[LINK] Browser Add-on

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Thanks for this Rick. Apologies for my delay in responding, but I wanted
to await any more replies, before reposting. There is 4 opinions in all:

> The following has just been posted to an online group. Does any Linker
> know anything about this, good or bad?  (Quote ..)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-hint/

The (above) page says that the Mozilla team have reviewed this plug-in
as "experimental" or "preliminary":

"Experimental add-ons have been checked by our editors to make
  sure they don't have security problems, but they may still have
  bugs or not work properly. Use caution when installing experimental
  add-ons and uninstall the add-on immediately if you notice problems."

> This add-on slows down Firefox loading of websites.

At a guess, this add-on configures Firefox to use a proxy in another
country, i.e. in the UK for BBC media, which will indeed slow down
your loading of websites. You can check this by looking at the proxy
section of the Firefox configuration preferences.

cheers
rickw

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Reply 2
Just be careful of what it does in the background (more technical details
from the developer would help). Ie. if it routes your connection through a
developer-hosted US based proxy, the browser will redirect everything of
its traffic through such proxy, that would mean that your login cookies
(session cookies) for any other opened tab will go through that server as
well. If you use FF JUST to browse videos and NOT login to Youtube (ie to 
post comments on Youtube, which does the same universal sign-on as in 
Google, IE you get your Google session cookies) that'd be harmless.

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Reply 3
Sounds like it is a VPN (Virtual private network) add on. I use Chrome as 
my only browser. VPN programs change your IP address so it appears you are 
somewhere where you're not. I use one called WiTopia which is pretty 
powerful. It allows me to connect through a web server in at least two 
dozen different countries changing my IP address to that location, I 
routinely use Scandanavian countries as they are pretty lax. Haven't come 
across a website yet I haven't been able to open, works great for all kinds 
of projects. I've had this particular program for a couple years now and 
don't remember if I paid for it or not.

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Reply 4
I was using Hotspot Shield for quite a while and was always reliable that 
is until recently. It would no longer allow me to connect forcing me to 
install the upgraded version. So ok, I'll bite. I upgraded. Tried to 
stream...Not allowed from your region. Huh? OK, I went on speedtest to see 
what server I was locked on to and guess what? I was using London! I'm like 
what the he** is this? I checked on their support site. It says the country 
is selectable. But...There's a catch. It works only in the "Elite" version! 
I said to myself, "Sorry I'll pass" and uninstalled it. I'm now worried at 
this point because I need this to use Xoom to do my pension transfer to my 
bank account. I started to look at Google VPN's and looked at many. Most 
were pay sites until I stumbled onto this site. It is called Soft Ether. It 
is a free program sponsored by a Japanese University who feels that no one 
has the right to censor what you want to watch. This program works great. 
It will allow you to lock on to any available free VPN site in any country 
it has on it's list. I did a tracert to Google to see if my IP showed up 
and it didn't. Cool. I was not only able to do my Xoom again but lets me 
see streaming like CBS, HULU etc not just in the US but BBC in UK for those 
from UK.
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Cheers,
Stephen