Google Videos: Download or Watch Google Videos in any country

How to download google videos flv file from any location around the globe without downloading the Google Video FLV player.

Google Video has been about watching funny videos, bollywood movies and music clips online but Google users in China, UAE, Germany, Korea, France, India, Pakistan and other regions of the world cannot play videos directly from the Google Video page. When a viewer from any of these regions tries to play a Google video, he is denied access and gets the following message:

Thanks for your interest in Google Video. Currently, the playback feature of Google Video isn’t available in your country. We hope to make this feature available more widely in the future’, and we really appreciate your patience.

Google actually uses geotargeting to determine a visitors’ location but that can be easily bypassed with a proxy server

If you are staying in a location where playback is not available, you can read this workaround approach to watch Google videos live in any country. You can also save Google videos on your computer in AVI or FLV format for offline viewing. Rembember, this technique uses no proxy servers as they make the video playback process very slow.



1. Make sure you have installed the Macromedia Flash player plugin in your browser. If you are on Firefox, turn off Adblock that sometimes block SWF animations.

2. Open video.google.com and search for the video you want to play.



3. Once you locate the video, click on the video thumbnail to play the video. Since playback is not supported in your country, Google shows you an error message. Ignore that warning and click on the “Put on Site” link (see screenshot)

4. You will see a text box just beneath the “Put on Site” link containing some cryptic HTML. Don’t get frightened, copy the HTML code by clicking inside the text area and press Ctrl+C. Then open notepad or any text editor and paste the HTML.

5. Open the Find dialog (Ctrl+F) and type http://video.google

As you click find, you will see a really long URL starting with the above text. Select and copy the entire URL (select everything that’s enclosed in double quotes starting with http://video.googll… and ending with playerMode=embedded)

6. Just paste this URL in your browser address and press enter. Cool the video is now playing inside your browser just as a visitor in US would see it.

You can also change the the Video dimensions by clicking on the bottom right corner of the Google Video player (see screenshot)

Play Blocked Google Videos via Google Translate
Not just language translation, Google Translate can be also be used to access blocked websites. We can extend the Google Translate proxy trick to download or play Google Videos anywhere. Just append the full Google Video link and paste in the address bar:

http://216.239.39.104/translate_c?langpair=en|en&u=
http://google.com/translate?langpair=en|en&u=

How to play a Google Video FLV file
Download this free FLV Player - a standalone application to play Flash .flv files.

How to save the Google Video as AVI or FLV files on your computer
Copy the Browser URL in Step 3 above and paste the URL here. The FLV and AVI file can be easily converted to any of the following formats using a free convertor (download. It supports Video format: 3gp/3g2(Nokia,Siemens,Sony,Ericsson) asf, avi (DivX, H263,H263+, H264,Xvid,MPEG4, MSmpeg4 etc..), fli, flc, flv (used in Flash), mpg (Mpeg I,Mpeg II), mov, mp4, ogg, qt, rm, str (Play Station), swf (Flash), viv, vob, wmv Audio format: ac3, amr, mp2, mp3, mp4, ogg, ra, wma.

If you find some real funny Google videos, please share them here. You can create your own Google videos with an handycam or a digital camera that records video - just do basic editing with Windows Movie Maker or create a video from family pictures with Microsoft Photostory and upload it using the Google Video uploader. Simple. Have fun with Google Videos.

Display Microsoft .MHT files in Firefox

How to read MHT files exported from Microsoft Office in Firefox ?

Internet Explorer provides you a useful option to save Web pages including graphics, css, javascript and other embedded components as a Web archive single file, known as an MHT file (MIME HTML).

MHT files are much easier to export and share as all the associated HTML code and images are zipped in one file which can be directly opened in IE. Desktop Search programs like Google and MSN can index the content of mht files. Infact, most of the Microsoft Office programs like Word, OneNote, Powerpoint or Infopath can publish documents directly in mht formats. So an InfoPath 2003 document saved as MHT file can be opened even on a computer that doesn’t have Infopath installed.

How to read and write .mht file formats in Firefox ?

Though Firefox doesn’t provide native support for viewing or writing MHTML files, the Mozilla Archive Format (MAF) Firefox extension can help you. Once installed in Firefox, this extension lets you save Web pages in the open-source .MAFF format. It can also read and write .MHT files, which IE users can open.

However, the MAF Firefox extension requires Firefox 1.5+. If you are on a previous version, you can either install the View in IE or IE Tab extension.

In MHT files, all relative links in the Web page are remapped and the embedded content is included in the .mht file, rather than being saved in a separate folder. The absolute references or hyperlinks on the Web page remain unchanged and the .mht file is viewed using Internet Explorer.

Photocasting Tutorial without iLife iPhoto [PC or Mac]

While introducing iLife iPhoto 6 features at Macworld conference, Steve Jobs said Photocasting is like Podcasting for photos.

Photocasting is a new way of sharing photos. It’s like sending your photo album to your friends and family, and having it change automatically on their computers when you update it on yours. When your grandmother subscribes to your photos, she’ll see them in her iPhoto library just as you see them in yours. And as you add, edit or remove pictures in your Photocast library, iPhoto automatically updates them on her computer, thousands of miles away, via the internet.

To view Photocasts, one must have iPhoto 6 (Mac). If you don’t have iPhoto or are on a PC, you can still subscribe to Photocasts via any RSS-compatible browser or RSS reader on Mac or Windows PC. Just enter the URL (provided by the Photocaster) in an RSS reader to view the Photocast.

Photocasting with iPhotos sounds really cool but you can only create and publish photocasts only if you have are on Mac OS X since iPhoto has no PC version. Secondly, you have to buy a .Mac membership to be able to share photos with photocasting. (A one year .Mac account costs US$99.95.).

There is still no photo podcasting client for Windows yet but in some simple steps, you can also publish your own photocasts just like iPhoto. Read the following guide:

1. To being publishing your photos as in iPhoto, first create an account at Flickr - it’s free, no account is required to View photos, and since Flickr is owned by Yahoo, it’s like to stay alive forever. And Flickr requires no software as it runs from the web browser. So you can work with Flickr either on a Mac or a PC or even Linux.

