2005-08-12

Browser configuration

Posted in Geek Stuff at 7:22

Well, it’s been a while since I tried to share my browser setup and it has changed a fair bit. (For example, I installed InfoLister which allows me to quickly generate a list of installed
firefox extensions.) So, here is my current setup. I’ll probably be adding an ad-blocking related extension within the next few days since the browser is now quick enough for each image to make a noticeable difference in page load times.

And, since I made so many changes without need for extensions, here
are my user.js, userChrome.css, and userContent.css files:

// --- user.js ---
// Reveal more tab/window options: (No more need for "Tabbrowser Extensions" Bloat)
user_pref("browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs", true);

// Put an end to blinking text!
user_pref("browser.blink_allowed", false);

// Make sure all windows are resizable, minimizable, and have menus, scrollbars, and navbars:
user_pref("dom.disable_window_open_feature.resizable", true);
user_pref("dom.disable_window_open_feature.minimizable", true);
user_pref("dom.disable_window_open_feature.menubar", true);
user_pref("dom.disable_window_open_feature.location", true);
user_pref("dom.disable_window_open_feature.scrollbars", true);

// Force frames to be resizable:
user_pref("layout.frames.force_resizability", true);

// Change non-URL entry in the address bar to a hybrid of Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky" and normal Google search:
// If there's a clear-cut match, go to it. Otherwise, show search results.
user_pref("keyword.URL", "http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=");

// Don't wait 250ms before rendering page.
user_pref("nglayout.initialpaint.delay", 0);

// Enable Pipelining
user_pref("network.http.pipelining", true);
user_pref("network.http.proxy.pipelining", true);
user_pref("network.http.pipelining.maxrequests", 8 );

//Explicit Javascript Blacklisting (For cases where Javascript is definitely not necessary and is just annoying)
user_pref("capability.policy.policynames", "nojs");
user_pref("capability.policy.nojs.sites", "geocities.com");
user_pref("capability.policy.nojs.javascript.enabled", "noAccess");

//(Disabled) Javascript Whitelisting (For if you don't want to muck around with the NoScript! extension)
//user_pref("capability.policy.policynames", "jsok");
//user_pref("capability.policy.default.javascript.enabled", "noAccess");
//user_pref("capability.policy.jsok.sites", "http://www.example.com http://www.example.net");
//user_pref("capability.policy.jsok.javascript.enabled", "allAccess");

// Make middle-clicking tabs close them. (A fix for a change in the defaults)
user_pref("middlemouse.contentLoadURL", false);

// Turn off image animation (Valid choices are "none", "once", and "normal")
user_pref("image.animation_mode", "none");

// Partially-untested changes which apparently do something I want.
user_pref("plugin.expose_full_path", true);
user_pref("ui.submenuDelay", 0);

// Show pictures as they load (Gives the illusion of quicker loading)
user_pref("browser.display.show_image_placeholders", false);
// Use error pages instead of error dialogs. (Much better for tabbed browsing)
user_pref("browser.xul.error_pages.enabled", true);

//The Following is a "Fast Computer, Fast Connection" enhancement profile.
// See http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:http%3A//www.tweakfactor.com/articles/tweaks/firefoxtweak/4.html
user_pref("content.notify.backoffcount", 5);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections", 48);
user_pref("network.http.max-connections-per-server", 16);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy", 16);
user_pref("network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server", 8 );

// Feel free to use 65535 (64MB) if you are willing to let your browser's cache grow that big and use the back button a lot.
user_pref("browser.cache.memory.capacity", 32768);

// Only set this if you can guarantee nobody else can read your cache files
user_pref("browser.cache.disk_cache_ssl", true);

@namespace url("http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul");
/* --- userChrome.css --- */

 /* Hide the Go menu */
menu[label="Go"] {
   display: none !important;
}

/* Italicize the title of unread tabs */
#content tab:not([selected]) {
  font-style: italic !important;
}

@import url(chrome://flashblock/content/flashblock.css);
/* --- userContent.css --- */
/*
 * This file can be used to apply a style to all web pages you view
 * Rules without !important are overruled by author rules if the
 * author sets any.  Rules with !important overrule author rules.
 *
 * For more examples see http://www.mozilla.org/unix/customizing.html
 */

// Stop useless, annoying "blink" elements.
blink   { text-decoration: none ! important; }

/* Change cursor for links that open in new window */
:link[target="_blank"], :visited[target="_blank"],
:link[target="_new"],   :visited[target="_new"] {
   cursor:  crosshair;
}

/* Change cursor for JavaScript links */
a[href^="javascript:"] { cursor: move; }

/* Stop those marquee tags! */
marquee {
   -moz-binding                  : none !important;
   display                       : block;
   height                        : auto !important;
}

/* Add a skull and crossbones after links marked rel=nofollow */
a[rel="nofollow"]:after {
   content: "

I also have over a dozen Greasemonkey scripts to make site-specific improvements to my browsing experience, but I don’t know of an easy way to get an HTML-fomatted list of them. As you may have noticed from the user agent string, my browser version is 1.0+. That is the
evidence that I’m using Deer Park alpha 2 as detailed in my previous post.

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2005-08-10

Mozilla Deer Park Alpha 2

Posted in Geek Stuff, Web Wandering & Opinion at 4:26

Mozilla Deer Park Alpha 2

If you run Mozilla Firefox on Linux, you’ve probably noticed, among other things, that:
* Its Open/Save dialogs are custom-designed so you can’t use your GTK+ 2.x bookmarks. (Firefox always requires GTK+ 2.x so please don’t remind me about KDE’s folder bookmarks.)
* It takes noticeably longer to render a page on Linux than it does on Windows.

Deer Park is the codename for the upcoming Firefox 1.1 release and both of those problems are fixed. I can vouch for this because I am posting this entry using Deer Park alpha 2.

It also has a few platform-independant improvements. The following are rather subjective since they’re based on my experiences and you may multitask more than I do (or have a slower system), but they should still be indicative of the improvements.
* If the Back and Forward buttons were any more responsive, they would be instant. (At least, as the human mind perceives it.)
* Loading a page is usually about as quick as clicking Back was on Firefox 1.0
* There’s a noticeable drop in text window latency (the delay between pressing a key and seeing the result)
* You can “Sanitize Deer Park” (Clear your tracks) with CTRL+SHIFT+DEL and you can also set it to do so automatically when you quit.
* My bookmarks still take a second or more to appear, but that’s because I have 500KB of bookmarks and no folders. (I’m in the process of moving them to del.icio.us where I can sort them using keyword intersection rather than hierarchical folders)
* There is no longer a comfortable user interface for picking exactly what you consider to be “Javascript Annoyances” (Unless you use about:config, it’s all or none.)

All in all, I consider it to be a great leap forward for usability (especially on Linux) and I do understand how the average user might feel intimidated by the old method of specifying what is a “Javascript annoyance”, but I wish they would provide some kind of advanced mode that is a middleground between novice and about:config.

I haven’t tested it enough to really give a verdict on it’s stability, but it hasn’t crashed yet. It has been my experience that when the Mozilla foundation says alpha, what they really mean is “Won’t crash any more than Internet Explorer would but may crash just as much”. If you are an ordinary user, I suggest waiting for the final Firefox 1.1 release. If you are geeky enough to know how to back up your Firefox settings (~/.mozilla on Linux) then I suggest you give it a try.

I recommend installing SessionSaver and Bookmark Backup no matter what version of Firefox you’re running. An ounce of prevention saves a pound of pain. (or something like that)

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