Browsers and extensions

There's a directory traversal vulnerability in the chrome protocol scheme within Firefox 2. Proof of concept code for this was first posted to the Internet on January 19, 2008. On Tuesday, Mozilla security chief Window Snyder confirmed that the flaw affects fully patched versions of the Firefox browser.

When a "flat" add-on is present, an extension which stores its information within Javascript files as opposed to .jar files, an attacker exploiting this flaw may be able to retrieve data or profile a compromised system. Extensions such as Greasemonkey and Download Statusbar may be affected.

On the Mozilla … Read more

Here's an evening treat for your eyes. CSS guru Eric Meyer has put together a spiffy-looking timeline chronicling the lives (and versions) of five popular Web browsers. Internet Explorer makes it on there twice as Meyer has opted to split up the versions between 6 and the (soon to be mandatory) Version 7. the PC and now defunct Mac version, which Microsoft capped in 2003.

The most interesting takeaways from the graph? Opera's gotten the most versioning love for its age, and all of the browsers share a fairly similar updating schedule at various parts of each year. … Read more

My favorite start page, Netvibes, is getting an interesting upgrade. The new "Ginger" version gets social features for sharing your start-page widgets and layouts, as well as a status feed reminiscent of Facebook and Twitter. Netvibes Ginger also makes it easier to add content to your pages.

The site will be updated with the Ginger release in mid-February, but we have some invitations to the private beta now...read down to the end for details.

With Ginger, all Netvibes users get a "universe" page--a public, shared collection of widgets and tabs that anyone can access. Here's a quick example. … Read more

Tense, nervy parents, it's time to relax. Kids Web Menu is a new, free solution for letting young kids surf the 'Net, chaperon-free.

How is that possible with all the dangers! And predators! And viruses out there!? By strictly limiting the tykes to 40 preapproved partner sites, that's how. Kids Web Menu takes the sandbox approach in an icon-rich app that lets parents approve content, and password-protect their choices. What's left for children is an interactive layout of either slowly rotating 3D blocks or a scrapbook where apps appear like photos, such as Webkinz, Sports Illustrated for … Read more

Better Gmail 2 is a Firefox extension that collects a bunch of Gmail customization scripts from Greasemonkey under one control panel. The latest update, to Version 0.3, brings Better Gmail 2 mostly up to speed with features that were in the original Better Gmail, but had to be abandoned when Google rewrote Gmail's code last November.

The biggest of the latest additions include a revamped insertion of Google Reader into the Gmail user interface. This is not merely a rehash of what came before, but a better-looking, faster-loading UI that makes switching between Gmail and Reader seamless.

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So I've been meaning to do some write-ups on some browser toolbars and plug-ins that may be useful for SEO purposes...and leave it to Rand at SEOmoz.org to remind me of this with his review of 12 popular browser toolbars.

Link Counter (download) is one that I absolutely love both for what it does and its simplicity. Links play a very important part in SEO, both internal links as well as external links. Are they live or broken, 301 redirected, HTML or JavaScript based? Unfortunately the one thing it doesn't seem to manage is showing "nofollow" links, but there are plenty other tools out there that do that.

The best way to get a feel for Link Counter is to see it in action, and one of the best places to see it in action is on an e-commerce site. E-commerce sites are often rather complex with many links on a page, links out to external sites, to product pages, JavaScript windows, and more. Let's use Onlineshoes.com for our demo.… Read more

Three programs with big names have recently released some minor updates. Take a look at what's changed in the Opera Web browser, the remote access app LogMeIn, and Orb, which gives you the power to stream your music just about anywhere.

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Flock's set to release its first big update since going 1.0 back in November (note: you can download that version here). The new version (1.1) will feature a handful of useful updates to some of the built-in services, along with integration for Web mail and Google's Picasa.

Between the two, I'm most interested in Web mail integration. For folks who aren't using a software e-mail client like Outlook, Thunderbird, or Apple Mail, the only other options are to keep a browser tab open and keep an eye on things or use a standalone software … Read more

Microsoft on Thursday is expected to release a new set of developer tools for products that improve the Internet's accessibility for people with disabilities. The tools, called UI Automation, can be used royalty-free, according to Microsoft's Windows Accessibility lead Norm Hodne, as long as the resulting applications are built to perform within all platforms, e.g. Windows or Linux.

Microsoft formally donated the UI (user interface) Automation developer tools to the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA), an engineering working group that the software giant helped form last November in partnership with tech companies like Oracle, Novell, Hewlett-Packard and Adobe … Read more