Multiple version of FF.. simultaneously

If I am a web developer, I would surely want my site to look good in all browsers. So I need to test that before my users do, right? This is easily possible for Firefox browser.

Say I have two versions of Firefox. One is the latest 1.5 and the other is old say 1.0.
1.5 is the one that I developed my site with. But I know that quite a few of my users are attached to 1.0. So I would need to install both the browsers on my PC. Thats where the pain starts. The moment I install the second version with all its shortcut, quick link etc. that version takes over. I found a solution to this problem on this site:

http://www.hiveminds.co.uk/node/3114.

They have detail explanation for a simple process and a complicated one. Now since I am a firm beliver in the KISS policy (Keep it simple, sir), I decided to follow the simple process. But I hit some roadblocks and had to find the workarounds on my own. So I thought why not streamline my steps.
1. I had FF 1.5 installed in c:\program files\......
2. So I installed FF 1.0 in my d:\ to be on the safer side. I did not do a typical install. I chose to do custom install. At the end of installation, I did not choose to use the shortcut, quick link etc.
3. Now I have two FFs. One is the one I can start from my desktop shortcut and the other I can start from my d:\. But ideally I want to use two shortcuts say FF1.5 and FF1.0.
4. So I created the shortcut on desktop using RMC menu.
5. I created a new env. variable, moz_no_remote and set it to 1.
6. I executed FF1.5, it started with the default profile.
7. Same for FF1.0, now I was asked if I wanted to use the default profile, or create a new one or rename the exististing etc. etc. I chose to create a new profile for my FF1.0.
8. Prima!, I was using two versions for FF at the same time.
Have fun!


Note 1: In http://www.hiveminds.co.uk/node/3114, they mention to modify the shortcuts and append "-p default" and similar things after the path to the executable. I did that, but still had to create my profile manually. So I am going to to investigate if appending path is necessary and accrodingly will modify the post.
Note 2: These steps suited my particular environment. If you decide to follow them, kindly do so at your own judgement.
Note 3: You can get older versions of Firefox from
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/

A week in perspective

The week was relatively cold compared to the week before that. Fall has officially started. In fact on Friday, I had to wear a sweater to work. Now soon, all the leaves will change colours slowly and steadily. The whole landscape will be very beautiful. Then trees will shed the leaves and winter will arrive. Will I continue to write my blog till then? Too early to tell. We will see.

At work it was quite a rewarding week and I learnt a lot while solving a technical problem. This hard work deserved a good dinner on Friday. And as fate would have it, we went to a nice new Indian restaurant for dinner to celebrate birthdays of my friends. This place has a nice combination of Punjabi and South-Indian dishes. I opted for the latter and then had Mysore Coffee. The coffee was OK, not as good as I would have it in Matunga.

Saturday, as usual I went to guitar lessons. I need to practise more :). But I am progressing at a steady pace and that still counts, right?

I still have to focus on my German. I need to work on my vocabulary. Let's see if I can spend this Sunday on that. Auf wiedersehen.

The swing of life

It was a cool fall evening and I was at the driving range practising my 7 iron. There was a tall and slender gentleman probably in his 50s. He was hitting the ball at a precision I had rarely seen except for tournaments. He was probably hitting 250 yards every time. After noticing for some time, I could not help but comment on his skills. He said something that I will never forget. "You hit the ball sometimes, sometimes you miss, but you have to come here everyday and hit it as best as you can". I learnt much more about golf and life in that one sentence itself.

Since I started taking lessons last year and got interested in this game, I noticed that Golf is very much like meditation or yoga. Contrary to what it may appear to lying eyes, you do need more focus and accuracy than brute force. In fact you can hurt yourself if you do not use correct technique. Correct posture, grip, nice swing and hitting the ball at the sweet spot of the club, it does not ask for much more. An interesting thing is that you should focus on the ball on the ground and not where you expect the ball to land. This is the modern equivalent of "you have right to only your work and not to the fruits of it".

Lush green field all around you, a small ball to focus on, surrounded by equally focused individuals and the freedom to apply your skills in the best way possible. Isn't Golf the modern meditation?