The fix when Firefox won’t let you cancel a download

Dave Farquhar Software , ,

It’s frustrating when Firefox won’t let you cancel a download. It took me a while to find a solution, but I found one.

Here’s some background. I started downloading this monster file the other day, not realizing I didn’t have enough disk space to store the blasted thing. So I went to cancel it. The problem was, it wouldn’t completely cancel. It would keep trying to download until it filled up my disk, at which point other terrible things would happen. I couldn’t cancel the download, I couldn’t pause it, and I couldn’t delete it.

The solution, as it turns out, is to close Firefox. Next, go into your profile. To find it quickly in Windows, you can hit the Windows key + R, type %appdata% and hit OK, then navigate to Mozilla, then Firefox, then profiles. My profile was in a directory named wtkz7xzy.default. Yours will be similar. On a Mac or Linux box, your profile is probably in your home directory.

One you’re looking at your profile, locate the file called downloads.sqlite, and delete it. When you launch Firefox again, the list of downloads will be blank, and the download that wouldn’t go away will be among the casualties. And that will stop the endless loop like I had, or other bad Firefox behavior.

More tips

If Firefox has gotten a bit sluggish on you, I have a number of proven tips to speed up Firefox.

Polaroid’s M7 and M10 tablets make me glad I didn’t buy a tablet last month

Dave Farquhar Android, Hardware , , , , , , , ,

I didn’t buy a tablet last month. I knew about Acer’s new low-end tablet, the Iconia B1, and that they were at least initially reluctant to release it in the United States, but I hoped that either Acer would change their mind or that someone else would decide that the U.S. market really needs something in between the $80 cheapie no-name 1-ish GHz, single-core, 800×480 tablets sold in every drugstore, closeout store, and vacant gas station lot in the country and the $200 tablets that the likes of Samsung and Acer sell.

I’d be lying if I said I saw the Polaroid M7 and M10 coming. Lying like the evil spawn of a politician and a used car salesman. Read more

Coming soon to Monoprice: WQHD monitors

Dave Farquhar Hardware , ,

Monoprice dropped a bomb at CES this week: a 27″ IPS LED monitor with WQHD 2560×1440 resolution for $390.

From what I understand, there are several Korean manufacturers who make monitors from surplus or rejected panels intended for Apple displays, then sell them for under $400.

This looks like Monoprice signed on to distribute them in the United States, which seems less risky than buying them from a small importer or exporter off Amazon or Ebay. These monitors are popular with enthusiasts, but I imagine with Monoprice distributing them, the following will only increase. Monoprice is a bit of a secret too, but I heard of Monoprice long before I heard of Korean-made WQHD monitors.

Monoprice estimates they’ll be shipping them by March.

If you want a lot of screen real estate in the form of pixels, WQHD is useful. If you just want a sharp display, though, calculate pixels per inch first.

A cheap and easy replacement for insulators on American Flyer, Lionel and Marx track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains , , ,

When you’re dealing with vintage toy train track, sometimes the insulators on the track will be damaged or missing. This will cause a short circuit and keep the train from running. This is one of the most common problems with vintage track.

But there’s a cheap and easy repair using material from an unlikely source: 2-liter soda bottles.

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Cheap cable management

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized

If the back of your desk is a rat’s nest, here’s a cheap way to manage those cables.

This method uses a $4 box of large binder clips, plus some screws and washers. You may find it’s cheaper to buy a box of screws and washers as well.

I worked in a shop once where they contracted out the cable management. Calling those guys perfectionists was the understatement of the century, but their cable runs looked like a work of art.

There seemed to be two keys. One is getting your cables a uniform length. You can’t necessarily control that completely, but you can bundle up the slack space somewhere that it won’t be visible. The other key is bundling the cables tightly at regular intervals. Velcro strips are invaluable for that, though you can use cheap and cheerful wire ties if you don’t move cables around very often.

The 4W Lights of America Power LED from Costco: Finally a good LED lamp for bathrooms

Dave Farquhar Saving money ,

Costco sells a 4W LED lamp by Lights of America. They briefly sold LEDs a few years ago from that company that weren’t highly regarded, and I think a lot of people are scared of the brand because of that experience. Not to worry, though. These are much better.

They’re billed as 25W replacements, and they’re globe-shaped. I find they’re a good replacement for 25W globes in bathroom fixtures.

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Speed up Android with Seeder Entropy Generator

Dave Farquhar Android, Software , , ,

Seeder Entropy Generator, released on XDA Developers, became a sensation the last couple of days. There’s debate whether it works, and debate over why it works, but enough people reported an improvement that I gave it a whirl. The difference was noticeable. There is a downside–more on that in a bit.

I don’t know why it works either, but it made my pokey 800 MHz Nook Color running Cyanogenmod 7.2 more responsive. What I haven’t seen is a nice how-to on installing it. Read more