Firefox 3.5 is Out!

Firefox 3.5 is out! I didn't download any of the RCs for it so this is my first look:

I can't say I see too much of a difference but here are some things i noticed:

• Less empty space between bookmark icons, which means a LOT more space for icons:

• A bluer default theme (for Windows 7 at least)
• A slightly different icon... which looks much better large but smaller, almost looks like it has jagged edges on the right side with his tail. They tried to make the actual fox look 3D I believe.
• There is a small new tab button next to the tabs... I personally don't like it, similar to IE. I'm wondering if they did it to make IE users feel more comfortable with tabs in Firefox? If anyone finds a way to get rid of it... let me know.
• A new engine (or whatever its called) that enables webpages to play free, open formats without using a plugin, like ogg with out installing a plugin.....
  

....What I do not really understand about this is if Internet Explorer is going to enable it. I'm a fan of open formats, of course, but do we really need something different that will not be compatable in other web browsers? This probably won't be a problem, but IE is going to have to adopt it if a lot of websites start using ogg and the other open formats. IE has Silverlight and Firefox has this? Just get along... and let BOTH browsers use each others technologies! I mean we have not has this problem since the whole IE vs. Netscape ordeal, and now its coming back because of IE and Netscape's open source son? I really hope history does not repeat.

Overall, feeling it so far. Although good, Firefox 3 was a bit glitchy on my computer at times, and I hope this will clear things up a bit.

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Firefox 3, Zune, and Bonus Random Ramblings!

^ random picture to make this post a bit more interesting.

Hey all! Its been a while, I know. But I have been blogging, just not actually posting it... Right now I have 3 posts that are started, just not finished. Heh... Yeah. You start to appreciate the work of a blogger after you have a blog. Alright, well 'nuff complaining...

Firefox 3! Hopefully you have this program open right now while you are viewing this text...(After all, 82.76% of visitors to this blog use Firefox.) I didn't really want to blog about it right after it was released because there wasn't much that I could personally say about it. After using it for a couple weeks, I can honestly say its quite a bit faster, especially starting up. It also seems more stable. There isn't too many new "features" per se, but some of my favorites are the new bookmarking system and the way that Firefox "camouflages" itself depending on what operating system you're using. Also, if you were wondering, my firefox hack works with this version. Overall, I'd say, it was a very sucessful release. Firefox 2 lacked a bit, but it seems that Firefox 3 has fixed most (if not all) of my problems with it. Although there wasn't a large abundance of new features, I'll take stablity over new features anyday.

I got a Zune 80 GB! Yes, I do love it, but I'm not going to talk about it here, because I have another post in the works for that. One feature I will talk about is "The Social." I did not buy the Zune for it, but I was surprised how cool it is. I'm referring to the online part of the social. There is also the whole sharing music with other Zunes thing, but there isn't enough people that have a Zune to make it actually useful. Anyway, the Zune software and the device itself records what you listen to and then will post those records on your online Zune profile. It shows what albums you listened to, your most played songs, and even awards for how many times you listened to a certain group or album. People can drag your so-called Zune card, and listen to your five top songs on their Zune. I think its quite a cool concept to find new music and find out what your friends are listening to. The only problem is that all of your friends don't have a Zune... Mah Zune Profile

Hmm... The post is longer than I thought. Just a couple more random ramblings... Recently had my 2nd Bawls Cherry. A bit more Cherry-ish than I remember, but still freaking amazing. I have been listening to the Flobots CD: "Fight With Tools" after hearing "Handlebars." I can't say its something I'd normally listen to, but its quite good. It has a bunch of different genres mixed in along with a powerful message. If you haven't seen the Handlebars music video yet, it is definitely worth checking out. The underlying message seems to have a different meaning to everyone I have talked to and made me really want to watch V for Vendetta (so then I did.). Let me know what you think in the comments...

And... that's it. Be sure to check out all the links I snuck in my post...

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Firefox Bookmar Icon Hack

I kinda of found this by accident, but it turned out to be really helpful. I have my Firefox bookmarks on the uber-handy toolbar right above the browsing section. All the bookmarks that I use often are up there, and the ones I don't use often are in neat little folders. Visiting many sites daily, I was running out of room for the common sites. I decided to see what happened if you right clicked the icon, hit properties, and deleted the name textbox. As it turns out, it just leaves the icon. It looks something like this:

I now have a lot more space on my toolbar.

Yes, its very simple and I'm surprised I didn't find it sooner. However, it was useful enough to blog about it...

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Hardy Preview

Eh... I'm trying to post at least every other day.
Don't have much time, so here's a screenshot preview for a coming review on Ubuntu 8.04: teh hardy one. (Be sure to click to make it big!)


Notice Firefox 3... i'll be talking about that.

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