Chris Pirillo » mozilla

How to Change the Skins in Firefox (Personas!)

Chris — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:43:54 +0000

How to Change the Skins in Firefox (Personas!) is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Yes, I’ve recorded thousands of videos for YouTube over the years. I’m considering changing some things up soon, including wearing a Fez hat! The Fez is just so cool. I enjoy changing up the way things look at times, don’t you? But, I digress. This video is about making things look different in your web browser – specifically Firefox!

Firefox Personas asks: What will your browser wear today?. Personas are lightweight, easy-to-install and easy-to-change “skins” for your Firefox web browser. You can easily switch between Personas with just a few clicks. There are hundreds of Personas to choose from, with more added every day. You can even create your own and share it with others.

Personas is simple to use, and free! It takes less than 60 seconds to make your browsing experience something completely new and different! Once you install the plugin, just click the tiny fox icon at the bottom left of your browser screen and get started!

You change your clothes and look every day – why not change your browser’s, as well?

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What is Mozilla’s Prism?

Chris — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:26:55 +0000

What is Mozilla’s Prism? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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There are probably millions of applications that you can install on your computer, no matter what operating system you use. There are billions of web pages found online, many of which are services. What if you wanted to run a web application as a desktop app? It’s possible to do, you know. I’m going to tell you about a couple of different ways to make this happen.

First off, we have an application that was recently launched by Mozilla – Prism. No more wading through web browser windows and tabs just to read your email or check your Facebook feed. Prism apps run directly on your desktop and can be accessed just like any other application.

So why would you want to use this? There are many reasons. It’s a time-saver, for one. When you have a lot to do, every extra step takes away more time you could use elsewhere. Using Prism takes a step or two out of each equation. It can also be more stable. Even though the web browsers of today are usually fairly stable – they DO occasionally crash. Elminate that problem completely by running your applications right on your desktop. You can even configure these things to run when you start your computer, instead of waiting to connect to the Internet and loading a web page.

You don’t even need to have Firefox installed to run Prism!

If you run Mac OS X, I have another recommendation for you. Fluid is similar to Prism – but a whole lot more. Fluid gives any WebApp a home on your Mac OS X desktop complete with Dock icon, standard menu bar, logical separation from your other web browsing activity, and many, many other goodies. Use Fluid to run YouTube, GTalk, Flickr, Basecamp, Delicious, .Mac webmail, or any other WebApp as a separate Mac desktop application.

Fluid itself is a very small application. When launched, Fluid displays a little tiny window where you specify the URL of a WebApp you’d like to run in a Site Specific Browser. Provide an application name, specify a Location and an Icon, click ‘Create’ and you’ll be prompted to launch the new native Mac app you’ve just created.

If you have other recommendations for other cool desktop or web services, drop me a line! I’ll share them with the world.

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Are you Participating in FireFox Download Day 2008?

Chris — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:04:40 +0000

Are you Participating in FireFox Download Day 2008? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Join FireFox in their mission to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours! World Download Day is fast approaching. Will you pledge to help Mozilla reach its goal?

Sounds like a good deal, right? All you have to do is get Firefox 3 during Download Day to help set the record for most software downloads in 24 hours – it’s that easy. They’re not asking you to swallow a sword or to balance 30 spoons on your face, although that would be kind of awesome. You’ll get a customized certificate by downloading from Headquarters!

With more than 14,000 improvements, Firefox 3 is faster, safer and smarter than before. Firefox 3 sets the innovation bar very high with exciting new features, including one-click bookmarking, the smart location bar and lightning fast performance. Firefox 3 includes phishing and malware protection, plus new instant site ID info. With features like built-in spell checking, session restore and full zoom, Firefox 3 makes it possible to work faster and more efficiently on the Web. Your taste and needs set you apart from the rest. With Firefox 3 you can choose from over 5,000 add-ons that help you customize your browsing experience.

Given that there’s no established Guinness World Record for software downloads, Mozilla is destined for the record book no matter what happens. A Mozilla spokesperson said the company is working with the Guinness Book Of World Records to verify the record attempt and will be furnishing 10% of the company’s download logs for an extrapolated final download count.

So get your pledge on! Let’s help Mozilla hit the Guinness Book in a big way!

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What’s new in Firefox 3?

Chris — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:12:23 +0000

What’s new in Firefox 3? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Beta 1 of Firefox 3 was released today. I found a few bugs, but overall it’s looking like there are some excellent new features and improvements. When it goes final, I may switch from Maxthon 1.0 to Firefox for my Windows machine. Let’s take a look at some of what’s new, thanks to Asa Dotzler from Mozilla. Asa is my kind of Geek, that’s for sure.

More Security

One click site info: Click the site favicon in the location bar to see who owns the site. Identity verification is prominently displayed and easier to understand.
Malware Protection: malware protection warns users when they arrive at sites which are known to install viruses, spyware, trojans or other malware.
New Web Forgery Protection page: the content of pages suspected as web forgeries is no longer shown.
New SSL error pages: clearer and stricter error pages are used when Firefox encounters an invalid SSL certificate.
Add-ons and Plugin version check: Firefox now automatically checks add-on and plugin versions and will disable older, insecure versions.
Secure add-on updates: to improve add-on update security, add-ons that provide updates in an insecure manner will be disabled.
Anti-virus integration: Firefox will inform anti-virus software when downloading executables.