2. Now upload your photos to Flickr that want to share with your friends or family. Flickr provides a host of uploading tools both for Mac and Windows PC. You can also upload photos via your cameraphone or email.

3. Once you have uploaded your pictures, open the Flickr homepage and click “Your Photos”. Scroll to the bottom of your screen where you see Feeds for Mr. XYZ photostream Right click the RSS 2.0 link and copy the location.

4. This is the last step. Open Feedburner.com and paste the feed address link you just copied in Step 3. Click Next, type in a feed address, user name, password and Activate the Feed. Feedburner will give now show your feed address. Your Photocast is ready.

What’s next: Announce the URL to your friends. Just like iPhoto, your Feedburner Photocast feed can be viewed in any browser or RSS reader. Even iPhoto users can subscribe to your photo feeds. You can also enable FeedBlitz in your Feedburner account so that your friends receive an email update whenever you post new pictures.

For some more fun, your friends can download a Flickr Screensaver like Flickr.Net or Slickr. These Flickr screensavers can be configured to show photos of any Flick user or group. As you upload new photos to your Flickr account, they will automatically be displayed on your grandma’s screen when her computer is idle. Cool.

Later, you can explore tagging photographs in Flickr. Tags are keywords, pieces of meta-data that describe the content and context of your photos. Tags help people identify photos that have something in common. Every time you upload a photo, you can tag it with multiple keywords. Tags are what make your photos searchable, so it’s important to put some thought into them.

Flickr provides a photofeeds for individual tags. You can go a step further and add transitions, animations, titles and commentary to your Photocasts using Microsoft Photostory, just like Screencasting.

Update: Dave is pointing to an Apple photocast RSS feed # that works in Safari but not in IE or Firefox. As a workaround (until Apple fixes it), just supply this feed to Feedburner and it then works like a charm.

MillionDollarHomepage eBay Auction ends in disappointment

Own The Last 1,000 Pixels on MillionDollarHomepage.com - The eBay Auction is now over but the closing minutes of the auction were a big disappointment atleast for Alex Tew - the creator of MillionDollarHomepage.com



Alex Tew was selling the last 1,000 pixels of MillionDollar Homepage in an eBay Auction. Yesterday, the highest bid amount for 1000 pixels was $160,000 but just minutes before the close of auction, all high amount bidders ($1,000,000+) either retracted their bids or were found to be fake.

Ebay user latentauthor who bid $153,000.00 retracted from the auction citing “Seller [Alex Tew] changed the description of the item”.

Two other users - lost.river.trader and ast1155td retracted saying they entered the wrong amount while bidding. Both had entered $160,000,00+ in their pixel bids. A $25m and another $6 million bid were cancelled as they were found to be fake.



The MillionDollarPixel auction was won by greatdealsdepot for US $38,100.00. He made the bidding on 05-Jan-06 and the auction received no “real” bids since then.

The MillionDollarHomepage made more than a million dollars (999,000 + 38,100) It was your Final Chance to Own a Piece of Internet History!

Update: Alex will announce the winner on the Million Dollar Blog once he receives the full payment.

Chitika is not adding Adsense style Text Ads

Chitika PPC Advertising is not expanding to include Text ads after eMiniMalls

Immediately after launch, Chitika eMiniMalls became the darling of bloggers. The interactive eMinimalls displayed product ratings, reviews, prices from various merchants and other comparison shopping related information in one neat format. Some website owners even experimented replacing Adsense units with PPC Chitika ads since Chitika was giving a much higher CPC than Google Adsense.

On the downside, Chitika ads reported lower Click-through rates (CTR) and were found to be more effective on product blogs like Cameras, Garments or Electronics. And the recent delay in Chitika audits, changes to eMiniMalls interface, and drop in CPC rates didn’t go down really well with many Chitika publishers.

Still, considering that the service is still in Beta, Chitika is still a good alternative to Adsense or YPN. And now, in a bid to restore lost publisher’s faith, Chitika is working on new Ad formats (see screenshot) that completely resemble the text ads offered by Yahoo Publisher Network or Google Adsense.

This screenshot shows a square 250x250 Chitika text ad displaying contextual ads from comparison shopping merchants like Dealtime or BizRate. The “Ads By Chitika" link takes you to the Chitika Inc. homepage. The Chitika Text Ad formats resemble ads formats offered by Google Adsense. The user clicks in Chitika Text Ads are tracked by ads1.chitika.net [eMiniMalls clicks are tracked by mm.chitika.net] It is not immediately clear when the Chitika Text Ads will be available to publishers.

Update: ChitikaNews.com confirmed with Chitika that it is only a rumour and Chitika have no plans to support the RealContext feature.

Chitika Google YPN Sandbox | Chitika eMiniMalls format | Google Adsense Formats

How to Track Visitor clicks in Adsense, Chitika and YPN with Google Analytics

Always Use Protection: Condom for Internet Explorer

The “Always use protection" Firefox ad, showing a condom wrapped with the Firefox logo, tried to associate Firefox with safe sex. And now, the developers of Registry Cleaner are trying a similar trick to protect IE - they have actually created a condom for Internet explorer.

This eCondom is a free utility that helps you to run Microsoft Internet Explorer in the safer user mode even if you are logged in under Administrator account. Generally, user accounts are prohibited by Administrator from installing new software or ActiveX control (IE Plugins) which are the prime entry routes for spyware, keylogger, rootkit or other malware. And if you still want to install a plugin - just run IE without the condom.

eCondom tries to block access to malicious web sites that use the latest, yet not fixed by Microsoft, vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer [ remember the WMF flaw ]

eCondom only complements and is certainly not a replacement for anti-spyware, anti-virus or personal firewall. Windows, Vista, is expected to address these issues through a Microsoft Internet Explorer Protected Mode. But until you can run Vista you can get a similar level of protection by using eCondom.

