A month ago, Microsoft announced that it is shutting down its Internet Explorer browser because it has failed to grab the market and it could not compete with Google Chrome and Firefox. IE was becoming a trademark for sloppy performance, slow browsing.

Microsoft said that it is launching a new project Spartan as its new browser. But as the it is clear from the name ‘project’ , it was clearly not the brand name of a service rather a generic project. Today, during the much awaited Microsoft build developers conference 2015, the company announced that the official new browser of Microsoft will be called ‘Edge’. It was a surprise for everyone, including the major tech players.

This is a developing story and we will keep updating it as the details emerge.

]]> https://socialmediaseo.net/2015/04/29/forget-spartan-edge-is-the-new-microsoft-browser/feed/ 0 https://socialmediaseo.net/2015/04/02/microsofts-claims-about-project-spartan-browser-proven-false/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=microsofts-claims-about-project-spartan-browser-proven-false https://socialmediaseo.net/2015/04/02/microsofts-claims-about-project-spartan-browser-proven-false/#respond Thu, 02 Apr 2015 16:28:44 +0000 http://preview.socialmediaseo.net/?p=32069 Microsoft has launched the beta version of its new browser codenamed “Project Spartan” with high claims that it will remove all the problems and sloppy behaviors which were the trademark of Internet Explorer. Spartan is only available for the latest build of Windows 10 technical preview. Unfortunately, Spartan has failed to impress. Although this may seem as an early speculation, but the beta version is enough to depict the path which the software will take. An article on Laptop Mag said that Project Spartan browser was tested along with Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla FireFox. Spartan failed pretty badly. It has a content view problem. It does not auto-adjust with your screen and if you zoom or cover up space on your screen with extra toolbars, you will have a difficulty in seeing the content.

However, the project Spartan passed the famous SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark by getting the second position. As expected, Google Chrome got the first position. SunSpider test is the best benchmark test to check the speed of any web application because it checks for the JavaScript commands and most of the modern web apps and software run javascript.

Spartan failed the test for HTML5, the key factor in testing the performance of any browser. IE is far better than Spartan in HTML5, but surprisingly, FireFox wins in graphics rendering and content spacing test.

Microsoft will have to work a lot on its new browser, otherwise this would be another embarrassment for the Redmond giant.

Internet Explorer is practically obsolete and irrelevant in the modern fast internet world. Google Chrome FireFox, Safari and other PC and mobile browsers have crossed Internet Explorer for years. Microsoft was persistent in its effort to improve Internet Explorer. Years after years of hard work, daily updates and feedback from users couldn’t improve Internet Explorer. The company has made a good decision by finally saying goodbye to Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer will remain in the Windows platform for some Enterprise apps, but the primary browser for Windows 10 users will be Spartan. Chris Capossela, marketing chief of Microsoft said that the company feels that by giving a new name and feel to the browser can do wonders in the user base. But apart from aesthetics, Microsoft could garner a massive popularity with its new browser.

The internet world is yet to see a good, clean, memory efficient and fast browser. Google Chrome is a memory hog and a number of users have reported that Chrome consumes a lot of RAM. Mozilla FireFox, on the other hand is not stable, crashes and creates issues for the users.

Spartan can be a game-changer for Microsoft and open new streams of revenue.

]]> https://socialmediaseo.net/2015/03/17/microsoft-finally-shutting-down-internet-explorer-bringing-a-new-browser-in-windows-10/feed/ 0 https://socialmediaseo.net/2014/05/14/hey-where-did-my-firefox-add-on-bar-go-heres-how-to-get-it-back/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hey-where-did-my-firefox-add-on-bar-go-heres-how-to-get-it-back https://socialmediaseo.net/2014/05/14/hey-where-did-my-firefox-add-on-bar-go-heres-how-to-get-it-back/#respond Wed, 14 May 2014 15:31:35 +0000 http://preview.socialmediaseo.net/?p=31709

After the recent Firefox update I noticed my add-on bar was gone.  There wasn’t an option to re-enable it either. Normally you can right click on the top of the browser and click “add on bar”.  I use my add-on bar religiously for SEO and marketing.  I have a handy page rank checker that shows a site’s page rank when I’m on it.  Also, I can right click on my search status add-on to view a sites who-is info, backlinks, and pages indexed, to name a few.  There is no way icons in the top menu would replace these features for this, so I found an add-on to fix the missing Firefox add-on bar.

Luckily this doesn’t require major surgery to your browser, just download this official Firefox add-on here.  Woohoo, your addon bar is back!

