Earlier this month we launched a new project called Fastest Firefox to help spread the word about Firefox 3.5′s dramatically upgraded performance. As with most things at Mozilla, public participation is a key goal, and we’re hoping to get a bunch of community-created videos of Firefox fans showing off their speediest skills.

To contribute, just record a short video of you or your friends doing something really fast – anything from folding clothes to playing ping pong – then visit www.fastestfirefox.com to upload. We’ll edit our favorites into a single clip, and if we use yours you’ll get a supercool Firefox 3.5 t-shirt (plus the satisfaction of helping the open web and spreading Firefox, of course). The only catch is that the submission deadline is June 28, so time is running out.

We’ve also been collaborating with some truly incredible Guinness World Record holders. Earlier we shared videos from the world’s fastest clapper and the world’s fastest sport stacker, and our latest in that series comes from Todd Taylor, the world’s fastest banjo player. Watch Todd in action and prepare to be blown away.

If you still need more inspiration, check out this one-handed Rubik’s cube video from community member Daniel DJ Cruz Chan, then send us a video of your own!

Firefox 3.5 is the fastest Firefox ever – check out this video of Director of Firefox, Mike Beltzner running through the new features. Please note, you can view the video without plug-ins using Firefox 3.5 and get a first-hand look at native audio/video support in the browser. You can download the Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate here.

In other Mozilla video news, later today we’ll be releasing the latest in our series of Fastest Firefox videos. Check out the already-posted World’s Fastest clapper and World’s Fastest sport stacker videos.

Editor’s note: Mozilla announced the Firefox 3.5 release candidate on Friday, June 19, 2009 at 4:19 pm PT. Check out the Mozilla Developer News announcement, reposted below, for more details.

Please note: the Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate is a public preview release intended for developer testing and community feedback. It includes many new features as well as improvements to performance, web compatibility, and speed. We recommend that you read the release notes and known issues before installing this beta.

The Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate is now available for download. This milestone is focused on testing the core functionality provided by many new features and changes to the platform scheduled for Firefox 3.5. Ongoing planning for Firefox 3.5 can be followed at the Firefox 3.5 Planning Center, as well as in mozilla.dev.planning and on irc.mozilla.org in #shiretoko.

New features and changes in this milestone that require feedback include:

* This beta is now available in more than 70 languages – get your local version.

* Improved tools for controlling your private data, including a Private Browsing Mode.

* Support for the HTML5 and elements including native support for Ogg Theora encoded video and Vorbis encoded audio.

* Better performance and stability with the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.

* The ability to provide Location Aware Browsing using web standards for geolocation.

* Support for native JSON, and web worker threads.

* Improvements to the Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering.

* Support for new web technologies such as: downloadable fonts, CSS media queries, new transformations and properties, JavaScript query selectors, HTML5 local storage and offline application storage, text, ICC profiles, and SVG transforms.

Testers can download Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate builds for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux in over 70 different languages. Developers should also read the Firefox 3.5 for Developers article on the Mozilla Developer Center.

Note: Please do not link directly to the download site. Instead we strongly encourage you to link to this Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate milestone announcement so that everyone will know what this milestone is, what they should expect, and who should be downloading to participate in testing at this stage of development.

Our Fastest Firefox project is in full swing, and we’ve already received some very speedy videos from members of the global Mozilla community (not to mention the world’s fastest clapper and the world’s fastest sport stacker).

But, in our quest to show how fast the new Firefox 3.5 will be, we want even more videos. So, if you or your friends have a talent for doing something quickly – anything from riding a bike to eating a pizza to writing code – send us a short clip. We have a snazzy new Firefox 3.5 t-shirt waiting for you if your video makes it into the final Fastest Firefox compilation.

The only catch is that the videos are due June 28, so don’t delay! And if you need some inspiration, check out this Fastest Firefox submission from community member Daniel CJ Cruz Chan…his talent for one-handed Rubik’s Cube mastery is most impressive.

Our ongoing efforts to encourage participation in all facets of the Mozilla project led us to the vibrant community of artists at Infectious.  We wanted to bring artists and art lovers together through a Community Art Project to inspire creative contributors to join us in making the Internet better for everyone.

