Reputable Sources: TechCrunch Fail

So, I was browsing around these here internets, when I came across an article over at TechCrunch (read it). If you could call it that. It was 4 paragraphs long. The writer was complaining whining, saying that Firefox 3.5 kept crashing on him. He then assumes it's happening to everyone else, and then shit-talks Mozilla, saying they really need to fix this issue.

Wait, he doesn't really assume it's happening to everyone else before doing research and figuring out if it's true, right? Of course not, he writes for TechCrunch, so he's gotta be on his game. Right? Of course! So as proof, he posts this image, which shows six people over 2 days complaining of Firefox crashes. Six people in the entirety of Twitter.

He says Firefox crashes for him, "when I have too many tabs open (like 15 or 20, which is not unusual for me towards the end of the day)."

Erm, ok, lets see how many tabs I have open now .....47. Really? yea, proof, click and see:

Yup, I use around 40-50 tabs daily. Firefox has never crashed for me. But of course, that's not proof of Firefox's stability, it's just me. And I wouldn't generalize and rant about it on a reputable website for no reason.

And here's the kicker, straight from the article, "I’ve been patiently waiting for the crashing to stop as Mozilla releases patches and updates. And I’m on a developer build, so maybe I’m just asking for crashes."

Yes, yes you are. Why would you assume everyone else is having this issue when they're using a completely different browser. Nobody's really using the developer builds, especially not the people you cited as users of Firefox 3.5.

Geez, even 5 seconds of googling got me to this support page. I doubt the writer has tried any of these methods, but instead chooses to whine. He's most likely using some useless and memory hogging add-on that's causing it. Also notice the number of people who had the same problem: 69. 69 people reporting crashes for a browser with millions of users.

Honestly, though, this isn't what annoys me. If I got ticked off at every single guy whining on the internet about software, then I'd probably kill myself.

What annoys me so much is that this guy writes for freakin' TechCrunch, one of the hugest technology sites out there. These guys are supposed to know shit, and have some sort of professionalism, and they're supposed to be reputable. But then why the fuck is this guy whining about his own bullshit on the main page?

Honestly, I have a lot less respect for TechCrunch. It depresses me that they can get away with this and still be seen as trustworthy. I dunno, I've always been more of an Ars guy anyway.

Lesser Known Firefox Extensions: Adblock Plus Element Hiding Helper

Almost everyone knows Adblock Plus, it's the one hands-down, must-install extension for Firefox, and the most popular. It simply makes the web a more pleasant place to be.

But nobody's perfect, and there's often things that Adblock will miss, the most common being text ads. Adblock Plus Element Hiding Helper lets you easily train Adblock to be better. Just find an ad that Adblock missed, click "select element to hide" and click on the ad. Then a new filter will pop up to let you block the ad in the future. Simple as that.

It's also great for the web in general, as it makes it easier to hide pretty much any part of a web page that you'd like. So annoying graphics, useless sidebar elements, youtube comments, anything that would be better if it were gone, you can hide it.

It basically just beefs up Adblock, and gives you more power over your web.

Adblock Plus: Element Hiding Helper.

Lesser Known Firefox Extensions: Add to Search Bar

The Firefox search bar comes with the ability to search google and a bunch of other sites in a pull down menu, making it quick and easy to search. But what if you'd like to add another site to the search bar? Well, you're out of luck.

UNLESS of course, you have the Add to Search Bar Firefox extension, which lets you add any site with a search box to the Firefox search bar. Just visit the site you'd like to add, right click the search box, and (as pictured) just select the Add to Search Bar option. Really comes in handy for all those sites you frequent often. a couple of suggestions being Mininova, The Pirate Bay, ixQuick, WolframAlpha, any blog you frequent, anything really.

A simple and effective extension that does what it says and saves time. Add to Search Bar

Lesser Known Firefox Extensions: PermaTabs

This is an awesome, and pretty self-explanatory add-on. It turns any tab you like into a "permanent tab" that can't be accidentally closed, and is unaffected by opening and closing the browser. To enable or disable a permanent tab, simply right click it and check or uncheck the "Permanent Tab" option. Simple and easy.

It's really useful for keeping things like email, RSS reader, or an oft-visited site always available. It really shines when combined with FaviconizeTab.

The one I'm linking to is experimental, and technically called "PermaTabs Mod," but don't let that stop you. It's really stable (I've never encountered or heard of an issue) and is basically only experimental because it's recently been ported from the Firefox 2 version.

PermaTabs.

