Hasta La Gadget!

It seemed like only a matter of time. When you donate money to an anti-gay marriage proposition in California, your employees are almost certainly going to have something to say … Continue reading

This article was written on June 25, 2008 by CyberNet.

Some of you were disappointed to hear a few weeks ago that Google doesn’t have any intentions of updating the Google Browser Sync extension for Firefox 3. The eagle-eyed Ars Technica has given us reason not to give up all hope quite yet though. Google, believe it or not, has posted the source code for the extension up on Google Code. Heck, they even have instructions on setting up a development environment for working on it.

There’s been no official mention from Google about Firefox 3 support for the extension, but this almost makes it seem like they want the community to help make the extension functional once again. They have setup a todo list that says they want to figure out how to integrate it with FIrefox 3′s new bookmarking and history system. That list also says that they want to figure out a way to allow multiple computers to be online simultaneously, and continuously sync the data between each. Could that be like collaborative browsing?

I’m sure many of you are wondering how this extension couldn’t be modified previously since the source code of all Firefox extensions can quickly be seen by anyone. When Google bundled up the extension they compressed the JavaScript code which stripped out any commenting, and renamed variables in a hard-to-understand fashion. So it wasn’t impossible to do before, but it was more work than anyone would have likely wanted to go through. The new open source version contains the Google Browser Sync source code that is uncompressed and has all comments in tact.

Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that Google won’t pull down the servers needed for the hosting at the end of 2008 like we originally heard. Otherwise any effort spent trying to get the extension to work would be for nothing.

Thanks to Cory for the tip!

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on November 22, 2006 by CyberNet.

I have full confidence in Mozilla’s ability to stay on schedule but I think a release date of next week for Firefox 3 Alpha 1 might be out of the picture. They haven’t announced anything officially right now but the time is approaching quickly and the latest nightly builds have been giving me some trouble. For instance, for the last few weeks my back button hasn’t worked on my mouse which can easily become frustrating when you’re used to clicking it so often. I know that it is a nightly build and it isn’t supposed to be perfect (nor do I expect it to be) but if they are targeting a milestone release they need to make sure it is somewhat usable for people.

Mozilla should be having a meeting later today to discuss the progress of Firefox 3 and I’m sure there will be some mention whether they will be ready to ship Alpha 1 next week. The meeting notes from last week are non existent so I’m not sure what went on there but the meeting notes for today have already been started. Hopefully more details (currently at just 5-lines) are added to the status report.

In other news Mozilla has also begun work on Firefox 2.0.0.1 and is currently available as a nightly build. Next week they will be making a Release Candidate available and the expected release date is December 14th. At that time they will also be shipping Firefox 1.5.0.9 as an upgrade for 1.5 users. With those releases they also hope to squash some of the bugs that currently reside in Vista:

• Updater.exe is not signed [Link]
• Default Application on Vista not working [Link]
• Use new APIs in Vista to register file and protocol handlers (installer) [Link]
• Resetting IE as the default browser after setting Firefox as the default browser breaks opening urls without IE running [Link]
• Setting the app as the OS default is broken on Vista [Link]
• Add default values for file handlers if they don’t have a default value [Link]
• nsPostUpdateWin.js fails to update registry keys / log files after an update has been applied. [Link]

I can’t wait to see the improvements made for Vista in Firefox 2.0.0.1 and I am crossing my fingers they will be able to fit most of them in. Mozilla has setup a lot of target release dates now lets see how close they can come to them. 😀

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on January 09, 2008 by CyberNet.

Web Browser Wednesday

We’ve done all kinds of top 10 Firefox lists in the past, including a rather comprehensive list where we aggregated top 10 Firefox lists from around the web. But nothing really compares to the list that we’ve put together this time around.

Below you’ll find that we’ve assembled over a dozen different lists of the top 10 Firefox extensions. The content of each list has come directly from the Firefox Add-ons site, and from each category we picked the top 10 most popular extensions. In all we have 130 extensions listed below, some of which have made the top 10 in multiple categories. So don’t be surprised if you see some of them duplicated, triplicated, or quadruplicated 🙂 .

