Swarnava Sengupta's blog

[swarnavasengupta]

Flashing Flame Devices with Firefox OS

If you have a Flame reference device and wanna try out alternate versions of Firefox OS apart from the stock one, but not willing to build from source, then follow this mini-manual.

Get the build

You can download the packages from the Nightly Build directories of Mozilla FTP. You specifically need the following two files:

b2g-XX.0a1.en-US.android-arm.tar.gz (XX is the version number)

gaia.zip

Set up environment

Once you have the build, decompress both of them in the same directory. Download the flash.sh file from this gist and put it into the same directory as well. N.B: You will have to set executable bit to the script file ($ chmod a+x flash.sh).

Flashing the device

Enable remote debugging in Device’s Developer Settings

Connect the device to the system over USB

You will need to have have ADB installed 3.1. Run $ adb devices3.2. Check for Flame in the listed devices 3.3. If device is listed, proceed to step 4 (if not, troubleshoot)

Run the script to initiate flashing $ ./flash.sh

Follow the instructions to customize your flashing as per your need.

If you face issues, try flashing with /data partition formatted when asked.

Profit!

Updates

After you’re done flashing, your device will be on the Nightly channel, receiving updates almost each day. Those updates will be over the air (OTA) download of ~60MB, and completely hassle free.

Credit: 

Thanks to Deb. :) http://bit.ly/1si9Uvk

[swarnavasengupta]

Test the brand new interface in Firefox 29: Find out what is new

Firefox 29 ships with an interface redesign called Australis, a new customization mode that goes along with it, and a redesigned Firefox Sync synchronization feature that is incompatible with the old.

Mozilla will make available Firefox 29 to all users of the stable version of the web browser over the course of the next 24 hour period. Existing Firefox 28 installations will be updated to Firefox 29 in that period if they have enabled automatic updates in the browser. The same is true for Beta, Aurora and Nightly versions of the browser which will receive an update to the next version as well, in this case version 30, 31 and 32 respectively. The update to Firefox 29 is already available on the official Mozilla FTP repository and third-party sites. While you may head over to one of those download locations right now, it is usually better to wait until the release is officially announced as last minute changes may replace the current build with a different one. You can check which version of Firefox you are running by tapping on Alt, and selecting Help > About Firefox from the options menu. Alternatively, load about:support in the browser's address bar right away. If you plan to download the new version, note that net-installers are provided by default. If you want full installers, check out Firefox full installation page.

Firefox 29 Changes

Firefox 29 features a major interface rebuild that Mozilla named Australis internally. A tutorial is displayed on first start to users who upgrade to Firefox 29 which aims to highlight the major changes of the new interface to users to make adaption easier. A set of new improvements to the Firefox user interface As mentioned earlier, Firefox 29 ships with a new interface that moves, removes and changes interface elements of the browser. The new interface is an improvement according to Mozilla, as it is simplified and flexible. It "helps you get things done, faster" thanks to the new tabs design, and the new customization menu. The first thing you may notice is that the Firefox button is gone, replaced by a Hamburger button on the opposite side of the interface. You may also notice the curved tabs, that the add-on bar is gone (if you had enabled it), that tabs are no longer displayed on the bottom (if you had them there), that the bookmarks icon has been merged with the bookmarks button and moved out of the address bar, that you cannot move some interface elements such as the back and forward buttons anymore, that buttons are displayed larger (small button mode is gone), and that there is no option to display icons and text in the interface anymore. A redesigned and improved customization mode The new customize mode displays directly in a browser tab. It allows you to drag and drop most toolbar elements and icons displayed under additional tools and features, to the browser UI. Note that browser UI in this regard means the main Firefox toolbar, the bookmarks toolbar that you can display additionally, and the new Firefox menu. You can customize the new menu to your liking, as the majority of icons displayed here by default can be removed. Only the bottom links and buttons starting with "sign in to Sync" cannot be removed or moved. What is interesting here is that you can move add-on icons to the menu as well, and may need to do so if you have not installed an extension to bring back the add-on bar or another toolbar. The core reason here is that all add-on icons are now displayed in the main toolbar as well. If you have many, you may notice that not all are displayed here as Firefox cuts them off so that enough room for the address bar and search bar remains. An interactive onboarding tour to guide users through new interface changes The tour walks you through some of the new features. Here it is in its full glory:

The ability to set up Firefox Sync by creating a Firefox account

Mozilla decided to redesign Firefox's data synchronization feature and introduce it in Firefox 29. While existing Sync users can still use the old synchronization feature for the time being -- but not add new devices to it anymore -- it will be disabled in the future. I have published a guide that explains how you can set up the new Firefox Sync on your system. The major change is that you need an email address to set up an account now. You do use the email address and a password now on all devices once set up to enable the synchronization, so that you do not have to juggle around with keys anymore to do the same. Note that you will create a Firefox Account in the process. Gamepad API finalized and enabled The gamepad API should have been included in Firefox 28 originally but has now found its way into Firefox 29 instead.It was available since Firefox 24, but disabled and had to be enabled on about:config by setting dom.gamepad.enabled to true there. This is no longer the case. It adds gamepad support to the Firefox web browser which web developers can now utilize for their games. Additional information about the API are available here. Other changes

Malay [ma] locale added

Text Rendering issue on Windows 7. Workaround involves setting the preference layout.paint_rects_separately to true in about:config.

