Dear Mom and Dad and the D.A.R.E. people,

I listened. I’m not addicted to drugs, instead I’m addicted to the internet.

I’m not wasting all my money on meth and crack and things like that. Though I do spend money on hosting, Flickr Pro, online backup and Amazon. Not to mention all the apps and music I get from iTunes. But that’s not the point, I’m being good.

I don’t go around, stealing things just to get a fix. Wait, that’s not exactly true. I have been known to “borrow” the internet from the library across the street when mine goes out just to send an email. And I do know where to find free internet if I need it. Again, not the point.

I’m not doing drugs. 30 years from now no one will be saying how I wasted my life and money on something so stupid. Granted I do spend a lot of time reading RSS feeds, checking email and status updates. Come to think of it, I should be doing something else right now but I don’t remember what.

The internet is totally better than drugs. I mean I can quit anytime; I just don’t want to.

Anyway… I just wanted to tell you that you raised me right. I’m not addicted to drugs. Now I gotta run. Facebook needs updating and I need to go tweet this as well.

Love
Thomas

My parents should be so proud of me because I’m addicted to the internet, not drugs. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Firefox 6 Beta Update

If you’re tired of seeing these, you can easily disable them.

First, in Firefox’s URL bar type about:config. If you get a safety warning, hit I’ll be Careful.

Next, in the filter bar type app.update.channel.

In the value column, change beta to release.

Now you’ll only be notified when there is a stable release of Firefox available.

If you want betas, and don’t currently get them, then change release to beta. Or you can change it to nightly for every minor update that Firefox makes. I’d consider these alpha builds.

How to disable Firefox beta update notices. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

I tested four browsers with the SunSpider tests and it turns out that Firefox 5 was faster than Chrome, Safari and Opera. This was quite surprising to me as it beat out Chrome but quite a bit. It’s also interesting how far behind Safari is.

Opera 10.5 – 534.0ms +/- 1.4%
Chrome 12 – 524.6ms +/- 4.6%
Safari 5.0.5 – 566.9ms +/- 4.2%
Firefox 5 – 448.8ms +/- 0.9%

Now the tests aren’t scientific by any means, but they do represent my computer on a normal day. I’d suggest you run them for yourself and see what you come out with.

It’s also good to note that Firefox 5 had no extensions running, Chrome had 7, Safari had 2 + Glims and Opera had none. This could change the output but really shouldn’t have an effect.

I also got slightly different numbers when the tests were run a second time. But each time Firefox 5 came out in the lead.

The fastest browser on my Mac is Firefox 5. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

I received emails from Mozilla today that stated GA? – Is Google Analytics Installed and yExplore are compatible with Firefox 6.

Man these releases are moving fast. The good news is that my extensions don’t require any updating to work in the new releases; well not yet anyway.

I just sit back and let Mozilla do all the testing and updating and tell me that my extensions are OK. I think I can handle that.

GA? and yExplore are now Firefox 6 compatible. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

I received emails from Mozilla yesterday that stated GA? – Is Google Analytics Installed and yExplore are compatible with Firefox 5. So I’ve updated the version numbers in the extensions and they are ready to go.

As a bonus, GA? also works in Firefox 4 now too.

Enjoy!

GA? and yExplore are now Firefox 5 ready. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

It seems that I can’t find a browser that is perfect. I try them all, I love parts of them all, and there are always things I don’t like.

With Chrome, its startup speed is annoying me. It takes a while to do something on startup and I’m not sure what that is. I think it’s loading the start page images, but whatever it is, its been taking to long. It seems you can’t go anywhere until it’s got that thing done so I’m stuck wanting to go somewhere, but can’t.

So I switched to Safari.

Safari starts right up, lightning fast. Love this! The Top Sites tab didn’t slow me down either like it did back in the day.

However, Safari’s odd undo close tab keyboard shortcut is annoying. Plus the fact that it spawns new windows instead of tabs. I ended up with so many windows that I couldn’t find anything. And no search from the address bar?! What the…. Extensions are all but forgotten on Safari too. They never caught on sadly.

Safari could be great, but it’s not there yet.

