How the Safari browser started life as Alexander and hid itself from the world

Don Melton, who was originally tasked by Scott Forstall to create WebKit and the Safari browser for OS X, and later WebKit of iOS, has retired from his job as engineering director of internet technologies, and begun writing. One of his writing projects is a blog, and two of his recent posts shed some light on the people and events behind Safari.

In When I first heard the name ?Safari?, Melton discusses the project name, Alexander, how they jokingly referred to it as iBrowse, and how it ultimately came to be named.

During the Summer of ?02, Steve Jobs and the Apple management team realized that we were going to pull this off ? we could actually ship a Web browser by the end of the year. And at one particularly good Human Interface design session, discussion turned to what we were going to call this ? thing.

In keeping Safari a secret, Melton talks about how his team had to hide Safari's user agent string, so the project could remain a secret until Steve Jobs announced it at Macworld 2003.

For much of the time we spent developing Safari ? long before it was called by that name ? it pretended to be Microsoft Internet Explorer. Specifically, Internet Explorer for Mac, which Apple had provided with the OS since 1998. Less than six months before Safari debuted, it started pretending to be a Mozilla browser.

Both stories are delightful and add an enormous amount of color and humanity to a technology iPhone, iPad, and Mac users use every day. Give them a read.

Source: donmelton.com, thanks @SrikarDR

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/HtZZuNjG1o8/story01.htm

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Mozilla publishes name and shame list of slow Firefox add-ons, cracks down on tardy devs

Firefox slow-addons list
Mozilla, continuing its year-long crusade to speed up Firefox startup and shutdown times, has published a name and shame list of the Firefox's slowest add-ons.

The list is just one part of Mozilla's new efforts to highlight slow add-ons, and to help developers make their add-ons more efficient. Over the next two weeks, 'slow performance warnings' will be introduced in the add-on gallery so that users can see, before installation, which add-ons will slow down their browser. If that isn't enough to spur developers into cleaning up their add-ons, Mozilla has also begun reaching out to developers of slow add-ons with tips on how to improve add-on performance. Finally, add-on developers will soon have the ability to perform 'on-demand performance testing,' so that they can test their add-on before it's deployed publicly.

Mozilla reports that the average Firefox add-on slows down Firefox's start-up time by 10% -- which means, if you install 10 add-ons, you will double your start-up time. On fast desktop PCs that kind of slowdown might be negligible, but on older computers, laptops and smartphones, it could be the difference between a 5 and 10 second startup. Mozilla has obviously realized that while massive performance gains might've been made with Firefox 4, the addition of third-party add-ons can destroy any user-perceived improvements.

In other news, Mozilla says that a future build of Firefox will block the installation of add-ons (such as toolbars) by third-party software. Add-ons and toolbars that are bundled in this way will require explicit approval when you next open up Firefox. Hooray!

Mozilla publishes name and shame list of slow Firefox add-ons, cracks down on tardy devs originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/mozilla-publishes-name-and-shame-list-of-slow-firefox-add-ons/

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Uh, Here's a Stylus That Plays Music, Takes Bluetooth Calls, and Vibrates

From the brainspace of "Oh Hell Why the Hell Not?", here's Dexim's Music Talking Stylus. It's a Bluetooth-enabled stylus that doubles as a music controller, and triples as a phone receiver, and sorta-quadruples as a headphone jack. And, uh, it vibrates. But as goofy as it sounds, it actually seems like it would be useful, in its own very strange way. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/DgOjQHXICp4/uh-heres-a-stylus-that-plays-music-takes-bluetooth-calls-and-vibrates

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LaCie's 4TB Blade Runner Hard Drive Looks Like a Renaissance Sculpture

LaCie's always had a certain flair for external hard drive design, bringing as much style to its hardware as functionality. But the company appears to have just one-upped its past efforts with the stunning Blade Runner that packs four terabytes of storage into an enclosure that looks like it was sculpted by a renaissance master. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/e7lPZGhHtE0/lacies-4tb-blade-runner-looks-like-a-renaissance-sculpture

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Windows 8 now available to OEMs via Microsoft Connect

windows 8Select Microsoft Connect partners -- major players like HP -- have been given their first taste of Windows 8. According to various sources, the build string currently sits at 7971.0.110324-1900, which is the third milestone build of the successor to Windows 7.