Developer changes

navigator.plugins is no longer enumerable, for user privacy. This means that it is no longer possible to enumerate the nagivator.plugins array and compare it with plugin names to get a full listing of all installed plugins.

The add-on bar has been removed. It can no longer be a target for extension icons.

Clicking on a W3C Web Notification will switch to the originating tab.

Australis Toolbar changes

Australis CustomizableUI

SharedWorker enabled by default (JavaScript Shared Web Workers in HTML5)

Promises enabled by default.

implemented and enabled.

implemented and enabled.

'box-sizing' (dropping the -moz- prefix) implemented.

Enabled ECMAScript Internationalization API

Console object available in Web Workers

Web console improvements such as arrays shown inline now.

Network Monitor shows pie chart performance statistics.

CSS source map now supported by Style Editor.

Auto-completion of CSS properties and styles in Style Editor.

Firefox 29 for Android

The Android version of Firefox shares many features with the desktop version. The following major changes have been introduced in Firefox 29 for the Android operating system.

The Bing search engine supports search suggestions now which you can enable in the settings under Customize > Search.

You can now set up the new Firefox Sync on Android as well.

New quick share buttons were added.

Open Web Apps integration improved. Firefox will repackage a web app from Fx29 on so that it integrates better with the rest of the system.

Performance improvements

Security updates / fixes Security information are published after the release of the new Firefox version. We add the information once they become available to the public. Additional information / sources

Firefox 29 release notes

Firefox 28 Android release notes

Add-on compatibility for Firefox 29

Firefox 29 for developers

Hacks Mozilla on Firefox 29 developer changes

Site compatibility for Firefox 29

Firefox Security Advisories

Ghacks

[swarnavasengupta]

Telegram, an open-source competitor of WhatsApp

Telegram is a SMS like application, just like WhatsApp but with major advantages for security. Unlike regular emails or chat clients which send their information in plain text, Telegram sets two layers of secure encryption (server-client and client-client).

So what are the advantages of Telegram over WhatsApp which has been bought by Facebook?, Telegram owners wont ‘own’ your information.

 Advantages

First of all Telegram is free and open-source, and you can grab the source from here. Well known security protocols are open-source and this gives the possibility for communities of cryptographers, hackers and public audience to test their actual security. Using two layers of secure encryption with 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, RSA 2048 encryption and Diffie–Hellman secure key exchange. It’s impossible to brute force a RSA 2048 encryption key with all the computers available on the universe.

Data in safe hands

A lot can be done with the information on your cellphones; data mining is a real business and there are people willing to pay for massive amount of information (Facebook gained access to contact details of millions of WhatsApp users by purchasing the service). Since Telegram is not owned by a company, users won’t have to worry about someone taking over their data, the way it happened with WhatsApp and Facebook.

Secret Chats

Another privacy respecting feature of Telegram is Secret chats. Telegram chats establish client-to-client connection with self-destroy timer, leaving no trace of the conversation. The project has challenged hackers offering $200,000 US dollars in BTC, for intercepting and deciphering a message. This challenge encourages the communities of hackers and cryptographers to test well known protocols for a reward that in the end that will lead to strengthen Telegram protocols. Since it’s cloud-based you can use different clients simultaneously on GNU/Linux, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Mac thus you are not locked into one platform.

[swarnavasengupta]

I was BORN in 90's. The last SANE generation!

We are the last generation that learnt to play in the street, the last generation who played hide an seek. We are the first who've played video games, seen cartoons in color and went to amusement parks. We were the last to record songs of the radio on cassettes, we knew the connection between a pencil and cassette and we are the pioneers of walkmans and chatrooms. We Learned how to program the VCR before anyone else, play with the Atari, Super Nintendo and believed that the Internet would be a free world. We are the generation of the Thunder Cats, Scooby Doo, Tom And Jerry, Jungle Book,Popeye, G.I.JOE. Travelled in cars without seat belts or air-bags, Rode our bicycles down the road without brakes. We never had phone but still kept in touch. We did not have Play stations, 99 television stations, flat screens, surround sound, mp3s, iPods, computers and the Internet, but we had time to rest our head on our grandmas lap and listen to bed time stories. We knew how to built a sand castle on the beach. We knew the smell of a slate and chalk pencils. We held our dads hands to wait in the bank while they drew money, instead of atms. We had a GREAT time,thanks to technology that its just a memory now!

we are constantly moving ahead in life like missiles , being negligent to how much these changes can affect someone 's life .. wish we could go back to those beautiful times..

[swarnavasengupta]

New Firefox Sync has landed in Firefox Nightly

As you may know, the nightly channel of the web browser is currently at version 29. This will change in the next couple of days when all channels are upgraded a version. The new Firefox Sync has already landed in Firefox Nightly while the old Sync is also still operational for the most part. This may sound confusing at first, but it is not really the case. If you use the old Firefox Sync, then you probably wonder how to switch to the new version, and what impact not switching to the new version may have on the synchronization functionality. The old sync works just fine for now for the most part. You can still synchronize all of your devices with each other without making any changes. What you cannot do anymore however is add new devices that you want synced as well. In addition, Mozilla will support the old sync technology only for a limited amount of time before it will stop support for it. It is still possible to use the old sync at that point, but only if you are using a community supported self-hosted solution as explained here. Setting up the new Firefox Sync If you are not using the old Firefox Sync, skip the following step. Before you can configure the new Firefox Sync on your system, you need to unlink all of your existing Sync devices. You do so with a click on the settings button, selecting Options, and then the Sync tab. Click on unlink this device to discontinue the old Firefox Sync on the system. To create a new Firefox Sync account, do the following.

