Flock Revamped its Social Web Browser to Version 2.5.5

(Credit: Flock Corporation)

After a long radio silence, the Flock Devs finally announced a new version for their singular social web browser.  I’m referring to Version 2.5.5.  Similar to Apple, Flock is extremely tightlipped about its product.  I had to find out about this upgrade through FileHippo.com, and not through the Flock’s official  Web site.  Strange, isn’t it?

Normally organizations will spends billions of dollars to spread the word of their products in an effort to capture market share.  Other prefer to do it via the mouth-to-mouth method.  Either way, there is an intense activity of trumpeting what is going on with their services and/or products.  With Flock, everything is kept in secret, within its well protected walls.  No wonder their global market share is minimal.  It’s unfortunate, that such a fine product is almost anonymous.

Sorry for the digression.  Let’s get back to the point.  What’s new in this latest version?  This is what I found out.

• It’s based on the Firefox 3 technology, providing a faster, safer, and more stable web surfing experience.
• Incorporated Mozilla’s 3.0.15 patch for Firefox.
• Incorporated the latest Adobe Flash Player version.

As usual, I encourage you to upgrade to this latest version if you’re a regular Flock user.  If not, that’s O.K.

My experience with Flock has been very rewarding.  Since the beginning, I knew Flock was different from the rest of the other browsers.  They were interested in keeping people connected to other people with just a click of a button.  It was—and still is—the only real social web browser.  As social networks evolve, (e.g., Twitter, Facebook and many others) Flock could finally step into the klieg lights.  So far, very few people know about its existence.

In a nutshell Flock delivers the latest web mail, photos, videos and updates from your favorites sites, so you can stop running around in circles.  Good Day.

Download Flock 2.5.5

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Google Again Releases a Security Patch

Oops!, Google slipped and had to reissue a new security patch for its Web browser Chrome to prevent a batch of crashes that turned up as well.

Chrome version 1.0.154.64 was released  Tuesday in an effort to fix one critical security problem and one high-severity one. On Thursday, came 1.0.154.65 to fix a crash during startup that affected “a small percentage of users,” said Chrome Program Manager Mark Larson.

With the first problem, an attacker under some circumstances could run attack software with the same privilege as the computer user.

With the second, an issue handling 2D graphics could potentially allow a specially crafted image to crash a tab and run an attacker’s code within Chrome’s sandbox security isolation system.

Google recommends that all Chrome users upgrade their Chrome browser to version 1.0.154.65, the download link is indicated at the bottom of this post.  Good Day.

Download Chrome 1.0.15.65

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Google Has Updated Chrome to Version 1.0.154.64

Google Chrome’s Stable channel has been updated to version 1.0.154.64 to fix two security issues discovered by internal Google testing.

This release also contains:

• A new notification at startup that makes it easier to set Google Chrome as the default browser. If you don’t want Google Chrome to be the default browser, you can click ‘Don’t ask again’.
• A new version of Gears (0.5.16.0)

Google Chrome is a Web browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.  If you haven’t tried it, now is a good time.  Good Day.

Update Google Chrome

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Google Updated its Chrome Web Browser to Version 1.0.154.59

In an effort to keep its struggling Web browser up to date, Google recently announced security patch  1.0.154.59 for Chrome.  According to FileHippo.com, Google Chrome’s Stable channel has been updated to 1.0.154.59 to fix a security issue:

CVE-2009-1340 ChromeHTML protocol handler same-origin bypass.  An error in handling URLs with a chromehtml: protocol could allow an attacker to run scripts of his choosing on any page or enumerate files on the local disk under certain conditions.

You can upgrade by clicking here or by clicking the General Settings button (the blue wrench icon) located on the upper right hand corner of the screen and clicking About Google Chrome.

Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.  Good Day.

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Mozilla Releases Security and Stability Patch 3.0.7

Yesterday Mozilla released an update to the Firefox Web browser that its developers said fixes eight security issues found in Firefox 3.0.6, six of which were rated critical.

The most serious of the vulnerabilities fixed in Version 3.0.7 could allow attackers to run arbitrary code on a victim’s computer, Mozilla warned in security advisories Wednesday.

Updates for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux are available at the Mozilla site. Firefox 3 users will receive an update notification within 48 hours, or they can download the update manually by selecting “Check for Updates” from the Help menu.

What’s new in version 3.0.7?

• Fixed several security issues.
• Fixed several stability issues.
• Official releases for the Estonian, Kannada, and Telugu languages are now available.
• Items in the “File” menu show as inactive after using the “Print” item from that menu—switching to a new tab restores them. This issue has been fixed.
• For some users, cookies would appear to go “missing” after a few days.
• Mac users of the Flashblock add-on, experienced an issue where sound from the Flash plug-in would continue to play for a short time after closing a tab or window.
• Fixed several issues related to accessibility features.

