Why downloading Firefox is like getting into college

According to Seth Godin:

This is true of bloggers, of Twitter users, of Flickr users... everywhere you look, if someone is using Firefox, they're way more likely to be using other power tools online. The reasoning: In order to use Firefox, you need to be confident enough to download and use a browser that wasn't the default when you first turned on your computer.

Seth's Blog: Why downloading Firefox is like getting into college

Better YouTube Firefox Extension

Watch YouTube videos more efficiently with Better YouTube, a brand new Firefox extension that compiles our favorite YouTube Greasemonkey scripts into a single convenient package. Better YouTube smartly enlarges videos for better viewing, hides user comments, declutters the page and disables autoplay (great for vids open in a background tab.) Following in the footsteps of Better Gmail and friends, customize your online video-viewing with Better YouTube.

 Exclusive Lifehacker Download: Better YouTube Firefox Extension

Thinking of using Firefox in your library?

If not, you should be, IMHO. Anyway, here's two somewhat technical articles related to this topic.

• Hacking Firefox at my library: instructions & stuff
  Instructions on how to lock-down and tweak Firefox for public consumption. I don't necessarily agree with everything suggested but I don't have any problems big enough to complain about either.
  
• 40 Useful Firefox Add-Ons for Librarians
  There are a lot of Firefox add-ons out in the wild. Here's a list of 40 that are most useful for us librarians. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

I've been peer-reviewed

My first peer-reviewed article "Firefox Search Plugins: Searching Your Library in the Browser" has just been published in Volume 1, Number 1 of The Journal of Web Librarianship. I'm not specifically excited over the fact that it's a peer-reviewed journal. I'm not an academic so that's not exactly a requirement for me. I've written eight previous books and dozens of articles so I'm not exactly lacking in the publication category. Yes, I'm glad to have another article published (it has been a while and no, Christie, I haven't forgotten that podcasting article we talked about at CIL) as always, but the peer-reviewed thing at this point is just fitting into that "nice, added bonus" category.

However, I do have one, not so much complaint, as a concern over this whole experience: the fact that an article I submitted to the journal back in July 2006, wasn't published until July 2007. One year for a technology article to see print. These day's that's not even vaguely fast enough. In my specific case, at the last minute (December 2006), I had to get an extra few sentences added to the beginning of the article to say that the code I'm talking about was replaced with a different code/method with the release of Firefox 2.0 but that my code would still work. (Given the opportunity I would have re-written the whole article but the process was too far along for that to happen.)

The world of peer-reviewed journals is not mine. I don't have suggestions for fixing this, nor will I spend all that much time on it. I just needed to say all this, as I'm sure I'm not the only author with these concerns.

BitTorrent without the hassles

I'll stick with Azureus as it allows me to do many things to control my Torrents but for those not willing to put in the effort, try FireTorrent. This is a simple Firefox add-on that allows you to download torrents. It just adds a new "torrent" tab to the Downloads screen and takes over whenever you click on a link to a .torrent file.

Make Firefox spell-check all form fields

I love Firefox's built-in spellchecker, especially when I'm blogging. Unfortunately, by default it only runs spellcheck in text-boxes (the form fields that allow for multiple lines of input). Well, with one small tweak of Firefox's config file you can make spellcheck work in every form field!

• In the address bar enter about:config
• Filter for layout.spellcheckDefault
• Double click the value and change it to 2
• Restart Firefox

via kevinhasablog

CIL2007: Heat Up Your Browsing with Firefox a.k.a. Pimp Your Firefox

Jessamyn West, Librarian.net



I'm going to sit back and watch. All the information from Jessamyn;s presentation can be found at http://librarian.net/talks/cil2007/.

Top 10 Firefox extensions to avoid?

Computerworld has published a list of the top 10 Firefox extensions to avoid. Usually I find a lot of use in "top 10" articles but this one was no help at all. I run six of the ten they tell me to avoid. (FasterFox, Video Downloader, PDF Download, ScribeFire, Greasemonkey, and TabBrowser Preferences) Granted most of the points they make are valid but they're hardly reasons not to use them. As some of the commenters have responded, the article seems to be geared for you mom and dad with a computer at home. If you're the person they call for help, you're perfectly safe pretty much running any of these extensions.