Today we unveil some amazing designs by 5 Infectious artists that we asked to help kick off the project.  We challenged them to create art inspired by Firefox and the values that drive the Mozilla project. The result? Zeptonn, David Lanham, Reuben Rude, Etsu Meusy and Paulo Arraiano responded by contributing original art pieces that reflect the innovation, openness, opportunity and idealism that Mozilla represents.  The diversity of these artists is what makes this initial collection so unique and each piece showcases the artist’s distinct style

We’re excited to share their designs with our community and have made them available in a variety of ways:

1. Laptop skins, iPhone skins, car decals, desktop wallpaper, and iPhone wallpaper through Infectious.com

2. T-shirts at our Mozilla Community Store

3. Personas for your Firefox browser

As we get closer to the launch of Firefox 3.5 (currently in Beta), this art provides a fresh interpretation of what Mozilla is all about.  It also serves as an example of what’s possible when you bring creative minds together to share their talents and passion for art and technology.  Another nice bonus: Infectious and the contributing artists are collectively donating 20% of Firefox product sales at Infectious.com to the Mozilla Foundation.  It’s great to see that kind of generosity from our partners and the artists we work with.

And this just the beginning.  Our collaboration with Infectious continues in July with an open design contest that will give everyone a chance to show off their skills and contribute to the Community Art Project for a chance to be featured on Infectious.com and win some cool prizes.

All of this fits nicely into our plans to launch the Mozilla Creative Collective later this summer, and we hope everyone that participates in this round with Infectious will join us is building a strong community of creative contributors for the Mozilla project.  More information to come soon, so stay tuned!

Editor’s note: Mozilla released an update to an early release candidate for Firefox 3.5 beta users on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 12:11 am PT. Check out the Mozilla Developer News announcement, reposted below, for more details.

Please note: beta and release candidate versions of Firefox 3.5 are intended for developer testing and community feedback. If this makes you nervous, we recommend that you wait for the official Firefox 3.5 release, which is coming soon and will be available at www.getfirefox.com

Our 800,000+ Firefox 3.5 beta users will be receiving an update to the first Firefox 3.5 release candidate (3.5rc1build2) in order to continue to help us with daily testing and public feedback. This update contains bug fixes which will be included in the final release of Firefox 3.5, expected later this month. While Mozilla has not yet completed the quality assurance testing required before an official product release, this update is considered stable for daily browsing use and we appreciate your assistance in helping us test and evaluate this version of the release candidate.

If you’re running a beta version of Firefox 3.5, you should be receiving the update automatically within the next 24 hours. To get the update immediately, select “Check for Updates…” in the “Help” menu.

This version is not yet being made available for direct download. If you’re not yet a Firefox 3.5 Beta tester, we recommend that you wait for the upcoming Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate, which should be released on our website within the next week. If you’d like to become a beta tester for Firefox 3.5 and subsequent releases, please feel free to install the latest available beta and then manually “Check for Updates…” in the “Help” menu.

(Developers should also read the Firefox 3.5 for Developers article on the Mozilla Developer Center.)

Note: We strongly encourage bloggers and media to link to this Firefox 3.5 Beta User update announcement so that everyone will know what this update is, what they should expect, and who should be downloading to participate in testing at this stage of development.

Today Mozilla launches the very first Mozilla Service Week. During the week of September 14-21, 2009, we’re asking people to step up and make a difference by using the Web to better their community. Mozilla is a global community with a firm mission to make the Web better for everybody. When members of our community decide to take action, they have the power to make a serious difference.

We’re looking for people who want to share, give, engage, create, and collaborate by offering their time and talent to local public benefit organizations, non-profits and people who need their help. Our goal is to help empower people to:

• Teach senior citizens how to use the Web.
• Show a non-profit how to use social networking to grow its base of supporters.
• Install a wireless network at a school.
• Create Web how-to materials for a library’s computer cluster.
• Refurbish hardware for a local computer center.
• Help a non-profit update its website or database.

Everyone should have the opportunity to know how to use the Internet, have easy access to it, and have a good experience when they’re online. So if you have a talent for writing, designing, programming, developing, or all-around technical know-how, join Mozilla Service Week. In Mark Surman’s words (executive director of the Mozilla Foundation), “We’re inviting people to get involved with Mozilla in an active way, even if they can’t code, test or localize. It let’s anyone and everyone feel like they are contributing to the cause of building a better internet.” Together we can make the Web a better place for everyone!

Over the coming weeks you can look forward to Mozilla Service Week being available in many languages and with additional partners thanks to the Mozilla community’s help.

