How to Change Background Themes In the New Firefox Quantum

For over a decade I've been a Firefox user but in recent years my Web browser usage has migrated more towards Google Chrome because Firefox has slowed and consumed too much memory. I frequently had to close and restart Firefox as it slowed and/or froze so frequently.

Today when I turned on my computer, Firefox installed version 57.0, Firefox Quantum. Mozilla says that it is better, faster and uses less memory! GOOD! They also say it is 30% "lighter" than Chrome, which alludes to memory usage. GREAT!

Hoping for the best with this new Firefox update! But one thing annoyed me when it first opened on my screen. The tabs were dark with white font. I don't like that. I right-clicked and messed around, hoping to change it back to the light background I was used to, to no avail. I searched the Web for answers and couldn't find anything quickly for mere mortals like myself.

Then I happened upon the quite simple answer and screenshotted it for those, like me, who aren't fans of change when forced upon us.

Here's the annoying (to me in any case) browser tabs and menu that came with the new Firefox Quantum. How to change it? Click the menu item and scroll to Customize.

In the Customize menu screen, click Themes.

Then you will see the background Themes that came with Firefox Quantum. I changed it from the Default Theme to the Light Theme and, wallah, my issue was gone. There are plenty of other Themes out there by clicking Get More Themes. Not me, though. I like it simple.

Firefox color scheme is back to the same ole boring look I've used for years. YES!

You Will Be Amazed By How Much Google Knows About You on the Google "My Activity" Page

If you use an Android phone, YouTube, Google Search, Google Maps and other Google products, chances are Google has more data on you than you could imagine on "Google My Activity."

Google knows what searches you've done, websites you're visited, YouTube videos you've watched, what you've voice searched for and where you've been (if you use an Android phone).

Let's take a closer look at myactivity.google.com. 

Today I was at the local vernal pond at Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa with my son to look at the tadpoles and frogs. My son found saw a group of tadpoles acting out The Walking Dead by apparently feasting on a dead tadpole. At his urging, I pulled out my phone and tapped the Google Voice Search icon and said "do tadpoles eat other tadpoles." And sure enough, My Activity showed that I did search for it and provided a recording of my query.

Now if you forget where you were some day and are looking for a reminder, My Activity can help you with that too. Simply click Other Google Activity then under Location History click Visit Timeline. I clicked this and "today" and saw a map of everywhere I went today while carrying my phone. Kind of creepy actually. But also potentially useful...where was I on Christmas Day 2015? Searching My Activity turned up the fact that we were actually in the Florida Keys.

Searching Location History under Other google Activity reminded me that I was in the Florida Keys on Christmas Day 2015. Google My Activity is a great memory jogger!

I took a look at activity prior to January 1, 2015 to see what Google had on me and it showed all my YouTube activity, including searches and videos watched.

Some folks may get a grin out of reviewing their activity. I apparently was helping my kid with geometry homework on April 13, 2016:

So the good news is that if you don't want Google stockpiling all of this data you can do something about it. Click "Activity controls" where you can manage the tracking of your web and app activity, location history, device information, voice and audio activity and YouTube search history You can also go to "Delete activity by" and remove any or all of what has been recorded.