Category: Info

Mac Firefox Hangs on Startup – Possible Solution

There used to be a time when it was really painful to start Firefox on my MacBook. It seemed to start normally but soon the window became unresponsive. Usually it took several minutes before I can use Firefox to browse web sites – really annoying. I searched but found people facing the same problem without a solution or response from Firefox developers (here and here).

In the mean time I was quite confused by Firefox frequently asking me to allow its access to some font file on the bootcamp partition – how does Firefox know that I installed a Windows system? More importantly, why does Firefox want to examine this just for a font?

Firefox asking to use bootcamp font

At first I didn’t think much and always allowed it to access the fonts but one day I finally chose “Don’t allow” and checked the “Do not ask me again” box. I don’t know if that is the solution but several days later I noticed that Firefox started as quickly as before!

If you’re suffering the same problem, and also asked by Firefox the same question, please try this and comment below. But I don’t know what to do if you already checked the “Do not ask” box and clicked “Allow”…

Mac Software Update Not Working – Solution

Recently a lot of Mac users are complaining that the software update program is not working correctly and I also ran into this issue today. It just tells you “your software is up to date” but obviously there’s some software not up to date. For example, I opened iTunes and it told me there’s a newer version of iTunes, would you download it? I clicked “download” and the software update app opens but it told me that there’s no update – that made me crazy.

Continue reading Mac Software Update Not Working – Solution

GoDaddy .COM names now 30% OFF

This info may be useful for some readers.

.COM names for $6.99

This special 30% OFF* sale expires June 30, 2008.

To get your discount, simply enter source code gdp0611aa in your shopping cart, or mention the code when you call.

You can lock in these savings for up to 10 years by choosing multi-year registration.

People renewing existing domains also can enjoy this offer.

Movable Type 4.1

Movable Type 4.1 was just announced. As stated in the blog post, this is a (the first?) stable release of Movable Type Open Source.

The download link given on movabletype.org is a zip file. However if you want gzip format, you can get it here. This version is under the GPL v2 license. And you can also download another version here if you agree to the personal license.

The two files are not identical, if you check them. That makes sense because they include different license agreements in their source code headers. However, they deliver the same code and functionalities as far as I know.

I just upgraded my Movable Type powered blog (not this one) to the latest version of MTOS and I really like the new layout of creating entries. Don’t forget overwriting the old mt-static directory – I missed this step as a novice and the admin page was messed up :)

Yes, I’m still a novice user of Movable Type. I’m very curious about a different approach than WordPress (OK, WP is a different approach than MT).

GoDaddy Gift Cards with other Payments

When I was going to buy this domain from GoDaddy, I realized that I had a gift card with $1 balance. Of course I would not waste it.

I searched and found the “official solution”. It was easy. First choose gift card as payment option, and

If your purchase amount is greater than the amount on your gift card, simply choose another payment method to cover the remaining balance.

I followed the instructions, but on the page where I entered my gift card number, I could only add more gift cards, but couldn’t add other payment methods. I tried to go to next step, with the hope that it would prompt me to choose another payment method. No, it just said the payment couldn’t be verified.

Finally I got the right way to use this “wasted” gift card. Instead choosing gift card as your payment option, you should choose the payment method that you want to cover the balance. I chose paypal, and after returning to the checkout page, I saw the “use gift card” option right below the paypal account information form. GoDaddy first used my gift card, and then requested the remaining balance from my paypal account. Largely the same if you choose paying by credit card.

GoDaddy needs to update their help docs :) .