Ctrl Shifting Firefox and its popular addons

Inspired by an article on firefoxfacts.com, I decided to beat my keyboard (hehe, i like the expression) to find out additional Firefox (and addon) keyboard shortcuts that start with Ctrl + Shift.

Well, Here they are:

Ctrl + Shift + b = Organize Bookmarks
Ctrl + Shift + e = Adblockplus addon preferences
Ctrl + Shift + f = Foxmarks Addon settings
Ctrl + Shift + h = Show Browsing History (Ctrl + H will open it in a sidebar. Handy!)
Ctrl + Shift + j = Firefox Error Console
Ctrl + Shift + l = Open selected links using the Linky addon
Ctrl + Shift + q = Foxclock addon Zone Picker
Ctrl + Shift + s = Synchronize books using Foxmarks Addon
Ctrl + Shift + v = Show items blockable with the Adblockplus addon
Ctrl + Shift + w = Close current Window (also possible with any window with Alt + F4)
Ctrl + Shift + x = toggle typing direction of current textbox (I am not sure what use this is? any ideas?)

Also Read: Ctrl + Shift your way through Firefox (from firefoxfacts.com)

Linux loadable Kernel Modules

I came across this well-written article on Linux Kernel Modules (LKM) by Tim Jones. Think of LKMs as loosely equivalents of DLLs for the Linux Kernel.

I highly recommend this article for all interested in improving their understanding the way the Linux OS works. Tim has also authored similar "Anatomy of .." articles on topics like Linux file system, networking stack, the kernel and so on. Here's the complete list of Tim's articles.

Read: Anatomy of Linux loadable kernel modules - a 2.6 perspective (found on doggdot.us)

See also: Other articles on Linux/UNIX

UNIX Interview questions

I recently helped prepare a friend with some interview questions. I thought they might be helpful to someone to get some rust off.

Here they are:

1. whats $# in a shell script?
   >> Answer: Count of arguments provided to a script
2. whats a $* in shell script?
   >> Answer: All arguments provided to the script as a single word
3. Explain nohup with an example
   >> Answer: A UNIX command that allows a command to continue running even after the user is logged out. Basically it prevents the handler for the HUP (hangup) signal from executing. For example,
   
   $nohup ls -lR >a_very_long_running_list_command.txt &
   
   Note that & at the end. Execute this command-line without the nohup prefixed and the job will get killed the moment you logout.
4. If $1 is the first parameter, whats $0?
   >> Answer: $0 (dollar zero) represents the command name. For example:
   
   $my_script.sh param1
   
   here $0 = my_script.sh and $1 = param1. Also, note that $# will be 1 (since there's only one command line parameter provided)
5. How do you see the return code of the last executed command?
   >> Answer: By checking the value of $? (Dollar Question mark)
6. Explain Cron with an example
   >> Answer: Cron is the UNIX scheduler component (or daemon as it is more appropriately called). It can be used to schedule tasks for run at a specific time or times. It is driven by a crontab file (usually /etc/crontab). See more info on Cron at wikipedia.org.
7. What is rsync
8. Whats the advantage of using ssh over telnet?
9. Have you used vi? provide example of searching an expression across multiple files (say *.sh) from within vi
10. How can i find all /tmp/*.zip and move them to, say, /home/to_examine (assuming the target already exists?)
11. Whats the kill command used for? Whats the difference between kill and kill -9
12. Whats the "nice" command used for?
    >> Answer: It is used to change the priority of a running process. This utility is particularly useful in taming processes that demand higher CPU time with the scheduler. See nice on wikipedia.
13. Provide a regular expression for searching email addresses within a script file
    >> Answer: In it's simplest form, the regular expression would look like this:
    
    [\w-]+@([\w-]+\.)+[\w-]+
    
    Tip: Try looking here for more comprehensive options. There's also a Firefox addon for this or simply use a web version here.
14. Compare /etc/fstab and /etc/mtab
    >> Answer: Both are used by UNIX to maintain information on filesystems and mounting-related information. The only difference is that fstab contains the master list which is used by the mount command, whereas mtab contains a list of filesystems that are currently mounted.
15. What do you know of inodes?
16. Compare Unix FS with, say, Windows/DOS FS
17. Does UNIX FS require defraging? If yes, whats the command. If no, why? ;-)
18. How do you redirect std error to std output?
19. whats the command line for listing the names of the 10 biggest files under /home/

Like them? Hate them? Have corrections or have new ones? Post them as comments. I will try my best to answer them. Anyone else is welcome to try, of course!