So far, there haven't been many details revealed about Windows 8. An actual System Restore -- which is being referred to as History Vault -- has been reported, and the feature will allow users and administrators to completely roll back a system to a previous state. A factory reset option is also said to be included.

We've also seen Windows Live integration taking shape on the desktop. It's believed that you'll be able to log in to Windows 8 using your Windows Live credentials, not just a traditional offline Windows username and password.

All that's left now is for a leaked Windows 8 build to show up on a torrent site. Feel free to tip us if you see that happen.

Windows 8 now available to OEMs via Microsoft Connect originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/31/windows-8-now-available-to-oems-via-microsoft-connect/

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YouTube Live now streaming select partners in real time

Not content with limiting its dominance in streaming uploaded videos, YouTube is now ready to take on competitors like Justin.TV and Ustream. The new YouTube Live service is being rolled out to select YouTube partners and will enable real-time broadcasting. In its official announcement, Google states that "The goal is to provide thousands of partners with the capability to live stream from their channels in the months ahead."

You can check out live broadcasts at http://www.youtube.com/live, where you'll also find a schedule of upcoming episodes from beta partners like Revision3 and Destructoid. You're also able to subscribe to YouTube Live broadcasts -- which will ensure you're notified when a new episode is coming up.

YouTube Live now streaming select partners in real time originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/youtube-live-now-streaming-select-partners-in-realtime/

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How to Stalk the Gizmodo Staff Through CES and Beyond

Sure, you may have already liked Gizmodo on Facebook or followed us on Twitter (hint hint), but we're individuals too! Lucky for you, we all have our own Facebook and Twitter accounts where we're just waiting to be questioned, praised, and mercilessly harassed at your leisure. Plus, now's a good time to get in on the action since most of us will be coming to you LIVE from CES all throughout next week. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/MunI0tlpUVI/how-to-stalk-the-gizmodo-staff-through-ces-and-beyond

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China Tightens Its Grip on Internet Users

The Chinese government issued a set of new Internet rules on Friday. Internet users must now provide their real names to service providers, and ISPs are required to delete forbidden posts and report such activities to authorities. In other words, the so-called "Great Firewall of China" has been further fortified.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/2705c1bd/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C769760Bhtml/story01.htm

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Microsoft trumpets Windows Phone 7 numbers on first birthday

windows phone 7
Happy first birthday, Windows Phone 7! One year on, and the fledgling mobile operating system has 36,000 active developers in its AppHub community, 1.5 million downloads of its Developer Tools, and 11,500 apps in its Marketplace.

Microsoft is quick to take a couple shots at competitors' app stores, beating its chest about not re-counting tanslations of an app or "lite" apps, "increasing tonnage" by supporting apps from other mobile platforms, and not listing wallpapers as a category.

That's all fine and dandy, but we spend a lot of time sifting through WP7 app feeds -- and we're still not seeing a lot of awesome apps on the platform. We think a few marquee apps would've made a pretty nice first birthday present -- along with a much smoother update process for WP7 users.

Microsoft trumpets Windows Phone 7 numbers on first birthday originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/microsoft-trumpets-windows-phone-7-numbers-on-first-birthday/

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Blue Valentine: A Totally Wonderful Bummer

Sometimes you just want to curl up on a Saturday night and watch a feel-good flick that'll make you feel warm inside so you can smile to yourself and ponder how all is right with the world. Blue Valentine is the perfect choice if you are feeling the exact opposite. Grab a drink. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/tH1yyOcofSU/blue-valentine-a-totally-wonderful-bummer

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