Privacy is the main worry of people who own smartphones. They think about who’s listening to their calls, seeing their conversations, etc. The private information of a person is personal. What they do on their phone should not be recorded or noted by anyone. Blackphone will have a security-first Android type OS called PrivatOS. It will still have the high-quality processor, but it will be unlocked and free of any geographical restrictions. It is also compatible with any GSM network. Users will be able to make completely secure and safe calls and video chats. While it may not be as powerful as the top smartphone right now, the CEO of Silent Circle has claimed that it will be a “high-end” smartphone.

Of course, the number one priority isn’t the specifications. If you wanted that, go buy the Galaxy S4. The number one priority for this smartphone is security. There hasn’t been any hands-on impression of the smartphone, it will make it’s first appearance at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona of the 24th of February. More details will be discovered by then.

Smartphone security is a major issue. With Apple announcing that everything you say to Siri is recorded or the NSA knowing nearly everything you do on your smartphone, it’s a very uncomfortable and difficult situation. People are hesitant when they do things on their phone, wondering if someone can see what they’re doing or can listen in on their calls. If Blackphone really does the things it advertises, it could play a major role in the upcoming smartphone generation. It’s still going to be a high-quality smartphone, but also offer you the superb security that the other major smartphones don’t offer. Who wouldn’t be interested in buying the Blackphone? I know I would be, and many other people too. Look out iPhone and Samsung Galaxy, Blackphone is on the way.

The news that the Pirate Bay has introduced the PirateBrowser hit file sharing forums this week and raised plenty of speculation as a result. The launch was planned to coincided with the tenth anniversary of the website that has come to represent the face of the wild side of the Internet and which defies copyright laws and censorship to provide unlimited content to all for free.

The unconventional team that runs the Pirate Bay chose to announce the news on their blog with a typical jocular six line decree. However, within hours, the announcement had raised a torrent (no pun intended) of news posts, forum topics and wild speculation on the web.

The Pirate Bay team admits they are offering only a reconfigured version of the Mozilla Firefox browser as the PirateBrowser. The team has blended elements of Firefox with Tor and added a few custom add-ons created specifically to circumvent software and content piracy.

The PirtateBrowser is built to circumvent all blockades and IP address censorship that prevents some of the torrent download fans unable to access the site. The Pirate Bay claims that their browser is capable to provide access to other torrent sites if these have been blocked too on certain IP’s.

Some experts are warning that it may be wise for users of PirateBrowser to exercise caution while using the browser for sites where they load and leave personal data. It would seem that in a rush to provide a browser that defies censorship, the developers failed to work on the client side security. As such, it is important to set the “Remember Passwords” option off in the security tab of the “Options” dialog.

The Pirate Bay users have complained that in the past few weeks, the site has been down a lot with crashes being experienced even in countries where there are no active IP blockades. With a new custom browser in the offing, it can be taken that the team is keen to continue offering a platform for those who believe the World Wide Web should not be policed.

Firefox lovers rejoice!  The new Firefox 6 Final version is now available to download. The Firefox 6 Final is not available to download in the public yet, but is available to download via the Mozilla FTP servers.

With the new Firefox 6 Final, you’re not going to get any new changes in the UI (user interface) or design.  The focus for the new Firefox 6 Final is all about increased speed and decreased processing power.

Firefox 5 was only released and available for download back toward the end of June.  Apparently, the complaints and uproar over the lack of speed and resource consumption from Firefox finally reached the ears of those who can actually do something about it.

Before the “final” Firefox 6 Final is released to the wiles of the Internet, there could be some updates and other iterations, but you can get the full Firefox 6 Final downloads right here by clicking your choice of platform below.

And as always, let us know what you think of the new Firefox 6 Final browser.

Download Firefox 6 Final for Windows

Download Firefox 6 Final for Mac

Download Firefox 6 Final for Linux

If you’re anything like me, then you get annoyed at how slow Firefox can be.  And it’s not only when you try to open Firefox for the first time, it seems like Firefox gets slower the more webpages you visit the more the cache fills up with history.

I’ve written before about how I tested the speed of the Firefox compared to Google’s Chrome browser.  I basically clicked to open both browsers at the same time – actually I clicked Firefox first, then Chrome – and I was able to open and close Chrome about 5 times before my Firefox browser full opened for the first time.

Anyway, enough of my ranting.  Today I got frustrated enough to dig in a little deeper into Firefox to see what I can do to speed it up and to decrease the “resource hog’ness” of Firefox on my computer (I’m running Windows XP by the way).

How To Speed Up Firefox

Here’s what I did to speed up Firefox and so far it’s been working like a charm.  Firefox is now opening faster and getting bogged down a lot less.  It’s still nothing compared to Chrome, but hey… I’ll take what I can get with Firefox.

