I'm seeing it primarily because of image downloads and saves, so I don't think JavaScript from the various sites is the cause of it. I could be wrong, I haven't inspected the page source to see what they're doing. It happens on various sites.
At that, Firefox doesn't usually crash, it just gets slow and weird. Firefox crashes much less than either Opera or IE in my experience. I could crash Opera one out of three times just going to the Register site. And I NEVER ran IE 5.5 or 6 without it crashing during a long surfing session. I just used IE 6 last night at the lab at City College and the damn thing crashed before it was barely in use five minutes.
Actually, I'm using the Download Manager Tweak extension since the Download dialog window never did close on completion even if you set that option. The Extension lets me open it automatically in a tab and then closes it when the download is finished. So the download screen is never in my face unless I click on its tab.
I'm not sure how using the Extension will affect your suggestion. Although the Extension allows you to see cleanup buttons on the toolbar, I've never used them.
I just looked at the Download screen and there's nothing there, so I'm assuming they are automatically cleaned via the Extension.
Also in the past, before the Extension, I always cleaned the download window frequently - I had to, since the stupid thing wouldn't close when it was done after a couple downloads unless you cleaned it.
Yeah, well, avoiding memory leaks is Programming 101 (or at least 102).
I used to use Opera. I switched to Firefox and Thunderbird to finally have a completely free, un-ad-supported browser and email client. And actually I find Firefox crashes less than Opera did, especially with the Register site which used to crash Opera regularly.
But I save images regularly from the Net, and after a few hundred image saves, Firefox becomes almost unusable and must be restarted, which indicates a serious memory leak to me.
I may have Foxit, since I have a dozen PDF writers and readers. I'll look into it.
The behavior is really strange with Acrobat. I'm not sure if it's Firefox or Acrobat. When the PDF opens, and I go to save it after scanning the first page to see if I want to save it, the PDF freezes and I can't open the file save dialog for a minute, even if the document is only a couple pages long. Eventually it unsticks itself and I can save it. No problem with this using Reader outside Firefox. Very irritating.
And since I didn't bother to install it over the last few days, I'm one of the lucky ones who don't have to reinstall my extensions a SECOND time in a week.
Also I'm one of the smart ones that only runs four extensions in the first place.
Given the number of memory leaks in Firefox, I'm beginning to agree.
Download and save enough images and the program eventually becomes unusable and must be restarted (on Windows anyway, haven't done enough of that on Linux to verify it there.)
Only problem with a workshop setup is that either the tech has to go and pick up the machine, or the client has to drag it into the shop.
Neither one is desireable for most people (except for lapstops, maybe). Onsite support is just that.
Of course, offsetting that is that some people are too busy to sit around babysitting a tech onsite for four hours, too. My last spyware client allowed me to work on my own while they went to work, but a lot of people might not. (There were roommates in that situation, so it's not like I was alone in the residence, which would be a liability risk on my part as well.)
"how the lack of spending in research and development is 'kind of a crime'."
Which kind of crime is that, Bill?
When you dump tens of billions on a one-time stock prop scheme instead of investing it in R&D?
When you donate $20 billion to a "foundation" so your father can use it to control companies you can't because the SEC won't let you?
When you use your monopoly influence to attract development partners than walk off with their code and try to drive them into bankruptcy like you did that cell phone software company?
When you threaten to fire 8,000 people in a country that doesn't support your software patents initiative?
Start calling him "Chief Thief" or maybe "Chief Pickpocket" or maybe "Chief Con Man."
When was the last time that asshole "architected" anything other than dodging a bullet on a Federal antitrust suit? The original Microsoft BASIC? Or was that Paul Allen, as I recall?
Well, the OP was complaining he wouldn't switch his desktop to Linux until he got "support".
I don't consider swapping out a winmodem for something rational to require much "support" from an ISP. If you're going to try to keep such a POS modem in the machine, then, yes, I guess you'd need support.
In other words, I don't see a winmodem as much of a justification for not switching to Linux from Windows. Especially if you're smart enough to know what a winmodem IS in the first place.
Now I understand Comcast cable requires you to register your MAC address using a proxy server of theirs, which I guess might be a tad more difficult to do on Linux than Windows - and Comcast probably doesn't provide any Linux instructions for that given the number of Google hits one gets for the topic of getting Linux to work with Comcast. So that might be a showstopper for some people.
Still, it's a one-time thing and on Linux at least, once you're set up you're set up. I don't think Linux users need to worry about their TCP stack suddenly getting corrupted by Browser Helper Objects and porn dialers and the like like Windows IE users do - not to mention simple Registry corruption.
