Easy Firefox

Archive for March, 2010

I got an e-mail the other day from a Firefox Facts reader that wanted to know where the best Firefox related forum on the Web is.  Well, there are a lot of places that might discuss Firefox in forum form, however there are two places I like to point people for their Firefox forum needs.

Mozilla Support Forums – With over 240,000 topics started, these forums have a lot to give a confused Firefox user.   You can easily search though each thread, or contribute with your own questions and answers.  Really wish Mozilla hyped these forums a ‘bit more because they are an awesome resource.

MozillaZine – Here you have THE set of Firefox-related forums you want to keep an eye on.  Covering add-ons, features and themes for Firefox, Thunderbird, Seamonkey and more, these forums are active, fun and very informative.

What is your favorite Firefox forum?  Who knows, maybe you think I should setup some forums here on Firefox Facts.  Share your thoughts in the comments.

Add me on Twitter! Come follow my daily antics, links, tips and more @mitchkeeler on Twitter!

© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my personal blog and my hosting podcast too!

 
Go to Source

After my last post, let us all take a look at a good Firefox theme this time around.  Springshine is a playful and colorful little theme to help your browser move into the season of Spring.

I do have to say, I love the roundness of it all.  The simple vibe it puts off, is also well worth checking out.  For those who want your browser to be more about slight decoration changes and not a slap in the face with an entirely new look – Springshine is for you.

Also, as noted by the developer:

If you use Windows Vista/Windows 7, install Glasser for window transparency.

You can decorate your browser with Springshine by visiting the Firefox Add-ons profile page for it, and click the big shinny green “Add to Firefox” button.

Add me on Twitter! Come follow my daily antics, links, tips and more @mitchkeeler on Twitter!

© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my personal blog and my hosting podcast too!

 
Go to Source

As part of Mozilla’s ongoing security and stability update process, Firefox 3.5.9 and Firefox 3.0.19 are now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux for free download.  As always, we recommend that users keep up to date with the latest stability and support versions of Firefox, and encourage all our users to upgrade to the very latest version, Firefox 3.6.2.

Firefox 3.6.2: http://firefox.com/
Firefox 3.5.9: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/all-older.html

We strongly recommend that all Firefox users upgrade to these releases. If you already have Firefox, you will receive an automated update notification within 24 to 48 hours.

Please note: This is the last planned security and stability release for Firefox 3.0. All users are encouraged to upgrade to Firefox 3.6 by downloading it from http://firefox.com/ or by selecting “Check for Updates…” from the Help menu when using Firefox 3.5.9 or 3.0.19.

For a list of changes and more information, please review the Firefox release notes at:

Firefox 3.6.2: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/3.6.2/releasenotes/
Firefox 3.5.9: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/3.5.9/releasenotes/
Firefox 3.0.19: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/3.0.19/releasenotes/

Go to Source

As part of Mozilla’s ongoing security and stability update process, Thunderbird 3.0.4 is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux for free download from http://getthunderbird.com/.

We strongly recommend that all Thunderbird users upgrade to this release. If you already have Thunderbird 3.0, you will receive an automated update notification within 24 to 48 hours. You can also manually fetch this update by selecting “Check for Updates…” from the Help menu.

For a list of changes and more information, please review the Thunderbird release notes.

Go to Source

Act now and enter the Mobile Add-ons Challenge for your chance to win Mozilla swag and a shiny new Nokia N900.

There are exactly two weeks left to submit your winning Firefox mobile add-on.  Developers are challenged to build an add-on that shows innovation, compatibility and that considers the mobile context (small screen size, touch screen, on-the-go, etc.)

At the end of the Challenge period (April 12), our panel of judges (consisting of members from the Mobile and Add-ons teams) will select ten (10) winners who will receive a new Nokia N900 in addition to other great mobile merchandise!

The last challenge resulted in many fantastic add-ons. Check out our previous winners’ award-winning add-ons that are being used by thousands and recognized by press around the globe. Despite these awesome innovations, there is much more room to help enhance the look, feel and functionality of Firefox on mobile devices. Here are some themes the Mozilla Mobile team finds especially interesting:

• Using device APIs: js-ctypes (Fennec 1.0) might be used to hook into the device (addressbook or camera) and add functionality to a Web app by making a pagemod (jetpack- or greasemonkey-like add-on). Check out these helpful resources around js-cytypes:ctypes on Mobile Developer Center and blog post using GStreamer js-ctypes
  
• Photo, media, social and sharing tools: Create a social aggregator for quickly viewing streams from Twitter, Facebook, etc; Create a tool for sharing images, links and text
• Saving files and Session Restore: Save as PDF, Save Image, Remember last open tabs, etc.

So what are you waiting for? Develop a Firefox mobile add-on for a chance to win a new phone, and most importantly, see your innovation used by people around the world on multiple platforms and devices!  See the complete contest details and rules here.

