A few questions... about a lot of things

entropy

Ok, some things I've been wondering.

I've been using Azureus more (since I get way better speeds) and it raised a few questions. First, what exactly does "alternative socket polling" do, why does it "help prevent network disconnects," and why are my transfers always yellow in this mode? It makes the CPU works harder, and I can hear and see that... but why exactly? (sorry if I sound like a little kid, lol )

Also, for wireless networking. Which is better - WPA or WEP? And if it's WEP, should I use 128k or not? It says the higher the protection, the more secure you are... but also that it can slow down your wireless connection? Any help on this? Right now I have it on WPA Pre-Shared TKIP Key with a randomly generated 26-character key. Should I turn on the MAC filter for an extra layer of protection?

Lastly, I'm starting to like Firefox more. But is there an extension that anyone knows of that allows you to drag-and-drop links which causes it to open in a new window? That's one of the reasons, among many, why I love Maxthon so much.

Thankee, and sorry for the long post

Thrax

Alternative socket polling randomizes the accessing of sockets (IP/Port/Protocol combination at your end) to reduce the chance that bittorrent's extreme network stress will cause a failure. It's in yellow because it's not cycling to the port you probably forwarded for Azureus.

Use WPA. It's vastly more secure than WEP. Nearly impossible to crack because it cycles keys so rapidly that humans can't keep up. It can slow you down, but it's measured in single digit percentiles. Keep using WPA.

Turn MAC filtering on. It's a bit of a nuisance to set up, but the security is worth it.

Maxthon for the win.

entropy

I take it I should just learn to deal with occasional disconnects since I can't port forward every port to my computer?

Should I use the TKIP I'm using now, or switch to AES? What's the difference, really? Or should I go to WPA Radius? For TKIP, the Group Key Renewal is at the default 3600 seconds. Should I change that?

Will do.

Change is good.

Thrax

AES is a government-initiated block cipher encryption algorithm. As far as I remember, WPA doesn't support AES until 802.11i is ratified, so AES might just be an intense encryption for a WEP key.. Just stick to TKIP WPA. WPA RADIUS is outside of the abilities of most people; it uses a central server to administer keys.

Leave it at 3600.

BlackHawk

Thrax wrote:

Maxthon for the win.

*incorrect answer noise*

Super Drag and Go 0.2.4

Thrax

I don't like FF. I don't like the way it handles tabs.

BlackHawk

Tabbrowser Extensions

Thrax

Time to switch to FF!

EMT

Haha, nice one.

Thrax wrote:

Alternative socket polling randomizes the accessing of sockets (IP/Port/Protocol combination at your end) to reduce the chance that bittorrent's extreme network stress will cause a failure. It's in yellow because it's not cycling to the port you probably forwarded for Azureus.

What does this mean exactly? I don't quite understand what's being randomized.

Shorty

Damnit... be converted you elitist (sp? need coffee!) corporate whore

Come to the dark side

Straight_Man

entropy wrote:

Ok, some things I've been wondering.

...

Lastly, I'm starting to like Firefox more. But is there an extension that anyone knows of that allows you to drag-and-drop links which causes it to open in a new window? That's one of the reasons, among many, why I love Maxthon so much.

Thankee, and sorry for the long post

Well, try CTRL-Click on a hyperlink in Firefox and Mozilla. Also look in preferences. I actually like a new tab better than a new window, easier to go back and forth as the tabs are in a toolbar that opens, just above the working window. Also try CTRL-ALT-Click, CTRL-Shift-Click, and right clicking on a hyperlink, then choose your opening choice.... Mozilla has had this kind of thing longer, many opening choices that can be made live, so its more mature there and there are more ways to choose. Myself, I hate closing windows (sometime 3-4 of them) to get back to the widnow that has my main focused search open, easier to right-click a tab in one working window, and close it, or click on what you want open, right-click, and then tell it to Close the Other Tabs. I also like the fact that both support CTRL-P printing, as does IE.

Yes, it can default to that or you can choose live what you want it to do, and Firefox is faster with tabs than with windows, by a small amount. As to how to make it always open windows when opening a page, if you want to do that look at about:config in FireFox's browser window (internally builtin interactive config page in FireFox and, IIRC, in Mozilla now also) and read about customizing both on the MozillaZine forums, and in the FAQs on firefox's subsite. I do not know what version of FireFox you have to tell you exactly, but FireFox 1.0 can be set to default to a new window on hyperlink click. AND, Mozilla does not have to have an email client installed when it is installed (installing Composer is a good idea, though, that's where your spell-chck hides).

entropy

BEHOLD! I have converted! Never thought I would

I managed to get Firefox to behave, and act like Maxthon for a change. Except for one thing. I haven't seen an extension for URL Aliases? Is there one?

Also, why does this site look funny in Firefox? If you don't know what I mean, the top image is Firefox - bottom is Maxthon.

BlackHawk

entropy wrote:

BEHOLD! I have converted! Never thought I would

I managed to get Firefox to behave, and act like Maxthon for a change. Except for one thing. I haven't seen an extension for URL Aliases? Is there one?

What is that?

Also, why does this site look funny in Firefox? If you don't know what I mean, the top image is Firefox - bottom is Maxthon.

Because it's based on the Gecko engine so some sites are gonna render differently. Especially if it doesn't have W3C compliant code.

entropy

A URL Alias is something you type in the address bar. For example, I could set it so that when I type "router" it goes to 192.168.1.1. That kind of thing. There's also another, more useful version (I use both, actually) where you set an alias then a command.