New laptop bag

I've been wanting/needing a new laptop bag for a while and it finally arrived today. I've switched from a backpack to a messenger bag. Heck, I never used the left strap on the backpack anyway. This one holds my 17" laptop, folders, pens, notebooks, iPod, camera, and more. And I totally get some geek-cred for the embroidered Firefox logo.

Vista: Problem Reports and Solutions

Vista: Problem Reports and Solutions
Originally uploaded by Travelin' Librarian.

When a program crashes in Vista, the OS attempts to "find a solution" to the problem. For the first time yesterday a "solution" was found to a Firefox crash. The "solution" presented was to upgrade to the newer version of Firefox. A handy link to to the Mozilla site was even given to me. Here's the rub, I'm running the latest version of Firefox; no upgrade is available. Does Vista know something I don't? Don't get me wrong, this is all a great idea but it needs to work in order to be helpful. I was sure to click on the "Provide Feedback" link and let Microsoft know just what I thought of their "solution".

Another way to post to Twitter

Don't want to leave Firefox nor actually go to the Twitter site in order to post? Try the Twitter Firefox Search Plugin which allows you to "post updates to Twitter right from your Firefox Search Bar". I've tested it and it works. The only catch is that as a result you end up going to your Twitter page. I'd rather it didn't send me anywhere but it does save a few clicks in the posting process.

Outlook Web Access

I've recently gained access to an Exchange Server-based e-mail system and was told that the Web access worked through both Firefox and IE. Well, take a look at these screenshots:

IE7

Firefox 2

As you can see, Firefox "works" but there's more options and a smoother interface in IE. Go figure.

(I wasn't going to blog this but someone saw the screenshots in my flickr account and sent me an e-mail regarding how they'd been using Friefox for this and never thought to consider that it might work better in IE. I figured that with one person there might be others so I've shared it with you here.)

Another way to find in Firefox

Did you know that there's something called Quick Find in Firefox which works like CTRL-F but automagically disappears for you? Check out this cool tip at Lifehacker.

Firefox 3 details

So, wondering what's up with Firefox 3.0? mozilla links has some details.

Google's phishing blacklist

Google's phishing blacklist, the one used by Firefox when you set the "check by asking Google about each site I visit" option in the security settings, is available online. It's not exactly bedtime reading but it is interesting from a technical perspective.

Stupid move of the day, a.k.a. a warning to others

So I'm at my desk uninstalling software I no longer use from my office laptop. Windows' Add/Remove Programs lists both Firefox 1.5.x and 2.0 as installed on my computer. Since I no longer use 1.5.x I chose to uninstall it. Well, that uninstalled Firefox from my computer, which happened to be version 2.0. Yes folks, I just lost my browser. Please, whatever you do, don't tell windows to uninstall an old version of Firefox after you've upgraded to 2.0. (Luckily reinstalling 2.0 did not require me to recreate my bookmarks or reinstall any of my add-ins but I'm still annoyed by the whole escapade.)

CAL2006: Geek Fest 2006: What's Cool and What's a Good Investment

Jo Haight Sarline, Denver Public Library Carson Block, Fort Collins Public Library John Sulshaw, University of Colorado-Boulder Jimmy Thomas & Susan Staples, Weld Library District Jeff Donlan, Salida Regional Library Sharon Morris, Colorado State Library

