Join Dr. Bill as he examines the wild and wacky world of the web, computers, and all things geeky! Hot Tech Tips, Tech News, and Geek Culture are examined… with plenty of good humor as well!
Ransomware that will grab your PC screen, Windows 10 Fall Creators Update: Don’t rush it, Streaming is more popular than Cable, Voodooshield, SetTVNow, Space Channel, Mozilla launches Firefox 57, no ‘Freemium’ Prime Video, Moment lenses for Google Pixel 2
Ransomware that will grab your PC screen, Windows 10 Fall Creators Update: Don’t rush it, Streaming is more popular than Cable, Voodooshield, SetTVNow, Space Channel, Mozilla launches Firefox 57, no ‘Freemium’ Prime Video, Moment lenses for Google Pixel 2
ZDNet – By: Chris Duckett – “Firefox 57 is set to bring the biggest shake-up that Mozilla’s browser ecosystem has seen in quite some time, and the simple reason is that a huge number of extensions and add-ons are set to stop working.
Appearing on November 14, Firefox Quantum brings together a number of long-running programs to speed up the browser — including using its C++ alternative language Rust and multi-process functionality — but it comes at the cost of Firefox’s best feature, its extensibility.
This is far from a surprise, with the switch from XUL to WebExtensions first signalled in mid-2015, but it is a hard break with the past.
Many popular extensions have already been ported to the new framework, but due to extra restrictions imposed by WebExtensions, some existing add-ons are simply unable to do what they once did.
For those still using Firefox 56 and earlier who would like to know what they are going to lose when they upgrade to 57, you are able to see what will disappear thanks to the Add-on Compatibility Reporter.
Sometimes your favourite add-ons are not long for this world.
After installing the add-on, head over to the about:addons page in your browser, and any extensions with a bright yellow Legacy label are sitting on death row.
Ironically, the Add-on Compatibility Reporter is among the extensions that will stop working when Firefox is updated to Quantum.
How to deal with add-ons that will not work is something each user will need to investigate, but Mozilla has said most users should not be impacted by the shift to Quantum.
For users who absolutely have to keep using a XUL-based extension, it is possible that using a fork of Firefox dubbed Pale Moon could work, or switching to Firefox’s extended support release will get another 11 months on Firefox 52, or sitting on Firefox 56 for as long as is needed.
The Verge – By: Dani Deahl – “Update November 14th, 11:06AM ET: This article was updated to include a statement from Amazon denying the claims.
Amazon is reportedly working on a free, ad-supported version of its Prime video streaming service, according to sources that spoke with AdAge. Currently, Prime members pay $99 to access a variety of video streaming content, which is usually ad-free.
This alternate version described by AdAge would be available to non-Prime members and would be supported by the advertisers. AdAge says Amazon may also share audience information and ad revenue in order to bolster its initial efforts with the project. One unnamed executive told AdAge that ‘Amazon is talking about giving content creators their own channels, and sharing ad revenue in exchange for a set number of hours of content each week.’
People have been migrating away from traditional TV and toward subscription-based services like Netflix, in part because these platforms offer ad-free experiences. This version of ad-supported streaming will certainly be attractive to advertisers and content creators, but the question is whether consumers will bite on watching shows interrupted with commercial breaks, even if they’re free.
A ‘freemium model’ could be beneficial to Amazon as movies and TV shows are one of the main reasons people sign up for Prime accounts. So sure, a free version is a good deal, but freemium could drive people to upgrade to a Prime account to access ad-free streaming, along with all the other benefits Prime offers, like free two-day shipping on eligible purchases.
According to AdAge, the free, ad-supported version will feature a lot of back catalog from Amazon, including children’s programming as well as lifestyle shows that revolve around topics like cooking and travel.
Despite all the details, however, an Amazon spokesperson told The Verge: ‘We have no plans to create a free, ad-supported version of Prime Video.'”
VentureBeat – By: Emil Protalinski – “Mozilla today launched Firefox 57, branded Firefox Quantum, for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. The new version, which Mozilla calls ‘by far the biggest update since Firefox 1.0 in 2004,’ brings massive performance improvements and a visual redesign.