Download eCondom | Source AMUST eCondom

Law now prohibits annonymous blog comment or email

Annonymous comments in blogs may soon become a thing of the past. A new law in US states that when you annoy someone on the Internet, you must disclose your identity. Else, you can be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

You are welcome to “flame” someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. But annoying someone via the Internet while remaining anonymous is now a federal crime.

The provision, contained in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), amends the existing law to create criminal penalties for anonymous e-mails and VoIP calls sent with the intent to “annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person.”

VAWA was originally passed in 1994 to protect women from domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. The new version of the bill adds a cyber stalking provision to the legislation that includes anonymous e-mail and Internet-based voice services such as Vonage.

Attorney Susan Howley of the National Center for the Victims of Crime, who helped shape the amendment added to the existing VAWA, said, “It’s another tool to stop someone’s harassing behavior. It only extends the current telephone harassment laws to the Internet. It extends the same protections to new forms of communications.”

Source: Create an e-annoyance, go to jail

Newspaper clipping with Ads By Google

Google makes 99.99% of its revenue from online advertising. Now, Google, the kingpin of online advertising, is applying its technology and ad network to make money from ads in print publications.

What you see here are Google Adwords (Google Classifieds ?) that appeared in the December 12 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper (sports section).

Since the Google ads are displayed in the sports section of the newspaper, the ads are about ticket brokers, White Sox apparel and Chicago Bears memorabilia. Google is making sure that, just like Google Adsense, the ads remain contextual in nature even in Print media.

The ads are similar to Google’s text-based AdWords advertising found on search results and include the words “Ads by Google,” at the top.

Google has earlier placed print ads in computer magazines PC Magazine and Maximum PC. Google also placed a group of ads in the November issue of Budget Living magazine. See Google Ads in PCMagazine print edition.

Inksite, which sells printer ink and toner, paid about $1,000 for a one-quarter page ad in the Sept. 6 issue of PC Magazine. By comparison, a text ad in search results for “printer toner” might cost as much as $2.25 per click. AHS Systems paid $4,000 to $5,000 for its ad to appear in PC Magazine for two months, compared with the $3,000 that a typical ad that size would likely cost in the magazine for one month.

The Google Publication Ads program would allow advertisers to purchase ad space in the papers through Google’s AdWords system. Existing Adwords publishers can use their Adwords credentials if they receive a Google Invite.

Ad buyers can choose print publications either by circulation details, demographics or keywords and then create the ad using text and graphics. The ad will then be forwarded to the publisher for approval, and when the ad runs, the user receives a proof of publication and a bill.

Update: Google Confirms Testing Ads In Sun-Times Newspaper. “We’re looking at developing new ways to provide effective, useful advertising for our advertisers, and this test is part of that continuing effort,” a Google spokesman said. Google however declined to discuss details of the test or the advertising.

A spokeswoman for Orland Park-based MPI Home Video, whose Google ad for DVD copies of the Chicago Bears “Super Bowl Shuffle” video appeared in the Sun-Times, said Google invited the company to participate free in the test because its ad, which had been on Google for the previous 15 months, had drawn a high number of hits. Their sales of the DVD increased about 50% after the print ad ran, although that figure may also have been boosted by the Bears’ successful season and a larger marketing push.

Source: Chicago Business | Google pays to run ads for its own advertisers | Google newspaper ads | More Print Ads by Google | InformationWeek | Adage.com

Don't throw a mouse on burning leaves

Just one mouse can completely destroy your entire home. This is what happened with Luciano Mares in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

When Luciano (81) found a mouse in his home, he wanted to get rid of it.

He found some leaves burning outside his home and threw the mouse in the fire. The mouse caught fire, ran back at the house and set the building ablaze.

Though no-one was injured, the house and everything in it was destroyed.

Source: Blazing mouse sets fire to house

Adobe Lightroom vs Apple Aperture vs Photoshop

As expected, Adobe announced Adobe Lightroom (Shadowland) as an alternative to Apple Aperture. Much like Apple Aperture, Lightroom delivers a complete photography workflow in a modular, task-based environment. Lightroom software has been written from scratch and is not an adaptation of Photoshop.

Adobe Lightroom combines features and technologies from a number of the applications within the Creative Suite. The majority comes from Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in and the Adobe Bridge asset manager, though other parts have their heritage in the InDesign and GoLive layout packages.

Like Aperture, Lightroom isn’t designed to be a substitute Adobe Photoshop. Both Lightroom and Aperture are targeted at professional photographers, providing a complete workflow solution for managing, editing, and outputting digital images. The emphasis is on RAW format photos, but not to the exclusion of JPEGs. While there’s some overlap with Photoshop’s toolset, neither Lightroom nor Aperture offer layers, selection tools, or a text tool.

Watch an Adobe Lightroom video tutorial (streaming Flash video) by Adobe Pro Photography Evangelist George Jardine or this Lightroom introductory movie in Quicktime mov format.

Leveraging Adobe’s Camera Raw technology, Lightroom supports over 100 cameras and incorporates raw conversion into a single workflow. In addition, Lightroom will incorporate several photography-centered features, including:

* Lights-Out mode, which allows users to make the control panels fade into the background.
* Identity Plate, which allows users to apply their own branding to the application and its output.
* One-to-One zoom, which allows instant magnification of the finer points of an image.
* Image showcasing via slideshows with drop shadows, borders
* Multiple contact sheet templates.
* Photos can be arranged into Shoots, as well as Collections, and a histogram view of each picture’s colour make-up is available.
* The size and position of the images can be manipulated and offered to clients in Macromedia Flash, Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) or HTML formats.



How does Adobe Lightroom compare with Adobe Photoshop CS2
Photoshop is the industry standard for photographers, graphic artists and Web designers. But Lightroom is aimed squarely at photographers. Lightroom is also different from Photoshop in terms of its software architecture. Photoshop complements Lightroom when there�s a heavy image-editing task to handle. And Lightroom makes it easy to open a picture in Photoshop.

