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Firefox’s New Crash Protection Beefed Up

cgseo — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 01:28:00 +0000

Last Thursday we wrote about Firefox’s launch of its newest version, 3.6.4. This version separated the browser itself from the plug-ins that ride it. So if a plug-in were lagging, or otherwise going haywire, it wouldn’t crash the whole screen. These improvements are restricted to Linux and Windows until Version 4.0, which will include Mac. Today, Mozilla has announced a further upgrade , to version 3.6.6. Sponsor With 3.6.6, the time-out has been increased, according to Mozilla’s Mike Beltzner. ‘Following the release of Firefox 3.6.4 we heard from some users, mainly those using older computers, that they sometimes expect longer periods of non-responsiveness from plug-ins, especially with games. For these users the default timeout of 10 seconds was too short. To address this, we increased the amount of time Firefox waits for a plug-in to respond before terminating it from 10 to 45 seconds.” This update is automatic and does not require a second upload. Discuss

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Firefox’s New Crash Protection Beefed Up

Salesforce.com Countersuing Microsoft for Patent Infringement

cgseo — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:05:01 +0000

Salesforce.com , the world’s leading SaaS vendor, is suing Microsoft for patent infringement, Business Week reported today. As we’ve reported , Microsoft filed suit against Salesforce.com for patent infringement last month. Salesforce.com has hired David Boies who represented the U.S. Department of Justice in its antitrust case against Microsoft. Sponsor TechCrunch reports the patents Salesforce.com is alleging Microsoft infringed are: Patent No. 6,813,633, Dynamic multi-level cache manager. Patent No. 6,918,059, Method and system for handling errors in a distributed computer system. Patent No. 7,024,454, Work sharing and communicating in a Web site system. Patent No. 7,209,929, Java object cache server for databases. Patent No. 7,305,454, Apparatus and methods for provisioning services. In April, Salesforce.com chairman and CEO Marc Benioff said about Microsoft: “The reality is that these patent trolls are unfortunately just part of doing business in technology these days. They’re basically the alley thugs. Every thriving economy has alley thugs.” Bringing on Boies is a clear sign Salesforce.com is taking Microsoft’s legal threats seriously. During his career, Boies defended IBM during the Justice Department’s antitrust case against the company, represented New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in a suit against Major League Baseball, represented Vice President Al Gore in Gore’s dispute over the 2000 election, represented SCO Group in its controversial Linux patent disputes, and several other high profile intellectual property cases. Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s deputy general counsel for intellectual property told Business Week that, “We remain confident in our position and will continue to press ahead with the complaint.” Microsoft claims Salesforce.com infringed the following patents: Method and system for mapping between logical data and physical data System and method for providing and displaying a web page having an embedded menu Method and system for stacking toolbars in a computer display Automated web site creation using template driven generation of active server page applications Aggregation of system settings into objects Timing and velocity control for displaying graphical information Timing and velocity control for displaying graphical information Method and system for identifying and obtaining computer software from a remote computer System and method for controlling access to data entities in a computer network Discuss

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Salesforce.com Countersuing Microsoft for Patent Infringement

Google Now Distributes Chrome with Built-In Flash Player

cgseo — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:24:50 +0000

Earlier this morning, Google released a new stable version of Chrome, the company’s increasingly popular browser. This new release for Windows, Mac and Linux is the first stable version of Chrome to be distributed with a built-in version of Adobe’s widely used Flash Player. Just two days ago, Google enabled the built-in version of Flash in the beta channel versions of Chrome, where it had already been available earlier this year, though Google then disabled this feature after a while. Sponsor Even though Google is a strong backer of the open HTML5 and CSS3 standard, which can replicate a lot of Flash features, the company is also acutely aware that a lot of users and web developers still rely on Flash. When we talked to Bran Rakowski, Google’s product manager and director for Chrome, last month, he noted that Google thinks that by coupling Flash to the browser, Google can ensure that users will run a very recent and secure version of Flash. Don’t Like Flash in Chrome? Just Disable It. If you don’t want to use Flash in Chrome, you can just type ” about:plugins ” in the address bar in Chrome and disable the plugin. Google’s update mechanism ensures that the browser stays up to date, without any intervention from the user. In addition to this, Google can also test the specific version of Flash it distributes with the browser and ensure that it is stable. With its new crash protection feature in Firefox, Mozilla is also working hard to ensure that crashing Flash content can’t take the whole browser down and Apple and Opera offer a similar feature in their browsers. As CNET’s Stephen Shankland rightly notes , Adobe is also working hard to keep Flash relevant and with the latest version of the Flash Player (10.1), Adobe is also trying to gain a foothold on mobile devices. Google’s own Android operating system is one of the first to support mobile Flash. Discuss

