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chachazz
Premium Member
join:2003-12-14

1 edit

2 recommendations

chachazz

Premium Member

[Free] New - Brave Browser

Co-founders Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy, both formerly with Mozilla, announce the release of their new, Open Source, Chromium-based browser - 'Brave' -»brave.com/

The Team & Brendan Eich's announcement - »brave.com/#about
Writeup on Venture Beat - »venturebeat.com/2016/01/ ··· browser/
quote:
Browse Faster
Brave blocks trackers and intrusive ads that can slow you down on the web.

Browse Safer
Brave keeps you and your information safer, effectively shielding you from 3rd party tracking and malvertisement.

Browse Better
With Brave, you can choose whether to see ads that respect your privacy or pay sites directly. Either way, you can feel good about helping fund content creators.
quote:
Today we're releasing the 0.7 developer version for early adopters and testers, along with open source and our roadmap.

Brave browsers block everything: initial signaling/analytics scripts that start the programmatic advertising “dirty pipe”, impression-tracking pixels, and ad-click confirmation signals. By default Brave will insert ads only in a few standard-sized spaces. We find those spaces via a cloud robot (so users don't have to suffer, even a few canaries per screen size-profile, with ad delays and battery draining). We will target ads based on browser-side intent signals phrased in a standard vocabulary, and without a persistent user id or highly re-identifiable cookie.

Thus we are a browser-based ad-tech platform, with high precision and privacy.
@Brendan Eich on Twitter
quote:
In advanced prefs, you can turn off blocking/replacing, use the Web as in Chrome; or turn on only blocking++

therube
join:2004-11-11
Randallstown, MD

2 recommendations

therube

Member

You can pay me now, or pay me later.

I mean I should be excited about this, why?

I wonder if Brave would be allowed to attend the IAB conference?

And just what does Brave get out of this?
A good feeling in their hearts for the service they've provided to humanity? Yeah, right.

(Oh, & lets not forget the type of person Brendan Eich is! Yeah, that is right, human.)

Dustyn
Premium Member
join:2003-02-26
Ontario, CAN
·Carry Telecom
·TekSavvy Cable
Asus GT-AX11000
Technicolor TC4400

Dustyn

Premium Member

Now we have a browser called "Brave"?
I vote for "Neutral" next.
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20 to chachazz

Premium Member

to chachazz
I love lions (that's Brave's image). I was intrigued until I couldn't get the brave website to load correctly on Fx 43 or Pale Moon 25 (even with Proxo bypassed and anti-trackers, etc paused). On both browsers I got a link showing to youtube-nocookie.com and the site continually loaded on Pale Moon with no way to stop it except leave the site. Ironically, when I opened IE 10 Brave's website loaded properly and that link is actually an image regarding Brave on smart phones.

I also could not get the popup to join the beta to load correctly....except on IE 10. Then when I read the browser is a fork of Chromium, well, that pretty much killed my interest. It also explained why the site loads correctly on IE but not on gecko based browsers.
Sentinel
Premium Member
join:2001-02-07
Florida

Sentinel to chachazz

Premium Member

to chachazz
Sounds good. I like it. I'm going to be checking it out and I think it might be an idea that threads the needle and finds that crucially needed balance between ad revenue, which needed for the internet to function, and privacy.

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

4 edits

3 recommendations

DocDrew to Mele20

Premium Member

to Mele20
Click for full size
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said by Mele20:

It also explained why the site loads correctly on IE but not on gecko based browsers.

It explains nothing of the sort, it loads fine on Fx (even with Fx Tracking Protection, Ghostery, and LightBeam on) and PaleMoon. Don't blame the base browser for the site not loading, unless you're willing to try in safe mode or a default, clean config.

Besides, Mele20, it has HTTPS Everywhere built in. That alone would cause you spasms with Proxo issues.