Click on the Settings button again and select Sign in to Sync.

Or, load about:accounts directly in the browser's address bar.

Click on the Get Started button displayed here.

You are asked to create a Firefox account by entering your email address, selecting a password, and your year of birth.

Here you can also check the "Choose what to sync" option to customize the data that gets synchronized by the browser.

A verification link is sent to the email address. The email is verified when you load that link.

If you have selected to customize the sync settings, you can do so on the next screen.

Firefox Sync has been successfully set up after you hit the Start button.

The major change is that you do need to use an email address to set up the account. On the positive side of things, this means that you only need to use the email address and password to set up Sync on another device, instead of keys that the old Sync used to add devices to the process. It does mean that Firefox users need to create a Firefox Account to use Sync, and while other browsers handle this in the same way, Chrome Sync requires a Chrome account for example, some users may not like the idea of using an email address to create such an account. A Firefox Account is also required to use the Firefox Marketplace. Mozilla has additional account-related ideas that it may implement at one point in time.

[swarnavasengupta]

An Introduction To Tor, Lightbeam, and Adblock

In a world increasingly dominated by surveillance from marketers, tech firms, and big governments, privacy can be tough to come by these days. In an effort to help our readers gain more control over what data is exposed during their web browsing I’ve decided to cover some of the most prominent and easy to use privacy oriented programs. Lightbeam is a plugin for the Firefox web browser that allows you to view what third party websites your data is being shared with. Tor is a web browser bundle that seeks to anonymize your web browsing. Finally AdBlock and NoScript are programs that prevent ads for the former and prevent javascript from running in your browser for the latter. Using one or a combination of several of these programs can help to give you more control over who has access to your personal data. Note: The following services are very user friendly and as such I won’t be doing tutorials on them. If you have issues I’d love to hear your questions in the comments area.

Firefox

While you might think of your web browser as a simple gateway to the web the reality is far more disheartening. Many web browsers are purported to include tracking code which shares data with outside sources. For instance, while I like Google Chrome’s simplicity I’ve also heard it described as Malware due to its propensity for tracking its users’ web browsing. Firefox on the other hand is an open source browser with a host of plugins and add ons aimed at keeping users’ data more secure. Some of the following programs require Firefox and I’d highly suggest its use over other web browsers.

Firefox Home Page (Mozilla.org)

Lightbeam

Lightbeam is an add-on for Firefox which was released in late 2013. Lightbeam provides Firefox users with a visual representation of who is sharing their data and how web sites are connected. Most web sites use third party plug-ins such as analytics software or ad servers. This plugin helps users to see just which sites and services are being connected to without having to wade through lines of code. Lightbeam is more of an educational resource as to who your data is being shared with and how websites connect to each other. You may not check LightBeam often, but using it even once can do worlds in informing you as to how the websites you’re connecting to are working.

Lightbeam (Mozilla.org)

Tor

Tor is a browser bundle consisting of a version of Firefox as well as some other software that serves the purpose of anonymizing your internet traffic. Originally developed by the US Naval Research Laboratory, Tor and the Tor network now consists of thousands of servers which help to relay your traffic. Your traffic enters into one entry node, is passed among one or more relay nodes, and exits at an unknown exit node. To an outside observer it is difficult to determine which traffic relates to whom (Though some attacks on the network have been successful, check this wikipedia article for a list of weaknesses). All you have to do to run Tor on your machine is to download the Tor browser bundle from the Tor Project and start it up. The homepage for the instance of Firefox running Tor will either state that you are or are not running the latest version of Tor.

Tor Project (TorProject.org)

There are a few limitations with Tor. For instance, navigating to certain sites with Tor you might find that the IP has been blocked or that posts from that IP have been disabled. Since Tor relies on a series of independent servers, once an IP is blocked for one user it will be blocked for all subsequent users exiting the Tor network from that IP. As pointed out by Karen Reilly of the Tor project, there are some potential issues with using a combination of Tor and VPNs as VPN providers could potentially compromise your anonymity (Link with details to use of Tor with VPNs). Additionally sending plain text over the Tor network is still sending plain text, just like any other network. It is possible that data such as usernames and passwords could be compromised at several places along the way. As such it is important to use a combination of HTTPS and Tor. It is possible to support the Tor network by running your own exit node. However, this is not advisable if you’re running it from a home or work network. Because of Tor’s anonymity it has a propensity for attracting some nefarious characters, and you don’t want their traffic emerging from your home network as it is possible that it could draw the attention of law enforcement agencies. It is also possible to route other programs through Tor providing additional anonymity for things like chat rooms.

AdBlock Plus and NoScript

AdBlockPlus is a plug-in for Firefox that disables ads on websites that you visit. Aside from the possible privacy implications, blocking ads can create a much better web experience. AdBlockPlus is extremely easy to install and requires a total of two clicks once you get to the installation page. By default AdBlockPlus allows some unobtrusive advertisements, though settings can be adjusted to block all ads. A quick test run shows that the advertisements on this site (google adsense ads) are blocked. Meanwhile the default ads on Reddit are not blocked.