Then there is Firefox 4. I’m a fan of the browser, but it still feels heavy. I don’t know why, but I can’t just love it.

I do love the awesome bar, themes, and it works well, but there is some disconnection that I just can’t put my finger on.

So now I’m back to Chrome. I set it to load a blank page at startup and that seems to have helped out most of my startup issues. I’m also trying to be more patient.

I’m hoping that Safari 6 comes sooner than later and brings with it a lot of wanted updates. I know Apple likes to keep it simple, but it’s hard sometimes when other browsers have so much more.

All three browsers are great browsers, don’t get me wrong. But none of them to have that perfect match of features, speed and reliability for me.

What do you use as your default?

From Chrome to Safari to Firefox and back again. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

It’s been a fun journey over the past 5 years creating Firefox themes. I created nearly a dozen themes, stating with iPox, and I’ve got over 5 million downloads! However, I just can’t keep up.

With Firefox 4 just around the corner, my themes would probably need to be revamped from the ground up and I just don’t have the time. Heck, some of theme aren’t even updated for Firefox 3.6!

It’s a hard decision to make though as I loved creating them. I loved making the fans happy and I wish I could keep up with them.

I’ve got other things going on that are a better use of my time so I’m saying goodbye to Firefox themes.

So what’s going to happen to the themes? Good question!

At this point and time they’ll remain as they are. No updates, no development.

If you’re a Firefox themer, I’d be open to discussing letting you take them over and continuing their creation. The only thing I ask is that you keep the integrity of the themes intact.

I gave iAqua away years ago and it found a nice home. I was happy to see it continue to live on with a new developer.

extero also went to the same developer, however it turned into a completely different theme and extero as I knew it disappeared.

It’s hard for me to give my themes to a new developer as I worry that they’ll turn them into something that I don’t like. Then again, I have to get over that as it’s their theme now and it’s better to live on then fade away into nothingness.

If you’re waiting for me to update one of my themes, it’s sad to say, but it’ll probably never happen. Then again, I may pull a Brett Favre. You never know, but I doubt it.

It’s been a great journey and everyone who downloaded my themes rock! It was a lot of fun and I’ll miss it.

Thank You!

I’m retiring from Firefox theming. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Just a quick note to say that the Is Google Analytics Installed? Firefox extension recently has been updated to work with Google’s new asynchronous tracking code.

It should now work for all versions of Google’s code.

And, if Google doesn’t drastically change the analytics tracking in the future, it should continue to work well for future updates.

(fingers crossed)

Google Analytics Extension Upgraded originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Click To Enlarge

yExplore for Google Chrome is now available!

It adds quick access to search engine, and social media, information about the page, or domain, you are viewing.

yExplore is helpful for finding out information on your own site or doing competitive research on someone else’s.

yExplore includes shortcuts to:

• Google
  • Backlinks
  • InIndex
  • Cache
• Yahoo
  • Backlinks
  • InIndex
• Bing
  • InIndex
• Delicious Saves
• StumbleUpon Stumbles
• Compete Information
• BackType Social Information
• PostRank Social Information
• Archive.org Flashbacks
• Robots.txt Quick Access
• Text Only View
• Whois Info

If you liked it on Firefox, you’ll love it on Chrome.

Also, the Firefox version of yExplore has been updated with new services too.

Download yExplore for Google Chrome

Please report any issues, or services you’d like added, in the comments below.

yExplore Comes To Google Chrome originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Google Chrome however has a good work around as you can use private browsing to login to multiple accounts without ever having to log out of your current account.

Basically, when you start a new incognito (private) window in Google Chrome, you get a fresh start. You’re not logged into anything which is very handy. You can then log into a different Google, Twitter, Facebook or whatever account you want to.

This also works in Opera the same as it does in Chrome. Firefox can do it too, however it hides your main window until you are done with your private session which isn’t as nice. Safari on the other hand is unable to do this as it continues to use all your cookies from non-private session.

If you are on a Mac, Stainless allows for multiple single session tabs and does it much nicer than the other browsers. However, the Stainless browser is still in development and a little rough around the edges.