What I’m going to show you to speed up your Firefox browser is basically how to uninstall unnecessary Firefox Addons.

Firefox Addons are plugins, basically, that are always running behind the scenes when your Firefox browser is loaded.  There could be exceptions to this, but generally speaking, that’s what’s going on.

So uninstalling some of these Firefox Addons can dramatically decrease the resources your Firefox browser needs to operate, and in turn, increase the speed and efficiency of the browser.

How to remove unwanted Firefox addons

1)  Of course, you need to first open Firefox

2)  Click on “tools > Addons”

3)  Go through list and uninstall “Addons”

Once you’ve clicked on “tools > Add-ons”, a new window will pop up that will show you a list of all the Addons you’ve installed in your Firefox browser.  And like I said already, the majority of these Addons are going to start running, and continue running behind the scenes, from the moment to start up Firefox.

Here’s the popup screen you should get once you click “tools > Add-ons”:

Now that you’ve got the list of Add-ons that are installed in your Firefox browser, it’s time to go through and uninstall those that you don’t use, don’t want, or otherwise have no idea why they’re there.

As you scroll through your list of Firefox Add-ons, you’ll notice two buttons on the right hand side of each Add-on.  These buttons should be “Disable” and “Uninstall”.  What I’ve done to speed up my Firefox browser is actually uninstall the unnecessary Add-ons.

Just click on the “uninstall” button next to the appropriate Add-on.

Go through the entire list first, and then when you are done clicking “Uninstall” on all of the Add-ons you don’t want or need, then go ahead and close down Firefox and restart.

The restarting of Firefox is what officially removes the Add-ons you’ve uninstalled.

The reason you don’t see the “Disable” or “Uninstall” buttons to the right of my image above and because I’ve already gone through and disabled all of my unnecessary Add-ons.

Which is how I know that the process I just described does in fact speed up Firefox.

Now I’m not a Firefox enthusiasts, nor a programmer, but I can say with certainty that the process of uninstalling unnecessary Add-ons will in fact speed up your Firefox browser.

It’s done wonders for me and my Firefox experience.

Let me know how it goes!

Before attempting to increase the speed of an internet connection, it helps to download a speed tester that can give an indication of how fast the connection is in general. With this reading, testing can be done for increases and decreases in speed. A speed tester can also indicate if a connection speed is already at its maximum for the highspeed internet connection type and provider.

Tip 1:  Take Care Of Your Router

First of all, the wireless router and the condition of a wireless network can have a big impact on a person’s internet connection speed. Certain routers have better performance and range than others, so it is important to do some research when choosing which router to buy.

The range of the wireless router, as well as any obstacles such as walls or doors can have an effect on a router’s connection, so it should not be too far away, or have too many solid objects to pass through. It is important to make sure that a router is clearly transmitting its signal, so it should not be near devices that emit signals such as wireless phones.

The security of a wireless network can have a big impact upon internet connection speed as well. If unauthorized users are tapping into a network, it will slow it down, so simply having a network securely protected from outside sources is essential to faster connection speeds.

Tip 2:  Keep Your Computer Cache Cleared

The second tip is to keep clearing the computer’s cache. Keeping the computer clean is a good way to increase internet speed. Every time a website is visited, the computer’s RAM and hard drive will save certain images that allow it to load the pages quicker the next time the site is visited.

This cache system is meant to help increase internet loading time. However, as more and more websites are visited, the cache can begin to slow down the computer. Therefore, either clearing a cache altogether, or eliminating files related to sites that are no longer visited can help web users obtain faster internet speeds.

Tip 3:  Get Rid of Resource Sucking Applications

Certain applications can be a factor in slow internet speeds as well. The third tip is to keep an eye on these programs. Often, software will automatically update in the background, without a user being immediately informed. By keeping an eye on what certain programs are doing, users can keep track of automatic updates, and by either choosing to wait for the program to update, or commanding the program to hold off on updating until later, faster connection speeds can be achieved.

Furthermore, many applications will run quietly in the background without the user knowing. Peer to peer software, for example, will often continue uploading and downloading files even when the program has been exited. Many applications have hidden processes that can slow down the performance of a computer. Being sure that these programs are completely disabled while using the internet can be another excellent way to increase speed.

Tip 4:  Chose The Right Browser (Like Chrome)

Another tip concerns which web browser is being used. The web browser is a major factor in how quickly a person’s internet connection speed is. Different web browsing programs have differing strengths and weaknesses. Some are geared towards quick browsing, while others specialize in the integration of programs such as social networking or media software.

