Firefox Flicks: Open Source Marketing?

By Geoff Duncan Published December 2, 2005

Hey

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Computing

This ChatGPT alternative is free, open source, and available now

A ColossalChat poem about ChatGPT appears on a MacBook screen.

The first open-source AI chatbot in the vein of ChatGPT has arrived, and it's come at a particularly helpful time. ColossalChat is a powerful alternative that uses an RHLF pipeline similar to OpenAI's GPT-4 model that powers ChatGPT, and it's available for immediate use.

ChatGPT, of course, remains the premier AI chatbot and keeps plenty busy. But I just tried to log in now and found it was at capacity and, therefore, unavailable. This is a common problem with the service. ColossalChat, on the other hand, is wide open and ready to use for free.

Computing

Firefox just got a great new way to protect your privacy

If you’re fed up with signing up for new accounts online and then being perpetually spammed in the days and weeks after, Mozilla has an idea that could help. The company has just announced its Firefox Relay feature is being directly integrated into its Firefox web browser, and it could help guarantee your privacy without any extra hassle.

Firefox Relay works by letting you create email “masks” when you sign up for new accounts. Instead of entering your real credentials into the sign-up field, Firefox Relay provides you with a throwaway address and phone number to use. Any messages from the website -- such as purchase receipts -- are then forwarded to your real email address, with all the sender’s tracking information stripped out to protect your privacy.

Computing

Beware — even Mac open-source apps can contain malware

A pair of glasses rests on a desk in front of multiple computer monitors filled with code.

Installing apps on a Mac is generally considered to be safer than doing so on Windows and open-source software is usually benign but there are exceptions to both of these assumptions that can do untold damage to your privacy and security.

A recent discovery by Trend Micro provides a startling example of this risk. An open-source app designed to help Mac owners with iPhone and iPad app signing has been altered to include a nasty hack that steals your Apple Keychain data. The original app is called ResignTool and it’s available for free on the popular open-source site, GitHub. The app is six years old and both the code and the ready-to-run app can be downloaded from GitHub. That isn’t the problem.

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