Finding Firefox Extensions
There's no other major item most of us own that is as confusing, unpredictable and unreliable as our personal computers. Everybody has questions about them, and we aim to help.
Here are a few questions about computers I've received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained questions about Firefox extensions, firewalls for Macs and USB cables for multiple devices.
If you have a question, send it to me at
mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg's Mailbox.
Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can't routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.
Q: Last week, you mentioned an add-on "extension" for the Firefox Web browser that allows one to view a page in Internet Explorer instead. How do I obtain this? I couldn't find it using Google.
A: Extensions are small downloadable files that add optional features to Firefox . The one you refer to is called "ieview." It adds a menu item, visible when you click the right mouse button, that automatically opens a Web page in Internet Explorer. This is useful for the small percentage of Web pages that have been tailored for special aspects of IE and thus don't open properly in Firefox or other browsers. Extensions for Firefox are written by a wide variety of people, and may be scattered around the Web. But you needn't comb the Web to find them, or resort to a search in Google. You can get a list of them, and install any you like, right from a menu item in Firefox . Go to the Tools menu, click on "Extensions," and in the small window that opens, click on the link at the bottom right that says "Get More Extensions." This will open a Web page that lists most of the available extensions for Firefox , grouped by category. The "ieview" extension can be found under both the "Miscellaneous" and "Popular" categories.
Q: I know you have reported that the Macintosh has few, if any, viruses. But I'd still like to use an antivirus program and firewall on my new iMac G5 computer. Are such things available for the Mac?
A: Yes. There's a version of Norton Anti-Virus for the Mac, available at
www.symantec.com. McAfee also makes a Mac antivirus product called Virex, available at
www.mcafee.com. Apple makes Virex available as part of its optional $99-a-year ".Mac" service. There are some other antivirus products available for the Mac as well. Your iMac has a built-in firewall that you can turn on via the System Preferences panel called "Sharing." Symantec and other companies also make firewall software for the Mac. I haven't tested or reviewed any of these products, so I'm not able to recommend any particular one.
Q: I have a number of peripherals -- such as a camera, GPS unit, music players, etc. -- that connect to my PC by USB cables. I have each of these cables plugged into my USB ports, but I only connect one device at a time. Can I just keep one USB cable plugged in and use it for all my devices?
A: Only if they have identical connectors. Some, like the cables for cameras and music players, often have special small connectors, to save space. Some of these are standard, but others may be customized for particular devices. So one cable may not do the trick for all your devices, unless all your small devices happen to use the exact same connector.
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Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can't routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.
寻找Firefox的扩展套件
在我们大多数人拥有的大件电器中，再没有什么比个人电脑更令人费解、更变幻莫测的了。每个人或许都有些关于电脑的问题，而《莫博士信箱》将为您提供帮助。
本周我将回答读者有关Firefox扩展套件以及Mac防病毒软件的问题。
问：上周你提到Firefox网络浏览器附带一个能用Internet Explorer浏览网页的扩展套件。我怎样才能获得这个套件？我用Google搜索但一无所获。
答：扩展套件能够为Firefox增加一些可选功能，它们是一些可下载获得小文件。你指的是ieview，它为Firefox增加了一个菜单条，能自动用IE开启网页，这个菜单条可以通过点击鼠标右键看到。有少数网页专为IE的一些特殊功设计制作，因此你用Firefox或其它浏览器无法正常浏览，这个时候ieview就派上用场了。编写Firefox扩展套件的人很多，这些套件可能散布于互联网各个角落。但是找到它们你不必对网络详细排查，也不必求助于Google。你可以从Firefox的一个菜单栏中获得这些套件的列表，并可随意安装。你只需到Firefox“工具”菜单中，点击“扩展”，在随后打开的一个小窗口中，点击右下方的链接“获得更多扩展”。你将会开启一个页面，上面分类排列著Firefox的大多数扩展套件。ieview扩展可以在“杂项”和“流行”两类目录中找到。
问；我知道你曾经说过Macintosh极少感染病毒。但我还是想在我的新iMac G5电脑上安装防病毒软件和防火墙。有供Mac使用的此类软件吗?
答：有。Norton防病毒软件就有Mac版，在
www.symantec.com网站上可以找到。McAfee也制作了一个名为Virex的Mac防病毒软件，在
www.mcafee.com上有售。苹果(Apple)每年99美元的“.Mac”可选服务中也收入了Virex软件。还有其他一些适用于Mac的防病毒软件。你的iMac有一个内置的防火墙，你可以通过System Preferences面板中的“共享”选项启动防火墙。赛门铁克(Symantec)和其他公司也制作Mac的防火墙软件。我没有对这类产品进行过测试或评论，因此我无法向你做出推荐。
问：我将一些外围设备－－比如相机、GPS装置、音乐播放器等－－通过USB线与我的个人电脑连接。我分别将USB线插进USB接口，但是我每次只能连接一个设备。我能只插一根USB线使用所有的设备吗？
答：除非它们有完全一样的连接器。一些USB线常常使用特殊的小连接器以节约空间，比如数码相机和音乐播放器。这其中有一部分是标准型号的，但是另外一部分可能只适用个别设备。因此，除非你所有的小设备都使用同样的连接器，否则一条USB线无法实现你的愿望。
