Enabling Cntrl+V on Firefox

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If you’ve ever been annoyed by the security features that Firefox has implemented with hopes of being the safer browser, here’s how to remove that annoying block for Control +V within many WYSIWYG editors. I’m trying to put this on a novice level, because it really is super-simple, so if I go too slow for you, my apologies.

1. Locate your Firefox Preferences folder. I am running Windows XP and mine is found by opening this series of folders:

Start–>My Computer–>C:–>Documents and Settings–>(user-specific name)–>Application Data–>Mozilla–>Firefox–>Profiles–>(profile name)–>prefs*(open with Notepad)

By the way, this is, by far, the hardest part of this trick. Locating your prefs file (it is a javascript file) is ornery at best, especially for the novice. In the documents and settings folder, there are several files that may seem right. The only way to know which is the right one is to open each one, click on Application Data*, and then see if there is a folder named Mozilla in it. If not, it’s not the right one. Backup and try again until you find the right one. Mine is named Owner.Your-tendigitnumbersequence.

*Note, you may have to choose the option to ‘see all files’ found in the left sidebar of your file explorer area to see the Application Data File.

2. Now, the easy part. Make sure Firefox is completely shut down. If you have any file that uses Firefox, it will have to be closed as well. I even had to remove the icon for Firefox from the QuickLaunch section of the toolbar to get it to work. In fact, that was a major stumbling block. That icon must be removed or closed to ensure Firefox is shut down, otherwise you will not save your changes to the prefs.js file.

3. Insert this snippet of code into the file:

user_pref(“capability.policy.policynames”, “allowclipboard”);
user_pref(“capability.policy.allowclipboard.sites”, “http://www.mozilla.org”);
user_pref(“capability.policy.allowclipboard.Clipboard.cutcopy”, “allAccess”);
user_pref(“capability.policy.allowclipboard.Clipboard.paste”, “allAccess”);

4. Save and close. Start Firefox and you should be all set.

**If you do not have a prefs.js file within the Profiles folder, you can create one with Notepad by opening Notepad and saving as prefs.js (be sure to change the ‘save as type’ to ‘all files’ rather than the default ‘.txt’ or you will end up with a file named prefs.js.txt. You can choose to save it into the folder from the beginning or you can create the file on the desktop and drag it into the Profiles folder.

If you need a hand with this, email me. robyn *at* sleepyblogger.com

Are we ready for Web 2.0?

Or, to be more direct, is Web 2.0 ready for prime time.

Sure there are some great companies and some great ideas, but are these sites that are in ‘beta’ or even ‘alpha’ really ready for our widespread use?

I began thinking on this months ago when I was exposed to an alpha service (not going to be any more direct than that out of respect for the CEO) that was not quite ready for prime time. We used the service for months, still do actually, but every few days we are having some sort of major issue with it. In fact, because it is a service that we depend upon, we have two of these things now, and I am beginning to use the one that is not so flashy (ie Web 1.0) because it’s reliable to a fault.

Of course, I’m not even going to talk about the other things I have had the pleasure to test over the last few months that were not only poorly executed, but integrated with other items that are now no longer useful for me.

I guess I need a Web 2.0 laptop for testing and a Web 1.0 laptop for actual work…

Dennis’ wife’s experience inspired me:

In theory, the population of users like my wife might be a prime target of the Web 2.0 delivered rich functionality for remotely served applications such as are sometimes referred to as “Web Office” or Office 2.0.


Technologies such as AJAX (and Flash, ActiveX, and Java, as well) help deliver near-desktop-quality functionality (some may argue with the adjective “near”) without requiring the permanent installation of massive amounts of (expensively-licensed) software on the client machine. I’m sure that many corporate I.T. folks view potential simplification of the client’s configuration as A Good Thing, right?

We have got to come up with a way to offer up something cool and new and exciting to our CORE users (ie the beta people) without releasing it to the masses. I know that was the original ‘beta’ appeal, but everything’s beta now so the market is clouded with a large amount of ‘beta’ sites that, pardon me, suck eggs.

We’ve no reason to muck up Web 2.0’s excitement and promise while it’s still in beta…

Business Blogging

How do you blog?

Effective blogging means bridging the gap between your customers and YOU!  It’s hard to give you a 5 step plan that details the inside secret of business blogging.  It’s kinda like the way the feds described porn, “I know it when I see it.”

On that note, I want to spotlight the Flickr Blog.  Long a thriving community, Flickr is truly ‘where it’s at’ for so many things.  If you haven’t heard of Flickr, you probably don’t know what a computer is either, so you’re probably not a reader of this blog 😉

So, this post assumes you ‘know’ Flickr.  If not, try wikipedia.com for a history of the site that’s social+photos+blogging.

Now, take at look at this post from the Flickr blog:

Eyes of the World

That can manifest itself as art, or using photos as a means of keeping in touch with friends and family, “personal publishing” or intimate, small group sharing. It includes “memory preservation” (the de facto understanding of what drives the photo industry), but it also includes the ephemera that keeps people related to each other: do you like my new haircut? should I buy these shoes? holy smokes – look what I saw on the way to work! It let’s you know who’s gone where with whom, what the vacation was like, how much the baby grew today, all as it’s happening.

And most dramatically, Flickr gives you a window into things that you might otherwise never see, from the perspective of people that you might otherwise never encounter.

You also need to look at a few of the images JUST FROM THIS POST that highlight the points made in the lengthy article.

I spent an hour looking at their blog today, and it was an hour I really didn’t need to spend.  However, I was enthralled and could not stop.

Granted, you aren’t going to get that response from most business blogs, but you should.  You should feel a deep emotional connection to the person writing, even if it’s loathing.

C’mon, you’re a person with feelings and emotions, SHOW THEM.  Write to grab your readers.  Write with feeling, with REAL emotion.  Don’t just write copy, write your heart.
Twin BabiesTwin BabiesTwin Babies

links for 2006-02-20

SimpleTicket gets Dugg

simpleticket open-sourceI love to talk open-source because I just love the whole idea behind open collaboration and trusting users enough to ask for their help and ideas to make your product prosper. Now, I’m a capitalist (no doubt), but there’s just enough ‘left’ hidden under my gruff, conservative exterior to really, really appreciate open initiatives.

Alexander Muse sent me a link earlier letting me know about SimpleTicket and it is really, really neat. For businesses that want a ‘simple’ solution to IT trouble tickets, this is a great option.

SimpleTicket was written using Ruby on Rails and has some neat Web 2.0 features like Ajax. In fact, those two items, plus the fact they released the source code, inviting developers to assist them contributed to the fact they recently got dugg to the front page of Digg.

Neat product and even neater presentation. Oh, did I mention they support TAPI (VoIP) and have RSS feeds for your IT department? That is just icing on the cake. 🙂

Survey: Should the Feds Ban Broadband Interference By ISPs?

Should the Feds get involved? That’s the question of the day today. I’m going to give you links to some convincing, intelligent arguments from both sides, and you tell me what you think. Yes, the Feds should get involved: Some…

I’ve got a survey up at the VoIP weblog that touches on the expected federal intervention for VoIP companies. If you have a moment, please take time to cast your vote.

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