clicktoflash
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ClickToFlash 1.6b7 solves YouTube's "Old Flash? Go upgrade!" message
If you have ClickToFlash installed, you may have seen a note telling you that you have an old version of Flash and encouraging you to upgrade. As you might expect, you don't need to upgrade Flash, but you do need to upgrade ClickToFlash. The current version is ClickToFlash-1.6b7-upload1.zip, but you may have go to the Github page for ClickToFlash to download it. Jonathan Rentzsch explained that he hasn't been able to update it himself due to illness. However, given that it is open-source, four others (identified as ndfred, Justin, ssp and lapcat) identified the problem and a solution, and Rentzsch merged it back into the main branch of the code. That's pretty awesome, if you ask me. So if you've run into this problem at YouTube, take a few minutes, download the new version, quit Safari, and run the installer. Voilà!
Browser security: "The main thing is not to install Flash!"
You may have noticed that I'm not a huge fan of Flash. My feelings pre-date the iPhone/iPad debate about whether or not Flash should be included on those devices. Even back when I was using Windows and Opera, one of the features I used most often was "Disable Plugins" -- which was really another way of saying "Disable Flash," and I do that these days in Safari using ClickToFlash. Flash lovers usually talk about how many games are only available using Flash. Flash haters usually talk about performance issues, especially on the Mac. Adobe tries to make the argument that not including Flash is bad for users' freedom of choice. When it comes to browser security, Charlie Miller says that it's all about Flash. More specifically, avoiding Flash. Miller, who has won the Pwn2Own contest two years running, was interviewed by Italian site OneITSecurity. They asked him what browser and OS he thought was the safest. The first part of his reply probably won't make Mac users happy: he suggests Windows 7 with either Chrome or IE8 saying "there probably isn't enough difference between the browsers to get worked up about." But the highlight for me was the next quote: "The main thing is not to install Flash!" The guy who seems to be the best in the world at breaking into your web browser tells you that you shouldn't install Flash. Perhaps you should consider installing ClickToFlash; it's completely free, and tells Flash to load only when you tell it to load. That should make your browsing significantly safer on any platform. Hat tip to Jay Hathaway at DownloadSquad for bringing this to our attention.
YouTube with all of the sizzle but none of the Flash
[Our regular Sunday night Talkcast is cancelled due to a sick host. Sorry, and we'll see you next week. –Ed.] Let's face it: Flash on the Mac is a dog. Actually, that's an insult to dogs, which are known for running fast. Flash for Mac is such a an unoptimized beast that you can expect it will suck up as much CPU as possible, even for the simplest of videos. My first line of defense is ClickToFlash (which I've mentioned before), but the folks over at NeoSmart have another solution, at least for YouTube: HTML5. By using the newest version of HTML, they have devised a system to send YouTube videos directly to any MP4 decoder on your computer. Simply go to their custom web page and paste the YouTube URL into the field. In a moment you will be presented with a clean window showing you the video, as well as a download link for the MP4 version. They also have a Greasemonkey/UserScript available which will add a link to all YouTube pages. That's nice, but what I was really looking for was a bookmarklet I could keep in my Bookmarks Bar and just click on when I was on a YouTube page. I didn't find one, so I made one. Drag (don't click!) this link to your Bookmarks Bar: FlashFree YouTube and you can easily access the NeoSmart/HTML5 version. How does it work? Superbly well. I tested it using Safari, and watching a YouTube video through NeoSmart had no noticeable impact on my CPU at all. I've nearly given up hope for a version of Flash for Mac that doesn't stink. Until then, ClickToFlash and NeoSmart's HTML5 YouTube are a great combination to make your web surfing more enjoyable. (Update: NeoSmart is being blocked by Google/YouTube. It turns out that if you load YouTube videos on YouTube.com while having ClickToFlash installed, they play through QuckTime, not Flash. So download ClickToFlash.)
ClickToFlash makes the web a nicer place to visit
"Ever wanted to rid the web of the scourge that is Adobe Flash, but still retain the ability to view Flash whenever you want?" When it comes to sales pitches, that one is pretty difficult to beat. Ever since Flash was unleashed on the web, it has been used for obnoxious and annoying ads. About the only web technology which has been more frequently abused is the animated GIF. For as long as I can remember I have disabled Flash, or plugins entirely, to avoid the annoyance. Firefox users have had extensions which manage flash, but Safari/Webkit users have been left out in the cold. Several months ago someone created a now-defunct project on Google code simply called "clicktoflash". The premise was simple: replace all instances of Flash with a subtle grey box, and if you want to load it, click it (hence the name). The project was abandoned and deleted nearly as quickly as it appeared, but fortunately it had already been "forked" by Jonathan 'Wolf' Rentzsch who now maintains clicktoflash at github (which reminds me, TUAW is now on Github too). Newer versions include the ability to "white list" a domain (meaning that Flash will always load for pages from certain sites) or load every Flash object on a page, rather than having to click all of them separately. It will also alert you of new versions and lead you through the installation process in a matter of clicks. If you visit YouTube you will also find that if you control-click on movies, you are given a chance to load either the Flash OR H.264 versions of movies, or open the movie in QuickTime Player, or download the H.264 version. That alone makes it a great addition to any Mac. Be sure to checkout the settings under the Safari > ClickToFlash menu for additional controls. I first learned about ClickToFlash from John Gruber who noted ClickToFlash is "a legitimate browser plugin that goes in ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/, not a dirty input manager hack. I can't remember the last time a piece of software made me this happy." I have to agree. ClickToFlash is a perfect example of "addition by subtraction" proving that you can make something better by taking something else away. ClickToFlash is a free download and supports Tiger, Leopard, and Snow Leopard. It requires Safari 3 or higher.