How does Adobe Lightroom compare with Apple Aperture
Adobe claims that Lightroom will support the RAW formats of more cameras than Aperture. Lightroom provides the option of storing your images outside the application in the file system. Lightroom has a Compare mode that lets you Command-click on thumbnails in the filmstrip to add them to the viewing panel for comparison.

Another important difference for Mac users is that Lightroom’s system requirements are less strenuous than Aperture’s. Adobe requires minimally a 1-GHz G4 processor with 768MB of RAM and only 1,024-by-768 screen resolution. The Windows requirements should be roughly analogous.



Lightroom is still in development and will evolve as Adobe collects feedback from photographers using it. Initially available as a beta for Macintosh, Lightroom will later support both the Windows and Macintosh platforms. Download Adobe Lightroom from the Adobe Labs website.

The development of Adobe Lightroom, code named Shadowland, was not something Adobe started after Apple announced Aperture. The Shadowland project has been going on for years.

Adobe Lightroom will be priced somewhere between AdobePhotoshop Elements and Photoshop. Adobe Lightroom is off to a compelling start with it’s sleek, unobtrusive interface; strong, nondestructive editing tools; customizable slide shows.

Download standalone Lightroom Beta Installer (DMG 8MB) [includes sample images, projects, and metadata]

Download Light Installer with Sample Content (DMG 140 MB)

Adobe Lightroom Screenshots | Adobe Lightroom Primer by Michael Reichmann | More on Lightroom here, Project Lightroom, here, here or at Photoshop News

Google Talent Hunt for Hollywood Movie

At Cannes 2005, Mcorp Global announced plans to produce a mega-budget film on the life of Gautam Buddha under the banner of Buddha Films Productions.

Buddha Films is now in discussion with Google, to launch a global talent hunt for the face that will play the title role in the film Buddha.

The software engineers that created images for Lord of the Rings have already generated images of Lord Buddha and the Mcorp is now looking to Google for searching a human face that fits those images.

Motivational guru Deepak Chopra is writing the script and Hollywood star Brad Pitt even expressed interest in acting in this film. Prince Siddhartha’s attainment of enlightenment has never been recorded on the silver screen.

Video clip of Film Buddha

Edit, Store, Share Videos, Photo Slideshows on TV, DVD

At the Consumer Electronics Show 2006 [1 2 3], several companies showcased software and services to perform video backups, video editing, online video sharing, creating photo slide shows for the TV or burning it on a DVD. Here’s a quick roundup of CES 2006.

Sharing small Vidoes
HP announced the new Snapfish Home Movie Service that aims to make it just as easy to share videos online as snapfish.com does photos. For $2.99 a month, you can put your videos in the same albums as your photos for friends and family to watch. Clips are limited to 10 minutes, but you can upload an unlimited number of them.

Sharing large Vide files by uploading
Streamload, an online storage service like XDrive, announced a new MediaMax service that imposes no limits on file size or quality. Though music or pictures can be uploaded, Streamload is more suitable for sharing video with your friends. You must upload movies to Streamload’s servers to share them.

Photo Slideshows on DVD
Simple Star provides software to Shutterfly, Comcast, or Kodak. Simplestar announced a $10 add-on to the software that allows you to burn a DVD of your slide show. You can choose among 300 songs for your soundtrack. If you’d prefer, you can also order a DVD online. Video clips can be included, but are limited to 15 seconds.

Editing Home Videos
If you looking to edit your home videos, try Pictureal. It makes many decisions about what to keep, and uses face recognition to help you later find scenes with your favorite actors (or family members). Pictureal has a service whereby you Fedex your tapes, and the company produces a polished DVD from them.

Sharing Video Files without uploading
Grouper, a free service, gives you the option of sharing video directly from your PC or uploading it to its servers. To use Grouper, you must download a small application. With it you can import video from your camcorder, create short movies (“Groovies”), and then choose either public or private sharing. You can download the movies to your iPod or Playstation Portable, or link them to your blog.

Choose the right Video Format
Before you can put your video on the Web, you must do some serious compressing. A good video editing program will let you squish the videos and convert them to the right Web format: Windows Media (.wmv), QuickTime (.mov), or Flash (.swf). Your video editor should offer presets for various connections, too; pick a slow frame rate and/or a small playback window size, unless you’re certain that viewers will be using broadband connections. Microsoft Windows Movie Maker video editing program for Windows XP will automatically encode the video and upload it to a video-hosting service such as Neptune MediaShare or MyDeo.

You Tube, Ourmedia, and Google Video are some of the best video hosting websites that host your video on the Web for free. Pictureal | Grouper | Streamload | Snapfish | Simple Star

If you are planning to put pictuers and home videos on a DVD always create a nice label. Avery and Fellowes provide downloadable DVD-label design templates.

Source: New Options for Editing, Sharing Video | New Ways to Wrangle Video and Photos | The Best Ways to Share Videos on the Web or DVD

The Best of CES 2006 - Day 3

You may also want to read Digital Inspiration 2006 CES Coverage of Day 1, Day 2

WinBook announced a Viiv all-in-one PC today, calling it the Jiv (rhymes with Viiv, which we all know rhymes with jive). The Jiv weighs 9 pounds and features a 17-inch wide-screen display, a TV tuner, an integrated camera, a wireless Bluetooth keyboard, and a built-in wireless antenna. WinBook also announced the Jiv Mini that resembles the Mac Mini.

The Uniden WXI377 cordless phone can swim next to you. The home phone can be dunked in up to nine feet of water for up to three hours, or can just bob along pleasantly until someone calls. The WIN1200 is the first official Windows Live Messenger phone, hooking up both to your ordinary landline and to your PC to make soft-phone calls through Microsoft’s system.

Near Field Communication (NFC), a contactless payment technology, will change the way you do shopping. To use your credit card at one of these touch-and-pay spots, you’ll need a smart-chip-embedded credit card, already offered by providers like MasterCard, Visa and American Express. Once NFC armed, users are able to simply wave or tap their mobile device or card in front of any point-of-sale terminal, and transactions made will then be charged to their credit card or bank account - which are securely stored in the integrated smart card chip.