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Google Now Distributes Chrome with Built-In Flash Player

Skype Opens Platform with SkypeKit SDK for Developers and Manufacturers

cgseo — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:45:00 +0000

For many years, unified chat clients like Digsby or Adium have provided users with a single app with which to manage several chat protocols at once. Whether your friends are on AIM , Yahoo Messenger , ICQ , or Facebook Chat , chances are there’s an app that will aggregate your various buddy lists into one tidy window. Skype , however, has remained on its own outside of these clients, but thanks to the forthcoming SkypeKit SDK , the popular voice and video chat app will soon be integrated into other applications. Sponsor This morning, Skype announced a beta program for use of its brand new SkypeKit SDK which will allow developers and manufacturers to incorporate Skype into both desktop applications and consumer electronics devices. The SDK will be initially invite only, launching on Linux for devices tomorrow, and on Mac and Windows for desktop apps in a few weeks. “Think of SkypeKit as a ‘headless’ version of Skype – that is, a Skype client with no user interface that runs invisibly, not only on PCs, but also TVs, notebooks, and other connected devices.” – Skype Previously, Skype’s API allowed accessories like headsets and webcams to communicate better with Skype, but those applications required Skype to run in the background. With this new SDK, apps can be built that run independently of Skype, much like the popular multi-platform chat clients available today. “Think of SkypeKit as a ‘headless’ version of Skype – that is, a Skype client with no user interface that runs invisibly, not only on PCs, but also TVs, notebooks, and other connected devices,” the company said in a blog Tuesday morning. “Developers communicate with SkypeKit through the SkypeKit API, surfacing Skype calls through their own applications.” What About Mobile? What About the Web? The new SDK is only open for desktop app development and for integration by consumer hardware manufacturers. Skype says they are aware of demand for an SDK for Web developers, but has “nothing to announce at this time.” As far as mobile goes, smartphone users can already download official Skype apps, but mobile chat clients may be left out of the development fun until the SDK is expanded. It seems likely that Skype will make its SDK available on Web and mobile platforms eventually, since the company’s idea is “that every connected device can become a communications device, with the addition of SkypeKit.” For now, desktop developers and hardware manufacturers have the chance to create some interesting Skype integrations with the new SDK. Discuss

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Skype Opens Platform with SkypeKit SDK for Developers and Manufacturers

TurnKey Linux Make Launching Open Source Appliances in the Cloud Easy

cgseo — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:15:10 +0000

The open source project TurnKey Linux has launched a private beta of the TurnKey Hub , a service that makes it easy to launch and manage the project’s Ubuntu-based virtual appliances in the Amazon EC2 cloud. Sponsor There are currently about 40 software bundles in Turkey Linux’s virtual library, including Joomla , WordPress , and Moodle . According to TurnKey Linux, these virtual appliances are optimized for easy deployment and maintenance. And as the name implies, launching an instance with one of the virtual appliances is very simple. Custom passwords and authentication, as well as automatic setup for EBS devices and Elastic IPs, are part of the setup process. According to their website, “Packaging a solution as a virtual appliance can be incredibly useful because it allows you to leverage guru integration skills to build ready to use systems (i.e., turn key solutions) that just work out of the box with little to no setup. Unlike with traditional software, you don’t have to worry about complex OS compatibility issues, library dependencies or undesirable interactions with other applications because a virtual appliance is a self contained unit that runs directly on top of hardware or inside a virtual machine.” Currently, the TurnKey Hub launches on an instance volume in the EC2 Cloud. But according to the developers, support for additional cloud platforms, as well as automatic backup and migration functionality, is in the works. TurnKey Linux is a project started by Alon Swartz and Lirax Siri. While there are other turnkey cloud offerings, including Dell’s , but TurnKey Linux is firmly grounded in the open source community and not only strives to make the move to the cloud easier, but contends that a well-integrated and thoroughly tested virtual appliance can help facilitate open source adoption. Discuss

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TurnKey Linux Make Launching Open Source Appliances in the Cloud Easy