No matter what web browser is chosen, though, it won’t matter if it isn’t kept up to date, as newer browsers will load pages quicker than older ones. In order to maximize the efficiency of a web browser it is important to check for updates often. Updated software will not increase the speed of the internet connection itself, but does increase the speed at which pages can be viewed.

I personally recommend you use Google Chrome.  It is by far the fastest, most efficient web browser available.  Some people will say that Firefox is the best.  However, I’m afraid that most of that camp probably hasn’t tried Google Chrome.  I can open and close Chrome 5 times before Firefox loads once on my computer.

I’m just saying…

Tip 5:  Chose The Right Internet Provider

The last tip for obtaining higher internet speeds is to simply go with a new internet provider. A person with dial up internet can only achieve a certain amount of speed. Upgrading to a better type of internet service can help, but the provider can be just as much of a factor.

The further away a connection is from the source of its provider, the slower the connection will be. Looking around for not only the best deals, but also for the best location is of major importance in increasing the speed of an internet connection. Before abandoning a provider all together, though, it can sometimes help to get in touch with customer support to see if there is any possible way to increase the connection speed without having to drop them.

Often times, small interferences can go unnoticed, and as a provider is in a competitive business, they should be more than happy to lend some sort of help to those in need.

Have more tips that we missed?

So what about you?  Are there other tips that you’ve found that improve the internet speed and and efficiency of your computer?

Share your tips in the comments below.

You may have heard that there’s a new version of the Firefox browser called Firefox 4.

In the first 24 hours, it is being reported that Firefox 4 has been downloaded nearly 6 million times in the first 24 hours which is dramatically more than IE9’s initial release.

Here’s a video review of Firefox 4 from Firefox CEO Gary Kovacs:

For the first time ever, Mozilla’s Firefox has overtaken Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as the #1 web browser in Europe.

According to StatCounter, a web analytics firm, Firefox dominated with a 38.11% web browser market share while Internet Explorer came in second place with a 37.52% market share.

“This is the first time that IE has been dethroned from the No. 1 spot in a major territory,” said Aodhan Cullen, StatCounter CEO. “This appears to be happening because Google’s Chrome is stealing share from Internet Explorer while Firefox is mainly maintaining its existing share.”

So really, the cause of the fall of Internet Explorer is Chrome, Google’s web browser. Which tells me that in due time, Chrome may even overtake Firefox to become the #1 web browser.

In the United States, Internet Explorer still holds the #1 web browser position.

Thoughts?

via TheStreet

As a blogger, I obviously spend a lot of time in front of my computer. Doing things like writing new articles, tweeking websites and other web projects, and providing consulting to others has caused me to use multiple browsers.

I use multiple browsers primarily because I want to see that the CSS styles I change are loading properly in the different browsers.

So this morning, my eyes were opened to a scary reality.

I realized I know use 6 different browsers and 2 different operating systems.

My list of browsers:

• Chrome – which I use about 70% of the time simply because it’s super fast.
• Firefox – I use about 25% of the time, primarily for checking Google Pagerank, SEO variables, and mostly for the Firebug addon (a must have for site design and hacking)
• Safari – falls in the 5% of the time somewhere and I use primarily to check how changes look
• Internet Explorer – again, within the 5% piece of the pie and I use for things like access wireless routers (wireless networks) and also to see how site changes look in IE.  To my unending confusion, Internet Explorer is the most used browser in the world, yet every time I open it I’m painfully reminded of why I absolutely can’t stand IE.
• Opera – I actually just started using Opera on my desktop not too long ago, and again I primarily check website changes and configuration. After all, Opera does now have 150 million users worldwide.
• RockMelt – now RockMelt is something I just got an invite to install last week. It is basically a mashup of Google Chrome and Facebook… no lie! The only problem I have with RockMelt so far is when I have the sidebars (Facebook widgets) enabled, the style sheet doesn’t adapt and my text box in my WordPress blog overruns onto the sidebars – something that is very frustrating.

My list of operating systems:

• Windows XP – I use Windows XP most of the time primarily because I do not have a MAC.
• Mac OS X – even though I don’t personally own a Mac, I use a lot of Mac’s throughout the week. I do IT, live streaming, and editing (Final Cut Pro is amazing…) work at my church and help other people out on their Mac’s, so I get a lot of exposure to Mac OS X. What I love more than anything is when adding Fusion or Parallels to a Mac which in essence converts you Mac into a PC – ironic huh?
• Linux – the Linux version I use, and have ever used is Ubuntu. I use Ubuntu mostly on my laptop and primarily just to try to learn more about the Linus environment.

So there is it… pretty scary huh?