Back to the topic, I signed up for the beta. They apparently have Win, Mac, iOS, and Android versions. They'll send me a link to download at a future time. I'd probably try it on iOS. Hopefully there is a portable version for at least Win. Then I'll throw it in my browser test folder with the multitude of other browser versions I have.

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

4 recommendations

Blackbird to Dustyn

Premium Member

to Dustyn
said by Dustyn:

Now we have a browser called "Brave"?
I vote for "Neutral" next.

They need to update their logo/icon...

chachazz
Premium Member
join:2003-12-14

chachazz

Premium Member

Andreas Gal weighs in - Brendan is back to save the Web
quote:
... is that its for-profit. Brave can make money by reducing obnoxious ads and protecting your privacy at the same time. If Brave succeeds, it’s going to drain money away from the crappy privacy-invasive obnoxious advertisement world we have today, and publishers and sites will start transacting in the new Brave world that is regulated by the user agent. Brave will take a cut of these transactions.
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20 to chachazz

Premium Member

to chachazz
I don't get it. With Ghostery, Fx Tracking Protection, the Proxomitron, the Hosts file, Canvas Blocker, UMatriix, etc. why would I want this Brave browser that will force ads on me and is based on (gag) Chromium browser which is bare bones and an absolutely terrible browser....worse than IE even?
Sentinel
Premium Member
join:2001-02-07
Florida

1 recommendation

Sentinel

Premium Member

Some websites do not require advertisement revenue to function; such as amazon.com or macys.com or something like that. Those kinds of sites derive their revenue from products sold. Blocking ads does not effect how they make their money.

Other sites, however, only make money from their advertising. If you succeed in blocking their ads they make no money and can't continue to exist. This is the nature of the internet. When people say that that things are free this is nonsense. Nothing is free. Someone is paying. People have to eat and have clothes so they must derive an income from somewhere. Enter advertising. So this is a problem that needs to be resolved if sites like that are going to continue.

Enter this browser. If I understand it correctly, this browser is going to allow ads yet keep them from tracking you or knowing anything about you. Random ads that have no idea who you are or what your doing. Knowing who you are and what your doing is the Google business model BTW, although many people don't know it or deny it. That is how Google makes a living; how the employees that work there eat and clothe themselves.

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

5 recommendations

Blackbird to chachazz

Premium Member

to chachazz
If the browser were reliably able to completely block all code executing from ads or trackers, then I would feel it might be making significant strides toward rendering online advertising behavior similar to print-media ads. That is, make the ads and counters totally passive, such that they couldn't track or infect a user's system. Viewers of print media can choose whether or not to look at print ads or ignore the publication entirely if the number or size of the ads get out of hand in their estimation. Online ads ought to behave in a way that leads to the same result. As it stands now, the entire online media universe is highly subsidized by revenue from marketing tie-ins and data mining, as well as ads - the mechanisms of which set users up for infection.

The other issue, of course, is the degree of assurance of ongoing integrity of the browser... namely, the assurance that such a browser would remain hook-free going forward. Too many companies and products have risen to popularity on the basis of "keeping the rascals out", only to later sell out those users by making financial agreements with the 'rascals' that betrayed the initial promises made to users.

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

2 edits

3 recommendations

sivran to Sentinel

Premium Member

to Sentinel
said by Sentinel:

If I understand it correctly, this browser is going to allow ads yet keep them from tracking you or knowing anything about you.

As I understand it, it will block the original web page's ads, and insert its own. Brave is more than a browser, it's an ad platform.
quote:
Brave basically consists of two parts: part one blocks third party ad content and tracking signals. Instead of these Brave inserts alternative ad content. Sites can sign up to get a fair share of any ads that Brave displays for them.
I'm not sure how well this is going to go over. Targeted ads--that is, ads that are placed based on those privacy-invasions we all (and Brave) want to avoid--pay significantly better than random, untargeted ones. That's why so many web technologies are (ab)used for tracking. That's why the online advertising industry is in the state it's in, and that's why Google is king of said industry: they're better at figuring out things about their users (and getting them to freely give away information) than anyone else, bar none.