Never Mind the Valley: Here’s Finland

cgseo — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Finland is quite a paradox. One would not think that a country with only 5 million people, plunged into darkness for a greater part of the year, would be the inventor of Linux, SSH, IRC, Nokia, F-Secure and MySQL. While the country is known for its technical feats, heavy metal bands, saunas, and educational system, it’s less known for its startups. Success stories include Sulake , owner of Habbo Hotel (one of the largest virtual worlds, with tens of millions of users, and pioneers of micro-transactions several years before Farmville) and Irc-Galleria , which is the largest social network for Finns. Sponsor Guest author Ramine Darabiha is an entrepreneur and occasional blogger at Nerdstalker and his own blog . Disclaimer: He is the CEO of MySites , which also partners with Xihalife, Dazzboard, Wreckamovie and Breezetags. He will also be a mentor at Summer of Startups. There was the $1 billion exit of MySQL to Sun, as well as Dopplr and Jaiku (the Finnish Twitter that was bought by Google and used as a basis for Google Buzz). Star Wreck was started by a group of friends from Tampere, and ended up having thousands of contributors and 8 million viewers, making it the most successful Finnish movie ever and the first major crowdsourced movie production. The Finnish ecosystem is facing many of the same challenges as other small European countries (I’ve made a list of the 10 major ones here ). There is a lack of entrepreneurs. Only 3% of the population wants to become entrepreneurs, and only a fraction of them want to create startups. Joining or starting a new venture is seen as a very risky thing, and there is still a strong stigma that people who are self-employed probably couldn’t find a “real” job in the first place. RWW’s Never Mind the Valley series: As is often the case in Europe, failure is perceived as extremely negative, rather than a learning opportunity. There is also a lack of visibility for Finnish startups. The local press and TV mostly ignore them, and blog coverage mainly comes from

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Never Mind the Valley: Here’s Finland

Chrome OS Release Announced for Q4; Google Making an Enterprise Play?

cgseo — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Google will release its Chrome OS – initially to just laptop users – in Q4 InfoWorld reported today. This announcement comes on the heels of rumors that Google is ditching Windows internally. Some are speculating that Google is making room for Chrome OS in its workplace, and may be aiming to compete with Windows in the enterprise. Sponsor The Financial Times reported yesterday – citing unnamed Google employees – that Google is offering new employees the choice of using Macintosh or Linux computers, but not Windows. It quoted an employee who said that getting a Windows computer now requires CIO approval. The employee cited security concerns following the cyber attack on Google last year . Microsoft responded to the The Financial Times story via its Windows team blog , citing many the company’s many security improvements in recent years. The Financial Times also quoted an employee who suggests the move is an attempt to make room for internal use of the forthcoming Chrome OS. InfoWorld ran a story consulting several security experts who believe security is not the motivator for Google’s move away from Windows. In a follow-up, InfoWorld quotes Andrew Storms, the director of security operations at nCircle Security , as suggests that Google’s move away from Windows is a PR stunt. Storms points out that as Google continues its move to the cloud – Google uses Google Docs and Microsoft Office internally – it doesn’t need a traditional desktop operating system and the associated costs: licensing, virus protection, etc. Global CIO blogger Bob Evans recently drew attention to the fact that 5,000 IBM workers use Macs, and to IBM CIO Pat Toole’s position that enterprises should move away from standardized computing in favor of letting individual users pick what works best for them. As enterprises rely more and more on browser-based services, the underlying operating system matters less and less. Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie recently reiterated that services will play a growing role in the company’s future, so even if enterprises ditch Windows for Chrome or other OSes, Microsoft will likely remain a player. Microsoft has its own minimal, browser-based operating system called Gazelle in the works. Chrome screenshot via Wikipedia . Discuss

Mozilla Launches sudoSocial, an Experimental Lifestream Platform

cgseo — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:04:06 +0000

Mozilla Labs has launched a new “lifestream” platform called sudoSocial . Pulling its name from the Linux command “sudo” which allows users to run programs with other, usually elevated privileges, the sudoSocial publishing platform aims to give you both access and control over your many online identities. Although sudoSocial would be suitable for curating any stream of content, explains the introductory blog post , in its early, still rather sparse format, it’s better for personal homepages that aggregate your various feeds, like Flickr photos and blog posts, for example. Sponsor Hacking a Homepage with sudoSocial To create your own personal homepage using sudoSocial , you’ll need to have an OpenID account and, the page reminds you, that’s probably something you already have – even if you didn’t know it. A link to OpenID’s ” Get an OpenID ” page displays a collection of OpenID enabled services like Google, Yahoo, Blogger, flickr, MySpace, WordPress, AOL and others. For our own testing purposes, we used a Google Profile URL. Yours can be found here: http://google.com/profiles/me . After signing in and filling out a little profile info (if it’s the first time you’ve used an OpenID), you’re taken to the Stream Editor where you can begin to add sources. Any URL, Atom or RSS feed is supported. In the next tab, you can edit the design using CSS, JavaScript and Processing.js. (Oh, yes, did we forget to mention this tool isn’t for the mainstream user?) When you’ve finished your configurations, you could end up with a webpage that looks something like this: http://sudosocial.me/u/pattyokdemo , if you choose a more basic setup, or like this: http://ozten.com/homepage-demo.html if you design something a bit more advanced. If you’re interested, you can also contribute to the project by hacking the source code, found here: http://github.com/ozten/sudosocial . A Better Option for Everyday Users: Flavors.me However, if you were hoping that sudoSocial would provide a simple way to quickly set up a personal homepage, you’re going to walk away feeling disappointed. A better option for that purpose, or really any stream aggregation of your choosing, is Flavors.me . This lovely, user-friendly web service lets you customize everything design-wise, including typefaces, layouts and color schemes while also aggregating the feeds of your choice. And for most of the supported services (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, flickr, etc.), you don’t even need to know the RSS’s feed URL – you simply click “add service” and authorize the app. That said, sudoSocial isn’t designed with the mainstream user in mind. It’s intended as a more advanced platform for designers and developers who know what they want and how to make it happen via code. For them, sudoSocial may be a good starting point, but it still needs quite a bit of polish and bug-quashing before it’s fully ready for a wider audience. Discuss