I know, I just realized it this morning myself.

6 browsers and 3 operating systems – welcome to my world.

How about you?

Tell me about your world of browsers and operating systems.

Is their one particular platform that you use all the time?

Do you split your time between other platforms?

Anxious to read your responses.

There are comments coming in to my other Facebook Not Working article about how people are problems logging in to their Facebook profile.

The main problem people have been having today (September 22, 2010) is with their login.

Here’s a message that people are reporting:

www.facebook.com doesnt exsist

Obviously this is a problem because we all know that Facebook does exist, but why the error message?

And the answer… unfortunately I have no idea why you’d be getting this error message.

Someone reported to be getting this message in both Firefox and Internet Explorer.

I would recommend clearing the cache of both and then rebooting.

So is anyone else experiencing these login problems with Facebook?

Facebook is deciding to improve the performance of the Facebook Chat feature. One of the main ways they are doing this is by no longer supporting Internet Explorer 6.

This is funny, and ironic at the same time.

Yesterday, Facebook put out some info regarding the improvements made to Facebook Chat.

Primarily, Facebook wanted to respond to all of the negative feedback they were getting regarding the Facebook chat feature.

Things such as constant interruptions, moving slow and being unresponsive.

First the funny part.

This made me chuckle a bit when Facebook said this:

The biggest improvements come from changes that aren’t supported on older web browsers. After evaluating the alternatives, we’ve decided to make rapid improvements and provide the best Chat experience possible, which means we will no longer support Internet Explorer 6 browsers.

Notice these phrases – biggest improvements, rapid improvements, no longer support Internet Explorer 6.

I find that funny because to me, it’s a direct shot at Microsoft and their famous web browser.

I’m hoping that Steve Ballmar is listening and starts putting some of their cash reserves into creating (or rebuilding) the Microsoft brand.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Microsoft, I just wish they’d put some engineering power to work and start releasing amazing products again…. instead of being the doormat of the tech industry.

Now the ironic part

This is really more unfortunate than anything, because I’m really a big fan of Microsoft.

But one of the things I tell people all the time is this – get rid of Internet Explorer and use something like Firefox or Chrome.

And then I tell people that I use Chrome more than any other browser, and that Internet Explorer is probably the last browser I’d ever use.

And now Facebook is killing IE6 – how ironic…

It’s to tell at the moment, but some Myspace users were reporting login issues at the popular (although seriously declining) social networking site. One user reported via Twitter that the Myspace login issue was isolated to the Firefox web browser only.

Myspace can’t really afford to be having any major technical difficulties at this point, if the login problems are true that is. They are literally been hemoraghing users from their site and Facebook is already more popular than Myspace.

On Wednesday, news broke that Facebook reached the 500 million users. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is “fully confident” that Facebook will achieve 1 billion users in the not too distant future.

So, if you visited Explosm.net from your firefox browser you will found this page:

Google Chrome Review – Why Is Google Chrome So Fast? (Video)

When it comes to web browsers, there are none that can stand up to the speed and efficiency of the Google Chrome browser.

I’ve been places where my WiFi connection would only get one bar of a signal strength, fire up Google Chrome, and be browsing on the web at lightning fast speeds.

The Google Chrome browser is definitely the web browser of choice going forward, and all other browsers – including Firefox – are now in “catch up” mode trying to prevent Google Chrome from absolutely dominating the browser landscape.

But why is Google Chrome so fast?

Here’s a video from Google Chrome engineer answering that question:

I wrote back in November about Google’s idea of adding “site speed” to their already complex algorithm that determines website rankings in the Google search results.

The world is changing fast on the web, and people want data and information faster, more up to date, and from sites that can give it to them more efficiently.

People’s attention spans are growing more narrow and it’s unlikely someone will stick around if you website doesn’t load fast.

Today, Google officially announced the implementation of “site speed” into their algorithm for ranking websites.

But don’t worry too much – unless your site is extremely slow – because the speed of your site is not going to have more influence over the relevancy factor.

According to Google, “while site speed is a new signal, it doesn’t carry as much weight as the relevance of a page. Currently, fewer than 1% of search queries are affected by the site speed signal in our implementation and the signal for site speed only applies for visitors searching in English on Google.com at this point.”

