Adblock Plus developer pokes holes in Mozilla's new add-on performance tests

Wladimir Palant, developer of the most popular add-on in the world, Adblock Plus, is also an active contributor to the Planet Mozilla blog community. Over the last few days, in response to Mozilla's new name and shame list of slow add-ons, Palant has been investigating whether Mozilla's testing methods are actually accurate.

Rather surprisingly, it turns out that Mozilla's numbers could be significantly wrong -- and if they're not wrong, the factors that Mozilla uses to tabulate an add-ons final score should definitely be made more transparent.

In the first set of tests, Palant shows that FlashGot's position in the top 10 is probably due to a fault in Mozilla's testing setup, and that add-ons can perform very differently depending on which operating system they're being tested on. In the second analysis, Palant uncovers an irregularity that doesn't seem to have an obvious cause -- but it could be due to an I/O bottleneck on Mozilla's test machines. Basically, even though performance testing of Read It Later is disabled because of a bug, it still (somehow!) manages to record a 14% slow-down on Windows 7.

Palant concludes both analyses by scolding Mozilla for going public with the performance data before its testing methods had been confirmed accurate. It definitely looks like Mozilla has been more than a little reckless, considering the importance of Firefox's add-on ecosystem.

Adblock Plus developer pokes holes in Mozilla's new add-on performance tests originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/08/adblock-plus-developer-pokes-holes-in-mozillas-new-add-on-perfo/

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Galaxy Note 2 LTE coming to the UK on EE's 4G network

Android Central

EE (Everything Everywhere) will launch the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 LTE on its network in the next couple of weeks, according to reports. UK tech blog Pocket-Lint has word that the international Galaxy Note 2 with LTE will arrive on EE from Oct. 15. As EE's 4G network has yet to launch, customers will first be required to sign up with one of EE's existing 3G network brands -- Orange or T-Mobile. Later, they'll have the option to switch to an EE 4G tariff, though pricing details and launch timeframes have yet to be announced.

The Galaxy Note 2 LTE will reportedly become available from Oct 15 on EE, joining the likes of the HTC One XL, Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE and iPhone 5, which are available now. We met with EE today for a quick demo of some already announced handsets, though they remained tight-lipped about the Note 2.

The Galaxy Note 2 and 4G LTE connectivity will be a tantalizing proposition for Android power users, but with EE's effective monopoly on 4G for the time being, it likely won't be cheap to get hold of the device and a matching service plan.

Source: Pocket-Lint

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/QBaiKHEvl_4/story01.htm

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Google Chrome now uses SPDY HTTP replacement, halves page load time

SPDY in Google Chrome
We're not entirely sure of the time line here, but it looks like Google has now rolled out the SPDY HTTP replacement to its full bevy of Web services, including Gmail, Docs, and YouTube. If you're currently using Google's Chrome browser you're probably already using SPDY.

We originally reported on SPDY way back in November 2009, when Google introduced it as yet another experiment in making the Web faster, like Go, Native Client and speculative pre-connections. Over the last 18 months, though, SPDY support has found its way into the stable build of Chrome.

SPDY is basically a streamlined and more efficient version of HTTP. At its most basic, SPDY introduces parallel, multiplexed streams over a single TCP connection -- but at the same time, SPDY allows for prioritization, so that vital content (HTML) can be sent before periphery content (JavaScript, video). All in all, the SPDY protocol can halve page load times, which is obviously rather significant.

The best bit, though, is that SPDY is an open-source project. HTTP 1.1 is a lumbering beast that needs to be replaced before low-latency real-time computing really becomes a reality, and SPDY is one of the best options currently on the table. To be honest, we're not sure why SPDY hasn't received more coverage -- it's awesome in every way. At the moment, though, the only way to help speed up SPDY's proliferation, is with an experimental Apache mod.

As far as actually 'trying it out,' your best bet is downloading Chrome, hitting up some Google sites, and then checking chrome://net-internals to see your active SPDY sessions. SPDY is a transparent replacement for HTTP, though, and as such it's rather hard to see its effects. Google's sites definitely feel fast in Chrome, but there are more technologies than just SPDY at work.

