lots of malware going around lately

So I spent most of last week trying to clean my PC from some nasty malware infections. I'm not sure where exactly it came from, but I think it was Megaupload-- I suspect that they sold banner ad space to someone using it to distribute malware. So right now I'd highly advise DO NOT go to Megaupload.

Man, do I ever hate malware. I try to keep everything updated, I always have Windows Update set to automatic, I even try to pay attention to the 2nd Tuesday of every month-- that's the usual schedule for Microsoft updates. I use Firefox. I have an anti-virus & firewall.

But banner ads delivering spyware still manage to get by... it's pretty damn aggravating. I was very stressed out most of last week.

I think I'm ok now, but I am very wary of being online.



later
don

Firefox 3.6 sucks

Ever since I updated to the latest version of Firefox (3.6.3) when I double-click on it, most of the time it doesn't even open. I see the hard drive moving so it's loading it, but then it doesn't actually open until I open another program or window.

Maybe it's because I'm using Windows XP, and/or that my hard drive needs defragmenting (it's really full)... but it does take a long time for it to open on my netbook using Windows 7 as well. I'm pretty sure it's longer than previous versions.

Why does Firefox have to be so sucky now??? Why can't it be good like it used to be???



later
don

watching streaming video on netbook

Man.... some video streams are really bad to play on my netbook (Toshiba NB205) .... basically all the Joystiq family of vids; Engadget, etc. playback choppy as hell & max out my CPU. I'm not sure if it's Viddler or Tubemogel (whatever the hell those are) I just see their URLs show up when I'm watching vids on Joystiq.

Youtube plays fairly well. Vids on IGN & Gamespot can be choppy & CPU intensive but I resize my Firefox window to just fit the video & not show the banner ads and that seems to help.

But Engadget/Joystiq.... always choppy & bloated. It's just annoying.

UPDATE: I installed Flash 11.5 or something, and vids from Joystiq sites seem to play better now, though they still push the CPU near max levels.... I guess I gotta remember that netbooks aren't as powerful as full-size PCs or laptops...



later
don

Firefox 3.6

Checking my previous posts on Firefox, I thought it'd be nice if I posted something positive about it for a change...

I've only just updated to it, but I do like the new personas feature, it makes skinning the browser pretty easy. especially since my netbook uses Windows 7 Starter, which doesn't even allow the desktop wallpaper to be changed. Jerks.

So far, I've noticed that when you open a new tab, it opens in the tab right beside the one you're using, which I'm not liking. I'm used to new tabs opening at the right of all the previous tabs, and I'd rather have it that way than this, especially on my home PC where I open multiple homepage tabs. Using my netbook I don't have multiple homepage tabs open automatically, so it's easier to deal with this change. I'll just have to get used to it.

As long as it runs fast, efficiently & securely, that's mostly what I care about.



later
don

Joystiq/Kotaku sucks

What the hell is wrong with Joystiq?!? A lot of the times I try to check out their PSP feed (formerly PSP Fanboy) and it completely freezes Firefox. Something on their page just crashes it.

Kotaku is even worse-- whatever freezes/crashes Firefox on their site, it's there most of the time.

I'm guessing it's some stupid flash ad that's incompetently scripted to suck up all the memory it can or something.

Okay, banner ads make the Web go around-- they're not going away, and sites like Joystiq & Kotaku have done nothing but restructure so that they can have MORE advertising... I don't like it, but I've learned to live with it.

But how about having some STANDARDS with what ads you allow on your site? Like maybe ads that CRASH BLOODY BROWSERS... oh, I dunno..... maybe you could possibly NOT cram those in all over your sites? Sheesh.

I keep thinking some day the video game industry will actually get some "journalism"... but it hasn't happened yet in all the decades it's been around.....

Up yours, Joystiq & Kotaku.



later
don

Firefox 3 update

So the other day, my Firefox 3 updated.... added a bunch of security improvements... probably a couple weeks too late as I was infected with more viruses recently. My comp looks clean, but......


One thing I noticed with this latest update is after it's done, they load up a page talking about how Firefox is really reliable security-wise... I can't remember the URL, but it also displayed a graph showing in 2006 that Firefox had much less vulnerabilites than IE.

Yeah. That's great. I wouldn't be surprised if that was true.... IN 2006. But Firefox 3 just seems really flawed. They made so many changes to it, that I wonder if they didn't leave HUGE holes in it, otherwise, why this new page trying to reassure us that it's "all good"? there could be the threat of Google's browser, Chrome, but I think that's still in Beta form. I've been trying to find out if Firefox 3 is really flawed, but I haven't found much other than news reports from back in June, probably when it was first released. I wonder if many others have found their infection rate skyrocketing....



later
don

Firefox 3.0.1

Man... Firefox 3.0.1 just SUCKS......

It took away a key feature I use: the drop-down menu where you type in web addresses is now limited to like maybe 11 web sites!! How fucking STUPID is that??? They fill up the extra space with garbage; the meta-data junk on the sites like their title & description, etc.... so, that's not necesarily a bad thing to have title & site description info, but at the cost of showing most of the sites I typed in, that's just IDIOTIC. And there's no way to change it back.

I HATE HATE HATE Firefox 3.0.1!!!!!

What absolute garbage this thing is.



later
don