Firefox is a browser.
I hear people are raving about the latest version, Firefox 3.
Spam, Worms, and Viruses
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Minimalist
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Forum Monk
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Firefox 3? I just downloaded the latest-greatest about 3 weeks ago directly from the Mozilla site and its version 2.
Firefox is a browser which more closely conforms to international browser standards so many web pages will appear to work better but in my opinion, this is hardly noticible for the sites I visit. Firefox is open source. This means others can get the source code, see how it works and improve it. Mainly this is done through the myriad of add-ons which are available. Its like the concept of the original PC-XT, when everyone was writing cool software for it before Microsoft kicked everyone out of their world or bought them out.
I currently use only two add-ons: Ad Blocker Plus and Script Blocker. The first virtually eliminates all advertising on a web page - result - they are less cluttered and download an order of magnitude faster. Script Blocker allows me to control which active content (scripts) get run. For example, you may browse a site which hosts videos. To view the videos you need to activate scripts for the site, but what you may discover is, many other things on the page are also waiting to run their scripts which you can leave blocked. An example are the visit counters (such as google analytics) which collect information about you; number of visits to the site, your location, your IP address, your browser details, etc. Now you can watch the video and block those that want to watch you. With IE it is all or nothing, block all scripts or block none. With firefox and the right add-ons you can tailor your browsing to suit what you do.
When I first downloaded Firefox, I said, blah, who cares. Now I am really starting to love it. Now maybe for some, basic browsing is good enough. Fine, but Firefox is less prone to malware, which is a good thing.
Firefox is a browser which more closely conforms to international browser standards so many web pages will appear to work better but in my opinion, this is hardly noticible for the sites I visit. Firefox is open source. This means others can get the source code, see how it works and improve it. Mainly this is done through the myriad of add-ons which are available. Its like the concept of the original PC-XT, when everyone was writing cool software for it before Microsoft kicked everyone out of their world or bought them out.
I currently use only two add-ons: Ad Blocker Plus and Script Blocker. The first virtually eliminates all advertising on a web page - result - they are less cluttered and download an order of magnitude faster. Script Blocker allows me to control which active content (scripts) get run. For example, you may browse a site which hosts videos. To view the videos you need to activate scripts for the site, but what you may discover is, many other things on the page are also waiting to run their scripts which you can leave blocked. An example are the visit counters (such as google analytics) which collect information about you; number of visits to the site, your location, your IP address, your browser details, etc. Now you can watch the video and block those that want to watch you. With IE it is all or nothing, block all scripts or block none. With firefox and the right add-ons you can tailor your browsing to suit what you do.
When I first downloaded Firefox, I said, blah, who cares. Now I am really starting to love it. Now maybe for some, basic browsing is good enough. Fine, but Firefox is less prone to malware, which is a good thing.
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Minimalist
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I only know what I read, man.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/200806 ... N3O01.html
http://apnews.excite.com/article/200806 ... N3O01.html
Firefox 3 browser downloads strong in first day
Jun 18, 4:33 PM (ET)
NEW YORK (AP) - The new version of the Firefox Web browser was downloaded more than 8 million times in the first 24 hours it was available, the software's developers said Wednesday.
At its peak, Firefox's Web site was serving 17,000 copies a minute. Downloads came from some 200 countries, led by the United States, Germany, Japan, Spain and Britain.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
-- George Carlin
-- George Carlin
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Forum Monk
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http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=23974
Looks like I was late to the party (for FF version 2) and too early for version 3 which was just released on the 17th of June. Think I'll wait for the hysteria to die down and make sure its stable before upgrading.
Looks like I was late to the party (for FF version 2) and too early for version 3 which was just released on the 17th of June. Think I'll wait for the hysteria to die down and make sure its stable before upgrading.
Monk, can you recommend a good anti-virus, anti-spy ware and anti-trojan package?
I've tried both Norton and McAfee and don't like either for different reasons:
McAfee is such a slow loader, and when I was using Norton, my machine got taken over remotely by some hacker and used for one of those cyber attacks against big companies (usually Microsoft). There was nothing I could do about it.
I've tried both Norton and McAfee and don't like either for different reasons:
McAfee is such a slow loader, and when I was using Norton, my machine got taken over remotely by some hacker and used for one of those cyber attacks against big companies (usually Microsoft). There was nothing I could do about it.
