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The Linksys WRT54G wireless routers are problematic for people who leave their Internet connection on all the time and use P2P.

It leaves closed connections in memory for about a week. If you open more connections than the limit it stops working.

If you happen to have a Linksys WRT54G wireless routerâ¦

you will need to login to see the article.

In fact, why not install the BugMeNot extension for Firefox?

http://roachfiend.com/archives/2005/02/07/bugmenot /

This is why you use the Firefox extension. It keeps trying different accounts until it gets one that works.

Regarding BugMeNot, it's brilliant. As far as easy to use, I have the Firefox extension. It reduces using BugMeNot to a simple a right click on the username field (or whatever) and select "Login with BugMeNot." It automatically fills in the username and password, and submits the signon request. It saves me the time of going through the signup process with a null or fake email address, and it saves even more time and trouble when the signup process requires email confirmation.

If I'm wanting a bit more uniqueness than BugMeNot provides, I frequently use the Mailinator. It doesn't require me to create a throwaway account in advance, I can make up any address I like on the fly, such as player@mailinator.com, then I go and check their web site to answer the signup confirmation email. Don't use this for anything secure, as there is no security!

Finally, for those sites where I really do want to have a long term relationship (like Slashdot), I use Sneakemail to create a unique email address. If the website proves untrustworthy, I just delete that email address. I've had some Sneakemail addresses for over five years now!

I've searched for plenty of technical questions on google that land me on forums that require you to register to even read the posts. This means you have to give them a valid (well long enough for you to get the confirmation) email address and username/password. The worst part is that a lot of times those sites are really slow to send out the email and you're stuck waiting for it to solve your problem.

http://www.bugmenot.com/ is your friend - and there's also a Firefox extension. :)

nor do I want to have to take the goddamn time to go to bugmenot.com to get a NY Times uid & pwd

http://roachfiend.com/archives/2005/02/07/bugmenot /

(link given on bugmenot site. fuck knows why they link to a blog post.)

For some reason, the article omitted a link to bugmenot. There's a Firefox extension that automates the process.

If you don't know what this is, it's a user-maintained list of usernames and passwords for sites that "bug" you for registration. Some sites block Bugmenot-listed usernames and passwords but most don't.

Or, just use BugMeNot for an NYT login (or get Firefox and the BugMeNot Extension).

I hear the BugMeNot firefox extension is helpful for reading articles.

> The article [lwn.net] is currently subscriber only and won't be visible to non-subscribers until next Tuesday, IIRC.

No problem, just right click the login-box and select "Login with BugMeNot".

You need Firefox and the BugMeNot-extension, though. Firefox can be found in your favorite repository or at http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/.

The BugMeNot extension is here: http://extensions.roachfiend.com/bugmenot.xpi

"There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility," Mr. Gonzales said on the ABC News program "This Week."

"That's a policy judgment by the Congress in passing that kind of legislation," he continued. "We have an obligation to enforce those laws. We have an obligation to ensure that our national security is protected."

Asked whether he was open to the possibility that The New York Times should be prosecuted for its disclosures in December concerning a National Security Agency surveillance program, Mr. Gonzales said his department was trying to determine "the appropriate course of action in that particular case."

"I'm not going to talk about it specifically," he said. "We have an obligation to enforce the law and to prosecute those who engage in criminal activity."

Though he did not name the statutes that might allow such prosecutions, Mr. Gonzales was apparently referring to espionage laws that in some circumstances forbid the possession and publication of information concerning the national defense, government codes and "communications intelligence activities."

Those laws are the basis of a pending case against two lobbyists, but they have never been used to prosecute journalists.

Some legal scholars say that even if the plain language of the laws could be read to reach journalists, the laws were never intended to apply to the press. In any event, these scholars say, prosecuting reporters under the laws might violate the First Amendment.

Mr. Gonzales said that the administration promoted and respected the right of the press that is protected under the First Amendment.

"But it can't be the case that that right trumps over the right that Americans would like to see, the ability of the federal government to go after criminal activity," he said. "And so those two principles have to be accommodated."

