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Filed under: Mozilla

Filed under: Audio, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Freeware, Open Source

Songbird 1.0 released

Songbird 1.0
Just over a month after the first release candidate made its ways to the masses, Songbird 1.0 is available for download. Songbird is an open source music player built on Mozilla code.

The cross-platform music player comes in Mac, Windows, and Linux versions, and can handle playback of most music formats. Like most Mozilla-based software, Songbird supports plugins, including a QuickTime Playback plugin that adds the ability to play music purchased from the iTunes store. There's also a plugin that allows you to sync your music with portable media players including an iPod.

Songbird is much more than a music player. It's also an online music browser. You can visit web sites using the built in browser and automatically stream or download MP3 music from those pages. And thanks to the Last.fm integration, you can get additional information about songs and artists you're playing, or stream related songs from Last.fm.

Filed under: Internet, Productivity, Mozilla, Search, Browsers

URL Alias adds superpowers to the Firefox address bar


Good things really do come in small packages, as is the case with the URL Alias Firefox addon.
I originally installed it looking to make the address bar more launcher-like. For example, I wanted http://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox to open when I type mail or http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=SPORTS05 when I enter wings.

I prefer using words or abbreviations I can remember easily instead of hotkey combinations, and this experimental addon is the perfect tool for the job.

Since URL Alias also supports a variable (yep, just one), you can do a whole lot more with your aliases than just save keystrokes.

To manage aliases, type the following in your address bar: chrome://urlalias/content/urlalias.xul [enter]

Suppose you want to set up a Google search alias for results from downloadsquad.com.

dls http://www.google.com/search?q=%s%20site:downloadsquad.com

The %s is replaced by whatever text you enter after the keyword: dls firefox addons will return results for all matching DS posts. Change the alias text and url, and set up as many site-specific searches as you like.

Read more →

Filed under: Internet, Mozilla, Freeware, Social Software, Browsers

BuzzBox Fast Forward adds smarter "Stumbling" to Firefox

First off, let me clarify: I'm not saying that StumbleUpon isn't a very complex, smartly built addon. It's just that I don't go stumbling off to a (somewhat) randomly selected site all the time. Sometimes I'd like walk a path that has been trodden by others searching for the same things I am.

Fast Forward
by BuzzBox is an excellent alternative, suggesting possible destinations based on where other surfers clicked through. The addon installs as both a drop-down menu in the main toolbar and as a simple button in the status bar.

The dropdown presents the top destinations for you to choose from, while the status bar icon zips you off to the most popular one with a single click. Two other nice features of Fast Forward are its small size (the .xpi is only 69kb) and the fact that no registration is required.

There is a privacy policy that you may want to read - this is, after all, a recommendation engine and it needs to gather information about your browsing. According to the policy, "BuzzBox does not attempt to determine the identity of any BuzzBox user by analyzing Web usage paths. "

With only 245 total downloads from Mozilla's site, it's going to take a little while before you start seeing suggestions on every site you visit, but Fast Forward has tons of potential and is well worth a download.

[ via TechCrunch ]

Filed under: Mozilla, Beta, Browsers

Firefox 3.1 still not ready, another beta coming soon?

Firefox 3.1 beta
Mozilla is thinking about adding a third beta to the Firefox 3.1 development cycle. The original plan had been to release 2 betas and then move onto the release candidate phase. But Mozilla's Mike Beltzner says a third beta would give the team time to work out some existing bugs while giving people more time to kick the tires on new features like the new private browsing mode which allows you to surf the web without saving any data to disk.

The new beta wouldn't include any new features, but it will give the developers a chance to squash any major bugs before Firefox 3.1 is officially released early next year.

[via ComputerWorld]

Filed under: Internet, Photo, Blogging, Mozilla, Browsers

Post screenshots to Wordpress blogs with a Firefox add-on

On my list of 14 extremely useful Firefox addons I included ScreenGrab for capturing web pages to PNG or JPG images.

Today, I replaced it with Screen Grab to Wordpress. As you probably guessed, it's got the same core functionality with one major addition: the ability to send images directly to your Wordpress-powered blog.

Configure the URL, username, and password to all your Wordpress blogs an you're ready to go (just make sure you have XML-RPC remote publishing enabled).

Click the icon in your Firefox status bar to display SGW's menu and choose what to capture and where to send it. You can save locally, copy to the clipboard, or post directly to Wordpress.

If you're blogging a capture, you can enter a title, tags, body text, and even set your new post to publish - if you don't check the box, the post defaults to draft status. After successfully uploading, you're taken directly to the Wordpress edit page to put the finishing touches on your new post.

With less than 600 downloads to date, this one is a bit of a diamond in the rough. It's a tremendous timesaver for anyone blogging about items discovered while browsing with Firefox.