The Quantum name signals that Firefox 57 is a huge release that incorporates the company’s next-generation browser engine (Project Quantum). The goal is to make Firefox the fastest and smoothest browser for PCs and mobile devices — the company has previously promised that users can expect ‘some big jumps in capability and performance’ through the end of the year. Indeed, three of the four past releases (Firefox 53, Firefox 54, and Firefox 55) included Quantum improvements. But those were just the tip of the iceberg.
Firefox 57 for the desktop is available for download now on Firefox.com, and all existing users should be able to upgrade to it automatically. The Android version is trickling out slowly on Google Play, and the iOS version (which is usually updated separately from the other platforms) should eventually arrive on Apple’s App Store.
Mozilla doesn’t break out the exact numbers for Firefox, though the company does say that ‘half a billion people around the world’ use the browser. In other words, it’s a major platform that web developers target — even in a world increasingly dominated by mobile apps.
Speed
Mozilla says that Firefox Quantum will feel speedier when you browse your favorite websites, thanks to faster page loading, smoother scrolling, and a more responsive user interface. The company noted three ways Firefox now bests the competition:
Firefox Quantum is 2X as fast as Firefox was 6 months ago, according to the (still-in-development) Speedometer 2.0 benchmark
Firefox Quantum is oftentimes perceivably faster than Chrome in a side-by-side comparison
Firefox Quantum often uses less memory than Chrome (~30 percent less using a Windows 10 PC)
While Firefox has historically run mostly on just one CPU core, Firefox Quantum finally takes advantage of multiple CPU cores on desktop and mobile. Firefox Quantum features a faster CSS engine written in Rust that runs quickly, in parallel across multiple CPU cores, instead of running in one slower sequence on a single core. ‘No other browser can do this,’ Mozilla claims.
Firefox Quantum prioritizes the tab you’re actively using — that tab downloads and runs before other tabs you have open in the background — and includes a new CSS engine called Stylo, which takes better advantage of multiple CPU cores that are optimized for low power consumption. Mozilla has also fixed hundreds of issues related to Firefox speed in the past several months, which adds to the feeling of a faster browser.
You can check out Mozilla’s tests here and the technical background here.
New features
Performance aside, Firefox Quantum includes a visual refresh, called Photon, that ‘feels fast, fluid, and at home with modern operating systems.’ Photon takes advantage of today’s High DPI displays and other hardware across Windows 10, macOS High Sierra, Android Oreo, and iOS 11.
‘We call this initiative Photon, and its goal is to modernize and unify anything that we call Firefox, while taking advantage of the speedy new engine,’ the team explained. ‘You guessed it: The Photon UI itself is incredibly fast and smooth. To create Photon, our user research team studied how people browsed the web. We looked at real-world hardware to make Firefox look great on any display, and we made sure that Firefox looks and works like Firefox, regardless of the device you’re using. Our designers created a system that scales to more than just current hardware but lets us expand in the future.’
Photon on a Windows PC with a touch display, for example, adjusts the menu size based on whether you click with a mouse or touch with a finger. You can expect square tabs, a dark color scheme, smooth animations, and a restructuring of menus. There’s also a Library feature that provides quick access to bookmarks, Pocket, history, downloads, synced tabs, and screenshots.
Speaking of Pocket, Firefox Quantum integrates the read-it-later app, which Mozilla acquired in February, even further. When you open a new tab, you’ll see currently trending web pages recommended by Pocket users, in addition to your top sites. Firefox Quantum lets you save to Pocket right from the address bar. If you have the Pocket app for Android or iOS, you’ll also get offline access to your saved stories.
In Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the U.S., Firefox will use Google as its default search provider. Back in November 2014, Mozilla swapped the default from Google to Yahoo for these countries. Firefox default search providers in other regions are Yandex in Russia, Turkey, Belarus, and Kazakhstan; Baidu in China; and Google in the rest of the world. Firefox still lets you swap between search providers — Mozilla says Firefox offers more than 60 search providers pre-installed across more than 90 languages, which is more than any other browser.
