Tag Archives: firefox

by Michelle Lentz

Last night was a monumental milestone in the history of our nation. We’ve also had some small, but notable milestones with two of your favorite technology firms.

It seems only appropriate that an underdog browser, first released in early November 2004, would rise to claim 20% of the market share this month. Back in 2004, Internet Explorer had a firm grip on the market and alternate browsers were hardly considered.

According to data released from Net Applications, Firefox grabbed 20% of the web browser market in October 2008, planting it firmly at #2. Now, I realize 20% isn’t that much, but consider that IE has Microsoft and the power of expensive advertising behind it, as well as being the default browser on every PC purchased. Firefox relies primarily on word of mouth marketing.

Flickr had it’s 3 billionth photo uploaded on Monday. With that milestone, Flickr has grown 50% in the year since the 2 billionth photo was added to the service. While Flickr still pales in comparison to Facebook, which has over 10 billion photos, it still shows a dedicated user base and the ability to scale. It also shows that you can successfully charge for services in the Web 2.0 landscape. (In case you’re curious, Flickr’s milestone photo was of a door.)

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Contact Michelle with your news, apps, and events via email, Twitter, Pownce, or FriendFeed. Visit Michelle at Wine-Girl.net and Write Technology. You can also catch Michelle presenting on Twitter at the upcoming DevLearn ’08 in San Jose.

by Michelle Lentz

Have you heard about Google Chrome? I actually skipped posting on it yesterday because I figured everyone was tired of hearing about it. The news was out for a day and I was already tired of the headlines.

Not familiar? Chrome is Google’s entry into the browser market. This is one of those ideas that will work wonderfully or backfire horribly. I’m rooting for the former. The new browser has several new features, some of which have been implemented and some which are coming soon (the browser is still in beta after all).

Because I’m running 100% Mac now, I’m actually unaware of whether you can download it yet. It is currently a Windows-only browser, although a Mac version is supposedly in the works. Perhaps the neatest thing about Chrome, from what I’ve read, is that each tab is a separate web kit. This means that when one tab crashes, it won’t bring down your entire browsing experience. Like IE 8 Beta, Chrome also has a private browsing mode that won’t record your pages. I believe some folks call this “porn mode,” although Google uses the example of purchasing a surprise birthday gift for someone who shares your computer.

For so many years, our only open for browsing was IE. Then it was IE and Firefox. Now we have IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome, and many other smaller options. What do you want in a browser?

My browser wish list:

- Tabs that work individually and aren’t paralyzed when one tab crashes

- Some sort of built-in bookmark organization that is easier and more convenient than the typical bookmarks / folders

- A powerful spell-check

- Some way to organize my tabs. Sometimes I’ll have a ridiculous amount of tabs open and it’s hard to find anything. I need some way to stack my tabs off to the side or something.

What’s on your browser wish list?

Learn about Google Chrome.

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Contact Michelle with your news, apps, and events via email, Twitter, Pownce, or FriendFeed. Visit Michelle at Wine-Girl.net and Write Technology.

by Michelle Lentz

I’m a little too self-conscious to want to use video chat. That’s an impending part of the Jetsons future that just makes me nervous. I work at home in my pajamas for half the day, after all.

However, I’m apparently in the minority, as video cameras built into computers and new ways to video chat are popping up everyday. TokBox, which currently utilizes its web site for free and easy video calling, announced a new application for Facebook Chat last week. (I think the news sort of got lost in the holiday weekend.) Tokbox has enabled video chat for Facebook as a Firefox add-on.

“We’re incredibly excited by the early feedback on the TokBox Firefox add-on,” said Nick Triantos, TokBox CEO. “This add-on will enable Facebook users to participate in live video calls with their Facebook friends, right from within the Facebook chat user interface.”

The TokBox video calling functionality for Facebook is currently available via a Firefox add-on only. Support for Internet Explorer and Safari will be available in the near future.

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Events, news, apps, and more – let me know at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, via Twitter, Pownce, or FriendFeed. Visit Michelle at Wine-Girl.net and Write Technology.

by Michelle Lentz

Since I mentioned it back in mid-June, I thought I’d follow up with the news that yes, Mozilla did manage to set the world record for most downloads in a single day – er, 24 hour period.  Considering how many people had trouble downloading on that day, I’m a little surprised.

Thanks to the support of the always amazing Mozilla community, we now hold a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours. From 18:16 UTC on June 17, 2008 to 18:16 UTC on June 18, 2008, 8,002,530 people downloaded Firefox 3 and are now enjoying a safer, smarter and better Web.

Head over to the Mozilla site to get your own Download Day Certificate.

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Events, news, apps, and more – let me know at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, via Twitter, Pownce, or FriendFeed.