Along with listing each extension we also gave a one-sentence description. That way you can tell if an extension sounds intriguing before visiting its homepage.

Note: The Tabs and Toolbars categories have been skipped because, at the time of this writing, the Tabs category had one entry and the Toolbars category had just two entries.

To make it easier for you to jump between the different sections we’ve created an index:

• Overall
• Alerts and Updates
• Bookmarks
• Download Management
• Feeds, News, & Blogging
• Interface Customizations
• Language Tools
• Other
• Photos, Music, & Videos
• Privacy & Security
• Search Tools
• Social Communication
• Web Development

–Overall–

1. Adblock Plus – Blocks advertisements on websites.
2. Video DownloadHelper – Download videos from hundreds of different sites, such as YouTube.
3. FlashGot – Integrates Firefox with your download manager, and offers bulk downloading features.
4. NoScript – Block all scripts from running in Firefox unless you explicitly whitelist a site.
5. Download Statusbar – Shows your downloads near the Firefox Status Bar instead of opening in a new window.
6. IE Tab – Render websites using Internet Explorer from within Firefox.
7. Greasemonkey – Run custom scripts that can add functionality or alter the appearance of websites.
8. DownThemAll! – Download manager that is able to retrieve files in bulk.
9. Forecastfox – Up-to-date weather alerts in your Status Bar.
10. PDF Download – Control whether you open PDF’s inside Firefox (as a PDF or HTML), or open in the default PDF reader on your computer.

–Alerts and Updates–

1. Forecastfox – Up-to-date weather alerts in your Status Bar.
2. PDF Download – Control whether you open PDF’s inside Firefox (as a PDF or HTML), or open in the default PDF reader on your computer.
3. Yoono – Clip information from websites, and save it for future reference.
4. BlueOrganizer – Save and manage your favorite products from the web.
5. Router Status – View the status of your router in the Status Bar (uptime, memory usage, etc…). See the homepage for list of supported routers.
6. Flagfox – Shows a flag in the Status Bar indicating the current location of the website’s server.
7. BlogRovr – Instantly fetches posts from your favorite sites depending on the site that your currently viewing.
8. Alexa Sparky – View Alexa stats for the current site in the Status Bar.
9. Online Bookmark Manager – Keep your Firefox bookmarks online. Changes are made in real-time so there’s no synchronization needed.
10. Footie Fox – View soccer scores for over 190 leagues and cups from 60 different countries.

–Bookmarks–

1. Foxmarks – Online bookmarks synchronization service.
2. All-in-One Sidebar – Switch between sidebar panels, and also view downloads and extensions right in the sidebar.
3. Del.icio.us Bookmarks – Manage your Del.icio.us bookmarks from within Firefox.
4. Speed Dial – A start page that shows thumbnails of nine customizable pages (much like how the Opera browser does it).
5. Clipmarks – Clip and share information from the websites that you visit.
6. Customize Google – Adds optional features to several Google services including Search, Gmail, Calendar, and more.
7. Del.icio.us Buttons – Simple add-on for managing your Del.icio.us bookmarks.
8. iMacros for Firefox – This can memorize repetitive tasks, such as filling out forms, so that you can spend your time doing something else.
9. Yoono – Clip information from websites, and save it for future reference.
10. BlueOrganizer – Save and manage your favorite products from the web.

–Download Management–

1. Video DownloadHelper – Download videos from hundreds of different sites, such as YouTube.
2. FlashGot – Integrates Firefox with your download manager, and offers bulk downloading features.
3. Download Statusbar – Shows your downloads near the Firefox Status Bar instead of opening in a new window.
4. DownThemAll! – Download manager that is able to retrieve files in bulk.
5. PDF Download – Control whether you open PDF’s inside Firefox (as a PDF or HTML), or open in the default PDF reader on your computer.
6. Fast Video Download – Download videos from a variety of sites.
7. FireFTP – An FTP client that is built-in to Firefox.
8. Megaupload – Free slots from Megaupload.
9. All-in-One Sidebar – Switch between sidebar panels, and also view downloads and extensions right in the sidebar.
10. UnPlug – Download videos from a variety of sites.