Brave promises to break all this, and unless it reaches some critical mass will represent a negative to any site's bottom line, and even afterward it will still be detrimental to any site not "signed up."

Say, that's a nice site you got there. Be a shame if the only ad revenue generated from it...went to US instead of you, wouldn't it? -Brave

All that being said it'd be nice if we could go back to the days when advertisers' tracking attempts were pathetic and easily defeated, or if we could support web sites without the unscalable method of donating a buck to every single one of them. In that respect, kudos to Brave for coming up with a new compromise for the situation. I am just skeptical of its prospects for success.

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

Blackbird

Premium Member

said by sivran:

... Say, that's a nice site you got there. Be a shame if the only ad revenue generated from it...went to US instead of you, wouldn't it? -Brave ...

Hmm. I wonder how Brave will deal with the user-agent and JavaScript-based browser sniffing that will inevitably be massively deployed against them? Brave can't insert their ads effectively into sites that refuse to display content for their browser brand.
Sentinel
Premium Member
join:2001-02-07
Florida

2 recommendations

Sentinel to sivran

Premium Member

to sivran
Maybe it will come down to an all or nothing decision for advertisers. Either you take the "non-targeted" ads or just keep doing what we're doing and having people use ad-blockers so zero ads get through; and of course thus zero money.

ZZZZZZZ
Premium Member
join:2001-05-27
PARADISE

ZZZZZZZ to chachazz

Premium Member

to chachazz
The only way I would even try this browser is if they had a portable version.

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

1 recommendation

sivran

Premium Member

Speaking of portable, I'm not entirely sure why Brave can't be built as an addon for all the major browsers.

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

1 recommendation

Blackbird

Premium Member

said by sivran:

Speaking of portable, I'm not entirely sure why Brave can't be built as an addon for all the major browsers.

Perhaps it's easier to block a URL or script, as blocking extensions typically do, than it is to insert something else compatible with the specific site being viewed.

GlennLouEarl
3 brothers, 1 gone
Premium Member
join:2002-11-17
Richmond, VA

3 recommendations

GlennLouEarl to therube

Premium Member

to therube
said by therube:

lets not forget the type of person Brendan Eich is

A brilliant developer who helped create Mozilla?

I for one am looking forward to seeing what becomes of this project. Vivaldi, at least, shows that Chromium isn't completely lacking in potential.

chachazz
Premium Member
join:2003-12-14

5 recommendations

chachazz

Premium Member

said by GlennLouEarl:

A brilliant developer who helped create Mozilla?

... not to mention, the Inventor of Javascript programming language.
chachazz

1 recommendation

chachazz to Mele20

Premium Member

to Mele20
Here we go...
chachazz

1 recommendation

chachazz

Premium Member

Click for full size
Installed
chachazz

1 recommendation

chachazz

Premium Member

Development Timeline: »brave.com/dev_timeline.html
chachazz

chachazz

Premium Member

Changelog
0.7.12 - Feb 1, 2016

• Various crash fixes and window.opener fixes.
• Fix for state saving when an update is applied.
• Fix for update error handling when on a flaky connection.
• Visual indicator for Session Tabs added.
• Installers and updates reduced by ~40%.
• Windows taskbar grouping fix.
• Initial window size is now bigger.
• Various keyboard shortcuts added.
• HTTPS Everywhere fixes.

0.7.11
• Security fix (Severity: High): Prevent BrowserWindow from navigating to remote content (#445).
Impact: if the user is tricked into dragging and dropping a malicious link outside of the tab content area, the linked site is loaded outside the webview sandbox and can compromise the user's system.
• Dropped URLs now open tabs instead of opening inside the whole window.
• Fixed a tracking protection problem causing some top level sites to not load.
• Bravery menu options are now easier to understand.
• Context menus re-ordered by importance.
• Various Windows shortcuts added.
• Mouse middle click on a tab now closes the tab.
• About menu dialog now works in Windows.
• Release notes viewer will allow mouse activity for copy/pasting.

