Google Calendar redesign
This redesign by Globex Designs (get it here) of Google Calendar looks great and it’s easy to make the change.  Found on Lifehacker.

Firefox 3 reaches Guiness World Record download day
Mozilla announced the record-setting 8,002,530 downloads for Firefox 3’s first day.

“As the arbiter and recorder of the world’s amazing facts, Guinness World Records is pleased to add Mozilla’s achievement to our archives,” said Gareth Deaves, Records Manager for Guinness World Records. “Mobilizing over 8 million internet users within 24 hours is an extremely impressive accomplishment and we would like to congratulate the Mozilla community for their hard work and dedication.”

Mapstraction for Map Mashups
If you’re a developer who loves to build map mashups, then you have to check out the library provided by Mapstraction, advises Read/WriteWeb.

Mapstraction provides a common API for various existing mapping APIs which allows developers to build a mashup that supports nine of the major mapping providers including Google Maps, Microsoft’s Virtual Earth, Yahoo Maps, and more.  See the demos at the RWW site.

California fires map
Google Lat Long Blog has a map of the many fires currently plaguing California.  More thunderstorms (with potential lightning strikes) are in the forecast.  Find the danger zones here.

Web2book for offline viewing of web pages, RSS feeds
Free Windows-only Web2book helps you read web pages, Wikipedia articles and RSS feeds offline.  You can download and convert RSS feeds, Web sites, Project Gutenberg books, Wikipedia entries, Crossword Compiler crossword, Microsoft Reader .Lit files, and other sources into other formats such as  HTML, RTF, LRF or PDF files.  [via Digital Inspiration]

30+ updated Firefox 3 extensions
Mashable lists the most useful updated Firefox 3 extensions for you.  Covers social bookmarking and many more.

If you haven’t downloaded Firefox 3 yet, this may be the time to do it.  Mashable has found the newest compatible themes so that you can customize your browser to suit yourself.

Themes are created by an open source community, so not very many have been updated yet to comply with Firefox 3 which was launched on June 17.  These links include:

• Aeon
• Virtus Designs (Aero Fox)
• Classic Compact
• and more.

Millions of us downloaded Firefox 3 yesterday — although not without encountering some delays – and are now exploring its new features.  

Mozilla lists Firefox 3 main features
You may want to start by perusing Firefox’s own list of top new features.  The Smart Location bar is the most obvious when you start to use Firefox.  You’ll want to know what information you can get right away from it.

Webmonkey picks top Firefox extensions
One of Firefox’s most unique and powerful assets is its ability to install third-party add-ons.

Webmonkey makes its picks, based on coolness, popularity and readiness for Firefox 3.

Watch Firefox features at work
Here’s a helpful, if brief, video showing a few of the new features in Firefox 3 and how they work.  Of additional interest to me was that its the first video I’ve seen produced with Jing Project.

Top 10 Firefox 3 features and user guide
Lifehacker has certainly not ignored the introduction of Firefox 3.  Here’s a list of special features.

And when you have all the basics down, it’s time for the power user’s guide to Firefox. 

 Digital Inspiration provides a world time map to the opening of Firefox Download Day. 

This answered my question (and many others I have seen posted already) about when the Firefox fun will begin.

 Get ready to set a Guiness World Record with a Firefox download!

Videos for Toddlers
Totlol is a new community-moderated video site for “those between the ages of 6 months and 6 years.”  The site provides the type of filtering that most large video sites do not — a way to find age-appropriate videos that the youngest family members will enjoy.

The embedded videos are based on the YouTube API.  [via Google Blogoscoped]

Field Guide to Firefox 3
Tuesday is the big day when the final version of Firefox 3 is ready for download.  Ready to help you enjoy all its new features is the Field Guide. 

“The new features cover the full range from huge and game-changing to ones so subtle you may not notice… Overall the result is the fastest, safest, slimmest, and easiest to use version of Firefox yet,” they say.

