phoenix

No longer a fledgling upstart, Firefox 3 is full-featured, lightning fast, and an able foe for both the big-dog competitor Internet Explorer and competitors nipping at its heels. Firefox's killer add-ons remain strong, and the latest update makes version 3.5 about two times faster than version 3. However, competition is strong and it can no longer be said that Firefox is the fastest browser available.

Several notable improvements in the latest revamp keep Firefox abreast of current browsing tech. Along with Mozilla's new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine that renders Web applications faster on Firefox than ever before, there … Read more

Back in January, Phoenix Technologies launched a lightweight instant-on platform named HyperSpace. Designed primarily for Netbooks, the little low-power mobile computers that they are, it allows users to immediately access the Web, e-mail, and IM, among other benefits. And thanks to Adobe, it now includes photo editing.

HyperSpace customers will have instant access to Photoshop.com for organizing, editing, storing, and sharing photos. There is also support for Adobe AIR, Adobe Flash Player, and Adobe Reader on the platform.

The Adobe additions follow the March announcement of the Phoenix partnership with ThinkFree for its Office apps, which let users of … Read more

Shaquille O'Neal and Mark Cuban are deeply confirmed Twitterers.

They have different styles but their fingers seem rarely to leave their keyboards. Perhaps one can even blame sore Twitter-finger for Shaq's poor free-throw percentage.

However, I have been following a bizarre Twitter exchange between the two NBA personalities, one that has now blossomed into strong rumors that Shaq wants to be traded to Cuban's Dallas Mavericks.

It all began on Saturday when Shaq, who has almost 600,000 followers, tweeted: "I'm lookin foor u mark cuban".

The Dallas Mavericks owner replied: "you know … Read more

Don't get your longjohns in a knot; even though we'd love more love makin' (not to each other), that show title is actually an inside joke about one of the stories on today's show. We invite our resident love guru MTI back onto the show to get his expert opinion on making love to vegetables, how to use a headset in the boudoir, and more passionate stories from around the Internet. It's all love today on The 404!

Today's show is all about helping you out in the sack. Unfortunately, we can't be there … Read more

PC BIOS maker Phoenix on Tuesday is announcing its own operating system, of a sort: Hyperspace, a "pre-boot" environment that allows you to get your PC up and on the Web in seconds, instead of the minutes it will take you to power up and launch a browser with a standard full-featured operating system like Windows or the OS X. Hyperspace is also said to take much less power than a standard OS, and to allow resuming from standby nearly instantly.

This product is a natural for Phoenix. CEO Woody Hobbs told me he sees it as the … Read more

We try to get all sentimental about the demise of the Mars Phoenix lander, but Brian Cooley ruins it with his outlandish assertions about the uselessness of space. Plus, he loses his mind about the crappiness of the BlackBerry Curve. In sum, a good time is had by all.

Mars Phoenix Lander completes its mission http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10092897-52.html http://www.urbanhonking.com/universe/2008/11/interview_marsphoenix.html http://gizmodo.com/5082385/this-is-my-farewell-transmission-from-mars

Flat-panel TV shipments begin their decline http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10093153-1.html

FCC OKs digital workaround for … Read more

The last Twitter post said it all: "01010100 01110010 01101001 01110101 01101101 01110000 01101000."

For those of you who aren't fluent in binary, the post, from NASA's Mars Phoenix Twitter account, translates as "triumph."

According to NASA, the space agency is no longer receiving communications from Phoenix, its Mars lander, after more than five months of operation. The not unexpected event came after the lander moved into an area, NASA said in a release Monday, where "seasonal decline in sunshine at the robot's arctic landing site is not providing enough sunlight for … Read more

Hewlett-Packard is throwing its hat into the expanding ring of companies with a thing for green. If you're serious about doing your part to protect the environment or you just want a stylish-looking monitor and desktop, the company has some new options for you.

On Monday, HP announced two new desktops and one new display. According to the company, all three have been designed to have a reduced impact on the environment.

The HP Pavilion Verde Special Edition a6645f and HP Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition a6655f are the two new eco PCs, and the 25.5-inch HP w2558hc is the new eco-friendly display.

According to HP, both PCs are Energy Star qualified and meet the standards for "silver" registration in the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). Each PC features a power management tool that purportedly provides up to 45 percent energy savings compared with PCs without power management enabled. … Read more

NASA's Phoenix Lander team said this week it has found a toxic chemical in the soil of Mars' northern hemisphere, where it has previously confirmed the existence of water.

The University of Arizona-based team believes the chemical is perchlorate, an oxidant typically used in solid rocket fuel. The scientists are still analyzing the soil sample to make sure it wasn't brought to Mars from Earth, according to a statement. But if the oxidant is native, it would bar the possibility of life there.

"While we have not completed our process on these soil samples, we have very … Read more