Firefox performance issues

Firefox performance slowing down? I am a Firefox user by choice, and being the owner of AdsTrek, a traffic exchange, I’m a heavy surfer, with several exchanges being surfed at once. I’ve always had the problem of decreased performance in Firefox after surfing for an hour or so, which required shutting down and restarting the application. You may experienced a similar problem and if that is the case there is an easy fix. I’ve solved this issue and the fix is simple. This will work as long as you do not require the browser to record surfing history, or need off line storage of any kind. Go into preferences, privacy and on the History tab, remove the check in the keep my history tab, or just set it to zero. Additionally, under the advanced tab, set off line storage to use zero MB of space for the cache. This solution works like a charm under Windows or Linux operating systems. I can now keep Firefox open and working 24 hours a day if I so choose, with no performance deterioration. Let me know if this works for you, and happy surfing.

Are you backing up your computer?

If you do not back up your data regularly, you are asking for trouble.  Every computer owner has data on their computer that is valuable to them, and if you are reading this blog, chances are you are one of them.  I do full backups of all my important data every night to separate USB hard drives on my network.  You might think my data would be safe, but a recent mistake of mine almost caused me to lose data I could not replace.  I mistakenly deleted an important folder containing data which went back several years.  I wasn’t aware of my mistake until after my automatic  backup program wrote over my backup and deleted those files from it also.  Now what?  Fortunately, I also use an inexpensive on line backup company, to which I backup nightly.  I was able to enable a restore over the Internet, and after a simple download, all my data was restored.  Do you do backups regularly?  Can you afford to lose data?  Do you think that USB hard drive you might be backing up to will be there when you need it?  Ever hear of fires or other disasters?  Lightening strikes?  The company I have been using for several years has never let me down.  It even has a free service, or you can back up an unlimited amount of data for just a few dollars a month.  If this sounds like a good backup solution to you, you can get more details here. It is secure and encrypted.  A simple google search will bring you many more alternatives.  The important thing is to protect that data before it is too late.

Pet Peeve Department – Silly Advertising

This is one for my Pet Peeves Department.  Advertising for idiots, or, should I say, advertising TO idiots.

Ever see an ad, particularly in the start-exchange industry, that you are forced to look at when you are trying to log into your account?  I do not mean an ad or banner on the log in page, I am talking about the page that pops up after you log in, but before you are allowed access to your account, often several pages that you have to scroll down through before you get to where you can click to move on?  What you have to click is a line similar to “Ok, I fully understand I will never have the opportunity to take you up on this offer again, so, with that in mind, please please let me log into my account” and finally you get in.

First of all, it wastes my time.  If its going to be there at all, and it should not be,  make it short in length to fit the page, with a big no thanks button right there so you can move on immediately.  I do not need to scroll down several pages to have the opportunity to pass on your once in a lifetime offer that I see everyday when I log in.

Second of all, what is the hurry?  If this offer has any value, it should be available to everyone at any time for some time to come.  Do you really think the hype will end today with this ad and nothing will ever be offered again as a once in a lifetime value?  Please, stop treating your subscribers as idiots. Think about it.  An offer that I do not have time to think over is somehow going to benefit me more then one that I can take my time considering?  Rubbish.

Comments appreciated.

A word about rotators in traffic exchanges

Many traffic exchanges allow the use of rotators. AdsTrek is one of them. A rotator allows you to enter just one url into the exchange, and then you can enter several sites into that rotator and have them all in rotation. Remember, you still have to make sure all the sites you put into that rotator meet the terms of service of the exchange in which you are advertising. The best way to do this is to enter each of the sites you intend to use in your rotator directly into the site individually for approval before you place them in your rotator. That way, you will know you have a clean rotator, and there will be no problems.

A good way to use a rotator at an exchange like AdsTrek and many others that offer both auto and manual surf options would be to enter all your sites into the exchange first in whatever type of surfing you do most, manual or auto. Once these are approved, you can set up a rotator with all of these sites entered and then place the rotator into the other rotation at the site. This means that if you set up sites as auto surf at the site, all you need to do is enter one url, that of the rotator, into the exchange as a manual site and have them all rotate for you. Since the amount of url’s you can enter at a site is limited in most cases, this is a good thing. An added benefit is that you also get a larger audience for your sites, since some members only choose to do one type of surfing and not the other.

Many exchanges will ban a rotator that causes problems repeatedly. Remember that a rotator is a convenience for you, and should not be an inconvenience for other members of the exchange. Use a rotator wisely and it can be a great tool.

Some free rotator sites that you can join are TEtoolbox and Pageswirl .

How I use the Firefox No Script add-on

My personal choice of browser is Firefox.  The primary reason for this is the number of add-ons that are available to customize it to work exactly the way I want.  One of my favorite add-ons is No Script.  Many websites use scripts to enhance the functionality of the site.  AdsTrek, for example has a script that enables the surfbar to operate, another script allows you to log in, etc.   Unfortunately scripts can also do bad things if you come across one of the bad guys out there.  That is the reason it’s not always a good idea to allow scripts to run on all sites you come across, unless you trust it and want the functionality they provide.  No Script prevents scripts from running without your approval. The first time you come to a site, you might a notice that a script is being blocked.  If this site is a site you trust, such as a traffic exchange you are a member of and want to surf, or a trusted site you wish to log in to, you merely have to right click on the No Script icon that appears in the lower right area of the browser and click the option to allow the page you are trying to use.  Once this is done, it will be trusted in the future whenever you go to that site.  This simple script blocking makes your browser much safer when you are surfing the web.  An added benefit is that most sounds that run on websites will be blocked, making those noisy intrusions a thing of the past.  Here is a handy tip.  In the No Script options, there is a check box that allows you to turn off the notifications.  I suggest you do this, since most sites you come across will be trying to run scripts, and you really don’t need to see the notification every time.  Just remember that if a site you want to work with is not functioning the way you think it should, it’s probably because No Script is blocking scripts.  Simply right click the No Script icon and allow it.  In addition, when surfing AdsTrek or other VS-TEN networked exchanges you will also want to allow varisearch.com as an allowed site so that the ads running on AdsTrek from the network will show. I think you will find this add-on will make your surfing experience faster and smoother, and once you get it set, you will hardly know its running.