanding of them. Then too, many uninstallers leave files behind; it’s almost the rule rather than the exception. If your copy of Firefox isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do, there are two ways to find out from where it picked up a particular plug-in.

Start Firefox, and in the address bar, enter “about:config” without the quotes (see above). In the filter bar, enter “plugin”, again without the quotes. Double-click on “plugin.expose_full_path.” This should change the value from “false” to “true” and the status from “default” to “user set.”

Go back to the address bar, and enter “about:plugins” (no quotes). As shown below, the file name in the Shockwave Flash section has the name and the full path of the file Firefox is using for the Flash Player.

Read the rest of this story…

Posted in Internet, Privacy, Security, Software | No Comments

How to simulate “No to all” when copying in Windows XP

Ever had to copy a bunch of files from one location on your local hard drive to another place with a lot of files with the same name? Well there are really only two options that you have when there are files with the same name: either replace the destination files or leave the destination files as they are and only copy the new files.

By default, when you are copying files and there is a name conflict, Windows gives you the option to replace all of the destination files with the “Yes to All” button in the Confirm File Replace dialog box.

Read the rest of this story…

Posted in Windows | 3 Comments

Microsoft to open Apple-like retail shops

Our sources close to Microsoft have confirmed that the company wants to reach out for the retail market presence. Microsoft wants to open and create many retail shops dedicated exclusive to Microsoft and its products.

This is something that Apple did with its many Apple retail stores around the world. Microsoft will put its retail people in the shops with hope that these skilled people will be able to show the true Microsoft experience.

We can only guess that the shop will be filled with lot of software, but it’s likely to include some peripheral stuff such as keyboards and mice as well as some MP3 Zune players. You can count on some computers, but the last paragraph is something we suspect not something that has been confirmed.

If they put all that we just listed, it will definitely look like a Microsoft copy of Apple retail stores. Maybe even some windows phones?

It worked well for Apple, so Microsoft has the chance.

Source: Fudzilla

Posted in General BS, Hardware, Software, Windows | No Comments

Yahoo moving to new Web-crawler software

Yahoo has begun indexing the World Wide Web with its third-generation software, Slurp 3.0, the company said Monday.

“With everything now in place, the rollout has officially begun,” Sharad Verma and Yoram Arnon said in a posting to Yahoo’s search blog on Monday.

Unlike top search rival Google, which on Friday revealed its indexing software now is trying to uncover previously hidden pages by filling in Web pages’ forms, Yahoo didn’t detail what’s new with its indexing software.

The company did advise those who watch for indexing software (sometimes called bots, crawlers, and spiders) as it visits their site to update their methodology from the Slurp 2.0 days.

Source: CNet

Posted in Internet, Software | No Comments

Google Comes Knocking In Search Of Hidden Data

Google on Friday said that it has been testing ways to index data that is normally hidden to search engine crawlers, a change that should improve the breadth of information available through Google.

The so-called “hidden Web” that Google has begun indexing refers to data beyond static Web pages, such as Web pages generated dynamically from a database, based on input such as might be provided through a Web submission form.

“This experiment is part of Google’s broader effort to increase its coverage of the Web,” said Google engineers Jayant Madhavan and Alon Halevy in a blog post. “In fact, HTML forms have long been thought to be the gateway to large volumes of data beyond the normal scope of search engines. The terms Deep Web, Hidden Web, or Invisible Web have been used collectively to refer to such content that has so far been invisible to search engine users. By crawling using HTML forms (and abiding by robots.txt), we are able to lead search engine users to documents that would otherwise not be easily found in search engines, and provide Webmasters and users alike with a better and more comprehensive search experience.”

Robots.txt is a file Web publishers place on their servers that specifies what data can or can’t be accessed by crawling programs, should those programs chose to abide by its rules.

Read the rest of this story…

Posted in Internet, Privacy | No Comments