Filed under: Internet, Mozilla, Freeware, Browsers

Thumbstrips adds visual browsing history to your Firefox


Though not as well-known as Microsoft's Office Labs, Intuit has a similar endeavor of their own. One of its slickest apps is Thumbstrips, a Firefox addon that records your browsing history as thumbnails.

It's currently featured in the Digital Pack Rat assortment on Fashion Your Firefox, and for good reason. Thumbstrips' snapshots make locating previously viewed pages much easier. Apart from the thumbnail, the site's domain name and the approximate time it's been since your visit are also displayed.

Now that I've shown my four-year-old son how to click the little overlapping box icon to show and hide it, it's cut down drastically on questions like "Daddy, how to I get my Scooby game back?" A less frustrating browsing experience for my family members is always a welcome change.

My only complaint about Thumbstrips is its limited customization. I want to be able to display the strip on the left or right side of my display: 1280x800 gives plenty of width, but not so much height. Still, it's a definite improvement over a text-only history listing and worth the install.

If you've used thumbstrips, share your thoughts! If you're using something similar, we'd like to hear about that, too!

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Mozilla, Browsers

Fashion Your Firefox offers easier browser customization


Mozilla has launched a new service called Fashion Your Firefox. The aim of the project is to make the browser customization simpler for the average user.

When you visit the page, you'll be presented with a number of options that target specific browsing "personalities," like Finder and Seeker, Shutterbug, News Junkie, and others. Select a profile, and FYF displays a selection of the most popular relevant addons.

The Finder and Seeker, for example, offers Stumbleupon, Interclue, and the Mini Map Sidebar. News Junkies can select Wizz RSS, Morning Coffe, ReadItLater, and ForecastFox.

The installation process has also been streamlined. You don't have to add extensions one at a time - place a checkbox in each one that interests you and click the install my addons button when you're done. Firefox will process your queue en masse.

FYF is incredibly simple to use, its suggestions are right on the money, and it works well. Perhaps one day we'll be able to tag our preferred extensions and easily add them to new Firefox installs using a system like this.

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Beta, Browsers

Firefox 3.1 beta adds new tab functions


Mozilla has added a tab tearing feature to Firefox 3.1 beta, which can best be explained by saying, "watch the video above." But in a nutshell, what tab tearing lets you do is drag and drop tabs, not just within your browser window, but outside of it as well. For example, you can click and drag a tab outside of your Firefox window and it will open a new browser instance. Or you can grab a tab from one browser window into another browser instance.

Now before you say anything, yes, I know that the Opera web browser has been able to do this for ages, and Google Chrome has supported similar behavior since it was launched. But that doesn't make mean it's not nice to see the feature come to Firefox. It takes more than innovation to make a good web browser. You also have to be willing to recognize good ideas where you find them and be willing to implement them in your product.

[via Mozilla Links]

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Open Source, Beta, Browsers

Help Mozilla track add-on compatibility with Firefox 3.1 beta

Firefox 3.1 compatibility
One of the things that makes Firefox one of the best web browsers around is its support for thousands of add-ons that extend the functionality of the browser. But since most of these plugins are developed by third parties, and not Mozilla, every time the developers behind the web browser prepare a major new release, they run the risk of breaking compatibility with many of those add-ons.

So before releasing Firefox 3.1, one of the things Mozilla wants to do is make sure that as many add-ons as possible that work with Firefox 3.0 will function properly with the new browser. And they want your help.

Here's how it works. You download a beta version of Firefox 3.1 and see if your favorite add-ons work. If you run into a problem, you can leave a comment at the Mozilla Add-Ons blog.

As of today, about 28% of the most popular plugins are compatible with Firefox 3.1. And that's about 8% more than a few weeks ago, so things are moving in the right direction.

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Freeware, Open Source

Songbird 1.0 RC1 now available

Songbird 1.0 RC1
Open source, Mozilla-based media player Songbird is inching closer to version 1.0. This week the team behind the cross-platform application made the first release candidate of Songbird 1.0 available.

So what's new in the latest build? First up, Songbird 1.0 RC1 uses GStreamer to handle media playback whether you're running the Windows, Mac, or Linux version of the program. The Songbird team says that should mean better performance and reliability. The latest build also includes a number of performance enhancements, including the ability to import media into Songbird more than twice as fast as before.

Here are a few of the other changes/improvements in Songbird 1.0 RC1:
  • Users can also drag and drop images to add album art to a song.
  • Addition of new keyboard shortcuts
  • Smart Playlists can be used as rules within other Smart Playlists
  • Improved search speed
  • Faster startup times
  • Scrolling large libraries is more efficient
While this is a release candidate, which means it's a bit more stable than your typical beta software, there are still a number of known bugs and issues. You can read the complete list in the release notes.

