• Google
• Yahoo
• Microsoft
• Network Advertising Initiative Members

Here is a peek at the interface of Beef Taco:

Personally I have never understood the reason for wanting to block advertising cookies in the browser, but for those of you who like to keep things nice and private – Beef Taco will help you get the job done. If anything, you could pick and choose who’s ads you want to accept and who’s you want to block too.

You can pick up Beef Taco from the Firefox Add-ons website.

Due to privacy concerns, some Firefox users may wish to disable or turn off the session restore feature in Firefox. As an example, if your computer is used by multiple users, the browser could crash while you are checking your Gmail account.  Rather than restoring Firefox, you decide to go do something else.  When somebody else comes in to launch Firefox, the browser will be restored to your inbox (due to fact that is where it crashed).  If you want a little more browsing privacy, here is how you disable the session restore feature in the browser.

First thing you will need to do is visit our old friend, the about:config screen.  In the address bar, type in:

• about:config

and then press the "Enter" key.  If you are warned about the fact that you can really mess Firefox up if you muck around inside of about:config, just go ahead and click "I’ll be careful, I promise!" and continue.

Now, find browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash in the list.  You will want to double-click that entry, and then set it to false.  Session restore inside of Firefox will now be disabled.

Here is what Mozilla has to say about the privacy issues that might exist:

Session Restore may keep you logged in to sites that you were logged into before you closed Firefox. If someone else used your computer after you, they could access your account on these sites. If this is a concern then you should not configure Firefox to open all windows and tabs from your previous session ("Show my windows and tabs from last time" option described above).

I would not consider this a huge privacy problem, but if it is something you are concerned about – it is nice to know Firefox left the option open for you.

Here are the steps you will need to take:

1. Go to the website you wish to block from setting cookies in Firefox.
2. At the top of the Firefox, click on the Tools menu, and select Page Info.
3. In the Page Info window, select the Permissions panel.
4. Underneath Set Cookies, remove the check mark from Use Default.
5. Change the setting to Block.

Now, all you will need to do is close the Page Info window.  You are done!  What if you have a change of heart, but forgot what which website it was you blocked?  You can view a full list of websites you have blocked in this way by following these steps:

1. Inside of Firefox, click on the Tools menu, and then select Options.
2. Next, select the Privacy tab
3. Set the Firefox will: drop down box to Use custom settings for history
4. Next to where it says Accept Cookies from sites, click on Exceptions

Now most of the time, cookies are not really harmful – they are just gaining information about you that the website might need to function or to learn more about the people who visit the site (like browser type, how long did you stay there, and more). Cookies also store website preferences and login statuses too.  So be careful before you get too trigger happy blocking too many browser cookies.

There you have it.  Now you can be a little more in control of how cookies are treated on a per website basis inside of Firefox.

There you have it.  Once you have done so, it will ask you if you want to switch into Firefox’s private browsing mode.  You could also save about:privatebrowsing as a bookmark, so you have easy one click access to the private browsing mode, without adding any extra add-ons to Firefox.

Now here is my challenge to all of you out there, does anybody know a quick way to stop private browsing, and return your browser back to normal (other than the traditional menu method).  If you do, leave it in the comments!

Want to hide what it is you have been looking for?  Not the perfect solution, but perfect for nit-picky peeps is the Clear Search add-on for Firefox.

What does this browser extension do?  It does one job, and it does it really well.  Once installed, it automatically clears the search bar after performing a search. So if you have a nosey roommate or family member, they won’t accidently see you have been searching for the top 10 horror villains of all time.

While this add-on for the browser isn’t enough to prevent somebody who is really nosey from going through your history, and doing a full scale investigation – it does serve the simple task or clearing out your search box after a search very well.  You can pick up the Clear Search extension on the Firefox add-ons web site.

