firefox

Better Gmail gets even better

If you're tired of waiting for Google to make some much-needed improvements to Gmail, Better Gmail has been adding useful functionality to the e-mail client since earlier this year. An update earlier this month finally gave Gmail what users have been clamoring for: integration with Google Reader.

Written by Lifehacker editor Gina Trapani, the extension is basically a collection of her favorite Greasemonkey scripts. It does more than just slap your feeds onto the bottom of your in-box, though. It adds a Collapse/Expand Gmail link to the top-left nav, just under the Compose link. This hides your e-mail and pulls the Reader up to the top, and swtiches to Expand when the in-box is hidden. It also adds a control panel to central left nav for managing your feeds, a neat work-around so that you can collapse the Reader's built-in navigation. The Reader pane is collapsible, too, so you can hide the perpetual distraction of feeds from the perpetual distraction of e-mail.

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OneClick your way to a shapelier blog

We don't often give a lot of attention to WordPress (for Windows or Mac), Movable Type and other self-publishing blogging systems. They often require a bit more determination than merely creating a Blogger or Livejournal username, password, and some pithy-kitschy title to show the world how witty you truly are.

WordPress has two very strong aspects: The installation really does take about 5 minutes, and it's highly customizable with plug-ins that absolve the user of having to be a CSS expert. OneClick is a two-part plug-in for WordPress and Firefox that simplifies the plug-in experience even further.

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Mozilla developing a mobile browser...again

Finally! Years ago, Mozilla looked at doing a mobile web browser (dubbed "Minimo"). I was very hopeful at the time, but nothing came of the effort. Today, however, I saw news that Mozilla is at it again. With mobile booming, it's not a moment too soon.

Given the state of mobile browsers - they all stink in my experience - the timing is perfect.

As Mozilla continues to develop Mozilla2, the second version of the platform on which Firefox is built, it will add mobile devices as a category. That means developers of Mozilla2, which is expected to be complete in early 2009, will keep mobile phones in mind as they build the new platform....… Read more

Hardware for Webware: A motherboard with embedded Firefox

I just got a chance to try out a Webware PC: a computer built around the new P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP motherboard from Asus. What makes this motherboard be hardware for Webware is that it has a Firefox Web browser (running on an embedded Linux operating system) burned into ROM. It also has Skype. You turn it on, and in fifteen seconds (I timed it), you can be in Firefox and surfing the Web.

You can also boot it into Windows, or whatever OS you have installed on the hard disk. Boring.

This built-in browser has a lot of great things but some drawbacks too.

In the plus category: This alternate operating system, provided by DeviceVM to Asus, is fast and convenient. There's no giant OS to boot before you get into your browser, which is a slimmed-down version of Firefox, not some weird, quasibrowser that doesn't do what you want. There's a Flash plug-in installed so most modern sites render properly. Flash videos play just fine. The system saves all your settings (including bookmarks) in memory, so you don't have to start from scratch every time you fire it up.

The P5E3 motherboard has nearly everything built in that you'll need. Connecting to a network--wired or WiFi--is fast and easy. Skype has access to the board's audio in and out ports.

Because the DeviceVM platform doesn't have access to the hard disks connected to the motherboard, the system is very secure. So if, say, guests wants to use your PC to check their Web mail, you can boot them into the ExpressGate environment (that's what Asus calls it) and not worry about them junking up your PC. You might want to clear your private data from the Firefox cache first, though.

And this motherboard is "green," at least in theory. Many people leave their PCs on all the time, because launching a browser from a cold PC can take several minutes. With this setup, you can turn off the PC when you're done browsing, and when you need to get back online, you can be there in seconds.

If you work primarily online--using browser-based tools like Google Docs for productivity, Salesforce.com or Basecamp for business operations, Meebo for IM, and so on--this setup is just great.

Should you get one of these motherboards just for its ExpressGate feature, though?

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Mozilla: Smartphone performance has a ways to go

The iPhone isn't a true mobile computer yet, but it's on the right track, according to a Mozilla executive.

"Getting a no-compromise web experience on devices requires significant memory (>=64MB) as well as significant CPU horsepower. High end devices today are just approaching these requirements and will be commonplace soon," wrote Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering at Mozilla, in a blog post Tuesday, implying that while the iPhone and its current competitors don't quite have what it takes under the hood to be full-fledged mobile computers, we're not all that far away. … Read more

10 ways to make better open-source software

I really like this article that discusses 10 ways to make open-source software easier to use/more humane. Here are a few of the 10 (I'll leave you to the read the rest, all of which are insightful):

Get a Benevolent Dictator Someone who has a vision for the UI. Someone who can and will say "no" to features that don't fit the vision.… Read more

Collaboration aims to better Linux on ARM chips

Things are getting spicier in the effort to court Linux allies for networked mobile devices.

ARM on Wednesday announced a collaboration with six companies that's intended to improve Linux for the processor cores that ARM licenses to numerous other companies. It's a nice counterpoint to Intel's work to try to make a go with Linux for the x86-based mini-PCs it calls mobile internet devices (MIDs).

The companies--Marvell, MontaVista, Movial, Mozilla, Samsung, and Texas Instruments--"are all working to accelerate the enablement of truly always on, connected mobile computing (CMC) devices," ARM said in a statement … Read more

Call Dr. Web for what ails your browser

Dr. Web helps you minimize contact with unsanitary files before you download them, by scanning them in advance and letting you know before it lands on your desktop if the file has a clean bill of health or if you should put on your biohazard suit before handling the innocuous-looking critter.

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Firefox patches elusive Quicktime security flaw

Mozilla today fixed a vulnerable in how Apple QuickTime Media-Link files contain a qtnext attribute that could be used on Windows systems to launch the default browser with arbitrary command-line options. Although the problem appeared to be resolved earlier this year, researcher Petko D. Petkov and others found recently that it could still be exploited.

A previous fix in July's Firefox version 2.0.05 was intended to resolve this issue, but, according to Mozilla, "QuickTime calls the browser in an unexpected way that bypasses that fix." Also, Apple's own fix in the release of QuickTime 7.1.5 … Read more