Mr. Gonzales sidestepped a question concerning whether the administration had been reviewing reporters' telephone records in an effort to identify their confidential sources.

"To the extent that we engage in electronic surveillance or surveillance of content, as the president says, we don't engage in domestic-to-domestic surveillance without a court order," he said. "And obviously if, in fact, there is a basis under the Constitution to go to a federal judge and satisfy the constitutional standards of probable cause and we get a court order, that will be pursued."

and the Roachfiend will never let you down (Mozilla browsers only)

Don't forget, there's a supercool BugMeNot Firefox extension.

Well.. while the linked site does not answer (/. effect probably), here's my favorite extensions. I try to install only those really useful to my efficiency. Right now, it's really hard to find the best extensions from Firefox's site.

Adblock
https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php ?id=10&application=firefox
Needless to say, the most important extension to me. But even better with this one: Adblock Filterset.G Updater 0.3.0.3 https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1136/

TabFX
https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php ?id=1486&application=firefox
while we wait for Firefox 2.0

FlashGot
https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php ?id=220&application=firefox
but I never really used it on a regular basis

Page Update Checker
https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php ?id=920&application=firefox
That one should be in the built-in features. Very useful.

And not to forget (not listed on Firefox's website): Bug me not:
http://roachfiend.com/archives/2005/02/07/bugmenot /
Very useful for the soul-sucking registration-required articles on slashdot ;-)

Cheers.

[RECOMMENDED]
[f + t + m] - conquery (context-menu searches) + mycroft plugins
[f] - openbook
[f + m] - optimoz: tweaks (sidebar autopopout)
[f] - translate

[OPTIONAL]
[f] - autohide & tbx for better fullscreen
[f + t + m] - chromedit
[f] - copyurlplus
[f] - customize google
[f] - extended statusbar
[f + m] - image zoom
[f] - keyconfig
[f + m] - launchy
[f + t + m] - optimoz: mouse gestures
[f + m] - paste and go
[f] - permit cookies
[f + t + m] - preferential
[f] - target alert
[opt] - calendar

dozens more extensions available here: Update.Mozilla.Org and Extension Room and Pike's and Roachfiend and Extensions Mirror

I keep a list of useful extensions here of which I use the ones with a version number next to them; most of those have already been mentioned, but here are some of those that I find quite useful that I didn't see (either weren't mentioned so far or I skimmed over them, sorry ;)

Slim Extension List (0.1) tidies the extension manager by reducing the display size of entries. (Good for people with too many extensions ;)
Stop-or-Reload Button (0.1) make more room on your toolbar by combining the stop and reload buttons.
Flashblock (1.3.1) prevents autoloading of flash files; one click starts them going.
BugMeNot (0.8) extremely useful for browsing news (and other) sites that normally make you 'register for free' when you don't want to.
DictionarySearch (0.9.3) highlight a word and then look it up with just a couple clicks!

Finally, I should mention Cards (0.16.1) 27 Card Games for Firefox (including Solitaire ^_-) Now, you might ask how that's useful, but you'd be surprised how much that can interest some people who have never tried Firefox before... and getting them to switch from IE is a good thing, ne? ;-)

NoScript has to be on the top of my list (right after Adblock and Greasemonkey)...Disabling JS globaly and only allowing it where it is necessary keeps out almost all ads...pages load faster, and you don't have to worry about information leaks...

Some others I use...BetterSearch, LinkPreview, Outfoxed, BugMeNot, del.icio.us and Farky...