Easier to Use

Easier password management: an information bar replaces the old password dialog so you can now save passwords after a successful login.
Simplified add-on installation: the add-ons whitelist has been removed making it possible to install extensions from third-party sites in fewer clicks.
New Download Manager: the revised download manager makes it much easier to locate downloaded files.
Resumable downloading: users can now resume downloads after restarting the browser or resetting your network connection.
Tab scrolling and quickmenu: tabs are easier to locate with the new tab scrolling and tab quickmenu.
Text selection improvements: Multiple text selections can be made with Ctrl/Cmd; Double-click drag selects in “word-by-word” mode; Triple-clicking selects a paragraph.
Find toolbar: the Find toolbar now opens with the current selection.

More Personal

Star button: quickly add bookmarks from the location bar with a single click; a second click lets you file and tag them.
Tags: associate keywords with your bookmarks to sort them by topic.
Location bar & auto-complete: type the title or tag of a page in the location bar to quickly find the site you were looking for in your history; favicons, bookmark, and tag indicators help you see where results are coming from.
Smart Places Folder: quickly access your recently bookmarked and tagged pages, as well as you more frequently visited pages with the new smart places folder on your bookmark toolbar.
Bookmarks and History Organizer: advanced search of your history and bookmarks with multiple views and smart folders to store your frequent searches.
Easy to use Download Actions: a new Applications preferences pane provides a better UI for configuring handlers for various file types and protocol schemes.

Improved Performance

Reliability: A user’s bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences are now stored in a transactionally secure database format which will prevent data loss even if their system crashes.
Speed: Major architectural changes put foundations in place for major performance tuning which have resulted in speed increases in Beta 1, and will show further gains in future Beta releases.
Memory usage: Over 300 individual memory leaks have been plugged, and a new XPCOM cycle collector completely eliminates many more. Developers are continuing to work on optimizing memory use and reducing fragmentation.

So there you have it. A long list of reasons why you should be taking a look at the new Firefox version 3.0 when it is released. Excellent kudos to all of the Dev team at Mozilla.

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Thunderbird or Outlook for Email?

Chris — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 02:57:16 +0000

Thunderbird or Outlook for Email? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – I have been using Outlook since it came out in 1998. Until recently, I wouldn’t have recommended using Thunderbird, but that has changed. Both are good clients, but it depends on what exactly you’re looking for, and your preferences are.

The first email client I ever used was VMS. After that came Elm (via Unix), Eudora, Pegasus, and finally Outlook Express. When Microsoft Outlook became available in 1998, I switched to that, and have used it ever since. I currently run Outlook 2007 on Microsoft Exchange 2003 .

racedude from our live chat channel asked me today which email client he should be using… Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird. He says that he doesn’t use any of the features that come with Outlook, he just reads email with it. Until recently, I wouldn’t recommend Thunderbid, as it seemed to have been left behind while Firefox was developed further. However, Mozilla has recently begun updating Thunderbird, and it’s a pretty good email client now.

Both programs will do essentially the same thing. Take a look at the features and previews of each, and see which better fit your needs and lifestyle.

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Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner

Chris — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 01:04:28 +0000

Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner is a post from Chris Pirillo

Opera is one of those Web browsers that you’ve just gotta try for yourself. For the longest while, it was relegated to the bottom of the pile for most desktop software fanatics – with ample Web browsing alternatives to be found in either Mozilla or plain ol’ Internet Explorer. Then Firefox took the world by storm, Maxthon matured, and Opera decided to change its business model (giving away its desktop browser without advertisements built-in). Today, Opera announced and released v9.0 of their desktop client – and they decided to do it in Microsoft’s own backyard. Seattle was awfully convenient for me, too! I arrived just in time to see Opera’s CEO Jon von Tetzchner arrive by boat. Must’ve taken him months to get here in that thing. If you’re looking for a Web standards-compliant browser that ships with everything (including a BitTorrent utility and the kitchen sink), give the completely free Opera a swing. Listen to Jon’s own words:

The Feed Icon Debate

Chris — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 05:03:02 +0000

The Feed Icon Debate is a post from Chris Pirillo

I received an email from Daniel Goldman earlier today regarding Mozilla’s filing for a trademark on the feed icon, requesting that Opera Software sign an agreement before using it in their Web browser. Daniel asked me if I thought this was a good thing or a bad thing for the feed icon. Let me start out by saying that the blogosphere has to get over the whole “copyrights and trademarks are evil” jihad.

Daniel asked: “Do you think that a trademark on a universal feed icon beneficial or detrimental?” I answered: Beneficial if Mozilla allows anybody to use the icon to indicate a feed – and detrimental if they don’t. They’re likely serving as the icon’s protectors, which is what I’m inclined to believe.

Daniel asked: “Do you have your own opinion on what a universal feed icon should be?” I answered: Yeah, theirs. It’s the only one that put the orange XML vs. orange RSS button debate to bed. If Microsoft signed the agreement for usage in Internet Explorer 7.0, then so should Opera – and so should anybody. I don’t think Mozilla is doing this to hurt the community, but to protect it. Would anybody rather have a crazy greedmonger holding onto the trademark? Doubtful.

Opera, please sign the agreement.

Blake Ross

Chris — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 15:26:54 +0000

Blake Ross is a post from Chris Pirillo

Confirmed Gnomedex Discussion Leader: Blake Ross. Which one of you founded the Firefox project with Dave Hyatt at age 17? Which one of you founded the SpreadFirefox initiative with Asa Dotzler? Which one of you was featured on the front cover of Wired magazine last year? Oh, and which one of you will be a Gnomedex discussion leader? Yeah, Blake Ross. By the way, “Firefox” is a new Web browser – but you’ve probably never heard of it before. The project was developed by a small, non-profit organization – and with any luck, Gnomedex will help boost interest in Firefox so that it can grow to be used by hundreds of users! I know it’ll be difficult to give up lynx…

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

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