Single session windows are a very handy feature and can be quite a time saver as compared to logging out and into multiple accounts.

What are you waiting for? Give it a try.

Use Google Chrome’s Private Browsing To Login To Multiple Accounts originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

iPox v3 has landed with some re-designed elements, bug fixes, and iPox Aqua mixed in.

So what’s new?

1. The scrollbars have been re-designed utilizing CSS. They are now a light grey with a nice mouse over effect.
2. The throbber has been reverted back to the Mac throbber.
3. The URL bar has been re-designed to *hopefully* work better with URL extensions. It’s now all CSS and even highlights when active.
4. Added a full screen button.
5. Also includes many fixes under the hood to incorporate a bunch of smaller, missing elements. Probably didn’t catch them all, but it’s better.

As a bonus, iPox Aqua was rolled into iPox. No longer will there be two separate themes. If you want to change the navigation buttons to blue, you’ll need Stylish and a few lines of code. Full details on the iPox page.

If you already have iPox installed in your Firefox, it should auto-update. If you’d like to download it, you can via the Mozilla Add-on site.

Hope you like the updates!

iPox Version 3 originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Their reasoning?

1. It’s cross platform. – But so is Safari, Firefox and Opera.
2. Web Inspector – Which Safari also has.
3. Extensions – Which Firefox has many more of, and better ones too.

It’s a nice article, but nothing too convincing unless you’ve never checked out the same features in Firefox and Safari.

I’m sticking with Firefox as my Firebug extension is indispensable and Firebug light just doesn’t cut it.

I think Chrome is nice, but it’s still  under development big time on the Mac and I think they are still working out a lot of bugs on all platforms.

Should Web Developers Switch To Google Chrome? originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Why?

• Firefox is pushing personas. They are now standard in Firefox 3.6.
• Themes are complex with lots of pieces to edit and are not easy for users to create.
• Getting them to work cross platform is tricky. Testing cross platform is even harder.
• Themes have to be tweaked often to work with Firefox updates. On major releases, possibly completely re-created.
• One wrong file, or line of code, and you can cause major Firefox display issues.
• It takes extra work to theme extensions; and there are way to many to keep up with.
• Users have to know how to install a theme and how to un-install, or deactivate, a theme.
• They can cause usability issues as one persons idea of beauty is a train wreck to the next.

So what’s next? Personas.

Personas are more like skins than themes. They are easy to create, easy to install, and Firefox 3.6 is ready to use them with no additional addons.

Yes, the customization is limited, but with limited customization, there is less likelihood of creating usability issues with Firefox or conflicts with extensions.

Overall, it takes very little knowledge to create and use personas which is why they may just become the standard way of theming Firefox in the future.

I’m hoping that either themes don’t die completely or that personas start to allow additional items to be customized, but either way, I think we’ll start seeing fewer and fewer full blown themes come out and the Personas community continue to grow.

Are Firefox Themes Dying? originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

The problem themes have been pulled from Mozilla’s site and new versions have been added. The new versions have been tested on Mac and Windows XP in Firefox 3.5.x and 3.6.

—-

A few days ago I pushed out updates to MidnightFox and MidnightFoxy that would work with Firefox 3.6 and they failed on Windows. I’ve since marked the themes as Mac only on the Mozilla site as they have no issues on a Mac.

I’m going  to research the issue as it seems that iPox is not having the same problems but it’ll take me time.

If you are now stuck in Firefox because of MidnightFox or MidnightFoxy screwing up your install, here is how you fix.

1. Quit Firefox. You may need to do a Control+Alt+Delete to end the program.
2. Go to Start -> All Programs -> Mozilla Firefox -> Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode) This will start Firefox without any addons enabled.
3. Once Fireofx opens, go to Tools -> Addons -> Themes and remove MidnightFox and/or MidnightFoxy.
4. Quite Firefox (Safe Mode) and restart Firefox normally and your issues should be solved.

If you are still running Firefox 3.5, you can grab a working version of MidnightFox and/or MidnightFoxy from their addons page by going to the versions section and grab the June 2009 version.

I’m sorry for the issues this has caused, but the good news is those issues are not permanent.