Some things to consider regarding site speed:

If you are a site owner, webmaster or a web author, here are some free tools that you can use to evaluate the speed of your site:

• Page Speed, an open source Firefox/Firebug add-on that evaluates the performance of web pages and gives suggestions for improvement.
• YSlow, a free tool from Yahoo! that suggests ways to improve website speed.
• WebPagetest shows a waterfall view of your pages’ load performance plus an optimization checklist.
• In Webmaster Tools, Labs > Site Performance shows the speed of your website as experienced by users around the world as in the chart below. We’ve also blogged about site performance

Read more at Google’s official announcement

Facebook Errors: IE – HTTP 500 Internal server error

Several people are reporting the following error when trying to login in to Facebook:

Facebook Errors: IE – HTTP 500 Internal server error

The cause of the 500 Internal server error

This problem occurs because there is an error processing the ASP script, and the “Friendly HTTP error messages” are enabled in Internet Explorer, which suppresses the error details.

The Solution:

One solution to resolved the IE 500 Internal server error is to lower your Security settings in IE7 Tools>>Internet Options>>Security

A second solution is to clear the cache of your web browser.  This process is done different depending on what browser you are using (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc…)

Finally, the initial 500 Internal server error is summarized.  You can get a more detailed analysis of the error by:

1. Open Internet Explorer
2. go to “Tools > Internet Options”
3. Go to “advanced” tab
4. Uncheck “show friendly error message”
5. Click “Ok”
6. reload page

Facebook Problems Today:  Facebook Is Slow on Firefox

One of the questions I see a lot in the Facebook help forums is specifically related to Firefox, and how “Facebook seems to be really slow today on Firefox!”

There is a trick that I use with Firefox that works every time and gives me pretty good increases in speed.  And best of all, it’s simple to do.

Let me first tell you why I believe people keep having a problem with Facebook being slow on Firefox.  Since the 3.5 edition of the Firefox browser, it seems that Firefox has been very susceptible to filling up its cache very quickly – especially if you surf the web, videos, images, etc.. very quickly.

This clogging up of the cache on Firefox will cause your Firefox browser to become increasingly sluggish, especially when you try to load any type of media (photos, video, etc…)

Fix Slow Facebook Connection in Firefox

First, here’s a video for clearing your Firefox cache:

Here’s how you clear out the cache of your Firefox browser.

Go up to “Tools” at the top of your Firefox browser

Click Tools, and then in the drop down menu you will see “Clear Recent History”

You can click Clear Recent History or use the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+Shift+Del”

Next you get a selection window that pops up – go ahead and select “Everything” as that date range and make sure all of your option boxes are checked – don’t leave any blank.

Go ahead and click “Clear Now”

Let it process for about 60 seconds, restart Firefox, then log back into Facebook.

You should now be experiencing substantially faster speeds on Facebook while using your Firefox browser.

This method actually works for all browsers with the only exception that depending on what specific browser you use, the process of clearing your cache may be different.

That’s it – let me know if you have any questions!

One of the major initial problems that someone had with Weave Sync is once they installed the add on, they were immediately presented with an Author Unverified warning.  I could understand this if the add-on was created by an independent developer, but it was actually created by Mozilla Labs.

Another major issue that people are claiming is that Weave Sync is not supported on Windows 7, 64 bit encryption.

Not to be all negative here, some people are finding Weave Sync to be useful.  But if you visit the forum and read the feedback, I think you’d agree that the majority of people are having issues with the initial release.

But don’t worry – Firefox has a large crowd of developers that will surely work through these issues.

As an alternative to Firefox’s Weave Sync, you could try Google Chrome’s bookmark sync.  I’ve been using this for about a month now and it works extremely well – very smooth, easy, and carefree.

“I’ve discovered today that the fan page RSS feed is no longer publishing any data whatsoever, not even the XML prologue. Anybody else running into this?”

I then went and checked my Facebook Fan page RSS feed in Firefox and when I clicked the RSS feed indicator, I got a blank white screen.  Even in Google Reader, my Facebook Fan Page feed is down and if I try to establish a new feed with my fan page, I get an error.

So if anyone has any further insight into why Facebook Fan Page RSS feeds are down, or if y0u find that your RSS feed is actually working, please let us know in the comments.  I’ll keep researching this throughout the day to see what can dug up.

The cool thing about a Facebook Fan Page RSS feed is that you only get that Fan Page’s updates in the feed – you don’t get all of the other comments from fans.

Here’s how to subscribe to, or otherwise find and grab, the RSS feed to any Facebook Fan Page:

If you use Firefox, this is really easy.  Just visit the Facebook Fan Page and you should see the orange RSS box to the right in the address bar.  Just click that RSS image and you’ll be taken to the RSS feed itself where you can subscribe to it in your favorite RSS reader.

You also just go to your Google Reader > click “Add Subscription” in the upper right hand corner, and enter the full URL of the Facebook Fan Page you want to subscribe to.

