Firefox logo

Just a quick post to let you all know that Firefox 3.5 was launched today. In case you somehow missed the discussions about it all over the web, it’s supposed to be a lot faster than Firefox 3. I’m running Fedora 11 at the moment, so I’ve been using a beta of Firefox 3.5 for a few days now. It seems fast enough to me, but then I didn’t have a speed problem with the older versions. I hear a lot of people complaining that Firefox is bloated and slow, but it’s always been fine for me. Maybe I’m just more patient, or perhaps I have a faster computer, who knows.

Private Browsing:

Enabling Private Browsing

There are a few new features in 3.5, private browsing is now built in. I’ve been experimenting with this and I must say it works really well. Dubiously dubbed the “porn mode” by some – not Mozilla of course – because it doesn’t leave any footprints of the sites you visit, it’s actually a really handy security feature. I used to use a plug-in called Distrust for this kind of thing, Internet banking and so on, but I found it could be a little slow and it bogged the browser down sometimes, especially when trying to clean up your session. The inbuilt private browsing is lightning quick and it will even remember when you have multiple windows open, not just tabs. Selecting private browsing closes all open tabs and instances of Firefox, it then presents you with a blank browser ready to go. Once you’re finished you simply switch off private browsing, and all the previous windows and tabs are restored seamlessly. Very quickly too, as I said. Read the rest of this entry »

The Weekly Rewind

You may recall from my last Weekly Rewind that I’d travelled to Bonn, Germany to visit my Linux Outlaws co-host Fab, and his girlfriend Katy. They came over and stayed with me last year for LugRadio Live 08. So to use a footballing analogy, I suppose you could say this was the return leg. This article finds me in a different location, Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam actually. I’m in some kind of cafe/bar to be precise, and I’m waiting for my flight back to Manchester. So let’s recap the events that led me here:

On Sunday night after I wrote my last article we had a bit of a party. Some of Fab and Katy’s friends came over for beers, and it was great fun. I ended up doing a bit of an impromptu gig with Fab’s acoustic guitar. I can’t resist a chance to show off. The gang seemed to enjoy it though and I wasn’t booed off, so I consider that a victory (again with the football analogies). On Monday I had a walk around Bonn and saw a bit of the town, ably guided by Fab. It’s a really lovely place I must say, very relaxed; lot’s of trees and open space. Not your typical big city by any means. The people seem pretty cool as well. In the evening we recorded and streamed Linux Outlaws 98, but we didn’t have a chance to edit and release it yet, at the time of writing. Quite a few people watched live and got involved. You’ll hear it very soon, in the next few days I promise. On Tuesday we drove to Berlin and got ready for Linux Tag 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

The Weekly Rewind

Guten Tag! Oh sorry, I mean hello. Welcome (wilkommen) to the 19th Weekly Rewind, and as you might guess I’m in Germany. I’m visiting my Linux Outlaws co-host Fab in Bonn. Feeling a bit tired after a long trip yesterday but looking forward to Linux Tag in Berlin next week. So let’s get into what led me to this point earlier in the week.

On Monday I released the 2nd episode of Rathole Radio, it’s had a good reception. I’ve had some really nice comments which I appreciate and someone even described me as a cross between Phill Jupitus and John Peel. I’m not sure about that but 2 guys I like a lot and if I can get close to that it would be cool. I’ll keep trying. I also edited a rush episode of the Software Freedom Law Show on Monday afternoon. Then it was on to Linux Outlaws in the evening. It was quite a day, to say the least. Hectic but rewarding. Read the rest of this entry »

Default Mint Desktop

Time for another distro review, and this time I thought I’d look at the latest version of  a distribution I’ve enjoyed a lot in the past. Linux Mint 7, AKA Gloria. I’m tempted to make references to Van Morrison here, but I’ll restrain myself. The last version I reviewed was actually Linux Mint 5, so I’ve missed a release. At the time I said it was the best Linux distribution I’d seen for new users, better even than the hallowed Ubuntu (upon which it is based). Would I still feel the same? Read the rest of this entry »

The Weekly Rewind

We’re up to Weekly Rewind number 18, the legal drinking age in the UK, though you wouldn’t know it looking at the state of the 14 year olds around here on a Friday night. That’s British culture for you I suppose, and I can’t really criticise them as I started drinking at 13. In fact by the time I hit 18 and could legally drink I was bored with it. Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked here, and in the opening paragraph. So let’s get into what happened this week.

On Monday we recorded and streamed the 96th episode of Linux Outlaws. It was a lot of fun and despite our attempts to record a “shorter show”, it ended up at nearly 2 hours with the interview. I always intend the show to be as close to an hour as possible but it very rarely happens. It just goes to prove the old statement, time files when you’re having fun. The show was well received and everyone seemed to enjoy it, which I’m grateful for. I’m also grateful for all the kind donations we’ve had recently, massive thanks to everyone who’s sent us money. We’ll put it to good use, I promise. On Tuesday night I went to Manchester to see Bill Bailey live at Salford Keys. I’ve always been a big fan of his and I’ve even seen him live before in Liverpool. He didn’t disappoint and I had a great night, despite having some trouble finding our seats initially. That Lyric Theatre is a bit of a labyrinth I can tell you. On Wednesday I interviewed Borys Musielak the creator of Filmaster.com, a new AGPL licensed social network for film fans. I used that information to write and publish an article on Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »

filmaster.com

I’m a big fan of Free Culture and free open source web services too, licensed under the AGPL. The example I use most is probably Identi.ca, because I’m a noisy git and I like talking to people. I also wrote about the creation of Libre.fm a little while back, and I think we could really use more of these truly “free” web services. So when I heard about a new AGPL social network for film fans, I was very happy. The site is called Filmaster and I was lucky enough to have a chat with Borys Musielak (the site’s creator) about how it all came to fruition. Borys is also involved with the popular website Polish Linux, which you may have heard about. Read the rest of this entry »