Latest Firefox ESR
 

Heck!

Yesterday I changed both the location and tiles URL preferences in
about:config (redirecting them to a local webserver) and a bit later reset
them to their defaults, and now the boot-up connection attempt to tiles
seems to have gone (the one to location is still going strong though).

No idea what happened. Oh well ...

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

Latest Firefox ESR
 

"R.Wieser" wrote

| That Pale Moon did not have *any* such information was an instant turn-off
| for me.
|

I use PM as my main browser. I disable script,
frames, 3rd-party files, etc. When I need to have
more functionality I use FF with NoScript. It's
easier that way than to keep changing settings
for different websites. I think of them as basically
2 copies of the same browser.

Unfortunately, PM ended support for XP some
time ago. I don't remember whether they had
any specific reason.

Basically, PM is a fork of FF that skips a lot of
extras in order to make it more lean. As far as I know
they don't make any changes to the build. They just
leave out things like parental controls that many
people won't need. I've found it to be notably
quicker in the past, but I haven't bothered to
compare it to more recent FF versions.

By contrast, something like K-Meleon has
its own way of doing things. It's based on the Mozilla
code but they make their own package. For instance,
in PM and FF I can replace the "throbber" by putting
GIFs in the chrome folder and adding 2 lines to
userChrome.css. In K-Meleon it had to be an AVI
and I don't think it involved adding anything to
userChrome.css.

Unfortunately, being open source, all of these
things keep changing. PM ended XP support.
K-Meleon has been outdated for years now. It
was my main browser for awhile but they just
stopped working on it. Then suddenly it went
from v. 1 to v. 74. Then development slowed
again. Kids! :)

Along the way, the FF throbber stopped working
and I had to settle for their uniquely uninspiring
circle of dots. (Though I don't mind so much because
these days I rarely have a chance to even look at
the animation before the page is finished loading.)
My PM throbber is still a tiny animation of the Cape
Neddick lighthouse in Maine, searching the bay for
a webpage, with its powerful spotlight.

The Mozillians make hundreds of milions of dollars
per year now, mostly on bribes from Google to trick
people into using Google search. They've joined the
big boys. They need to look more "professional".
So they can't be having people doing homey things
like making their own throbber icons. The pros do
grown-up things, like raking in bucks and supporting
corporate spyware with new features like push and
geo-location.

Does PM still allow changing the throbber? Probably
not but I don't know since I'm using the last XP
version.

So I suppose it's somewhat academic to talk
about differences between Mozilla browsers, when
differences between versions of one Mozilla
browser can sometimes be greater and more
disruptive.

Latest Firefox ESR
 

"R.Wieser" wrote

| So in context, FF seems like a nice guy. :)
|
| True. I just wish I could find myself a less complex/conflicted friend
| though ... :-)
|

It seems odd, doesn't it? I wonder what happened
to all the open source people who worked according to
conscience to do good things. Maybe they've just
been trampled by money interests. Now we have extremists
like Richard Stallman and Linux activists on one side,
and sold-out, lip-service lackeys like Mozilla on the
other side, doing Google's bidding.... And of course,
even Google had a vein of idealism at one time... long
ago and far, far away.

I'm guessing the the majority of Mozillians have
probably drunk the kool-aid and honestly believe that
the future of the Web is, and should be, corporate
commerce.... and that they're just trying to keep up.
They figure you want geo-location because you're
undoubtedly walking past a Starbucks right now,
desperately hoping you'll get a coupon for discount
kiddie coffee on your phone. After all, that's what
they're doing. What else is there?

Latest Firefox ESR
 

On Mon, 13 Aug 2018 20:52:50 +0200, R.Wieser wrote:

Paul,

Posts to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general are archived on Google Groups.

Posts to alt.windows7.general are not archived.

Crossposting to both groups, should cause it to be archived on GG.
The "microsoft.public.windowsxp.general" helps ensure it's captured.

You don't get it, do you ? By chopping off
microsoft.public.windowsxp.general from it I would not see my own post
appear, and neither would I see any responses to it. It would be as if the
thread suddenly died.

But the posts then wouldn't go to a group that belongs in
alt.nostalgia.old-timers where all XP related traffic belongs.

Latest Firefox ESR
 

mechanic,

But the posts then wouldn't go to a group that belongs in
alt.nostalgia.old-timers where all XP related traffic belongs.

Troll ! Flamewar !! :-)

Latest Firefox ESR
 

"Mayayana" on Tue, 14 Aug 2018 08:32:33
-0400 typed in alt.windows7.general the following:
"R.Wieser" wrote

| So in context, FF seems like a nice guy. :)
|
| True. I just wish I could find myself a less complex/conflicted friend
| though ... :-)
|

It seems odd, doesn't it? I wonder what happened
to all the open source people who worked according to
conscience to do good things. Maybe they've just
been trampled by money interests. Now we have extremists
like Richard Stallman and Linux activists on one side,
and sold-out, lip-service lackeys like Mozilla on the
other side, doing Google's bidding.... And of course,
even Google had a vein of idealism at one time... long
ago and far, far away.

