I was downloading the latest version of Firefox today and came across a Google sponsored ad in my firefox search . The sponsored link goes to FirefoxIIl.com (that’s the word firefox plus two capital i’s and one lower case L). I found it interesting that the Mozilla foundation would sponsor a new distribution, and more interestingly under a new domain name. After checking out the web site, I found the site did not have any copyrights or links to other mozilla/firefox web sites or plugin downloadss. Further more, the only thing you can download from the site is the version 3 exe install and a couple themes. Who ever put the site together listed a few Firefox plugins, obviously the authors favorites.

The owner of the domain is not the Mozilla foundation. The current domain owner is “INTERNETWIRE COMMUNICATIONS GMBH”, web site: http://www.internetwire.de. They do not appear to have any connection with Firefox or Mozilla.

Just to check that someone is not doing some weird hoax or distributing a version with spyware or a virus, I downloaded the version from firefoxiiL.com and did a compare to the one from Mozilla. They are identical files, so at least no one is being harmed by this stunt.

So the question is, why would someone create a hoax site and pay Google to advertise it?

Update

@blookins from twitter replied with the lookup of the IP address of the server hosting firefoxiiL.com, it is hosted in China. Very suspicious.

Google

Why are you selling your Adsense service to a potential fraudulent web site?

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The 3rd gear problem with my car has been fixed! If you haven’t followed by blog, I was having a problem with 3rd gear since I got the car last year. When the car was cold, it was very hard to get into 3rd gear and sometimes even when hot it required extra force. The problem was more noticeable in the Winter, though this spring it seemed to have continued beyond the cold months. The transmission has been rebuilt now, and you can tell a difference. I wouldn’t say that it’s like new, but the gears are much more consistent that is for sure. The gears have a “looser” feel to them, not nearly like my last 5 speed 2000 EX but enough to notice that the transmission was previously a lot tighter when in gear. This to me is not a bad thing, as long as I can get it into gear I don’t care how much left-right play there is.

The mechanic at my local dealer was explaining to me that they rebuilt one other Si 6 speed transmission this past weekend and were starting another rebuild that day. He gave me a peak at the transmission they’re currently rebuilding. The area marked in red are the gears that they replace. He also pointed to a vertical rod and underneath where one other part is replaced in the rebuild. I’m guessing that they replaced 2nd and 3rd gear. Any transmission experts want to comment?

They received the wrong bump stops so they were unable to replace those at this last visit. I’ll post a follow up when the bump stops arrive and are installed.

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