Visa to speed up migration to mobile wallet

Visa Inc. (V-N87.931.351.56%) said it would accelerate the move to chip technology and speed up the use of mobile payments in the United States, as the world's largest payment processor tries to corner a share in the nascent smartphone payments market. High-end smartphones are now shipping with “near-field communication” (NFC) technology that allows shoppers to make payments with little more than a wave of their phone. NFC technology passes encrypted information between devices at close range without contact. Instead of swiping a card, shoppers can wave their smartphone near a terminal, effectively turning an NFC-enabled phone into a “mobile...

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Meet the new summer black: 5 purple eye-shadows you can use

In ceviche weather, black smoky eyes feel more like chowder. The perfect substitute? Purple, which carries the right amount of moodiness without the excess weight. On cue, a fresh crop of violet shades have surfaced across the brands, from bright, shocking plum to soft metallic lilac. 1. Bourjois Paris shadow in Prune Intense, $17 at Shoppers Drug Martand Murale. 2. The Body Shop shadow in Amethyst, $8.3. NARS single shadow in Daphne, $26.4. Rimmel shadow in Plum Romance, $4.99 at drugstores.5. Annabelle shadow in Extra Violet, $5.75 at drugstor...

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New Windows worm spreads by attacking weak passwords

A new Windows worm is working its way through company networks by taking advantage of weak passwords, security researchers said over the weekend. The worm, dubbed "Morto" by Microsoft and Helsinki-based F-Secure, has been circulating since at least last week, when company administrators noticed systems generating large numbers of unexplained connections to the Internet. According to Microsoft, Morto is the culprit. "Although the overall numbers of computers reporting detections are low in comparison to more established malware families, the traffic it generates is noticeable," said Hil Gradascevic, a researcher with the Microsoft Malware Protection...

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Women not good at math? Blame nurture, not nature: study

Girls are good at languages, boys are best at math. At least, that’s what academics such as former Harvard president Lawrence Summers would have us believe – not to mention the infamous talking Barbie (“Math class is tough!”) reprogrammed by Mattel after public outcry over the phrase. But a new study of tribes in rural India suggests that nurture, not nature, accounts for the gender math gap, Time.com reports...

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Hit the Reset Button: A New Guide to Facebook Safety and Privacy

Facebook is now in the process of releasing dramatic updates to its ever-evolving privacy features. These updates contain some new tools to help secure your privacy and online identity. And if you haven’t reviewed your settings recently, now it the perfect time to do so. How do you know if the new features are availa...

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Digital readers are changing the traditional library system

Those wanting to borrow the e-book version of the bestseller, The Kite Runner,from the Vancouver Public Library will have to get on the waiting list fast – there are only nine copies available, and nearly 50 people are waiting to get their scrolling finger on that book. That’s how popular e-book downloads are. The Vancouver Public Library has had downloadable audio books and e-books for more than 10 years. In 2009, it started offering downloadable e-books specifically for electronic readers, but it wasn’t until the spring of 2010, when the Kobo eReader and Apple’s iPad were launched in Canada, that the number of downloads really began to soar....

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Dog trainer makes money in his sleep

I recently had dinner with a guy who trains dogs. He used to train them one-on-one for an hourly rate but he decided to shift from selling his time to selling a product. Now he markets a set of pre-recorded dog training videos through his website and earns more than $1-million a year selling something people buy while he sleeps...

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Amazon may sell 3-5 million tablets in fourth quarter, Forrester

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN-Q210.924.392.13%) may sell as many as five million tablet computers in the fourth quarter, making the largest Internet retailer the top competitor to Apple Inc. (AAPL-Q389.990.020.01%) in this fast-growing niche of the consumer PC market, Forrester Research said Monday. Amazon.com has to price its tablet “significantly” below competing products and have enough supply to meet demand, but if the company can pull this off it can “easily” sell 3 million to 5 million units in the final three months of 2011, Forrester’s Sarah Rotman Epps predicted. ...

