We have 3.5.6

If you are using Mozilla Firefox 3, I have some message for you.

FIrstly, thank you for helping make the web a better place.

Mozilla Firefox 3.5.6 is here! To learn more about it, read the release notes at the Mozilla website. Also, we seem to be getting warmer for a full 1.0 release for Mozilla Weave with 1.0b3. Learn more about this latest update here.

I recommend that you update your browser as soon as possible.

Bonus: If you haven't done this lately, please also consider checking your plug-ins to see if they are up to date. To do this, simply point your browser here (or google for Mozilla plug-in check or something).

Adios!

Happy Birthday, Firefox!

Just wanted to join @mashable, Ars Technica, TechCrunch and everyone else in wishing Mozilla Firefox a very happy birthday. Happy birthday, Firefox! I love you...

Just wanted to join @mashable in wishing Mozilla Firefox a very happy birthday. Happy birthday, Firefox! I love you...

Sun and emails

Is it just me or did Sun.com just send me two new emails shortly after I exited out of their website? Interesting...

Windows Presentation Format fail

A picture taken just recently on Firefox nightly build on Windows XP
Check out the article "Mozilla disables vulnerable Microsoft plugin
for Firefox" from Ars Technica at
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/10/mozilla-disables-vulnerable-microsoft-plugin-for-firefox.ars

Typo fixed

Google's position on vendor lock-in

Two words: Data Liberation

While this new blog is new, writer Brian "Fitz" Fitzpatrick says that the associated project is two years old now. Lets look at what he thinks of this front:

We expect to use this blog to give tips and tricks on getting data in and out of Google products, as well as kudos and reviews for services supporting rich import/export features. We think that we can provide simple solutions for liberating/managing your data stored in the cloud, and let you voice your complaints about services that aren't properly liberated.

This is very important going forward because Google has to convince people that it is safe to store their documents online just as it is safe for them to store their emails online. At this point, Google's main challenge is probably not other cloud-computing and cloud-storage also-rans. A significant amount of reaching over will have to focus on the effort to convince users that having their data on the cloud will not be just as good as having it on your own computer, but that it will be better. 

Do you sense any attempts to ease customers into a particular web-based operating system?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dnjake: A big reason that open source has a limited audience is that open source developers typically don't want to make the effort to support the full range of user needs.[/QUOTE] While I agree that Microsoft is correct in continuing to support IE 6, I must disagree with dnjake. I believe dnjake is talking about device driver problem in GNU/Linux. I am pretty sure that Microsoft would have a hard time to write device drivers for all devices out there if it had to do so without any assistance from the device manufacturers (and sometimes threat of litigation to top that). I don't agree that open source developers do not want to make the effort. The task at hand is enormous and writing device drivers is usually a thankless job. In case of the free software movement, it is also an unpaid job.


Copied shamelessly from: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/08/microsoft-dropping-support-for-ie6-is-not-an-option.ars?comments=2&comment_id=660002001041

Microsoft wins patent on XML (Ars Technica)

John Timmer writes for Ars Technica (article link): "At the same time that Microsoft was pushing for the adoption of an XML-based file format for documents, it had a patent pending that would cover most uses of XML for word processing files."

One of the reader, Doornail commented on the issue in reply to the Ars Technica article saying: "Everyone at the USPTO needs to be neutered, fired, the buildings burnt to the ground and the soil salted. This is beyond paint-chip munching stupid."

Why is the anger directed at USPTO and not at Microsoft? Well, the answer is that it is the responsibility of USPTO to examine patent applications. Microsoft's actions are designed to protect Microsoft's interests.

One argument is that software patents are not good for anyone, except for squatters. For the hundreds of thousands of patents that Microsoft owns, there could be five held by a squatter that would make it impossible (or prohibitively expensive) to implement an efficient solution. 

For more on software patents, please read this extensive article on Wikipedia: Software patent debate

For a completely(?) unrelated rant, please continue reading:

Microsoft is a for-profit business entity that needs to protect itself, by any means possible. When Microsoft tried to embrace, extend, and ... PDF with built-in capabilities in Office 11 (officially 2007 Microsoft Office System according to Wikipedia), Adobe cried foul. Adobe wanted to make sure that a third-party vendor could not dictate the implementation of the portable document format. Of course, Microsoft did not see it that way with Brian Jones writing a blog post calling Adobe PDF "actually not open". As a comment to the Brian Jones blog post notes from an official Adobe document: "[...] Adobe’s intention is to maintain the integrity ofthe Portable Document Format standard. [...]" (page seven in the document in the link to Adobe's document, which is of course formatted in PDF).

The Moon landing was not the only world-changing event in the summer of '69. Nature

"The Moon landing was not the only world-changing event in the summer of '69."—Nature

Just like the rest of the press, Nature is celebrating fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon-landings. The editorial (Nature 460, 307 (16 July 2009) | doi:10.1038/460307a; Published online 15 July 2009) acclaims the accomplishments of the lunar mission and celebrates it for its benefits. It cross-references to an essay entitled Why we need space travel by Giovanni Bignami and a book review of The Seventh Landing: Going Back to the Moon, This Time to Stay (Springer: 2009) by Michael Carroll. It also repeats a stern warning by Richard Monastersky in Shooting for the Moon that without the motivations from programs like the lunar mission today, we might not have enough students interested in science tomorrow. However, unlike the popular media, Nature manages to keep things in perspective. The editorial also reminds us, in bold letters, that "The Moon landing was not the only world-changing event in the summer of '69."

