We switched our web browser from Internet Explorer to Firefox a long time ago, due to the better stability, security and customization available with the free, open-source Firefox browser. In addition, Firefox has a large number of user-created extensions that you can add to the browser to aid your online web searching and research.

This article from Forbes.com details the gains that Firefox has made against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser continues to burn a path into Microsoft’s house–the PC.

The open source Web browser software is gaining on Microsoft’s (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) Internet Explorer, amassing 11.3% of the global browser market, up from 9.5% at the beginning of the year, according to Web traffic tracking from Net Applications. IE’s share slid from 85.3% in January to 83.6% in July.

In the U.S., Firefox’s claim is even larger, with 15.8% in July up from 14.1% at the end of last year, according to Web analytics firm OneStat.

On Monday, Mozilla said that downloads of the Firefox browser had reached the 200 million mark, but noted that this number doesn’t represent 200 million users.

While Firefox picks away at its user-base, Microsoft is readying its new challenger, IE7, the long-awaited major update to Internet Explorer, which should arrive from Microsoft by the end of the year, though various beta versions were released throughout the year. Features favored by Firefox users, such as tabbed browser windows, will be included in Microsoft’s offering.

When the final version of IE7 launches, it will be pushed out to Windows users via an automatic update, the company said Wednesday. Users will have a choice whether or not to install the software.

You can find out more about the Firefox web browser and download it for free @ Mozilla Firefox.

Here is a YnetNews.com article on the possible use of SMS text messaging by the Hizbullah terrorist group to terrorize Israelis.

From the article —

Dozens of Israeli customers of the Orange cellular service provider received unexpected SMS messages on their phones Wednesday evening, with the English message:

“Now Now Now…Go out from your home Hizballah willing shelling of the area, Israel Government Cheating you And refuse recognition Defeat.”

It was not yet clear whether Hizbullah operatives were in fact behind the messages of intimidation, or whether the messages were no more than a joke in poor taste by other network subscribers.

Upon receiving the message, Shlomit Morad from Or Akiva next to Caesarea, told Ynet, “I immediately understood that someone managed to break into the Orange database and that it of course wasn’t a personal message. This is their psychological warfare. The message came from a foreign number and not a recognized number.”

You can read the entire article @ Hizbullah sending text messages to Israelis?.

The “Little Brother” phenomenon continues. According to the UK Times, students are using mobile cell phone cameras to film teachers losing their tempers in the classroom and then send the videos to their friends for entertainment. Some students are even posting these short film takes online at one of the numerous video sharing sites.

From the article –

TEACHERS have complained of “bullying” by pupils who use mobile phones to film them losing their temper and then send the videos to their friends for amusement.

Often, the pupils goad staff into “ranting for the camera” to make the video as entertaining as possible.

The phenomenon has caused such concern that it is to be raised in a motion at this week’s annual conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in Gateshead.

“There has been an upsurge in the covert filming of teachers,” said Andy Brown, the teacher who has tabled the motion calling for the union to study ways of preventing it.

“In some cases, teachers’ heads have been superimposed on another image to make them look stupid and the whole thing posted on an internet site.”

You can read the entire article @
Pupils use mobiles to ‘bully’ teachers.

Here’s a sign of our techie times. According to a recent article on VnuNet.com, the traditional playground bully is increasingly using SMS text messaging as a high tech way to harrass their targets via computer, cell phone or wireless mobile device.

From the article –

Text messaging and email are increasingly being used to bully children, according to research carried out over a four-year period.

A survey of more than 11,000 children found that nearly 15 per cent had received nasty or aggressive messages via email or SMS.

The findings were presented to the British Psychological Society by Nathalie Noret of York St John’s University College.

“Acknowledging the high prevalence of this kind of bullying is important because most interventions in schools are based on the assumption that bullying is physical or face-to-face,” she said.

The British Psychological Society will also be told that the York researchers noted a steady increase in children being the victims of such bullying.

The survey found that girls were more likely than boys to report being bullied by email and SMS.

“Teachers and parents need to realise that a child’s mobile phone or computer isn’t just a communications tool; it is also a way for a bully to reach children in their own home,” said Noret.