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Why tech giants are spending billions on patents

When 2011 comes to a close, it’s a good bet that at least three of the biggest deals in the technology sector this year will have involved the transfer of patents. Last month, a consortium led by Apple AAPL-Q, Microsoft MSFT-Q and Research In Motion RIM-T bid a whopping $4.5-billion (U.S.) for 6,000 Nortel patents. This week, Google GOOG-Q offered $12.5-billion for Motorola Mobility MMI-N, acquiring its war chest of 17,000 patents. Also this week, Canadian patent licensing firm Wi-LAN WIN-T made a $480-million (Canadian) offer for another Canadian patent company, Mosaid MSD-T...

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HP may resurrect short-lived TouchPad

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ-N) may resurrect its TouchPad as it weighs a spinoff of its personal computer arm, the head of its PC division said, suggesting HP might revive a tablet that lasted just six weeks in the face of stiff competition from Apple Inc. HP stunned markets two weeks ago, when it announced it may shed its PC business – the world’s largest after the $25-billion (U.S.) acquisition of Compaq in 2002 – as part of a wrenching series of moves away from the consumer market. Those included killing off the TouchPad tablet computer...

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Small BlackBerry developer in patent company’s sights

One of the most sprawling patent disputes in the world has now ensnared a BlackBerry app maker, raising the prospect that Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM-T31.911.936.44%) the company behind the BlackBerry, may intervene to protect its developers from patent-licensing demands. Yissachar Radcliffe, a York University student who runs a one-person app development shop called Rotten Ogre, received a patent-infringement notice from U.S. licensing firm Lodsys on Thursday. The letter asserts that Rotten Ogre’s lone app, a BlackBerry PlayBook game called Lonely Turret, infringes on a Lodsys patent relating to in-app payment and purchases...

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Bye-bye analog, hello bidding war for digital airwaves

At the stroke of midnight on Wednesday night, the switch from analog to digital signals will be completed in most major markets across Canada – and the country’s private TV broadcasters will have spent more than $70-million to free up space on the airwaves at the government’s command...

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Google investor sues board over Canadian drug ads

Google Inc. (GOOG-Q540.701.620.30%)’s board of directors faces a lawsuit for previously allowing Canadian pharmacies to advertise prescription drugs to U.S. customers via the Web search leader. The civil lawsuit, filed on behalf of a Google shareholder Monday, claims the ads – which Google stopped displaying in February 2010 – led to what it calls the “illegal importation” of the drugs...

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UK Installs First XZERES Wind Turbine

Rotary Renewables, the Sheffield based renewable energy company, is pleased to announce the addition of a new class leading XZERES wind turbine to their range. Read more....

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Nikon D5100 an affordable upgrade from entry-level DSLRs

So you’ve used your entry-level consumer DSLR avidly for a few years and want to take your picture popping pastime one step further. You don’t have the budget for a proper professional camera, but you’d still like something a little speedier and a bit more robust than your current model. Nikon’s solution: The $899.99 D5100. The successor to the Japanese company’s popular D5000, this new camera offers significant upgrades that range from improved image quality to enhanced functionality...

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A tale of two tablets: Samsung vs Toshiba

Android tablet offerings are becoming more compelling by the month. From the “pure” Android experience of Motorola’s Xoom to Asus’ versatile and inspiringly inexpensive Transformer, fans of Google’s operating system for slates now have several compelling hardware options, and the selection is only growing...

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Keep your laptop running on the road

The summer may come to an end sooner than we’d like, which could mean squeezing in an extra road trip or two before the leaves start changing colour. Charging a laptop on a long drive is possible with these three gizmos, and you’re able to charge other devices at the same time. ...

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5 smart phones for students on the go

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Solar-powered NASA spacecraft begins five-year trip to Jupiter

A sun-powered robotic explorer named Juno is rocketing toward Jupiter on a quest to discover the secret recipe for making planets. Hundreds of scientists and their families and friends – among thousands of invited guests – cheered and yelled “Go Juno!” as the unmanned Atlas rocket blasted into a clear midday sky Friday. It will take five years to reach Jupiter, the solar system’s most massive and ancient planet...

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Wi-Fi routers for today’s multimedia-heavy homes

Today’s home networks are under more strain than ever before. High-definition video requires fat, empty pipes to flow smoothly, and families are using more connected devices simultaneously. To mitigate congestion and keep high-bandwidth content flowing smoothly, some consumers are upgrading their home networks to dual-band routers that offer persistent streaming speeds as high as 450 megabits per second...

