Firefox developer David Baron wondered how long Firefox 3.1 should be held up by TraceMonkey problems. "Without TraceMonkey, we probably could have shipped 3.1 final by now, or, if not now, within the next month," Baron said. "I think there should be a limit to the amount we’re willing to slip 3.1 to accommodate TraceMonkey, and I think we should decide what that limit is."

Personally, I think, if they need more time – heck, give them more time.  I would rather Firefox 3.1 be a little late and have all it’s ducks in a row rather than go into the, “Oh crap, we have to hurry up and get something out” mode.  Thankfully, Mike Shaver, Mozilla’s vice president of engineering said in the same article that, We’re always looking at all of our choices, but I don’t think it’s likely.  TraceMonkey is a big part of Firefox 3.1, and a big part of what we want to have for users."

So should Firefox stay on track, and just work through the delays as they happen, or rush out an in-between release to keep some people happy?

Here’s what we did:  we looked at downloads of Firefox 3 by users within the U.S. – and then we drilled down to a minute-by-minute view to see what, if anything, could be detected.  At minute 23 of the broadcast, Colbert said, “Firefox 3 just got the Colbert Bump.”  What happened next?

Check out the timeline graph and just in case you missed the plugtastic segment, here it is again:

Check out the full episode of The Colbert Report if you need more proof.  Also got to send my personal thanks out to Stephen… call me!

TechWeb – Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 Now Available

Mozilla Links – Firefox 3 RC 1 full review

Lifehacker – Firefox 3 On Track To Be Speediest Browser

Asa Dotzler – Firefox 3 release candidate one

Hardware 2.0 – Firefox 3.0 RC 1 takes the lead on speed

The Tech Lounge – Firefox 3 RC1 Goes Public

Been browsing Google’s Blog Search reading awesome review after awesome review. Big congrats go out the Mozilla team and hears to a successful launch of Firefox 3 after the release candidate stage!

“Mozilla 24″ is a worldwide, 24-hour open discussion that connects community members, academics and Web visionaries from Asia, America and Europe, in person and over the broadband video WIDE network. The event will feature industry leaders who will present on Web trends and technologies that will help shape the future of the Web.

Not able to attend one of the event? Your not left out to sea! There are more ways to participate via the Mozilla 24 web site.

This new site, located at World Firefox Day will guide users through the simple steps of 1. selecting one person (and only one person) who needs to be saved. 2. inviting them to download and install Firefox. 3. registering to have both of their names listed and celebrated in an interactive display inside of the Firefox 2 program.

+ Read More About World Firefox Day
+ Visit WorldFirefoxDay.com

Despite handing out positive reviews over the latest version of the open-source Firefox Web browser, market watchers are saying that the Mozilla Foundation will need to publicize the product heavily in order to lure new users.

I hate to say that they are point out the obvious, but hey… that is what they are doing. No mater how obvious it is though, it is the truth. It should be intresting to see how the folks at Mozilla get the job done.

[Read More About Firefox's Uphill Battle!]