Why I’ve Already Uninstalled Firefox 3

I was looking forward to the release of Firefox 3. Though I hadn’t downloaded any of the betas or release-candidates, I was confident in the team, and pretty sure that it would be a seamless transition from 2.0.0.14 to 3.0.

And I even printed out my personalized .pdf \As covered elsewhere in the blogosphere, it was initially difficult to download, as all of the servers were getting slammed simultaneously, as the entire internet was waiting for 10:00 AM Pacific to hit Captain Feathersword’s magic [download] button.

I finally managed to connect around 1:30 after a conference call wrapped up. Installation was indeed seamless, but I wasn’t so wild about some of the features I initially encountered. I had already “starred” the Lifehacker article for Firefox power users, so I referred to that and made some adjustments. A few of my plugins weren’t compatible, but they were nothing that I use regularly. After using FF3 for a few minutes, I got a popup to check for Add-On updates (I should have done that in the first place), and most of my non-conforming plugins were updated.

Things started to get dicey about a half-hour later, when checking my Gmail account led to the browser suddenly closing all on it’s own, followed by a nifty “Mozilla Crash” alert, and options for sending the notification to Mozilla. Then it started going downhill from there.

My heavily-used web apps - namely Gmail and Google Reader, kept crashing. I would get the message to either restore the session or start fresh, and usually Crash alerts would come up again unless I started fresh.

I had been interested in trying out the new Feedly application in Firefox, but I wanted to view their guided tour video, which was Quicktime. FF3 was not able to play the video - never getting past the :26 second mark. I was able to play it on another machine with the same QT and FF2.x, so I’m blaming FF3 on that one.

Just tonight, there was a CrunchGear post regarding a newly-found (obviously) security vulnerability in FF3, and that was the proverbial last straw. [Update: Though now it's reported that it also affects FF2.x, so you can remove one straw from the camel's back]. Not that I’m worried about security so much, but I think the whole FF3 release is a bit half-baked. I’m not upset, nor disappointed, but that may teach me to be one of the 8.2 million lemmings trying to set a “download record”.

Sure, it might be a smaller footprint in system resources. Sure, FF2 is prone to freezing on occasion. Sure, I have to turn in my “early adopter” cape and boots, but consider this:

AND, I had to un-learn the simple act of typing in URLs.

I’m no dinosaur, but for someone that habitually types “http://www” as I have automatically from 12 years of experience, it’s disorienting to have the “Awesome Bar” pop up with every site I’ve visited - and be not even close to what I was going for. During the day job, we’ve been spec’ing out the auto-suggest feature in a “Find” portlet, and this type of behavior from the interface would fail a lot of usability labs. I was able to hack the about:config file down to two (the default is twelve), but it was still disorienting.

I left these comments on the FF3 Uninstall survey, and I am looking forward to a fast, stable incremental update around 3.0.0.3 or so, but for now I’m not believing (or at least participating in) the hype.

Posted by Andrew Flynn on June 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment 
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My Favorite Horoscope (From The Onion)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 21)

Your remarkable talent for procrastination will result in your winning the Nobel Prize for Literature Thrown Together at the Very Last Possible Minute.

This was from late 1999 or so.  I’m sure many would agree this is extremely applicable.

Posted by Andrew Flynn on February 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment 
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Brad Posts About the Page 123 Meme

My friend Brad just posted about the Page 123 meme that’s been going around for a while now. He has a pretty good post, even attempting to trace the origins of the internet time-wasting sensation. So here were the two books I had closest, and the gory details:

First from Wisconsin Curiosities, 2nd: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff.  I don’t have the first edition, and the reason it was on my desk is that the book previously was in the guest bathroom for reading enjoyment, but got packed away with various Arizona Highways and Sunset magazines prior to an actual guest’s arrival, and was just recently liberated by my wife, who plunked it directly in front of my keyboard (which is where she places everything of mine (non-clothing division) that is incorrectly occupying space in the rest of the house), which is how it was stacked on my desk 10 inches away from the left monitor, next to the phone. </run-on sentence>

“An especially impressive non sequitur is a model of the world’s first Ferris wheel, which debuted at the Exposition. It was 250 feet high (nearly as high as the capitol in Madison), and its brave passengers rode in thirty-six enclosed cars, sixty in each, for a total of 2,160 people, many more than the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria combined. An exhibit in the quincentenary department tells the story of a man who drove 30,000 miles photographing every community in the United States that was ever named Columbus, even if a tree out in the middle of a field was all that was left of it.”