Ad Block Plus Homepage (AdBlockPlus.org)

While blocking advertisements is all good and fun, blocking all client side scripts can greatly improve your individual privacy. Many sites use snippets of javascript and cookies to track information about their visitors. At times this information is sold and passed on to third party sites without the user’s knowledge or consent. Like Ad Block Plus, No Script is extremely easy to install, though it does require you restart Firefox. Note that NoScript doesn’t disable all client side programs, but rather let’s you choose which ones you want to let run.

No Script Hompage (NoScript.net)

I’d encourage you to test out a combination of Lightbeam, AdBlock and NoScript on this site and others. You’ll quickly see that a site like Hacker News doesn’t appear to connect to any third party sites, while a site like Yahoo appears to connect to dozens. CryptoJunky.com connects to several as we currently have analytics software, as well as adsense and several social media scripts running. At the moment we’re strongly considering removing most or all of these in order to better preserve user privacy. If you have an opinion one way or another we’d love to hear it in the comments.

Search Engines

While google has reigned on high for over a decade as the preferred search engine of the internet, recent privacy concerns have put a chink in their armour. If you don’t want your search history tracked, recorded, and probably passed on then I’d suggest going with an alternative such as DuckDuckGo. In addition to anonymizing your searches, using DuckDuckGo has the added benefit of keeping you out of the filter bubble which encircles an increasingly large amount of our online activities. Since DuckDuckGo doesn’t quite have the funding of Google or Bing, you’ll see less in the way of advanced search options such as news, images, video, etc. What you get with DuckDuckGo is a crude yet refreshing search experience akin to Google’s early days.

DuckDuckGo Home Page

Contributing

If you’re interested in contributing to any of the above projects most accept donations. Some, such as Mozilla (Firefox) are actively pursuing open source developers to help them improve Firefox and related services. Another group to consider donating to is the Electronic Frontier Foundation which aims to protect individual user rights and privacy online (and they accept Bitcoin!).

Conclusion

A man walks into a jewelry store to shop for an engagement ring for his future bride. He gets advice, browses a few options, and after some time makes a purchase. Awhile later he proposes to his now fiance with complete surprise. Some years later his son is shopping for an engagement ring online. The son gets some advice, browses a few options, and after some time makes a purchase. Later that night he’s with his future fiance when a few ads get played on their internet radio station, promoting deals for engagement rings. Later she uses his tablet which is chalk full of ads targeting men shopping for engagement rings. No surprises to be had. We all have things we’d like to keep private from time to time, hopefully these programs help you in keeping what’s important to you private.

[swarnavasengupta]

Firefox UX build sees new Australis improvements

Months and months ago, the Firefox developers announced the start on working on Australis, essentially, a completely new theme for Firefox that is to be expressed on multiple levels and components of Firefox. Basically, Australis introduces (work in progress) rounded tabs with an immediately noticeable beauty, as well as several eyecandy elements, bundle of Australis additions bringing solid interface enhancements to the powerful web-browser. Presently, Australis is being put together piece by piece in Firefox's UX branch (development version aimed at containing experimental visual-wise features), UX branch seeing across the latest months new interesting visual improvements, especially related to the customization area. Launching the UX branch and hitting the top-right's 3-lines button, summons its attached panel, where multiple monochrome-enabled icons are properly exposed with readable identities and clickable nature. Moreover, the attached dialog's bottom area received colored buttons, allowing the user to more easily observe and access the actual customization area; clicking on Customize, opens the eyecandy interface where the user is to add and/or remove items to/from one side to another (for example, the user can drag & drop icons from the left side to the right side, items then being available on the attached panel, and thus clickable and usable).

The view has seen during the latest weeks various improvements and optimizations, becoming a more and more pleasant-to-the-eye,--yet retaining usability, user-friendliness and ease of use--, area where Firefox can be tweaked accordingly.

Firefox's UX build is available for download and testing on http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-ux/

[swarnavasengupta]

Experiences from Mozilla Summit 2013

The Mozilla Summit 2013 ended last week after three days full of fun, productivity and action. Lots of ideas were shared, lots of delicious food eaten and lots of people met each other. The Summit saw a diverse range of activities, ranging from dance parties, karaokes to hackathons and code-sprints. The Summit was organized simultaneously at Brussels, Toronto and Santa Clara. Most of the people from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were invited to the Santa Clara venue. Mozilla had taken over then entire Santa Clara Marriott during the three days — October 4 to 6, 2013. I will not try to write an event report, but share some of the exciting things that I did at the Summit and how it helped to uplift the feelings I had towards Mozilla. This is about the experience.

Know more. Do more. Do better

This is the mantra of Mozilla and the slogan of the Mozilla Summit 2013. This is how Mozilla explains what “open” means. The Summit opened with a speech from Mitchell Baker, recorded at the Brussels Summit. This is how Mozilla strives to keep the internet open and available for everyone out there. With the internet, everyone should be able to know more about the world around them, do more rather than being restricted, and make their lives better by doing something better with the internet. The logo of the Summit 2013 reflected this mantra, and it is something that draws me close to the Mozilla mission. I love the internet to be what it is — a standard of openness and transparency.

Rosana Ardila & Madalina Ana

For those of you who don’t know about who Rosana & Madalina are: They are Community Manager. At Mozilla Support, I didn’t get a chance to talk to Rosana & Madalina on the first day. The second day I made sure I went ahead and greeted them. (You should have seen me smile). But the main attraction was meeting and working together with them for preparing a Open Session regarding SUMO. Finally we did it!  It was thrilling talking to them in person and seeing them sitting right next to me .

