Hot Rodding Firefox & Other Mozilla Based Browsers

UPDATE: Some settings were again updated (on Aug. 21, 09). They turned out to be too conservative and changing them has proved to be fruitful.

ie.,
network.http.max-connections-per-server
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests
network.http.max-connections

I also threw in network.http.request.max-start-delay and a “Further Fine Tuning Front-end Behaviour” section.

This is really my (updated, as in now organized!) personal check list and guide to fine tuning the Firefox, Flock, & Iceweasel browsers for speed and a pleasurable surfing experience. [It could still use some editing to make it
readable by the public, but that wasn't its purpose. It was meant as a personal check-list, and if others can make sense of it ... well that would be all good but secondary. By secondary I mean computer geeks. Non-computer geeks are on
their own.] If you’re looking for a hold-your-hand guide, read Serdar Yegulalp’s well written article titled Hacking Firefox: The secrets of about:config [1] [1] [1]¹¹¹.

Yes, now there’s an extension (somewhere) that does this sort of thing but I doubt it does it all. Plus, you lose control and, some might say, responsibility over your own “hacking” (ie., What if the installed extension doesn’t work? [and --worse-- you don't notice]). You would also miss out on the fun of hacking things on your own.

This list might be extensive –but you do not need to implement it all –depending on your needs and/or likes. I hope others find this helpful, as I have.

I’ve taken care to quote and give credit to sources.

Personal comments are done within “[]” brackets and are somewhat anecdotal.

So without further adieu, here is my compiled list of Firefox/IceWeasel/Flock tweaks.

My Two Bits on Revolution OS

Since I just posted a link to a “Stallman & GPL for Dummies” video on Stallman and the FSF, I’ll mention there’s a movie called Revolution OS. It attempts to provide a balanced view of the entire movement from it’s inception to its development as a business model, and fork –the Open Source movement.

Stallman & GPL for Dummies

Few people have the patience to hear or read through speeches on “digital rights” issues (as Michael Edwards from my days at LSD coined it).

This is the first “accessible for the masses” Stallman video that I have ever seen or heard.

Hurd, BSD, MINIX 3, on Live CDs and Desktops

I wanted to draw attention to a list of BSD flavours and forks that I think are noteworthy. This article purposefully neglects Gnu-linux (/live CDs) as they are well documented elsewhere.

First of I must mention Hurd. It’s been a long time coming, and along the while there been changes in micro-kernel usage from Mach, to the L4 family –specifically Pistachio–, and now as of late, Coyotos (although the wikipedia article “L4_microkernel_family” also mentions L4.sec).

If you want to try Hurd, you can install the Debian (Mach based) version, Debian Gnu/Hurd. There is also a live CD called Ging.

“Free” as in “Liberty” Wireless Support

If recently found this article titled, The Battle for Wireless Network Drivers by Jem Matzan, on the state of wireless support on the part of manufacturers towards Free (GPL’d or BSD’d) operating systems.

It describes the process of reverse engineering and the difficulties involved with the development of firmware, lobbying for documentation and/or the freedom to redistribute firmware, and source code. It also describes the insistence of some manufacturers on license agreements (such as NDAs [non-disclosure agreements]).

In an unexpected fashion, the article ultimately identifies a lack of communication between developers contributing to the lack of wireless support, with

iBook G4 Motherboard Fails

An article posted at <abcnews.go.com> notes that the iBook G4 motherboard fails at an unusual high rate.

Ben Folds Five Sound-a-like

I was trying to recall a piano rock band or singer that was hitting big in Canada a year ago when I was still there. I recall they sounded like Ben Folds Five, but weren’t. I guess this was Ben Folds, but I’m still not sure.

I haven’t heard much of Ben Folds or any piano rock here in Chile. Chile is inundated (or infested) with awful Reggaeton.

The Blood Libel

If any of you find the blood libel and the related academic research into it of any interest, here are a few articles,

Jerusalem Post
American Thinker
Telegraph

Help Fund Maca’s Summer Vacation

The strange thing I still find about girls here in Chile is that they don’t seem to have much against using their feminine charms for cheap and quick gratification. I find my reactions ranging from the humorous to the offensive, as this is reminiscent of what’s been called the oldest trade in existence.

Adding extensions to Flock

Seeing that there is not a lot of movement in Flock’s extension page, I was thought about how one might add one’s favourite extensions. Firefox’s Add-on page, as extensions seem to be called now, lists the odd Flock compatible extension.

Testing Flock 0.7.99 Trunk

While constantly getting frustrated at how Firefox 2 crashes on Tiger, I was hoping for a new update to the Flock 0.7.10.1release. Well I got bored of waiting around, so I looked around to find a nightly build and finally I found one at

The Flock Favorites File

Wondering where Flock’s favorites are kept? It’s not in the bookmark.html file you might think.