Firefox 2 August 31, 2006
Finally, the long-overdue bon echo is in da house… GET IT
Firefox 2 Beta 2 is a developer preview release of our next generation Firefox browser and it is being made available for testing purposes only. Firefox 2 Beta 2 is intended for Web application developers and our testing community. Current users of Firefox 1.x should not use Firefox 2 Beta 2 and expect all of their extensions and plugins to work properly.
The new browser, formerly known as Bon Echo, features several improvements over the current version of Firefox (1.5.x). This time around, we get glowing buttons in the user interface, a scrollable tab bar, a close tab button on each individual tab and improved RSS subscription options. Whenever you click on an RSS feed, you can choose between adding it to a desktop reader, saving it as a Live Bookmark, or adding it to a web-based reader. Google Reader, Bloglines and MyYahoo are there by default, but you can add your own service… @
There are also some new features that were added (presumably) to directly compete with Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, the most notable ones built-in phishing protection and an integrated spell-checker for text forms. I can confirm that the spell-checker works like a charm (I’m using Beta 2 to post this review… @
Fun Firefox Fact August 5, 2006
In the midst of our frenzied surfing, we all sometimes feel the need to open up a NEW browser window. Maybe it’s just because we want to make a clean break, or it may be that we want to divide our “work zone” into another part, call it a tangent, an off-shoot, an arabesque. Whathaveyou. I like that Firefox gives me 3 whole different ways to “begin anew”. I can pop open a new tab. (File >> New Tab or CTRL-T) I can spring out a whole new window. (File >> New Window or CTRL-N). Or I can do a shutdown and re-start — (START >> MOZILLA FIREFOX or CTRL-D — 
Firefox and Firewalls August 4, 2006
Be alert, kids! And not because, as my grandma used to say, “…the world needs more lerts.” In fact, the world does not need more lerts. What we need is for more people to be savvy to the many ways Microsoft, et al, collude and conspire to keep the best browser from working on your PC.
I was the victim, only just today, of such an evil conspiracy:
“I am actually typing these words in (gasp) Internet Explorer. Why? Because I have no choice, that’s why. My Toshiba Laptop refuses to surf the Web with Firefox. This has been the case now for almost 24 hours, and I am near to the breaking point. I upgraded to .06 yesterday. Some short while later, I came back to my PC (in response to an ICQ ding). A friend sent me a URL and asked me the “Site up for you?” question. I clicked the link. My default browser opened a new tab, but the page did not load. I got the “Unable to connect… more
As it turned out:
“Make sure that your firewall program is configured to allow internet access to Firefox/Mozilla Suite. Most firewalls will ask you whether to allow a new program to connect to the internet, so it is important to always allow access for new or updated Mozilla applications… more
Zone Alarm must obey:
“To configure ZoneAlarm to allow Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite access to the Internet:
1. Open the ZoneAlarm control center
2. Select “Program Control” on the left
3. Select “Programs” on the top
4. Find the application’s entry (e.g., Firefox) in that list and make sure there is a (green) check mark in the “Access Internet” column… more
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