The Four-eyed Journal » Mozilla

Mozilla Survey – What have we done wrong?

jhay — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:43:09 +0000

This is officially the last week of the 1st semester, Finals exams are up next week, good luck to all students out there because one more big challenge and it’s a much deserved semester break is next. It means more time for me to spend online blogging and blog-hopping.

Moving on, I just answered the Mozilla Survey as share by Yuga. The questions are quite interesting but over all they give me the following impressions:

Mozilla is preparing something big or just something in the back burners – Firefox 3 has scored a Guinness world record and the latest upgrade to it was just released it would seem that Firefox is doing well. Perhaps a big marketing blitz to promote Firefox is on the drawing boards.

They really want to know the mind-set or preferences of Firefox users today – most questions dwell on technical stuff like tabs, anti-phising features, browser speed etc. It’s like they’re asking us which features do we really, really want in a browser nowadays.

Asking us for help – Some of the questions made me feel a bit guilty about making Google Chrome (there I’ve said the magic words!) my de facto web browser. I recall how I use to be a proud promoter of Firefox to my friends and online now it has all slowed down the moment Google Chrome landed on my laptop.

Lastly, here’s the clincher:

Is there anything Mozilla should either start — or stop — doing to drive greater awareness, education, word-of-mouth or press in your market?

My answer was simple,

Do a more proactive marketing campaign, like those “I am Mac” ads or something. Stop relying on a third-party to do this for them because good relationships could suddenly end and turn ugly. Right Google?

Anyone else who took the survey too? What are your thoughts about it?

Now running Firefox 3 – is this the right version?

jhay — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:09:08 +0000

So today, June 18, on our side of the planet is the actual Firefox 3 Download day. The geek in me had lost its brain yesterday because I woke up very early in the morning just to download Firefox 3 and be part of some awesome world record – for geeks.

But lo and behold, all I found was that “coming soon” graphic on the Firefox 3 Download day website. After blurting, “WTF?!” it then occurred to me that I was on a different time zone than where the Mozilla folks are so I had to wait for some 10 hours and more before the sun has shined on their part of the globe turning their calendars into June 17, 2008.

Being the genius that I am, I did some timezone computations using complex algorithms and found out from friends on Twitter that Download day would actually be June 18, 1:00am here on Philippine soil.

That was some 6 hours ago and right now I’m running Firefox 3 and officially part of that world record – for geeks. I sure am glad I did not wait up until 1am earlier for Firefox 3 to be officially available for download because one; I was really wrestling against my tired-from-school, skinny-ass body who has taken sides with the Sandman, in his futile attempt to prevent me from becoming part of that awesome world record – for geeks, and second; I had a feeling that once Firefox 3 does become available for download, those 1 Million-strong fans who pledged to join the quest for that world record download – for geeks, the Mozilla servers would be swamped DDoS-style. And it did, as Yuga puts it succinctly, Firefox 3 Download Day goes kaput!.

Well for a couple of hours, after which everything went down smoothly and the Mozilla servers are now up, running and serving up Firefox 3 to the masses. Holding back and taking some sleep really proved to be a good choice as I did not suffer the frustration of some who weren’t able to download Firefox 3 right away after staying up and waiting that long. Patience does have its rewards.

But wait, what’s this?

I did download the correct installer right? And this is the final version of Firefox 3 not some Release Candidate Beta version right? Then how come that was the page I saw after running Firefox 3 for the very first time? Guys any ideas?

Anyways, so far, I’m happy with Firefox 3. It’s got some refreshing look and feel, it loads pages a lot faster than before, most of plugins work well with it and it does take up less system memory though the new “Awesome bar” annoys me a little because it doesn’t throw back the exact right URLs I’m looking for but hey, over all, Firefox 3 is awesome! Go download it now, retake the web with the best browser today and be part of that world record for – geeks.

Help Set Guinness World Record on Firefox 3 Download Day

jhay — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:44:15 +0000

I have just received an email and I just pledged my support in helping Mozilla set a Guinness World Record for largest number of software downloads in 24 hours once Firefox 3 is publicly released.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – May 28, 2008 – Mozilla today announced its intent to set a brand new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours. The record-setting attempt is planned for the launch day for Firefox 3, also known as Download Day. Mozilla is inviting its global community to spread the word and join the effort by pledging to download Firefox 3 and hosting regional download “fests.”

Since 2004, the Firefox community has grown to more than 175 million users. Firefox is available in more than 45 languages and used in more than 230 countries. Every day, the enthusiasm of the community is reflected in grassroots efforts happening all over the world as people share Firefox with their friends and families. Download Day continues this tradition by harnessing the energy of the Firefox community to improve the online experience for people everywhere.

Firefox fans can support the mission to set a Guinness World Record on Download Day by pledging to download Firefox 3, hosting a Firefox 3 party, inviting friends to participate, or by placing Download Day buttons on their Web sites.

Anyone who loves Firefox could join and pledge their support to achieve this goal by blogging about it, telling your friends about it, host a Firefox 3 download fest at home, at the office or anywhere with an internet connection, perhaps a blogger meetup, or students like could become a Firefox Campus Representative and gain more pledges from their fellow students to download Firefox 3 on Download day.

Spread the news by putting up banners of on your site, blog or social networking site. This would be a simple yet fun thing to do to show our support for Firefox 3, Mozilla and the open-source community.