Root Password Recovery

In Grub menu press e to edit the entry.
Use the arrow keys to go to the line that starts with linux and then press End to go to the end of this line. First add a space followed by init=/bin/bash rw

Press Ctrl-x to boot. The system will boot the kernel and run /bin/bash instead of its standard init. This will allow us gain root privileges without password.

At the prompt type passwd and enter your new root passwd ( twice ). After this type reboot and press Enter.

Disable Extension Compatibility Check Firefox Nightly And Aurora

Firefox can be made to drop this compatibility check. To be able to install an addon which is incompatible, the compatibility check needs to be turned off.
Go to about:config and right-click anywhere and choose New > Boolean. Give the preference the following name :
For Nightly and UX-builds : extensions.checkCompatibility.nightly and set it to false.
For Aurora : extensions.checkCompatibility.7.0a and set it to false.

Older addons can now be installed on this Firefox.
For instance I went to : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/ , the page says : Not available for Firefox 8.0a1. Just right-click the Add to Firefox button and choose Open Link in New Tab.. The addon will now be installed.
Do note if they are not really compatible, Firefox will crash!

Link : http://kb.mozillazine.org/Extensions.checkCompatibility

Firefox Nightly Builds

Following the amazing release of Firefox 4, Mozilla Firefox is moving to a rapid release development cycle to deliver new features, performance enhancements, security updates and stability improvements to users faster.
Firefox 8 (!) recently found its way into the nightly build channel.
I went to : http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/ and downloaded firefox-8.0a1.en-US.linux-x86_64.tar.bz2.
Extract it :
tar xf firefox-8.0a1.en-US.linux-x86_64.tar.bz2
This will yield a folder firefox. Open up a terminal inside this folder and start firefox 8 with the following command :
./firefox -P
Profilemanager will open and just create a new profile...
Start firefox 8 with the newly created profile.

To create a shortcut ( I use alacarte : Internet > New Item ) move the above mentioned folder firefox to your home directory , rename it to firefox8 and start firefox 8 with the following command :
/home/username/firefox8/firefox -P "new profile" -no-remote

I was pleasently surprised that the font rendering was excellent, no need to compile it yourself..
( see one of my former posts : http://debian-bits-and-snips.blogspot.com/2009/12/rebuilding-firefox-with-enable-system.html ).
Same applies to Aurora : http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org//mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-mozilla-aurora/ ( 32 and 64 bit ).
See also : http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/channel/ ( only 32 bit ).

Edit : Nice feature : automatic updating

Bleeding edge :

Firefox UX-Builds : : http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-ux/
: a project branch where the Firefox front-end and UX teams can play around and share experimental ideas before they're stable enough to land in the usual Nightly channel.

DevTools-Builds : http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-devtools/ : a sneak preview in the Developer Tools group.
See : http://blog.mozilla.com/devtools/2011/07/21/121/

Make Iceweasel Bookmarks Toolbar Auto-hidden

Here is a way to hide your Bookmarks Toolbar until you drag your mouse above it, this will provide you with more space on your screen and a simpler user interface :
Menu > Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory > Open Containing Folder .
In this folder there is a folder called chrome . Edit the file userChrome.css and add these lines :

/* Auto-hide bookmarks toolbar */
#PersonalToolbar {visibility: collapse !important;}
#navigator-toolbox:hover > #PersonalToolbar {visibility: visible !important;}

Restart iceweasel. In case you don't see your bookmarks on the Bookmarks Toolbar check Bookmarks Toolbar in View > Toolbars.

There is an extension as well : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bookmark-autohider/

Adobe Releases Flash Player 11 Beta

The next Adobe Flash Player release finally re-syncs the 64-bit build with the Flash updates in the mainline code available to 32-bit users. This is the first public beta release of the Adobe Flash Player 11 that offers both 32-bit and 64-bit binaries to Linux users, along with 64-bit binaries for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X users.
Adobe Flash Player 11 Beta drives innovation for amazing, breathtaking digital experiences with brand-new features, including Stage 3D, HD surround sound, H.264/AVC software encoding and 64-bit support.

Download : http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer11.html

The final version of Flash Player 11 will be released before the end of 2011.
For setup see a former post : http://debian-bits-and-snips.blogspot.com/2011/02/setup-flash-non-debian-way.html

When using flashplugin-nonfree just do the following as root :

/usr/sbin/update-flashplugin-nonfree --install

Output:

http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashplatformruntimes/flashplayer11/flashplayer11_b1_install_lin_64_071311.tar.gz
Resolving download.macromedia.com... 95.100.179.191
Connecting to download.macromedia.com|95.100.179.191|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 7044701 (6.7M) [application/x-gzip]
Saving to: “./flashplayer11_b1_install_lin_64_071311.tar.gz”

Restart iceweasel and check version at about:plugins