Next up was Swing: A Mystery by Rupert Holmes - an Edgar Award winner. This book is about a murder mystery with espionage and jazz overtones, set in the San Francisco Bay area just prior to WWII. My mom had bought me this two years ago, and when I had the flu and couldn’t sleep last Friday night, I read this cover-to-cover in about six hours. It comes with a CD of music composed by the author to purportedly be the music played by the main character. Unfortunately, this page 123 is in the middle of a flashback/dream, so it’s not as relevant:

“I’ll fetch Linney after all. It’s so rare the three of us have the evening together. We can get in a game of Uncle Wiggily before she goes to bed.”

Apparently, this is a tagging meme referring to instant bibliomancy, which Alex Halavais calls “the art of foretelling the future by reading random passages from books”

So it looks like we’ll be getting a game of Uncle Wiggily before bedtime. And I guess it works, as the morning I completed Swing: A Mystery, I was able to secure tickets to The Wiggles, which went on sale 5 hours after the book was set down on my desk.

Posted by Andrew Flynn on February 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment 
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Lifehacker Posts My “Go Bag”

So a few months ago, Lifehacker was asking folks to submit photos of their “Go-Bag” - the bag that web professionals grab when they are on the go. Some posted a very minimal set - a PDA, keys, cell phone, and that’s it. My contribution was a little larger. Here’s my go-bag.

The problem is two-fold. Due to the changing nature of my projects, and general reductions in T&E by my company (which is a smart thing, with all of our collaborative technologies), I haven’t flown in over six months, and I’m starting to look for a smaller bag.

I acquired the Ogio Metro backpack at the company store, nicely embroidered with the company logo, for $64. It was great, as my previous bag, a Tumi T-Tech Laptop Brief was too small to hold travel items, such as a mouse and power supply brick. Now, eleven months later, the Ogio backpack has lost some of its luster. One of the zippers has lost a tooth and is sticky. The iPod media pocket keeps getting caught in the innards of the main pocket. And the entire form has collapsed, and is unable to hold its form unless the laptop is actually in the sleeve. And let’s face it, the laptop is usually docked, either at the office or at home.

Additionally, many of the “essential” items that I routinely carried have fallen by the wayside. The manicure kit, collapsing valet, sleep mask, travel neck pillow, and lint roller were all last used in another piece of luggage, where they remain. The ballcap has been relegated to the garage due to its function, dirt (and smell). The Leatherman tool, folding frisbee, and digital camera battery charger are all scattered on my home office credenza. And the breakfast bars were consumed long ago.

After analyzing it a bit, I’ve determined the essential list of what I need to carry:

So I guess I’m just looking for something to accommodate everything above, plus be expandable for travel. Too bad I’m down on the Ogio Metro, as that holds it all. But really, for commuting to and from the office, where the majority of the office/paper items are, and there’s no need for AC adapters or extra cables, we could reduce the list to this:

My coworker comes and goes with a simple laptop sleeve. Of course, she lives a six-minute walk from the office. Perhaps I could get some sort of sleeve with two pockets, and put that in the Ogio when traveling. Thus starts the quest. Suggestions welcome.

Posted by Andrew Flynn on February 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment 
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Researching the Arizona Republican Primary

I just received my Arizona early-voting ballot for the 2008 Republican Primary. I must say I was surprised when I was presented with twenty-four candidates on the ballot. Most political news has centered around the 17 presidential candidates, which includes both parties. So, I thought I knew hands-down who I was going to vote for, but figured that I should do some research on each candidate just to be sure.

