Optimus Keyboard

I have been keeping close tab on a great keyboard, Optimus Keyboard. It is invented by Artemy Lebedev, a Russian designer. This keyboard, in my opinion, is the most brilliant computer accessory since webcam. Its like english, russian, game, and all other type of keyboards combinded, plus more. Check out the screenshots in both links.

It is incredibly flexible and it will comes with SDK (according to Lebedev). Maybe the keyboard will be able to play a video on it or some kind of animation (like during screensaver or something). One of slashdot readers raised the possiblity of a spyware hijacking the keyboard and play animation or place porno icons everywhere on the keyboard. You get the idea how flexible the keyboard can be.

But according to the latest news, Lebedev might will have trouble selling Optimus Keyboard in the United States. Seem someone patented same concept of Optimus keyboard in 1998. In my opinion, the patent holder, Elkin Acevedo, need to either let the patent goes or hand it over to Lebedev (for free or cheap price) because he hasn't make or sell his display keyboard for the past 7 years.

I am keeping my eyes on this baby and I will bring you latest news on any changes in Optimus's progress (espeically on the U.S. patent). Let hope it doesn't turn out to be another vaporware.

Minor Change In Firefox Versioning

Asa Dotzler (one of Firefox developers) announced that the Firefox developers have decided to change the versioning of Firefox a little bit. The upcoming Firefox (future versions of Deer Park) will be Mozilla Firefox 1.1 Mozilla Firefox 1.5.

Asa said:

One major consideration in this decision was that the sheer volume of changes in the Firefox core (Gecko) made a minor .1 increment seem misleading...

...Another consideration was that we've made some major improvements to the Firefox application, especially in the update and extension systems that warrant more than a minor version bump. Calling it 1.1 would suggest to most users that this was a minor update when in fact it is quite major and all 1.0 users really should move forward for a much improved product.

EDIT: New roadmap showing Firefox 1.5 BETA release in August 2005.

Mozilla Firefox 1.0.6 Released

Mozilla Firefox 1.0.6 has been released. It included several important fixes and improved stability especially the API compability fix with some of the extensions which was broken by Firefox 1.0.5.

Get them while they are hot.

Google Maps & Traffic Ticket

Read this story about how Google Maps helped him to get out of a traffic ticket.

From the article:

In January of this year, I was pulled over by a traffic officer for “disobeying a steady red”, a.k.a. running a red light. I pleaded “Not Guilty” to the charge, and today - nearly six months later – I went to court to find out the fate of my ticket violation. Check out how Google Maps saved me some serious cash - and points on my license!

This is a very good story about using Google Maps to saves the day.

Deer Park Alpha 2

The second Alpha version of Deer Park (codename for Firefox 1.1) has been released. It includes huge number of fixes and new features/improvements, like using error pages instead of dialogs, fast back/forward feature is enabled by default, report-a-bad-website feature is enabled by default, and many more.

Next stop: Deer Park BETA

Firefox's 70 Million Downloads

The Mozilla Firefox just passed the 70 million downloads mark.

I bet we will get to 100 million mark pretty faster if Firefox 1.1 release by the end of the summer.

Mozilla Firefox 1.0.5 (and future 1.0.6)

Sorry, I know this is old news...

Mozilla Firefox 1.0.5 has been released. It included some fixes for recently discovered serious flaws. But unfortunately it broke some of the extensions by changing the API.

But the good news is the 1.0.6 is on the way that keep the fixes but fix the extensions API as well.

New Firefox Update System

Take a look at the new firefox update system for the future Firefox 1.1.

From the post (Asa Dotzler):

Accomplishing this work is no small feat and we learned a lot from our experiences with the 1.0.x releases. The new system will be much more robust and capable on both the client side and the server side. From the client end, we've got a much improved user experience that should take away pretty much all of the pain of updating Firefox 1.1 for both minor versions and major versions. On the server side, we've increased our capacity and will have the capability to serve "patch" updates which should make things easier for everyone.

I believe the update system is critical to the future of Firefox because no one want to download the whole install package everytime there is a new patch. I can barely recommend Firefox 1.0 to computer illiterates because I know they won't be tracking Firefox site for updates. But this new update system should make it a heck lot easier for computer illiterates to update their Firefox on the fly while using less bandwidth and time for everyone.

On the side note: I'm going on a one-week vacation so there won't be any new post til by the end of the week.

Rabbi and Firefox

Check out this story! (No, its not another rabbi joke)

It brings smile to my face.