** CAUTION ** With Google Reader, make sure you are only putting the URL of the Facebook Fan Page itself, without the addition attributes that Facebook likes to add at the end of URL’s.

For example:  When you visit this Facebook Fan Page, the URL that shows in the address bar is this >>

But the actual URL of the Fan Page, and the one that needs to be added to the “Add Subscription” box is this >>

Notice the “?ref=ts” part is left off.  If you were to include the “?ref=ts” part, then you won’t be able to subscribe to the feed.

Finally, you can add the Facebook Fan Page URL (as I just described above) to something like FeedBurner, and create a new RSS feed.  Just enter the Facebook Fan Page URL in FeedBurner, follow the steps, and you’ll now have a FeeburnerFeed of your desired Facebook Fan Page.

And once you’ve got your FeedBurner feed of your Facebook Fan Page, now you can have people subscribe to your Fan Page via email, and a whole myriad of other RSS feed subscription techniques.

Since you can subscribe to Facebook Fan Page wall streams, this also means that you can easily embed your Fan Page updates into other sites, blog, etc…

Did you know that your Facebook Fan Page had an RSS feed?  For some reason, I’m just now realizing this…. hmmm….

And yes, let me assure you that my first browser of choice is not Internet Explorer.  I would say that I use Firefox moreso for optimization and development purposes, and I use Chrome for pure browsing speed!

I probably, if stats could speak, use Chrome more than any other browser

Google’s European Public Policy Blog today announced that the European Union might soon be allowing over 100 million Internet users to chose their own browser.

Can you image being forced to use only Internet Explorer?  What a terrible world that must be!  The poor Europeans must be continually bogged down with viruses, crammed cache’s, and stalling browsers on a regular basis.

Here’s more from Google’s European Public Policy Blog:

“The European Commission today announced an important decision designed to inject more competition into the crucial market for Internet browsers. Under the Commission decision, more than 100 million Europeans will soon receive an opportunity to download a new browser. On both new and old computers that run Internet Explorer, a ballot screen will pop up on their computers displaying icons of the major browser makers and allowing them to choose among them with a simple click.”

Of course, Google is seriously going to start ramping up the education initiative to promote the lighting fast Google Chrome browser.  I personally believe that Chrome is, without a doubt, the fast browser available.  Especially if you’re a very predictable browser – meaning, you visit a narrow range of websites each day.

The cool thing about Chrome is that it will start cacheing these sites for you, and when you click to open them, it will be near instantaneous load time.

Stay tuned as I will definitely be tracking how the new browser war will unfold in the European Union.  Not sure who will win (probably Google), but I can definitely predict right now it WON’T be Internet Explorer!

But I’m wondering, and noticing, what are people’s habits – what are my habits – when I turn on my computer?

Let me ask you this – what is one of the first things you do when you turn your computer on?  Or another way to ask this is, why do you sit down to turn your computer on?  What are you intending to do once your computer boots up?

For me, the very first thing – and a lot of times the only thing – I do is get on my computer and instantly go the web.  In fact, I find myself clicking my Firefox or Chrome browser shortcuts before the computer is even fully booted.

Am I alone here with this?  I can’t imagine I am…  and because of this, I can’t help but wonder if an operating system – Windows 7, XP, or whatever – is losing it’s relevance and role in the world of computing.

And if you take this thought just a little bit further, then I ask if the PC – or the computer – as we know actually dying?

I mean, it doesn’t seem too far fetched that within a few short years from now we have computers that boot directly to the web.

For example, Google’s Chrome OS which should be out within the next year, is said to be a web based browser.  Turn your computer on and you’re online, along with everything you need from an operating system.

I would be interested to hear from some of you – and answer specifically the questions of:

1)  What do you do when you first turn on your computer

2)  Why do you get on your computer in the first place?  What are you intentions once the computer boots up?

For me, the answer to both questions is simple – I want to get online!

Here’s my frustration – and it’s really isolated to 2 specific factors:

1) In Firefox 3.5 (and above), Chrome, and Safari, my “BlogStats in W3 Counter” window in my Worpdress dashboard will not let me log in and view the graph.  In all 3 browsers, whenever I login to W3, and I think click “dashboard” in WordPress, my W3 turns into another login screen.

Now, in any version of Firefox less than 3.5 (like 3.0.14 which I’m now using), it works perfect every time.

2) When I update a web page with a new image – for example if I’m customizing a client’s Facebook Fan Page with images – and when I save my changes, in all 3 browsers, my changes are not reflected.  I have to go in (the same for all 3 browsers), clear my cache, hit “Ctrl + R” to do a hard refresh, and then I see my changes.