• Susan
• 1st year w/ library system
• previously in manufacturing and healthcare
• invest in the virtual
• how much can be put online?
• online collaboration
• online training
• online surveys
• translation services
• 170+ lanugages
• dial a number and get an interperter online
• <$100/mo
• Concact center concept
• easy, catchy phone number
• metrics
• Hot
• Copier/Espresso maker
• USB cooler shirt
• ID rings
• DVD vending
• bestseller vending ouside the library
• John
• mobile computing
• new content & content management models
• supporting users in an advanced age of technology
• authentication
• portals
• blogs & wikis
• increased collaboration
• social networking
• blogs
• wikis
• podcasts
• MySpace
• 84 million users
• 2 million new users a month
• 48mil unique visits
• 51% of 13-17 year olds online
• 79% are 18+
• 25mil are over 30
• YouTube
• Google paid $1.65 Billion
• 100 mil videos watched a day
• 65k uploaded a day
• What's going to become of the ILS?
• Disintergaration (Marshal Breeding)
• Institutional repositories
• Libraries need to support all this stuff
• security issues
• open source model moving to libraries
• programming skills
• Jimmy
• (Aquabrowser)
• OCLC Perceptions Report
• Searches done at his member libraries (top queries in OPACs)
• Google, Yahoo
• My Account, Library Hours
• Library Journal Hotline
• The next library building
• "place"
• Jeff
• Maximize use of the OPAC
• Clean up our database
• Having functional PCs for the patrons
• Firefox
• GIMP
• Open Office
• Picassa
• Let patrons plug in their hardware
• E-media market needs to be "better sorted out"
• Skype
• Carson
• Building a staff that represent different parts of my brain but can also built on that
• Deliver information to people without barriers
• Be more involved in the culture
• Second Life Library 2.0
• Balancing abilities and constraints of what staff can do to meet the needs of users
• Technology is not always the solution
• Sharon
• Dutch Aquabrowser guys are "hot"
• Library Elf
• Plinket
• The Engaged Patron
• LibraryThing
• Free online e-books and e-audiobooks
• Second Life Library 2.0
• Searching for information is changing
• Retrevr
• Search fickr by shape & color
• Aquabrowser
• del.icio.us
• wikis
• blogs
• podcasting
• YouTube
• set aside time every week to look at something new
• libraries have a "role to inspire"
• Jo
• Be the enabler for your cusomers
• be there, be in those spaces
• you feel comfortable, they'll feel comfortable
• downloadable media
• convergence of everything
• everyone is a creator
• create a space where your patrons can be a creator
• tagging content
• no geographical boundaries
• look outside the library world for ideas and solutions
• be where your customers are complainaing about you
• thisisbroken.com
• viral marketing
• YouTube
• gaming

Cookie Handling Problem in Firefox 2.0

I was just listening to the latest episode of Security Now! in which it was pointed out that the new Firefox 2.0 does not have an option for automatically blocking third-party (i.e. advertisers) cookies. Looking at the Privacy options screen I was quickly able to confirm this.

However, you can still do this but you must edit the setting manually. Here's how to do this in a few simple, illustrated steps.

First, type about:config in the address bar and then type cookie into the Filter: field. Find the line titled network.cookie.cookieBehavior, right click on it, and select Modify.

In the Enter integer value box, replace the number 0 with the number 1 and click OK.

When done, the network.cookie.cookieBehavior line will be bold, the Status will be listed as "user set" and the value will be "1". You are now blocking all third-party cookies.

IL2006: Blogging Update - Applications & Tips

Syndication and Website Content: Suggestions for Blogs, RSS and Internal Syndication Walter Nelson, RAND Library Webmaster

• RSS: The I don't get it factor
• very few peopel understand RSS
• you have to meet your users where they are
• not where you want them to be
• Symplifying RSS
• embed into web pages
• people get web pages
• use RSS w/o downloading anything
• ....
• The Tools
• Blog: Moveable Type
• RSS Parser: Feed2JS
• There are others in the market but I won't be talking about them
• Mooveable Type setup
• installation is the hard part
• insatlled on your server
• use "canned formats" or can be customized
• can be formatted to look like your site
• can be formatted to be your site
• Moveable Type Features
• easy to use
• adminsitrator has controll over authors
• web interface to add content
• generates static HTML pages
• automatically generates RSS feed
• Think outside the blog
• blog is a tech with many features
• database publishing tool which sorts by chronology and category
• you don't have to use a blog for blogging
• corp announcements, event calendar, image database, online newspaper, etc.
• Feed2JS
• second piece of the puzzle
• free from feed2js.org
• use theris site or install on their server
• generates JavScript to republish RSS feed content
• as bulleted list of links on your site
• hosted vs. installed
• no charge without special prep
• really easy to do
• pitfall: slows down load time
• moral: install on your server if at all possible
• "anncouncements" on RAND intranet is an RSS feed
• click headline to get the blog entry
• creates searchable archive
• [data entry screenshot]
• Feed2JS creates RSS driven content
• [Feed2JS interface screenshot]
• Additional uses
• external newsfeeds
• statis links list
• resource list for menus
• customers can subscribe to our links
• [example library news page screenshot]
• Category feeds
• parse feeds by category
• one blog creates multiple feeds
• Uses
• branch specific headings
• all announcements homepage
• Empower your users but not all the users use the power