Update: (article originally authored in June 2006) It seems these questions have started making the rounds of forums. But I didnt see any answers (yet) So i have answered some ;-)

See also: Combine commands in DOS - like you do in UNIX.

Get Walking with Google Maps

It's now possible to get walking directions using Google Maps (I've tested with UK, US and Australian versions).

Search for directions as usual, by default driving directions are displayed. Notice that there's a new link titled "Walking" (see screen shot). All you need to do is click it. If you'd prefer to see this in action, see this screencast (web slang for screen recording)

Tip: The quickest way to get directions in Google maps is to use the form "start to end". For example: london eye to westminster abbey. This goes for postcodes too. Eg. NW1 to NW2

Of course, for those living in the UK, this was always possible with Streetmaps. But with increasing number of people choosing Google over the previous favourite Multimaps, this feature will only help popularize it even more.

See also: Bus Stops and Timings with Google Maps

How-To: Setting a Home page in Firefox 3

There are a few questions that I get asked quite regularly. So I've decided to make short screencasts (net slang for Screen recording) that show how things are done whenever possible.

This is my very first one and it explains how to set your home page in Firefox. A home page is the website that opens the first time the browser is loaded.

Tip: Set this to the page you are most likely to visit the first thing when you start Firefox. Eg. Your email account, Your online banking login-page, etc.



Note: If you cant see the above, you probably need the Flash Player plugin or see it click here.

Open source compression with 7-Zip

Winzip and Winrar are arguably the worlds most popular choices for compression softwares on Windows running machines (The Unix-es are a whole different story). But like me, you use only the general features your "zipping" software (I cant think of any special that winzip has, can you?), then you can get away from having to pay a license fee by switching to an open source alternative called 7-Zip.

It can not only deal with typical format like Zip but also offers standard features like "Zip and Email", "Zip into multiple peices" and so on. But the biggest advantage I see is it's ability to compress better than Winzip (I havent compared it with Winrar - yet).

As a quick test, I spent an entire day using 7-zip alongside Winzip. That involved compressing my typical files with both Winzip (v11.2 [8094]) and 7-Zip (v4.57), the latest at the time of writing this article. The compression mode was set to use maximum compression. And without exception 7-zip came up on top with the smallest compressed file size.

Those of you not running Ubuntu Linux (thumbs up!) can check out this article for details on enabling support for your platform.

Website and image credits: 7-zip.org

See also: Moving to using Open source softwares and other articles on the Free and Open source (FOSS)

Firefox already starting to drive the browser market

I came across this really interesting interview with Christopher Blizzard (Evangelist, Mozilla) on Slashdot about how Firefox is already starting to have an effect on other browsers. With increasing number of people starting to adopt Firefox, competing browsers are starting to chase Firefox in terms of features that newer releases offer. An example is the RSS feed discovery feature that has now been adopted by Internet Explorer 7.

Firefox 3.1 to have tab-switching

With Firefox 3 settling down nicely in the browser world, Mozilla is already in the process of working towards v3.1 - code named Shiretoko (what's Shiretoko?).

Tab switching is one of the most prominent features that has been announced in the new release. According to Mozilla, while this feature does replace the Ctrl-Tab addon, the foundation of this feature is based on the code from this very plugin (so kudos to Dao Gottwald).

Personally the add-on that I would really like to see integrated into Firefox at some point in time is Adblockplus. I am strongly of the opinion that Ad blocking should be fundamental to a browser. Do you have any favourites that you would like to see integrated into Firefox?

A good reason to change your wireless router's default password

This post is important for you if you:

1. You run some version of Windows (XP, Vista, etc)
   
2. You use a wireless router at home
   
3. If you followed it's instruction manual to set it up. But you don't remember following any instructions in there that had to do with changing your routers password.
4. If your friend set it up for you and you are not sure

This article on the Washington Post website reports the arrival of a new kind of Trojan (a what?), named Zlob which exploits the fact that people don't change the default password on their wireless routers. This trojan tries to guess such a routers password and if successful, modifies its network settings (DNS settings to be specific) so that all the future network traffic that you generate will be diverted to first pass through someone else's network before reaching it's original destination. This means that all unencrypted data passing through your connection (Eg. your instant messenger chats, some login name passwords, your bank details and even your email text to name a few examples) can be visible to someone else.

Zlob is one of the first of it's kind of trojan softwares to modifies a wireless router's settings to achieve it's goal. To date, this technique has only been employed by hackers who have to do this manually. Given a routers manufacturer and model number, Its surprisingly easy to find out a router's default password (here's an example found via a simple Google search).

