August 27th, 2010 |
Published in
Browsers, Firefox, Internet, Mozilla, Open Source, Web, Work
library books :: timetrax23
Thinking about the Open Web
I’ve been thinking about how to talk to people about what the Open Web is, why it’s so important, and why they should care.
The Open Web as a global public resource
It struck me that the Open Web is analogous to some other fundamentally vital things in our society:
- public libraries
- public schools
- public parks
- public broadcasting
- public roads
- public art
- public museums
- public galleries
- etc.
Many of these things are deemed so vital a part of our everyday lives and societal infrastructure that we support them through our tax dollars. Others are supported by concerned citizens who believe so deeply in their importance that they donate not only their hard-earned money, but also their time, skills, and creativity.
The Web is an increasingly important part of our lives, and it is absolutely essential that it remain free and open and accessible to all. If it doesn’t — if the Web becomes closed, restricted, controlled, and inaccessible to anyone who is disadvantaged or marginalized in some way — our whole, global society will suffer as a result. The Web cannot become something that further delineates the haves from the have-nots. It is already far too important for that, and it is still only in its infancy.
Mozilla exists to support the Open Web
Mozilla is an organization devoted to ensuring that the Web continue to develop as and remain a global public resource — akin to libraries, schools, parks, and roads — and everything we do, every resource at our disposal, is focused towards this end. This is the absolute core of our mission as outlined in the Mozilla Manifesto, and it is the heart of everything we strive towards.
Why Mozilla makes a browser
Making a browser is one of the most important things Mozilla currently does — not as an end unto itself, but rather in support of our larger mission and goals.
The browser is by far the most important tool we use to create and consume the Web. Without an open browser there is no Open Web. This is why we build Firefox, and why we’re pushing hard to get Firefox on to as many devices and desktops as we can. The Open Web is an increasingly crucial part of our lives and our society, and Firefox is one way we’re working to ensure that the Web remain open and available for everyone.
What do you think?
Is this a useful way to think about and talk about the Open Web to people who might not quite get what we’re so excited about? Not everyone is going to grok the analogy in the same way — and this certainly isn’t the only way to talk about it — but I think that most people understand that public works are a good thing, and that ensuring open and equitable access to fundamental resources and infrastructure — which now includes the Open Web — is an essential part of a just and civilised society.
March 8th, 2010 |
Published in
Browsers, Design & Usability, Firefox, Mozilla, Web, Web - the Industry, Work, add-ons
Just jumping on the adblocking yea/nay blogging train: I don’t block ads. I could but I don’t bother. Most of the time they don’t bother me unless I’m trying to read a long article, at which point I use Readability, which is infinitely better than an adblocker for that situation.
Before Readability
After Readability
Note: Readability runs fine on Minefield if you use Nightly Tester Tools to force-install. There’s also a bookmarklet version if you don’t want to install an add-on.
February 23rd, 2010 |
Published in
Design & Usability, Firefox, Innovation, Productivity, Reading, Web, Work, add-ons
Readability is a Firefox add-on that improves the experience of reading long articles in your browser by getting all the extraneous cruft out of the way. I use it every single day and love it to bits.
Here, for example, is a screenshot of what a typical Harvard Business Review article looks like in Firefox (Persona: Save the Bees Plz by monorail cat):
Old Crufty
With the Readability add-on installed, all I have to do is hit a quick keyboard shortcut (alt-cmd-R) and the page will reload and be reformatted by Readability. It looks like this:
New Clean
It’s just so, so much better. arc90, you have made a great thing. Thanks :)
January 21st, 2010 |
Published in
Browsers, Firefox, Work
So you’ve upgraded to Firefox 3.6 and are completely enthralled by the pretty themes available through GetPersonas.com. If you’re like me, you’re going slightly crazy because there just doesn’t seem to be enough space to really show the Personas properly.
