45.8.1 not available (also: 45.9 and FPR1 progress, and goodbye, App.net)

TenFourFox 45.8.1 is not available, because there isn't one, even though Firefox 52.0.1 is available to fix the fallout from Pwn2Own. However, the exploited API in question does not exist in Firefox 45 (against which we are based) and a second attack against Firefox was apparently unsuccessful, so at least right now no urgent TenFourFox chemspill is required. 45.9, the last release we will make at source parity against the Mozilla code base, is still on schedule for April 18th.

45.9 has more microimprovements to JavaScript, including some sections of hand-written assembly code that have been completely overhauled (especially in the inline caches for arithmetic operations) and fixing a stupid bug that caused logical comparisons on floating point operations to always hit a slow code path, some additional microimprovements to hard-coding code flow with xptcall, graphics and text runs, and then bug fixes for geolocation and the font blacklist. The last two should be done by the end of next week or slightly after, and then after I test it internally there will be a beta prior to release.

Today, though, I've been playing with Google's new Guetzli JPEG encoder, which promises higher compression ratios with great quality that any JPEG decoder can view, because you really can have "tastes great" and "less filling" at the same time, apparently. Yes, I was able to get it to compile on the Power Mac and it works pretty well on my G5 from the command line; I'm trying to package it as a drag-and-drop tool which I might release a little later if I have time. If Guetzli takes off, maybe Google will stop it with their stupid WebP fetish since this is a much better solution and far more compatible.

Finally, yesterday was the last day of App.net, fondly called "ADN" by denizens such as myself, Martin, Sevan and Riccardo. It unfairly got tarred as a "pay Twitter clone," which in fairness its operators didn't do enough to dispel, though most of us longtimers think that the service sealed its doom when they moved from a strictly pay model to a freemium model. That then destabilized the service by allowing a tier of user that wasn't really invested in its long-term success (like, say, blog spammers, etc.), and it gradually dropped below profitability because the pay tier didn't offer enough at that point.

But ADN had a real sense of community that just doesn't exist with Facebook, nor Twitter in particular. There were much fewer trolls and mob packs, and those that did engage in that behaviour found themselves ostracised quickly. Furthermore, you didn't have the sense of people breathing down your neck or endlessly searching for victims who might post the wrong thing so they can harass and "out" you for not toeing the party line. I think the smaller surface area and user base really led to that kind of healthier online relating, and I still believe that a social media service that forces a smaller number of people to be invested in the success of that service -- that in turn treats them as customers and not cattle -- is the most effective way to get around the problems the large free social sites have.

Meanwhile, most of us ADN refugees have moved to Pnut, made by another ADN denizen. Pnut is getting around the jerk problem by going invite-only. If you're not a jerk and you're interested in a better community to socially interact online, contact me and I'll get you a code.

Here are the last moments of the ADN global stream, as witnessed by Texapp, my custom ADN client. Thanks, Dalton and Bryan, and all the great ADN staff that participated over the years. It was a good ride while it lasted.