What a BuzzKill

Yesterday I was talking about my experience with upgrading to the newest version of Firefox (version 1.5.0.1) and how that was going.

Today I received an email from US-CERT where I’ve signed up on their security alert mailing list. Today I received an email warning of vulnerabilities in Mozilla products. The solution? Upgrade to Firefox 1.5.0.1.

Here’s a link to the article.

So… yeah. In order to ensure that you’re not susceptible to the vulnerabilities, maybe an upgrade to version 1.5.0.1 is in order.

Just an additional FYI – This installation appears to be more stable than 1.5 and I haven’t experienced even one lockup or crash in the day I’ve been using it. Of course a day isn’t really a stress test, but it’s more than just blindly installing it, right?

While I won’t say exactly what or why (as that’s just not the type of person I am), events occurred today that relieved my mind of the stress it’s been under for almost a week, now.

A malicious person wronged me – even after I had earnestly tried to be nice to them and help them through what I perceived to be a very trying time for them. What was being done not only affected me directly, but could have indirectly affected the well-being of my son as well. A person with such blatant disregard for others deserves what they get for their actions… as does their accomplice.

After 30 minutes of using it – Yep, the Fasterfox extension made a big difference. If you don’t already have it installed get it now! So far I haven’t encountered any problems. Some of my old extensions still haven’t been updated to work with 1.5.x, which is sort of a bummer, but maybe they will sometime soon.

Keeping on the theme of Firefox, I came across this interesting blog about the history of Firefox. A good read for fans of this wondeful browser.

So far the upgrade from Firefox version 1.0.7 has been OK. I have noticed what seems to be a little lag while FF renders a page, especially the images…

… wait. I just realized that the Fasterfox extension didn’t go along with the upgrade. Let me try installing that and seeing if that makes a difference. I’ll keep you posted.

Firefox 1.5 had quite a few problems that gave me enough reason to uninstall it and reinstall version 1.0.7. Now they’ve released version 1.5.0.1 and it’s been on my mind to check it out ever since it was released last week.

Upgrading Firefox used to be something I never thought twice about, until version 1.5 came out. The notification of an update was given and I’d just go ahead and do it. Now I’m cautious. I’m going to take the plunge today and give it a whirl. Rest assured that I’ll share any problems that I encounter here. Wish me luck!

Another cryptic message for my friends and family:

Things are brewing, change is likely, but I’m handling things just fine. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be just fine, if not better than before.

I want to thank all of those who have been so supportive of me lately. There’s no way that I can express the extent of my gratitude!

Went out for lunch today with the guys from work today for Chinese food. We usually go to Jade Palace. The food is good and the prices are reasonable.

The guy in charge of building maintenance, office supplies, landscaping, etc. (Facilities Manager?), was there, along with my boss and the helpdesk guy. The facilities manager isn’t known for his firm grasp of the English language, especially in written form. He’ll often ask me or the helpdesk guy for help with writing an email that he wants to send to all our staff, since he knows that his writing skills are pretty bad.

We finish eating lunch and the waitress brings us our bill, along with some fortune cookies. We all pull out our fortunes and read them aloud – appending the phrase “in bed” to the end, as seems to be the funny custom. The facilities manager stares at the slip of paper in his hand for a moment and just tosses it on the table. I lift it up and read it, then burst into laughter. I showed it to the other guys, who also start to laugh hard. This fortune was such perfect irony that I decided to scan it…

This weekend was nice. I was able to see 2 of my best friends, as planned. Went night-caching with one and introduced the other to geocaching. Saturday and Sunday were very relaxing, non-stressful days.

Tomrrow (Monday), Rece will be leaving for his 6th grade science camp, returning home Friday. While I’m going to miss the hell out of him, the break will also be nice. He’s going to have so much fun… I’m so jealous!

Yep, another one of my rambling posts. I don’t have a story or funny thing to report right now, but there are a few things from time to time that aren’t enough to make a full post about, but that I sometimes feel like writing down. Here are some of them…

• I miss my friends a lot, lately. They know who they are – and know that I miss them. Hopefully I’ll see 2 of them over the course of this weekend.
• Work seems strange lately. Since I’ve started here, I’ve felt like it was a nice and friendly place to work. As of late, things seem to be shifting to a more corporate feel. That seems like a bad move for a health and human services fundraising organization that’s supposed to care for people.
• Just realized that I haven’t mentioned that I’ve got wheels again. That’s right! I’m back to driving again. You don’t realize how much freedom you have when you can just get into your car and go wherever you want on a whim, until you can’t do it anymore. I’ve been resisting the urge to drive all over the place – gas is expensive, and I still have to get a couple things fixed on it before I’ll feel safe enough to drive it long-distances. The funny part is that my dad might actually be taking this car back to use and giving me the one he’s driving around (a 1995 V6 Ford Taurus Wagon). We’ll see what happens.
• Doing my best to keep exercising from home. It’s just the basic push-ups, sit-ups, and wrist & bicep curls for now. Geocaching has helped by getting me out and walking/hiking more. The occasional walk/hike with some folks from work on a Saturday morning haven’t hurt. What I’ve been missing the most of lately, though, is the night-caching.
• Seems that my resolve to learn guitar has shifted a bit lately. I think I need some structured lessons. While I’ll pick it up and try to learn what I can on my own, it’s frustrating to think that there’s probably an easier way to learn. I’m far from giving up on it, but the goal I set for myself of being able to play Under the Milky Way by The Church within 2 months might have been a bit too lofty. The urge to play the drums has been getting even stronger lately, too. Sherise (my ex) needs to get her car out of my garage before that’ll happen.
• Looks like I might start doing side-jobs again. Finances are OK right now, but I’d like more of a cushion. I’d also like some additional fun money. Now I just need to find some clients…
• One of my friends just called me and described how her day was going. After hearing about her experience with a card-hungry ATM machine and a coffee and cream fiasco this morning, my day suddenly doesn’t seem so bad. I told her that she should be careful and just stay indoors today.

I just learned that Lisa Loeb, who I’ve had a crush on since the first time I heard her sing “I Do”, is single again. Why does this matter? What the hell am I going to do about it? Nothing… but my imagination does get to wander a bit more. Hmm…

That is all…