[Rant From Hell] Mozilla using inferior Chrome parts in Firefox? REALLY!?

Chromification Continues: Firefox May Use Chrome's PDF and Flash Plugins/p>

*headdesk* REALLY?! Mozilla is looking to replace parts of Firefox with Chrome parts? Hell, they're going to replace the superior community-run PDF.js with the far inferior PDFium?!

I use Mozilla products to get AWAY from Google, not run back to them. Might as well go WebKit.

*looks up open source browsers*

Out of date, out of date, out of date… Has everyone really given up trying to compete with Google, or what? Only Safari and Edge seem to be trying to fight Google anymore, and Safari's the only one making any headway.

I remember when there used to be actual competition on the web. IE and Netscape fought hard using their features to their advantage. These days? It feels like web developers are pushing solely for the monolith known as Google. It's becoming everything that we feared from Microsoft in the 90s, but with the full backing of “tech geeks” everywhere.

Even the damned standards process is being taken over by Google. WHATWG was a result of Google trying to force the W3C standardization process to speed up, the CSSWG was recently bullied by Google to start using their WCIG incubator for that standards process, the HTML5 spec was put under an editor from WHATWG who works for Google…

I know people are going to say that Google is a protector of the internet and open web, but I don't believe that for a single second. The work to further Google's hold on the market, period.

Honestly, this is making me want to go with Apple products even more. At least the core WebKit engine is fairly modern, and is kept modern. I just wish they'd release Win32/Win64 versions of Safari that will work with Windows 7/8.1. I'd support that in a heartbeat.

[Personal] Another Social Media Rant

So, I've mentioned before that I'm not a fan of Twitter and the like, and that hasn't changed in the slightest. I'm still put off by how toxic the site has become—hell, how toxic most of the internet has become. Yet, I keep subjecting myself to it. Why?

Because that's where my friends are. That's where people post content. That's where discussions happen.

I can't go a single day without a news article or blog post heavily referencing a Twitter or Facebook discussion as part of the story. I can't go a single day without someone referencing a Twitter or Facebook link. Social media is where damn near everyone is, and it's extremely difficult to do anything without being part of it now.

And yes, it affects me. You've seen how much I rant here. Much of that is honestly from the negativity that irks me, and affects my own mood.

I've had people tell me to “just stop using it” or “just block all of that out”, and that's the problem. I could block out a craptonne of things, but all that'd do is force me to block out people that I do want to talk with. Social sites don't give the ability to “just see the positive things”.

I follow a few people who post interesting alt-lifestyle things, only to have my timelines flooded with news about mass murders and calls for activism. I follow people I know in real life, only to have a stream of “Here's the latest bad news of the day” tweets and updates fill my screen. In this day and age, it is not possible to follow people without being flooded by negativity!

This is part of why I just want to drop social media. It's worn me down enough that I can understand why people want to commit suicide. If I awoke from a coma one day and saw all of that, I'd just ask the medics to put me back under.

But, as I said, there in lies the rub: That's where my friends are. That's where people post content. That's where discussions happen. If I want to leave social media, I practically give up my ability to socialize at all with most people. It's just something that's accepted by society here in the US, and fuck anyone who feels otherwise.

I don't know what to do, but I should definitely find something to help me with this problem. Gods know I need more positivity in my life right now.