Microsoft silently installs a Firefox Add-on

I just noticed that I have a Firefox add-on installed that I have no recollection of ever installing.  This is the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant and it appears to have been installed back in February 2009 as a part of .NET Framework version 3.5 Service Pack 1.

When I first saw this add-on, I was a little worried, and my first reaction was to attempt to disable or uninstall it.  However the "Disable" and "Uninstall" buttons were greyed-out.  Needless to say, this has been portrayed in a rather sinister light out on the web. For example, see here.  Also, note that someone has added the tags "backdoor" and "malware" to the page at MSDN that describes this add-on. However, Microsoft insider, Brad Adams says here that the greying-out was down to an oversight by the .Net Framework team:

We added this support at the machine level in order to enable the feature for all users on the machine.Seems reasonable right? Well, turns out that enabling this functionality at the machine level, rather than at the user level means that the "Uninstall" button is grayed out in the Firefox Add-ons menu because standard users are not permitted to uninstall machine-level components.

The good news is that the latest update to the .Net Framework, which was installed on my machine this morning, re-enables the "Disable" and "Uninstall" buttons on the .NET Framework Assistant add-on, so you can now disable or remove it if you wish.

However, it still remains rather worrying that Microsoft should think it OK to silently install stuff into a rival company's browser, when that stuff could adversely affect the operation of that rival company's browser.

York Station

The roof above platform 3 on York railway station. Photo taken on 2009-08-10.

Peacock Butterfly

A peacock butterfly, Inachis io = Nymphalis io (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) on a sweet pea flower in my father's garden.  See here for some photos of caterpillars of this species.

Photo taken in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, on 2009-08-07.

Tachinid Fly

A long-legged tachinid fly, most probably Dexia vacua (Diptera: Tachinidae), based mainly on comparison with photos here. [Note added 2010-07-18: I now think it is Dexiosoma caninum (Diptera: Tachinidae).]

I first saw one of these flies back on July 16 only a few metres away from where these photos were taken.  In the intervening weeks, I repeatedly went out of my way to try to get more photos of these flies because I wasn't sure whether they were tachnid or rhagionid flies.  I have managed to see them on 2 or 3 further occasions but only in that small group of bushes, never anywhere else, and I have never seen more than one of them at a time.

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds on 2009-08-12.

Highcliff and Bousdale Hill

Zoe and I have been spending a few days at my father's house in Guisborough, North Yorkshire. We have been walking on the Cleveland Hills (the northwestern scarp of the North York Moors) on most days. Here are two of the many photos I have taken. 

First, Highcliff as seen from Bousdale Hill:

Second, Bousdale Hill as seen from Highcliff:

Bousdale Hill is the long, flat hill coming in from the left in the middle distance.  My father's house is just off the right-hand side of the photo, midway between top and bottom.

Photos taken on 2009-08-08 and 2009-08-06, respectively.