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Digg, the quintessential Web 2.0 social news site has released an update to its comment system. This is a much needed update to a crumbling system. The previous incarnation use to kill my browser if their were more than a couple of hundred comments, the new system is faultless - even on the announcement of this news, which had almost 2,000 comments.
In this series of posts I will explore my favourite Firefox extensions. In this, the second in the series, I’ll describe the plug-ins I use to make my life as a web developer easier and improve my productivity. You can find a more extensive list at the Mozilla Add-on site
Firefox is my browser of choice and a growing number of web users agree, with over 500,000,000 downloads and a 30% market share. One of the features that makes Firefox such a popular choice and sets it apart from Internet Explorer is the ability to develop and install extensions to extend the default functionality and customise it to your liking. With almost 2,000 to choose from - where do you start?!
In this series of posts I will explore my favourite Firefox add-ons and extensions. In this, the first in the series, I’ll tell you which addons I use to enhance my daily web browsing experience, including: blocking adverts, improving usability and defending myself from phishing. In later posts, I’ll cover my top Web Development extensions, the best Search Engine Optimisation plugins and Social Networking toolbars. Continue reading »
Internet data mining firm Netcraft have released the results of their February Web Server Survey and it shows that the Internet is continuing its strong pattern of growth, adding 2.6 million hostnames (+1.7%) this month. The results also show a resurgence for Apache as they reclaim 0.3% of the web server market share from Microsoft’s IIS and Google’s GFE.
Jon Lech Johansen, the guy who made a name for himself by cracking DRM protection on DVD’s and for reverse engineering the iTunes FairPlay system, has yet again made headlines with a piece of software released by his Company DoubleTwist.
The program, which allows users to share digital media files across multiple devices, breaks the Apple iTunes DRM copy protection allowing files purchased from the iTunes music store to be played on music players other than the iPod.
Microsoft, IBM, Google and Yahoo have announced that they have all agreed to join the Open ID Foundation. OpenID, conceived by Google software engineer Brad Fitzpatrick, aims to reduce the need for multiple user accounts and troublesome password remembering.
The principal of the scheme is to allow users to nominate one identity which can then be used to access all sites that accept OpenID. However, questions are still to be answered in relation to how functionality like webmail will be accessed. In principal the idea is sound and with VeriSign backing the venture alongside the big 4, we should look forward to watching this one develop.
For all Apple Mac enthusiasts out there, the BBC has announced the release of its iPlayer for the Mac’s OS X by the end of 2008.
Director General Mark Thompson commented in a blog posting on the BBC’s website;
“I hope this good news is evidence of the hard work that the BBC is committing to supporting other platforms.”
Which quite frankly isnt good enough. As far as I am aware, UK Mac users are Television License payers too - so why should they be forced to wait an extra year for the service? The alternative of course is to pay upwards of 100GBP for a copy of Windows. From experience, i doubt this option will be popular with Mac users.
As for the ‘end of 2008′ date that is being suggested the BBC would seem to be putting little effort into rectifying the situation.
Too little - too late.