Toshiba announced gigabeat S series of MP3 players, available in 30GB and 60GB capacities with support for Microsoft WMV plus any format that Windows Media Player can convert. The players will also support WM DRM 10, letting you use online download and subscription services for both video and audio content. The MES30V (30GB model) and and the MES60V (60GB model) are priced in line with Apple’s fifth-generation iPod pricing.

iRobot, makers of Roomba robotic floor vacuum, announced Scooba that washes hard floors. In one pass, it sweeps up loose dirt, squirts a cleaning solution down onto the floor, scrubs, and suctions up the dirty water. There’s no automatic charging station for the Scooba, since the designers don’t want a machine full of dirty water going unattended for too long.

HP’s chief advantage over rival Dell is that it sells both Intel- and AMD-powered machines, giving customers a greater array of choice. HP announced a new dual-core version of the company’s flagship thin-and-light, the HP Pavilion dv1000. In addition to Intel’s new Core Duo processor, the dv1000 now has a remote that fits into its PCI Express slot, as well as the newest version of Quick Play, HP’s homegrown media-player application, which can play CDs and DVDs whether or not Windows is booted.

Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Solutions to common Firefox 1.5 problems

Troubleshooting Firefox problems - Tips to prevent Firefox issues like hanging, reduce memory usage

Common issues associated with Firefox 1.5
1. Sometimes when you try to restore or maximize a Firefox browser window, Firefox doesn’t respond to either mouse clicks or Alt+Tab keys. This is generally due to a memory leak. All you can do is either rightclick the minimized Firefox tab in task bar and click “Close” or kill the firefox.exe process from Windows Task manager and restart Firefox.

2. Did you ever experience Firefox 1.5 crash with the Dr. Watson (drwin.exe) error ? Yes, SessionSaver extension remembers all text your typed in an input text field and saves all open browser tabs in the event of a session error but SessionSaver is not yet ported to Firefox 1.5

3. Firefox may freeze for a moment and then run normally. If you click a hyperlink in Outlook email, Firefox takes a long time to open the webpage and also becomes slow. Or Firefox won’t launch until an existing “firefox.exe” process is killed manually from Task Manager. Sometime if you drag and drop some text on the search bar, Firefox will need be restarted.

Smooth browsing with Firefox - Here, in this guide, we will discuss tips and methods to speedup Firefox launch time, save your Firefox 1.5 from freezing unexpectedly and preventing Firefox crashes.

If Mozilla Firefox hangs as soon as you launch the browser, the issue is probably either with an installed extension or a theme. Try running Firefox in Safe Mode (firefox.exe -safe-mode) - If it runs normally, disable or uninstall the problem causing theme or extension.

Firefox can hang is there is a memory leak. Installing too many extensions or opening lot of browser tabs can hog memory. Disable all extension that you haven’t used since the past week

Sometimes, my Firefox returns an error when I try to download and save pictures from my Yahoo Photos webpage. The problem disappears when I clear download manager history. The memory usage increases greatly after downloading files unless the Download box is ‘cleaned up’ after they finish downloading. To do this automatically, change the download manager’s history setting to remove files from the download manager “upon successful download”.

The Back and Forward button caching functionality -which speeds up the display of recently viewed Web pages can also contribute to memory problems. Disable the fast back/forward caching (bfcache) feature by setting browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers to 0 using about:config.

Adobe Reader browser plugin can consume huge amounts of memory. To disable the Adobe Reader Firefox plugin, open the Firefox plugins directory and delete or rename the nppdf32.dll file.

Firefox can also crash when you close a tab that is loading or playing a Java Applet - Always disable Java plugin, it will also reduce the CPU usage.

In certain configurations, disabling Mouse Gesture in Firefox helps curb memory spikes.

Don’t install Adblock extension with Firefox 1.5 as it causes an increase in Firefox memory usage. Instead use AdBlock Plus.

Setting the browser history to extremely large values will increase memory usage. Keeping the history to a reasonable level is a good idea for this reason.

Install FasterFox tweaking extension - it allows you to prefetch links and tweak many network and rendering settings such as simultaneous connections, pipelining, cache, DNS cache, and initial paint delay.

config.trim_on_minimize - If you experience slow startup after long periods of inactivity (minimized Firefox window or other), it is because the Microsoft Windows Operating System reclaims the memory Firefox used in anticipation that other open applications might need it. This can cause a delay when Firefox is restored. Therefox, you can set the config.trim preference to disallow Windows to reclaim memory from a minimized Mozilla application. Always set config.trim_on_minimize to true in Firefox

Other about:com changes to speed up Firefox:

1. Disable prefetch: go to about:config. Search for prefetch, you’ll find network.prefetch-next. Double click it to turn it false if it is on.

2. Limit the memory cache: about:config, new integer, browser.cache.memory.capacity, set it to the memory in KB you want to limit the memory cache to.

I hope these tweaks improve your web browsing experience with Firefox. One last thing, Mozilla has published a list of situations that can lead to massive memory leaks and slow down computers. You can use this to diagnose problem with individual web pages.

• Bad live bookmark causes Firefox memory usage to grow endlessly and make the browser unstable


• Memory leak (especially in graphics-intensive webpages), freed upon minimize


• When saving a picture, HUGE memory leak! Also slows machine down!


• memory leak if page contains a refresh meta-tag


• Memory leak when I leave firefox up with a few sub tabs open


• Firefox begin to eat memory and hangs after opening this URL


• very slow restore from minimize after memory growth compared to other applications

About memory leak - a process that over time can gradually eat away at system resources. In worst-case scenarios, a memory leak could cause an application to become unstable.