0.7.10
• Added the hamburger menu (top right menu).
• Fixed Windows packaging issues.
• Fixed issues with rendering on some Windows systems causing a black window.

0.7.9

• UI tweaks.
• Fixed bug in adblock causing some sites not to work.
• Per window session state is now preserved.
• Left / right arrow navigation shortcuts.
• Privacy: Browser level web requests loaded into a segmented in memory only partition.

0.7.8

- New lighter themed UI.
- Partitioned tabs support for multiple sessions per user.
- Security: Sandbox inserted / replaced iframe.
- More context menu options for copy, cut, paste, and copy link.
- Background tabs now actually open in the background.
- Further adblock optimizations.
- Conditionally shows prev / next tab buttons.
- Checking for updates with no windows open opens a new window.
- Closing a pin attempts now goes to next tab.
- Find in page result count indicator.
- Show security icon while HTTP/HTTPS page loads.
- Various bug fixes.

0.7.7
- Fixed load time indicator and Windows menus

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

2 recommendations

sivran to chachazz

Premium Member

to chachazz
Interesting stuff posted about their revenue model.
quote:
Once you've chosen to replace, block, or allow ads and tracking, things get more interesting, since we give every person using Brave a user wallet. This feature will become available in the coming months, and we want you to draw from this wallet to support sites you favor with micropayments. The sites you micropay will be ad-free, even if you chose Replace Ads -- we won't insert ads after blocking.

Replacing ads means you get the same share of gross ad revenue (15%) that we do. Once we have enough users to attract advertisers who meet our quality standards, this revenue will flow into your user wallet as payments arrive from the ad buyers. Again, the purpose of this revenue share is to support your preferred sites via micropayments.
You'll also be able to add your own funds to your wallet, to micropay even more sites that you wish to support. Note that this option exists whether you block, replace, or allow ads.
However you fill your wallet with enough funds to get started, you can choose to pay sites individually, or pay your top 20 sites with one click (the limit of 20 is adjustable), and go ad-free on those sites. You'll pay a fixed amount per ad-free article you load each month, up to a monthly maximum that you can set.

Payments accumulate as pending for the current month of browsing. Then at the end of the month, after a few days for you to finalize who gets paid, they will flow to the designated sites' wallets. Thus you'll have time to remove any sites or articles you don't wish to support.

Sounds.. a little bit like Patreon but for websites, and built in to the browser. Actually, not sure why Patreon couldn't be for just general websites. Make a browser add-on, adjust their fees to make micropayments more viable, it could work...

therube
join:2004-11-11
Randallstown, MD

therube to chachazz

Member

to chachazz
Yes all that.
But you left out the most important part of the quote, "that is right, human".
therube

2 recommendations

therube to sivran

Member

to sivran
Sounds like a "feel good" sell to the end user, while trying to obscure the fact that the only reason for the browsers existence is to put $$ in the Brave employees coffers.

They're doing it for the $$, nothing more.

And that's fine, but at least be up front with it.

chachazz
Premium Member
join:2003-12-14

chachazz

Premium Member


Developer v. 0.8 / Beta v. 0.7 due for release 02/26/16


Crucial Features
• Placeholder Ads
• In-browser preference modeling
• Multiple update channel support
• Customization over tracking / adblock

• Block third party cookies
• Prefs system
• Private Browsing (iOS)
• HTTPS UI (cert warning pages, etc.)

This phase will allow users to control/override blocking and privacy features on a per-site basis. In-browser preference modeling will allow the browser to use its own browsing history to determine what the user is interested in without revealing browsing activity to advertisers.