Using Blogs for Internal Communications Karen Coombs, University of Houston

• why blogs
• existing tech infrastructure was not well not used
• easy for staff to create and maintain content
• space for staff to provide feedback
• good for positioning news-type information
• how it began
• development of library's strategic directions
• web management committee
• many different blogs
• committees
• service points
• Circ
• Reference
• working groups
• instruction team
• science librarians
• blogs for committees
• make announcements
• post minnutes and other docs
• gather on what the committee is doing
• [web management committee blog screenshot]
• service point blogs
• maintained by desk staff
• announcements
• new resources
• problems
• questions
• display on all computers at desk
• [Ref blog screenshot]
• workgroup blogs
• allow people to share info
• post items of note or interest
• reading materials for discussion
• [library instruction blog screenshot]
• unresolved issues
• feed subscription issues
• how does it fit with the current intranet
• integration with existing authentication systems
• keeping up with changes to blog permission
• old version of PHP needed for what we're doing but other software needes current version of PHP

Blogs & Public Libraries Aaron Schmidt, Thomas Ford Memorial Library

• No one cares that you have a blog
• it isn't about the technology for the patrons
• it is about connecting
• Lamson Library WPOPAC
• Thomas Ford Memorial Library - Films on the Ford DVD list
• opac link
• imdb link
• commenting
• WesternSpringsHistory.org
• flickr tools
• flickr uploadr
• Blog this
• flickr badge
• new materials on flickr
• westmont library
• Firefox 2.0
• built in spellcheck
• meebo me
• blog elsewhere
• follow through

Firefox 2.0

It is now available!

IL2006: What's Hot in Social Softwr

Stephen M. Cohen, Senior Librarian, Law Library Management, Inc.

• AJAX
• Beta Browster
• CoComment Cohen Family Recipies (.blogspot.com)
• Digg
• Econsultant (Web 2.0 directory)
• flickr
• gmail (chat)
• "Hype"
• Image Editors
• resizr.lord-lance.com
• pxn8.com
• snipshot.com
• Jenny Levine
• LibraryThing
• (Babes with Books)
• Moo Meebo Media Convert Mojeek Muppets Wiki
• Netvibes
• OCLC
• Pandora Purevideo (Video metasearch)
• RSS
• Stephens, Michael Snapper Slideshare
• Trackback? Type of the Day
• utube.com
• Wikis
• YouTube
• Zoho

Others

• Gmail Space Firefox Extension
• Twingine
• Flock
• Gliffy
• i-am-bored.com?
• qumana.com
• last.fm
• citeulike.org
• Xanga
• Picasa
• Odeo

IL2006: The Social Web

Jesse Andrews, creator of BookBurro & lead developer of Flock 1:15-2pm Beyond Browsing

• About me
• programmer
• theoretical quantum computation
• web deveopment
• browser development
• not a librarian
• Greasemonkey & userscripts
• the web as your playgound
• Book Burro
• userscripts grow into extensions
• Flock
• extensions grow into browsers
• Browser 101: What are URLs
• www.infotoday.com resolves to IP address
• document returned bu that server is (not valid) HTML 4.01 transitional
• IP address might have information about the URL
• Google has info abt URL
• wayback machine may have info
• technorati may have info
• browsers use these resources to show render a representation of the url
• HTML has a recommendation
• Greasemonkey
• you provide the information about the URL
• created bu Aaron Boodman (now @ Google)
• simple idea
• update pages
• fix sites
• add relevancy (link to Yahoo from Google results)
• hide ads
• remove myspace music/backgrounds/styles
• new functionality
• new ideas
• Amazon Music Helper
• Free legal music
• lnk directly to the free downloadable MP3s
• de-xeni
• Boing Boing
• removes risque posts
• userscripts.org
• greasemonkey repository
• built in 2 nights in ruby on rails
• thousands of scripts
• millions of page views
• The day greasemonkey changed the internet
• make requests outside yor domain
• Book Burro
• remixing books
• open data - web services
• screen scraping for ISBN
• 300 (horrible) lines of JavaScript
• unintended uses - acquisitions
• Book Burro + Libraries
• Book Burro + World Cat
• Book Burro + Library Lookup
• John Udell
• Book Burro + Talis
• Silkworm Directory
• Book Burro + Book Mooch
• Find in online swap sites
• Future
• Side project
• ideas/requests? tell me.
• Flock
• open source social web browser built on firefox
• flickr
• advanced search
• rss reader
• blog editor
• full text search of history/bookmarks
• del.icio.us intergration