Meeting cool people

This should have been number 1 on the list. Nothing can beat meeting those people in person whom I have been following on the internet for years and whose writings, techniques and attitudes have inspired me. Here is a list of some of them:

Michelle Luna & Roland Tanglao

Michelle & Roland another of those people whom I wanted to meet at MozSummit. They were one of Firefox for Android and Firefox OS support ninja. It was interesting to have them seat beside me on the first dinner. An extremely helpful and “cool” person! Many thanks to them for helping/mentoring from the day since i joined SUMO! 

The experience

I was absolutely thrilled and excited all through the Summit. I remember not being able to sleep the first night I was there. I woke up at 5:30am and went down to the lobby just to be able to talk to the people there. There energy I saw in the community was staggering. Honestly, I hadn’t expected this level of energy in a community of any scale. The same energy resonated from almost everyone present there. It was amazing to be among such energetic people. Commitment was another important attitude I noticed all around at the Summit. People were not just energetic, but seemed to have a deep commitment to the cause they are volunteering for. The same commitment was also reflected among all the paid staff of Mozilla at the Summit. Almost everyone was focused. Each had something in mind that they wanted to take back from the Summit. The hackers took away experiences of nice group-hacking, the localisers participated in localisation, and the FxOS fans had their day as well.

The Sum-it

To sum it all up, I learned more than I helped others learn. I felt the warmth. I felt needed. Most importantly. I felt a part of the common cause, of a shared vision — of an open internet.

[swarnavasengupta]

Backing up your contacts on Firefox OS

I’ve been helping beta test B2G and subsequently FirefoxOS since October 2012.  Once in a while I’ve come across a bug that requires me to reset the phone back to its factory state. Unfortunately at this early stage there isn’t a built-in way to back up your data from a FirefoxOS phone. I’m sure it’s on a roadmap, but as with all v1 products you have to make some tough calls when it comes to feature prioritization. This tutorial provides a step-by-step walk through of how to backup and restore your contacts on a B2G or FirefoxOS phone. It’s not supported so it may stop working in the future, but for now it works :) To complete this tutorial you’ll need a B2G/FirefoxOS phone, a USB cable to connect your phone to your computer, and the Android Debug Bridge installed (referred to as `adb` later in the tutorial). 1. Start up your FirefoxOS phone and go to Settings. 2. Go to Device Information

3. Go to More Information

4. Go to Developer

5. Enable “Remote Debugging”. This will allow you to use ADB to pull data off of the phone.

6. Connect your phone to the computer using the USB cable. 7. In your console, type `adb devices` to check that the phone has connected properly. You should see your phone listed as an attached device. At this point you can now use `adb shell` to browse through the system files on the phone. 8. Type `adb pull /data/local/indexedDB/chrome/3406066227csotncta.sqlite .` This will pull the contacts IndexedDB database off of your phone and in to your local working directory. If you are curious about the contents of the database, you can install the IndexedDB Browser add-on for Firefox which will let you open up the database.

And you are now done with backing up your contacts. If you need to reset your phone in the future, you can just follow these steps again but replace step 8 with the following: `adb push 3406066227csotncta.sqlite /data/local/indexedDB/chrome/3406066227csotncta.sqlite`. This will push your backed-up contacts database back on to the device. Reblogged from http://msujaws.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/backing-up-your-contacts-on-firefoxos/

[swarnavasengupta]

Change the default Search Engine of your Firefox OS Smartphone

If you are using a Geeksphone Peak or Keon or even ZTE Open or Alcatel One Touch Fire, then you should have noticed that the default search engine is Bing (currently Google). The worst case there is no option to change it. But the good news of an open source device is, you can actually change your Smartphone’s behavior the way you like. If your Geeksphone has Bing as a default search provider and you want to change it to Google or vice-versa this post will help. All you have to do is grab the workflow set up to build Gaia, the Firefox OS user interface. In the source tree for you’ve grabbed from github, find and edit the file gaia/apps/browser/js/browser.js and change:

DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_URL: ‘m.bing.com’, DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_TITLE: ‘Bing’, DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_ICON: ‘http://bing.com/favicon.ico’,

to

DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_URL: ‘www.google.com’, DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_TITLE: ‘Google’, DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_ICON: ‘https://www.google.com/favicon.ico’,

or if your default search provider is Google and you want to change it to Bing or Yahoo! or any other you want, simple do this change:

DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_URL: ‘www.google.com’, DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_TITLE: ‘Google’, DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_ICON: ‘https://www.google.com/favicon.ico’,

to

DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_URL: ‘m.bing.com’, DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_TITLE: ‘Bing’, DEFAULT_SEARCH_PROVIDER_ICON: ‘http://bing.com/favicon.ico’,

or simply replace the ‘m.bing.com to your favorite search engine. Along with the Title & Favicon.ico to complete the change as per your choice. Then simply build (./build.sh gaia) and flash (./flash.sh gaia) Gaia to the phone. After the flash is complete, you should find the default search engine as per your choice. If you have any difficulty, ask us about it on Twitter of below in the comment section.

[swarnavasengupta]

Flashing new rom in Geeksphone Keon/Peak

Lots of user is looking for a handy tutorial to flash new rom to there geeksphone, so here i am writing a post about flashing new rom on geeksphone keon/peak. we have two type of ROMS

Stable:

The stable versions (also called final releases) are intended for normal, everyday use. Stable versions receive extensive testing from the community prior to release. In the lead up to an official release, code development slows down to focus on fixing bugs found by the testing community and to avoid introducing new problems. If any critical bugs are found at the last minute, then they may delay the official release. To obtain the latest stable release.