The Awesome Bar (or address bar, as those “normal” browsers might call it) does a great job at matching a web site saved in your bookmarks or history when you start typing in the Awesome Bar.  By default, Firefox doesn’t give you a way of saying, “Don’t show these bookmarks there” so now somebody has written up an add-on to give you that ability. 

The NotAwesome add-on for Firefox will help you hide any bookmarks tagged with “notawesome” from awesome bar searches.  This way you can totally flag bookmarks you don’t want showing up in the Awesome Bar results.

You can pick up this great add-on via the Firefox Add-ons web site.  (credit for this find goes to Lifehacker, when in turn goes to gHacks too!)

So we are to believe that Firefox and Chrome are both insecure, difficult to use, and unreliable?  The Internet Explorer team might want to check their calendars, because last time I checked – it is June 26th, not April 1st. 

If that isn’t enough – they also have a MythBusting page.  What is your favorite “fact” they are claiming?

Here are some of the most popular plugins that help with increasing the privacy or security for your Firefox installation.

NoScript

The best security you can get in a web browser! Allow active content to run only from sites you trust, and protect yourself against XSS and Clickjacking attacks.

WOT

WOT, Web of Trust, warns you about risky websites that try to scam visitors, deliver malware or send spam. Protect your computer against online threats by using WOT as your front-line layer of protection when browsing or searching in unfamiliar territory.

Stealther

Do you like to pretend that you are a super secret spy when browing the Web? Maybe you just don’t want that nosy brother or sister looking in on what you have been doing. No matter the situation, if you want to stay secret – the Stealther Firefox extension is for you.

FoxyProxy

FoxyProxy is an advanced proxy management tool that completely replaces Firefox’s limited proxying capabilities. It offers more features than SwitchProxy, ProxyButton, QuickProxy, xyzproxy, ProxyTex, TorButton, etc.

Fire Encrypter

Want Firefox to help you encrypt your secret files and documents? Maybe you just want to learn more about the encryption process? No matter which camp you fall into, the Fire Encrypter Firefox extension is for you. It brings the top secret world of encryption right into your favorite little browser.

Sxipper

Forget your passwords! Sxipper accurately fills in forms, manages passwords and your OpenIDs.

CookieCuller

Want more control over your cookies? No, I’m not talking about the ones your grandmother loves to shove down your throat – I am talking about the ones that involve your browser. The Firefox extension CookieCuller gives you total control over which cookies stay on your computer by letting you protect cookies of your choice while automatically deleting the rest.

Flashblock

Flashblock is an extension for the Mozilla, Firefox, and Netscape browsers that takes a pessimistic approach to dealing with Macromedia Flash content on a webpage and blocks ALL Flash content from loading. It then leaves placeholders on the webpage that allow you to click to download and then view the Flash content.

TrackMeNot

With all this talk about your privacy being attacked and people snooping on what you have been searching about, you are bound to feel a little paranoid. You might be watching over your shoulder as you type. You might be turning the lights out before you get Online. How can you protect yourself from being tracked in your searches though? If you use Firefox, you need the TrackMeNot extension.

BugMeNot

Tired of web sites asking you to register to view the content inside?  Bypass compulsory web registration with the context menu via bugmenot.com.

Know of another Firefox security add-on that is well worth using, just not that popular yet?  Do any of these add-ons make you sleep a little easier at night?  Let me know what you think the best security add-on for Firefox is.

What is Firefox Saving About Me?

Now the first question you may have is what type of content is saved by Firefox?

This Firefox extension delivers when it comes to delivering you a password I’d never be able to guess. Now why should you use strong password? Well the obvious reason would be to make sure your content does not get stolen.

Here are some of the features of this extension:

• Automatically generates strong passwords.
• One master key produces different passwords at many sites.
• Quickly upgrade passwords by “bumping” the site tag.
• Upgrade a master key without updating all sites at once.
• Supports different length passwords.

For more information be sure to check out their official web site. We all want to be more safe, and a good password is an easy way to start.