Student Accommodation in Norwich

September: the time of year again when students get back to the tough business of partying and drinking! This reminds me to write something I keep forgetting to post. In the highly unlikely event that students in Norwich will ever read this blog I'd like to recommend a local business that offers student accommodation: www.prolet.co.uk

Oh, and they also offer houses and flats to rent to other mere mortals and not just students.

Install the Signature extension for Firefox 3

This is something so useful that it should have been built into Firefox. When filling out web forms, you can easily enter any text you use regularly, like email address or names, with just two mouse clicks.

In Firefox 3 the extension no longer works, unless you bump the extension version. Here's how to do it (but please be aware that if you don't do this properly you might break things, so only do this if you're sure you know what you're doing!):

1. Download the XPI file and save it to your hard disk. I downloaded version 0.4.0.4.200610221528 (not the experimental version at the top of the page) by right-clicking on the green Add to Firefox button and selecting Save Link as...
2. Open the .xpi file you've just downloaded - it's basically a zipped archive, so open it with 7-zip or whatever zip software you use. (I used File Roller in Ubuntu GNU/Linux.)
3. In the archive you'll see a file called install.rdf - you need to edit this file and replace the one that's in the xpi with your edited version. This file is a text file so you can open it with notepad or whatever text editor you use. (MS Word is NOT a good idea!)
4. In install.rdf, under the section that begins:
<!-- Target Application this extension can install into -->
<!--- firefox -->
Find the line that says:
<!--em:maxVersion-->2.0.0.*
and change the 2 to a 3.
Update: Now that Firefox 3.0.1 is out, you'll need to change 2.0.0.* to 3.0.1.* (In fact, why not be prepared for Firefox 4 and change the 2 to a 4!)
5. Finally, install the extension by selecting Open File... from Firefox's File menu and choosing the xpi file you've just upgraded

That's it. It worked for me.

How to remove the advert on the BBC home page

The BBC's website proudly boasts that you can customise its home page to suit your preferences. Oh good; the first thing that can go is that dirty great big annoying advert in the top right-hand corner for programmes that I'll never watch. Hang on -- it seems I can't remove that. I can remove news, or sport, or almost everything else from that page, but NOT the advert? (Of course. This is the BBC that wants it both ways: get paid through a tax on UK citizens, but act like a commercial enterprise...)

Well, we can't upset the Tristrams at the BBC who like playing at being in advertising by ignoring that stupid advert they've spawned, can we? Or can we?

Actually, it's as easy as this:

1. If you haven't already done so, install Firefox as your browser
(This is so much better than Microsoft's Internet Exploder in so many ways, and it's faster and more customisable.)

2. Install Adblock Plus
Either click the link above, or follow these instructions:
From Firefox's Tools menu, select Add-ons.
Click "Get Add-ons" and then click on the link: "Browse All Add-ons".
Then, in the search box, type "Adblock Plus".
Then click on the "Add to Firefox" button. You'll need to restart Firefox.

3. Install the filter
Click on the down arrow next to the red ABP icon on the top right hand side of Firefox, and select Preferences...
Click on the Add Filter... button and, in the line that pops up, type the following:

bbc.co.uk#div(hpFeatureBox)

And click OK.

That's it! No more annoying advert. And, with Adblock Plus installed, most of the adverts on the internet will also disappear.

I think a better solution would be to petition the Governors of the BBC to rein in the Tristrams and tell them to start doing what they are supposed to be doing with our money: making good quality programmes and not stupid annoying adverts, but until then, at least this restores some decorum to the BBC home page.