Nightly:

Nightly builds are usually come every night, but may be less frequent if there are no changes to the code, or the builder is unable to create a build that day. The nightly builds are intended for testing only. Nightly builds are often created automatically, so you may be the first human to test a particular build. Occasionally, even basic functionality may be broken. To obtain the latest nightly,

By request here you can get the latest stable image. http://downloads.geeksphone.com/ In the file name you can see the date of compilation, and the heads of gaia and gecko. Bear in mind that this image is from master branch and could be (very) buggy. We will try to help with this image, but we only fully support stable images. How to flash your GeeksPhone Keon or Peak? 1) Make sure you have at least 50% of battery remaining. This is important, because if your phone switch off while updating, maybe you will need to RMA it. 2) With the phone not connected by usb, go to Settings, Device Information, More Information, Developer and check on Remote Debugging. 3) Download http://downloads.geeksphone.com/drivers/usb_driver.zip and unzip it. Remember where you downloaded it, because you will need it later. 4) Use a usb cable to connect it to your computer. If you are using Windows, maybe it will ask for install some drivers. If drivers are not found by Windows Update, you can use the folder that you unzip in step 3. 5) Download the needed image.  Make sure that you download the image needed by your device (keon or peak). 6) Unzip the image in a folder, enter the folder and execute the script. Flash.sh is for Linux, Flash.bat is for Windows and flash_mac.sh is for Machintosh (you need android sdk). 7) Wait until the device reboots and get the First Time Setup. If you have any problem, post it in the Geeksphone forums or you can directly ping me. Good Luck and Happy Testing :)

[swarnavasengupta]

2 Years, Mozilla and Me

Almost 2 years ago, I started contributing on Mozilla, previously i start testing software on Symantec and Kaspersky lab but those product are close source, so its kinda tough for me for handeling all open bugs, submitting bugs etc, i was submit almost 10-15 bugs during beta testing but i had never know the progress if the bugs were accepted, rejected or other! suddenly i go to Help>About Firefox windows to update my Firefox.

Sound Interesting? Get Involved!

That lines, changed my motto from close source to open source, I saw the contributer signup form and filled with QA and User support as area of interest, David Boswell contacted me and helped me a lot to get involved, he helped me to understand how mailing list, QA, SUMO, Bugzilla and other basic things work, and by step by step, i got a huge knowledge regarding Firefox, and Testing, Nowadays I write Knowledge base article about Firefox, and provide user support over twitter, facebook and support forum, also I participate on QA Testday and try to submit new bugs. Mozilla has changed my life, and I am start Loving Internet :)

[swarnavasengupta]

Firefox OS Simulator – previewing version 3.0

Three months ago we were proud to release the 1.0 version of the Firefox OS Simulator. We’ve made a lot of progress since, and version 2.0 came out about a month ago (latest official version). Now, moving forward, we’d like to present and introduce you to a preview of the upcoming 3.0 version!

We discussed whether we should talk about this new version yet, since it’s a bit rough around the edges, but we decided to give it a go for two reasons:

We’re Mozilla. We do things in the open, and we share our progress. Because we want you to know what’s going on and to be able to come along with us in the process

It gives you an unique opportunity to test it out, give feedback, contribute and much more before it’s released

New features in the preview

We’ve listened to the feedback and have tried to target the most common features being requested and well-needed. New features include:

Push to Device

Rotation simulation

Basic geolocation API simulation

Manifest validation

Stability fixes for installation and updates to apps

Newer versions of the Firefox rendering engine and Gaia (the UI for Firefox OS)

Push to Device

This means that if you have an existing device supporting Firefox OS, connected via USB, you will be able to push apps installed in the Firefox OS Simulator directly to that device.

Please note:

Remote debugging has to be enabled on the device, via Settings > Device information > More Information > Developer > Remote debugging

On Linux (at least Ubuntu), you must create the file /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules as root and then add a manufacturer-specific entry for the device as described by Android’s Setting up a Device for Development. Example for one of our test devices:entry: SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}==" 19d2", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"

Not complete Windows support yet. Planned to make it into the final release.

Make sure you have the latest version of Firefox OS on your device (especially due to recent fixes like bug 842725)

Rotation simulation

There’s now a feature to rotate the simulator, get events and more, to adapt your contents to both portrait and landscape. Supports the mozorientationchange event.

Basic geolocation API simulation

The simulator now also supports geolocation, so you can test it in your app, and read out longitude and latitude values. Coming soon: an enhancement that lets you specify the geolocation to provide!

Manifest validation

When you add an app to the Firefox OS Simulator, it also does a quick validation of your manifest file for errors and warnings, including problems that prevent installing the app in the Simulator, usage of APIs that the Simulator doesn’t yet simulate (not all APIs in there yet), and missing properties that are required by the Marketplace or devices.

Downloading the preview

We have all the versions of the Firefox OS Simulator on our FTP server, under its working name r2d2b2g. Here are the direct links to the installation files (installs as an extension in Firefox)

Firefox OS Simulator Preview for Windows

Firefox OS Simulator Preview for Mac

Firefox OS Simulator Preview for Linux

Once installed, it will be available in Firefox in the Tools > Web Developer menu:

Give us feedback!