The other "small step to man"—a new computer operating system called Unix. Nature also shows that it is in sync with the rest of the world as the editor writes "last week Google announced that it will use Linux as the base for its planned open-source 'Chrome' operating system". It also correctly and authoritatively states that "Unix, like Apollo, has earned its place in history."

Unix serves as the basis for most of the non-Windows operating system today. The latest version of Apple's Macintosh operating system, Mac OS X is a certified Unix operating system. Another major operating system is GNU/Linux (often referred to as Linux alone). Unix and Unix-like operating systems command a large market share in the server market. However, footprint remains small as far as far as workstations are concerned. According to Lynn Greiner in Linux Enterprise Market Trends (Faulkner Library; Docid: 00018885; published July 01, 2009), GNU/Linux has made some headway in the enterprise world with companies like DaimlerChrysler, Merrill Lynch, and the E*Trade Group as well as US Federal agencies like US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the US Agency for International Development.

Wondering which page to turn to to read more? Its page number 307 (according to the website). Thanks for reading me and more importantly, thanks for reading Nature.

Update (June 20, 2009 3:09 PM): An earlier version of this post missed the words "fortieth anniversary of". The error has been corrected. - Kushal

(Obvious) hints from the Google blog post

Silent updates by default

And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

I believe that the reference means that Google will feature silent updates in its OS, in line with the offering in Google Chrome. While Google may allow a choice on where to look for updates, chances are that those options will not be blatantly obvious to the end-users. If offered, these options would be targeted and marketed to IT departments in large corporations who cringe at the idea of silent updates. I doubt that Google is desperately seeking a corporate audience, though. The main focus seems to be on the consumer, who won't mind silent updates as long as it is not bothersome or cumbersome.

Developers, will you please go web-based?

these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Google wants developers to get on the cloud. The cloud is where Google's lifeline is. The cloud is where Google wants us to be. The more people are on the net, the more possibility there is for advertisements. Remember, I said possibility for advertisements as there is also an incentive to minimize advertisements — they make people less irritated. They also drive cost per advertisement up, but that's where our wants meet with theirs. This is further evidenced in the next quote where Google is quite upfront that it intends to make money off the project.

any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.

The less time people spend trying to find their way around computers, the more time they have to click on advertisements and bid on auctions. As we have seen with Google Chrome, Google will likely allow and encourage other search engines on its platform, if for nothing else than to stave off anti-trust efforts.

So what is the bottom line here? I believe it will reassure investors that Google is as focused as ever. The clear push from Google to get people on the net shows that Google wants to grow its revenue base by increasing the revenue base of the whole Internet advertising industry (with ~70% market share, is there any other significant way?). This also shows a long-term commitment from Google towards the Internet. However, perhaps the most important news is this: as Google grows and increases the size of the Internet advertising pie, competitors trying to nibble away pieces of the pie will find it easier to nibble away bigger pieces of the pie. As Richard Quest of CNN oft says, "There's money to be made."

Quotes from The Official Google Blog (to be linked soon) by Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management and Linus Upson, Engineering Director and timestamped at 7/07/2009 09:37:00 PM

Don't click the checkout button! Google introduces Google Chrome OS

I know what I am saying will not please many people in the industry. However, if you already have a working notebook or another computer and were in the market to buy a cheap new netbook, hold your horses until the end of 2010. There is an option in the horizon. Google is talking about its new operating system (as far as I know, based on Linux) and from what I have read, its pretty much a done deal. Why? Because Google is talking timeline here. (It would never do that unless it was pretty sure it could meet its deadlines. Afterall, who likes setting deadlines for themselves, knowing they could embarrass themselves?)

Oh, what do you say? You need a netbook and you need it now? Fear not! Plenty of systems are available today sporting Linux or Windows. Spice things up with the Ubuntu Netbook Remix or keep your vanilla OS and try out Google Chrome OS when it comes out in "the second half of 2010". Buy your computer now or hold on to your money until later--either way, you win! Google Chrome is an open-source effort and should not cost you any money at all. Take that, recession!

Read more at Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS

Footnotes on OpenOffice.org 3

When I am writing my logs on an OOo document, I need to use footnotes quite often. I invariably select "Automatic" and then "OK". I wonder why OOo does not yet have an option where I can choose to not receive these prompts anymore for the particular document in question. Perhaps it will come in a later version, we'll see.

Songbird ... now featuring HomeStarRunner.com

As SongBird readies itself for a grand launch, I would like to give you a sneak peek on it ... Songbird will be very innovative, and just like Mozilla Firefox, it will be very extensible.

Just check out this one feature, if you are a Home Star Runner fan (or not) ... and imagine the possibilities of a free, and open source media player, that is made with you in mind ...