The update comes as Firefox continues to chip away at Internet Explorer’s market dominance. Mozilla now has 21.77 percent of the global browser market share, compared with IE’s 67.44 percent, a drop of more than 7.39 percentage points in a year, according to Net Applications.

Download Firefox 3.0.7

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Google Chrome is Upgraded to Version 1.0.154.46

Google is determined to make a dent in the Web browser’s world by upgrading their browser as much as they can.  It was recently announced that version 1.0.154.46 is out in the wild.  As you are probably aware, Chrome  is developed in the direction of the speed of loading pages and security.

What is new in this new release?  Let’s take a look under the hood:

• Fix pages failing to load with ‘waiting for cache…’ message. (Issue 4769)
• Mitigate Adobe Reader Plugin Open Parameters Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability (CVE-2007-0048, CVE-2007-0045) by blocking requests for javascript: URLs in NPN_GetURL* calls. (Internal issue 1543405)
• Fix ability to send mail with Yahoo! Mail (Issue 1058, 5852)
• Mark the SECOM Trust root certificates for EV (Issue 4985)
• Fix to not download outdated SafeBrowsing lists (Issue 5597)
• Fix some popups that were blocked even when the user requested them (Issue 6367)
• Fix a timing issue that prevented Gears from starting properly sometimes (Issue 4219)
• Security: Fix bad same-origin check that could lead to one frame being able to read or write the location of other frames (Issue6264)
• Filter out Set-Cookie responses in XMLHttpRequest responses.
•  Add support for UA spoofing, and spoof Safari’s UA string when loading URLs from *.mail.live.com (to fix hotmail). (Issue 4111)

Google Chrome automatically updates to a newer version when one is released. The update process happens silently, whether or not you’re using the browser at the time. If Google Chrome is open at the time of the update, you must close the browser and restart for the new version to launch.

To see if a manual update is available or to check your version number, follow these steps:

1. Click the Tools Menu (look for the blue wrench icon) .
2. Select About Google Chrome.
3. If there is an update available, an Update button will be available. Click the button and restart the browser to use the latest version.

If for any reason that doesn’t work, you can always download Google Chrome at its main Web site.  You can find this link at the bottom of this post.  Good Day.

Download Google Chrome

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Avant Browser Has Been Upgraded to Version 11.7-Build 20

In an effort to keep up with the rest of the pack, Avant browser’s reps announced on Dec. 24th. that they had upgraded their snappy application to Version 11.7-Build 20.

According to their official website, this is what is new in their latest release:

• Shortened the floating toolbar popup time.
• Fixed a bug that address box may not response to [Enter].
• Fixed a bug that adding bookmark function may not work with IE7.

I don’t use this browser that much, but when I do, I like its speed and its simplicity of use.  For people with simple Internet needs this browser can fulfill your requirements.  Avant Browser’s user-friendly interface brings a new level of clarity and efficiency to your browsing experience, and frequent upgrades have steadily improved its reliability.  Good Day.

Download Avant Browser 11.7-Build 20

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Flock Social Browser is Upgraded to Version 2.0.3

The Flock people announced yesterday that their popular social browser was upgraded to version 2.0.3. According to their official website, this is what they added to their latest version:

• Incorporated Mozilla’s 3.0.5 patch for Firefox.
• Updated Flash version.
• Removal of Pownce and Piczo services.
• Cooliris extension blocked due to crashing issues.
• Fix to prevent AOL auto-log out.
• Fix to prevent a local favorite, when publishing a bookmark online only.
• Fix for Digg login detection.
• Fix for Gmail webmail flyout.
• Fix for YouTube private message notification.
• Fix for Yahoo Mail login detection.

Last night I noticed that several websites were causing freezing problems.  One of these sites was Yahoo News.  However, today this problem has been solved.  Another inconvenience that I noticed, is that this version is somewhat slow.   Chrome and Firefox are much faster.  I will continue to use Flock and see is this inconvenience is also solved today.  Fingers crossed.

Download Flock 2.0.3

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Opera Upgrades to Version 9.63

In an effort to keep up to date regarding stability and security, Norwegian Opera upgraded its speedy Web browser to version 9.63.  This release also incorporates the Opera Presto 2.1.1 user agent engine.  According to its official Web site, this is what they added to their Web application:

Changes Since Opera 9.62:

• Manipulating text input contents can allow execution of arbitrary code, as reported by Red XIII. See ouradvisory.
• HTML parsing flaw can cause Opera to execute arbitrary code, as reported by Alexios Fakos. See ouradvisory.
• Long hostnames in file: URLs can cause execution of arbitrary code, as reported by Vitaly McLain. see our advisory.
• Script injection in feed preview can reveal contents of unrelated news feeds, as reported by David Bloom. See our advisory.
• Built-in XSLT templates can allow cross-site scripting, as reported by Robert Swiecki of the Google Security Team. See our advisory.
• Fixed an issue that could reveal random data, as reported by Matthew of Hispasec Sistemas. Details will be disclosed at a later date.
• SVG images embedded using <img> tags can no longer execute Java or plugin content, suggested by Chris Evans.