–Feeds, News, & Blogging–

1. Forecastfox – Up-to-date weather alerts in your Status Bar.
2. Cooliris Previews – Shows a preview of websites and media when you hover your mouse over links.
3. Clipmarks – Clip and share information from the websites that you visit.
4. Wizz RSS News Reader – Read and manage your RSS feeds from within Firefox.
5. iMacros for Firefox – This can memorize repetitive tasks, such as filling out forms, so that you can spend your time doing something else.
6. Yoono – Clip information from websites, and save it for future reference.
7. BlueOrganizer – Save and manage your favorite products from the web.
8. ScribeFire – Full-featured blog editor.
9. BlogRovr – Instantly fetches posts from your favorite sites depending on the site that your currently viewing.
10. TorrentBar – Search for torrents from this toolbar.

–Interface Customizations–

1. Download Statusbar – Shows your downloads near the Firefox Status Bar instead of opening in a new window.
2. PDF Download – Control whether you open PDF’s inside Firefox (as a PDF or HTML), or open in the default PDF reader on your computer.
3. Tab Mix Plus – Advanced tab customization in Firefox.
4. PicLens – Create image slideshows from pictures on any website.
5. All-in-One Sidebar – Switch between sidebar panels, and also view downloads and extensions right in the sidebar.
6. ColorfulTabs – Color each tab so that they are easy to distinguish.
7. Speed Dial – A start page that shows thumbnails of nine customizable pages (much like how the Opera browser does it).
8. Stylish – Using user-created stylesheets you can customize the appearance of websites.
9. Session Manager – Manage how tabs are restored when Firefox is restarted.
10. Tab Scope – See an interactive preview of a tab when you hover over it with your mouse.

–Language Tools–

1. FoxLingo – Website translation and more.
2. Hyperwords – In a single click you get access to searches, references, and more for the highlighted text.
3. Translator – Translate entire websites.
4. Quick Translation – Translate text.
5. gTranslate – Use the Google translation services to translate text.
6. Locale Switcher – Switch the locale of the browser.
7. Quick Locale Switcher – Switch the locale of the browser.
8. SpanishTrans – Highlight an English word on a site and get a Spanish translation.
9. Dictionary Tooltip – Get a definition without needing to open a website.
10. Dictionary Search – Lookup a word online.

–Other–

1. Video DownloadHelper – Download videos from hundreds of different sites, such as YouTube.
2. Greasemonkey – Run custom scripts that can add functionality or alter the appearance of websites.
3. Fast Video Download – Download videos from a variety of sites.
4. Tab Mix Plus – Advanced tab customization in Firefox.
5. PicLens – Create image slideshows from pictures on any website.
6. Del.icio.us Bookmarks – Manage your Del.icio.us bookmarks from within Firefox.
7. Tab Effect – A cube-like tab effect used when switching tabs.
8. Map+ – View a Yahoo! map of a selected address.
9. Customize Google – Adds optional features to several Google services including Search, Gmail, Calendar, and more.
10. Firefox Companion for eBay – Monitor eBay auctions and more from your Firefox sidebar.

–Photos, Music, & Videos–

1. Video DownloadHelper – Download videos from hundreds of different sites, such as YouTube.
2. FlashGot – Integrates Firefox with your download manager, and offers bulk downloading features.
3. Fast Video Download – Download videos from a variety of sites.
4. FoxyTunes – Control your media player from within Firefox.
5. PicLens – Create image slideshows from pictures on any website.
6. Cooliris Previews – Shows a preview of websites and media when you hover your mouse over links.
7. Clipmarks – Clip and share information from the websites that you visit.
8. Image Zoom – Zoom in and out of images on a website.
9. Gspace – Use your Gmail address to store files.
10. Firefox Companion for Kodak EasyShare Gallery – Organize and manage your photos on Kodak EasyShare Gallery.