GizMag is reporting on a baseball-size digital spy camera that is encased in rubber and polyurethane, allowing it to be tossed through windows and doors or bounced off walls to record hard to reach areas in dangerous situations.

From the article –

It’s when the Eyeball lands that it becomes incredibly useful as it can capture video up to 25 metres distance and audio up to five metres, and then wirelessly send that real-time info up to 200 metres to handheld device.

An omnidirectional lens rotates at 4 rpm and provides a 55-degree horizontal and 41-degree vertical field of view. It doesn’t even need daylight as it also has night vision capability. Warfighters or Law enforcement officers can roll, toss, or drop the rugged Eye Ball into virtually any hazardous situation - providing the immediate visibility required for users to make safe, intelligent decisions in dangerous environments.

The entire article is available @ The EyeBall tossable surveillance device.

According to a post on ubiks.net, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) is developing a system whereby RFID ( Radio Frequency Identification Tags ) could be sprinkled from the sky over disaster areas that would send out alerts on locations of survivors.

The post is reprinted below –

The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) started developing a system that allows for detailed information gathering about a disaster area by sprinkling RFID sensor tags from the sky (possibly using helicopters.) The sensor tags will be used to collect various information about a disaster — perhaps most importantly, if anyone is alive. The tags are about several centimeters wide/high and equipped with heat, infrared, and vibration sensors.

The plan is to sprinkle the tags at a disaster area where communication infrastructure is destroyed (imagine a big earthquake) and use them to detect the heat from fire and the heat and vibration from survivors’ body and send out the gathered data through a mesh-like network. The ministry thinks that about 10,000 tags will be needed to cover an area as large as a big airport. They aim at finishing their technology R&D by 2007 (and deploying the technology in the “real” world.)

Lexis Nexis has released a legal research toolbar that is offered as a free download for Lexis Nexis subscribers. The Lexis Nexis legal toolbar allows quick and easy access to over 32,000 legal and business information resources.

The LexisNexis Toolbar works with your web browser and allows a large collection of powerful options into a small search package, allowing legal professionals to search Lexis Nexis resources from any web site. The Toolbar also allows individuals to search the Internet using Google or Microsoft’s MSN quickly and conveniently.

You can learn more about the Lexis Nexis legal toolbar at Lexis Nexis Toolbar.

Private eye David Vitalli has developed a do-it-yourself infidelity test kit that will help you catch a cheating spouse or significant other. The “True Test” infidelity kit comes with everything you need to conduct your own forensic investigation and catch a cheater, including gathering DNA samples. The test costs $79.95 and a DNA test will run you an additional $500.00 for lab fees.

You can find out more about the True Test kit, including an online slide show and video play at Test Kit Catches Cheating Partners.

MobileWhack is reporting on a small new SMS device that can be attached to a vehicle or other object and will send SMS text messages to the recipient’s cell phone or other mobile device that detail the travel route and current location of the person being tracked.

The SMS device developed by Security Concepts uses a combination of GPS correction tracking and 3D Google Map technology to provide location accuracy to within 3 meters 95% of the time. This new technology makes it easier for the average consumer to play spy with someone and also raises privacy concerns.

You can read the entire article @ WorldTracker SMS: Big Brother Is Watching You.

ABC News is reporting on a surge in the sale of disposable cell phones in Texas and California that may have a link to possible domestic terrorist activity. Disposable cell phones are hard to track because they do not require the purchasers to sign a contract or have a credit card or personal identification.

From the article —

Federal agents have launched an investigation into a surge in the purchase of large quantities of disposable cell phones by individuals from the Middle East and Pakistan, ABC News has learned.

The phones — which do not require purchasers to sign a contract or have a credit card — have many legitimate uses, and are popular with people who have bad credit or for use as emergency phones tucked away in glove compartments or tackle boxes. But since they can be difficult or impossible to track, law enforcement officials say the phones are widely used by criminal gangs and terrorists.

You can read the entire article and watch the video report by Brian Ross and Richard Esposito @ Surge In Sale of Disposable Cell Phones May Have Terror Link