Idaho Library Association Conference

I'm in Moscow, ID for the 2006 Idaho Library Association Conference. I'm here to present my Firefox Search Plugins and Tech Terms sessions and to man the BCR booth. I'll blog more as things happen but know that you can keep an eye on the flickr set that I'll be adding to over the next two days.

Fall speaking schedule

• October 4-8: Idaho Library Association, Moscow, ID
  • Tech Terms
  • Firefox Search Plugins
• October 21-26: Internet Librarian 2006, Monterey, CA
  • 22: Integrating RSS Into Your Web Site (Pre-Conference)
  • 23: The Second Life Library 2.0: Going Where the Users Are
  • 24: Flickr & Libraries
  • 25: Book Signing (Information Today, Inc. booth)
• November 9-12: Colorado Association of Libraries, Denver, CO
  • 11: Tech Terms
• November 13-15: University of Nevada, Las Vegas Law Library, Las Vegas, NV
  • 14: Web Page Creation Basics (XHTML)
  • 15: Introduction to CSS
• November 26-December 1: Nevada State Library Gates Workshops
  • 27: Computer Security (Salt Lake City)
  • 27: Setting up a WiFi Netowrk (Salt Lake City)
  • 28: Technical Support in Your Library (Salt Lake City)
  • 30: Computer Security (Moab)
  • 30: Setting up a WiFi Netowrk (Moab)
  • 01: Technical Support in Your Library (Moab)
• December 5-8: Iowa City Public Library
  • 6: Blogs (BCR Workshop)
  • 6: RSS (BCR Workshop)
  • 7: Podcasting 101 (BCR Workshop)
  • 7: Wikis (BCR Workshop)
  • 8: The Social Web (Staff in-service day)

Browser Wars: The Saga Continues

For those who weren't around for the browser wars here's a primer that goes all the way back to Mozilla v. Netscape and bring's everything up to date with Firefox 2.0 v. Internet Explorer 7.

Screencast #1: BlogThis!

As I promised the folks in my Blogging workshop last week, here's the screencast of how to install and use the BlogThis! bookmarklet. (It's in .swf format so you'll need to be sure you've got the latest Flash Player installed in order to view it.)

On a more technical note, I used CamStudio to create the video and convert to flash. It also wrote an HTML page for me that embedded the video, instead of linking to it like I've done here. That code looks correct and is correct based on every bit of reading I've done on the subject. However, it completely works only in IE. In Firefox I get audio but no video. Take a look at the page if you'd like to help. If anyone has any suggestions or pointers please let me know.

Anonymity through obscufication

Concened about someone being able to figure out who you are based on your search queries. If you're a Firefox user (you should be by now) you can install the TrackMeNot extension which is "a low-priority background process that periodically issues randomized search-queries to popular search engines, e.g., AOL, Yahoo!, Google, and MSN. It hides users' actual search trails in a cloud of indistinguishable 'ghost' queries, significantly increasing the difficulty of aggregating such data into accurate or identifying user profiles." In other words, it submits random queries on your behalf thus obscuring which ones are your real queries. (I've been saying for years that searches on public access computers have been doing this since every person who sits down at one of those computers is searching for something different.)

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Got this bit of news this morning...

Dear Michael,

I am pleased to inform you that your article, "Firefox Search Plugins: Searching your library in the browser," has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Web Librarianship. It will appear in Volume 1, Issue 1. I expect this issue to appear in print in late March of 2007, but since it is a first issue, there may be some flexibility about the date.