Essential Firefox Tweaks References: 1 | 2 | 3

Adobe Lightroom (Shadowland) to support RAW format

Adobe has secretly been working on an answer to Apple Aperture code named Shadowland. Yesterday, we showed screenshots of Adobe Lightroom available on Adobe Online store. The news is now very much confirmed that Adobe will announce a new “Apple Aperture" like software at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Some feel that Adobe Lightroom will be a combination of Adobe Photoshop CS2 Camera Raw plug-in and Adobe Bridge. Jennifer is pointing to a trademark application for Adobe LightRoom that describes Adobe Lightroom as a “Computer software for use in the field of digital photography and photography, namely, computer software for digital photography workflow and digital photo storage and management..”

Further, Scott Bourne, a Photoshop and Aperture expert, writes:

Shadowland (also known as LightRoom) will debut to at least the media and maybe a more public audience next week (Monday) at MacWorld .. LightRoom is supposed to be an Aperture workalike. It will not require as powerful a computer to run as Aperture does and it will have more built-in RAW support.

Photoshop News, who have a close association with Adobe, says:

This is one of those No-Win situations…
PhotoshopNews, being a blog about Photoshop kinda needs to address the question, but circumstances prohibit us from saying anything other than to mention the rumor without confirming nor denying it. On the other hand, inquiring minds might want to check PhotoshopNews early Monday morning, January 9th, 2006 to see if circumstances change.

Another rumour suggests that Adobe Lightroom a.k.a Shadowland was on the cards before Aperture was released and Aperture was rushed to completion to be first to market with this type of software. Apple Aperture is designed to help organize and manage photo workflow, while allowing for reversible image retouching and manipulation.

Adobe LightRoom targets Apple Aperture

When Apple launched Aperture, it was aimed at the professional photographer who shoots predominantly Raw files and was looking for a better way to manage their workflow and perform their initial Raw conversion. Many experts felt that Apple was looking grab a pie of Adobe Photoshop’s marketshare with this new Mac-only software.

The success of Apple Aperture underscores the desire of professional photographers to have better workflow tools. Adobe is however in no mood to let go the digital photography software market to Apple Aperture. In response to Apple Aperture, Adobe will announce a Adobe Lightroom next week for working with RAW images. Though there is no official word from Adobe, the Adobe Lightroom software was seen on Adobe Store for some time before Adobe removed it. (see screenshots).

According to AppleInsider, Adobe will preview the application, dubbed LightRoom, for the first time during next week’s Macworld Expo in San Francisco. A finalized version of the application is not expected to ship until sometime later in the year. Initially, LightRoom will be released only for the Mac. However, sources say a PC version is in the works.

Update: New clues about Adobe Lightroom a.k.a. Adobe Shadowland suggest that this Adobe software will be announced at Macworld on Jan 9.



Apple Aperture is designed to help organize and manage photo workflow, while allowing for reversible image retouching and manipulation. It also allows photographers to work directly from more sophisticated data rather than having to use the more common compressed Jpeg format.

Download Google Screensaver without installing Google Pack

You can download Google Screensaver with or without installing the Google Pack.

What follows is a short guide to download and install the Google Pack Screensaver without downloading any of the other software in Google Pack or the even the Google Updater software. The Google screensaver will be installed without the Google Logo.

The Google Screensaver is probably the best piece of software in the entire Google Pack. The screensaver displays a slideshow of your digital pictures full screen or as a collage. The collage effect gives an impression as if someone is dumping Polaroid images on your desktop over time. Google screensaver works even on dual monitor screens.

Though the screensaver installer is only a few kilobytes, you need to download the entire Google updater application from pack.google.com to install the Google Screensaver.

If that is too much work for you, here is a quick tip to download a standalong google screensaver and as a bonus, this modified screensaver doesn’t display the Google logo on the top right corner.

Download this standalone Google Screensaver scr here and save the file to your Windows folder (generally, C:\Windows in XP and C:\WinNT in Windows 2000).

The Google screensaver is now installed on your computer. To configure your screensaver and set it as the default screensaver on your system, follow these steps:

1. Right-click on your desktop and select “Properties” from the menu that appears
2. Select the “Screen Saver” tab from the “Display Properties” dialog
3. From the “Screen saver” drop-down, select “Google Pack Screensaver” then click the “Settings” button
4. From the settings window, you can select the transition, timing, and selection of photos in your screensaver.

Picasa screensaver also lets you display a slideshow of your photos when your computer is idle but that requires you to download the ~4MB picasa installer from Google.

Google Photos Screensaver

Google Video Player out of Google Pack

Yesterday, Google announced the new Google desktop video player for playing videos that users rent or download from the Google Video Store. The Google Video player, a 4.5 MB file, can only play *.GVI and *.GVP files (Google proprietary formats)



Just hours after Larry Page unveiled the Google Pack at CES 2006, Google has removed the Google Video Player from Google Pack. The Google Video Player product link is returning a 404.



Many users were able to download the Google video player but could not test it as there aren’t any files available in GVI or GVP format.

The Best of CES 2006 - Day 2

Also read Digital Inspiration 2006 CES Coverage of Day 1



Motorola iTunes Phone
Motorola SLVR L7 will be the next phone to run Apple’s iTunes software. Other features include push-to-talk capability, a TransFlash memory card slot, Bluetooth and Motorola’s SCREEN3 technology, which pushes news headlines to your phone’s idle screen.

Lamborghini Not-for-sale sports car
Lamborghini (Volkswagen) unveiled a concept car that revives the Miura design from the mid-1960s. That hand-made Miura became a favorite of sports car enthusiasts and attracted celebrity owners. VW has no plans to produce a revived Miura - no one can buy for love or money - not even if they are on Hollywood’s A list.

Target Apple iPod
Apple does not attend CES, where its rivals are offering alternatives that they say are bigger, better and less expensive than an iPod. From Samsung to Sony to Sandisk, everyone wants a piece of Apple’s pie in the portable digital music player market, where the iPod reigns.

Sandisk introduced a 6 GB Sansa e270 MP3 player made with flash memory that also supports music subscription services.