Please let us know in the comments here or by filing a bug. Hopefully you will like the improvements and they will benefit you with developing apps!

Getting started with Firefox OS & building Open Web Apps

To get started, we have had a number of articles here on Mozilla Hacks previously:

Getting started with Open Web Apps – why and how

Using WebAPIs to make the web layer more capable

Introducing the Firefox OS Boilerplate App

Introducing Web Activities

Additionally we have some other resources:

Apps documentation on MDN

Developer Hub on Firefox Marketplace

Reposted From hacks.mozilla.org blogs :)

[swarnavasengupta]

Subway Surfer Review

Subway surfer is a type of game which is addictive to the user, making the user unable to pull away for too long. It’s become one of the most popular games within the App store just like its competition Temple Run and also Temple Run 2. It is a type of game which demonstrates the mobile gaming within the content it’s a version of an endless runner which has many different twists this makes the gaming experience more enjoyable to the user. Using the latest mobile phones you are able to move the mobile device and the game picks up the movement. The game itself has the user running along a set of subway tracks they have to run as long as they can and keep away from the screen picking up the coins and other items. Throughout the game it is very gripping because you have to make sure you are attentive when playing the game. There are many different obstacles which the user comes across this keeps the user alert. When playing the game Subway Surfer you are able to swipe your finger to make from the left and right on the screen. The character is also allowed to switch between one of the three different subway tracks. During the game you would always more forward and transferring from left to right allow the user to be in control. The challenge of the game is to collect as many coins as possible. The game offers unlock able achievements so it keeps the user interested given the user also an advantage during game play. The graphics in the game Subway Surfers are 3D which is amazing for the user because they are able to see the texture of the graphics. The graphics are sharp and visual allowing the user to feel as if they are within that environment. The graphics which are featured add to the gaming experience. The characters itself have been creating to fit all different type of ethic. The game itself subway surfer is a real good game which would give any other type of runner game a run for its money. In the game Subway Surfer the music isn’t that distracting because there isn’t that much music. So no matter what if you have music or you don’t have the background music then it wouldn’t distract you. On subway surfer there isn’t a function which allows multi player. The rewards you can receive when completing each starting position until you hit obstacles then you can receive boosts such as head starts and hover boards. During the games you can receive items such as jumping sneaker and also coins. You are also able to buy coins and spend them on things in their online store. Sometimes developer of this type of games would make it hard for the users to get coins so they would use their own real life money to buy coins. However I think that the aim of the game is to collect as many coins so buying coins isn’t any point in wasting your own real money. In conclusion the game is similar to temple run the aim of the game is the same as well however there is a few differences. One of the features with the game subway surfer you are able to share your score with your friends on Face book this allows users to be able to communicate while enjoying the game. Another feature about this game is that the more you process in the game the faster the speed goes allowing the user to feel the pace of the game. Also receiving more coins you can purchases items like more characters, this allows the user to build on their character and profile. Overall Subway Surfer is a good game which allows you as a player to be able to enjoy the games.

[swarnavasengupta]

6 Things You Didn’t Know About Firefox OS

Firefox OS is all over the tech news and for good reason:  Mozilla's finally given web developers the platform that they need to create apps the way they've been creating them for years -- with CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.  Firefox OS has been rapidly improving, adding features and APIs to provide device control and other standard mobile functionality.  Much is not known about Firefox OS, however, and here are a few items you may find interesting!

The Firefox Marketplace is Open Source

Everyone knows that the components of Firefox OS are open source.  Not many know this fact:  the Firefox Marketplace is a Django-based application, code-named 'zamboni', used not only for the Marketplace but also for AMO (Add-Ons). Like Firefox OS' gaia (the web-based operating system) zamboni is freely available on GitHub.  This means that you could fork zamboni, update the design, and create your own store for HTML5 apps!

You Can Buy a Test Device

Everything Mozilla does is open so it is common knowledge that you can create your own Firefox OS build if you have a supported device.  What many people may have missed is the announcement of a test device available for purchase from  Geeksphone.  While the Firefox OS Simulator does a good job of allowing users to test apps get the general gist of the platform, there's nothing like having a comparative-hardware device to test with.  Even if you don't plan on creating your own Firefox OS apps, it's still nice to have a test device around to test your own websites.

Loads of APIs are Being Implemented

For the skeptics who don't believe the HTML5 spec provides enough device control:  think again.  Mozilla has been rolling out dozens of WebAPI features to allow access to all types of device APIs:  Battery, Camera, Contacts, WebSMS, Storage, Vibration, Settings, Alarm, Browser, and many more.  Each API is either planned, in development, or completed, and may be available on different types of devices (desktop, tablet, mobile).  Bookmark the WebAPI chart to keep track of where each API is in its development stage!

Install Apps from Any Domain!

Mozilla doesn't hold users hostage when it comes to installing new apps; instead of needing to jump over to the device's app store app, Mozilla provides a JavaScript API for installing web apps from any allowed domains:

var manifestLocation = "http://areatweet.com/app.manifest"; // your domain here var installRequest = navigator.mozApps.install(manifestLocation); installRequest.onsuccess = function(data) { // App installed successfully! }; installRequest.onerror = function(err) { // App couldn't be installed! console.log("Install error!"); };

It's incredibly liberating to allow installation from outside an app store; no more tyranny, no more unnecessary proprietary crap.

Web Activities!