Thanks for submitting this article to JWL; I'm pleased to be able to include it in our first issue!

Sincerely,
Jody Condit Fagan
Editor, Journal of Web Librarianship

Open WorldCat

Open WorldCat is up and running as of today at www.worldcat.org. I've created a Firefox Search Plugin for your convienence. I've submitted it to OCLC with the hope that they'll find it worthy of adding to their WorldCat Tools page.

UPDATE 08 Aug 2006: OCLC has responded by telling me that they've created their own search plugin and will be releasing it "within the next 24 to 48 hours".

Firefox 2 Review

I've not installed it yet but this review of Firefox 2 (beta) from InformationWeek is making me consider it. Most of the features that the beta has added actually replace the plugins that I'll miss the most.

Mozilla Firefox 2 Beta 1

Mozilla Firefox 2 Beta 1 has been released. I'm actively considering not installing it as I use many of my extensions daily and don't want to loose them. So, don't expect much from me on the beta in the immediate future. Here's the official list of new features:

• Built in Phishing Protection.
• Search suggestions now appear with search history in the search box for Google, Yahoo! and Answers.com
• Changes to tabbed browsing behavior
• Ability to re-open accidentally closed tabs
• Better support for previewing and subscribing to web feeds
• Inline spell checking in text boxes
• Search plugin manager for removing and re-ordering search engines
• New microsummaries feature for bookmarks
• Automatic restoration of your browsing session if there is a crash
• New combined and improved Add-Ons manager for extensions and themes
• New Windows installer based on Nullsoft Scriptable Install System
• Support for JavaScript 1.7
• Support for client-side session and persistent storage
• Extended search plugin format
• Updates to the extension system to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions
• Support for SVG text using svg:textPath

Google Browser Sync

Google Browser Sync is a Firefox extension that allows you to "continuously synchronize your browser settings – including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords – across your computers". Sounds like a good plan as long as you have control over all the computers involved (office and home for example) but isn't a good solution for public computers or, possibly, the reference desk. I'll continue to stick with Portable Firefox.

A problem with numbered lists in IE

I'm getting some odd results in IE right now (both in IE6 and IE7beta3) that I just can't explain. Here's what I'm talking about:

• unordered list
• unordered list
• unordered list
• unordered list

1. ordered list
2. ordered list
3. ordered list
4. ordered list

The first list is coded with <ul> and displays the bullets as expected. The second list is coded with <ol> and displays the nubmers one through four as expected, but only in Firefox. IE is not displaying the nubmers. The really odd part is that it only seems to be happening in my Blogger posts, but not with test files sitting on my hard drive. I've repeated this on multiple computers and would appreciate someone confirming this problem. If you have a solution and/or explaination I'd love to hear it.

UPDATE: As you can see, the CSS edit suggested by Steve in the comments fixed the problem. Thanks Steve!

Installing IE7beta3

I've now downloaded and installed IE7beta3 on two computers without too much trouble. As I've mentioned previously I'm saving a full review of the process and the program itself until the final release but for now you can view the slideshow of the 84 screenshots I took during the installation and first run. If you are going to install it here are a few pointers from my experiences.

• Installing any IE7 beta will replace IE6. You can get IE6 back by uninstalling the beta, but you can not run both at the same time.
• You will be asked to verify that your version of Windows is legit. To do this you may need to download and install the Windows Genuine Advantage Plug-in in order to do this. The slideshow shows this process since I was using Firefox to download the beta. If you're using IE6, this process will be slightly different.
• Before installing beta3 you will need to uninstall any previous betas that are on your computer. The message says to do this by using Windows' Add/Remove Programs feature. However, previous betas are not listed here unless you select "Show Updates". Once you've done that, you will find previous betas listed under "Windows XP - Software Updates".
• After uninstalling a previous beta you must reboot your computer before installing beta3. Failing to do so will seem to work but it won't.
• The installation on my office laptop failed the first time. Instructions for fixing the problem were provided and involved editing the registry. Once I did this, the second attempt worked without any additional problems.