Enabled Extensions: (15)

Allow Right-Click 0.2
Alt-Text for Links 0.2
BugMeNot 0.7
Compact Menu 1.7.2
CTC 0.3
DictionarySearch 0.9.3
Disable Targets For Downloads 1.0
Download Statusbar 0.9.3.1
Google Toolbar for Firefox 1.0.20051012
IE View 1.2.6
ListZilla 0.5.1
Menu Editor 1.2
miniT (drag+indicator) 0.5
PDF Download 0.5.1.2
SwitchProxy Tool 1.3.2
Disabled Extensions: (1)

ScrapBook 0.17.0

Enabled Extensions: (15)

Allow Right-Click 0.2
Alt-Text for Links 0.2
BugMeNot 0.7
Compact Menu 1.7.2
CTC 0.3
DictionarySearch 0.9.3
Disable Targets For Downloads 1.0
Download Statusbar 0.9.3.1
Google Toolbar for Firefox 1.0.20051012
IE View 1.2.6
ListZilla 0.5.1
Menu Editor 1.2
miniT (drag+indicator) 0.5
PDF Download 0.5.1.2
SwitchProxy Tool 1.3.2
Disabled Extensions: (1)

ScrapBook 0.17.0

Enabled Extensions: (15)

Allow Right-Click 0.2
Alt-Text for Links 0.2
BugMeNot 0.7
Compact Menu 1.7.2
CTC 0.3
DictionarySearch 0.9.3
Disable Targets For Downloads 1.0
Download Statusbar 0.9.3.1
Google Toolbar for Firefox 1.0.20051012
IE View 1.2.6
ListZilla 0.5.1
Menu Editor 1.2
miniT (drag+indicator) 0.5
PDF Download 0.5.1.2
SwitchProxy Tool 1.3.2
Disabled Extensions: (1)

ScrapBook 0.17.0

Enabled Extensions: (15)

Allow Right-Click 0.2
Alt-Text for Links 0.2
BugMeNot 0.7
Compact Menu 1.7.2
CTC 0.3
DictionarySearch 0.9.3
Disable Targets For Downloads 1.0
Download Statusbar 0.9.3.1
Google Toolbar for Firefox 1.0.20051012
IE View 1.2.6
ListZilla 0.5.1
Menu Editor 1.2
miniT (drag+indicator) 0.5
PDF Download 0.5.1.2
SwitchProxy Tool 1.3.2
Disabled Extensions: (1)

ScrapBook 0.17.0

I don't like having to register either, but I found this on Fark recently. I just right-clicked and had it fill in all the fields for me.

Sorry about that. IMDB's getting to be kind of an ass about that the last year. I use the bugmenot plugin for Firefox. Freanin' awsome.

It's been awhile since I've tried Opera but I'm very impressed with it. I love the small tabs that minimise screen real estate, the seamlessly integrated pop3 email, the personal toolbar, incredible speed, etc. I would make a permanent switch to Opera if they had features equivalent to these firefox extensions:
Hit-a-hint Noscript Bugmenot Downthemall

Links to said Mozilla/Firefox extensions:

AdBlock Plus
BugMeNot
CustomizeGoogle
DictionarySearch
Farkit
Gmail Notifier
Nuke Anything
Plain Text Links
Switch Proxy Tool
Greasemonkey

These are a few sites that I found helpful. Some are a little old but I got something out of all of them.

http://www.xulplanet.com/
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Dev_:_Extensions
http://roachfiend.com/archives/2004/12/08/how-to-c reate-firefox-extensions/
http://businesslogs.com/technology/firefox_extensi on_tutorial.php
http://www.bengoodger.com/software/mb/extensions/p ackaging/extensions.html
http://mozilla-firefox-extension-dev.blogspot.com/
http://books.mozdev.org/index.html
http://www.mozilla.org/xpfe/gettingstarted.html

Of course another good way to learn about extensions is to download a few and look at the code. That has probably been the biggest help to me once the tutorials, etc. gave me the basic idea of what is going on.

http://extensions.roachfiend.com/bugmenot.xpi

No, actually, you can't. The NYT routinely removes accounts that are being used by more than one IP.

That's why you need to use the bugmenot.com site mentioned above (i.e. logins that no longer work are removed from bugmenot's database). Furthermore, bugmenot works with other sites besides the NYT.

Also, for Firefox users, you can try the extension.

Face it, how do you feel when some links in slashdot to a "register for free!" kind of link?

Actually, it used to bother the hell out of me.. but now, it BugsMeNot..