So after a day or so of “once again” trying to see if Firefox has worked out the bugs in 3.5 versions, I’m “once again” downgrading to a 3.0 version.

Ok – now that I’m done venting, here’s what I think it happening.  And if any developers who are part of Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari communities are here reading this, I would be so grateful to hear your comments, responses, and / or feedback as to what’s really happening and what I can do to fix these issues.

I think what’s happening is that with Firefox 3.5, Chrome, and Safari, they are so optimized to render flash – and a lot of it – that the cache is not clearing continuously and / or properly.

Since changes aren’t being reflected after publishing AND when I’m using one of these 3 browsers, that tells me there is a cache issue.  And from that I can only assume that it’s because these new browsers are in a race to see who can render flash more efficiently.

So there it is – my frustrations on these new, super fast browsers, and why I’ve ultimately downgraded back to an equally super fast Firefox 3.0.14 (September 2009 version I believe).

And for experimental purposes only, will I go back to see if any improvements have been made to Firefox 3.5 or above, Google Chrome, and Safari.

Well now I’ve found a video that demonstrates the Firefox 3.6 browswer – check it out:

This orientation technology, known as “accelerometers” (read the Wikipedia article about accelerometers by clicking the link) has been a standard (and awesome) feature in the iPhone since it first came about over 2 years ago.

In fact, an entire industry if iPhone video games have been built with “accelerometer” technology as it’s foundation.  (think steering a race car by using your iPhone as the steering wheel!)

Well now this accelerometer technology is supposedely coming to the new version of Firefox – which would be Firefox 3.6.  So now you’ll have this “tilt orientation” technology right on your laptop!

Here’s what Mozilla evangelist Christopher Blizzard announced about Firefox’s coming orientation interface on Monday.

“One new feature that we’re including as part of Firefox 3.6 is support for web pages to access machine orientation information if it’s available…  Many modern MacBooks and ThinkPads contain devices and drivers that expose this information. We’ve added support for Linux, Macs and some ThinkPads where drivers and devices are available.”

Just imagine all the cool video games that can be played on your laptop with this new Firefox browser – can’t wait…

“An error occurred while registering your site”

This happened to one of our readers, and here’s how we resolved the Facebook Connect Playground error:

For this error to get resolved, you must clear the cache of your browser so that no pre-disposed form data is present. Depending on your browser (you can reply and let me know if you need help) will depend on exactly how you go about doing this.

I’ve written a “how to” for clearing cache on Firefox here >> .

Otherwise, for Internet Explorer go to “tools > internet options > click delete in browsing history > then select all check boxes”

For Safari go to “the circle settings icon in the upper right hand corner > click “reset Safari” > select all checked boxes”

For Chrome “click the wrench icon in the upper right hand corner > click on “clear browsing data” > clear all history

For all of the options above, you’ll probably have to re-login to everything, but this should clear out all the browsing cache.

And then go back and retry registering your site at Facebook Connect Playground >>

Ready to increase your Internet speed instantly by 50% and be blazing on the web?

Here is one easy tweak to both Firefox and Internet Explorer that will – and you tell me if it doesn’t – increase your Internet speed instantly!  When I made these changes in both Firefox and Internet Explorer, the speed increase was phenominal.

Here we go – Firefox first and then Internet Explorer:

Firefox tweak for increasing Internet speed:

Type “about:config” into the address bar (ignore warnings).  In the filter field, type “network” and scroll down to “network.http.pipelining” and set it to TRUE, and set “network.http.pipelining.maxrequests” from 4 to anything from 8 to 12.

I set mine to 10, and then restarted Firefox.  Immediately, I saw flash heavy pages like the new Yahoo homepage load with a snap!  Again, let me know if you DON’T find this tweak to dramatically increase your Firefox browsing speed.

Internet Explorer tweak for increasing Internet speed:

Although I recommend you switch to Firefox, I know a lot of people still use Internet Explorer.  So when I tested out this tweak on IE, I was simply amazed at the increased speed and efficiency of the Internet – and that’s saying a lot for Internet Explorer.

IE internet speed tweak:

Go to Start and type “regedit“.  In Regedit, navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows”

Right-click on Windows and create a new key called “Psched“, then right click on the right and create a new “DWORD” entry. Name it “NonBestEffortLimit” and set the value to zero (0)to disable reserve bandwidth.

Go ahead and close your registry editor and then restart Internet Explorer.

And that’s it.  Let me know in the comments section if you have any problems, if you don’t immediately see an increase in Internet speed, and / or if you have any other tweaks to increase internet speed in any of the browsers on the market (IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, etc..)

Thanks to Ryan at MakeUseOf.com for the insight as well…