The amazing Mozilla Hack Blog recently introduced Web Activities:  a system for adding context-specific controls within an app.  The screen where a user would see a Web Activity would look like this: Web Activities provide a system by which you can specify the desired input result and a callback based on the activity's success and failure.  Code for said activity and result could look like:

var pick = new MozActivity({ name: "pick", data: { type: ["image/png", "image/jpg", "image/jpeg"] 
} }); pick.onsuccess = function () {
 // Create image and set the returned blob as the src var img = document.createElement("img"); img.src = window.URL.createObjectURL(this.result.blob); // Present that image in your app var imagePresenter = document.querySelector("#image-presenter"); imagePresenter.appendChild(img); }; pick.onerror = function () {
 // If an error occurred or the user canceled the activity alert("Can't view the image!"); };

Web Activities are relatively new so they'll take a bit of playing around with to get the full picture of how they work and what role they can play for your app. Robert Nyman has created a Firefox OS Boilerplate App which shows how you can use these.

The Browser App is Created with... HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

All of Firefox OS' native apps are written with basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript -- the same way you'll be creating your own apps.  Don't believe me?  Check out the source for yourself!  Browsers are a complex beast to create but Firefox OS' browser app shows that HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are ready for prime time device app performance! There will no doubt be more information about Firefox OS on this blog.  The tidbits above should give you an advantage over other developers, allowing you to get started with advanced APIs, stores, and more! Reposted from David Walsh's blog :)

[swarnavasengupta]

Use Twitter? Time to Change Your Password.

Update: Twitter has now confirmed in a blog post that it was a technical error, rather than an issue of compromised accounts, indicating that "In this case, we unintentionally reset passwords of a larger number of accounts, beyond those that we believed to have been compromised. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused." We apologize for any alarm caused by our post in our effort to alert users to any potential threat. Reports are now circulating that Twitter may have been hacked. Although no official statement has been made by Twitter at this time, a large number of users are already being forced to go through a password reset process following reports of compromised accounts with spammy posts and DMs. For those whose accounts appear to be affected, Twitter is forcing you to submit one of three pieces of personal information when attempting to login - your phone number, email address, or Twitter handle. After providing the data, a password reset email is immediately sent to the user:

The email contains a link to a page where you can create a new password, although it doesn't request the old password or require you to enter the new password twice. It does seem phishy, but from what we can see, if you're forced to go through this process you can't log back in to your account until you follow these steps. Details are still emerging about the situation and whether it's truly a "hack", but we highly recommend that all users update their Twitter passwords. Use LastPass to login, and update your Twitter password with a new one generated by LastPass. Run the LastPass Security Check (located in the Tools menu of the browser addon) to check if you are re-using your Twitter password on other sites. If you are, we highly recommend you change those as well. Because no official dump of user's passwords has been reported, LastPass Sentry will not currently alert you if you have been affected. If you're new to secure password management, get started today by downloading LastPass, creating a free account, and updating your passwords to secure, generated ones. Reposted from Lastpass blog

[swarnavasengupta]

WebRTC makes Social API even more social

[youtube=http://youtu.be/S6-rAv6bU8Q] WebRTC is a powerful new tool that enables web app developers to include real-time video calling and data sharing capabilities in their products.  While many of us are excited about WebRTC because it will enable several cool gaming applications and improve the performance and availability of video conferencing apps, WebRTC is proving to be a great tool for social apps.  Sometimes when you’re chatting with a friend, you just want to click on their name and see and talk with them in real-time.  Imagine being able to do that without any glitches or hassles, and then while talking with them, easily share almost anything on your computer or device: vacation photos, memorable videos – or even just a link to a news story you thought they might be interested in – simply by dragging the item into your video chat window. This has become a reality.  We’ve created a demo that combines our Social API and WebRTC.  You can talk and share in real-time, while chatting, as if your friend were in the same room.  Take a look at the video above, where our Chief of Innovation, Todd Simpson, runs you through some of these cool future features. getUserMedia allows a developer to capture the user’s camera and microphone data (with the user’s permission) easily.  It was actually pretty complicated for a browser to capture camera or microphone data before getUserMedia.  Expect to see browser apps that can capture and readily manipulate camera data (think Instagram) popping up as this new technology takes off. PeerConnection enables the audio and video calling.  It is secure, hassle-free, and peer-to-peer.  This means you can expect high quality, low delay, encrypted calls from one WebRTC browser to another.  This is also something that was incredibly difficult for a browser to do until now.  Prior to WebRTC, video calling applications were either stand-alone, isolated apps (like Skype) or browser plug-ins which lacked the tight connection to the browser internals to guarantee a good quality call. We share data in WebRTC using DataChannels, which Mozilla is the first to implement.  DataChannels is a powerful component of WebRTC that can be used by itself or combined with an audio/video chat to send almost any data that the browser can access. Please have a look at our demo video, which shows some of ways you can combine these WebRTC components. We currently support basic person-to-person video calling and data channels in Firefox Beta but it has to be turned on in about:config. Check out this post on Hacks if you’re interested in finding out how to do this and for more information about developing apps using WebRTC.  As always Bug reports are highly appreciated. Please file them on Bugzilla under “Product:Core”, “Component:WebRTC”.   We plan to add support for video conferencing apps, faster call connection, and additional audio/video options, so stay tuned for more on this. We hope you’re as excited as we are to start seeing some of the awesomeness that WebRTC has to offer the Web. - Maire Reavy, Product Lead, Firefox Platform Media reposted from Mozilla Blog.