That being said, I’ve recently run into an extremely annoying bug which seems to so far be without a fix. About 70% of the time I try to download a file with Firefox the download hangs at 100%, or a “a few seconds remaining”. This has been happening for about one week now and is, as mentioned, very irritating.

I’m not really willing to go without NoScript, though that might be a possible solution. I have, however, found a temporary work-around. While downloading the file, it is split into the file itself and a “.part” file. In the instance I’ve described, the download will stop at 100% and the “.part” file will contain all of the data, whereas the file itself is empty.

The trick is to not cancel the download, as that will automatically delete the file and the “.part” file. Instead, firsty try to pause the download and then restart it. If that doesn’t work, delete the “file” from wherever you have Firefox download stuff and then rename the “.part” file as the real file. OS X will ask you if you’re sure you “really” want to do this, as seen below.

Do it. In the picture above it’s an .rar file, but it doesn’t matter.

I’ll give you an example. Say I’ve tried to download a file named “firsteps.avi” and the download ends at 100% without ever completing. On my computer I have Firefox download things to /Downloads/Firefox. (You can find out where Firefox saves your stuff by going to the Firefox Main Preferences.) So I navigate there and see a file name “firststeps.avi” and “firsteps.avi.part”. The .part file contains all the data, but neither will work. To fix this, delete “firsteps.avi” and rename “firsteps.part.avi” to “firsteps.avi”. (To rename the file press Return when the file is selected or ctrl-click the file.)

I hope there is a real fix for this soon, but I hope the work-around I found will help a few people.

But hey, you’re thinking, you’re in Europe, you’ve got to train it. We’ve all seen Before Sunrise, Europe is all about plowing through the countryside in a hall of steel, maybe meeting Julie Delpy on the way. In fact, I really enjoy riding trains. Aside from cycling, it’s probably the most environmentally sound way of traveling. You can try to get some work done or read a book. You can also just stare out the window as the outside whizzes by. Oh, and there’s also the fun fact that from within a train you have no way of scientifically proving in which direction you’re moving.

It’s a pity that riding a train in Germany almost always involves the Deutsche Bahn. Much like the Deutsche Telekom they have a massive Goliath complex and are stuck in an old-fashioned starched straightjacket. Regardless, I summoned up the necessary courage and headed over to their website. After Firefox blocked two popup windows, I started looking around. They claim to offer tickets for 29 euros, but they’re never available. As if to rub it in your face, they display the cheapest price, with an X next to it, saying not available. Way to go. They have a plethora of deals and discounts — Fan BahnCard 25, BahnCard 25, BahnCard 50, BahnCard 100, Mobility BahnCard 100, Sparpreis 25, Sparpreis 50 — but these seem to only apply to train junkies. I was also assailed by a monsoon of acronyms — ICE, CNL, EN, RE. A former colleague of mine who had worked for the Deutsche Bahn told me that sometimes the cheapest tickets are only available through a phone number which costs 1.80 euro per minute. Basically, If you want to give yourself a headache go to the Deutsche Bahn website and wade through their self-made sea of confusion.

After popping a few Bayer® Aspirin, I found a round trip ticket with an ICE (Intercontinental Express) for 138 euros, with seat reservations (?!) 144 euros. A bit over 4 hours each way. All in all, acceptable.

It’s obvious that a train ride is going to take longer than flying, but what kind of incentive is that when flying costs 30% less? And what about the environmental ramifications? The Guardian newspaper reported that flying from London to Edinburgh and back produces 8 times more CO₂ emmissions (per person) than taking the train. The distance from London to Edinburgh is a bit more than from Berlin to Frankfurt, but the point holds true: These prices are obviously sending very wrong signals. With lots of attention being given to climate change and global warming, perhaps people have a self-inflicted guilt tax, which makes those cheap flights a bit more expensive. Or maybe we should start smacking warning signs on flight tickets, much like the “You will die” signs we see on cigarettes. “This cheap flight is destroying our environment.”

Now I just need to see about finding that ship to take me from Europe to California.