If you are using Firefox as a browser and you ever come across the notice above – it’s both a good and bad sign.

The bad news is the site was compromised by viral activity.  The web host is cleaning it up, as several sites under their care were infected, but it also means the site is unavailable for a time. Not so bueno.

The good news is Firefox knows and throws up the warning, thereby quarantining the site  (visit at your own risk). If you are using Firefox make sure you have this setting turned on.  Go to Tools/Options/Security  and put a check mark by “Block reported attack sites”

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Tab browsing is so efficient!   In Firefox you can set your browser to open to more than just one home page.  So upon launching, you can have your most frequented or favorite sites opened in tabs ready for viewing.

Here is how:  open a new Firefox window, open in new tabs all the sites you’d like to set as your “home pages,”  once the tabs are all opened click on tools/options/,  in the Main menu under the home page address bar select the button “use current pages”, select OK to finish.

Using multiple pages for home pages not only automatically loads your favorites, but also frees up space for other favorites in your Bookmark Toolbar.   Such economy!

I love Firefox, but there are always minor issues with any piece of software that should to be addressed to make them run even better.  Here’s one that has bothered me for quite some time.  If Firefox has been running for a while and I have a bunch of tabs open Flash performance, especially video, tends to suffer.  It turns out there’s a simple fix.

If you’re watching video on Firefox and it seems to skip or stutter every ten seconds or so it’s because Firefox is taking a snapshot of all your open tabs in case your browser crashes.  You can either disable the session restore feature (not really recommended) or you can just change the interval from every ten seconds to something a little more reasonable.

To do so simply type about:config in your address bar, then type browser.sessionstore.interval in the filter box.  It’s default value is 10000 (10 seconds in milliseconds) so just change this to something like  60000 for 1 minute intervals 120000 for 2 minute, etc.  You don’t even have to restart Firefox for this to take effect.

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In my last post, I briefly explained why Firefox is such a popular Internet browser.  One of the reasons is it is highly customizable.  With installable enhancements called Add-ons or Extensions, one can do everything from changing the color and look  of the browser window (which is called “Skinning”), to customizing tool use, to enhancing privacy and security.  Really, there are so many Add-ons with cool functions (and many that are superfluous), that I thought I’d list a few here for starters that are truly great pieces of functionality.

AdBlock Plus

We use this religiously at NYC Tech Guys and we always install it on our client’s browsers.  It prevents ads and banners from automatically loading on websites.  This often speeds navigation along and somewhat minimizes the distraction advertisements can create while you’re surfing.  It is easy to disable, too, on specific pages where you actually want to see a pop-up, video, or banner.  The ABP logo usually appears on the upper right corner of your browser and with a click or two you can ask it to disable on the page you’re on.  Easy. Useful. That’s what we like!

Surf Canyon

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Choice is the operative word here.  If you’re like me, you use a browser and equate it so wholeheartedly with the Internet that you forget it is actually an application for accessing the Internet, not the Internet itself.  I’m here to expand our horizons a bit even if to simply suggest that moving beyond IE (Internet Explorer) might be worth it just for kicks.

There is already a ton of comparisons and technical reviews of free browsers online, just google “review browsers” for that kind of detail.  I’m going to list the top three and the quick notes as to why they are worth using as an alternative to the one you use habitually.

Firefox

Firefox seems to be the number one rated browser out there.  It happens to be the one we use mostly at NYC Tech Guys.   It is fast, runs on both PCs and Macs, and is known as one of the safest browsers in terms of preventing viral-type vulnerabilities.   We are also fond of  adding a handy extension called Adblock Plus which disables annoying advertisements on websites.  (More about add-ons coming soon.)

Google Chrome

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