In case you were interested: BUGMENOT FF Extension

Electronic voting has been rolled out nationwide without necessary safeguards.

Well, yeah, that is not new ...

Quick recap: The goal of the paper validation is not because we want to cut down more trees. In fact, the goal of the electronic voting is for quick tallies and immediate results. Paper tallies are for "trueing" them up in the case of a recount.

The real question is: What will people do with the paper copies once they have them printed out and they believe their vote did not count properly? Are they going to go back into the voting depot and say "Look up my vote, I think you counted it for the other guy!"?

Not likely. The problem is, elections can be stolen whether they are electronic or not. The electioneer's must be trusted. And as long as we want to keep the voter's identity unassociated with the corresponding vote (anonymity), there will be a problem.

Paper trails may help, but who's going to be auditing them, especially if the voters will keep the only copy?

I guess I am glad it's not my decision to make and live with.

That's a lovely idea, but it's completely useless for drawing notice to a particular article, only to a particular story. That isn't always what you want, and entails further effort than simply noting an interesting story and firing off a quick /. submission (which is 99% likely to get rejected anyway, so the time you spend on it is 99% likely to be wasted).

If the NYT login bothers you that much, do what everyone else does and download the BugMeNot Firefox plugin.

This way the poster doesn't waste time unnecessarily (so they aren't discouraged from submitting further articles), BugMeNot gets another convert (which is good, because it's a brilliant service), and NYTimes' user-demographics go further out of whack thanks to their stupid and obnoxious sign-in requirement... I count that as a win all-round...

And if you insist on getting a perfectly balanced view of an issue, you, personally, can always choose to search Google news for other accounts of it, without wasting the time of everyone who'd rather just click and see a single article from a known source...

Bug Me Not, for all your registration bypassing needs.

Why/How can Firefox, which runs happily on W2K and others, offer better security, while IE cannot do the same on an OS developed by MS itself?

According to Microsoft, IE is integrated into the operating system itself -- it is no longer a standalone application. Ostensibly they did this to allow greater desktop-to-Internet integration, but given the inherent insecurity of ActiveX, the tendency for the forces of evil to use it maliciously, and the inability of users to lock it down, it's not exactly a hot selling point these days.

Firefox, on the other hand, stands to benefit immensely from all this. It offers a free, lightweight, standalone browser whose programming environment makes it easy for developers to extend its functionality without coopting its security (so far). It does this without any hooks into the operating system, and offers a variety of ways to combat malware, popups and generally obnoxious behavior (Flash movies, rampant advertising, etc).

Microsoft might claim that they won't be releasing any further security patches or functional upgrades to Windows 2000 or IE6. But as of September 2004, ~49% of Windows users still use Windows 2000 or lower (98, 95, NT, etc). Trying to scare users into upgrading their OS, so they can take advantage of a marginally improved, questionably more secure Windows, doesn't seem to be working anymore. And I'm by no means a Linux zealot -- I'm an ASP/SQL programmer, have been using Windows since v3.1, and am a huge fan of Microsoft's development tools / languages.

Besides landing my most recent job, discovering Firefox was the best tech-related thing that's come along in recent memory. It's inspired me to start learning more about client-side development again, after seeing what's possible with AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript And XML), standards-compliant CSS and XHTML. Once Dean Edwards' CSS-based IE7 stylesheet matures a bit more, developers will be able to instantly upgrade the set of standards-compliant available to IE 5/6 users. At that point, who will need IE 7? The days of developing wonderful new HTML and CSS tags that are only supported by one browser are in decline...... Firefox's market share has risen to just under 10% in the past year, while Microsoft's market share has dropped to under 90% for the first time since Netscape was still relevant. IE7 won't become ubiquitous for a long, long time, especially if Microsoft doesn't plan on making it available to users of its older operating systems. Why would developers of any web applications besides IE-only Intranets/Extranets create products that utilized features only available to a very small set of the installed user base?