Ishtar of Ishtar's Gate and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Stay off the xxx sites 
Seriously tho - if someone is good enough and they want to hack a computer - you can't really stop them. But like Monk said - keeping the os and antivirus programs up-to-date definitely helps. AND backups. Using Firefox and firefly also help along with spybot, ad-aware, and a couple others.
You could always go with Linux, but unless you want to spend a lot of time relearning some stuff on the computer, stay with windows. Linux is definitely not for the feint of heart
Seriously tho - if someone is good enough and they want to hack a computer - you can't really stop them. But like Monk said - keeping the os and antivirus programs up-to-date definitely helps. AND backups. Using Firefox and firefly also help along with spybot, ad-aware, and a couple others.
You could always go with Linux, but unless you want to spend a lot of time relearning some stuff on the computer, stay with windows. Linux is definitely not for the feint of heart
i'm not lookin' for who or what made the earth - just who got me dizzy by makin it spin
I'm too old to relearn stuff, Rich!
So maybe I'd better go with Firefox. But can I get RSS feeds on Firefox? And is it as easy to use as IE? What are the pros and cons?
So maybe I'd better go with Firefox. But can I get RSS feeds on Firefox? And is it as easy to use as IE? What are the pros and cons?
Ishtar of Ishtar's Gate and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Haven't used it in a while - but you can do just about anything with it (with the add-ons) that you can normally. Just have to learn how to use it a bit. Not too difficult. But still - the best way is just to keep you're operating sustem updated and you're antivirus and spyware stuff updated - frequently. AND keep backups.
i'm not lookin' for who or what made the earth - just who got me dizzy by makin it spin
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Forum Monk
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I use Superantispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/ (the free edition) for adware, spyware removal. It is equal to Adaware in detection, works a little faster and is less bloated than Adaware, which in my opinion is becoming very commercialized and counter-intuitive in recent editions.
My virus protection is provided by Computer Associates as a service of my ISP/Yahoo account. It is low profile, and basically invisible until you need it. All-in-all there are probably better products. But I agree Norton AV is a performance drain and I don't like it.
Just for cross-checking from time to time I still run Spybot and Adaware and occasionally one will find something the others will not. I will also do online scans with Bitdefender here: http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html - this product seems pretty powerful. (EDIT: DOES NOT WORK WITH FIREFOX)
For some really good recommendations, I suggest going to a site like bleepingcomputer ( http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum25.html ) and browse the discussion forums. You will lots of tips and recommendations as they help people sort out their malware problems.
My virus protection is provided by Computer Associates as a service of my ISP/Yahoo account. It is low profile, and basically invisible until you need it. All-in-all there are probably better products. But I agree Norton AV is a performance drain and I don't like it.
Just for cross-checking from time to time I still run Spybot and Adaware and occasionally one will find something the others will not. I will also do online scans with Bitdefender here: http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html - this product seems pretty powerful. (EDIT: DOES NOT WORK WITH FIREFOX)
For some really good recommendations, I suggest going to a site like bleepingcomputer ( http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum25.html ) and browse the discussion forums. You will lots of tips and recommendations as they help people sort out their malware problems.
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MichelleH
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ESET Nod32 ( http://www.eset.com/products/nod32.php ) is a great virus protection package. It runs about $35.00 a year, has a very small footprint and updates automatically throughout the day. No scheduling required. Ranked very high in testing. I dumped Norton's and McAfee five years ago for ESET, not a single problem or slow down.My virus protection is provided by Computer Associates as a service of my ISP/Yahoo account. It is low profile, and basically invisible until you need it. All-in-all there are probably better products. But I agree Norton AV is a performance drain and I don't like it.
Superantispyware is good. I run that in conjunction with Spybot.[/url]
We've Got Fossils - We win ~ Lewis Black
Red meat, cheese, tobacco, and liquor...it works for me ~ Anthony Bourdain
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
Red meat, cheese, tobacco, and liquor...it works for me ~ Anthony Bourdain
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
Thank you all.
I'm due to update and I didn'twant to go for McaFee again, so I think it'll be ESET Nod 32 and superantispyware, and run an occassional check with Spybot, which I find to be very good.
I did a Spybot scan yesterday morning and it came up with loads. Then I ran it again last night after my Shep the Dog scare, and it had four more tracking cookies.
I'm due to update and I didn'twant to go for McaFee again, so I think it'll be ESET Nod 32 and superantispyware, and run an occassional check with Spybot, which I find to be very good.