So I still say lack of ISP support is a moderately lame reason for not switching from Windows to Linux.
I'll get liability insurance when I can afford it. As it stands, the client can sue me and get nothing anyway. Besides, I have my contract (lifted from one of the national tech support franchise outfits) that says basically the client is screwed if I fuck up - other than my "no fix, no charge" guarantee.
As for the rate, I can live cheap right now and there's a hell of a lot of competition in San Francisco - Craigslist has like 100-200 ads every single day for people doing the same thing and plenty of them charge $25/hour.
Also, I'm NOT necessarily worth more depending on what you want done and how fast I think I can do it. But that applies to a lot of other people who charge more, too, in my opinion. Tons of bad techs out there. At least I charge reasonably.
In any event, I'm trying to get more small business clients so I can reach a base level of income, then jack my fees up $5/hour every six months or a year until I get to a more reasonable level.
Ultimately I don't want to do this picayune support shit, I want to do application design and implementation using open source tools and Linux migration for more serious money.
I discovered that about SBC DSL and have never used the Yahoo client.
Didn't know Comcast was that easy at the time. That was the first client I had who tried it. I looked around on the CD for a simpler client (like SBC has with Enternet) but couldn't find one. If I'd known then that all he needed was DHCP setup and then use their proxy servers to get his MAC registered...
Russia didn't lock down technology because they didn't have any. That's the issue here. Look at how much trouble China is having locking down the Internet.
Not to mention that some people think the Net was instrumental in breaking down the Soviet system (I'm not convinced myself, but there were cases where dissident groups in Eastern Europe got support by being able to contact foreigners via the Net.)
Or as the SubGenius put it, "You'll pay to know what you really think!"
Which is why people buy Windows-based machines.
"Bill Gates is rich, so I better buy one of his machines. The salesman said so. Also, nobody else makes computers except that strange company with the apple logo (which I don't understand), right?"
Or maybe it's just those ads with the guys with dinosaur heads on them. "Microsoft Office has evolved. Have you?"
Yeah, well past Bill's inability to communicate in English on why we should buy yet another version of a fucking office suite so bloated with "features" that nobody can figure out how to use any of the components.
It can take two IF you have EVERY freakin' tool available for deleting files that are heavily protected, hidden, etc. and you nail EVERY freakin' Registry key and hidden DLL on the system.
Depending on the speed of the client's machine and how much hard disk he has, it can take one to two hours just to run a scan with ONE spyware tool. If you have to run more than one tool (almost always), there's at least another hour.
THEN you have to find the stuff the tools DIDN'T find (almost always), THEN you have to clean off stuff that you found but which is hidden, protected from everything except System privilege, etc.
Yes, it can easily take four hours. Which is why I charge $25/hour, not $90 - because most clients can't afford $90 for exactly the reason that it's ridiculous to spend $400 cleaning a $400 machine - or one they got free from a relative.
"As absurd as it sounds, a lot of customers believe they can not install software"
Somebody tell me again how Windows is SO intuitive that ANYBODY can install software on it, but NOBODY can install software on ANY Linux.
"and trust us to do so"
Their second biggest mistake.
I add up your prices and they come to approximately $240. Add on your insane onsite fees to that.
Whereas I charge $25/hour onsite, and (if I don't fuck up) it gets done in maybe four hours or less, AND I install Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy, Spyware Blaster, AVG, and Kerio Personal Firewall (all of which are free for home use) AND tell them to use Firefox instead of IE and Thunderbird instead of Outhouse Express. After which they never have a problem again unless they're too dumb to run the updates (which some of them are.) Total cost to them: $100-150 - which I calculate is three or so times less than buying a new PC - every three months.
You mean the tool that leaves Claria spyware on your system since Microsoft is buying the company?
Good thinking. I sure will tell my clients that. I'll tell them to make sure they use IE7 when it comes out, too, just in case the Claria spyware accidentally gets deleted.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm seeing it primarily because of image downloads and saves, so I don't think JavaScript from the various sites is the cause of it. I could be wrong, I haven't inspected the page source to see what they're doing. It happens on various sites.
At that, Firefox doesn't usually crash, it just gets slow and weird. Firefox crashes much less than either Opera or IE in my experience. I could crash Opera one out of three times just going to the Register site. And I NEVER ran IE 5.5 or 6 without it crashing during a long surfing session. I just used IE 6 last night at the lab at City College and the damn thing crashed before it was barely in use five minutes.
Actually, I'm using the Download Manager Tweak extension since the Download dialog window never did close on completion even if you set that option. The Extension lets me open it automatically in a tab and then closes it when the download is finished. So the download screen is never in my face unless I click on its tab.