So whatever, Microsoft. Dig your own grave, if you insist upon doing so. I'll continue to use your server-side tools, provided something better and easier-to-use doesn't come along, but at this point, you've lost me as a client-side developer of IE. Not that you should care, of course..... but if you can lose a devoted developer like me, I have to wonder how many others you've push away. It appears it's not all about "Developers, Developers, Developers!", as Steve Ballmer & Co. would have us believe.

Firefox extension to solve your problem
http://extensions.roachfiend.com/password.xpi

If you're using Firefox, get the Bugmenot plugin. http://roachfiend.com/archives/category/extensions /

Are you aware that Bugmenot has a firefox plugin?

I just right click in the login field, choose BugMeNot, wait 3 seconds for a login to be retreived from their servers, proceed to read story..

I won't deny that they have the capability to add those kinds of features, but I do think that there isn't any way to get the same potential feature set Firefox has without bloat/constant updates specific to what a given user wants without an extension system. I don't think MS will add one, and if they do it won't get the support that Firefox's has, for the same reason there isn't the abundance of skins for WMP that exists for Winamp.

In any case, there's a lot of features that I think Microsoft won't implement rather than can't. I'd be surprised to see them add anything like AdBlocker, since they run websites like hotmail that make their money from ads. And can you really see them integrating BugMeNot into their browser? Seems pretty unlikely to me.

What's even better: someone has written a Bugmenot Firefox extension that makes life simpler still. I use it and it is fantastic!

I assume ListZilla does the same thing? Perhaps better?

BugMeNot.com was created as a mechanism to quickly bypass the login of web sites that require compulsory registration and/or the collection of personal/demographic information (such as the New York Times).

It's one of my favourite Firefox extensions.

Architecture documentation

How to write Firefox extensions

http://rolandblocker.50megs.com

important: right-click and SAVE AS, do not try to install directly, it doesn't seem to work

this was a 3-hour hack over "Hello World" xpi by Eric Hamiter and over blockxxx by Tom Christensen

Not to be pessimistic, but this kind of extendibility is the exact reason that IE is swiss cheese.

It's not the extendability that's insecure, it's the implimentation of that extendability. The difference here is that FireFox extensions are not executable files. They are merely bits of JavaScript and XUL code that the browser itself executes. Thus, by their nature, malicious code cannot get executed unless the browser allows it. MSIE extensions are separate executable files that simply interface with the browser, but run as separate processes on the computer. Therefore, their access to the machine is controlled by the OS, not the browser, and since the program is running on the client, the OS just assumes it's benign. Additionally, since the extension is running on the OS, and not through the browser, it can spawn additional processes, hide itself in the registry, read/write files without the browser's knowledge, and do other nasty things that make some IE toolbars so frustratingly difficult to uninstall.

FireFox's approach to extendability is obviously designed with security in mind. The browser process controls the access that extensions have to the rest of the computer. There is no way to install an extension without the user's knowledge (as there is in IE), and the extensions don't have access to system files or processes. On the other hand, it seems like Microsoft, when they decided to allow IE to be extensable, did not take such security precautions: there are no failsafes in the software architecture. (FireFox has a "safe mode", where it starts the browser without running any extensions; this allows the user to have full control over the extensions s/he installs.)

Read about writing a FireFox extension here.

I hate sites that instruct my browser not to store a password (like Yahoo! Mail). My computer is secure and I'm the only user, so there's no problem storing it. Good thing there's the Always Remember Password extension!

[NYT=Check soul at door]
Not with Bugmenot (http://www.bugmenot.com/)
And if you are using Firefox (as you should be ;), look here http://extensions.roachfiend.com/index.php#bugmeno t

Thanks, I downloaded the XPI file (essentially a zip file....How To Create A Firefox Extension and it seems to be no more than a re-branding with a couple of hard-coded links (speakeasy home page). No new functionality.

Still, it will be interesting to see what happens with all the extensions that are bound to be created. Here's an idea. It would be nice to be able to create a snapshot of an extension set, and then "browse" other extension sets, just to see, for example, what my friends' browsers look like. :) Thanks for the info!