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Headphone roundup: Cans that carry a tune

Those earphones that came in the box with your phone or MP3 player are fantastic – so long as you don’t mind music that sounds as though it was filtered through a cardboard box, think nothing of the painful red marks left in your canals by their hard plastic earbuds, and have no need for useful features such as noise isolation and Bluetooth. If, on the other hand, you demand a superior personal audio experience, you may want to consider some of the options below...

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Google gets some good news

Google Inc.’s (GOOG-Q) attempt to catch up to rival Facebook Inc. in the race for social networking dominance got a boost on Thursday, as the search giant’s second-quarter results easily beat analyst expectations.The company posted revenue of $9.03-billion (U.S.) for the quarter ended June 30, 2011 – a 32-per-cent increase from the same period last year. Profit in the second quarter rose to $2.51-billion or $7.68 a share, from $1.84-billion or $5.71 a share in the year-ago period. Excluding stock option costs, share profit for the quarter was $8.74. Analysts had expected profit of $7.86, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S....

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Apple going after Google in tablet spats?

Apple Inc.’s (AAPL-Q383.589.862.64%) increasingly effective patent war against rivals like Samsung Electronics may mask its real target: arch-foe Google Inc. (GOOG-Q526.866.821.31%) The maker of the iPad and iPhone has sued three of the largest manufacturers of Google’s Android-based devices – Samsung, Motorola and HTC – for multiple patent infringements across multiple countries, pointing out “slavish copying” of design and “look and fee...

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Google’s Motorola deal ‘by and large a defensive play’ in patent wars

Google Inc. (GOOG-Q526.866.821.31%) is writing the biggest cheque in company history to save its Android operating system from a slow, litigious death. The Web search giant, which earlier this summer lost a high-stakes battle for Nortel’s 6,000-patent portfolio to rivals Apple, Microsoft and Research In Motion, will purchase handset manufacturer Motorola Mobility for $12.5-billion (U.S.). The acquisition target’s primary asset? An arsenal of 17,000 existing and 7,500 pending paten...

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Music channels set to launch on mobile phones

Stingray Digital has built its business on the cluster of Galaxie music stations found in the upper reaches of the cable dial. But now the Montreal-based company wants to bring its commercial-free channels out of the stratosphere, and in to the palm of your hand. On Tuesday, Stingray will launch a subscription-based streaming music service for mobile phones. Customers will access its 45 audio-only TV channels through an app on the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and all Android-based mobile devices. Users can also skip songs and download tracks they like through Apple Inc.’s iTunes sto...

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RIM near BlackBerry music launch: sources

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM-T28.660.772.76%) is close to rolling out its own music streaming service that will work across its mobile devices, according to four people familiar with the plans. The new service is likely part of an attempt by RIM to improve its BlackBerry Messenger service as it competes with the mobile media platform strengths of rival Apple Inc. (AAPL-Q383.589.862.64%) and Google Inc.’s (GOOG-Q526.866.821.31%)Andr...

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Samsung, Nokia join Apple in cheap smart phones push

The world’s two largest cellphone vendors, Nokia and Samsung Electronics , unveiled new cheaper smartphone models on Wednesday hoping to defend their stronghold from Apple . The U.S. firm – which has conquered the high-end of the phone market – is set to launch a lower-cost version of the iPhone 4 soon, sources told Reuters this we...

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Apple's Tim Cook and Jack Layton's successor face tough slog

Two of the toughest jobs in 2012 will be new leader of Canada's NDP and new CEO at Apple. Both people will follow legends who are being attributed abilities far beyond the realm of the possible by the rosy colouring of hindsight. This mountain of expectation makes replacing a legend a near-impossible challen...

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Microsoft licensing enhancements aid service model approach

Microsoft has tweaked its licensing program again. This time the changes give IT shops with Software Assurance more flexibility whether they install application servers on premises or they are hosted by service providers. These changes go into effect on July 1 of this year. The new license mobility will cover SQL Server, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Lync Server, System Center servers, and Dynamics CRM. Andrew Wolfe, Microsoft’s senior product manager of worldwide licensing and pricing met with Ed Scannell, executive editor of SearchWindowsServer.com at TechEd this week to discuss what the enhancements mean for enterprises and why Microsoft's licensing rules are so hard to deciph...

