So what type of questions would you have for the mind behind NoScript? I recently got to chat with Giorgio Maone, the creator of possibly the most popular security related extension for Firefox.
Why would the random Firefox user off the street be using NoScript?
Firefox is an extremely safe browser, because it can take advantage of an open and agile development process, a very security-minded core development team and a multi-vendor security coordination group, including people from major Linux distributions and IT integrators, which I’m also a member of. This ensures that many experts with different backgrounds and points of view are steadily discussing about making Firefox safer and stronger, and that discussion quickly translates in bug fixing and enhancement code.
Think of that wasted space in your tab bar. You know, where the favicon for the web site your visiting rests. Isn’t there enough room there to fit in a little more information about the web site you are visiting?
The new Firefox add-on Badges on Favicon takes advantage of that idea very well. It allows you to put a rounded badge over the tab favicon of some pages. Where does this come in handy? Well what if you could see in your tab the number of unread Gmail messages you had? Or how about if it told you how many new posts were in Google Reader?
Nuggets of Information for Your Tabs
The extension uses little scripts, called badgets. The badgets define both the appearance of the badge (color, position, size of the text, etc.) and how to get the data from the current page. The extension comes with three sample badgets that work with Gmail, iGoogle Reader Gadget and Zenbe. But you can install your own badgets and even create your own for your preferred site.
After winning the Extend Firefox 3 contest, I thought it might be worth checking out Pencil to see what all the buzz was about. This add-on for Firefox is an open source tool for creating diagrams and GUI prototyping that everybody can use. As they put it, “With the power of the underlying Mozilla Gecko engine, Pencil turns your excellent Firefox 3 browser into a sketching tool with just a 400-kilobyte installation package”.
Some of the features included are:
Built-in stencils for diagraming and prototyping
Multi-page document with background page
On-screen text editing with rich-text supports
PNG rasterizing
Undo/redo supports
If your a little lost, or just getting started, they also have a great series of tutorials to help you learn a little more:
Working with Shapes - Brief introductions to Pencil functionalities in dealing with shapes to create diagrams.
Working with Documents - Instructions on how to work with documents, pages and export them into rasterized images.
If anything Pencil shows you the power of what Firefox can do, with a little creativity. You can learn more about the project at the official web site and pickup the extension on the Firefox Add-ons web site.
These guys need to at least win cheap web site plug of the year. Are you finding yourself too addicted to Firefox’s addons? The good Dr. Jenkins says he is here to help.
I have said it before, and I will probably say it again. The people that work behind the greatest themes and add-ons we all use day to day don’t get the spotlight they deserve. While browsing through some Firefox 3 ready themes I saw that one theme designer was hard at work getting his collection updated. Here is the amazing work of Aaron Spuler.
Gotten use to the AwesomeBar yet? This is the new stylish name for the Firefox 3 address bar. Any ol’ browser can have an “address bar” only one can be awesome though. Here are a few tips and tweaks you can do to make your awesome bar even more awesome…er?
oldbar - Oldbar makes the location (URL) bar look like Firefox 2. If you need another alternative to this, try out Old Location Bar. Why two add-ons that do the same thing? I don’t know either.
Hide Unvisited - You too can hide pages (bookmarks) that you haven’t visited (since deleting or clearing history) from showing in the AwesomeBar.
Enter Selects - This Extension allows you to press enter in the AwesomeBar to select the first result (without pressing down).
Hidden Places - Stop URLs from specified domains being added to places and the AwesomeBar.
Edit Middle - Show AwesomeBar results when editing in the middle (not just at the end).
For a bonus tip, be sure to head over to Mozilla Links. Over there they have nine more configuration tweaks you can do to configure you AwesomeBar till you get it just the way you want it.
The Mozilla Add-ons site has finally given us the theme update we have been looking for. With the re-launch of the Firefox Add-ons site some were disappointed that themes went to the back burner. Well now they have a snazzy new interface to be browsed through:
Another new addition to the Firefox Add-ons site is the “Advanced” search tool that will let you pick out and search through the themes and extensions.
To learn more about the “behind the scenes” work done with this round of updates, be sure to check out Basil’s Bodacious Blog, then remind him I never did get that interview with him… :D
So what type of questions would you have for the mind behind NoScript? I recently got to chat with Giorgio Maone, the creator of possibly the most popular security related extension for Firefox.
