Yahoo Maps & Fx Nightlies

While reading Wladimir Palant’s (Adblock Plus author) blog about the improvements in ad blocking with the future Firefox 2.0.0.4 build, I came across this interesting piece of information about Yahoo Maps & Fx Nightlies:

Finally, Yahoo Maps uses browser sniffing that causes it to behave strangely in Firefox nightlies. To “fix” go to about:config, find the preference general.useragent.extra.firefox and replace “BonEcho” by “Firefox”.

So what exactly does “behave strangely in Firefox nightlies” mean? Take a look at these screen shots below (opens a new tab) with general.useragent.extra.firefox set to:

• Firefox
• BonEcho/2.0.0.4pre

I had stopped using Yahoo! Maps because it did “behave strangely in Firefox nightlies” not to mention it had nasty habit of crashing Firefox. Instead I have been using Google Maps. Also by making this change in About:Config should also help with other sites which support Firefox, but use browser sniffing and warn you are not using a supported browser.

News Source: Adblock Plus and (a little) more

Improved Ad Blocking in Fx 2.0.0.4

We are still about a month out on the next Fx build (2.0.0.4). One of the improvements with this build is going to be major improvements to ad blocking using the Adblock Plus extension. A couple patches have been added to the Gecko 1.8 branch which will work with the upcoming Adblock Plus 0.7.5:

The patches ensure that content requested by plugins like Flash and Ajax based applications will be subject to the same content policies as regular web pages. So if for example you have asked to block images from server “http://ads.server.net” they will be blocked even if requested by a Flash application or an XMLHttpRequest, one of the core functions used by rich Ajax-based web applications.

Yahoo! Maps, for example, embeds ads in its Flash-based application. These ads are not subject to regular content filtering and so, are displayed even if using an ad blocking extension like Adblock Plus.

While on the subject of Yahoo Maps, if you are using the Fx Nightlies and have tried to use Yahoo Maps take look at: Yahoo Maps & Fx Nightlies

News Source: Mozilla Links

TBird 2 is Released!!!

Okay it is official per mozillaZine, Thunderbird 2 has been released!

Scott MacGregor of Team Thunderbird writes in with news of the release of Mozilla Thunderbird 2: “Thunderbird 2 is now available for download on Windows, Mac and Linux in over 35 languages. Thunderbird 2 offers easy ways to manage and organize your email with message tags, advanced folder views, message history navigation, find as you type, and improved new mail alert notifications. Thunderbird 2 also includes a refreshed user interface and support for Microsoft Vista.

“Thunderbird 1.5.0.x users will be offered Thunderbird 2 via software update at a later date. Those wishing to upgrade now are therefore advised to download and install Thunderbird 2 manually.

Just a quick run-down of some the new features with Thunderbird 2:

• Visual Refresh (new look and feel)
• Message Tags
• Message History Navigation
• Improved New Mail Notification

  • Clickable alert slider like Outlook contains senders name & subject as well as some message text
  • Hoover on a folder with new messages for pop-up with senders name & subject as well as some message text

• Improved Search (find as you type via CTRL-F)
• Saved Searches
• Easy Access to Popular Webmail Services such as Gmail
• and more…