First Firefox 6 build next week, Firefox 7 by May, and aurora channel introduced

Firefox 5, 6, 7 and release channels
Mozilla's Engineering Project Manager, Christian Legnitto, has detailed the release schedule for Firefox 5, 6 and 7. If all goes to plan, Firefox 6.0a1 will be released next week, April 12, and Firefox 7.0a1 in the middle of May. The final build of Firefox 5 should be released on June 21, exactly three months after the release of Firefox 4.

Along with the faster 6-week release cadence, Firefox's new Chrome-like release channels have also been given names and anticipated update frequencies. The most notable change is the introduction of a new alpha channel -- which is analogous to Chrome Canary -- that will be called 'aurora' and will update nightly. Aurora will be where fixes and features are tested, and either approved for Beta, or backed out to Central. Aurora will have a new icon, too.

The Nightly (mozilla-central) channel will remain unchanged in name and frequency, but it will gain a new 'nightly icon.' The Beta (mozilla-beta) channel will remain as-is, with new builds rolling out weekly. The Release (mozilla-release) channel will also remain as-is, with security and stability updates coming every 6 to 12 weeks.

It should be noted that the names (including 'aurora') are not necessarily final, but it's unlikely that they'll change. We're also awaiting the arrival of the new 'channel switching' technology, which should arrive in the next few days -- in time for the release of Firefox 6 aurora!

First Firefox 6 build next week, Firefox 7 by May, and aurora channel introduced originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/first-firefox-6-build-next-week-firefox-7-by-may-and-aurora-ch/

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Daily Crunch: Laceless

1416Here are some of yesterday’s posts on TechCrunch Gadgets: Video: Japanese University Uses Fish Scales To Develop Stronger Artificial Bones Is Nike Planning To Release Back To The Future?s Auto-Lacing Air Mags? Review: Deus Ex ? Human Revolution Iridium?s New AxcessPoint Hotspot Provides WiFi In The Rainforest Nintendo Gets Sued Over The Wii

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/08/daily-crunch-laceless/

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Daily Crunch: Gundamcraft

1398Here are some of yesterday’s stories on TechCrunch Gadgets: Giant Gundam Robot Statue Returns To Tokyo ? In Parts PrimeSense Positioning Itself For Integration With Next-Gen TVs Microsoft Reader E-Book System Comes To Its Conclusion Glorious Minecraft-Themed Xperia Play For Sale On eBay $200k Fundraiser Means SETI Can Listen For Aliens Again

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/16/daily-crunch-gundamcraft/

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Netbot updated with direct Messages on App.net, goes free in effort to spur service adoption

Netbot updated with direct Messages on App.net, goes free in effort to spur service adoption

When Netbot was launched back in October of last year, we praised it as a fine client for the fledgling App.net service. Based on the same user interface as the popular Tweetbot client by Tapbots, it's no surprise that we liked the Netbot client. Since then both the service and the app have evolved, most recently with the addition of a File API and 10GB of cloud storage. While no major apps yet seem to have taken advantage of the File API, the previous addition to App.net - a Messaging API - is seeing growing adoption.

To boot, version 1.3 of Netbot recently hit the iOS App Store with support for the Messaging API, adding a button to the bottom toolbar to get you into your App.net messages (in the process pushing the dedicated profile button to the user-selectable fourth place slot). For those familiar with Tweetbot, Netbot's implementation of the Messaging API should be quite familiar. In fact, it's practically identical, save for the 256-character limit that App.net allows. Since Netbot gained push notifications in late October with version 1.1, if so enabled (instructions here) you'll get them for your App.net messages too.

Messaging support isn't the only thing that's happening with Netbot - it's also now free in the App Store, though for "an unspecified period of time", according to developer Paul Haddad of Tapbots. Netbot debuted at $4.99 for both the iPhone and iPad versions. Tapbots lowered the price to literally nothing with the hope of spurring more users to look at App.net. As Haddad said from his own App.net account, the move does appear to have driven a bump of new users to the service. If that will be sustained is another question, though App.net does seem to be on a slow-but-steady rise. It doesn't hurt Tapbots too much, as Haddad pointed out, they're making more from App.net's Developer Incentive Program than they are from App Store sales of Netbot.

So if you've been waiting for a reason to try out App.net's pay service, the barrier to entry just dropped by five bucks.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/DN0318duaZE/story01.htm

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OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows

ommwriter
I have a thing for full-screen text editing. I use WriteMonkey for my creative writing needs, and VIM in a full-screen PuTTY session for my Web development work. That being the case, I'm all over the monospace, dark-background, focused editing scene.

OmmWriter attempts to take that aesthetic and make it somehow more spiritual, with three picturesque backgrounds and ambient background audio tracks (there are seven of each in the paid version).

I'm of two minds about this app. On the one hand, yes, it's beautiful. But if you want music as a background to your writing, why not pick your own soundtrack with Winamp or Foobar2000 running in the background?

OmmWriter also offers three keyboard-clicking sounds, which are kind of nice. None of these features are groundbreaking, really. OmmWriter could be seen as a way to gently ease into the world of distraction-free writing -- in case something like WriteMonkey's dark background is just too oppressive for you.

After the fold you can see a video showcasing several of OmmWriter's features and creative soundscapes.

