Maggie's Farm

According to Bruce, Tom is very, very old and wouldn't know what Macrosoft is. Tom, Macrosoft is a company that makes flannel diapers for large babies, hence the name. They're harder to clean than cotton diapers, of course, but babies love them. I'm sure you've heard of their elderly adult line and, in fact, might be wearing one now. That flannel feels pretty good, doesn't it? I hear it's extra-nice in the winter because it's warmer than cotton or linen. I'm still too young to wear them, of course, so while your buns are toasty and warm this winter, mine will be shivering. I guess you're just a lucky guy.

Those computer "geke" types you read about view Macrovision as the dreaded enemy because they were the first to have copy protection on DVDs. I believe at least three hours went by before someone cracked it, which brought on CSS, the standard for the last few years (that one took about 45 minutes), and now Sony's new ArCoSS, which is a tough nut to crack and only those skilled "pirate gekes" know how to do so, usually using an English program that weighs in at a delightful disk-pleasing, earth-saving 1,850 KB. Ever the globally-conscious ones, those English. Maybe because they used to own half of it.

Anyway, I wouldn't know about this Macrovision company except what I hear, and I can't wait until I'm really, really old so I can have a warm butt in the winter, too.

Enviously yours,
Doc

You're right! (Wow, you ARE old!) I'd totally forgotten about the Sharpie trick. But, then, I was just in swaddling clothes at the time, so I guess I can be forgiven.

While I kid you about your age, part of me is actually a bit jealous. It must have been fascinating sitting in the theater watching 'The Wizard of Oz' when it was first released. Awesome graphic effects for the day! I'm sure the memory lingers with you still.

Did someone? It's fitting, at least as far as what they do to their competition. I usually refer to them as the time-honored 'M$oft'.

By the way, you seem fairly intelligent for a crustacean. Is there something you're not telling us?

"Knowing the relative value of moochers?"

Well, you're still above pond scum and dog drool on the evolutionary scale, so you've got that going for you.

Have you tried updating your video drivers? Go to Control Panel, Device Mangler, click on 'Display adapters' and that's your video card/chipset. Get on Google, type in the entire name and maybe "download". You should see the site listed near the top and their support/download page. See if yours has an update. BTW, if/when it happens, you can also right-click on the Desktop and select 'Refresh'.

Let me know what happens.

Another thing to try would be an older version of Firefox, like 6, just to see. While I can't put my finger on it, v7 just seemed a little different, like maybe a tad slower or something. Version 6 may not be on the Mozilla site, but it should be around. That's what I'd do.

Big G - Well, after doing a little sleuthing, it appears that AdBlock just flat-out doesn't work on many systems, but only a few people mentioned the problem you have, and I didn't see any answers. From what I gather, stock AdBlock is free and they have a 'Plus' version for $$? There were a number of dark, veiled hints that AdBlock is doing this on purpose so people will upgrade to the commercial version. I'd tend to doubt this, but one ne'er knows.

One thought pops to mind. Try removing AdBlock and then reboot so you have a fresh start. If you have some kind of Registry cleaner, use it. If you don't have one, dig up the free CCleaner, install it, then click on "Registry" on the left and run it. Then reboot.

Then dig up the actual EXE for Firefox, right-click on it and "Run as administrator". Then install AdBlock. Assuming you're running the finicky Win7, it's possible a 'permission' is missing in the first case, which this might get around.

You might also remove Firefox, clean the Registry, reboot, then download the FF file and do the "Run as admin" routine on the actual Setup program. Again, it could be one of those pesky Win7 'permission' things that's missing, which this routine might get around.

Let me know the scoop.