Let's see if they deliver on schedule.
»brave.com/
chachazz

chachazz

Premium Member

Changelog to date:

0.7.16 - Feb 24, 2016
• Spotty text selection in URL bar fix.
• Added restore last closed window.
• Fix session store to restore state from last closed window.
• Pinned tabs and bookmarks are now session aware (Cmd+Click or Control+Click on Windows to open a bookmark in the original session).
• Fix video playing on CNBC, fix cityam.com adblocker error.
• Faster page loading from optimizations in HTTPS Everywhere.
• HTML drag and drop no longer opens extra tab.
• Dropping files on bookmarks bar to create bookmarks, and on toolbar to open in new tabs.
• Certificate error page improvements. - Support dropping tabs onto tab set indicators to reorder them.
• Support pinning and unpinning sites via drag and drop. - Fixed bug in auto suggest when hitting enter.
• Various Linux fixes.
• Fix 3rd party Facebook login.
• SQLite dependency for HTTPS Everywhere removed.

0.7.15
• Added bookmarks toolbar.
• Added bookmarks manager (Very basic but more features coming soon).
• File picker crash fix.
• Optimizations when opening a new tab.
• Add certificate error pages and improve site security indicators.
• Various context menu, shortcut, and drag and drop improvements.
• Various bug fixes and improvements.

0.7.14
• Security (Severity: High): Added process sandboxing for content processes (c794907).
• Various UI rendering performance optimization.
• Fix loading videos on CNN and other page loading problems.
• Security (Severity: Low): Hostname is always displayed in title mode in bold.
• Security (Severity: High): Preferences page script context is now reloaded when navigating in the same tab away from preferences (446dfe8).
• Theme color detection changes.
• Various bug fixes.

0.7.13
• Preferences: startup mode, homepage, default search engine, various tab preferences, and privacy settings. More to come.
• Various UI enhancements.
• Security: Third party cookie blocking option (enabled by default).
• Security: Third party HTTP Referer header blocking option (enabled by default).
• Security: Precautionary only, removed node from ever loading in web views.
• Security: Precautionary Added CSP to UI pages.
• Security: Secure sites now display a lock in title mode.
• Various keyboard shortcuts added, various focus issues fixed, various bugs fixed.
• Context menus copy link location works in more cases now.
• about:newtab, about:about pages implemented.
• Placeholder ads link to a page explaining what they are.
• 2 finger navigation on OS X.
• Cleaned up UI to remove unneeded elements for about: pages.

0.7.12 - Feb 1, 2016
• Various crash fixes and window.opener fixes.
• Fix for state saving when an update is applied.
• Fix for update error handling when on a flaky connection.
• Visual indicator for Session Tabs added.
• Installers and updates reduced by ~40%.
• Windows taskbar grouping fix.
• Initial window size is now bigger.
• Various keyboard shortcuts added.
• HTTPS Everywhere fixes.

0.7.11
• Security fix (Severity: High): Prevent BrowserWindow from navigating to remote content (#445).
Impact: if the user is tricked into dragging and dropping a malicious link outside of the tab content area, the linked site is loaded outside the webview sandbox and can compromise the user's system.
• Dropped URLs now open tabs instead of opening inside the whole window.
• Fixed a tracking protection problem causing some top level sites to not load.
• Bravery menu options are now easier to understand.
• Context menus re-ordered by importance.
• Various Windows shortcuts added.
• Mouse middle click on a tab now closes the tab.
• About menu dialog now works in Windows.
• Release notes viewer will allow mouse activity for copy/pasting.

0.7.10
• Added the hamburger menu (top right menu).
• Fixed Windows packaging issues.
• Fixed issues with rendering on some Windows systems causing a black window.

0.7.9

• UI tweaks.
• Fixed bug in adblock causing some sites not to work.
• Per window session state is now preserved.
• Left / right arrow navigation shortcuts.
• Privacy: Browser level web requests loaded into a segmented in memory only partition.

0.7.8

- New lighter themed UI.
- Partitioned tabs support for multiple sessions per user.
- Security: Sandbox inserted / replaced iframe.
- More context menu options for copy, cut, paste, and copy link.
- Background tabs now actually open in the background.
- Further adblock optimizations.
- Conditionally shows prev / next tab buttons.
- Checking for updates with no windows open opens a new window.
- Closing a pin attempts now goes to next tab.
- Find in page result count indicator.
- Show security icon while HTTP/HTTPS page loads.
- Various bug fixes.

