As 2008 comes to a close, the industry reflects back on the past year and highlights the best and brightest technologies and news stories that came our way. This month Mozilla and Firefox received the following honors:

*eWeek Top 10 News Stories of the Year

*Mozilla and Racepoint Group UK won Best Technology and Consumer Electronics PR Campaign for Mozilla Firefox 3 launch at the European Excellence Awards 2008

*Firefox wins ReadWriteWeb Top 10 Consumer Web Apps of 2008

*Mozilla Weave wins ReadWriteWeb Top 10 Web Platforms of 2008

*Firefox included in BusinessWeek’s Best Tech Products of 2008

*CrunchGear fans name Firefox 3 Best Browser, Peoples Choice Award

On Monday, we announced the release of Firefox 3.1 Beta 2.  To date there have been more than 25 total articles. Reporters have continued to focus on how the updated browser includes the new Private Browsing Mode and how it allows users to surf the Web without leaving locally stored records of online activities.

Coverage highlights include articles in Ars Technica, Computerworld, InformationWeek, CNET, Technologizer, Mashable, PC Magazine, and Wired.

European coverage includes:

Poland:  Gazeta.pl Technologie, PCWorld.pl, Twoje.pc, PCLab.pl

Germany: Markenpost, Big Screen, Linux Magazine, PC Professionell

France: eWeek, MacPlus, CNet, Les Numeriques

Italy: eBizItalia, Punto Informatico, HW Gadget, ZeusNews

UK: The Register, Vnunet.com, ProPortal.com, TechRadar.com

Spain: The Inquirer, Muy Computer.com, Geekets, GenBeta.com

Last week, Mozilla and Zazzle announced a strategic partnership and launched the Mozilla Community Store!  At the Mozilla Community Store, you can browse the gallery to shop from an array of community generated designs. Designs consist entirely of artwork supplied by Mozilla’s worldwide community, with all designs available for customization on over 400 apparel products including t-shirts, sweatshirts and tank tops. To get things started, we’ve seeded the store with over 50 designs from the Firefox 3 t-shirt design contest, but you can also start from scratch and add your own!

US coverage highlights include: TechCrunch, Lifehacker, Startupmeme, and Zazzle’s blog.

This morning an exciting article was published in the BBC News that profiles Mitchell Baker and her role as one of the most influential women leaders in Silicon Valley. Valley Girls: Mitchell Baker looks at the history of the Mozilla Project and Mitchell’s role in founding and shaping its success.

She reflects on the start of her role at Mozilla. “At that point I knew that the building of the browser was a necessary step to have an internet that was worth living in,” she said. “I also knew [Mozilla] was not the obvious path to build a career but it was the obvious path to do something interesting.”