Go to Source

Today we’re excited to announce the launch of the Spread Firefox Education Toolkit.

With the new Firefox Education Toolkit anyone can go out and teach people about Mozilla and Firefox.  The toolkit contains everything you’ll need – including a set of print pieces, videos and presentations.  The print and presentation materials are currently localized in three languages; English, Spanish and Portuguese (Brasil). Information on how to localize these materials will be coming soon.

Are you a Mozilla Student Rep, contributor or a Firefox fan?  If you answered yes to any of these, use the kit to help spread Firefox.  Some ideas include conducting a Firefox presentation at a conference or school festival, hosting a booth at an event or posting the flyers in your local community.

So go check out the toolkit and happy Firefox-ing!

Go to Source

I got a warning for all my Firefox loving followers out there, stay away from any Firefox themes that claim to be, “interactive” or have been developed by BrandThunder.

What is so bad about BrandThunder themes?

Have you noticed some of the new themes for Firefox are being called, interactive?  This puzzled me for some time, as I was curious as to what they meant by this.  So, since most of these themes came from the developer, BrandThunder – I tried out the Puppies theme they developed.

Anybody notice anything a little weird, different or ugly?

Looks like by interactive, they mean we sneak a lot of extra stuff into your browser.

Why did my default search engine change to Bing? – Doing this without permission, not cool.

Who do I have a second search box? – Now I have two ways to search Bing.com right from my browser toolbar – wasn’t hijacking my default search enough?

What is that gear in the corner? – This seems to be the theme’s settings options, where you can get more things just from BrandThunder, to junk up up your Firefox install.

Listen, everybody deserves to try something unique with theme development, but this is a mess.  It hijacks my browser every which way but loose. 

How to Uninstall BrandThunder Themes

So, the next question is, “How do you uninstall this theme?”.  Go to Tools > Add-ons and then go to themes…

What, they didn’t put a theme in the themes menu?  Oh this BrandThunder theme is so annoying.  You can find it under the “Extensions” menu under Tools > Add-ons. 

Is it gone? Grr… not yet!  After uninstalling, it comes up with a survey asking you to tell them about your experience.  Rather than that, I thought I would express my views here.

Now, you are finally don with this mess of a Firefox theme add-on. 

Final Thoughts About BrandThunder Themes

In my opinion, every Firefox user should stay far away from these themes.  They hijack portions of your browser, and insert services you may or may not want.  There are many more great themes worth trying out – and they won’t try to trick you into installing more than you bargained for.

Add me on Twitter! Come follow my daily antics, links, tips and more @mitchkeeler on Twitter!

© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my personal blog and my hosting podcast too!

 
Go to Source

We’re proud to announce the release of Jetpack SDK 0.2, the second in our series of releases of the add-on SDK we’re incubating for integration with Firefox.

This version includes a number of bug fixes and improvements to the SDK, especially for Windows users. In particular, it’s now easier to run unit tests and see their results on Windows. This version does not yet include the high-level APIs we’re developing for simplified add-on development, however. Those will arrive in future releases.

Get Started

• Browse the documentation.
• Download the SDK as a tarball or ZIP archive.
• Read the release notes.
• For more information, check out the blog post introducing the SDK and the FAQ.

Participate

• Visit the Jetpack website.
• Submit a bug report.
• Grab the source code and fix a bug or add a feature.
• Discuss, debate, and get help in the discussion forum.
• Propose an API or other enhancement.
• Chat via IRC in #jetpack on irc.mozilla.org.

- Myk, on behalf of Team Jetpack

Go to Source

Bespin Embedded 0.6.3 has just been released with a handful of bugfixes in the dryice build tool. This most important one corrects an issue with producing a build on Windows machines. If you’re using Bespin Embedded Customizable on Windows, you’ll definitely want to pick up the new package from the releases directory.

Go to Source

Searching for a better deal while you shop Online?   The InvisibleHand add-on for Firefox might be the next browsing companion you need to pick up.  Once installed, this add-on for Firefox will let you know if the product you are looking for is cheaper somewhere else.

Currently supporting more than 100 of US, UK and German retailers – InvisibleHand is incredibly handy when it comes to finding the best price.  If you are a bargain hunter, it will make sure you get the lowest price, which will save you some cash.

Here are a few other features I enjoy:

• It stays out of your way.  You don’t get a huge popup with a better deal – it stays hidden most of the time, and just slides in the notification under the tab bar once a better price has been found.
• When you search for a product on Google, InvisibleHand generates the lowest real-time price for that product.

You can learn more about the add-on and service at GetInvisibleHand.com or pick up the add-on for Firefox at the Firefox Add-ons web site.

Add me on Twitter! Come follow my daily antics, links, tips and more @mitchkeeler on Twitter!

© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my personal blog and my hosting podcast too!

 
Go to Source