0.7.7
- Fixed load time indicator and Windows menus
chachazz

2 edits

chachazz to Blackbird

Premium Member

to Blackbird
• Dev Channel 0.8 dev - March 4, 2016
• Beta Channel 0.7 beta
quote:
Crucial Features
• Placeholder Ads
• Bookmark Management & import bookmarks
• Multiple update channel support
• Content Process Sandbox
• Block third party cookies
• Prefs system
• HTTPS UI (cert warning pages, etc.)
• Permissions dialogs
This phase will allow users to control/override blocking and privacy features on a per-site basis. In-browser preference modeling will allow the browser to use its own browsing history to determine what the user is interested in without revealing browsing activity to advertisers.
Download: »www.brave.com/

Detailed changelog:
• Bookmark management: Bookmark folders added, drag and drop bookmarks and folders from within the Bookmark Toolbar and Bookmark Manager.
• Ability to import bookmarks from a Firefox or Chrome HTML export.
• History is now remembered for better autocomplete results.
• Permission dialogs added for sites wanting to request special permissions.
• Various shortcuts added for each platform.
• Support added for mouse back/forward web buttons.
• Window is now maximized when navigation bar is double clicked.
• Mouse middle clicking on bookmarks now opens the link in a new tab.
• Adblock and tracking protection fixed for non default sessions.
• Various cert warning page fixes.
• Don't show context menu if a page has its own (Google docs).
• Added Home menu item and shortcut to go to home page.
• Added Clear history menu item.
• Help menu added to the hamburger menu.
• Various top level menu items now work when there are no windows open.
• Links opened from the context menu item “Open in new tab” now retains private / session it was opened from.
• Extra protection against badly downloaded adblock, tracking protection, and https everywhere data files.
• Image blocking now replaces images with a 1px transparent local data url instead of blocking the request for better site compat (macworld.com).
• about: pages now have an icon so they can look better when pinned.
• Multiple update channel support added for future builds (beta, release channel support).
• Various other improvements and fixes.

The latest builds [0.8.1 dev RC] : »github.com/brave/browser ··· GELOG.md
chachazz

chachazz

Premium Member

Brave v0.8.2 Dev Channel
released 1 days ago
"On deck for 0.8.3 is downloads toolbar and Inspect Element."

• Password saving feature added.
• Brave is now a single instance application.
• HTTPS Everywhere information is now displayed in the site information popup.
• 'Find in page' now shows match ordinal.
• Open all bookmarks in bookmark folder - context menu added.
• Improved bookmark import support (Safari, Pinboard).
• Fixes for full screen mode.
• Fixes for pinned sites not unpinning.
• Upgraded to libchromiumcontent 49.0.2623.87.
• Upgraded to Node v5.9.
• Various other bug fixes.

v0.8.1 Dev Channel
released 7 days ago
• Upgrade to libchromiumcontent v49.0.2623.75.
• Upgrade to Electron v0.37.2.
• Upgrade to Node v5.8.
• Basic HTTP authentication now supported.
• Support for Twitch.tv
• Possible fix for copy text sometimes not working.
• Fix bookmarks not working after navigating within a page using push state api.
• Save session state periodically to prevent data loss.
• Window titles actually being set for better compatibility with other apps.
• We now show a broken lock icon for pages with certificate errors.
• Tweaked various UI bits.
• Fixed text cursor jumping to the end of a text input in the settings pane.
• Added import bookmarks item to the hamburger menu.
• Middle clicking on a bookmark folder now opens all bookmarks.
• Control tab, command tab, and middle click now works for bookmarks within a menu on the toolbar.
• Typekit and Google fonts fix.
• Dragging favicon onto bookmarks bar now respects position of the drop.
• We now display: none on background webviews for better performance.