Talkings of a Tyrant

Finally, after just over a year, Mozilla Firefox has fully made the transition from 1.0 to 1.5.

Firefox 1.0

Firefox 1.0 was released on November 9, 2004. In the year since, it has been met with broad acclaim, and many awards. There is now a cult following/fan base around the browser (which I’m proud to be a part of). It is almost certainly the most successful open-source software in the world.

Firefox 1.0 is an excellent browser. It’s purpose is to be small, lean, and incredibly extensible, and it meets those goals well. It is a small download, it is quick, and it supports themes and extensions.

Themes and extensions add functionality to Firefox in any number of ways. Much of this blog has been focused on reviewing the extensions I like best. You can either see the reviews from the links on the top left, or from the “extension” category. With extensions, themes, and Firefox’s inherent open-source status, a user has, effectively, complete control over how they view the web.

I think the idea of being in complete control of how I customize my browsing experience is what drew me into Firefox. Being able to choose what I wanted, and what I didn’t want; to block both advertisements and arbitrary toolbar installations; that was fascinatingly entertaining and interesting. Firefox actually made it… well… fun to surf the web.

Before Firefox, there were two main browsers I knew about: Internet Explorer, a horribly bloated and rigid software which I’ve always hated, and Netscape, which was a bloated, but slightly customizable, software which I could stand. I had no clue that Firefox, Mozilla, or Opera existed until after I got into the Firefox craze. (how ironic)

Since discovering Firefox, and thus losing my fear of navigating unknown parts of the web, I’ve learned much about Internet technologies and upcoming memes. Firefox essentially opened up the Internet to me.

As well as an excellent browser, Mozilla Firefox was also a battle of business models. Ever since Linux created the concept of open-source, there has been a war of business practices between open-source zealots and Microsoft. Mozilla Firefox also was to show that open-source could be mainstream. Honestly, I believe that Mozilla proved that open-source did, in fact, have a very good chance against multi-billion dollar corporations with pretty much endless money (*cough* Microsoft).

Several times in Firefox 1.0’s lifespan security flaws were found and publicized. Unfortunately, the mainstream media (curse them!) jumped on this fact to go “Ha! Firefox isn’t that much better!” Like much of what mainstream media does these days, however, those stories omitted crucial facts.

Often they reported on bugs that were already fixed. They overhyped the unfortunate fact that Firefox has had more security flaws revealed in that year than did most other browsers. What the didn’t often tell people, though (bless those that did), was the incredible speed and efficiency that the Firefox team fixed those security bugs.

Mozilla’s ability to fix and and release a fix for security holes within a few weeks (sometimes in a few days) was possibly the biggest triumph against Microsoft. Currently Internet Explorer has incredibly severe security holes that have been public for a few years. Some of those holes, Microsoft has said that they’re never going to fix.

Mozilla Firefox 1.0 set the stage for the next-generation browser battle.

Mozilla Firefox 1.5

The unfortunate frequency of the security holes (which caused them to go through 8 releases of Firefox) also put in the spotlight Firefox’s need for a decent updating system. The new updating system is the highlight of Firefox 1.5

Firefox 1.5 was originally 1.1 However, many more features got added in this release than previously intended, and they decided to rename it to 1.5

Firefox 1.5 comes with several new features. Mostly it is behind-the-sciences tweaking and modifying, but there are a few features that will stand out to users of Firefox 1.0:

1. The updating system has been streamlined. In Firefox 1.0, you had to download the whole 4.7 megabyte package to update versions. Now it comes in the form of patches.
2. Much better caching. Caching is better organized and going backwards and forwards is lightning fast.
3. A “Clear Private Data” feature. This allows you to delete a whole bunch of stuff like history, cache, cookies, etc. quickly and easily.
4. Bunches of other stuff. There is more support for several more web standards (notably Scalable Vector Graphics, or SVG). There are some general, all-around usability tweaks, like useful error pages and a revamped Options Menu. And a whole bunch of other stuff.

Along with Firefox 1.5’s release, Mozilla brought online Mozilla.com, which is the new site for Firefox and Thunderbird. Also, Addons.Mozilla.org got a new theme and is revamped to be much easier to navigate.

From the Ashes…

From the ashes of the previous browser battle between Internet Explorer, the next browser battle between IE, Firefox, and Opera is created.

This is a highly exciting time for technology geeks. Firefox 1.5 is released, web 2.0 is kicking off, and being geek is starting to become mainstream (emphasis on “starting”). The next-generation of everything is showing up. From the next generation of gaming consoles, to a new way in which media is done, everything is changing.

We are moving away from the “survival of the fittest” model to a “competition between collaboration.” Companies are no longer the only competitors. Everyday people are starting to find new and better ways to call upon the general public and use collaboration to create stuff that is far better, more sophisticated, and easier to use than anything a corporation can create. Firefox is only the first example. Firefox threw open the doors.

This is a highly exciting time for Firefox fans. Our beloved browser has grown a year older. It is better, quicker, faster, more user-friendly, and more ready to fight Internet Explorer. Firefox 1.0 drew concern from Microsoft. Firefox 1.5 is going to be Internet Explorer’s biggest threat.

Download Firefox 1.5!

One of the biggest problems with Mozilla Firefox has been incompatible websites.

Or, rather, websites designed only for Internet Explorer. Firefox can’t render sites designed with Microsoft, specifically ActiveX, in mind. This isn’t Firefox’s fault, but rather the lazy web developer’s/web programmer’s/web master’s fault.

Previously, there was no way around this, other than opening up Internet Explorer (IE) and viewing the site from there. No longer.

IE Tab embeds IE into Firefox at your command to allow you to view the website as it would be viewed in Internet Explorer. The browser is the same, the buttons, the tabs, and the menus are all the same, except for what is inside the tab. Inside the tab, the website is displayed exactly how it would be if you were viewing in in Internet Explorer.

