Mozilla Based Google Browser Very Likely

A recent ZDnet article added more fuel to the Google Browser (aka Gbrowser) fire by speculating that the new browser will be based on Mozilla technology. Evidently, according to an article by Pinder of Blogzilla this is not too far of a stretch.



Pinder reports that Bug 226572 - Google branded Mozilla browser which has now been marked Private. He remembers this bug to be created in 2003 and is now looking for a cached copy of the file. He also adds:

The only item of note was the "This is a duplicate of a private bug about working with Google. So closing this one." comment. It was made by Bart Decrem , who coordinates marketing and business affairs for the Mozilla project.

The rest of his post goes into some interesting theories on what he expects the new browser to be. One of which is the innovative ways of utilizing XUL in the web applications such as Gmail and Google Groups.



Mozilla would also fit in with the scheme of how they are developing the apps such as Gmail and Blogger, which are javascript intensive applications. Extending the functionality of Mozilla to deal with these types of applications will be an easy task -- plus would invite future enhancements from the Open Source crowd at Mozilla. Heck, the darn thing could probably build itself.



Pinder also seems to think that Google will come out with an IM client before the browser. This is an interesting thought that makes sense. Google has all of these apps in the lab and will want to get them all pretty much in working shape before launching the browser to tie it all together. Having the IM client would add icing to some of the cake.



My feeling is this browser could be launched anytime they wish -- next week or even today. I also feel that given the woes of Internet Explorer lately and the above paced adoption of Firefox 1.0 right out of the gate, Gates and crew should have a little cause to worry. This is going to be a rough year for them.

Google Browser vs. Microsoft

I was looking at Barry's lame attempt to turn the Mac IE browser into a Mac Google browser when something dawned on me. If Google does go thru with the creation of this browser, how many platforms will they support?



They have secured the domain gbrowser.com and lured some Microsoft honchos off to Googleland which will lend credence to this browser becoming a reality. But what about the Mac and Linux platforms?



If they are going to make a go at this, I am hoping they will not choose to ignore that part of it. Of course, the Googlebar was strictly for Windows IE only and they never bothered to include them before.



It could just be they have had their eye on Microsoft hallowed ground the whole time, and this is their only focus. I mean, why waste resources and be sidetracked by it all.

Google Toolbar Security Flaw? Not Even Remote

I have been following a number of blog and forum entries on the security flaw that was reported in the Google Toolbar with an input validation vulnerablity, in which the 'About' section of the toolbar does not properly filter Html content. This will allow a local user to create HTML that, when loaded by the target user, will invoke the About page and execute arbitrary scripting code in the context of the page.



Note the keywords 'local user' in the above statement. There is no possiblity that this code could be injected by a remote user or website. The 'proof of concept' provided uses a res: file protocol which can only be invoked from the Local Computer Zone of Internet Explorer. In other words, if somebody has access to your computer locally and maliciously interjects this code into your Googlebar About page -- then you are in trouble. Chances are if they get that far, you are in a lot worse trouble than just the Googlebar, eh?



When security scares like this pop up, and being that this one involves Google, the headlines and brief paragraphs tend to make it sound a lot worse than it is. Let me be one of the first to dispel the rumors that may be already starting to fly around the net now. There is no problem with your Googlebar people.

Yahoo Result Fluctuations Due to Testing

In a WebProWorld thread, one member asked:

Every morning I check both Google and Yahoo! for the search term 'part time jobs' and others and consistently come up in the top 5 search results in Google. Yahoo! results are all over the place. One day we can be #5 the next #17 and then back to #3.



The kicker is that everyone else that we compete with seems to stay consistent. What could we be doing wrong? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Well feedback came from YahooMike on this question:

One thing that might be causing changes in the results are tests. We do a lot of testing and with that sometimes results fluctuate.



Another cause might be changes to made to a site (ie: webmasters testing to see what will work best). These types of changes might cause results to fluctuate.

I will buy into the testing, but not the page revisions by the website owners. This would only be true if the page was being crawled and updated in the index on a regular basis. Getting crawled/recrawled is slow, and to have it included/updated in the index is slim odds at best.



My suggestion is that you watch your results fluctuate and wait for their testing to settle down. Make note of your final resting place, if it is higher, no problem. If it is lower, then make some minor adjustments. Before you do make adjustments however -- check their cache version of your page to make sure it is your current copy of your page and not an old one.



After determining that you are dealing with the current version of your page and making the necessary revisions, do no expect your results to change overnight. With Google, this can take anywhere from one day to a month -- maybe longer. In Yahoo's case it could take upwards of 8 weeks or more -- and in some cases never.

Web Accessibility Toolbar for Internet Explorer

The Web Accessibility Toolbar for Internet Explorer is very similar to Mozilla's Web Developer Toolbar.



It is provided by the Accessible Information Solutions (AIS) team at the National Information and Library Service (NILS) , Australia. The Web Accessibility Toolbar has been developed to aid manual examination of web pages for a variety of aspects of accessibility. It consists of a range of functions that:

• identify components of a web page
  
  
• facilitate the use of 3rd party online applications
  
  
• simulate user experiences
  
  
• provide links to references and additional resources

A list of functions that include toggling stylesheets, code validation, display headings, image lists, disabling images, color functions, page resize, page zoom, accessibility simulations for color blindness, cataracts, & other sight impairments, and a whole lot more can be found here.



This site also has an impressive listing of tools and references for accessibility that is worth looking at too.

Seraphim Proudleduck - The UK Nigritude Ultramarine

In the wake of the Nigritude Ultramarine contest, Salmonbones is sponsoring the Seraphim Proudleduck Challenge which is offering a Grand Prize of £1000 and two runners-up prizes of £300 and £200.



One caveat to this contest is that the rankings will be taken from Google UK. The Salmonbones site is enlisting the aid of independant UK Residents to be part of the verification team.



Found via SEbasic's Seraphim Proudleduck blog.

Firefox: One Millionth Download Mark Reached

Downloads for the Preview Release of Firefox 1.0 cranked out at the rate of 100K per hour in the first four days to put them at the 1 Million mark.

"This is the fastest adoption rate we have ever experienced, higher than every previous Firefox release."

Dang, that is cooking!



Via Spread Firefox