Category Archives: Software

Nailed It

WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS […] was the greatest word processor ever—a blank screen illuminated with only letters and numbers, offering just enough bold and italics to keep things interesting. I remember WP51 the way a non-nerd might remember a vintage Mustang. You could just take that thing out and go, man.

— Paul Ford, What Modern Humans Can Learn From Ancient Software (Wired, Sept. 15, 2022).

I hate everything about MS Word except “Track Changes” which I admit they did pretty well — the only way in which it is better than WordPerfect, even in its modern, adulterated, Windows versions.

Posted in Software | 4 Comments

How to Restore Multi-Line Tabs to Firefox 83

I cannot understand why Firefox refuses to make this a standard option.

Anyway, the full instructions are in the description of this video.
1. Find your FF profile folder (location is in about:support if you don’t know it)
2. Navigate to the Chrome sub-folder (or make one if there is none)
3. Create a file called userchrome.css with this content:

/* Source file https://github.com/MrOtherGuy/firefox-csshacks/tree/master/chrome/multi-row_tabs.css made available under Mozilla Public License v. 2.0
See the above repository for updates as well as full license text. */

/* Makes tabs to appear on multiple lines */
/* Tab reordering will not work and can't be made to work */
/* You can use multi-row_tabs_window_control_patch.css to move window controls to nav-bar*/

/* You might want to move tabs-new-tab-button outside tabs toolbar for smoother behavior */

/* Change the --multirow-n-rows to change maximum number of rows before the rows will start to scroll */

:root{
--multirow-n-rows: 3;
--multirow-tab-min-width: 100px;
--multirow-tab-dynamic-width: 1; /* Change to 0 for fixed-width tabs using the above width. */
}

/* Scrollbar can't be clicked but the rows can be scrolled with mouse wheel */
/* Uncomment the next line if you want to be able to use the scrollbar with mouse clicks */

/* #tabbrowser-arrowscrollbox{ -moz-window-dragging: no-drag } */

/* Uncommenting the above makes you unable to drag the window from empty space in the tab strip but normal draggable spaces will continue to work */

#tabbrowser-tabs{
min-height: unset !important;
padding-inline-start: 0px !important
}

@-moz-document url(chrome://browser/content/browser.xhtml){
#scrollbutton-up~spacer,
#scrollbutton-up,
#scrollbutton-down{ display: var(--scrollbutton-display-model,initial) }
scrollbox[part][orient="horizontal"]{
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
overflow-y: auto;
max-height: calc(var(--tab-min-height) * var(--multirow-n-rows));
scrollbar-color: currentColor transparent;
scrollbar-width: thin;
}
}

.scrollbox-clip[orient="horizontal"],
#tabbrowser-arrowscrollbox{
overflow: -moz-hidden-unscrollable;
display: block;
--scrollbutton-display-model: none;
}

.tabbrowser-tab{ height: var(--tab-min-height); }

#tabbrowser-tabs .tabbrowser-tab[pinned]{
position: static !important;
margin-inline-start: 0px !important;
}

.tabbrowser-tab[fadein]:not([pinned]){
min-width: var(--multirow-tab-min-width) !important;
flex-grow: var(--multirow-tab-dynamic-width);
/*
  1. Go to about:config and search for toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations
  2. Toggle it to true
  3. exit and restart firefox

Worked for me!

Posted in Internet, Software | 6 Comments

Memo to Self: How to Get Multi-Level Outlines in Word to Work Like I Expect

There are lots and lots of things about Word that drive this long-time WordPerfect user nuts. Turns out there’s a fix for one of them: Tab Key Does Not Change List Level in Microsoft Word.

The fix is buried deep inside the options page.  Really deep.  But toggle the right option and at least there’s one less annoyance.

Posted in Software | Comments Off on Memo to Self: How to Get Multi-Level Outlines in Word to Work Like I Expect

Firefox Borks Almost all Extensions, Fix Coming

Late yesterday something happened to Firefox that disabled almost all extensions. According to Mozilla, it was something about the certificate they used to sign extensions, they know about it and are fixing it:

Late on Friday May 3rd, we became aware of an issue with Firefox that prevented existing and new add-ons from running or being installed. We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to people who use Firefox.

Our team has identified and rolled-out a fix for all Firefox Desktop users on Release, Beta and Nightly. The fix will be automatically applied in the background within the next few hours. No active steps need to be taken to make add-ons work again. In particular, please do not delete and/or re-install any add-ons as an attempt to fix the issue. Deleting an add-on removes any data associated with it, where disabling and re-enabling does not.

Please note: The fix does not apply to Firefox ESR or Firefox for Android. We’re working on releasing a fix for both, and will provide updates here and on social media.

They also describe a way to get the fix faster, but I tried it and it has yet to work for me….

Update: 5/5/19 – the fix, using the “studies” option is working for me today.

Posted in Software | 1 Comment

‘Smart Referer’ Firefox Extension Blocks Google Two-Factor Authentication

The other day I echoed recommendations on Hardening Firefox that I got from an article by Keith Axline. Since then, however, I’ve learned two things.

First, Axline has changed his recommendations from HTTPS Everywhere to Smart HTTPS for the reasons given in this thread.

Second, I discovered that when I had Smart Referer on, I wasn’t able to use Google two-factor authentication.  Instead,  when google asked me to authenticate via my phone, I got timeouts instantly.

Disabling the Smart Referer extension temporarily (which is easy as it creates a button on the toolbar) allowed me to log in, and things seem to work fine if I re-enable Smart Referer immediately after I log in to my Gmail.  But that may be more annoyance than most people want, especially given that Google two factor authentication is more annoyance than most people want.

Posted in Software, Sufficiently Advanced Technology | 1 Comment

Memo to Self re: Hardening Firefox (Updated)

Make sure all of the following extensions are installed on all my computers

Also use 1.1.1.1 for DNS and change default search engine to Duck Duck Go or to Startpage. Full manual DNS settings are:

 1.1.1.1
 1.0.0.1 
 2606:4700:4700::1111 
 2606:4700:4700::1001

As per A Few Simple Steps to Vastly Increase Your Privacy Online.

Note that I already have a VPN, or I’d be suggesting that too.

Posted in Software, Sufficiently Advanced Technology | Comments Off on Memo to Self re: Hardening Firefox (Updated)