MidnightFox Apologies & Fixes originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

1 – Create a new folder called chrome.
2 – Move browser, communicator, global and mozapps into chrome.
3 – Compress the four folders in chrome into one .jar file. Name it: themenamefiles.jar (all lowercase).
4 – Back out of the chrome folder.
5 – Create a new plain text file with TextEdit or Notepad and copy in the following lines of code:

skin browser ThemeName2 jar:chrome/themenamefiles.jar!/browser/
skin communicator ThemeName2 jar:chrome/themenamefiles.jar!/communicator/
skin global ThemeName2 jar:chrome/themenamefiles.jar!/global/
skin mozapps ThemeName2 jar:chrome/themenamefiles.jar!/mozapps/

7 – Replace themename with the name of your theme in steps 3 & 5.
8 – Replace ThemeName2 with the theme name (em:name) that is listed  in install.rdf.
9 – Save the file as chrome.manifest in the same directory as the install.rdf file.
10 – Don’t forget to bump the Firefox version number in install.rdf to 3.6.*

This is what the new file structure should look like. The green files are new.

New File Structure

That’s it. Repackage your theme and it should work in Firefox 3.6!

This is just one installment into the iPox Remix set of tutorials that will help you learn how to create your own Firefox theme. Visit the main iPox Remix page for more details.

Re-Package Your Theme For Firefox 3.6 originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

They also have a number of desktops on Flickr to help promote the site and one in particular I thought was extremely nice.  So, with permission, I re-used the desktop picture as a Firefox persona.

If you’d like to grab a copy of the Appstorm persona, you can get it here. Firefox and the free Persona’s extension is required.

Enjoy!

Firefox Personas are cross platform so all Firefox users should be able to enjoy.

AppStorm Firefox Persona originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Tinseltown (click to enlarge)

Tinsteltown is a Christmas theme for Firefox that turns your browser into a winter wonderland of Christmas fun.

If you’ve already tried Tinsteltown, then check out the update that just came out. It fixes a few bugs and adds support for Firefox 3.6.

For more information on this theme, check out the Tinseltown page.

Christmas + Firefox = Tinseltown originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

The bad news is that my themes are currently NOT compatiblewith Firefox 3.6. I tested it out the other day and nothing happened. No error, no theme, no luck.

The good news is I was able to find out why and fix it. I had to re-do the theme structure and install files but I did get it to work. If you are using iPox Remix as the basis of your theme, you’ll need to make the updates as well. I hope to have a how-to on that soon.

iPox has been submitted to Mozilla with 3.6 compatibly and some bug fixes. Hopefully that’ll be live sooner than later.

Tinseltown is next up on the list to fix. With Christmas basically here, fixing Tinseltown is a high priority.

Once you upgrade to Firefox 3.6 don’t be alarmed if my themes don’t work. I’m working on them as I get time and you’ll hopefully see them soon.

Firefox 3.6 Theme Compatibly originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Check out all the new features here and let me know what you’d like added.

yExplore 2.0 For Firefox Now Live originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Opera Browser Issues

I tried to Google the answer but got nothing. I thought it had to do with Snow Leopard, but it seemed I was the only one. I was pretty sure it had to do with fonts so I started digging.

The first thing I did was go into Font Book and search for duplicates. Font Book actually found quite a few and deactivated the dups. However, that didn’t fix the issue.

Then I decided to go though my font folders, both the one in the system library and the one in my user library, and remove any duplicates manually. I found three versions of Arial and removed the oldest ones. I actually just dragged them to my desktop so if I needed to, I could move them back.

Once I got rid of all my duplicate Arial font files, I also removed duplicate Verdana and any other fonts I could find.

The next step was easy, log out and back in. This ensured that the system would reload the fonts and forget about the versions I removed.

Once I was logged back in, I opened up Firefox, problem fixed. I checked Flock, Camino and Opera and there were also fixed!

Such an easy fix, but such a stupid problem.

Update: This font cleanup also fixed issues with VirtualBox freezing on launch under 10.6.1.

Fix Your Fonts, Fix Your Browser Problems originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com