Pew report: More people using Internet for campaign news
During this 2008 election time, “a record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others,” reports the Pew Internet & American Life Project. 

Three online activities are especially notable:  35% of Americans say they have watched online political videos — nearly triple the number during the 2004 race;  10% say they have used social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to gather information or become involved; and 6% of Americans have made political contributions online, compared with 2% during the entire 2004 campaign.

Picnik Firefox extension
 Picnik is a free image editing tool that has a Firefox exension allowing you to grab screenshots, and process and edit images, entirely within your browser, notes Lifehacker. 

This capability makes it possible for you to eliminate the need to download and upload when doing online image editing.  Take a look at the video to see how it works. 

Zoho Notebook use
Instead of emailing someone a bunch of links to interesting Websites, Digital Inspiration suggests you create a Zoho Notebook for them.  If you have an existing Google or Yahoo account, you can sign into Zoho without creating another one.

To get an idea of how this might appear in the end, check out Amit’s example.  Making the notebook is quick and simple.  The Web pages you add appear as vertical tabs in the right sidebar.  You can name them and drag and drop them around as you wish.  Finish by “publishing” the notebook, then copy the URL and share it with whomever you please.

Firefox 3.0 to be released June 17
Mozilla developer center says that after more than 34 months of active development, and with the contributions of thousands, the much anticipated next version of Firefox will be ready for download on June 17.  This new version is purported to be faster and include a number of useful new features.

They are hoping for a Guinness world record-breaking download day.

Learn basic web design skills with video tutorials
Is an instructional video worth 10,000 words? 

Mashable highlights some video tutorials that show you right on your computer screen how to do just about anything you want.  Create your first website or your own WordPress theme.

The new browser plug-in for Google Earth “brings the full power of Google Earth to the web, embeddable within your own web site,” says Google Lat Long blog.  Instead of the Google Earth application, you need only install a plug-in that works in Firefox and Internet Explorer 6/7 on Windows.

Google also launched a JavaScript API that lets you interact with the globe and integrate with Google Maps.  The extensive API  allows you to control the camera, create lines, markers and plygons, import 3D models from the web, overlay your content on the planet or in the in the galaxies by toggling Sky mode.

The Google Earth Browser Plugin can be downloaded here.   Before downloading the plugin, says Google Operating System blog, be aware that Google installs it in Firefox and Internet Explorer, along with a system service called “Google Update Service.”  The plug-in uses a lot of memory (around 100 MB just for loading the initial view) and, for each embedded object, you’re running an instance of the Google Earth application.

I like to find tips for using Firefox more efficiently, even though I don’t necessarily find all of them useful.  These Drag & Drop Firefox tips from Cybernet, however, all look like they are worth remembering.

Their summary of things you can drag and drop…

• a URL (hyperlinked or not) onto the address bar to immediately be taken to that site in the current tab.
• a URL (hyperlinked or not) onto an existing tab or blank tab to immediately replace it with the new URL.
• a URL (hyperlinked or not) onto an empty area on the tab bar to immediately have that URL opened in a new background tab.
  highlighted text onto the address bar to replace the URL with the text, but it will not be executed immediately.
• a single highlighted word (cannot contain spaces) onto an existing tab or blank tab to replace it with www.[highlighted word].com immediately. Where [highlighted word] is the single word you were dragging and dropping.
• a single highlighted word (cannot contain spaces) onto an empty area on the tab bar to immediately have www.[highlighted word].com opened in a background tab. Where [highlighted word] is the single word you were dragging and dropping.
• an image onto the address bar to immediately have that image open in the current tab.
• an image onto an existing tab or blank tab to immediately replace it with the image.
• an image onto an empty area on the tab bar to immediately have the image opened in a new background tab.

To open a new tab when dragging and dropping the text, images, and URL’s, hold down the Control key.   Cybernet has a whole category of tips on their site and you can subscribe to the Helpful Tips feed.   [via Lifehacker]