I'm guessing the the majority of Mozillians have
probably drunk the kool-aid and honestly believe that
the future of the Web is, and should be, corporate
commerce.... and that they're just trying to keep up.
They figure you want geo-location because you're
undoubtedly walking past a Starbucks right now,
desperately hoping you'll get a coupon for discount
kiddie coffee on your phone. After all, that's what
they're doing. What else is there?

And the result is that some of the idealists have left
mozilla/firefox. I use Palemoon, which claims to be a fork from
Firefox. Not being a serious computer guy anymore all I know is that
it seems to load faster, and doesn't change the layout I'm used to "to
improve my browser experience."




--
pyotr filipivich
Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing?

Latest Firefox ESR
 

R.Wieser wrote:
Mayayana,

I guess I think of it kind of like.... FF is a flakey but
well meaning friend who often shows up trying to
sell me some new junk.

:-) Not a too-bad description.

I do regard it as one of my less trustworthy friends though, ever since
they started to cozy up to advertising. If they would not have done
that I would probably not even have batted an eye in regard to its "lets
call home" behaviour. Simply said: I don't trust them anymore.

So in context, FF seems like a nice guy. :)

True. I just wish I could find myself a less complex/conflicted friend
though ... :-)

Heck, I would probably still running FF with a single-digit version number
if the changed encryption standards had not forced my hand ...

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

Same here. Like Mayayana, I've got Pale Moon as my second browser, and it
definitely is faster loading. And having both of them has come in handy at
times. :-) I would say PM is less invasive, but occasionally doesn't work
as well as the new FF on some sites.

Latest Firefox ESR
 

On Tue, 14 Aug 2018 18:27:22 -0400, Paul wrote:

Perhaps Google does archive the 1TB per day of illegal
movie uploads in various binary groups, but that would add
up after a while. (There is one dude, who does 1TB of uploads
per day all by himself!) To archive all of USENET, you need
a farm the size of the one that Giganews runs. Google
could do it. But, is it worth it ?

I don't think anyone
has any idea just how large a "full feed" of USENET would
amount to.

I used Easynews for about 15 years and every year they'd announce the
size of the average daily feed in their support newsgroup, so yes, there
are people who know what that size is, but no, I don't remember and it's
been quite a few years since I changed NSPs. It's undoubtedly even
higher now.

The abuse is large. The pipe has to be large.
To have retention (as a Giganews selling feature), you need disks.

All of the premium providers have that problem and all of them have
addressed it, growing their data storage capabilities to keep pace with
the constant growth. No one expires anything anymore so the only things
that routinely get lost are the DMCA takedowns.

One other thing about Easynews - they have a web interface where you can
participate with just a web browser. One of its features is a search
capability so I used to sometimes search by entering only a lower size
constraint, leaving the upper constraint blank. It always amazed me to
see people uploading 350-400 gigabytes in a single multipart archive,
with each part being a gig or so. That's beyond huge for an archive. I
checked a few pieces of those monsters here and there, only to find them
encrypted every time. I can't even guess what they might have contained.

We used to joke that people were using Usenet as their unofficial cloud
storage provider. There are no upload limits and you can retrieve your
data from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. No other
storage provider can beat that since it comes free with your Usenet
service.

--

Char Jackson

Latest Firefox ESR
 

On Tue, 14 Aug 2018 12:29:42 -0600, "Bill in Co"
wrote:


Same here. Like Mayayana, I've got Pale Moon as my second browser, and it
definitely is faster loading. And having both of them has come in handy at
times. :-) I would say PM is less invasive, but occasionally doesn't work
as well as the new FF on some sites.



You both might want to read
https://www.howtogeek.com/335712/upd...n-or-basilisk/

Latest Firefox ESR
 

Ken,

You both might want to read
https://www.howtogeek.com/335712/upd...n-or-basilisk/

And if they do they will probably notice that its an "FF good, all others
are bad" fanboy-ish article, and should be taken with a grain (or two) of
salt.

And I don't think you noticed, but some version regression could well be a
*good* thing (as long as the encryptions are upgraded that is), as a few of
us here do not really like the current advertisement-friendly, intrusive and
nannying behaviour of FF (as well as feature-creep), which maybe isn't (yet)
there in those older versions ...

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

Latest Firefox ESR
 

On Wed, 15 Aug 2018 19:22:49 +0200, "R.Wieser"
wrote:

Ken,

You both might want to read
https://www.howtogeek.com/335712/upd...n-or-basilisk/

And if they do they will probably notice that its an "FF good, all others
are bad" fanboy-ish article, and should be taken with a grain (or two) of
salt.


That's fine. I didn't suggest that they, or you, shouldn't use it. I
suggested that they read the article. What all off you do is up to
you.

Latest Firefox ESR
 

Ken,

I suggested that they read the article.

To be honest, I wonder why you want(ed) that. I take it you read it
yourself, and must have recognised it for the FUD it is ...

Regards,
Rudy Wieser