Luckily Rob taught me a trick to open up some space in my Firefox toolbar. Just right-click in the space beside your search bar, select Customize…, then add some “Spacers” where you want some extra space. Here’s a step by step guide, using the Two Little Birds persona:
1. Sad birdies, search bar in the way.
2. Right click beside the search bar and select Customize…
3. Open up the Customize menu…
4. Add some spacers, and remove some buttons to free up space…
5. Ta dah! No more sad birdies.
September 3rd, 2008 |
Published in
Firefox, Innovation, Internet, Web, Work, add-ons
I read a lot of web feeds. Hundreds of feeds bring me thousands of stories on all manner of topics every day — Mozilla stuff, food and cooking, photography, gaming, news, technology, literature, writing, politics, business, innovation, design, etc. Feeds are how I get almost all of my news, whether it be local, national, or international. It’s how I view my friends’ blogs and my Flickr contacts’ photo streams. Feeds keep me up to date on most forums and newsgroups I follow, and they’re the first place I turn when I want to waste some time catching up on my entertainment news or to see what’s up at the renovation/interior design blogs I read. Feeds are, by and large, how I access the vast majority of the Web content I consume.
Until a few days ago I have been using the Vienna feed reader for Mac OS X. It’s a pretty decent workhorse of a reader with a standard email-client-like user interface, the ability to group feeds into folders and subfolders (and sub-subfolders), and all that. It has always frustrated me, however, that my feedreader — through which I consume the majority of my Web content — wasn’t part of Firefox. In fact, I could go so far as to say that Vienna was on close to equal footing to Firefox as my core tool for accessing the Web. This has always struck me as somewhat ridiculous, so I’ve played with all sorts of tools for reading feeds via Firefox, whether they be add-ons or web-applications or what have you. None have ever been compelling enough to switch me away from Vienna until now.
I’ve discovered Feedly, you see, an incredibly slick Firefox 3 add-on that’s been in development for quite some time.
While I’ve only been using Feedly for just over a week now, it has already completely streamlined how I manage, view, and deal with my feeds. Brilliantly, Feedly leverages the existing Google Reader web application as its back end, and throws in added functionality, other service integration points, and a significantly improved UI for good measure. It installs as quickly and easily as any Firefox add-on, displays your feeds in their own tab, and essentially integrates your entire feed reading experience right into your Firefox. Feedly is almost exactly the sort of tool I was hoping to find, and while it does still have a few bugs and rough edges, it’s by far the best feed reader I’ve used to date.
Check it out: Feedly at Mozilla Add-ons.
June 19th, 2008 |
Published in
Browsers, Firefox, Mozilla, Work
The Field Guide to Firefox 3 has now been translated into 6 languages: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Argentinian Spanish, French, Japanese, and Korean. A million thank-yous to everyone who has helped out with these so far! Here are the links:
If you’re interested in translating the Field Guide into other languages, see this post. After you have finished and posted your translation somewhere, post a note here and I’ll add a link to the English version of the Field Guide.
June 18th, 2008 |
Published in
Firefox, Mozilla, Work
John Lilly, Mozilla’s CEO, has written a quick blog post about the first 24 hours of the Firefox 3 launch. Mike Schroepfer, Mozilla’s VP of Engineering, has gone a step further and also blogged about What’s next after Firefox 3. There are about a zillion other posts as well, most of which you can find on Planet Mozilla.
In the end, it was an amazing, amazing, amazing day. I’m really happy that I was finally able to be at HQ for a release (I usually work from home in Canadia). It’s been a crazy couple of days and everyone’s super thrilled that it’s all gone so well. Also slightly exhausted.
The final 24hr download numbers looked something like this:
There are pictures from the release all over flickr: here are some from Mountain View, more from Mountain View, Portland, Toronto, and more from Toronto, and who knows how many others. There’s even a picture of the cake the IE team sent to us at Mozilla Headquarters. Check the ff3downloadday tag — there may be more coming!
I have the privilege of working daily with some pretty crazy awesome people. If you love Firefox, and if you love the idea of preserving and promoting choice and innovation on the internet, you should join us. It’s an awful lot of fun.
June 18th, 2008 |
Published in
Firefox, Mozilla, Work
Eight million downloads of Firefox 3 in under 24 hours. Holy crap.
June 17th, 2008 |
Published in
Browsers, Firefox, Mozilla, Work
Go get it. Help us celebrate.
This is gonna be a crazy awesome day.
June 15th, 2008 |
Published in
Browsers, Firefox, Mozilla, Work
Alex left a comment on an earlier post to let me know that he’s translated the Field Guide to Firefox 3 into French. You can find it here: Petit guide de Firefox 3. Thanks for doing this, Alex!