Continue reading OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows

OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/ommwriter-brings-its-clean-calm-writing-interface-to-windows/

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Boomshine is a soothing-yet-frustrating time waster

boomshine
One click; just one single well-aimed click. That's all you get in Boomshine.

That single click triggers a chain reaction; circles start exploding, and other circles colliding with the shockwaves explode as well, creating their own shockwaves, which then catch other circles.

It's been done before, yes, but this one is a great iteration. The soundtrack is mellow, with lots of piano and some nice percussion (not electronic - it sounds like drums).

At each level you need to make a certain number of circles explode to go on to the next level. I got up to level 12, where you get 60 circles and need to make 55 of them explode. And then I kept trying and trying, but simply couldn't get it. I did get to 54 circles a couple of times, but as they say, you don't get points for trying.

There's no time limit, so you can carefully study the pattern of motion and place your click at the exact right place to create the best chain reaction. I've found that clicking near the middle of the screen works quite well, especially if the balls are slowly moving in that direction. By the time the first shockwave dies off, the oncoming balls usually hit it and the chain reaction continues.

What level did you reach? Screenshots please!

Boomshine is a soothing-yet-frustrating time waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/16/boomshine-is-a-soothing-yet-frustrating-time-waster/

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Gladinet maps Amazon Cloud Drive to your Windows desktop

amazon cloud drive
Amazon's recently-introduced Cloud Drive is a great place to store your files online. It offers 5 gigs of totally free space, and U.S. users also get access to the handy Cloud Player app (for Web and Android!) which streams music you upload to your Cloud Drive.

The service could be a little easier to use, however. Until Amazon releases a desktop client, Windows users might want to take another look at Gladinet. The multi-service cloud connector has now added Amazon Cloud Drive support and will let you map a network drive letter to your account with minimal fuss.

Once you've added your credentials to Gladinet, just pick the letter you want to assign to the drive and you're good to go. You can then copy files to and from your Cloud Drive, rename items, and manage folders like you would any local hard drive in your system.

The only downside is that the free version of Gladinet gives you a limited number of cloud interactions. Once you use those up, you'll need to upgrade to the paid version, which costs $49.99. If you work with a number of cloud-based storage providers, however, it could be well worth the price tag.

Gladinet maps Amazon Cloud Drive to your Windows desktop originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/map-amazon-cloud-drive-to-windows-local/

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Windows 8 Explorer to feature Ribbon UI, SkyDrive and Mesh integration?

windows 8 explorer ribbon
Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott have posted a second look at some of the early changes which have surface in Windows 8 milestone 3. First there was the restyled Welcome Screen, and now it appears that Microsoft is toying with bringing the Ribbon UI to Explorer.

The Ribbon, like in Microsoft Word and Excel, is context-aware, adding tabs for specific tasks which apply to the folder you're viewing -- such as library or picture management. You can also make out two new buttons in the status bar, which allow you to change the current folder's view style.

It's clear from all the placeholder images and repeated elements that this is very much a work in progress, but featuring the Ribbon more prominently in Windows 8 would certainly be a logical progression for Microsoft. It's slowly become more ubiquitous, moving beyond Office and into Wordpad, Paint, and several of the Windows Live Essentials applications.

There's more to the screenshots than the Ribbon UI, however. Our friend Long Zheng has noted two interesting elements in the images: Web sharing and sync (image after the break). That would likely mean users will be able to quickly upload files to SkyDrive and synchronize using Live Mesh right from Explorer in Windows 8. That's not a total surprise considering many of the earliest leaked images of Windows 8 showed Windows Live integration on the desktop.

Continue reading Windows 8 Explorer to feature Ribbon UI, SkyDrive and Mesh integration?

Windows 8 Explorer to feature Ribbon UI, SkyDrive and Mesh integration? originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 03 Apr 2011 08:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/03/windows-8-explorer-to-feature-ribbon-ui-skydrive-and-mesh-integ/

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The 15-Inch Retina MacBook Pro Is Your Needs-No-Introduction Deal of the Day

Until Apple refreshes the Retina MBP line, the 15-inch rMBP remains the pro laptop to own. It's a better value than the 13" model, it has a quad-core processor and discrete NVIDIA graphics, and oh — nobody else has a screen like that 2880x1800-pixel beast. Best Buy's running a sale on a bunch of MacBooks today — echoing last week's unprecedented MacBook Air sale — and Amazon's price-matched. That means a new entry-level Retina MacBook Pro 15" is a straight $2000 on the dot, matching the lowest price we've ever seen. Mind you, a refurb from Apple is still a bit less expensive, but after taxes, you might end up saving a whole bunch on a new one from Amazon. [Amazon] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/yvYXJ66EZN4/the-15+inch-retina-macbook-pro-is-your-needs+no+introduction-deal-of-the-day

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The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Zebra Escape Drills

Don't let their gentle demeanor and calming strikes fool you. Zebras are unstoppable killing machines. They'll bathe in the blood of your children just as soon as look at you. That's why keepers at Tokyo's Tama Zoo aren't taking any chances and are prepping for the day these murderous equines overcome their paddock locks. But rather than free one of these stripey psychopaths, even temporarily, zoo officials instead opted for a slightly less deadly option: furries! character actors dressed as zebras. The horror. [BBC] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/UaV1PHPrAi0/the-weirdest-thing-on-the-internet-tonight-zebra-escape-drills

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