Free Republic

The Mozilla Foundation's Firefox Web browser passed a significant milestone in adoption on Friday, with more than 50 million copies of the program downloaded, according to its distributors. To commemorate the moment, the foundation said on its Web site that it would create 50 limited-edition coins, to be distributed to people with stories of spreading the browser online. An additional, a still-unnamed prize will be given to the owner of the Web site responsible for the 50 millionth download. "It's funny how the counter just blows by 50 million without a care in the world, isn't it?" Mozilla developer Blake...

AMHERST, Mass. - A proposed bill that would curtail cookie and cake sales in Massachusetts' elementary and high schools has few fans among hungry teens here. "Kids don't want to buy carrots; they want to buy cake,'' Atayvia Sowers, a 17-year-old student at Amherst Regional High School, told the Daily Hampshire Gazette as she unwrapped a plate of brownies for an after-school bake sale sponsored by the student group People of Color United. Supporters say the bill, proposed by state Rep. Peter J. Koutoujian, D-Waltham, is aimed at curbing childhood obesity. It would prevent student groups from selling sweets on...

Got the Boba Fett blues now that George Lucas has wrapped his final Star Wars movie installment? Fret not, Force faithful, there is a new hope. Jedi master George turned up over the weekend at Celebration III, a mega-gathering of 30,000 Star Wars geeks in Indianapolis, where he announced plans to move his space opera to the small screen. For his first appearance at a Star Wars convention in 17 years, Lucas made a big splash. During a Q&A session, he announced that he is going to produce a 3-D animated action series expanding on the Cartoon Network's Emmy-winning Clone...

Web analytics company OneStat.com reported Tuesday that Mozilla’s Web browsers, including Firefox, comprise 8.69 percent of the global market for Web browsers. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer dominates with 86.63 percent of the market, but Apple’s own Safari Web browser is in third, with 1.26 percent. Netscape makes up about 1.08 percent of the global market, according to OneStat.com, with Opera trailing the pack with about 1.03 percent. OneStat.com reports that Mozilla browser use has increased 0.24 percent since February, while Microsoft’s Internet Explorer usage has dropped 0.65 percent in the same time . By comparison, Apple Safari usage has increased 0.05...

You know that a show has been around a long time when they start measuring milestones in episodic increments of 50. But it's understandable that "The Simpsons" should want to make a big deal out of hitting 350 episodes with this Sunday's installment. As the legendary Fox series wraps up its 16th season, the denizens of Springfield are wading in some uncharted prime-time waters. When executive producer Al Jean boasts that "The Simpsons" "just enjoyed the best 16th season of any comedy ever," that's because no other comedy has ever made it this far. How many episodes is 350? More...

Apple is currently on track to finish up the first version of its iTunes software for mobile phones by June, sources have told Think Secret. The software, which is currently named iTunes Mobile 1.0, has been in development since last year, when Apple and Motorola announced a joint partnership to develop an iTunes-compatible phone. The Motorola phone is scheduled for release in the second-half of the year, Motorola and Apple executives have both said, but the companies have reportedly faced difficulties finding service providers who will carry the device. Cell phone companies, including Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint, are planning on...

It's Steve Jobs's plan to make this the Week of the Tiger. But Bill Gates and his minions at Microsoft are crying bull—specifically, a Longhorn steer. Despite the zoological bent, this dust-up is not about animals, but operating systems; Apple and Microsoft just happen to have named each of their major system upgrades after beasts of the realm. This Monday, Bill shows off the future of Windows, a.k.a. Longhorn, at a developers' conference. The oohs and aahs may be tempered by the fact that the hundreds of millions of Windows users won't get their hands on it until holiday season,...

After nearly a decade, Microsoft's vision for how to protect especially sensitive information within Windows remains largely that--a vision. For years, the software giant has promised to deliver a secure way to shuttle around key bits of information. Once known as Palladium and more recently dubbed the Next Generation Secure Computing Base, or NGSCB, the approach was once a key part of Longhorn, the next version of Windows. Although the first piece of that is arriving in Longhorn, it's only a thin sliver of what Microsoft has been working toward since describing its idea of "trusted Windows" a decade ago....

College kids looking for free music may have popularized Internet file-trading software, but the technology is now used by everyone from penny-pinching phone callers to polar explorers. Even the recording industry is changing its tune as labels that for years have waged a legal war against peer-to-peer companies are now allowing authorized uses of the technology. "I never thought you'd hear this from me, but the record industry has, mostly, been fairly cooperative," said Wayne Rosso, who is launching an authorized service called Mashboxx while the U.S. Supreme Court considers the entertainment industry's copyright suit against Grokster, his old peer-to-peer...