XM unveiled a pair of portable, hand-held radio receivers that can also store digital songs, called the Helix and the Inno and manufactured by Samsung and Pioneer Corp.

Bill Gates play down threat from Google or Apple

People tend to get over focused on one of our competitors. We’ve always seen that. I’m never going to change the press’ view about what the cool company to write about is. That’s Google number 1 and Apple number 2. Too bad for Nokia, Sony and all those others.

Go Yahoo! Go
Yahoo! unveiled a set of new Web services initiatives dubbed Yahoo! Go TV, Yahoo Go Desktop. The services are designed to let users interact with Yahoo! and their own content stored online from mobile phones, PC desktops, and other sources. The services will allow users to connect to and interact with subsets of Yahoo!’s online offerings from cell phones, or from any browser, and also from televisions.

McAfee VirusScan software for Mobiles
McAfee’s new VirusScan Mobile software aims to protect PDAs and smart phones against malware attacks. The mobile security software scans and cleans files, e-mails, text messages, and downloads and attachments. The VirusScan Mobile takes up 850K of space and won’t interrupt connectivity during scans or operation.

Google Keynote
Google Pack - a set of Google software is announced
Google Video store announced that will let people rent or buy downloadable videos online.
Motorola will sell Web-enabled cellphones that feature easy access to Google’s search engine by clicking on a button on the phone’s keypad. Motorola will integrate a Google icon onto certain Internet-optimized handsets.

Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Google Software Bundle - Microsoft worried ?

Google wants to make installing software as easy as going to the Google home page. At CES 2006, Google for the first time named a set of preferred software, security and Web service providers that will be part of its recommended Google PC set-up.

The Google Pack (pack.google.com) includes the Google toolbar, Google desktop (which includes the Sidebar and the deskbar), the Picasa photo management and sharing service, Google Alert, Google Talk messaging, the Google Video Player, and a new Google Pack screensaver that lets users turn photos stored on your computer hard drive into a screensaver displaying your favorite pictures as a collage or a slide show.

Every program included in the Google Pack is not free - Google Pack includes a complimentary special edition of Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2005 with a 6 month trial subscription to protection updates from Symantec Security Response. This is strange that Google is distributing an older outdated version of NAV when Symantec store is selling Norton Antivirus 2006. Other software that the Google software pack includes are the Firefox browser, Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0, LavaSoft Adaware, the Real Player, and Trillium, an instant messaging application.

If one observes closely, every software bundled in Google Pack has a competing Microsoft Product. Google even considered including the Sun OpenOffice suite in Google Pack that would compete directly with Microsoft’s Office software suite but the programs were excluded because Google didn’t want to risk including anything that might be difficult to install or interfere with previously installed software applications. [Google earlier pledged with Sun to promote OpenOffice suite]

1. Mozilla Firefox - Internet Explorer


2. Google Desktop - Microsoft Windows Desktop Search


3. Google Earth - Microsoft Virtual Earth (Live Local)


4. Google Talk - MSN Messenger


5. Google Toolbar - MSN IE Toolbar


6. Picasa - Microsoft Windows Vista Photo Gallery


7. Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE Personal - Microsoft Windows Defender (Microsoft Antispyware)


8. Adobe Reader 7 - Microsoft upcoming Metro Format


9. GalleryPlayer HD Images - Microsoft Office Online Gallery


10. Norton AntiVirus 2005 SE - Microsoft Onecare


11. RealPlayer - Microsoft Windows Media Player, Apple iTunes, QuickTime - Google Video Player will be available soon


12. Trillian - MSN Messenger (probably Google wants to reduce MSN penetration by offering two IM clients in the bundle). Trillian Free client can connect with AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo! In order to connect to Google Talk or any other service that supports the Jabber/XMPP protocol, you’ll need to purchase Trillian Pro.

Software will be downloaded via the Google Updater application, and will “auto discover” updates to programs to ensure that you’ve got the latest version, whilst also acting as a launcher for all of the applications which have been provided by Google.

The Google keynote address ended a a week of speculation that Google might unveil a low-cost personal computer that doesn’t run Microsoft’s Windows operating system and could be sold at Wal-Mart.

Google Pack | Google Software Download | Endgadget @ CES

Google Video Bazaar open 24 hours

Google CEO Larry Page introduces Google Video Store at the Consumer Electronics Show 2006 in Las Vegas.



Google Video Marketplace is new Google service like Apple iTunes store that will let people rent or buy downloadable videos online, including classic and contemporary CBS television shows and NBA basketball games. According to Larry, the Google video marketplace would offer free programing, low-cost rentals and outright purchases of premium entertainment and sports shows.

Google’s flexible pricing model sets its video service apart from rivals. Apple iTunes store charges $1.99 for each video download and 99 cents for each song downloaded. With Google’s marketplace, content suppliers can name their own price, from zero on up. The content owners who charge for video downloads must share 30 percent of the revenue with Google. The video providers have the option of offering content on a download-to-own or download-to-rent basis.

CBS plans to offer programs like Crime Scene Investigation for rental a day after they originally air, priced at $1.99. Also, vintage CBS episodes will be offered for download and outright ownership for the same $1.99 fee. Besides programming from CBS, the NBA and Charlie Rose, the list of other video material that will be sold through Google includes: old episodes from “I Love Lucy,” “The Twilight Zone,” and “The Brady Bunch;” music videos from Sony BMG; and historic video from Getty Images.

Google Video Store customers will make payments with a credit card through Google’s account system, as they do with the Google AdWords advertising system and other Google services. There will be no ads in the videos or on the video Web pages, though Google is looking into providing ad-based video in the future.

In another related development, DivX is working with Google to develop a Google codec that makes Google Video accessible on a variety of consumer electronics devices. The DivX video-codec video compression technology offers DVD quality at 10 times the compression of traditional MPEG2 files, enabling a full-length film to fit on one CD or eight films to fit on one DVD.

Google accepts video uploads directly from content owners. Those interested can go to Google Video Upload website and load their digital videos to Google Video. You may designate a price for playback of Your Authorized Content in the Uploading Form itself.