New Firefox Search Plugins

I preparation for writing on an article for the inaugural issue of The Journal of Web Librarianship this weekend on creating Firefox Search Plugins, I've created two new ones for TagFetch and YouTube. They can both be found on my Firefox Search Plugins page.

DPL Uses Google Maps

DPL Uses Google Maps
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

I was looking for the hours of a local Denver Public Library branch and of course, went to DPL's Web site to fine the information. I was happy to find that they're using Google Maps on the Locations & Hours page. However, when I clicked on the name of the branch I was looking for, things started to fall apart. The content, namely the branch's hours, are too long for the baloon that appears on the map. Zooming out on the map resized the baloon to fit the text but then the baloon was too tall to fit in the space allowed for tha map. (I do have an e-mail into DPL about the problem, before everyone starts whining about this post.)

A+ for the idea, C for the execution.

UPDATE 7:35pm: Here's DPL's response:

Thanks for reporting this. We had fixed this display problem for the earlier version of Firefox, but it looks like we lost it for Firefox 1.5, which is where I'm seeing the problem now. Internet Explorer displays it correctly.
We're looking into this and hope to have it fixed soon. In the meantime, you can either scroll down to see branch hours displayed in a table, or link to the specific branch page by selecting the library name at the top of the text bubble.

Revised grade: B for implementation.

Des nouvelles de Firefox

It seems that Marlene of Marlene's corner likes my Firefox-related articles on WebJunction.Now, if I could just read the rest of her blog...

Meet FEBE & CLEO

I often write about Firefox Search Plugins. Well, here's two new Firefox extensions that may be of some use to those of you with multiple computers.

FEBE is the Firefox Extension Backup Extension which "allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your extensions individually into installable .xpi files. Now you can easily synchronize your office and home browsers."

CLEO is the Compact Library Extension Organizer which "is a Firefox extension that works with FEBE to package any number of extensions/themes into a single, installable .xpi file."

A biblioblogger visits the local branch library

I've been parodied. This'll teach me to just scan the headlines. It seems that fellow CO librarian (one gracious enough to write for my issue of Colorado Libraries which should be out any day now I told,) has written a hillarious blog post titled "A biblioblogger visits the local branch library". Most of my non-librarian readers won't understand much of it but here's the best part IMHO:

BIBLIOBLOGGER: OK, well, let me run my Portable Firefox from my USB drive on one of your public-access computers...

BRANCH LIBRARIAN: We don't allow patrons to use USB drives. The IT guys won't let us. MySpace and IM are blocked, too.

BIBLIOBLOGGER: Say no more. I understand. Just give me a Google Map to the IT guy's home and I'll get Sauers to rub him out. When are people going to realize that if they don't 'get it,' they are going to 'GET IT,' know what I mean? I'm sure you are on Flickr though?"

Kudos to Steve for this one.

New article

My article "Firefox Search Plugins: Sending the Library to the Patron" has been released in the April 2006 issue of MLA News, the newsletter of the Medical Library Association. (I'm sure it's been out for a while now but I just got my copies.)

New article available on WebJunction

Managing Firefox Search Plugins
Description: One of the great features of the Firefox browser is the ability to add search plugins that allow you to search using a particular search engine or site right from the search bar. Here are some tips and tools for managing them.

The article is in PDF format but not as visually appealing as I'd like. (Totally my fault.) A revised PDF should be posted tomorrow at the same URL.

Unresponsive Script?

I've been receiving the following error from Firefox more and more often over the past month:

As pictured, it usually happens when uploading photos to flickr, but it has happened with other sites. I'll be uploading, eventually this error comes up, I click on the "Stop Script" button, the error disappears, and everything continues as if nothing happened. Supposedly, this is a "helpful" message that results from pages that take "too long" to load.

After some poking around, I found the following solution on lifehacker.

1. Type about:config in Firefox'’s address bar.
2. Filter down to the value for dom.max_script_run_time.
3. Change the value to something higher than the default (which is 5.) I set mine to 20.
4. Bask in interruptionless browsing!

I'm on Topix!

I'm not sure how, and I'm also not sure why, but it my post of last night on the latest version of Portable Firefox made it to the Top Stories in the Blogoshpere page on Topix. Due to the constantly changing nature of the page, to the right is a screenshot of the page and below is a screenshot of the "full coverage" page on the topic.
Thanks Steven!