I’ll be honest to admit that Opera is not my cup of tea.  I’ve tried very hard to understand how it works, but no joy.  But, I know many people who would not change it for anything in the world.  For those Opera zealots I wish then well with this latest upgrade.  Good Day.

Download Opera 6.63

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Opera Web Browser Upgrades to Version 9.60

Norwegian Opera Web browser. (Credit: Opera Inc.)

Early this morning Norwegian Opera Devs launched a new security and stability patch identified as 9.60.  Opera 9.6 is available free on all major platforms and many different languages.  As you probably know, Opera 9.6 has the features and performance to make you a faster and more productive Web user.

What is new in this latest release?

1.  User Interface

• Speed Dial thumbnails no longer disappear when deleting private data.
• Page encoding in site preferences can now be reset to automatic.
• Changed the default global history to 1000.
• Added a new default speedial.ini.
• Improvements to Opera Link include the synchronization of search engines and typed history.
• Fixed sorting by progress in Transfers.
• Fixed copying of multiple entries from the history manager.
• Fixed a bug that could cause notes to be lost when using certain characters.
• Fixed data loss situation when note folders had more than one line in their name.
• Fixed spurious highlighting when using the space character in inline find.
• Fixed an issue that would prevent links in frames from being opened by the keyboard.
• Fixed error pages when entering an unknown protocol.
• Fixed an issue where custom search engines would not get a favicon.

2.  Mail, News, Chat

• Added popular Chinese providers in mailproviders.xml.
• Now copes better with broken POP servers that send empty UIDLs.
• The “Large font” setting is now respected for subjects.
• Cache files from feeds no longer show up in Transfers.
• Feed preview pages now load properly when reopened from trash.
• Text strings on the feed preview page can now be localized.
• Added a fallback feed title for feeds without titles and added a handheld style sheet to the feeds preview.
• Feeds are now detected even when served as text/html.
• Fixed the synchronization of removed labels for IMAP accounts.
• Fixed an issue where the signatures wouldn’t change if the default account signature ended with a space.
• Fixed an issue where sent message bodies could disappear under certain circumstances.
• Fixed a problem where messages would be reported as incomplete when the server reports the wrong message size.
• Fixed importing of files with LF line endings only.
• Fixed an issue where followed contacts would not be properly unfollowed.
• Fixed an issue where only the first followed contact would be shown in the Followed Contacts access point.
• Fixed an issue where the Followed Thread icon would be lost after restart.
• Fixed Quick Find in feeds.
• Fixed an issue where feed titles were truncated before “:” characters.
• Fixed an issue where feed status could get stuck on fetching.
• Fixed an issue where only a few feed items would be fetched.
• Fixed DCC transfers in IRC.

3.  Display and Scripting

• Special characters are now displayed properly in the Address bar drop-down.
• Opera Dragonfly element highlighting no longer stays on the page after closing the developer tools window.
• Script focused elements are no longer highlighted.
• Fixed saving of SVG when right clicking.

4.  Security

• Verisign and Comodo are now formally EV-enabled: see Yngve’s blog post.
• Fixed an issue where specially crafted addresses could execute arbitrary code, as reported by Chris of Matasano Security; see our advisory.
• Java applets can no longer be used to read sensitive information, as reported by Nate McFeters; see our advisory.

5.  Miscellaneous

• Browsing Intranet sites now works after changing proxies in a running session.
• Improved performance with large wand.dat files.
• Fixed Fast Forward on Google search results pages.

6.  Windows-specific changes

• Fixed a bug where network paths that start with \\ would not work, which in particular caused issues with sent mail when storing profiles on network drives.
• Fixed installation problems on Windows NT 4.0.

Through the years, Opera has set the standard for browser development as it introduced key features, such as tabbed browsing, saved sessions, mouse gestures and more. Opera does it again, with Opera 9.6 – this time with a wider world of Opera users watching, as Opera Mini and Opera for Wii have estabilshed their arena. New features such as Opera Link and an unmatched security system are packaged in a sharp, trim UI to set Opera apart from other browsers—and take full speed ahead in leading other Opera-powered devices into a best-in-class Web experience, that only the standards-support and technology leading Opera browser can deliver.

My experience with Opera has been somewhat mixed.  It’s light and fast, but have difficulties downloading several websites.  This is a “no no” for me, since it’s not nice to change browser when you are in the middle of serious blogging.  For that reason, I keep Opera in the backburner.  Others are having excellent results with Opera.  “The taste is in the pudding.” Arrivederci!

Download Opera 9.60

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