Firefox - Right Click Menu Flickers

I am using Firefox 17.0.1. My second monitor an AOC 1950W was replaced after developing a fault. Immediately I discovered a problem when using Firefox. Right clicking on a web-page resulted in the Right Click Menu flickering and disappearing making it difficult if not impossible to select a menu item. There was no problem on the main display. Using Chrome on this display there was no problem.

I checked settings were correct and that drivers were up-to-date to no avail. A Google search for "firefox right click menu flickers" produced the following suggestion:-

Try to disable hardware acceleration.

• Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available" .

If disabling hardware acceleration works then check if there is an update available for your graphics display driver.

Untick box and restart Firefox, this solved the problem.

Ripping (Backing Up) DVD's and CD's

Due to the minefield of legislation covering the copying of propriety media such as DVD's and CD's one has to tread carefully when offering advice in this area. But given the damage that grand and not so grand kids can wreak on DVD's and the like "Backing Up" is no bad idea. I work on the misguided principle that providing such copies are for my own use and I have no intention of passing them on or off for gain or otherwise I feel my actions are justified or at least defensible. There are also occasions that I wish to send copies of my own work to various places and people as part of my art practice and studies so a "How To" reminder is in order. For those of a nervous disposition you ay want to read about the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act - DMCA!  This information is available via the website Doom9.net the guy who runs this very succinct site about all things "Ripping" obviously knows his subject and conveniently brings all the info together in one place, so that's the place to go for more info.


As I "Back Up" DVD's and CD's so infrequently I can never remember what I did last time I did it so I decided on a Blog Post to remind me.

I have tried DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink, they both seem to do the ripping just fine. If you have problems with encryption or copyright protection then DVD Decrypter is probably the best choice. You can find Guides on how to use this software on Doom9.

The Death of Microsoft Live Mesh

Re Blogged from ghacks.net

Anyone here still using Windows Live Mesh? The service allowed you to synchronize data between multiple PCs years before Microsoft made the switch to SkyDrive as its main synchronization and data hosting service. Microsoft today announced that Windows Live Mesh will be discontinued on February 13, 2013 as a consequence of that shift towards SkyDrive. Part of what made Windows Live Mesh great on Windows and Mac OS X has already been worked into SkyDrive, Microsoft calls that the DNA of Mesh that has been brought over.

Read more here...

How to Open PNG Images in Picasa

Picasa doesn’t automatically include Portable Network Graphics (PNG) images by default. You can however view PNG images in your Picasa photo library and open them in Picasa for editing from the Picasa Photo Viewer application. You can also set PNG images to always open in Picasa Photo Viewer. It just needs a change to the <Preferences>.

How to Open PNG Images in Picasa

1. Open Picasa.
2. Click the Tools menu in Picasa and select Options.
3. Click the File Types tab at the top of the Options window.
4. Enable PNG image support by clicking the PNG check box and clicking “OK.”
5. Click the Tools menu and select Configure Photo Viewer.
6. Click the PNG check box in the Photo Viewer Configuration window to open all PNGs in the Picasa Photo Viewer by default, if desired, and click “OK.”

If Picasa does not update missing PNG files automatically, add PNG files to your Picasa library by clicking the File menu and selecting Add File to Picasa or Add Folder to Picasa. Picasa also automatically adds to your library PNG images in folders it’s already watching.

Adapted from a post on eHow.com

Microsoft Wireless Mouse 5000 Scroll Problem

I recently installed a new keyboard and mouse, a Microsoft Wireless 5000. The first thing I noticed was the scroll wheel on the mouse seemed to have a mind of its own. But most annoying was that the scroll wheel did not work at all with some programmes, namely Picasa, a programme I use quite frequently. After fiddling with the settings I still could not solve the problem. There were lots of posts on the net about this problem but no solutions. I eventually came across the suggestion of changing the mouse to a different type in the configuration. I chose "Standard Wireless Optical Mouse", see the screen grab below. hen go to the "Wheel Button" drop down menu and choose auto-scroll. The mouse and scroll button now works perfectly with Picasa.

Read It Later - Firefox Add-On to Save Web Page to Read Later

I use Firefox browser and invariably have loads of tabs open for pages I intend to read later or just that I just want to remember. The important ones I tag with Delicious but for the rest I usually end up closing them down and then inevitably as soon as I do that I need to look at one. Firefox has an Add-On called Read-It-Later also available as an iPhone and Android App as Pocket. With this Add-On you can save web pages to read later with just one click, the icon appears in the URL dialogue as yellow outline chevron.
When you have time, access your reading list from any computer or phone, even without an internet connection!

You can find the Add-On in the Firefox menu >Tools >Add-Ons (Ctrl-Shift-A)

I will report back when I find out if it helps with my problem.

iDevice Hell

I started with and iPod Touch then the iPhone arrived and now I have an iPad. Whilst I love the user interface of these products I hate iTunes. I never really got to grips with it when I had the iPod, now I have the other 2 pieces of kit I am totally confused. Why does it have to be so difficult to manage the devices and my PC and my Netbook. I have never been the same since I zapped everything from my iPod just when I thought I had it cracked, my confidence has been shattered.