–Privacy & Security–

1. NoScript – Block all scripts from running in Firefox unless you explicitly whitelist a site.
2. Fasterfox – Performance and network enhancements for Firefox.
3. Cooliris Previews – Shows a preview of websites and media when you hover your mouse over links.
4. Torbutton – Enable or disable the use of the Tor network for secure transmissions.
5. Flashblock – Block all Flash media.
6. Customize Google – Adds optional features to several Google services including Search, Gmail, Calendar, and more.
7. iMacros for Firefox – This can memorize repetitive tasks, such as filling out forms, so that you can spend your time doing something else.
8. FoxyProxy – Advanced proxy configuration.
9. SwitchProxy Tool – Switch between multiple proxy configurations.
10. FEBE – Backup your Firefox extensions.

–Search Tools–

1. PicLens – Create image slideshows from pictures on any website.
2. Cooliris Previews – Shows a preview of websites and media when you hover your mouse over links.
3. Del.icio.us Bookmarks – Manage your Del.icio.us bookmarks from within Firefox.
4. Clipmarks – Clip and share information from the websites that you visit.
5. Customize Google – Adds optional features to several Google services including Search, Gmail, Calendar, and more.
6. Del.icio.us Buttons – Simple add-on for managing your Del.icio.us bookmarks.
7. Yoono – Clip information from websites, and save it for future reference.
8. GooglePreview – Inserts preview images next to the Google search results.
9. Torrent Finder Toolbar – Searches 170 different torrent sites and trackers.
10. Answers – Get immediate answers to your questions.

–Social Communication–

1. Video DownloadHelper – Download videos from hundreds of different sites, such as YouTube.
2. StumbleUpon – Find other sites that you will like based upon the interests that you specify.
3. FoxyTunes – Control your media player from within Firefox.
4. PicLens – Create image slideshows from pictures on any website.
5. ChatZilla – Chat using IRC.
6. Clipmarks – Clip and share information from the websites that you visit.
7. iMacros for Firefox – This can memorize repetitive tasks, such as filling out forms, so that you can spend your time doing something else.
8. Yoono – Clip information from websites, and save it for future reference.
9. BlogRovr – Instantly fetches posts from your favorite sites depending on the site that your currently viewing.
10. Hyperwords – In a single click you get access to searches, references, and more for the highlighted text.

–Web Development–

1. Adblock Plus – Blocks advertisements on websites.
2. NoScript – Block all scripts from running in Firefox unless you explicitly whitelist a site.
3. IE Tab – Render websites using Internet Explorer from within Firefox.
4. Greasemonkey – Run custom scripts that can add functionality or alter the appearance of websites.
5. Fasterfox – Performance and network enhancements for Firefox.
6. Firebug – Advanced web developer tools, such as debugging and monitoring CSS.
7. Web Developer – Has various web developer tools housed in a single menu.
8. FireFTP – An FTP client that is built-in to Firefox.
9. Cooliris Previews – Shows a preview of websites and media when you hover your mouse over links.
10. All-in-One Sidebar – Switch between sidebar panels, and also view downloads and extensions right in the sidebar.

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

We know that Mozilla has been hard at work creating a version of Firefox that would run on Windows 8’s Metro UI. Unfortunately a day right before the app was supposed to be released, Mozilla announced that they would be killing off the project, claiming that because not many people ran Windows 8 in the Metro environment that it didn’t make sense for them to release it.

It was a valid reason but according to former Mozilla Firefox developer, Brian R. Bondy, he dives into a more detailed explanation as to why Mozilla killed off Firefox for the Metro UI, and that he believes Mozilla ultimately made the right decision in killing off the project. (more…)

Former Firefox Developer Explains Mozilla’s Decision To Drop Its Modern UI Project original content from Ubergizmo.