To Love and Hate NoScript
Mozilla Firefox has always been one of my favorite browsers. The only contender that was able to knock it from its #1 position was Google Chrome. Even though Chrome is still lacking in a few departments (extensions, bookmark management), I swear by it because of the overall performance. Plus, whenever they release a major version, I know they’ll have further performance enhancements – that’s just what they do. I also prefer the minimalistic nature of their user interface – which, as it turns out, also integrates beautifully with my operating system, Windows 7.
Despite Firefox dropping to #2 in my list, I still use it regularly for web development. They have plenty of extensions to keep me coming back: Firebug, Web Developer, ColorZilla, HTML Validator, and… well, NoScript. All of those extensions are excellent; however, NoScript sometimes irritates me.
NoScript Firefox extension provides extra protection for Firefox, Flock, Seamonkey and other mozilla-based browsers: this free, open source add-on allows JavaScript, Java and Flash and other plugins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank), and provides the most powerful Anti-XSS protection available in a browser.
NoScript’s unique whitelist based pre-emptive script blocking approach prevents exploitation of security vulnerabilities (known and even not known yet!) with no loss of functionality…
Certainly sounds great – and it works very well too. I really get a sense of safety in knowing I can selectively enable specific elements on webpages, blocking everything else by default. The functionality they offer is great. The problem I have is more with the developers, not the extension. You see, here’s the problem: NoScript is regularly updated, so you’re very likely to see this on a regular basis:
Kind of annoying, but by itself, not a deal breaker. After an restarting Firefox due to the update, I’m immediately greeted by the following page:
Let me state this very clearly: Every time I update NoScript, I’m thrown to that page. Ugh. Sure, they show me the change log, news, and more – but they also show me ads… a lot of them. Let’s start by looking at how much of the site is devoted to ads. I’ll highlight pure advertisements in red, affiliations in pink, and donation controls in orange:
That’s quite a lot of advertising on the main page… and it is above the fold of the page. It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen, but it is still a significant assault on my eyes. I won’t show you screenshots of what the rest of the page looks like, but trust me – it follows the same trend. If you’d like to see it all, you can visit it here. That said, I get the whole “we’re starving programmers and we need the money” thing, but I expect a certain amount of elegance in pursuing revenue. Considering their previous shady practices, though, I’m not entirely surprised.
Another aspect of their advertising that particularly bothers me is how they claim to be “your friendly web cop”, keeping you safe, and yet, they are suggesting software that they probably never even tried. I’m particularly referring to the “PC slowing you down? Free scan” and “Top tip! Click here to check if your drivers are up-to-date!” ads. I would never click on those things… but I know some people that might, especially if they are shown on a security-related site. At first glance, even I have to ask myself if it is an ad – it almost looks like it could be another software offering from the same company. Things like that really make me want to start using AdBlock Plus again… and that’s not cool, since I am a web developer myself.
Overall, if their site was more tastefully presented, and the ads were more respectful in number and placement, I’d have less of a problem with them showing me their page every time I update. In its current state, it is just so obvious to me that they are money-hungry – to the point where they put little thought behind the resulting user experience. Even with that aspect improved, a pretty page could still be an annoyance if you are automatically thrown to it once a week. Thankfully, the NoScript guys have a way for you to disable the feature. Hurrah!
Solution
With the latest version of NoScript installed (In my case, 1.9.9.15):
1) Right-click the NoScript icon, and select Options.
2) Click the “Notifications” tab.
3) Find the checkbox titled “Display the release notes on updates”, and uncheck it.
4) Click “OK”.
That’s it! The NoScript page should no longer be force-fed to you after every update. Take a moment to truly enjoy that fact.
If you’re ever wondering about what they added in a particular update, you can check the update-specific release notes from within Firefox itself. In the Add-ons Manager, click the “Updates” tab, select the NoScript update, and click the “Show Information” button at the bottom of the dialog. Once clicked, you’ll see additional information about the update:
Now… remind me, NoScript developers, why I need to see your homepage every time you release a new minor version? For the sake of your advertising revenue, perhaps?
How to Learn More About the Background Pictures Featured on Bing
When Microsoft announced their new Bing search engine, I was immediately curious about how it compared to Google. I changed Bing to my default search engine, and tried using it daily. Ultimately, I returned to Google, which always seemed to have slightly better search results – in most cases. Despite this fact, I visit Bing it at least once a day - but not to search. I visit it daily specifically to see the new background image they are using. They change this background image every day, and each one is usually impressive. In fact, in most cases, seeing it actually makes me want to find out more about what I’m seeing.
As an example, consider the following screenshot:
Bing's wallpaper for July 5th, 2009.
Great image – the type of image that makes me want to know more. This brings us to the problem, though. Bing doesn’t actually tell you anything about what you’re seeing – other than the copyright information. They do give you more information if you are using the United States version of the site – but I’m Canadian. Not only that, but they don’t have the same images on the United States version of the site. Essentially, this means I’m stuck trying to figure out what the photo is depicting, by myself. I found a pretty simple, albeit manual solution: looking at the source code of the page. The background image filename is actually prefixed with some text, in this case, “CalabriaCoast”:
http://www.bing.com/fd/hpk2/CalabriaCoast_EN-CA1974044658.jpg
Once you have that name, you’re in business – search for that text on the web, and you’ll likely find some informative pages among the top results. Worse case, if you don’t have anything useful on the first few pages, at least you have a lead to work with. In my experience, once you have that name – you have it all. That is, of course, if the picture is of something unique, rather than yesterday’s photo: “Zebras”. If you were interested in where the zebras were, you’d have to guess based on the photo alone.
Now… as for how to actually find that name – I have a pretty quick process. I’ll explain how to do it here – covering the major browsers – but keep in mind, these methods aren’t very elegant – some of them require the use of developer tools. I hope Microsoft eventually makes this easier for regular users… and while they’re at it, people that don’t live in the United States.
How to Find the Bing Background Filename Using Your Browser
Google Chrome 2
Using Google Chrome
1) Right-click the background image.
2) Select “Inspect Element”.
A window appears with the element selected – notice on the right sidebar, you’ll see a URL that is partially cut off. Hover your mouse over this URL, and a tooltip will appear – revealing the whole thing. You can even right-click it, and copy it from there. See the screenshot.
Internet Explorer 8
1) Right-click the background image.
2) Select “Save Background As”.
A window pops up asking you to save the file. Take note of the name it is suggesting, as that is the name of the background image.
Mozilla Firefox 3.5
Using Mozilla Firefox
Using Mozilla Firefox
1) Right-click anywhere on the Bing page.
2) Select “View Page Info”.
3) Click the “Media” tab.
You’ll see the background listed along with other images. See the screenshot.
Safari 4
1) Right-click anywhere on the Bing page, and select “View Source”.
2) Click CTRL+F, and then type in “.jpg” as the search term.
Cycle through the search results – there should only be three. You will find that one of them is actually background image URL.