Bay State congressmen spent nearly $218,000 in taxpayer funds to send mass mailings to constituents in 2004, using public money to mail largely self-promotional materials to potential voters in an election year. U.S. Rep. John Olver (D-Amherst) last year spent nearly $45,000 in taxpayer dollars on mailings to constituents, a practice known as "franking.'' Olver, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, sent out one newsletter with a two-page glossy map of his district showing about 30 projects the panel funded ``at my request.'' The map noted $3.5 million in federal earmarked funds for Pioneer Valley bike paths, $13.4 million...

Pope Benedict has only been in the job one day but a book has already been opened on his successor. Odds are being offered by Paddy Power, the Dublin-based bookmaker, who earned the displeasure of the Vatican by taking bets on this week's election. Just before the conclave, he was escorted from St Peter's Square by security staff after displaying his prices. Despite his brush with the Holy See, the firm took over $382,000 (£200,000) in bets on the outcome. "The chance to bet on the papal election seemed to catch the imagination of the whole world," said Mr Power...

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) — the same environmental group that drew the attention of Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the company’s shareholder meeting yesterday — on Friday shot back at statements Jobs made about the company’s environmental policies. While the groups initial charges were broad, they narrowed the focus on many of the issues in their responses today. Jobs countered claims that Apple did not have an effective computer takeback program by pointing out that Apple has had such a program for four years, recycling over 1,500 tons in the last year. The SVTC said in response that...

Ray Reggie, brother-in-law of Ted Kennedy, wore a wire to entrap Clinton fundraisers. In a battle, who would win, the Kennedy Crime Family or the Clinton Crime Family. Kennedy Crime Family 66% Clinton Crime Family 34%

Michael Moore, the man behind the President Bush-bashing "Fahrenheit 9/11," would like to reward and encourage students to rebel against authority. The 50-year-old filmmaker has set up a scholarship for California State University, San Marcos students who defy the school's administration, reports the AP. Moore had announced his intention to award the two $2,500 Freedom of Speech scholarships last year when the school canceled his scheduled appearance, even after the student government raised $40,000 for his visit in September. University President Karen Haynes claimed that the decision was made because the campus didn't have enough time to find someone to...

Apple on Thursday held its annual shareholders meeting at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. While the majority of the question and answer period went smoothly, a group of environmentalists drew the ire of Apple CEO Steve Jobs as he sought to set the record straight. Jobs also used the opportunity to take a swipe at Microsoft’s upcoming “Longhorn” operating system.

Owners of the new PlayStation Portable handheld video game player can now take adult magazine Playboy on the road with them--and they don't have to bother with the articles. The online arm of Playboy Enterprises on Wednesday said it will offer photo galleries and videos shot and edited specifically for the PSP. Playboy said it has shot a "sci-fi themed" spread of model Amy Cooper that was formatted for viewing on the PSP's wide-angle screen. Playboy said "PlayboyStation Portable" is available for free, in the form of two non-nude picture galleries and one free video. Subscribers to Playboy's online service...

As security bugs swarm around the Firefox browser, volunteer marketers want to shore up the open-source project's security message. With Monday's reports of the Mozilla Foundation's patches for significant new security holes that could let attackers install malicious code or steal personal data, Firefox partisans are finally acknowledging that the core sales pitch for their browser may be vulnerable. "The versions of Firefox up to version 1.0.3 have had terrible security risks," wrote one participant for the volunteer Firefox promotion, Spread Firefox. "I think these security risks have undermined the promise of Firefox as a more secure browser." While Firefox...

Sony plans to launch an online marketplace where fans of its multiplayer games can buy and sell virtual artifacts, a practice it previously discouraged. The Station Exchange site, announced Wednesday by Sony Online Entertainment, is apparently in response to the growing underground market for such items. Planned for launch in late June, the site will first offer subscribers to Sony's "EverQuest II" the option to buy, sell or trade the right to use specific characters, items and online funds that they have earned playing the video game. Until now, Sony has been among the most aggressive game makers in restricting...

What do you get when you put a tall dark haired man in front of 36 systems in a rack serving 200 terabytes of data, five miles of cable (one-half of which is fibre) and 40 desktop systems all in a room? If you guessed anything other than Apple executive Richard Kerris standing in front of the company's booth at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas, Nev., you would have been wrong. The Apple booth was so busy during its demo sessions that people had to take alternate routes because they couldn't make it through the crowds....

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has appeared on the front cover of Elle magazine in Ukraine posing in a designer dress. Mrs Tymoshenko played a key role in the "Orange Revolution", her plait hairdo making her a distinctive figure. Interviewed by Elle Ukraine, she said she was making full use of her looks in the male-dominated world of politics. She is said by local media to have even charmed Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Kiev in March. "Do you really think I can charm people? That's interesting, I never would have thought," Mrs Tymoshenko told Elle.