Dell Monitor Power Button Failure

The power (on/off) button on my Dell 2407 WFP-HC monitor failed, fortunately in the ON position. Despite the monitor being about 8 years old it works perfectly well and I had no intentions of trashing it, so was it fixable? Lo and behold first Google search result was a YouTube video, in 4 parts, of how to repair the power button on a Dell 2407 WFP monitor by thinkofwhy.

I would advise watching all 4 videos before starting. Watch out where he mentions removing the stand and rear cover in part 4.  Removing the rear cover will make the removal of the circuit board that holds the switches much easier and its replacement. It is important to replace the button in the correct orientation, that is with the line vertical. Before I got to dismantling my monitor I discovered that if I used a blob of Blue Tack pressed on the button and turned the button to the correct orientation I could operate the button.

The problem is if your button fails in the OFF position you will not be able to watch these videos.  From the number of comments on the video's this is a common problem with this and other Dell monitors so even if yours is working ok check these instructions out before it is too late.

Part 1       

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Create a Photobook

The family album is almost a thing of the past. Now we share photographs by passing round the mobile phone or the camera or if you are a bit more tech savvy you may post the images on Facebook, an Internet image sharing site like Flickr, Photobucket, Shutterfly etc. Or you may even have your own photoblog or website. Other alternatives are Digital Photo Frames, CD's DVD's etc. My son-in-law uses his Playstation and shows his on the TV. Or more likely you have thousands of images on the Hard Drive of you r PC or Laptop which no one will ever get to see.

The only problem with digital storage of photographs is the media is prone to corruption or deterioration or obsolescence! How may sorts of storage media have there been in your lifetime. How many more will there be in our kids or grandkids time?

In my opinion there is nothing like looking through a photo album. I am luck enough to have albums created by my grandfather who was a photographer in the early 1900's and my by my mother who was an avid snapper. She had the forethought to go through all her albums and notate the photographs with names, dates and places, which was fantastically helpful when I started on some family history research.

So what are the options? I decided two years ago to start putting photobooks together. I started by collecting together photographs of my 5 grandchildren. I used them to create a photobook for parents and grandparents as a present at Christmas. I am delighted to say that they went down a treat, everyone was delighted. Particularly the grandchildren who constantly refer back to them with great pleasure.

I use Blurb, you have two choices for creating your books an on-line publisher or a downloadable publisher, Both are easy to use and can be configured to be either simple to professional quality with various options in between. The site contains loads of help, videos, tutorials etc.  You can stop and start making your book, it is saved automatically and can be alterer right up until you place your order. If you do find a mistake or want to change something you can re-edit at any time.The finished books are excellent quality paper and feel and look like a professionally made book. Check out the website  and have a go.

Picasa v3.9 Update Available

Picasa, my favourite freebie photo editing software just had a major facelift. Picasa version 3.9 is now available to download or as an upgrade. I surprised to find a whole host of new goodies plus a few irritations, mainly changes to layout.

First the good stuff, there is increased connectivity with the net. A big green button for sharing on Google+, 24 new effects for twiddling your images and side by side editing, updated raw support. Also support for WebP is a new image format that provides lossless and lossy compression for images on the web.

On the irritating side they have moved some of the buttons off the toolbar at the bottom of the page, Movie and Collage in particular. Movie is changed its name to Video and is accessed through the Create drop-down menu. Or you can reinstate the Video (Movie) and the Collage buttons by going to Tools> Configure buttons> and use the Add option to place these buttons back where they belong. But why do they do these things in the first place?  More information from the Picasa website.

If you have never tried Picasa you should, it is more than just a photo editor, it will organise your images, catalogue them, sort out duplicates, prepare images for the web, create movies, slideshows, CD's and much much more. It will never take over from Photoshop but for some jobs it is a whole lot quicker and easier, removing red eye for example.

Download Picasa from here.

Word 2022 Endnote Numbering Problem

If you are a skinflint like me and refuse to upgrade to the latest version of Windows Office you may find this workaround for a notorious Word 2002 bug helpful.

If you add Footnotes or Endnotes to a document and then delete one or more you will probably find the numbering goes bananas. I have tried every fix on the internet to sort it but only one works for me. 

Make your Endnote changes and save the document. use Ctrl+A to select the whole document, then Ctrl+C to copy. Open a NEW document (the page layout is not important) Ctrl+V to paste the document. You should note that the Endnote numbering is now correct. Ctrl+A to select this modified document. Go back to the original document which should still show that it is Selected, if not Ctrl+A again and then Ctrl+C to past in the modified document. Check that your modification has worked, if so Save. Best of luck!