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If your Firefox browser suddenly does not open after updating it, then most likely your Profiles folder has been corrupted.

First, you’ll need to backup your Bookmarks if you have any.

Make sure Firefox is completely closed before you do any of the actions that I list below (there is no black arrow under the Firefox icon at the bottom of your screen in the Dock).

Here’s how to back up your Firefox Bookmarks:

1. Click on the Finder in the bottom left of your screen in the Dock
2. Click on your Home folder (it will have your name, or whatever you named your user, with a picture of a home next to it); make sure you click on that and NOT your hard drive
3. Click on the Library folder (you may have to double-click; it depends on how you view your folders; you just want to open it)
4. Click on the Application Support folder
5. Click on the Firefox folder
6. Click on the Profiles folder
7. Click on the folder named xxxxxxx.default (the x’s stand for various characters)
8. Drag the bookmarks.html file onto your desktop (eventually put this where you back stuff up; maybe email it to your gmail account, if you have one; great place to backup files that are under 10MB in size)
9. Keep bookmarks.html on your desktop until we finish here

Now that you’ve backed up your bookmarks, you can delete the Firefox application and your Firefox folder inside Application Support. So, to delete the Firefox folder inside the Application Support, follow steps 1-4 above and then drag the Firefox folder that is inside the Application Support folder into the trash.

NOTE: Again, make sure you are in the Library/Application Support folders of your Home folder, NOT of your hard drive. The Firefox folder will NOT be in Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support.

Now go into your Applications folder and drag Firefox into the trash. Then, go to GetFirefox.com and download the latest version of Firefox. After you download the .dmg file, double-click on it. It will open the disk image. Then just drag the Firefox icon in the disk image into your Applications folder.

Try opening it. It should work. If it does, great. Now lets get your bookmarks back into Firefox.

Completely close Firefox (Firefox>Quit Firefox).

Follow steps 1-7 above and drag the bookmarks.html file on your desktop into the folder inside your Profiles folder (it should be called xxxxxxx.default where the x’s are various characters). It will ask to overwrite the existing bookmarks.html. If it doesn’t, then you are not putting it into the correct folder. Say YES to overwriting the existing bookmarks.html file.

Now you should be good to go. Open Firefox and check out your bookmarks. If they are there, you are free to surf again!

written by Ian Brown

I just found out about a cool website from my sister that allows you to get up-to-the-minute info on flights:

FlightView.com

You can either search by flight or by cities of departure and arrival.

Enjoy!

written by Ian Brown

Whenever you install something new on a Mac or perform a Software Update, it is always good to repair your disk permissions. This will make sure you computer runs optimally.

Here is how to Repair Disk Permissions:

1. Double-click on Macintosh HD (upper right of your screen)
2. Click on Applications on left side of window
3. Double-click on the “Utilities” folder to open it
4. Double-click on “Disk Utility”
5. Click on your hard drive (not the one that says how large the hard drive is, the one below it that is a little indented that most likely says “Macintosh HD”)
6. Click the “Repair Disk Permissions” button in the bottom center portion of the window
7. Let it do its thing until it tells you it is finished (“Permissions repair complete”)
8. When it’s done, close everything and you’re good to go

written by Ian Brown

In Leopard, when you go offline while using Apple’s Mail program with an IMAP account, you may get the following error message, or something similar:

“Some actions taken while the account “xxxxxxx” was offline could not be completed online.

Mail has undone actions on some messages so that you can redo the actions while online. Mail has saved other messages in mailbox “Apple Mail To Do” in “On My Mac” so that you can complete the actions while online.

Additional information: The IMAP command “APPEND” (to Apple Mail To Do) failed with server error: Invalid mailbox name..”

And if you click OK enough times, the program crashes.

There are two ways to correct this problem (both ways will preserve your mail settings (you will NOT have to reconfigure your Mail program) and your mail will appear in a few seconds after first opening the Mail program after performing the fix below):

Continue reading »

written by Ian Brown

Resetting PRAM and NVRAM

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

Your computer’s PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values. The clock settings may be reset to a default date on some models.

For more info, go to Apple’s Support Page.

written by Ian Brown

Go here for more info.

written by Ian Brown

Just go here:

Fasterfox

Click install now

Restart Firefox

Enjoy!

written by Ian Brown

Here is a bunch of free software for you:

* Free YouTube to iPod and PSP Converter 2.8.3.1(recently updated)
* Free Video Dub 1.2.1.1(just released)
* Free Audio Dub 1.2.1.1(just released)
* Free Video to Flash Converter 3.1.3.1(recently updated)
* Free YouTube to MP3 Converter 2.4.3.1(recently updated)
* Free DVD Decrypter 1.2.3.1(just released)
* Free 3GP Video Converter 2.4.3.1(recently updated)
* Free Video Flip and Rotate 1.2.3.1(just released)
* Free YouTube Download 1.2.3.1(just released)
* Free YouTube Uploader 1.5.3.1(recently updated)
* Free Video to iPod and PSP Converter 2.4.3.1(recently updated)
* Free Video to iPhone Converter 1.3.3.1(recently updated)
* Free Video to MP3 Converter 2.8.3.1(recently updated)
* Free Video to JPG Converter 1.2.3.1(just released)
* Free YouTube to iPhone Converter 1.3.3.1(recently updated)
* Free Studio Manager 2.2.1.1(recently updated)

You can get it here.

written by Ian Brown

That is because the new PDF files made with the latest version of Adobe Acrobat can not be read by Preview, Mac’s program that is associated with PDF files. So, I suggest you download and install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat here:

Download Acrobat Reader for Mac

And if already have Acrobat Reader on your Mac and you still can’t read a PDF, then download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat. As of this writing, the latest version is 8.1.1 for Mac.

Same goes for you PC users, by the way. Can’t read a PDF? Download the latest version of Acrobat Reader.

written by Ian Brown

Just wanted to let everyone know that if you have a hard drive that has completely failed, and you need to get your data back, use the discount number DS19409 at DriveSavers.com and you will get 10% off. In addition to that, if they don’t retrieve your data, you don’t pay a dime (usually you have to pay them $200 to look at the drive).

This number, DS19409, can save you a lot of money, so make sure you keep it in a safe place!

written by Ian Brown

Wow. I just read that Disney just paid $350 Million upfront for ClubPenguin.com, a site that allows kids to customize penguin characters, and then chat and play games with other characters. And Disney says that it will pay them another $350M at the end of 2009 if their growth projections are met.

With 700,000 members paying $5.95/mo. that’s a nice sales price whoever negotiated that. Warren Buffet does say that you should be able to sell your business for up to 10 times the annual revenue, which would make it $500,000,000. So, both sides did a great job negotiating. If the projections are met, the founders get $700M for 2 years of work (founded in 2005). And if the projections are not met, Disney gets a nice discount.

Source: NY Times Article

written by Ian Brown