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In our Mozilla Links issue, as reported by a Mozilla Links subscriber,
there was an error in the poll code at the website, which caused that
votes for Latin America/Caribbean, USA/Canada and Oceania were all
mixed up.
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Mozilla Links - English Edition
Issue # 10 - January 6, 2004
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Welcome back to Mozilla Links!
In our Mozilla Links issue, as reported by a Mozilla Links subscriber,
there was an error in the poll code at the website, which caused that
votes for Latin America/Caribbean, USA/Canada and Oceania were all
mixed up. For more info, check this mozillaZine forum topic:
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=42425
We apologize for this error and so, are posting the same poll again as
well as the corresponding to this issue.
Do you like games? We do and for all of you who like them too, here is
the first part of our take on Mozilla Games. Once again, the Mozilla
platform excels in providing great all-purpose development tools. You
are just clicks away to charge your Mozilla with some of the most
beloved classic computer games. Enjoy!
As always, your comments are very much appreciated. Please send them
to [E-mail:newsletter-feedback@mozilla.org]
Percy Cabello
Mozilla Links
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In this issue:
1. BETTER MOZILLA
- It's Game Time! - Part 1
- Take Control of E-mail Receipts
- Block Flash Ads
2. THE NEWS
- Review of the Year 2003
3. MOZILLA INSIDER
4. MOZILLA PROJECTS
- Project of the Week: MozManual
- Independent Status Report
5. MOZILLA LINKS POLL
6. CONTACT INFO
1. BETTER MOZILLA
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It's Game Time! - Part 1
BlockFall, Cards and Minesweeper (Stephen Clavering et al.)
In this first introduction to Mozilla Games, we focus on Stephen
Clavering's works. BlockFall, Minesweeper and Cards are the first
three titles he offers to the Mozilla community.
Installation is pretty simple, like any other Mozilla extension. Just
click on the XPI link, authorize the extension download and restart ?
your browser. The games will be added to the "Windows" menu in Mozilla
Application Suite and to the "Tools" menu in Mozilla Firebird (preview
technology).
* BlockFall 0.3.1 (contributed also by Viljo Viitanen) is a clone of
Alexei Pajitnov's master piece, Tetris(TM). If any introduction is
necessary for this all time classic game, it consists on strategically
placing falling tetraminoes (pieces made of four squares) in a well,
forming as many lines as possible to clear the well, score and avoid
the well filling up. You can try it, here:
http://downloads.mozdev.org/cdn/blockfall/blockfall.xpi
To control the pieces:
- Up: rotate the current block clockwise
- Left/Right/Down: move the current block left, right or down
- J: rotate the current block anticlockwise
- K: rotate the current block clockwise (same as Up key)
- P: pause/unpause the game
Next release, 0.5, is currently in alpha stage and adds several
enhancements, such as hexagonal and triangular tetraminoes, the option
to choose triminoes and pentaminos (so pieces are formed of 3 or 5
squares, triangles or hexagons instead of classic 4. For an early
preview, try it here:
http://downloads.us-east3.mozdev.org/cdn/blockfall/blockfall0.5a.xpi
* Cards 0.11 (contributed also by Neil Rashbrook and Derek Seabury) is
a collection of patience/solitaire card games including Aces Up,
Canfield, Double Solitaire, FreeCell, Golf, Grandfather, Gypsy,
Klondike (like Windows Solitaire), Mod 3, Regiment, Simple Simon,
Spider and Yukon.
If you are unfamiliar with some of these solitaires, Stephen suggests
visiting the KPatience Manual for the rules on all these games,
available here: http://docs.kde.org/en/3.1/kdegames/kpat/
It features autoplay, hints, infinite levels of undo, scoring,
animation and intelligent moving of cards when you middle click on
them.
You may notice that some cards are a little bit blurred, but this
will be corrected on Cards 0.12, which will be out later this month.
Among other improvements it will feature four new solitaires: Fan,
Maze, Montana and Seahaven Towers.
Visit the Cards website for more information:
http://cardgames.mozdev.org/
Or try it directly, here:
http://downloads.mozdev.org/cardgames/cards.xpi
* Minesweeper 0.5.1
Another of the most popular computer games is also available for
Mozilla. Minesweeper consists on a field of mines divided into square
cells where you try to figure out where the mines are, based on
information provided by adjacent cells. It's pure brain and
concentration and some few times, also a little luck.
This version also features hexagonal cells which adds a twist if not
complexity, as we found it easier to solve than the standard square
shaped cells.
Try it here:
http://downloads.us-east3.mozdev.org/clav/minesweeper/minesweeper.xpi
Once installed, the game can be accessed by choosing "Play
Minesweeper" from the "Tools" menu in Mozilla Firebird 0.7 (preview
technology). This just released version corrects a bug that prevented
from listing Minesweeper in the "Tools" menu, when BlockFall was also
installed.
To run Minesweeper in Mozilla Application Suite, type:
chrome://minesweeper/content in the Location bar.
Among others, Stephen is considering Sokoban, Connect4 and Reversi as
next projects he may want to start as soon as he gets some time for
these. If you would like to help in these and other game projects,
contact Stephen Clavering. (http://cardgames.mozdev.org/members.html)
On next Mozilla Links issues we will cover other games available.
****
Mozilla Links Tip: Take Control of E-mail Receipts
(contributed by mozillatips.com)
Ever been bothered by getting a return receipt request from someone
you don't know? It always seems like there is at least one person on
every mailing list who asks for a return receipt on his or her email,
and probably doesn't even know they are doing it.
With Mozilla Mail, you can customize the Return Receipt behavior with
the built-in preferences.
- In the "Edit" menu select "Preferences"
- In the "Mail & Newsgroups" groups, select "Return Receipts".
- Make sure "When sending messages, always request a return receipt"
is unchecked, and then customize your receiving behavior.
You can turn receipt requests off altogether ("Never send a Request
Receipt"), or you can allow request receipts for some messages. You
can customize based on whether or not you are in the To: or CC:
fields, which is perfect for mailing lists, or whether the email is
from your domain (a co-worker, fellow student, friend, etc.), and all
other cases. Mozilla can ask you whether you want to send a receipt,
never send one, or always send one without your intervention.
http://www.mozillatips.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=49
****
Mozilla Links PowerTip: Block Flash Ads
(contributed my mozillatips.com)
If you are you tired of seeing those Flash ads in your favorite
websites there are ways to prevent displaying them. The best way is to
edit the userContent.css file, which is located in your browser's
"chrome" directory. Adding the following lines will block Flash
applets based on typical ads sizes, so, it won't prevent some
particularly sized ads and general non ads.
/* this hides the usual 468x60 Flash banner ads */
embed[type="application/x-shockwave-flash"][width="468"][height="60"]
{
display: none !important;
visibility: hidden !important;
}
/* this hides the not so usual but very annoying 728x90 Flash banner ads
*/
embed[type="application/x-shockwave-flash"][width="728"][height="90"]
{
display: none !important;
visibility: hidden !important;
}
embed[type="application/x-shockwave-flash"][width="130"][height="180"]
{
display: none !important;
visibility: hidden !important;
}
embed[type="application/x-shockwave-flash"][width="120"][height="600"]
{
display: none !important;
visibility: hidden !important;
}
embed[type="application/x-
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