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Mozilla Launches sudoSocial, an Experimental Lifestream Platform

Chrome Extensions Get Desktop Notifications

cgseo — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:54:57 +0000

Extensions for Google Chrome can now send out desktop notifications. Google just announced the availability of a notifications API for Chrome extension developers. Until now, only websites were able to deliver non-model messages with the notifications API, which was first introduced in Chrome 4 for Windows. Now, extension developers will be able to make use of the desktop notifications API to deliver notifications that appear outside of the browser window as well. Sponsor One of the first extensions to make use of these system-wide notifications is the popular Gmail Notifier add-on for Chrome. After installing the extension, you will receive a notification whenever a new email arrives in your inbox. The advantage of this system is that you will see this notification, even if you are not looking at your browser. Some users will surely complain that OSX and Linux already have perfectly good system-wide notifications systems . This new notifications API, however, allows developers to create their extensions without having to think about the desktop platform and Google’s own developers won’t have to interface with multiple third-party desktop notifications platforms either. Chances are that we will see a variation of these desktop notifications in Google’s Chrome OS as well. Discuss

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Chrome Extensions Get Desktop Notifications

Firefox Losing Early Adopters to Chrome – Will Mainstream Users Follow?

cgseo — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:08:43 +0000

Google Chrome has had a big impact on the browser market since its release in September 2008. The latest report from NetMarketShare puts Chrome at 6.73% market share, ahead of Safari on 4.72% and behind only IE (59.95%) and Firefox (24.59%). What’s more interesting about Chrome is the activity it’s enjoying from early adopters and geeks. Our own browser statistics at ReadWriteWeb show that Chrome was used by 17.89% of our readers in April, putting it behind only Firefox (38.95%) and IE (24.76%). Further, our figures show a very clear movement from Firefox to Chrome over the past year . Chrome has gained nearly 11% over the past year, whereas Firefox has lost over 15%. Sponsor IE has stayed stable on our site over the past year, registering no change from its 24% in April 2009. Take a look at our comparison stats, via Google Analytics: Source: ReadWriteWeb I can also tell you that many of ReadWriteWeb’s staff now use Chrome. I myself made the switch as soon as a (relatively) stable Mac version became available in 2009, primarily because I had been experiencing slowness and crashes in Firefox for months prior. I’ve never looked back – sorry Mozilla. Chrome is fast, hardly ever crashes and can handle multiple tabs with ease. It does the job. The only thing I still use Firefox for is, ironically, offline Gmail! That’s because on a Mac, Google Gears is only available on Firefox and Safari – not Chrome. Before I get assailed by Firefox fans in the comments, granted the much larger NetMarketShare stats show a couple of percentage points of growth for Firefox over the past year. They also show IE losing over 8% share and Chrome gaining over 4%. Source: NetMarketShare However, even NetMarketShare’s stats show that Firefox’s real battle is not with Microsoft’s IE anymore (whose downward slide is inevitable and long overdue), but with Google’s Chrome. It’s not just on the statistics and performance fronts either. Google is now directly attacking Firefox’s main strength from a developer point of view: its ecosystem of add-ons. At the Google I/O event earlier this month, Google announced an application store to help with discovery and sales of Web applications. Some startups have already moved focus from the add-on model to a web site or app (e.g. GetGlue ), so Google’s App Store will only accelerate this. Yesterday we reported that the beta tag for Google’s Chrome browser has been removed for the Mac and Linux versions . Is that also a sign that the gloves are now off too? Chrome is now a ‘serious’ browser, no beta tags and all OS’s covered with stable versions. Overall I can’t help but think that Chrome is really hitting at the heart of Firefox nowadays. The early adopter and geeky readership of ReadWriteWeb – bless you all – is often a forerunner of future mainstream trends. And our stats clearly show our readers are moving away from Firefox and largely onto Chrome. How long before the mainstream follows? Discuss

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Firefox Losing Early Adopters to Chrome – Will Mainstream Users Follow?