Google has been offering video for free over the internet for about a year. But this is the first time it will enable its users to pay for premium content. Google Video currently works only on a Windows-based PC unlike Apple iTunes that works both on a Microsoft PC and an Apple Macintosh. Google Video uses the Google Video Player, which will incorporate Google proprietory digital rights management (DRM) technology. Others like Microsoft and Yahoo are also getting involved in offering video via the web.

Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Official Google Blog and non-English speaking visitors

A recent post by Karen Wickre on the official Google blog mentioned some interesting visitor statistics

Readers have come from all over the world, not just English speaking countries: 53,001 visitors from Turkey have stopped by, for example; so have 155,691 from France, 29,614 from Thailand and 8,233 from Peru.

So a good number of non-English speaking visitors are reading the Official Google blog but wait, how do they read the blog when the blog is written only in English ?

It’s strange that Google has not yet added language translation buttons to their blog.

Otherwise, how do non-english speaking people translate the Google blog into their native language ? Neither every browser on this earth has Google Toolbar installed nor every site visitor is geeky to be aware of Google Translate lets people convert webpages in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Simplified).

Download the Official Microsoft patch for WMF flaw

Due to a major security hole in WMF files, your computer could be infected with viruses, spyware or other malicious programs just by viewing a Web page, an e-mail message, or an Instant Message that contains one of the contaminated images. The problem has existed for years, but its discovery was publicly announced in late December 2005.

In a somewhat unusual development, an unofficial, third-party patch was posted on the Web several days before Microsoft’s official fix.

Microsoft has finally released a official patch for the Windows WMF (Windows Meta File) Graphics Rendering Engine vulnerability that left millions of PCs open to viruses, spyware.

Microsoft originally planned to release the update on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 as part of its regular monthly release of security bulletins, once testing for quality and application compatibility was complete. However, testing has been completed earlier than anticipated and the update is ready for release. In addition, Microsoft is releasing the update early in response to strong customer sentiment that the release should be made available as soon as possible.

Microsoft did not release a WMF patch for Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows Millennium Edition.

Download WMF patch for Microsoft Windows XP SP2 (may require WGA)
windowsxp-kb912919-x86-enu.exe
Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003

The change introduced to address this vulnerability removes the support for the SETABORTPROC record type from the META_ESCAPE record in a WMF image. This update does not remove support for ABORTPROC functions registered by application SetAbortProc() API calls.

The WMF vulnerability applies to all versions of Windows from 98 onward, Microsoft XP Pro, Microsoft XP Home, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition.

Microsoft will also release an updated version of its malicious-code-removal tool on Tuesday as part of its monthly security updates.

Security Update for Windows XP (KB912919)

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-001

The Best of CES 2006 - Day 1

The largest electronics trade show gets off to a roaring start in Las Vegas. Digital Inspiration will bring you daily highlights from this greatest electronic show on earth.

Digital Inspiration 2006 CES Coverage

Bill Gates takes wraps off Windows Vista displaying features aimed at positioning the software giant as the entertainment hub for a future of digitally connected homes. Microsoft also unveiled a search function within Vista that cuts across the content within a PC and its network, aimed at not conceding search on the desktop or the Internet to Google. Microsoft also unveiled MTV Network’s Urge Music Service, which will be built into Vista’s new Windows Media Center. It will offer users instant access to 2 million songs and videos in MTV’s library.

Intel launched its Core Duo chip that has lower power requirements and higher performance. The processor which has two computing engines built into a single chip, is expected to enable smaller, living-room friendly Viiv systems and will power the next-generation mobile platform, the Centrino Duo.

Pallm announced the immediate availability of Treo 700w, a Windows-based version of Treo. The Treo 700w comes with Microsoft’s standard application set for Windows Mobile 5, including readers and editors for Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint, a pocket version of Outlook and Pocket Internet Explorer. The built-in Windows Media Player 10 syncs music and video with PCs, including protected WMA content bought from online stores like Napster and Yahoo!. Palm has enhanced Pocket Outlook with support for MMS picture messaging and added the well-regarded Picsel PDF viewer.

Eastman Kodak introduced the world’s first dual-lens digital still camera, the Kodak Easyshare V570 zoom digital camera. Using proprietary Kodak Retina Dual Lens technology, the elegant V570 camera wraps an ultra-wide angle lens (23 mm) and an optical zoom lens (39 - 117 mm) into a small, sleek package less than an inch thin.

Google plans to announce a new service that will allow consumers to buy and download videos from Google Web site, such as television shows, on their computer from Google content partners such as TV companies.

Google also plans to announce Google Pack, a bundle of software from Google and other companies that consumers will be able to download and install on their computers. The software bundle will include the open-source Firefox Web browser, a version of Norton AntiVirus software, Adobe Reader software and RealPlayer multimedia software.

Both Pioneer (Inno) and Samsung (Helix XM2go) introduced MP3 players that also include satellite radio service from XM Satellite Radio. The players are about the size of a deck of cards and can store a listener’s own music collection ripped from CDs as well as XM programming. Both devices save music in the popular MP3 and WMA formats.

Sony showcased the Librié e-1000 electronic book, a next generation e-book Reader that lets users to store and read digital books. Roughly the size of a paperback novel, but thinner than most (about .5 inches thin), the device can store hundreds of books in internal memory with the addition of an optional Memory Stick or Secure Digital (SD) card. The electronic Reader can also store and display personal documents in Adobe PDF format, favorite web content like blogs or news feeds, and JPEG photos.

Dell showed off Limited Edition XPS 600 Renegade, a new gaming PC that includes several high-end components, including a “factory overclocked” 4.26GHz Intel Pentium Extreme Edition. It also includes four Nvidia graphics processors in an airbrushed fiery red case designed by Michael Lavallee.

Dell also showed off a concept laptop design that folds out and resembles a desktop computer with a detachable keyboard. The computer included a 20-inch widescreen display and the company has at least 10 patents. A release date has not been determined.

Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6