These days it is getting increasingly difficult to avoid being affected by malwares (short for "malicious softwares"). According to the article above Zlob is one of the most downloaded Trojans today. So here are a few precautions

1. Install a Antivirus Software. It's surprisingly common to see people dont know that they NEED to have a antivirus software installed. There are quite a few free ones available. But if you are happy to buy one, it's worth the money (see: Which Antivirus?)
2. Install a Firewall Software. A firewall software sits between your computer and network based attacks (see: Which Firewall?)
3. Make sure your Antivirus/ Firewall software automatically downloads updates to its detection databases. Remember, a few minutes of inconvenience are far better than days of computer problems!
   

So in case you get infected (and it may be a while before you find out) here's how can interfere with Zlob's tries at routing your traffic

• Change your router's default password. Instructions on how to do this should be in your routers manual.
• If you've misplaced them, look through the manufacturer's website for instructions
• If nothing, google for it (here's an example)
• And in case you suspect that you're already infected, try asking for help at Bleepingcomputer.com. Not only is it free but they are pretty good at wha they do (kudos guys!).

Google Browser Sync Open sourced

Google has announced that it is open-sourcing it's popular Browser Sync Add-on and abandoning further development in favour of popular alternatives like Mozilla weave, Foxmarks, etc.

For those of who don't know, Google Browser Sync let you synchronize your bookmarks, cookies, history and passwords across multiple computers.

The code is available here. Or if you are simply curious just browse through the code online. If you are learning to write your own add-on for Firefox, this is great opportunity to see how coders at Google write their code.

Photo Management with Ubuntu

Managing digital photographs has always been fundamental requirement of photographers - Professionals and Amateurs alike. While amateurs (or hobbyists) like myself who use Windows make do with tools combinations like Picassa + The app that came with your camera, etc. But with Mac users, Aperture continues to be one of the most popular choices.

But the open source Ubuntu Linux has a few good choices too. Here's an article by a Mac user who tried to search for Aperture-like features on Ubuntu and was impressed.

Forgot to logout from your Gmail account? No problem - remote logout

In a step towards improving security, the Google Mail team is all set to introduce a new feature - Remote logout. This feature is aimed at situations when you've forgotten to logout from your Gmail account and are concerned about the your privacy. After all, there's so much that one keeps in a account (thanks to it's almost-never ending capacity).

According to the latest Gmail Team blog (article here), this feature will allow you to see other logged-on sessions from within your Gmail account. Then you can simply find the session you forgot to log out of - and, well, logout ;) There's also the option of signing out of all except the current one - how handy!

According to the Gmail team, the feature is being rolled out to the latest version of Gmail that runs on IE7 and Firefox. I just noticed this in mine - have you?

Image credits: Google mail

Using Mibbit (web-based IRC) as IRC client with Firefox 3

For folks who use IRC a lot, here's how Firefox 3 can be configured to use Mibbit (a web-based IRC application) as the default IRC client.

If you use a different IRC client (web-based or otherwise), it should be simple to adapt this tip to work with your own favourite app. It would be nice if you could share such changes with us in comments for benefit of other readers.

See also: Doing the same thing with Gmail for your email.

Image courtesy: mIRC

Firefox sets world record for most downloaded software in 24 hours

Today with this email, Firefox announced having set the world record for the most downloads in 24 hours with its latest version Firefox 3. According to official figures, there were a record 8 million downloads - 8,002,530 to be exact. Go Firefox!

If you still aren't one of them, get started by downloading Firefox.

I was just wondering, have many of you tried Flock yet?

Use Gmail as default Email client in Firefox 3

Here's a nice tip from the Gmail blog on registering Google mail as a default handler for email links (mailto:).

BMW Gina - The car with the cloth skin

I am not too much into cars, but this one made me sit up and take notice. BMW Gina is a concept car that uses a special cloth for skin instead of sheet metal. According to BMW, this approach not only reduces the energy required to produce it, but also serves to reduce the weight of the car (increased fuel efficiency?) and allows parts like the door or the hood to be designed to behave in ways like never before.

Its quite stimulating to see this innovative concept in action, here's the video:



For more details, pictures, etc visit bmw-web.tv.

Personally, my favourite part was the indicators coming on and blinking (at about position 2:01 in the video).

Oh and yes, in case you already arent doing this, here's a way to view this and any other youtube video in high quality.