Portable applications can come in handy when you are on the move, but there are situations when using them is not an option. For instance, before you connect an external hard disk or a USB stick to a public computer, you have to ask permission. More importantly, even if you get permission, you can never be sure what kind of nasty viruses and malware you will be getting on your storage device. But why bother with portable applications at all when you can have your very own Web-based operating system bundled with a few essential applications? That's the promise of eyeOS -- an impressive and surprisingly useful open source Web-based OS.
According to a message posted over the weekend on the Full-Disclosure mailing list, the latest version of Firefox, 2.0.0.5, contains a password management vulnerability that can allow malicious Web sites to steal user passwords. If you have JavaScript enabled and allow Firefox to remember your passwords, you are at risk from this flaw.
Mozilla's Sunbird calendaring application lives perpetually in the shadow of its siblings Firefox and Thunderbird, garnering just a fraction of the developer effort and publicity lavished on the browser and email client. Nevertheless, it is slowly maturing into a reliable tool worthy of the Mozilla brand.
If you still visit Usenet or occasionally participate in its discussions and newsgroups, you can get by with Linux newsgroup readers that are integrated into browsers or email clients such as Thunderbird, Evolution, and the Opera Web browser. But if you're an advanced user who wants a more feature-rich newsreader, you need Pan.
If you maintain a portal, ecommerce site, or heavily trafficked Web site, you might appreciate the ability to identify the geographical location of your site visitors. Geolocation information can help you localize content, serve relevant local advertisements, offer a download mirror close to visitors, and detect online fraud. Techniques like whois lookup of IP addresses are of some help, but they don't always find accurate locations. A better approach is a database that maps each IP address to a location -- such as MaxMind's GeoIP.
Hit-a-Hint (HaH) is a Firefox plugin that aims to create a faster Web surfing experience by letting you use the keyboard to click links.
There may or may not be a need for an Apache module implementation of the Atom Publishing Protocol, but Tim Bray has gone ahead and created one anyhow.
The newest versions of Lightning and Sunbird, released simultaneously by Mozilla yesterday, include 38 new calendars as well as support for Google Calendar, a viable print function, enhanced support for Outlook displays and numerous other upgrades.
While podcasting and video blogging are all the rage, many people still prefer the simplicity of the typed word for expressing themselves online -- that is, a blog. However, popular blogging platforms like WordPress and Movable Type can be tough to configure and maintain. On the other hand, you might not want to use an online service like Blogger or TypePad because you want complete control over your blog. If you're not afraid of the command line, take a peek at Bash Blogger. As its name implies, this application is a bash script that automates all of your blogging tasks (aside from writing, of course).
Why bother using a dedicated FTP client when you can use FireFTP? This nifty extension turns Firefox into a full-fledged FTP tool, so you can transfer files back and forth without leaving the browser. FireFTP offers all the features you'd expect from a decent FTP client.
Vim users stick with Vim in no small part because muscle memory is so powerful -- once you've learned Vim's keybindings, it's possible to be extremely productive in Vim without ever taking your hands off the keyboard. If you'd like to imbue Firefox with Vim power, embrace the Vimperator extension. Vimperator turns Firefox into a no-nonsense, modal Web browser.
WordPress yesterday released WordPress 2.2.1, which incorporates a number of small bug fixes and tweaks, along with some security issues that make this a required upgrade.
The Flock project has been building a "social Web browser" since 2005. The upcoming Flock 0.9 release adds new blogging features, integrates media streams into the browser, and includes an overhaul of the Flock bookmark system. It's not perfect yet, but Flock 0.9 is a big leap forward.
Joomla! project leader Louis Landry and his colleagues want to protect the project they love. That's why, after two years of allowing proprietary plugins for the open source CMS, the group has decided to ask third-party developers for voluntary compliance with the terms of the GNU General Public License, under which Joomla! is licensed. Those developers are complaining that it's unfair for Joomla! to reverse its position after "a bunch of companies spent millions," according to one developer employed by a company that markets the proprietary extensions. Landry says he and the Joomla! team were wrong to have allowed the exceptions, and a return to compliance is essential in order to legally protect the open nature of Joomla!.
The OpenWengo project recently released version 2.1 of its WengoPhone VoIP softphone. It's a big step forward for Linux users.
Netscape has released the first beta of Netscape 9, based on Firefox. This release includes URL correction, compatibility with Firefox 2 extensions, a "mini browser" sidebar, and integrates Netscape.com sitemail.