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03 Dec 2011 18:00

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Tech: Could Mozilla’s Firefox lose its biggest funding source: Google?

  • growth Over the years, Mozilla’s open-source Firefox browser grew from nothing to provide a solid secondary option to Microsoft’s once-dominant Internet Explorer. It funded itself in large part from a multi-year deal it made with Google to make their search the default, allowing Mozilla to grow quickly.
  • hindrance However, since they made the last deal in 2008, a strange thing started happening — Google created a browser of its own, Chrome, that quickly ate its own share of the market. It’s now tied with or ahead of Firefox. So … will Google renew the deal with Mozilla? Do they need to? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Sep 2011 18:12

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Tech: Amazon Silk getting privacy complaints: Why this is pretty bunk

  • This makes Amazon like your ISP. Every site, everything you do online [through Silk] will go through Amazon. That’s a new role for someone like them, and I don’t think it’s at all clear that Amazon can step into that, or that it will be apparent to consumers.
  • Center for Democracy & Technology spokesperson Aaron Brauer-Rieke • Offering up this claim that Amazon will use Silk, which Amazon claims will help speed up Web sites on the Amazon Kindle Fire, as a tracking tool. To that, we say this: Are you guys familiar with this Web browser called Opera Mini? It’s not as common as it once was, but for people using old-school phones, it was a bit of a lifesaver. It made the Motorola Razr, for example, a far more usable phone for surfing the Web, due to the way it handles content — through the company’s own servers, which cleared out all the extra stuff and sped up the sites you were downloading. Sound familiar? It’s exactly what Amazon Silk claims to do. Not buying this whole privacy argument. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Mar 2011 12:55

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Tech: Internet Explorer 6, or why most sites look really bad in China

  • Today in reasons to be critical of the influence China has on the rest of the world, we submit to you “IE6 Countdown,” a Microsoft-made site that shows why the browser remains so prevalent a full decade after its initial release. See that giant red spot, showing widespread usage? That’s China. You know, beyond awareness campaigns, Microsoft could do more to get people to stop using IE6. They’re not doing enough, really. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 11:15

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Tech: Pixelfari: Surf the Web like Super VGA never happened

  • We were looking for a way to test our site on a Commodore 64, and we think we found it. Neven Mrgan has released onto the world the most useful Web browser in the history of the Interwebs, Pixelfari, an OSX variation on Safai that renders sites as if higher resolutions never made their way to computers. It appears we have some work to do to ensure that an Apple II can properly handle our rig. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Dec 2010 11:08

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Tech: Protip: Don’t browse YouPorn if you wanna keep your privacy

  • 485 major sites exploit a privacy-exploiting browser hack source
  • » Wait, what about YouPorn?: See, YouPorn, one of the most popular sites on the Internet that nobody ever talks about going to, is the most-notable user of this particular hack, which scrapes your history using Javascript to see if you’re going to other sites, and even hijacks it. And don’t think because you don’t watch porn that you’re not getting traced – news sites, sports sites and many other safe-for-work sites also use the scary technique. (Update: In an earlier version, we linked to a site which appears to have been down much of the day. Sorry ’bout that.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Nov 2010 10:42

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Tech: Most popular plugin ever: Adblock Plus. Publishers grow very sad

  • 100
    million     number of downloads the plugin, most popular on Firefox, has had since it was released in 2006
  • 12.3
    million     number of active users the plugin currently has, which means millions in lost advertising income source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Oct 2010 10:28

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Tech: Hooray! Internet Explorer dips below 50 percent market share

  • 67% Internet Explorer’s dominant market share two years ago
  • 49.87% IE’s market share today; are people finally upgrading from IE6? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Mar 2010 10:25

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Tech: Opera decides to have fun with their iPhone app’s uncertain state

  • Opera Mini for iPhone submitted today. When do you think Apple will approve it?
  • Opera’s official Twitter account, @opera • Regarding their playing with fire and submitting their Opera iPhone app, which would directly compete with Mobile Safari to some degree (though they’ve been careful to note the differences in speed and approach). Opera is being downright clever about this, creating a contest where people suggest when the app will be approved by Apple, and giving away an iPhone to the winner. Clever bastards. Might as well have fun with uncertainty. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 15:42

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Tech, World: Germany sez not to use Internet Explorer because it sucks

  • IE has been blamed for the massive hack attack on Google and others. Internet Explorer’s long history of being a sucky browser is catching up with it, and now Germany – a.k.a. a freaking massive country – is telling its citizens to stop using Internet Explorer altogether. The security hole found, by the way, affects all versions of IE, although Microsoft says more recent versions are safer. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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