Recently there has been much speculation that Google would be releasing a Google branded version of the Firefox web browser. Well that speculation can now grow to include the “Ask Jeeves” search engine as well. Ask Jeeves went a step further then just a re-badged browser, and are apparently in talks to Open Source their desktop search software under the Mozilla foundation’s care. Ask Jeeves spokesman Jim Lanzone described Mozilla as “open-minded but non-committal”. I imagine Mozilla’s reluctance could at least in some part be attributed to not wishing to upset the good relationship they have developed with Google. This news comes less then a week after Yahoo released a tool bar for Firefox.
It seems that most of the big search engines enjoy the freedom of having a browser that isn’t tied to their opposition in the search market, (like Internet Explorer is tied to MSN). Don’t expect MSN to join the fray unless Internet Explorer becomes the under dog (we can hope can’t we?)

Read the full Ask Jeeves story here.

Bill Gates is apparently getting alittle upset that the European Union are not falling into line by adopting the same software patent laws that have so filled the US court system with stupid cases.

To make his intention clear, big Bill has threatened to move his Denmark software unit to the US unless the EU agree’s to software patents.

IT magnate Bill Gates plans to move Microsoft’s Denmark-based Navision business software unit to the United States if the European Union blocks his attempts to secure Microsoft’s intellectual property rights in Europe.

Well, now it begins to become clear why the unpopular directive keeps getting put back on the table even though it has been shot down several times now. There is money behind the push folks, and now you see where some of it is coming from. What Microsoft probably doesn’t understand though, is that the EU isn’t likely to drop their pants for a US company, because competing with the US was one of the reasons for starting the EU in the first place. Many big software companies already have registered software patents in the EU, and anything that changes the rules in a way that makes those patents less valid is not something the huge software companies want to accept as it removes one of their tools for crushing smaller opposition. (like Open Source for example).

Read the full story here or here.
INSERT: Microsoft have denied that they are in any way blackmailing Denmark.

With Firefox stealing another percent or two of market share every month, Microsoft appears to be starting to get a little worried about it. This article at Eweek indicates that even though Microsoft claimed there would be no updates to IE until the next Windows ships in 2006, they are considering service packs for Windows for the purpose of adding new features to IE.

Folks, you can thank Firefox for that, Microsoft would not spend money on IE unless they were worried that by the time Windows Longhorn is released (except for security patches of course) IE might not be the dominant browser any more. After all, they haven’t added any features to IE since about 2001.
The other thing you can expect them to do, is to continue trying to convince customers to use ActiveX and their other proprietary “extras” in an effort to make sure that people and customers have to use IE to use their corporate Intranets. Since ActiveX has been the cause of dozens of security flaws, viruses and compromises, that argument should be a lot less convincing now days. Lastly they are planning to blur the lines between local applications and Internet served applications. Considering their abysmal security record, I hope I’m not the only one worried about the implications of that.

After many many months of tinkering, the new Beta ADVX statistical counter is up and running. You can see the beta admin console here.

Changes are as follows:
– Improved display characteristics.
– Added counting of non JavaScript browsers.
– Added counting of search engine bots. (Googlebot, MSN, Inktomi etc)
– Added Next/Previous links to make big displays more managable.
– Improved calculation of averages.
– A ton of improvements under the hood to improve efficiency, appearance and better enable the counter to handle high traffic sites.
– Referrer and search engine statistics are now colour coded and linked to the term or referrer they display.

Check it out for yourself, the login is here.

Wish I knew Flash because this would be a very good gig at ESPN. Other problem is I don’t want to live on the East Coast … just a bit pricey. Good luck to you if you know Flash.

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Many people use free email accounts, especially when they want to be annonymous. Often they use them if they want to avoid spam. This article deep in the GoDaddy site, designed of course to sell you a GoDaddy email account, explains some of the downsides to useing free email services. You should never use a free email account for something important because it can generally be terminated at any time and you may miss critical information.

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Google likes Firefox so much that they created a special Firefox Start Page! Or is it that Firefox likes Google so much that they decided to make the page found at: http://www.google.com/firefox the default home page for Firefox Browser when you install it? In any event, they have now improved the page by offering a tip about Mozilla products including Firefox and Thunderbird just below the search box.

Examples are:

– Know your shortcuts. Ctrl-T to open a new tab, Ctrl-B to open Bookmarks, Ctrl-H to view History, and Ctrl-K to access the search bar.
– Over 100 search engines can be installed into the Firefox search bar for quick access to your favorite search engines.
– Enjoy using Firefox? Get involved. Spread the word, make a donation, or volunteer.
– Live Bookmarks is a way you can view RSS feeds from your favorite news site or weblog.
– There are over 100 themes and extensions available at update.mozilla.org to make Firefox even better.

Now that Yahoo is building a search bar for Firefox, it will be interesting to see if that affects the default home page for new installs. If you want to get Firefox, use the Spread Firefox button at the top of our page.