Category: Sites and Downloads

If you have to be on the bleeding edge of technology (like I do) then this download is for you. Keep in mind that Firefox alphas and betas are completely without end-user support, so you’ll have to do some digging to find out solutions to problems if you have them, or just go back to the last standard release, which in this case would be 1.06. Anyway, it looks like the beta’s finally made it out in the open, and after downloading it myself, I can tell you it’s a serious speed improvement, especially on Mac OS X. May not beat Safari quite yet, especially on systems with less RAM than they should have, but it’s definitely much much better and i enjoy it.

Anyway, you can download the new beta here:
[ http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/beta1.html ]

And read PCWorld’s announcement here, which covers a points I missed, namely about enhanced security, functionality, and what’s on the horizon for the Mozilla Foundation (namely Firefox 2.0!). Read all about it:
[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122459,tk,dn090905X,00.asp ]

A new Firefox beta is coming soon, as reported in PCWorld:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122396,tk,dn090205X,00.asp ]

and listed on the Mozilla Developer News blog:

[ http://developer.mozilla.org/devnews/ ]

it looks like the new beta version (and keep in mind that this is a BETA version, meaning there’s no official support, and it should be only used by developers or other people who can submit feedback to the Mozilla group on real bugs and issues, not “omgthiswebsitedontwork!!!11one”) will be available before the end of the week. Increased Mac OS X supporrt, along with speed increases, and improved popup blocking are among the features expected in this new version. Keep an eye out if you need to be on the bleeding edge of the browser wars, but the layperson can take this as news that we’ll probably never see a Firefox 1.1, and will likely instead see the direct jump to 1.5 in October.

Again, another validation of rumors that have been running around for quite some time now-Google is getting into the instant messaging business. The word was of course that Google was planning an IM network, and it looks like that network is finally here, in the form of Google Talk:

[ http://talk.google.com/ ]

Looks like Google Talk is riding on top of a Jabber network, so you can either download the Google Talk client (windows 2000/xp only at the moment) or you can use your favorite IM client to connect to the Google Talk network via Jabber. The only trick you miss there is the ability to do voice calls to other Google Talk users. That’s right, Google Talk includes the ability to place voice calls to other online members over their network, and while there is no Macintosh or Linux Google Talk client available from Google, they encourage you to use another one:

[ http://www.google.com/talk/otherclients.html ]

more information available here:
[ http://www.google.com/talk/about.html ]

And are nice enough to include information! Google Talk works using your GMail username and password, and is available for download now. Give it a try!

An update to that tidbit yesterday; noticed on the first day of its launch, Microsoft Virtual Earth was noted strangely to not have Apple’s headquarters on the map at its Cupertino, California address. Astute observers noticed the on Google Earth, Apple’s headquarters, in all its overhead glory, was seated firmly where it should be, but on Virtual Earth there was nothing but a warehouse and an empty dirt lot.

I know, I know, Microsoft didn’t do anything insidious and remove Apple headquarters, they’re just using old satellite photos. Very, very old satellite photos. So old in fact that the World Trade Center is still standing in New York City, for example. But regardless, Wired News picked up on the story today and actually managed to get hold of a Microsoft spokesperson, who gave the predictably amusing reply:

[ http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,68308,00.html ]

So, if you didn’t notice, MSN unveiled Virtual Earth [ http://virtualearth.msn.com/ ], yet another step behind Google Maps-which has been all the rage for a while now-(it’s only a matter of time before they copycat again with some virtual earth globe thingy which emulates Google Earth) and Microsoft has made their first blunder…or offensive stab. Look up the address for Apple Headquarters, better known as 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, and on Google Earth you get this [ http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.332307,-122.030103&spn=0.005924,0.010131&t=k&hl=en ] and on MSN Virtual Earth you get this [ http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?ss=apple&cp=37.333411|-122.029708&style=h&lvl=17&v=1 ].

Aside from the quality of the two images being vastly different, and in my opinion Google’s being far superior(when’s that satellite footage from, Microsoft? 1972?), there’s one thing missing from the MSN Virtual Earth image. Apple Headquarters is missing. Yup, completely gone, not there, poof, kaput. But-we know it’s there, so where is it? Who knows, I’m waiting to hear what the PR folks at Microsoft manage to cook up to cover their butts this time, but whatever it is it’ll probably be a doozy.

The Guardian broke the hilarity-I mean the story, so check out their take:

[ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/25/msn_earth_deletes_aple/ ]

Oh Google, you so crazy! First it was a ton of extra space for GMail users, then it was Google Video, which started out as just a method to search the closed-captioning of television shows and is now accepting uploads from you, me, everyone else who might be interested in archiving their video with Google: [ http://video.google.com/ ] and more importantly WHY they want your video and how to get it to them: [ https://upload.video.google.com/ ]. Now, they’ve globalized your login and password that you use for GMail and renamed it your “Google Login,” which will act as your global authentication for all Google services.

Cool huh? Yeah-it wasn’t cool when Microsoft did it with Passport, but that was more because they tried to shove it down your throat for all MSN services and then some, and people tended to shy away from it. We’ll see if Google has better luck-I can see uses for a global Google login (customized deal searches across trusted sites on Froogle, for example) but getting back to point. The first step in Google’s mind, to making everyone log in to Google before using Google services is to allow you the opportunity to search your search history. Here’s the scenario: You Googled for some search terms that led you to a page a couple of days ago. You read it, used the info from it, and closed it. A couple of days later, someone asks you about the same thing-you’ve forgotten the web address so you can’t give the page to them. What do you do? Google again? But you forgot the exact search terms you used! Oh no! Well, Google comes to the rescue. If you logged in prior to making the search, you can look back through your search history (instead of having to dig through your browser history) to find that search and the page that resulted from it. Sounds cool, right? I think so. Read all about it:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120516,tk,dn042105X,00.asp ]

If you catch it in time, check out the GMail login page:
[ http://gmail.google.com/ ]

It looks like they’re turning 1 today, and as a reward, there are a few new features for everyone! First of all, everyone’s getting an extra gig of space! That’s right, now you’re up to 2GB! But wait-if you log in, you’ll see you definitely have more than 1GB, but less than 2GB. Why? Check out the login page-they’re increasing everyone’s space gradually and you can see how much space each person is getting as it increases on the front page! Watch those megabytes climb!

The best part is that it’s accurate, and here’s to hoping its not an April Fool’s joke!

The second new feature is rich-text formatting in GMail messages! For those of you who like being able to personalize your messages with color, fonts, large or small text, and all that jazz, you can finally do it and send it away with all your happy customizations! Give it a try. Can’t say I will, I’m a plain text kinda guy, but hey-I know a lot of people out there aren’t, so this is a good thing!

You can check out all of GMail’s recent improvements and more that’s on the horizon over here:
[ http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/about_whatsnew.html ]

By the way, if you’re looking for Google’s April Fools gag, check it out here: A new product from Google (in beta):
[ http://www.google.com/googlegulp/ ]