Apparently, nearly anyone can qualify for the presidential election ballot simply by filling out a form and meeting a few basic requirements - at least in Arizona. Many of these candidates are sponsored by Project White House, started by Tucson Weekly.

From the site: “Project White House is a bold new experiment in Reality Journalism brought to you by the Tucson Weekly. At least 14 of the Democrats on Arizona’s Feb. 5 presidential primary ballot, as well as 10 of the GOP candidates, are participating in Project White House. These courageous men and women are putting forward their vision to lead our great nation. The candidates will compete in a variety of campaign challenges, with the ultimate winner in both parties capturing the coveted Tucson Weekly endorsement.”

Some of these guys are well known, so I provided a one-liner.

Here goes, in the order in which they are listed, due to a random drawing:

James Creighton Mitchell, Jr.

Frank McEnulty

Mitt Romney

As Paul Lukas has pointed out, a “mitt” is short for mitten, and is thus only referring to the catcher’s or first-basemen’s fielding gloves. Not this. Also, who knew his first name was Willard? Best Presidential Candidate hair since JFK.

Fred Thompson

Legendary lines in The Hunt for Red October and Days of Thunder - the “Japanese Inspection” scene gave me chills. At least he was a Senator for 1-1/2 terms.

Hugh Cort

Michael P. Shaw

My favorite candidate.

Well, his www.michaelpshaw.com website is listed as “available” by GoDaddy. This guy is apparently also a local Arizona candidate from Glendale, AZ. Only grainy MySpace video coverage (opening with the unforgettable lyric “Start Recording!”) seems to be available. From the December 19th, Arizona Daily Star: Shaw says he’s “running to represent the hood and the God of Israel.” I wish I were making this up. This is turning into one of those early American Idol shows, where everyone wants their three minutes. Umm, pass.

UPDATE: Read this article - some excerpts:

The best political speech I’ve heard in some time was delivered by Republican presidential candidate Michael P. Shaw, who wore sunglasses and a T-shirt that read “Geek Squad” to a public event at the State Capitol.

  • “I have a question: How much experience do you think the Congress and President Bush have? They have a lot of experience and they’ve ran the country into the ground.
  • “Why am I here? I’m here to represent the ’hood, because nobody else is representing the ’hood. And Bush and everyone else who’s got all the experience – all the experience – have run the country into the ground! It’s like the Valdez oil spill. And that’s what the country’s turning into.
  • “That’s why I’m here, sir, because I can do a better job than what’s being done right now, sir! So that question you had asked, sir, was to me, sir! And I’m here because I am a registered voter, sir. I voted for Bush two times in the past eight years. I’ve been a Republican for 10 years, 17 years in Homeland Security, 10 years as a truck driver. Street credibility is insurmountable, sir!”
  • At that point, Shaw pushed his chair away from a table in the crowded conference room, striking the knees of a man sitting behind him. “Hey man, you just lost my vote!” the other man said. “I didn’t know I had votes,” Shaw responded. “I didn’t come here for votes. I came here represent the hood.” He apologized to the other man and left the room.

Street credibility is insurmountable, sir!

Charles Skelley

Here’s another PWH guy. Apparently he’s a retired Army military intelligence officer and aerospace engineer living in Tucson. At least he’s got a blog. Pass. Here’s his Project White House blurb: “[Skelley] offers “real solutions (that can get real results) by confronting problems which are really serious.” His “new square deal” has a dozen basic points to reduce the federal debt, clean up campaign fundraising, save Social Security, provide affordable health care, reverse the trade deficit, simplify income taxes and solve the energy crisis.”

Ron Paul

As the signs say, just “Google Ron Paul“. Recommended by David Letterman as far back as 1988. Middle name of “Ernest”, Duke MD, was a obstetrician/gynecologist for 30 years, and was also in the Air Force. US Rep for Texas for 12 years.

