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Four FAQs on Firefox 3

Barely two days old, Firefox 3 has already been downloaded more than 12.3 million times at the time of writing. If you haven't downloaded it yet, you can grab it here for Windows, Mac, Linux, and a Portable Windows version.

The price of early adoption, even on a heavily-tested browser like Firefox 3, is early questions. Here are four you're likely to come across, and please add your own in the comments below. I'll do my best to answer them.

Question one: How do you kill the "awesome bar"?

Answer: A Howitzer, a crowbar, … Read more

12 must-have add-ons for Firefox 3

Extensions, plug-ins, add-ons, whatever you want to call 'em, Firefox 3 has 'em. In fact, though it may seem that many of your favorites haven't yet updated, you might be in luck. By visiting the home pages of several of the plug-ins I use, I found that most of them had either a functional, stable beta or a full update ready to use with Firefox 3. This collection of add-ons I use both at home and in the office, and can be used for the Windows, Mac, and Windows Portable versions of the browser.

You wouldn't think that … Read more

Featured Freeware: Better Gmail

Web-based email clients tend to evoke passions not dissimilar to those that govern which browser you use to check them. If Gmail is your fave, and you use Firefox to check it, Better Gmail is must-have extension.

Properly called Better Gmail 2 to distinguish itself from the previous version of the plug-in which had been designed for the older version of Gmail, Better Gmail introduces a highly useful collection of Greasemonkey scripts bundled into one convenient package.

The features come fast and furious, but should appeal to users looking for everything from skins to keyboard shortcuts. It can force an … Read more

U.S. backs $30 million to build plug-in hybrids

The Department of Energy announced a $30 million effort Thursday with Ford, General Motors, and General Electric to bring to market by 2014 plug-in hybrid electric cars that drive 40 miles on a single charge.

"The projects announced today demonstrate a shared public-private sector commitment to advance clean vehicle technologies and will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil while also confronting the serious challenge of global climate change," Andy Karsner, assistant secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said in a statement. He made the announcement Thursday at a conference on plug-in electric vehicles sponsored by the … Read more

Toyota to make plug-in hybrid by 2010

Toyota Motor plans to produce lithium ion batteries next year for a plug-in hybrid vehicle available in 2010.

The company on Wednesday said that the plug-in hybrid will be "geared toward fleet customers in Japan, (the) United States, and Europe."

A joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic EV Energy plans to begin production of lithium ion batteries next year and move to full-scale production in 2010. Using the battery, Toyota plans to introduce a small electric vehicle for mass production.

Toyota's Prius, numbering a million sold, uses a nickel metal hydride battery. Lithium ion batteries, which are … Read more

Stand-up comedy, celeb gossip and blood elves hit Under the Radar

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--You can't have the Web without content. The companies presenting at this morning's content group at Under the Radar here are trying to scrape together things for people to look at and enjoy--from stand-up comedy to a search engine that tells you how to beat the Serpentshrine Cavern raid in World of Warcraft.

Comedy.com better be funny. Luckily its CEO and founder Dean Valentine is. Valentine's a longtime content creator, and just happens to be the same guy who helped create the mid-'90s TV dud Homeboys in Outer Space, so go figure. … Read more

Electric cars: iPhones of the auto industry?

Depending on who you talk to, electric cars pack the disruptive force of either Dell PCs or the Apple iPhone.

Regardless of your choice of analogy, the auto industry is facing the kind of technology-based competition it hasn't seen in years.

And in this game, start-ups claim to have the upper hand on the incumbents.

"This is probably something that has not been seen since we moved from the horse to the engine," said Henrik Fisker, the CEO of Fisker Automotive, which is designing a luxury hybrid electric car, the Karma.

"We suddenly have an open … Read more

Yahoo acquisition to aid Apple searches

Correction 6:18 p.m. PT: I misinterpreted the announcement; Inquisitor founder David Watanabe isn't joining Yahoo.

Yahoo has acquired Inquisitor in a move to improve how search results appear on Apple computers.

The Safari browser plug-in offers autocompletion of search queries and shows a pane with search results as users type queries. The plug-in, now in version 3, is a free download.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but Inquisitor founder and developer David Watanabe will continue to work with Yahoo on the software.

"I look forward to assisting Yahoo in refining and extending the Inquisitor … Read more

Mix of gas and hybrid cars to slash fossil fuel use: MIT study

The United States can slash its use of petroleum dramatically by 2035 by adding a heavy dose of hybrids to the market, according to a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

To return U.S. fuel use to pre-2000 levels, however, carmakers would have to improve efficiency and consumers would have to learn to love hybrids, trading features like increased speed and size for higher fuel efficiency.

"There's all this fascination with vehicle technology--more hybrids, more diesels, and so on," said study author Anup Bandivadekar, an analyst at the International Council on Clean Transportation, in a … Read more