Here’s the full Firefox 57 for desktop changelog:
A completely new browsing engine, designed to take full advantage of the processing power in modern devices
A redesigned interface with a clean, modern appearance, consistent visual elements, and optimizations for touch screens
A unified address and search bar. New installs will see this unified bar. Learn how to add the stand-alone search bar to the toolbar
A revamped new tab page that includes top visited sites, recently visited pages, and recommendations from Pocket (in the US, Canada, and Germany)
An updated product tour to orient new and returning Firefox users
AMD VP9 hardware video decoder support for improved video playback with lower power consumption
An expanded section in preferences to manage all website permissions
Various security fixes
Firefox now exclusively supports extensions built using the WebExtension API, and unsupported legacy extensions will no longer work. Learn more about our efforts to improve the performance and security of extensions
The browser’s autoscroll feature, as well as scrolling by keyboard input and touch-dragging of scrollbars, now use asynchronous scrolling. These scrolling methods are now similar to other input methods like mousewheel, and provide a smoother scrolling experience
The content process now has a stricter security sandbox that blocks filesystem reading and writing on Linux, similar to the protections for Windows and macOS that shipped in Firefox 56
Middle mouse paste in the content area no longer navigates to URLs by default on Unix systems
Removed the toolbar Share button. If you relied on this feature, you can install the Share Backported extension instead.
Some older versions of the ATOK IME, including ATOK 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010, can cause crashes and are therefore disabled on the Windows 64-bit version of Firefox Quantum. To fix those incompatibility issues, please use a newer version of ATOK or one of other IMEs.
The default font for Japanese text is now Meiryo
Complete visual refresh of both the Light and Dark DevTools themes, matching the new visual style of Firefox Quantum
The Inspector shows the values of CSS variables on hover
Completely new and re-designed Console panel. Joining the Debugger and the Network Monitor, the Console has been rewritten using modern web technologies such as React and Redux. It now also allows to inspect objects in context.
If you’re a web developer, more details are available for you here: Firefox Quantum 57 for developers.
Here’s the full Firefox 57 for Android changelog:
Performance improvements for faster page loading and stability
Updated interface, including a revamped new tab page that includes top visited sites, recently visited pages, and recommendations from Pocket (in the US, Canada and Germany)
Video decoding is shut down when the tab playing the media is sent to the background. Video resumes when the tab is brought to the foreground. Audio will not be affected.
Added an option to enable tracking protection outside of private browsing
Automatically enable private mode on compatible keyboards during private browsing
Long URLs in the URL bar are now scrollable
Added Wolof (wo) locale
Various security fixes
Firefox for Android now exclusively supports extensions built using the WebExtension API, and unsupported legacy extensions will no longer work. Learn how we made extensions faster and more secure
Allow Android Apps to launch a customized web browser
Mozilla releases new Firefox versions every six to eight weeks, and Firefox 58 is currently slated for late January.”
Cord Cutters News – By: Luke Bouma – “Today the research firm Hub released a report called ‘Conquering Content’ that looks at the growth of streaming.
According to this report for the very first time, most Americans prefer to stream their favorite show vs watching it on a traditional pay TV provider. In total 52% of Americans say they would rather stream the show vs 48% who said they would rather watch it on cable.
This is a huge jump from 2014 when only 31% said they would prefer to stream it. In 2016 only 40% of Americans would like to stream over a traditional pay-TV service. This rapid growth also lines up with the growth of live TV streaming services such as Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, Hulu, and DIRECTV NOW to name a few.
‘These findings suggest that the aggressive investment SVODs are making in original and exclusive content is paying big dividends,’ said Peter Fondulas, co-author of the study and principal at Hub. ‘In this research and other recent studies, we see clear evidence that high-profile online exclusives generate buzz that draws consumers to these platform, which not only helps attract brand new subscribers, but also builds loyalty among current customers.’
Hub conducted their research in October 2017 with over 2,000 US consumers.”