To learn more on how to make a difference by either volunteering or listing your organization’s needs, go to mozillaservice.org. Your Internet skills, no matter how novice or advanced, can change people’s lives and make the Web better for everyone.

Follow us on twitter for updates and news!

Digg this post

Editor’s note: Mozilla released a security and stability update for Firefox 3.x users on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 4:13 pm PT. Check out the Mozilla Developer News announcement, reposted below, for more details.

As part of the Mozilla Corporation’s ongoing security and stability process, Firefox 3.0.11 is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux users as a free download from getfirefox.com.

We strongly recommend that all Firefox users upgrade to this latest release. If you already have Firefox 3, you will receive an automated update notification within 24 to 48 hours. This update can also be applied manually by selecting “Check for Updates…” from the Help menu.

For a list of changes and more information, please see the Firefox 3.0.11 release notes.

Please note: If you’re still using Firefox 2.0.0.x, this version is no longer supported and contains known security vulnerabilities. Please upgrade to Firefox 3 by downloading Firefox 3.0.11 from getfirefox.com.

Today the Mozilla add-ons team introduced Add-on Collections. Collections enables anyone to create their own collection of add-ons that can be shared with their friends, posted on blogs, and featured on the Firefox Add-ons website.

Justin Scott, Mozilla’s add-on ninja, explains Collections in further detail on the Mozilla Add-ons blog, excerpted below:

Starting today, visitors to the add-ons website will see a brand new look with collections of add-ons front and center. We’ve integrated collections throughout the site, and created a Collection Directory that showcases all of the add-on lists created by our users. There are a number of Mozilla-created collections that are featured throughout the site, but we hope to replace these with useful community-created collections in the near future. If you find a collection you like, logged-in users can mark it as a favorite to easily get back to it later.

Besides creating your own collection, you can also subscribe to other collections and be notified when new add-ons are published to them.

You can subscribe to a collection via RSS, or you can install the Add-on Collector extension for Firefox. The Collector turns your favorite collections into subscriptions in your browser, where you’ll be notified as soon as new add-ons are published to one of your collections. The extension has a number of other features, including the ability to share an add-on you have installed with a friend by e-mail, publish an add-on to one of your collections, and set up a collection that is automatically kept up to date with your installed add-ons.

To get started, check out the Collection Directory to experience collections and fashion Firefox the way you want it.

Additionally, the team has also launched an entire redesign of the Add-ons site, which aims to do a better job of explaining add-ons and helping both new and experienced users find fun and useful add-ons through exploration. Nick Nguyen, Mozilla’s director of add-ons, goes into more detail on the Add-ons blog, excerpted below:

You’ll see we’ve integrated a new promo module that will allow us to feature collections of related add-ons in the top area as well as feature a simple tour that will communicate the value of an add-on to users who have never tried an add-on before.

Visit Mozilla Add-ons to experience both of these exciting changes!

Editor’s note: Mozilla released the Firefox 3.5 Preview for Firefox 3.5 beta 4 users on Monday, June 8, 2009 at 4:15 pm PT. Check out the Mozilla Developer News announcement, reposted below, for more details.

Please note: This Firefox 3.5 Preview is intended for developer testing and community feedback. We recommend that most users wait for the official Firefox 3.5 release, which is coming soon.

The 800,000+ users of Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 will be receiving an update to a “Firefox 3.5 Preview” release in order to assist us with further testing and feedback. This update contains many fixes for stability bugs, correctness fixes for our JavaScript engine, and improvements to our built in support for open Ogg based video and audio playback. While this release has not yet completed the testing required to be declared a release candidate, it is considered stable for daily browsing use and we appreciate your assistance in helping us test and evaluate this preview release.

If you’re a Firefox 3.5 Beta user you should be receiving this update automatically within the next 24 hours. To get the update immediately, select “Check for Updates…” in the “Help” menu.

If you’re not yet a Firefox 3.5 Beta user, we recommend that you wait for the upcoming Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate, which should be in the next 1-2 weeks. If you’d like to become a beta tester for Firefox 3.5 and subsequent updates, please install the latest available beta and install any offered updates.

Developers should also read the Firefox 3.5 for Developers article on the Mozilla Developer Center.

Note: Please do not link directly to the download site. Instead we strongly encourage you to link to this Firefox 3.5 Preview milestone announcement so that everyone will know what this milestone is, what they should expect, and who should be downloading to participate in testing at this stage of development.