Portable Firefox Upgrade

Portable Firefox logo
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

With my previous post on the disabling of USB drives discussion currently happening on Web4Lib, (more of which I'll probably be blogging about by the end of the week,) I was happy to see the release of the latest version of Portable Firefox just one day after Firefox released its latest update.

For those of you upgrading from a previous version, be sure to read the instructions. Upgrading this time is a bit different from previous incarnations due to some directories being relocated "for easy backups".

Firefox 1.5.0.3

Firefox 1.5.0.3
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

For those of you without automatic updating turned on, Firefox 1.5.0.3 is now available.

The next article

Well, the eFlicks article ended up being written for Public Libraries magazine but I've been in contact with the folks at WebJunction and I will be sending them an article on managing your Firefox search plugins. (Every try to delete one of those puppies, or, better yet, try to alphabetize them. This article will show you how.) It should be written shortly and edited about a week after that. Since WJ is all online, figure that the article itself should be up by the end of the month. Of course, I'll link to it here once it's available.

Saving YouTube and Google Video files locally

Have you ever wanted to save your own copy of a video you've seen on YouTube, Google Video, or other online video sharing service. Well, the new Firefox extension VideoDownloader allows you to do just that. One installed a new icon appears in your status bar.

When you reach a page with one of those embedded videos just click on the icon and a new window will appear giving you links the all the videos on the page.

To save any of them, just right-click and use the save as function of your browser. As the window will remind you, to view the video you will need to change the file's extension post downloading and have the FLV Player installed.

At the time of this posting there were four videos on this page. Feel free to try it out here.

Are USB drives a security risk?

The following was posted to Web4Lib this afternoon:

Subject: Disable USB drives on public computers
"This article provides a way to do this, while still allowing the use of USB peripherals such as mouse, keyboard or scanner. This only disables the storage drivers. This could have uses in preventing users from copying data from the computer, or running un-approved software from a portable device."

The posting also included a link to the article which itself included downloadable software to make it even easier to disable a patron's ability to use a USB drive. You may correctly assume that I'm not posting the link because I strongly disapprove of librarians doing any such thing. If you insist this is a must for your library you'll need to go find the instructions and/or tool yourself as I'll have no part in it.

The reasons for not disabling USB drive access are:

1. If you're storing sensitive data on a computer that the public has access to, you've got bigger security issues to deal with than USB drives.
2. As a patron I want to be able to run my copy of Portable Firefox so I can use my browser, have access to my extensions, and use my bookmarks. Deny me that right and you'll have an irate patron on your hands. Such apps are doing nothing to your computer so there's no reason to keep me from doing it.
3. I want to save what I've found while on your computer since I don't have the money to pay for printouts. Better yet, I want to save that download which can't be printed nor will it fit on a floppy.
4. Most importantly, my data is stored on my USB drive and if you allow someone to use a floppy disk, why am I denied the ability to use my USB drive. Hey, my paper's due tomorrow and my home computer's busted.

There are arguments for denying the USB of USB drives. They are:

1. Someone could boot from the USB drive and completely wipe out the system and/or compromise network security.
2. Someone could install malicious software from their USB drive onto the library's computer.

Well there are solutions to both of these potential hazards that do not involve denying all of the legitimate uses of these devices. In the case of the first potential problem, set the computer's BIOS to only boot from the hard drive (as you should have already done to prevent people from booting from floppies,) and set a password on the BIOS to prevent anyone from changing those settings. (Again, something you should already have done. Potential problem number one solved.

As for potential problem number two; use something like Windows Dish Protection, Centurion Guard, or, my personal favorite, Deep Freeze. If someone installs something on your computer, just reboot and it's gone. Potential problem number two solved.

So, answer the question I posed in the title of this post, there's no security risk from USB drives that can't be solved in ways that won't also hurt the other 99% of your patrons.

Memory hog

WTF?
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Can anyone explain to me why Firefox is using nearly half-a-gig of RAM? (Luckily my home computer has a full gig or RAM.)

Firefox 1.0.5.2

Firefox 1.0.5.2
Originally uploaded by trave