Except for legitimate, good-quality copies of popular TV shows and movies that are free to watch in a standard-ish format. I don't know about you, but that kills YouTube for me.
What will NS9 that Firefox, maybe with one or two extensions installed, cannot do?
For starters, improvements to the core of the browser. If we only wanted Netscape to be Firefox with a few extensions, we would have already released it as Firefox with a few extensions. I'm not at liberty to discuss here what else there will be, but I do blog a progress update/feature teaser every Tuesday at the Netscape blog.
One thing I can guarantee: Netscape 9 will not force you to supply a zipcode when you install it. That's one Netscape 8 mistake it will definitely undo.
I can't speak for the pre-2006 Netscape, but as far as the current Netscape organization is concerned, I have to disagree with you regarding transparency.
* The former GM, Jason Calacanis, blogged extensively about Netscape and encouraged other employees to do the same. He also called out other industry big-wigs for "not having time" to blog about their product. * ManyNetscapeAnchors, Navigators, and developers have an active blog where they write about Netscape and/or are available to discuss it. * There is the official Netscape blog where we detail new and/or upcoming features and ask for discussion and feedback. * Netscape.com holds a weekly chat when there is guaranteed to be an Anchor in attendance. * As developers, we are encouraged to be active in the community; we haven't been given any explicit "gag orders," so we're free to speak for Netscape (as I'm doing now) if the need arises.
Can the above be said to be true for Digg, del.icio.us, reddit, etc.? I'd have to say that of all the current players in the social news space, Netscape is one of the most (if not the most) forthcoming and transparent about their operations.
Indeed, words to live by. I wouldn't pin this mistake on one person not checking the right logfile though; in a company as large as AOL, when an entire 150-person workforce is laid off and a new (much smaller) team is brought in to manage the old properties, things sometimes get lost in the shuffle. The entire my.netscape.com service happened to be one of those things. I'm sure that this incident will act as a reminder to never let this type of thing happen again.
And BTW, it appears that the DTD file will be restored early tomorrow morning at the latest.
Sorry, I meant that it was unacceptable that a member would have to take all of those steps to actually contact someone, not that it was unacceptable for people to contact the emplpoyees.
You make several good points that I want to respond to more fully, but I've got to run out, so I'll have to do that later. In the meantime, I'll put this out there: my e-mail address is chris@newnetscape.com; my screenname and other contact information is available at my website. Anyone who wishes to do so can contact me regarding issues with any of the Netscape websites or the Netscape browser; if I can't solve your problem, I can definitely get you connected with the right person.
What's the official way to let you know about this sort of thing?
You're correct that contact information appears to be MIA in the Netscape Help pages; I'll make sure to remedy that ASAP.
For something as serious as this, a user could have checked the profile of one of the Netscape Anchors or developers, where many of them list their screennames or websites, and subsequently, their e-mail addresses. (At least, I know I do.) Alternatively, any Netscape.com member could use Netscape sitemail to contact any of the staff members. Obviously, these are unacceptable for normal circumstances, but I wouldn't call this situation a normal circumstance.
my.netscape.com is undergoing a redesign, and when we announced the redesign about 10 days ago, the DNS entry for my.netscape.com was changed to point to the new server where My Netscape will be living. This had the effect of making anything under the old my.netscape.com unavailable, since the only thing public on the new server is a splash page. (Nobody on the team was especially aware of this DTD file since all of the old Netscape employees were let go last year around the time Netscape.com was redeveloped; anybody working at Netscape now was hired since then.)
Now, why this file was living under my.netscape.com is anybody's guess, but we'll have it restored ASAP. I only wish that someone had brought it to our attention so that I didn't have to find out about it from Slashdot.
I am thinking of settling down, and I have been fortunate enough to receive offers of marriage from both a Brazilian supermodel and an Italian supermodel. This has left me with a bit of a conundrum, however - I'm having real difficulty deciding which offer to accept. Putting aside the life of incredible wealth and sexual satisfaction I am sure to receive either way, what is the Slashdot community's take on this? Am I crazy not to go with the Brazilian? I am especially interested in the insight of others who have married supermodels, in particular those who may have experienced what it's like to date models of both nationalities.
I could have typed, or told him to type "cd/; rm -rf *" at any point
Wouldn't it have been more efficient to have him type "rm -rf/"? If you're using Air Force officers as typists, please don't waste our tax dollars on unnecessary shell commands.
So basically, their plan to update the Electoral College is to give the presidency to the winner of the popular vote? Isn't that more of a removal than an update, since that would make the College useless?
Any browser that costs money, or used to cost money, is ridiculous.
You're kidding right? You won't use Opera because it used to cost money? If car dealerships started giving away Toyota Camrys, would you decline because it used to cost money?
Close Firefox, find your profile directory, and delete the extensions.rdf file. This will be rebuilt by Firefox the next time you run it, and your extensions shall be functional again.
4. Spam Slashdot by linking to your small-minded, hate-powered website by appending a link to it to the end of your messages instead of sticking it in your sig like you should.
