boot13Three security vulnerabilities are addressed in the latest release of Google’s web browser Chrome. The release notes for Chrome 53.0.2785.143 don’t mention any other changes. The full change log lists over forty changes, but only about twenty of those are actual changes to functionality. All of the changes are minor, although some are fixes for crashing issues.
Category Archives: Google
A few minor fixes for Chrome
Another new version of Chrome was released yesterday. Very little has changed in version 53.0.2785.116. The full change log lists six changes related to actual functionality, and they all seem to be related to appearance and stability. There are no security fixes in this release.
Chrome 53.0.2785.113
The announcement for Chrome 53.0.2785.113 highlights five security issues that are addressed in the new version. It points to this page for details, but currently nothing is listed there. According to Google, “Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix.”
The full change log lists several dozen changes, most of which are minor bug fixes.
For most users, Chrome will update itself. To make sure you’re running the most recent version, click the menu button (at the top right; looks like three vertical dots), and select Help > About. If Chrome hasn’t already updated itself, this should trigger the update.
Chrome 53.0.2785.101
The latest version of Google’s Chrome web browser includes a few minor tweaks, but doesn’t fix any serious bugs or security vulnerabilities, according to the announcement and full change log. So there’s no rush to update.
Google ‘mistake’ causes mass RSS outages
Google runs an URL shortening service called goo.gl. It also runs an RSS feed service, technology purchased with FeedBurner. Both of these services are widely used on the web.
Over the weekend, goo.gl started blocking all URLs generated by FeedBurner. That meant all links used in FeedBurner feeds suddenly started showing scary-looking alerts instead of linked content.
Given Google’s history of creating useful services, waiting until they’re widely-used, then killing them off, you’d be excused for assuming that this is just the latest installment of the ‘Google rug pull‘. But according to Google, the problem was simply the result a mistake. Regardless, the cause was identified and rectified within a few days, but not before some users (including the technology blog Techdirt) switched to competing services.
Chrome 53.0.2785.89
The full change log for Chrome 53.0.2785.89 is another one of those browser-annihilating pages that you probably shouldn’t even try to load. Included in the boat-load of changes in Chrome 53 are thirty-three fixes for security vulnerabilities, making this an important update.
For most users, Chrome will automatically update itself, but given the number of security fixes, you should probably make sure. Click the funny little menu icon (three dots in a vertical line), then select Help > About from the menu. If Chrome isn’t already up to date, this should trigger an update.
There may be some interesting new features in Chrome 53, but the announcement doesn’t mention anything in particular. If anyone out there is patient enough to read the full change log and notices anything noteworthy, drop me a line to let me know, and I’ll update this post.
Chrome 52.0.2743.116
Chrome 52.0.2743.116 fixes ten security bugs. The change log lists fifty-nine changes in total, but none of them are particularly noteworthy.
Chrome 52.0.2743.82
Fixes for at least forty-eight security issues highlight the release of Chrome 52.0.2743.82.
According to the full change log (warning: may kill your browser), almost 10,000 changes were made for this version. That’s a few too many for any kind of summary, so we’ll just have to hope that Google provides a list of notable changes, as hinted at in the announcement.
Chrome 51.0.2704.106
A new version of Chrome appears to fix a single bug. Since the bug is unrelated to security, this is one update you can safely ignore. Of course Chrome will most likely update itself anyway. The full change log has only four entries, three of which seem to exist only to record changes in version numbers. Makes a nice change from the browser-annihilating change logs we’ve come to expect, anyway.
Chrome 51.0.2704.103
There’s not much to talk about in the latest version of Chrome, but it does include fixes for at least three security vulnerabilities. The announcement for Chrome 51.0.2704.103 doesn’t contain much useful information, and the full change log only lists a few bug fixes.