You can easily switch between viewing the site in Firefox and IE at will. Just click on the Firefox symbol on the status bar, and you can switch back and forth. You can also create a list of sites to always view in IE Tab, so your favorite/hated bank’s website always works fine.

One downside is that any extension that affect the web page (Adblock, PasswordMaker, Aggregate Yahoo! and Google, and anything from a context menu) won’t work in IETab. Ads still show up, your context menu (right click menu) is IE’s context menu, and PasswordMaker does nothing (you have to copy to clipboard and paste). This is perfectly understandable, as IE is not Firefox.

Ideally, this extension wouldn’t be used that much (unless you liked IE more and just use Firefox for the menus and toolbars). However, it is still useful for those renegade sites that refuse to make their sites conform to standards, and to web developers who want to see how much IE butchers their beautiful site. This extension is highly useful as a backup to what could be a tricky situation.

It is also interesting to easily see how different sites are between Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Download IE Tab (Windows only)
IE Tab Website
Get Firefox!

If you’ve never used Google Suggest, then I suggest you check it out now.

Google Suggest instantly give you suggestions of a search, narrowing it down with each letter you type. Type in “password” and a list will drop down of everything from “passwords” to “password hacker” (see picture). Keep typing and it will continue to narrow down your search to whatever you want.

Firefox comes default with Google in its search bar. It is just a search for Google.

However, Google released an extension that turns that ordinary Google search into Google Suggest search, with suggestions popping down based on what you’re typing.

You probably notice that the search box for my Firefox is bigger than the standard. Google Suggest often has entries that are too big for the normal search box, as the normal search box is pretty small.

If you want your puny search box to be expanded into my courageously space-consuming search box enter the following code into your userChrome.css file:
/* Make the Search box flex wider
(in this case 200 pixels wide) */
#search-container, #search bar {
-moz-box-flex: 200 !important; }

Save the userChrome.css file, restart Firefox, and *presto!* Your search box is larger and more fitting.

I was personally surprised by how useful Google Suggest is. You can easily and quickly see all of the suggestions that Google has, and figure out if there is a better way to say what you’re trying to search for.

In case there is any doubt, after you find the search you want, and hit Enter, this extension does nothing. Everything else behaves just like a normal Google Search.

Also, it uses stuff like Google Zeitgeist to determine what appears, not your personal search history.

Google Suggest Extension
Google Suggest Website
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The BlinkList toolbar extension is a must have for anyone who has a BlinkList account.

I have a BlinkList account, therefore, I must have this toolbar (oooo! big leap there!)

It is rich in BlinkList features, and yet simple to use (something that every technology should strive for). The only thing you have to configure is your BlinkList username. No passwords, no API, nothing.

You can:

1. Instantly Blink the page! Uses the same functionality as the bookmarklet to automatically add selected text as a description.
2. View your BlinkList from a button. Simple and easier than typing it in.
3. View your friends page. Your friends page will show you all of the things that your friends have recently added. Quite useful.
4. Search public tags, your tags, or Google. This is the same basic functionality as the searchbox at the top of BlinkList.
5. Tag the page from the search bar. You add your tags, and then Blink It! Your tags and whatever description you added are automatically inserted.
6. QuickBlink and QuickStart Both are features that I don’t really use, but are useful nonetheless.

As I said, this extension has the most used and most useful things BlinkList can do (which is a lot) in one easy-to-use toolbar. A true necessity for BlinkList users.

BlinkList Toolbar 0.2.3 for Firefox 1.5 (no support for Firefox 1.0)
BlinkList Toolbar 0.1 at Mozilla Update for Firefox 1.0-1.0.7
Get Firefox!

The StumbleUpon extension for Mozilla Firefox is an excellent extension for websurfers who are on the lookout for new sites.

It is a toolbar with (*gasp!*) a bunch of buttons on it! It doesn’t seem all that complex, but you can do a lot with this simple toolbar.

When you hit that tempting button that says “Stumble,” Firefox will automatically be sent to some randomly awesome website on the web. Granted, some of these websites suck. Most of them don’t.

The thing is, whether web sites are good or bad is determined by what people do after they are sent there. Once at the web site (or at any web site you want) you can rate it favorably or not. Simple. The more sites you rate, the more good sites StumbleUpon will bring you to. It learns from you.

Once you get to that site, you can also tag the page. Yes, tag it. Decide what words fit it best and tag it. You can’t bookmark anything directly from StumbleUpon (as far as I can tell), but you can still tag sites.

Or, if tagging and giving a thumbs-up or down isn’t enough for you, you can give a full fledged review of the website.

Granted, there are some inherent security issues from telling StumbleUpon what sites you like to visit. But there are the same issues from searching Google, or using social bookmarking. Face it, it is nearly impossible to be truly anonymous on the web. Might as well get used to it.

While these might seem simple, it is really well done. This is possibly the most Web 2.0 extension out there. Democracy and user-control is almost hardwired into this thing.

The main downside to this extension is the registration process. Registering itself isn’t bad, but doing otherwise simple stuff like changing your password or having two profiles on the same Firefox is annoying.
A word of advice: Do not delete the Firefox profile that you originally created your StumbleUpon account on! If you delete it, or move to a new computer, you will not be able to change your password.

This extension is especially good for those who like to randomly surf the web. With StumbleUpon, you can do it in style! It is difficult to explain, but something about tagging and rating every site you come upon is incredibly appealing. Useful with a “Post to BlinkList/del.icio.us” bookmark on you bookmark toolbar the BlinkList toolbar so you can rate and bookmark what sites you visited.

Download StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon.com
Get Firefox!