add-on

Do Not Track Plus stomps on trackers

If ad blocking is the hacksaw of Internet-protecting add-ons, Do Not Track Plus (DNT+) is a finely honed katana, slicing out tracking behaviors embedded in sites without destroying the modern Web.

It's cross-browser and cross-platform, and will work in Firefox, Chrome, IE, and Safari. An Opera version is in the works. DNT+ blocks sites and ads from tracking you, unless you give them explicit permission to do so. For most sites, it actually rebuilds tools like social-networking buttons on the fly so you can still get your social on without sacrificing privacy or site load times. It also blocks … Read more

Do Not Track Plus stomps on trackers

If ad blocking is the hacksaw of Internet-protecting add-ons, Do Not Track Plus (DNT+) is a finely honed katana, slicing out tracking behaviors embedded in sites without destroying the modern Web.

It's cross-browser and cross-platform, and will work in Firefox, Chrome, IE, and Safari. An Opera version is in the works. DNT+ blocks sites and ads from tracking you, unless you give them explicit permission to do so. For most sites, it actually rebuilds tools like social-networking buttons on the fly so you can still get your social on without sacrificing privacy or site load times. It also blocks … Read more

Do Not Track Plus stomps on trackers

If ad blocking is the hacksaw of Internet-protecting add-ons, Do Not Track Plus (DNT+) is a finely honed katana, slicing out tracking behaviors embedded in sites without destroying the modern Web.

It's cross-browser and cross-platform, and will work in Firefox, Chrome, IE, and Safari. An Opera version is in the works. DNT+ blocks sites and ads from tracking you, unless you give them explicit permission to do so. For most sites, it actually rebuilds tools like social-networking buttons on the fly so you can still get your social on without sacrificing privacy or site load times. It also blocks … Read more

Firefox 11 to get add-on sync

Following the update to Firefox stable earlier this week, Mozilla released yesterday updates to its Aurora and Beta versions that introduce some pretty hefty changes for Firefox on PCs.

Firefox 11 beta (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) presages some hefty changes for the browser. The biggest one, which wasn't present in the Firefox 11 Aurora release, is add-on sync. You'll now be able to mirror the same add-on installations and settings across multiple desktops. Though Google Chrome has been able to sync add-ons for some time, its implementation has been notably uneven, so it'll be interesting to … Read more

Add-on hooks uTorrent into your browser

For people who want the shortest path from a Web site to their torrent client, the new add-on uTorrent Control (download) puts basic torrent-managing tools directly in your browser.

It lets you add, remove, and pause torrents; check download status; and monitor download speeds. You can sync it with the desktop client or with uTorrent Remote, and use it to launch the Web remote at remote.utorrent.com. The add-on installs as a toolbar on Firefox and Internet Explorer; on Chrome, it appears as a button.

It also has a sponsored search engine component, which is easy enough to ignore. … Read more

Cocoon now sheathes you in IE, too

The Cocoon add-on for Firefox rounded up a bunch of highly useful security features and presented them to you in one tight package. Cocoon has come to Internet Explorer, and it's available exclusively on Download.com today.

The first beta of Cocoon for Internet Explorer ports the add-on's entire feature set from Firefox to IE, and it'll work on IE8 and IE9 as far back as Windows XP. Features included are IP address anonymising, antivirus scanning of downloads, malware blocking, on-the-fly disposable e-mail addresses, secure public Wi-Fi, and encrypted browsing history.

After it's been installed, you can turn on Cocoon at will to get at its protection toys, and then deactivate it to browse normally. I detected no lags in browsing with it on, though, so once it leaves beta it might become one of the best security add-ons for IE. What's holding it back? Currently, the beta version has problems with cookie management when logging into some services. … Read more

Firefox 10 in holding pattern for new interface

The bottom line: Firefox 10 for Android brings both familiarity and power to the Android browser scene, but it's the killer Sync that will drive attention to Mozilla's mobile browser.

Please note that the First Look video below is still applicable to Firefox 10 for Android, as is the Firefox How To collection, even though they both feature Firefox 4.

Review: Editors' note: Portions of this review are based on CNET's review of Firefox 10 for desktops.

Mozilla's foray into the Android Market ports much of the desktop Firefox experience to your mobile device. The look … Read more

Firefox simplifies add-on updates; no native Android interface--yet

Web developer site-building tools are only sexy to developers, but they get a big makeover in today's update to Firefox and that will affect how developers connect to the people who use their sites.

Firefox 10 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux | Android) also dramatically streamlines add-on compatibility, includes a new Full Screen API, and updates WebGL. The Android version, meanwhile, makes some minor improvements as the bulk of development on the mobile version focuses on the native Android interface, currently scheduled for the next stable release.

The biggest change that most Firefox users will see in version 10 is … Read more

How to prevent Google from tracking you

Much has been made of Google's new privacy policy, which takes effect March 1. If you're concerned about Google misusing your personal information or sharing too much of it with advertisers and others, there are plenty of ways to thwart Web trackers.

But what exactly are you thwarting? You don't become anonymous when you block tracking cookies, Web beacons, and the other identifiers as you browse. Your ISP and the sites you visit still know a lot about you, courtesy of the identifying information served up automatically by your browser.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation offers the Panopticlick … Read more