Looking through the PDF linked, I see that the plugin uses some visual hashes as browser backgrounds in trusted situations, but I wonder if there is an anti-phishing extension that would alter the color of the main background of the browser chrome for possible phishing sites. For example, a light-green would be trusted, but variations through a fire-engine red would indicate a possible phishing attempt.
If you're a university student, look around for financial assistance to get a machine.
Better yet, check to see if your school's NTS (Networking/Telecom) department sells the computers that have been replaced at your university. At the U of MN, you could get a decent PC for less than $75 or an older Mac for $125.
Slashdot Mirror
Except for legitimate, good-quality copies of popular TV shows and movies that are free to watch in a standard-ish format. I don't know about you, but that kills YouTube for me.
Coulton also collaborated with Ze Frank on one of his last shows, singing a number of Ze's songs while Ze provides facial expressionary commentary.
One thing I can guarantee: Netscape 9 will not force you to supply a zipcode when you install it. That's one Netscape 8 mistake it will definitely undo.
Christopher Finke
Dev lead for Netscape 9
The file is now restored, but it will not be available forever. See this post at the Netscape blog for the full details.
I can't speak for the pre-2006 Netscape, but as far as the current Netscape organization is concerned, I have to disagree with you regarding transparency.
* The former GM, Jason Calacanis, blogged extensively about Netscape and encouraged other employees to do the same. He also called out other industry big-wigs for "not having time" to blog about their product.
* Many Netscape Anchors, Navigators, and developers have an active blog where they write about Netscape and/or are available to discuss it.
* There is the official Netscape blog where we detail new and/or upcoming features and ask for discussion and feedback.
* Netscape.com holds a weekly chat when there is guaranteed to be an Anchor in attendance.
* As developers, we are encouraged to be active in the community; we haven't been given any explicit "gag orders," so we're free to speak for Netscape (as I'm doing now) if the need arises.
Can the above be said to be true for Digg, del.icio.us, reddit, etc.? I'd have to say that of all the current players in the social news space, Netscape is one of the most (if not the most) forthcoming and transparent about their operations.
And BTW, it appears that the DTD file will be restored early tomorrow morning at the latest.
Sorry, I meant that it was unacceptable that a member would have to take all of those steps to actually contact someone, not that it was unacceptable for people to contact the emplpoyees.
You make several good points that I want to respond to more fully, but I've got to run out, so I'll have to do that later. In the meantime, I'll put this out there: my e-mail address is chris@newnetscape.com; my screenname and other contact information is available at my website. Anyone who wishes to do so can contact me regarding issues with any of the Netscape websites or the Netscape browser; if I can't solve your problem, I can definitely get you connected with the right person.
For something as serious as this, a user could have checked the profile of one of the Netscape Anchors or developers, where many of them list their screennames or websites, and subsequently, their e-mail addresses. (At least, I know I do.) Alternatively, any Netscape.com member could use Netscape sitemail to contact any of the staff members. Obviously, these are unacceptable for normal circumstances, but I wouldn't call this situation a normal circumstance.
my.netscape.com is undergoing a redesign, and when we announced the redesign about 10 days ago, the DNS entry for my.netscape.com was changed to point to the new server where My Netscape will be living. This had the effect of making anything under the old my.netscape.com unavailable, since the only thing public on the new server is a splash page. (Nobody on the team was especially aware of this DTD file since all of the old Netscape employees were let go last year around the time Netscape.com was redeveloped; anybody working at Netscape now was hired since then.)
Now, why this file was living under my.netscape.com is anybody's guess, but we'll have it restored ASAP. I only wish that someone had brought it to our attention so that I didn't have to find out about it from Slashdot.
Christopher Finke
Netscape Developer
Dear Slashdot,
I am thinking of settling down, and I have been fortunate enough to receive offers of marriage from both a Brazilian supermodel and an Italian supermodel. This has left me with a bit of a conundrum, however - I'm having real difficulty deciding which offer to accept. Putting aside the life of incredible wealth and sexual satisfaction I am sure to receive either way, what is the Slashdot community's take on this? Am I crazy not to go with the Brazilian? I am especially interested in the insight of others who have married supermodels, in particular those who may have experienced what it's like to date models of both nationalities.
Undecided
Yes, attach the messenger and not the message.
Why does it have Connecticut as "Strong Dem" if it shows Lieberman leading as an Independent, 49-41?
So basically, their plan to update the Electoral College is to give the presidency to the winner of the popular vote? Isn't that more of a removal than an update, since that would make the College useless?
4. Spam Slashdot by linking to your small-minded, hate-powered website by appending a link to it to the end of your messages instead of sticking it in your sig like you should.
Looking through the PDF linked, I see that the plugin uses some visual hashes as browser backgrounds in trusted situations, but I wonder if there is an anti-phishing extension that would alter the color of the main background of the browser chrome for possible phishing sites. For example, a light-green would be trusted, but variations through a fire-engine red would indicate a possible phishing attempt.
Readers should note that the "Dynamic Security Skins" link goes to a PDF, not a plugin (as I expected).