I did a Spybot scan yesterday morning and it came up with loads. Then I ran it again last night after my Shep the Dog scare, and it had four more tracking cookies.
Ishtar of Ishtar's Gate and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Yes... MacAfee sat around on my computer like an overfed labrador stinking the place up, wagging its tail, barking from time to time but otherwise ignoring any metaphorical cybercat that strayed into my vegetable patch (note to self: may be stretching this metaphor too far) and Norton doesn't seem much better - very good at keeping itself updated with huge computer freezing security stuff, but that's it.
Anyway, I'm back having done the whole system recovery thing and I note with interest that I now have a reasonable 60 (average) processes going on after start up, as opposed to [swearing] fucking [/swearing] 80... which is nice.
Ad-Aware I like. It seems to actually do something. Spybot also, though I'm having trouble getting it back as Norton is helpfully treating it as an intruder (fucking jealous more like) irrespective of what I turn off.
I am becoming convinced that computers are largely designed by and aimed at people with the same mentality as the owner of the beautiful classic car who spends all his time doing up the motor and taking the engine apart, waxing, polishing etc, yet never actually drives the thing (though I can understand that a bit more). Probably there's people out there who spend all day lovingly filling their computer with the latest pointless updates, or talking about said updates to internet pals (as admittedly I'm doing right now, it could be argued) and that's it.
Anyway, I'm back having done the whole system recovery thing and I note with interest that I now have a reasonable 60 (average) processes going on after start up, as opposed to [swearing] fucking [/swearing] 80... which is nice.
Ad-Aware I like. It seems to actually do something. Spybot also, though I'm having trouble getting it back as Norton is helpfully treating it as an intruder (fucking jealous more like) irrespective of what I turn off.
I am becoming convinced that computers are largely designed by and aimed at people with the same mentality as the owner of the beautiful classic car who spends all his time doing up the motor and taking the engine apart, waxing, polishing etc, yet never actually drives the thing (though I can understand that a bit more). Probably there's people out there who spend all day lovingly filling their computer with the latest pointless updates, or talking about said updates to internet pals (as admittedly I'm doing right now, it could be argued) and that's it.
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Forum Monk
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Well W/A your recovery seems rather quick and painless unlike the prior prognosis you made a few days ago. McAfee was the dog that was supposed to be watching my work computer and twice I got nailed by one of the worse kinds of viruses out there besides rootkits. Each time McAfee seemed to spring into action about a second too late and that's all it takes for that weasel to burrow in to the kernel.
The virus was so clever, when I found it on the disk (a single cleverly hidden program) it literally disappeared practically right before my eyes and Windows Explorer could no longer "see" it in a directory listing. That's pretty remarkable. I downloaded a particular tool for killing this guy on my home computer, and copied it to my work computer as I was unable to access any site with had the word virus on the opening page. Anyway, its toast, and I, though frazzled, am no worse for the wear.
By the way, W/A., 60 processes still sounds like a lot. I typically run with fewer even when I have multiple browser windows open. (just for the technically minded - the Task Manager will list the running processes, but it does not show everything. The SvcHost processes usually consist of multiple sub-processes and this is the place certain types of virus execute.
The virus was so clever, when I found it on the disk (a single cleverly hidden program) it literally disappeared practically right before my eyes and Windows Explorer could no longer "see" it in a directory listing. That's pretty remarkable. I downloaded a particular tool for killing this guy on my home computer, and copied it to my work computer as I was unable to access any site with had the word virus on the opening page. Anyway, its toast, and I, though frazzled, am no worse for the wear.
By the way, W/A., 60 processes still sounds like a lot. I typically run with fewer even when I have multiple browser windows open. (just for the technically minded - the Task Manager will list the running processes, but it does not show everything. The SvcHost processes usually consist of multiple sub-processes and this is the place certain types of virus execute.
That's 60 for the first few minutes of start up. Ordinarily I'm down to something between 47 and 53 by the time I get around to doing anything (ideally no more than five minutes later), I'm kind of assuming this is normal (for me) because the figures are similar to those that applied to my previous extra-slow gas powered computer.Forum Monk wrote:By the way, W/A., 60 processes still sounds like a lot. I typically run with fewer even when I have multiple browser windows open. (just for the technically minded - the Task Manager will list the running processes, but it does not show everything. The SvcHost processes usually consist of multiple sub-processes and this is the place certain types of virus execute.