I'm not sure how using the Extension will affect your suggestion. Although the Extension allows you to see cleanup buttons on the toolbar, I've never used them.
I just looked at the Download screen and there's nothing there, so I'm assuming they are automatically cleaned via the Extension.
Also in the past, before the Extension, I always cleaned the download window frequently - I had to, since the stupid thing wouldn't close when it was done after a couple downloads unless you cleaned it.
Yeah, well, avoiding memory leaks is Programming 101 (or at least 102).
I used to use Opera. I switched to Firefox and Thunderbird to finally have a completely free, un-ad-supported browser and email client. And actually I find Firefox crashes less than Opera did, especially with the Register site which used to crash Opera regularly.
But I save images regularly from the Net, and after a few hundred image saves, Firefox becomes almost unusable and must be restarted, which indicates a serious memory leak to me.
I may have Foxit, since I have a dozen PDF writers and readers. I'll look into it.
The behavior is really strange with Acrobat. I'm not sure if it's Firefox or Acrobat. When the PDF opens, and I go to save it after scanning the first page to see if I want to save it, the PDF freezes and I can't open the file save dialog for a minute, even if the document is only a couple pages long. Eventually it unsticks itself and I can save it. No problem with this using Reader outside Firefox. Very irritating.
Platters?
I string cores on wire.
I form the cores and wires myself.
It's transcribing the goddamn Firefox machine code to wire boards that's hard...
(I'll bet ALL of that went completely over the heads of the 16-year-old
Well, I don't want to see ONE memory leak in that new version.
No new features before fixing the memory leaks!
And since I didn't bother to install it over the last few days, I'm one of the lucky ones who don't have to reinstall my extensions a SECOND time in a week.
Also I'm one of the smart ones that only runs four extensions in the first place.
Well - "in the summer" leaves them six weeks to do it in.
Wanna bet?
Given the number of memory leaks in Firefox, I'm beginning to agree.
Download and save enough images and the program eventually becomes unusable and must be restarted (on Windows anyway, haven't done enough of that on Linux to verify it there.)
Updates every two days.
Memory leaks. Why the hell aren't they fixing THOSE? Read my lips - not ONE NEW FEATURE until you fix ALL the memory leaks!
Crashes and slowness when running Acrobat Reader.
C'mon, Firefox is supposed to be BETTER than IE. Try not to fuck it up.
Only problem with a workshop setup is that either the tech has to go and pick up the machine, or the client has to drag it into the shop.
Neither one is desireable for most people (except for lapstops, maybe). Onsite support is just that.
Of course, offsetting that is that some people are too busy to sit around babysitting a tech onsite for four hours, too. My last spyware client allowed me to work on my own while they went to work, but a lot of people might not. (There were roommates in that situation, so it's not like I was alone in the residence, which would be a liability risk on my part as well.)
"how the lack of spending in research and development is 'kind of a crime'."
Which kind of crime is that, Bill?
When you dump tens of billions on a one-time stock prop scheme instead of investing it in R&D?
When you donate $20 billion to a "foundation" so your father can use it to control companies you can't because the SEC won't let you?
When you use your monopoly influence to attract development partners than walk off with their code and try to drive them into bankruptcy like you did that cell phone software company?
When you threaten to fire 8,000 people in a country that doesn't support your software patents initiative?
Read my lips, Bill.
Fuck you.
Stop calling him that.
Start calling him "Chief Thief" or maybe "Chief Pickpocket" or maybe "Chief Con Man."
When was the last time that asshole "architected" anything other than dodging a bullet on a Federal antitrust suit? The original Microsoft BASIC? Or was that Paul Allen, as I recall?
Well, the OP was complaining he wouldn't switch his desktop to Linux until he got "support".
I don't consider swapping out a winmodem for something rational to require much "support" from an ISP. If you're going to try to keep such a POS modem in the machine, then, yes, I guess you'd need support.
In other words, I don't see a winmodem as much of a justification for not switching to Linux from Windows. Especially if you're smart enough to know what a winmodem IS in the first place.
Now I understand Comcast cable requires you to register your MAC address using a proxy server of theirs, which I guess might be a tad more difficult to do on Linux than Windows - and Comcast probably doesn't provide any Linux instructions for that given the number of Google hits one gets for the topic of getting Linux to work with Comcast. So that might be a showstopper for some people.
Still, it's a one-time thing and on Linux at least, once you're set up you're set up. I don't think Linux users need to worry about their TCP stack suddenly getting corrupted by Browser Helper Objects and porn dialers and the like like Windows IE users do - not to mention simple Registry corruption.
