This is a draft version of the first-ever Mozilla Webmakers newsletter. Please provide feedback as comments below.
Mozilla Collusion: see who’s tracking you online
Many of you joined in Mozilla’s campaign to stop SOPA and combat internet censorship. Last week marked another important milestone for web freedom and transparency: the release of Collusion, a new browser add-on from Mozilla that reveals the complex web of entities that are tracking your behavior online.
The launch of Collusion made headlines around the world, and the Ford Foundation is supporting Mozilla to help further develop the add-on and build large-scale education programs around online privacy and tracking.
Get involved: join Mozilla’s quest for transparency and user sovereignty
- Install the Collusion add-on now.
- See what the press is saying about it. From Mashable and PC World to Business Week, Fast Company and The Atlantic.
- Make a donation. Join Mozilla and support our non-profit mission to protect transparency and privacy online.
Inspiring a generation of webmakers starts here
Mozilla’s Mitchell Baker said it best: “Mozillians are people who make things.” We’re passionate about designing and building the future we want together. And this year, we’re focused on spreading that open web ethos to a whole new generation. With great tools, resources and events that help millions of people move from passively using the web to actively making and shaping it for themselves.
That vision was brought to life on a recent Saturday afternoon at Mozilla Toronto. More than 50 youth and volunteers got together for an afternoon of making, learning and hacking. Using Mozilla Hackasaurus tools and curriculum, youth were able to see what makes their favorite web pages tick, understand the basics of HTML, and get their first taste of why open source making and sharing is so much fun.
Get involved: Help youth around the world learn to make, hack and share
- Check out Mozilla Hackasaurus. Install the amazing X-Ray Goggles to remix, explore and make your own web pages in seconds.
- Learn more about hosting your own hack jam for kids. The Hackasaurus “Hacktivity Kit” makes it easy.
- Help Mozilla expand this work around the globe. Make a donation to support and scale up these events for youth around the world.
Digital badges for learning: unlocking the web’s full educational potential
The web has revolutionized the way we learn. But it’s still too difficult for people to get recognition for learning that happens online or out of school. Mozilla’s Open Badges project is working to solve that problem, providing free open source software that makes it easy for any organization or community to issue, manage and display digital badges for learning across the web.
The project reached a major milestone last week, with the announcement of winners from the MacArthur Foundation and Mozilla’s “Badges for Learning” competition. Winners ranged from NASA, the U.S. Department of Education and the Girl Scouts of America to Intel, Disney-Pixar and Motorola. In the months ahead, all of them will build digital badge systems using Mozilla’s Open Badges Infrastructure.
The goal: provide learners of all ages new ways to gain 21st century skills, harness the full educational power of the Internet, and unlock career and learning opportunities in the real world.
Get involved: Help the world level up
- Check out the brand new Mozilla OpenBadges.org web site — and earn your first badge
- Learn more about the winners of Mozilla and the MacArthur Foundation’s “Badges for Learning” competition
- Make a donation to help Mozilla continue development on the Open Badges Infrastructure and issue digital badges for webmakers.
Mozilla Popcorn: “pop-up video on steroids”
Remember those awesome pop-up videos on VH1? Thanks to Mozilla Popcorn, the new HTML5 tool for supercharging web video, the pop-up format is about to get a whole new lease on life.
Case in point: this “Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. Edward from Twilight” remix, created by mash-up maestro and Mozilla Popcorn community member, Jonathan McIntosh. Jonathan used the new Mozilla Popcorn app to add context, pop-up links, and commentary to his online video.
Mozilla Popcorn has been turning heads for a while now, with Wired and Fast Company calling it “the future of web video.” But the new Mozilla Popcorn app makes it easier for non-developers to get in on the action.
The Mozilla Popcorn app just released version 0.2 last week. It’s still in the early stages, but the Mozilla Popcorn community will be releasing new versions every month. So stay tuned for new features, smoother user experience and great new templates for making video work like the web.
Get involved: make your own pop-up video
- Get started making your own pop-up video with Mozilla Popcorn.
- Check out more Mozilla Popcorn demos, interactive documentaries and more.
- Make a donation. To help host Mozilla Popcorn training events and hackfests with young film-makers this summer.
Join Mozilla: Help build a better web (and look good doing it)
As you know, Mozilla is a non-profit that’s answerable to no one but you. And as we hope you’ll agree, we’ve been pretty busy lately! Please consider making a donation to help us continue to serve the Mozilla mission in exciting new ways, empower a new generation of webmakers, and fight the good fight online.
Make a donation of $30 or more and you’ll receive the exclusive and oh so suave Mozilla Firefox t-shirt — the only way to get it!
- Make a donation now.
- Stay in touch. Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.
- Get more involved. Join one of our weekly Mozilla Webmaker calls, check out a complete list of our projects <link to come>, or learn more about the Mozilla mission.
