Browser Bonanza

Firefox 2.0 Beta 2 was released today for developer review. You can download a copy for testing from Mozilla's FTP site. This is not the full 2.0 release, but still worth a look.

For the paranoid or privacy protectors a tiny new browser called Browsar might be the answer. {{UPDATE - IT ISN'T}} It weighs in at only 264 KB and doesn't need to be installed. Browzar doesn't store your history, cookies or any other files. There is no potentially embarrassing auto-complete, and nothing ever gets cached. Basically it allows you to surf without leaving any footprints on your machine. {{UNFORTUNATELY IT IS ADWARE}}

Firefox has similar capabilities with the Stealther extension. Stealther has all of the qualities of Browzar, plus it suppresses the ReferrerHeader. I've used Stealther for a while now, and it is easy to turn on and off as it sits at the top of the Tools menu.

Forget Browsar and go for Stealther and the Fox.

Amazon Grocery ?!?

Looks like Amazon.com has launched a grocery store:

Since our new Grocery Store appeared in beta in late May, more than 200,000 customers have tested it, ordering everything from Kashi cereal to Jiffy Pop popcorn. We are now officially opening Amazon Grocery, a store filled with stuff you need and stuff you love, everyday staples and fun new snacks.

We hope you'll take some time to explore Amazon Grocery, where you'll discover:

• More than 14,000 nonperishable items--and counting
• All eligible for Amazon Prime and FREE Super Saver Shipping
• Great everyday prices on your favorite brands
• A huge selection of natural and organic products

Since I am boycotting Amazon since they f$cked me on an LCD TV I would suggest not spending a cent on their site. However, that doesn't stop me from taking money from them, so click on.

At least they have Kashi. Use the code GROCERY2 when you check out to save $10.

Tech Obsession - My Workspace

My home office has reached critical tech mass, and I expect it to become self aware shortly.









You can get a detailed description of each picture in my Flickr set.

Valleyschwag 4

I've finally received my third Valleyschwag package, and I'm pretty happy with most of it. I got a couple of stickers that they had sent me before, but also a cool T and a MobiTV chaise lounge for my Treo. I'd been trying to design something similar for use on airplanes, but this is better than anything I could have produced (at least for $10).


More pix available on my Flickr pages.

Very cool, Schwaggers. Keep it up.

DHS asks users to open up their machines?

A couple of weeks ago the Department of Homeland Security took the rare step of encouraging Windows users to immediately download a Microsoft 'security' patch, which a couple of days later was revealed to contain an exploitable flaw.

That seems a little too coincidental to me. Are we sure this wasn't a DHSecurity patch that provided them with a 0-day exploit?

Read more here and make up your own mind, while you still can:
Microsoft Fixes 23 Flaws
DHS urges all Windows users to patch
Microsoft patch opens users to attack

Google Browser Sync

Google is offering a neat new Firefox extension called Google Browser Sync that allows you to sync up your web browser across multiple computers. It continually monitors bookmarks, persistent cookies, saved passwords, and history and synchronizes your profile that gets stored online. It also allows you to restore session state, such as open windows and tabs, across computers. This means you can have 10 tabs open at work and then bring them up at home in the same state. A very neat concept.

I think my favorite feature of the extension is that when you first install and run it it will merge your bookmarks across all of your computers. It also applies "conflict resolution rules" to handle any problems. This alone is worth installing the extension, even if you remove it right away. Doing a manual bookmark sync is way too much of a pain and very error prone. This makes it a breeze.

The extension dovetails with your Google Account, and all information that is stored on Google's servers is encrypted in such a way that even they would have to prove P=NP to see it.

Thanks GOOG, and keep the revolutions coming

Best Bittorrent Search Aggregator

I recently found this great free little applet called Bit Che (pronounced like Bitchy I assume) that allows you to search across multiple torrent index sites without actually visiting the sites. The applet runs as a standalone application rather than through your web browser.

The applet is blindingly fast and returns results for thepiratebay, mininova, torrentspy, seedler, torrentbox, newtorrents, meganova, and torrentreactor. You can sort the results by name, size, seeders, leechers and source. Details are also viewable directly in the applet.

Bit Che was developed by Chip Warner and is my new favorite utility. His site also appears to have some other applications for MySpace and Gmail. Thanks Chip! Great product.

Judge Halts NSA Snooping

With the recent court decision as detailed in this Wired article a step in the right direction has finally been taken and the Bush administration and the NSA told to cease and desist their illegal wiretapping and unconstitutional surveillance. Congratulations to the ACLU and the American people, and a big thank you to Judge Taylor for not being blinded to the truth of what is going on.