Lesser Known Firefox Extensions: Google Redesigned

Google redesigned is another simple theme - or skin really - that changes the look of Gmail, Gcal, and Greader from playskool-styled monstrosities to well designed, dark, easy-on-the-eyes wonders. Made by small graphic design company Globex Designs, and released open source, Google Redesigned comes as its own neat extension, and automatically updates each skin (and they are updated quite frequently), as well as giving you the option to instantly disable or re-enable any theme you want. The themes are absolutely gorgeous, seriously, check out some of the screenshots on their web page or enlarge my shot of Greader Redesigned. This is not just a tacked-on overlay for the Gmail inbox like a greasemonkey script, but a whole redesign of every aspect of Google's services. Not overly dark, but not too bright, nice gradients and highlights, everything is just really well thought out, and none of the basic layout was changed, making it easy to switch to. You can even download each stylesheet individually, and use them in stylish or tweak them to perfection yourself. There's forums, too, and Globex pays real attention to suggestions from users. Though they can't please everybody. In the end it comes down to personal preference, but I really like the look. It's at least worth a quick install. Try it out and see if you like it. Google Redesigned

Lesser Known Firefox Extensions: FaviconizeTab

 

I suppose while we're on the subject of favicons, I might as well show you another great, lesser known extension that should be built into Firefox.

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FaviconizeTab is pretty simple, it adds the option to shorten a tab to only its favicon, and it's great for use on sites that you leave open a lot, like email, facebook, calendar, rss reader, really anything that you don't need to see the title of. Just right click and "faviconize" it. It conserves really a ton of space, you can fit three or four tabs in the same space as one, and it makes things neater and more easy to handle. It also saves preferences for restored sessions, so it's great if you've set firefox to restore your tabs as well.

Check it out.

FaviconizeTab

Lesser Known Firefox Extensions: Yet Another Smooth Scrolling (oh and some other shit about stuff and junk)

Well, it seems The Tartar Sauce has started it's own impromptu "games as art week." I was thinking of chiming in with my own view on the topic, but instead you might as well just re-read Jake's post, as that's pretty much exactly where I stand. This is interesting as well, if you're bored enough to read yet another article on the topic.

Though (since Bobbicus seems to be going the noble route) I will add this: Roger Ebert can suck it.

I haven't posted in a while, though this time it's not because I've been busy. I sat down to write this article and instead of resting my hands on the home keys, I instinctively rested my left hand on WASD and my right hand on the mouse. You know you're a gamer when.....

If you're interested, the games that I've been wasting away my life on in the past week or so have been: GTA IV, Far Cry 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Left 4 Dead, Tom Clancy's HAWX, GTR 2, GRID, Everyday Shooter, Star Fox 64, Super Smash Bros. 64, and oh god, way too much Call of Duty 4.

And that, for no reason, brings me to the purpose of this post, which is to introduce Yet Another new segment (har har, get it?), called "Lesser Known." In this segment I'll highlight a (here it comes) lesser known piece of software that deserves a little more love. I'll be starting with firefox extensions, since there's a lot of them, not enough people use them, and they're just plain sweet. I had an idea originally to do a firefox post in the same vain as my 10 lesser known music players post, but there's way more kewl extensions that need installing.

The first Lesser Known Firefox extension is called Yet Another Smooth Scrolling:

I consider this a must-install on pretty much every one of my Firefox installations. It's a very simple extension that changes the default, ugly, jagged, ancient default Firefox scrolling action with a smooth, clear one that makes the web a more pleasurable place.

It's actually got a ton of great customization features. There are 3 scrolling presets (each one of them is adjustable) you can choose from to suit scrolling behavior to your mood or preference. Whether you want scrolling to be slow and smooth for reading an essay or long article, or something quick and functional for scanning documents or RSS readers, you can set each preset to meet your needs. Switching between presets is as easy as right clicking anywhere or choosing the icon in the corner of the browser.

Scrolling is very well done, pretty much any settings you choose are going to look great. You won't have to play around with the settings long to find out what you like. I ended up using the default settings for 2 of the 3 presets. It's such a subtle feature that really makes the web so much easier on the eyes, and just makes Firefox look better.

Though there is a downside: More CPU is utilized to create the effect. So if you're on an ancient laptop or trying to conserve battery on a netbook, then maybe disable it untill you're plugged in. It's not like it sucks up all resources, but it's something to be aware of.

Really a great extension that should be built into Firefox.

Yet Another Smooth Scrolling

The Aliens, They're Telling Us Something

Well, maybe I couldn't get you to switch, but super intelligent beings from outer space? They know what's what.

http://maps.google.com/