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Next Edition of JavaScript MAY Break the Scripts of Today.
Dec 21st
Jeff Walden, one of the Peer members of the Mozilla JavaScript module (SpiderMonkey) has brought to light some changes coming to their JavaScript interpreter in Firefox 3.7. These change will bring SpiderMonkey in line with the next edition of the JavaScript standard, ECMA-262. These count not only break existing code, but also introduce a new opt-in mode of execution for JavaScript called strict mode.
Jeff mentions that not only does the new standard add to it many features that where merely extensions to JavaScript present the current browsers, but they don’t behave the same way unless strict mode is turned on. He also elaborates how turning on strict mode can complicate things for existing code as well. As the saying, “if you do, and if you don’t.”
Jeff describes changes in detail and examples of where they are relevant, but also states that this may be only a small minority of JavaScript code currently in use on the Web. The truth is, we will only know when browsers start rolling out versions with these new changes. You can read more details about it on Jeff’s blog posting.
Firefox 3.5.6 Released
Dec 15th
Today Mozilla released a minor update to Firefox 3.5. This new version fixes several security issues and provide few stability, usability, and performance enhancements. Although no major change exist in this release, the usual security and stability fixes are reason enough to upgrade. As usual it is always to run the latest point release of any software like Firefox.
Really liking Thunderbird 3 on Mac
Dec 5th
I have been using Thunderbird on Windows for mail for as long as it has existed, but it recently started to look old and in need of a UI refresh. When I got my MacBook Pro, I tried to use Apple’s Mail.app with GMail’s IMAP support, this seems to have revealed a few bugs in Mail.app. So then I tried Thunderbird 2, it liked GMail alot better and with a few tweaks, it worked OK, but it laked the unread mail count on the dock icon. All-in-all nothing yet liked GMail and worked perfectly on Mac.
I then decided to be bold and try the Thunderbird 3 Beta. Jackpot, the unread mail count worked (most of the time) and it’s new Smart Folder feature made GMail look almost nativity supported by Thunderbird (even with Google’s weird mapping for IMAP folders). Now with RCs out, it seems Thunderbird 3 is shaping up real nice, and it looks really good on Mac OS X. Now if only they can give it a nice new look on Windows.
Firefox 3 Released!
Jun 17th
Today Mozilla Firefox 3 has finally been released. This release, which has been in beta and RC for months, marks a great leap in the usability of Firefox. These improvements include better support for the look of native widgets, the new AwesomeBar which integrates with the bookmarks and history, better JavaScript performance and lower and more maintained memory usage. Also, under the hood changes now allow Firefox 3 to pass the infamous Acid2 test and history and bookmarks are now stored using SQLite.
Filtering Web Form Spam using PKI
Dec 6th
A method of filtering spam in Internet user interface data.
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Web Server and Browser Security: Microsoft vs Open-Source
Apr 17th
I know that this subject has been dragged out over and over but every one that does seems to be bias of one side or the other. Personally I prefer using open source servers and browsers; Firefox, Apache, and PHP; over Microsofts offering. My reasons for this are varied. I use Firefox because it is more secure than Internet Explorer and more customizable, and I use Apache/PHP because I am more familiar with it and I can also get make use of it’s advanced features on home and workstation versions of Windows. I also prefer FreeBSD over Linux because of being familiar. But how secure is all of this software. The results might or might not suprise most people.
HOW-TO Yahoo! Widget’s Day Planner and New Sunbird Releases
Apr 6th
Hellow folks. I just started trying out Yahoo! Widgets and Mozilla Sunbird. When I atempted to use the Day Planner widget included with the installer, it would not use Sunbird’s database. Of course, this is because Sunbird no longer uses iCal as it’s storage format for local calendars. But Sunbird still uses it for remote calendars, or those that or referenced by URLs.
This is a Little HOW-TO that will describe how to make these two get along.
Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2, My Take
Feb 3rd
A few days ago, I was in my Firefox Live Bookmarks that Neowin.net reported that Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 was made availible for public download. I wasted no time. I downloaded the installer and fired it up.