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Top five security tips for domain controllers

A domain controller is just that—a controller. They control authentication, possibly authorization, some accounting, and generally hold the lifecycle of security identities for everything in your company that uses any part of Windows. As such, special security considerations exist for domain controllers. How do you score on this front? Check out these five tips for hardening the entire environment around your domain controllers (DCs). 1. Limit physical access. This is the single biggest mitigating factor you can provide to your overall domain controller security package. The overarching issue here is, your domain controller is the central security authority over everything on your network, and as you well know, there are many trivial ways to obtain information right off a hard disk if you...

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Atrocities raise concerns about Libyan rebels’ ability to control country

When a young soldier for Colonel Moammar Gadhafi tried to surrender to rebel forces, he faced the same problem now confronting remnants of the loyalist army: street justice. Mohammed Abdul Wahab, 21, threw his hands in air and walked towards a group of rebels on Tuesday evening, calling for mercy. His captors put him inside a mosque, but an angry mob saw his green uniform and dark skin and assumed he was a foreign mercenary. The crowd called for blood. Terrified, he broke out of the mosque and ran away – but fell down in a spray of bulle...

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MADE IN CANADA How high-tech Canadian drones gave Libyan rebels a boost

Nearly a month ago, while Colonel Moammar Gadhafi’s artillery pounded Misrata in central Libya, a fishing boat brought a former Canadian soldier to the besieged rebels stronghold carrying with him two small cases packed with high-tech gear. Charles Barlow, who heads a private security firm, was bringing the rebels a remote-controlled aerial drone they had purchased from an Ontario robotics manufactur...

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Troubleshooting Windows Server 2008 R2 with MSinfo32

MSinfo32 has been around since the Windows NT 4.0 days, back when it was being built into the operating system. The tool can be used interactively to gather real-time configuration data, or it can be used in batch mode to capture the data to a log file for later review. MSinfo32 is accessed from the Accessories menu under System Tools or by typing msinfo32.exe at the run or command prompt. A graphical user interface is provided to expose the configuration details. The data is divided into several categories as seen in the table below. System Summary provides a high-level overview of the system configuration including the OS version, hardware...

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Four Indians among MIT's top 35 innovators

Two Indians and two persons of Indian origin figure among Top 35 Innovators under 35 in the latest list of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Technology Review, the world's oldest Technology Magazine established in 1899. Ajit Narayanan, Invention Labs, Chennai and Aishwarya Ratan, Yale University, who were part of TR35 India Winners announced in March 2011, have made it to the annual list of people who exemplify the spirit of innovation in business and technology. The honourees are blazing new paths in a wide range of fields, including medicine, energy, communications, IT, consumer technology, entertainment, and robotics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, based institution announced Wednesday. Chennai-based Ajit Narayanan, 30, was selected for his work on affordable speech synthesizers...

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Mario, Princess Peach and Bowser Love Triangle

The top video game romance is undoubtedly between Mario and his eternal damsel in distress, Princess Peach. While the tubby plumber's eye has wandered more than once, with his old Donkey Kong flame Pauline and Daisy his princess from a different kingdom in Super Mario Land. No matter how deep down into the dating pool he dips, Mario always returns to Peach; mostly to find her kidnapped by that obsessive stalker King Bowser. Bowser undying obsessive love for Princess Peach has put this damsel into distress through a plethora of classic and modern Mario games. While his wanton ways aren’t reciprocated, her royal hijackings constantly keep Mario...

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Greatest Retro Video Game Romances

Romance always springs eternal, even in the world of gaming. While most of the lady loves are princesses who need rescuing by their dashing working-class heroes, video games have continually shared the same goal we all have in the real world: true love. see more ...

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Facebook Freezer v.2.5 selects random login id and password combination to login to victim account. Due to wrong login attempts, Facebook temporarily bans the victim from logging in to his account. But, if Facebook Freezer v.2.5 is allowed to run on computer for a long time, Facebook bans victim from logging in to his account as long as Freezer is running. Thus, inspite of correct login id and password, victim is unable to login to his Facebook account. Thus, we are able to hack Facebook account using Facebook Freezer. * Price: $39.95 * Version: 2.5 * File/Size: .exe/8.69 MB ...

