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All the entries posted on June 17, 2008.
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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Firefox version 3.0 launched today
Firefox 3.0 is out today. But don’t rush to download it.
The world is tying up the pipes to Mozilla.com, which is delivering the new browser version for free, as collective techdom tries to get a copy.
“We’ve had a huge surge in traffic, as you can imagine,” Mozilla spokesman Steve Naventi said. “It’s up and running but we’re actually experiencing 14,000 downloads a minute.”
Mozilla is going for a Guinness Book record for most downloads in 24 hours, Naventi told me.
The Mozilla site says version 3.0 includes 15,000 improvements to design, speed and efficiency. If anybody has downloaded it already, let us know what you think. I work off of a Mac, so I’m comfortable with Safari although I use both.
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BIOTECH: Corn just the beginning of biofuels
Live from the international BIO botech industry conference in San Diego
Biotech companies want you to think beyond corn in your gas tank.
Yea, maybe corn wasn’t the best crop to make ethanol from after all, they’re beginning to acknowledge. Maybe it does reduce food supplies. Maybe the process of making gas from fuel does take more energy than it produces. And maybe - especially with corn king Iowa under water - there’s other ways to get fuel so we all can keep driving our cars and SUVS.
During a session at the annual BIO industry conference here, a panel of biofuel companies showed off what they’re working on. A sampling:
*Verenium, a Massachusetts company, is working on developing new enzymes that can digest agricultural waste and other biomass products and turn them into sugars. For clues, the company is researching how animals digest plants and turn them into sugar for energy.
*Ceres, a California company, is developing new types of “energy crops” and seeds designed specifically for biofuels. Corn isn’t one of them, but miscanthus - a type of Asian switchgrass - sorghum and what it calls “Energycane” - a type of sugarcane are.
*LS9 Inc., also of California, wants to make petroleum from, well, petroleum. The “renewable petroleum” company is working on a technology that uses fermentation - think beer or other products - to make what it calls “designer biofuels.” Sure you still have to use oil to make this stuff, but just not as much of it.