Say I want to search for a word on dictionary.com (and this is an example of what I really have set in Maxthon). I tell it "d" should be the alias, and https://dictionary.com/ should be the command it carries out. %s refers to what I type after "d."

For example

d computer

would search https://www.dictionary.com/browse/computer. I wouldn't have to go to the site, then look it up, etc. It's just for searches you do a lot (Google, BitTorrent, IRC, lyrics... anything).

It's really nifty... works for any site that has a search feature

BlackHawk

I believe Mozilla has that keyword feature but I don't know if Firefox has it. There's probably an extension for it but I guess I'll have to search for it. You could always use the search bar on the top right (drop down list has other search engines and you can add others too) or just could try an extension called Dictionary Search which lets you highlight a word, right click and select the search engine you want to search that word in (you have to add the search engine or site). I currently have mine set to Merriam-Webster and Wikipedia.

-edit-
Try this.

entropy

That's exactly it Bit more work to do it, but it's simple enough

Edit:
I've got it all set up already Thanks a lot, man. I think I may be a fulltime Firefox-er

Thrax

Any way to get the bookmarks in FF to work like maxthon or IE? I'm fond of the side-out box.

entropy

Yeah, that mouse-over, auto-show/hide ... thingy ... was pretty nice.

....BLAAAAACK HAAAWK?!

Edit:
Thrax: Does it seem like Firefox is a little, what, laggy switching tabs using mouse gestures? Maxthon was snappy about it, but Firefox seems to go, "Hu-DUHH" for a second...

Thrax

Ok, blackhawk helped me find the slide-out favorites extension. It's called "Optimoz Tweaks 0.2" --You have to add the bookmarks button to the top of the window in customization, and then activate it once; optimoz will remember that activation, and then allow you to trigger it by hovering over the left side of the screen like IE/Maxthon. Now I wish I could get FF to auto-collapse favorites when I access a new bookmark folder (IE, collapse the old tree and expand the new one).

I never used gestures, so no comment. As for tabs, eh, there's a split-second lag, no big deal. The thing that gets on my nerves the most, however, is that hitting the Home button doesn't launch a new tab -- it launches it in your current window (Lame).

EMT

Thrax wrote:

The thing that gets on my nerves the most, however, is that hitting the Home button doesn't launch a new tab -- it launches it in your current window (Lame).

Why would you expect it to open in a new tab? You can middle- or ctrl-click it to get that behavior, if you weren't aware.

entropy

Awesome, will try that. Thanks . Did you get the Tabbrowser Extensions thing? I thought I saw something in there for that, but I don't remember where specifically, since I don't use it.

Edit:
If anyone uses the middle button (not scroll - hold down the middle click and move the mouse), did you notice that if you go outside the Firefox window it doesn't seem to know when you let go...?

Thrax

Yeah, I got tabbrowser. It's close to Maxthon, but not <i>quite</i> there; like I said, my only gripe with it is how it launches the homepage button in an existing window, not a new one.

EMT

Thrax, stop ignoring my posts :P

Thrax

Sorry, heh. I didn't even see it last night; I was focusing on Entropy's.

I was expecting a new tab because Maxthon exhibits that behaviour, and I want that behaviour.

EMT

Yeah, I figured since it was at the bottom of the first page and all, that was probably what happened, np.

IMO that's a pretty unreasonable gripe since it's a matter of getting used to the way the browser works and most Home buttons function this way but FF's still can perform the desired function. If it really matters, the browser *is* open source...
(an extension may also exist, I haven't looked)

edit: Are ya spelling the British way now?..

entropy

I'm really liking this. If you prefetch it, it loads quicker, too. Nifty trick I found (though it's probably obvious... I'm just dumb ).

This browser has so many ins & outs it's no wonder people love it. Every day I learn something. Like just now. I highlighted the address and accidentally dragged it onto the favorites bar and - voila! - a new favorite. Little things like that.

Only complaints are the slight lag on tabs (mainly when dragging and dropping a link) and the fact that you have to click twice on the address before you can highlight a certain area. Just stuff to get used to, I s'pose.

BlackHawk

entropy wrote:

and the fact that you have to click twice on the address before you can highlight a certain area.

Uh, no you don't. Although there are some builds where the address bar can be a bit b!tchy at times.

entropy

Well, right now I do. If I click once, it highlights everything. Now, with IE, I could click and drag in a new spot to highlight, say, "short-media," only. With Firefox (at least mine) I have to click once to highlight all, once to de-highlight, and then I can select, "short-media," only. It's weird

BlackHawk

Maybe it's cause I'm using a nightly build but if you click once, it does highlight all but if you click once, hold and highlight, it works.

entropy

K, that works, thanks

Found huge speed boosts, just in case anyone is interested (or just jumped on the Firefox bandwagon like me ) It might actually slow you down if you're on dialup, though, I don't know. Use about:config to change these.

network.http.max-connections: 48

network.http.max-connections-per-server: 24

network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy: 12

network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server: 6

network.http.pipelining: true

network.http.pipelining.maxrequests: 100

network.http.proxy.pipelining: true

One more thing. I seem to be having issues installing extensions/plugins suddenly? .mov won't play in Firefox, though I have the Quicktime Alternative thing installed. If I do "Install missing plugins" it almost never finds them. And when it does, it won't download/install them at all.

And now I can't install Extensions. I've got 4 or 5 sitting on my desktop waiting to be installed, simply because Firefox refused to install the .xpi/.jar files. If I hit "Install now" on the extension site, nothing happened