So I still say lack of ISP support is a moderately lame reason for not switching from Windows to Linux.
I'll get liability insurance when I can afford it. As it stands, the client can sue me and get nothing anyway. Besides, I have my contract (lifted from one of the national tech support franchise outfits) that says basically the client is screwed if I fuck up - other than my "no fix, no charge" guarantee.
As for the rate, I can live cheap right now and there's a hell of a lot of competition in San Francisco - Craigslist has like 100-200 ads every single day for people doing the same thing and plenty of them charge $25/hour.
Also, I'm NOT necessarily worth more depending on what you want done and how fast I think I can do it. But that applies to a lot of other people who charge more, too, in my opinion. Tons of bad techs out there. At least I charge reasonably.
In any event, I'm trying to get more small business clients so I can reach a base level of income, then jack my fees up $5/hour every six months or a year until I get to a more reasonable level.
Ultimately I don't want to do this picayune support shit, I want to do application design and implementation using open source tools and Linux migration for more serious money.
I discovered that about SBC DSL and have never used the Yahoo client.
Didn't know Comcast was that easy at the time. That was the first client I had who tried it. I looked around on the CD for a simpler client (like SBC has with Enternet) but couldn't find one. If I'd known then that all he needed was DHCP setup and then use their proxy servers to get his MAC registered...
Russia didn't lock down technology because they didn't have any. That's the issue here. Look at how much trouble China is having locking down the Internet.
Not to mention that some people think the Net was instrumental in breaking down the Soviet system (I'm not convinced myself, but there were cases where dissident groups in Eastern Europe got support by being able to contact foreigners via the Net.)
Go two pages back, it's on the July 16th (Saturday) page. See the old news link at the bottom.
Or as the SubGenius put it, "You'll pay to know what you really think!"
Which is why people buy Windows-based machines.
"Bill Gates is rich, so I better buy one of his machines. The salesman said so. Also, nobody else makes computers except that strange company with the apple logo (which I don't understand), right?"
Or maybe it's just those ads with the guys with dinosaur heads on them. "Microsoft Office has evolved. Have you?"
Yeah, well past Bill's inability to communicate in English on why we should buy yet another version of a fucking office suite so bloated with "features" that nobody can figure out how to use any of the components.
It can take two IF you have EVERY freakin' tool available for deleting files that are heavily protected, hidden, etc. and you nail EVERY freakin' Registry key and hidden DLL on the system.
Depending on the speed of the client's machine and how much hard disk he has, it can take one to two hours just to run a scan with ONE spyware tool. If you have to run more than one tool (almost always), there's at least another hour.
THEN you have to find the stuff the tools DIDN'T find (almost always), THEN you have to clean off stuff that you found but which is hidden, protected from everything except System privilege, etc.
Yes, it can easily take four hours. Which is why I charge $25/hour, not $90 - because most clients can't afford $90 for exactly the reason that it's ridiculous to spend $400 cleaning a $400 machine - or one they got free from a relative.
For starters, you need to go to some other Web site than MSN or the Microsoft intranet, Bill.
"As absurd as it sounds, a lot of customers believe they can not install software"
Somebody tell me again how Windows is SO intuitive that ANYBODY can install software on it, but NOBODY can install software on ANY Linux.
"and trust us to do so"
Their second biggest mistake.
I add up your prices and they come to approximately $240. Add on your insane onsite fees to that.
Whereas I charge $25/hour onsite, and (if I don't fuck up) it gets done in maybe four hours or less, AND I install Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy, Spyware Blaster, AVG, and Kerio Personal Firewall (all of which are free for home use) AND tell them to use Firefox instead of IE and Thunderbird instead of Outhouse Express. After which they never have a problem again unless they're too dumb to run the updates (which some of them are.) Total cost to them: $100-150 - which I calculate is three or so times less than buying a new PC - every three months.
Yeah, but did they find any panties? You know that's what they were really looking for, right?
You mean the tool that leaves Claria spyware on your system since Microsoft is buying the company?
Good thinking. I sure will tell my clients that. I'll tell them to make sure they use IE7 when it comes out, too, just in case the Claria spyware accidentally gets deleted.
(Use the Preview Button! Check those URLs! Check those fucking dupes!!! MORONS!!!)
Important Stuff
# Try to put *NEW* stories on the system instead of fucking dupes!!! MORONS!!!
# Read other people's stories before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said!!! MORONS!!!
[Addition of the term "MORONS!!!" is my contribution to good user interface design.]