Okie dokie, so Firefox 3 has landed, everyone started downloading like crazy, and now the Guinness Book officials are still a few steps behind this, but I am sure the record will be validated pretty soon. Before getting into the subject, I must say that I'm happy with it, but I won't lie to you - Firefox 3 crashed on me a few times, but considering the time I spent using it in the last days, it didn't crash often enough to make me stop using it. Anyway, let's get to the numbers now, shall we?


Firefox 3 overview from Mozilla Firefox on Vimeo.

<-120x240 Vertical Banner - left->In the first 24 hours, Firefox 3 managed to reach 8.3 million downloads. Now, the official Firefox 3 download counter shows 19,910,340 downloads, and keeps moving on. The average download rate until now is over 900 downloads/minute. Not bad, not bad at all! Speaking about countries, the US is leading the way, with over 330 downloads per minute, followed by Germany, with over 70 downloads per minute.

According to Mozilla, "By the end of the 24 hour period, the unofficial count clocked in at more than 8 million Firefox 3 downloads! The Guinness judges still have to validate the record attempt, and the Spread Firefox team is standing by to announce the results when they’re available. Since then, another 10 million copies of Firefox 3 have been downloaded, bringing the total to over 18m in the first week," so now it's only a matter of time until Firefox 3 enters the Guinness Book.

As one last thing, I am sure you noticed the redesign that Mozilla.com suffered. I don't know about you, but I love it. Here's what John Slater, Mozilla's Creative Director, has to say about it:"One of our biggest goals for the Mozilla.com redesign was to kick our presentation of Firefox 3 up a few notches, so to speak. With that in mind we really expanded the Firefox section of the site, adding a detailed features page, tips & tricks, information about security and add-ons, and more. We also figured that, since some concepts are more easily shown than explained, it would be a good time to add our first-ever video to the site."

To download Firefox 3, if you were afraid to do that so far, I advise you to go to the Firefox 3 download page on Mozilla.com. Good luck!

I don't know why this keeps happening so often lately, but at least in the last few months, Microsoft kept losing various lawsuits and being forced to pay various amounts to other companies for patent infringements, but the hardest hits came from the European Comission. Anyway, fortunately for the Redmond giant, today is not about the EC. Unfortunately, the amount they have to pay is a bit more than just pocket money, because a federal judge just ordered them to pay Alcatel-Lucent no less than half a billion dollars!

<-234x60 Half Banner - left->Here's the story - the jury decided that Microsoft is guilty for patent infringement related to two patents, one covering how software users select a calendar date from a menu, and the other, related to using a stylus on a tablet PC. This is a 5 years old legal fight, but since Microsoft vowed to appeal the decision...

In an email statement, Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster said "We are disappointed that Judge Huff denied our request for a new trial. We plan to appeal the rulings against us. We are confident that the damages award against Microsoft will not be sustained on appeal."

Well, you can't always get what you want, and since they weren't happy with the latest decision, which granted Alcatel-Lucent "only" $357.7 million in damages, I can say Microsoft did this to themselves more than anyone else. If they are not happy with the last decision either, I guess the next judge to take the case may grant Alcatel-Lucent even more...and I wouldn't like to be around Steve Ballmer when he finds out!

Do you remember the story about Microsoft being targeted by the Chinese authorities? In the end, it seems it was all nothing but a media storm in a glass. Two days ago, when the story emerged, I expressed my doubt about this, because it was expected from Microsoft to know what was happening. Well, it seems they were right not to know a thing, after all. Today, the Chinese authorities have confirmed that Microsoft is not targeted for any wicked behavior...

According to a statement briefly posted on the official SIPO website, quickly quoted by various media sources, the Chinese organization said it has never got into any market-monopoly investigation so far, and since its task is "to investigate and research domestic piracy issues," it won't go into any monopoly-related investigation in the future, either.

Other than the above, it seems Microsoft doesn't have blue skies all over, but China is a market with huge potential, and it's good for them to stay assured that autorities are not hunting them for now. After all, it would be really strange for this to happen, considering the piracy rate in China...

China is an emerging great power, but when talking about liberty, they are left behind quite a lot. The interesting part is that, despite the Communist leadership, they are slowly opening up to the world, and the best proof to that is what can be easily called the most important sports event of the year, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Until arriving to the Chinese censorship part, let me say that, apart from having a very strict policy regarding Internet content available in the country, the Chinese authorities are really opening up, and we'll see why right away...

<-120x240 Vertical Banner - left->"Fifteen years ago, style here was monotonous. Everybody looked the same. Today is different. It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, old or young, everybody wants to reveal their personality in the way they dress," says Dider Grumbach, but he misses one thing - there is still an incredibly large number of people who barely have something to eat, and I am sure those aren't enjoying the chance to be different at all. Anyway, just as it happens in many places in the world, there can be striking differences between the capital and remote areas, so I won't get into this now. Let's follow the initial line now, and talk about censorship, shall we?

If we think about the fact that China will have more Internet users than the US in 2009, I think that censorship is partially justified, but with a condition - this shouldn't crush the liberty of expression. They can't open up to the world instantly, so let's say I would understand banning of various extremist sites, or explicit ones, but I will never understand banning blogs that try to reflect the truth.

According to Zhang Yu, a member of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, "during this year the Internet police became much more efficient in terms of surveillance of the Internet activities to suppress freedom of expression."

For example, Internet Cafe customers are being closely watched, being registered with their ID cards, having photos taken, and receiving unique ID numbers to log in, so the authorities can easily find out who did what.

Feelin' lucky? You should...because there's always worse than some BitTorrent traffic throttling, and it seems that if you end up in China during the Olympics, you may get a taste of the Chinese Internet censorship, because it has been decided already that full access won't be granted during the event. Not cool at all, but I have no idea what can be done to change things at this time. Do you?

Microsoft feeds a lot of people in China, and I am not talking about its employees there. I am not thinking about those that are probably helped by Bill Gates' foundation, if any. Look at the picture below, and you should get the idea - those selling fake Windows Vista copies surely must thank Microsoft for giving them the chance to do so, but it's not about them today. Quite unexpected, but it seems the Chinese authorities have just started an antimonopoly investigation into the US giant, but other global software companies are also being targeted!

<-234x60 Half Banner - left->The problem is simple - the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office has to prove that Microsoft is engaged in discriminatory pricing...or not. According to a Chinese source, quoted by Xinhua Financial News, the SIPO is waiting for August, when the antimonopoly laws are going to be enacted, to start a serious antitrust lawsuit, so Microsoft should get ready for a rough ride!

The interesting part of the story is that Microsoft seems unaware of this, or so they want us to believe. A Singapore-based Microsoft spokesman said "Microsoft is unaware of any investigation but is always willing to work with and cooperate with the Chinese government," so...where's the truth? May this be only a rumor?

To be honest, I think Microsoft is a cow with a lot of milk, and governments all over the world seem to see this. I know - they are not pure as a white dove either, but why so many lawsuits now? I guess the European Comission only created a reason for others to jump on Microsoft, after all...

At last - don't get me wrong - Microsoft also continues to go on with a huge marketing flaw - emerging countries need prices to match the purchasing power. I know this discussion can go on for days, but I am sure all of you can imagine other ways to recover those money a company may lose if selling low-priced software to emerging countries.