Filed under: Internet, Security, Mozilla, Open Source, Beta, Browsers

Firefox's private browsing feature debuts in latest Minefield build


Back in September, the Mozilla wiki provided clues that private browsing was indeed back on the radar for version 3.1 of Firefox. With the release of beta 2 looming, anxious testers can preview the feature by downloading the latest nightly build.

To enable the feature, click the tools menu and then click private browsing to enable it. You'll be asked to confirm your selection and restart the browser. Eschewing any blatant notification that you've activated the feature, Minefield will simply add (Private Browsing) to the application 's title bar.

You'll also see a notice that private browsing is enabled and what exactly that means: browsing, search, form, and download history will not be saved, nor will cookies or temporary files. Any new downloaded files or bookmarks will be retained.

Eshan Akhgari has more information available about private browsing, and thankfully he's put forth a possible application that doesn't directly involve NSFW surfing: "an example scenario would be looking for a new employer while at work."

Interested in trying it out? Grab the latest release from Mozilla's ftp.

Filed under: Fun, Mozilla, Browsers

How to Chrome out your Firefox


When Google's Chrome browser first came out, the first thing everyone commented on was its minimal blue look. Sure, it's got Webkit under the hood, and it was put out by one of the hugest players in the web game, but ... it's blue! If you'd rather have a Gecko-based browser with tons of add-ons, you're probably sticking with Firefox. This doesn't mean you have to compromise: there's a Chrome skin for Firefox that keeps getting better with each update.

It's called Chromifox, and it's available as an experimental add-on. All "experimental" means is that you have to log into the Firefox add-ons site to download the theme, and you install it at your own risk. I've been testing it for about a week now, and I haven't hit any problems. The only thing Chrome can do, UI-wise, that Chromifox can't, is that cute little effect with the transparency and the tabs on top of the window. Unfortunately, your tabs are stuck in the default position in Firefox.

Filed under: Mozilla, Browsers

Mozilla prepares final resting place for Firefox 2

Upgrade Firefox
About four months after releasing Firefox 3.0, Mozilla is preparing to retire Firefox 2. The company typically offers support for older browsers for about 6 months after a new version is released. So after December, you shouldn't expect security updates or other improvements.

PC World reports that means the final version of Firefox 2 will probably be Firefox 2.0.0.19. The current version is 2.0.0.17, so we can likely expect two more updates before Firefox 2 goes off to that big software depot in the sky. Or you know, sticks around on millions of computers belonging to people who refuse to update to Firefox 3 for one reason or another.

Mozilla says that more than two thirds of Firefox users have already upgraded.

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Freeware, Open Source, Browser Tips, Beta, Browsers

Experimental Minefield browser from Mozilla is crazy fast

MinefieldI'm in love. With a browser.

Nope, it's not Firefox, and not Safari, though I've had flings with both in the past. Not Camino, not even Chrome.

My new thing is with Minefield, from Mozilla. Okay, so Minefield is essentially an early build of the next version of Firefox. But the latest version has a drastically improved Javascript engine under the hood. Is it fast? Let me tell you - it's crazy fast. In fact, Ars Technica is reporting that Minefield is 10% faster than Google Chrome.

Faster than Chrome, available on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and oh - it supports your Firefox add-ins, as long as you're willing to force compatibility using Nightly Tester Tools. Minefield is an alpha release, so it's likely to still be buggy. So far I've been lucky though; all of the add-ins that I've activated have worked fine right out of the gate.

Let me guess, you're in love now too, eh? Well, there's more than enough Minefield to go around. Go get some. Minefield, that is.

[via Ubuntu Unleashed]

Filed under: Macintosh, Mozilla, Browsers

Camino 2.0 preview is out, with plenty of new features

Camino is the dark horse in the Mac browser competition. It's the faster, lighter little brother to Firefox, and there's a solid base of users who prefer it over Firefox and Safari. Camino uses the same Gecko rendering engine that Firefox is built on, but its focus is on a speedy user experience instead of maximum extensibility. With the preview of version 2.0, just released, Camino has added and tweaked some things to make the browsing experience even better.

Despite some rumors that Camino would be switching to Webkit, the rendering engine shared by Safari and Google Chrome, the browser is stick with Gecko. Version 2 updates Camino to the latest version of Gecko, which should improve its ability to handle flash. It also improves support for web standards, scoring a 71 on the Acid3 test (that's the same as Firefox 3.)

In terms of new features, there's a "tab overview" mode that shows thumbnails of all your tabs. This is a big plus if you're someone who keeps a huge number of sites open at once. There's also a new menu within the browser history that shows your recently-closed pages, so you can get back if you closed something by accident. What's more, full content zoom allows you to shrink or magnify an entire page, not just the text size. All in all, a solid improvement for Camino.

Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

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