Firefox getting slower and slower?

Here’re some tips to tune and tweak your Firefox when it getting slower and slower ( or upon installation ) :

Modify the firefox config file

It’s easy to modify, just type “about:config” in your firefox browser, then search for the following parameters and change the value ( just like how you change your registry ) :

• network.http.pipelining,  set the value from false to true.
• network.http.pipelining.maxrequests, change the value from default 4 to a higher value i.e. 8
• network.http.proxy.pipelining, set the value from false to true.
• browser.sessionstore.interval, change the value from 10000 (10 secs) to 120000 (2 minutes) to increase the firefox backup the session restore point interval.
• Add the following parameter ( New->Integer ) and set the value to 0, nglayout.initialpaint.delay.

Maybank2u on Mobile now!!!

Starting 19th January 2010, all maybank2u users are able to login using mobile anytime, anywhere using http://mobile.maybank2u.com.my

Here is the main page :

Login using your existing M2U username & password : 

Currently, only four(4) services are offered at M2U mobile which are :

• Your account summary
• Funds transfer
• Make payments &
• Check the Forex & Deposit Rates

 

Example of the account summary :

Logout page….as below : ( And you e71 shall ask you to clear the cache for security purposes ) 

More info : M2U on mobile

Unable to browse website due to DNS redirection or DNS failure/blocked?

Suspect some websites has been blocked by your ISP Domain Name Caching Server (CDNS)? There are several steps you should take to solve it.

Steps to query the CDNS :

First, use “nslookup” to query your ISP CDNS. ( Get the CDNS IP addresses by typing “ipconfig/all” )

1. Go to your command prompt.
2. Type “nslookup” and Enter.
3. Then type “server <ISP CDNS IP address>” and Enter.
4. Type “set q=any” and Enter.
5. Type the URL domain name that you wish to query.

C:\Documents and Settings\xyz>nslookup
Default Server:  DD-WRT
Address:  192.168.2.1

> server 202.188.0.133
Default Server:  cns3.tm.net.my
Address:  202.188.0.133

> set q=any
> justk2.com
Server:  cns3.tm.net.my
Address:  202.188.0.133

< more…… >

If the URL is blocked, then you will the returned information like below : ( but it may vary from different ISP )

The URL above is blocked and redirect to your localhost i.e. 127.0.0.1.

What should I do if the URL is blocked or redirected ?

There are few different method to resolve this kind of issue. One method is to change your DNS IP settings ( Click here on how to start the OpenDNS )or using proxy server, but you can also create your own DNS resolve list by create a HOST file (only for those blocked websites) in your Windows XP!

Now, try to use other ISP’s CDNS or some free CDNS e.g. 208.67.220.220 and 208.67.222.222 to find out the actual internet IP address (Remember to ignore the MX, nameserver etc. IP addresses) . Use the same method above but changing the server IP address to other CDNS IP i.e. 208.67.220.220.

Steps to change your HOST file :

1. Locate your host file at C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\ for Windows XP. ( For other OS, the host file may stored in different location )
   
2. Open the “hosts” file using wordpad or notepad.
3. If you have never edit this file before or it had never been edited by any other software e.g. firewall software, it should be look like similar as below :

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

127.0.0.1       localhost

4.  Append the URL that you have resolved as above at the bottom  :

justk2.co.cc     58.121.85.140

5. Then SAVE it.

6.  Done!

Additional Tips :

You may also use the same method as abovementioned to block the unwanted URL ( e.g. malware website, parental controlled sites etc. ) by append the target URL to 127.0.0.1. You may add as much as you like!!!

Example :

stupidmalware.com     127.0.0.1

dangerous-site.net       127.0.0.1

For you knowledge :

Wikipedia : Domain Name Server
How DNS Works ?

Google is announcing it browser Chrome!

Rumours of a Google browser project since year 2004, now a posting in Google official blog has makes it much more tangible.