John Michael Fitzpatrick

I like this guy. He attended both Portland CC and Portland State, and ran for President in 2000 and the Senate in 1998, finishing second. Another GoDaddy free starter webpage user, he advocates US “statehood for neighboring and impoverished countries to franchise the world into our successful form of economic development.” He also refused to demean his campaign by throwing in with the Project White House folks.

Bob Forthan

Graduating with a 2.5 GPA from Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon, here’s “Bob, Bobby, Robert!” Forthan. Was an Oregon state employee for 31 years and in the National Guard for six, Forthan ran for Governor of Oregon and also Mayor of Portland. Decent WordPress site (in comparison to say, Jack Shepard (below). Here’s a nugget from the Project White House site: “I’m under educated, but I read well, I’m poor only because it’s a state of mine [sic], meaning I’m rich depending on who I’m talking to, but I have high hopes.”

Mike Huckabee

He doesn’t believe in Evolution. I don’t believe he should be taken seriously. Governor of Arkansas for 11 years (basically post-Clinton).

John R. McGrath

Another PWH guy from Tucson. This is getting old, fast. Here’s his blurb: ““If honesty is the best policy, then we should replace the present-day politicians, because they are living in a fantasy world and can not recognize the truth from a lie.” Word. Or something.

Rick Outzen

Host of “IN Your Head Radio” afternoon radio show in Pensacola, Florida. Here’s his announcement. Some other blurbs: Outzen has had a multifaceted career as a publisher, blogger, radio and television host, post hole digger and city councilman of Gulf Breeze is angling for a conservative base that has yet to coalesce around a favorite. Killer quote: “People think Fred Thompson is lazy and talks slow. I will show the voters what lazy and slow really are. People think Ron Paul is crazy and unbalanced. Well, I invented crazy and unbalanced.” Attaboy, Rick.

Michael Burzynski

All I can find on this guy is that he lives in Vail, Arizona (southeast of Tucson), and filed for the primary on December 17th. He’s not one of the these Project White House yahoos. Just a guy with a handy Notary Public.

Sean “CF” Murphy

Another PWH knob. The “CF” stands for “Cosmic Farsightedness” - no, really. This ass-hat sports an eye patch. Unless it’s real, of course - that would suck. But if it’s fake, the ass-hatted-ness stands. Maybe he’s a Pastafarian in disguise. He’s at least merchandising on CafePress.

John McCain

Our local candidate. As Howard Stern said in 2000, anyone who was a prisoner in a cage poked with sticks has his vote. War hero, Air Force, Vietnam, military family. Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. 21 years as Senator, 4 as a Representative. Middle name: Sidney.

Duncan Hunter

David Ruben

From Tucson, another PWH candidate, this time with a PHD. He advocates “a strong economy, which is dependent on access to necessary resources and markets abroad. This means continuing, for the present, to be a colonial power and an international police force with our own best interest at heart.” Don’t pull any punches, there Dave.

Rhett R. Smith

Another of the PWH Posse - though at least he seems to have some credentials. Divorced Texan from San Antonio, career accountant, UT-Austin, was an auditor for the Texas Department of Human Services, did a stint in the Navy, and for the past 24 years has been Security Officer (huh?). Ran for Texas Governor in 2006 and for a House seat in 2004. Or at least he ran before this PWH nonsense.

Alan Keyes

Jerry Curry

Daniel Gilbert

Jack Shepard

Rudy Giuliani

Famous NYC Mayor, walk-on cameo on episode of Seinfeld. Oversaw the New York Yankees losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series. Yankees haven’t won a title since. NYU Law, the prosecutor that “got Gotti”.

And that’s the ballgame. 24 candidates, 12 seemingly legit, 6 mainstream candidates, and of course, Michael P. Shaw, representing the ‘hood.

“Street credibility is insurmountable, sir!”

Posted by Andrew Flynn on January 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment 
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