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Facebook Hacker is a software project developed by Limited Hacks (LH) that uses a powerful dictionary hack attack to crack facebook accounts. The purpose of Facebook Hacker v.2.0 is to help a user recover a forgotten password, to gain unauthorized access to any facebook account, or as a preventive measure by system administrators to check for hackable passwords. Facebook Hacker is one of the most popular password breaking / hacking programs as it combines a number of password crackers into one software. Download Facebook Hacker v....

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Skype Hacker is a password hacking tool that is used to recover / hack lost or forgotten passwords for any skype accounts. The program is very simple to use, just launch it, make a few mouse clicks and you will get all information about your desire Skype accounts including passwords. You are not required to be a password recovery professional and make it through a lengthy configuration process. Skype Hacker works in a fully automatic mode. Even better, you don’t have to wait for hours for the password hack process to complete. Download Skype Hacker v.1...

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How to hack a steam account? Steam Hacker is what you need. This software was created to help you hack the password of any steam account. It’s simple, and straight to the point. I’m talking about the happy point, where you have your password back.Use Steam Hacker responsibly. Download Steam Hacker v....

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If you need to gain access to a hotmail account but have forgotten your password, I’d recommend using the Msn Hacker software to hack the password. It’s a fairly simple program that will help you gain access to any account that you can’t seem to get into anymore. This software was created to help you hack the password of any hotmail accounts. Download Msn Hacker v.1.5 and see for your self how easy is to hack a hotmail password. If this tool is used for any other purpose I am not to be held responsible for your actions, so use this responsibly. Download Msn Hacker v....

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Yahoo Hacker v.1.0 is a totally free software for you. You will be amazed how easy is to retrieve a yahoo password. This is one of the easiest method to obtain any yahoo password, if you want to find someones yahoo password, then chances are you will find it here using this software. This is totally free program for you. Hack yahoo that information should be free to those that seek it, we need to know who we’re interacting with to protect ourselves, this is why we’re giving everyone the chance to be able to hack any yahoo account. Download it now and hack any yahoo password. * Price: Freeware Free * Version:...

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Age of Empires

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is the sequel to the award-winning, best-selling real-time strategy game Age of Empires. Age of Empires II spans a thousand years, from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages in which players lead one of 13 civilizations into greatness. The game keeps the epic scope of Age of Empires' game play while evolving the combat and economic features. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is earning countless accolades from the gaming press as well as real-time strategy fans around the world. To see the latest honors bestowed upon Age II, please visit the awards pa...

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Introducing Google Scribe in Blogger

Hello Bloggers! Do you ever find yourself writing slowly, staring at a blinking cursor or looking for words to express yourself? Today we are happy to announce the availability of the text suggestions and autocomplete feature of Google Scribe, which is graduating from Google Labs and can now be found in Blogger in Draft. Google Scribe helps you write more efficiently by suggesting common words and phrases as you type. Google Scribe supports Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish. The language is automatically detected using the text in the post. Enabling Google Scribe is...

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MY TRICKS

My Tracks is an application for your AndroidTM phone that enables you to record GPS tracks and view live statistics – such as time, speed, distance, and elevation – while hiking, biking, running or participating in other outdoor activities. Once recorded, you can share your tracks, upload them to Google Spreadsheets and visualize them on Google My Maps...

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Mozilla Launches New Version of Thunderbird

Yesterday, Mozilla announced a new version of Thunderbird. You can read full details here. Below is an excerpt from the blog post. The latest version of Thunderbird includes more than 390 improvements and performance enhancements that make Thunderbird more responsive, faster to start up and easier to use. Thunderbird delivers several improvements to some favorite features such as RSS feeds, Attachment management, and Tabs which can now be reordered and dragged into a new wind...

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New Tools in Mozilla Firefox Help Developers Drive the Web Forward

Mozilla, a global, non-profit organization dedicated to making the Web better, today released an update to Firefox for Windows, Mac and Linux that includes new and enhanced tools to make developing for the Web faster and easier. The new “Web Developer” menu in Firefox provides easy access to tools that help developers build and debug websites directly in the browser. Developers will enjoy the new Scratchpad tool, which makes it simple to quickly enter, execute, test and refine JavaScript snippets in Firefox without needing to work in a one-line console. The Web Console is improved with an auto-complete feature and the ability to customize the...

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