Google has stated that Chrome will be an open source application, with the terms described indicating a BSD or Apache permissive licence. A beta version for Windows will be released on September 2nd with Mac and Linux versions being developed. The company is hosting a press conference at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters Tuesday at 11 a.m. PDT.

The comic book is now available on Google Books. It gives a "human-readable" or rather we called it "layman-readable" format for it technical details on this Google Chrome project.

More readings :

http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-09-01-n47.html

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html

GOOD extensions for Firefox 3

Have been migrating my favourite browser Mozilla Firefox from version to 2 to version 3 weeks ago. It seem to be more features and 'upgrades' from the earlier version but the most headache thing is that many of the extensions I used is not compatible with this version yet!

In order to optimize the usage of this version, I had found some good extensions that can be used with Firefox 3.0.

1. Googlepedia

Shows you a relevant Wikipedia article along with your search results. Clicking links in the article will trigger new Google searches, making it a very useful research tool...

This is a good extensions for those who always seek for Uncle Google on their research especially thru Wikipedia.

2. FoxMark Bookmark Synchronizer

If you use Firefox on more than one computer, you'll want Foxmarks. Install Foxmarks on each computer, and it will work silently in the background to keep your bookmarks synchronized. You can also log in to my.foxmarks.com to manage your bookmarks from any computer.

3. FireFTP

FireFTP is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers.

4. IE Tab

IE Tab is an extension for the Mozilla Firefox, Flock and SeaMonkey web browsers. IE Tab allows users to view pages using the Internet Explorer rendering engine from within Firefox. This may be useful for viewing pages that only work in Internet Explorer (e.g. Windows Update) without exiting Firefox. Pages viewed through the IE Tab extension will be recorded in Internet Explorer's history, cache, and so on, as if they had been viewed directly in Internet Explorer. It appears to function by calling the installed version of Internet Explorer on the user's computer, and then running the output within a tab in Firefox.

5. Scrapbook

ScrapBook is a Firefox extension, which helps you to save Web pages and manage the collection. Key features are lightness, speed, accuracy and multi-language support. Major features are:  Save Web page, save snippet of Web page, save Web site (In-depth Capture)  etc.

6. MeasureIt

Draw a ruler across any webpage to check the width, height, or alignment of page elements in pixels.

7. GSpace 

Gmail gives you nearly 7 GB of free storage. With Gspace, you can turn some or all of that into free online storage of files that you can access from anywhere.

8. FlagFox

See a flag in the status bar that tells you what country the server is in for the website you are on. You can then look up more detailed information on the server, giving you some extra security in case the site is a fake

9. Broadband Speed Test and Diagnosis

This extension includes a set of tools for broadband users. It can measure the bandwidth of Internet connections and perform diagnostic tests (connectivity, ping and traceroute etc).

10. Facebook Toolbar

The Facebook Toolbar for Firefox is a free extension for Firefox that lets you extend your Facebook experience into your everyday browsing.

11. Google Preview

Inserts preview images (thumbnails) of web sites into the Google and Yahoo search results pages.

12. Webmail Notifier

Get notifications of new email in your status bar for services such as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail and more.

13. Reload Every

The Reload Every extension adds an option to the context menu (the menu you obtain by right clicking on the web page you're currently viewing) to reload the web page you are viewing every so many seconds or minutes. You can also access reload every by using the dropdown menu next to the reload button on the toolbar  This can be handy if you have a page with for example sports scores, news or stock quotes and want to refresh them automatically.

14. Color Zilla

An extremely handy tool for Web developers to let them see the RGB and Hex values of any color on a Web page.

15.  PDF Download

PDF Download relieves the pain experienced when encountering PDF files on the Web. Whenever you click on a PDF file, PDF Download lets you know before trying to open it, and then offers you choices such as downloading, opening, or converting it straight to HTML.

16. Meebo

Instant messaging across all major IM networks like MSN, Yahoo!, Goole Talk etc. built right into Firefox.