Google Chrome now uses SPDY HTTP replacement, halves page load time originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/google-chrome-now-uses-spdy-http-replacement-halves-page-load-t/

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Facebook, Twitter Poke Holes in China's Great Firewall

Despite government-imposed bans, Facebook and Twitter have tens of millions of users in China. Facebook use in China has reportedly swelled to 63.5 million people, a roughly eightfold increase over the 7.9 million who used the site two years ago. Twitter, meanwhile, has nearly 36 million users in China. Facebook and Twitter use among China's 500 million Internet users would likely be even higher but for homegrown alternatives such as Sina Weibo, the country's Twitter counterpart.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/23ed5fdf/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C762740Bhtml/story01.htm

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Phantasm Tempered Glass Screen Protector For Asus Galaxy Nexus 7

We tend to cover quite a few screen protectors for various devices here on The Gadgeteer, however most of them are made of some sort of  soft and flexible PET film.  The biggest issue is that as your screen size gets bigger, in my experience, the harder it is to get these films onto your screen cleanly and neatly. The Phantasm screen protector for the Google Nexus 7 from XGear makes installation much easier . Made of shatter-proof tempered glass, the Phantasm is only .4mm thick with a hardness rating of 8H.  A special coating reduces oily and greasy fingerprints.  If the protector should be damaged, it will crack but not shatter, much like a car windscreen. Because of the rigidity of the protector and the fact that only the frame is stuck to the screen, the protector installs easily and cleanly, leaving no air bubbles.

Available from XGear for $69.99.

Filed in categories: Android related, News

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Phantasm Tempered Glass Screen Protector For Asus Galaxy Nexus 7 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 30, 2012 at 8:00 am.

Dodge is a space-shooter in which you have no weapons

dodge
Space-shooters are usually a fairly fiery affair, with many types of guns, weapon upgrades, power-ups and more. Dodge does away with all of that, while keeping the very essence of a space shooter: Dark background, fast action, and stuff blowing up all over the place.

Your vector-looking spacecraft is the fastest thing on the screen, most of the time. And as the header implies, you have absolutely no weapons; you can't get any, either. All you have is agility and maneuverability.

Your opponents shoot heat-seeking missiles at you; the missiles lock on and start tracking you. The trick is to dodge the missiles while putting them in the path of one of your enemies, thus letting them have a taste of their own medicine.

There are three types of enemies, at least in the first few levels: "simple" spaceships which fire slow projectiles, "tanks" which seem to be more serious and take more hits to destroy, and "circles." The circles simply explode, spewing twenty or thirty very fast projectiles. This sounds dangerous, but is actually great once you learn to use them; they are very destructive for tanks, and can even blow up other circles.

The soundtrack is very techno, but it meshes very well with this type of game. Intense fun!

Dodge is a space-shooter in which you have no weapons originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/01/dodge-is-a-space-shooter-in-which-you-have-no-weapons/

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You can now rent Adobe Photoshop for $35 per month, CS 5.5 available soon

Rejoice! No longer will you have to fork over $700 for a Photoshop CS5 license! Adobe has unveiled a new subscription scheme where you can rent the entire Creative Suite, or individual packages, by the month, or for an entire year.

Adobe Photoshop can be yours for $35 per month if you agree to rent it for 12 months, or $49 per month if you require its services for a shorter period. Dreamweaver can be had for even cheaper, at just $19 per month. The entire Master Collection is still rather expensive, though, at $125 per month.

Today, Adobe also ushered in the release of Creative Suite 5.5, and simultaneously upped its release cycle from 18 months to 24 months. This means, if you rent Photoshop for two years, it's actually the same cost as buying it outright. There's no rent-to-own option, though -- so you wouldn't have access to the cheaper upgrade price once Creative Suite 6 rolls around next year. Still, if you need access to Photoshop, After Effects or Premiere for a one-time project, the new rental scheme could be exactly what you're looking for.

In other news, Adobe has announced that it will be launching three rather exciting iPad apps that work in conjunction with Photoshop: Eazel, Nav, and Color Lava. Eazel lets you five-finger paint on your iPad, and export the result into Photoshop; Nav acts as some kind of workspace, brush and menu extension, and the hopefully named Color Lava is a paint mixing palette. The apps are expected to appear in the App Store in the next 30 days.

You can now rent Adobe Photoshop for $35 per month, CS 5.5 available soon originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/you-can-now-rent-adobe-photoshop-for-29-per-month/

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Deal of the Day: Samsung 2500mAh Standard Battery for Galaxy Note

Deal of the Day The October 2 ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day is the Samsung 2500mAh Standard Battery for Galaxy Note. Samsung uses the latest Lithium Ion battery technology giving you the best performance possible. This battery is designed specifically for your Samsung Galaxy Note to deliver the most reliable and long lasting power. Great as spare or replacement!

The Samsung 2500mAh Standard Battery is available for just $19.00, 52% off today only. Backed by our 60-day return policy and fast shipping.

Deal also available in the Canada store

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/SJ_LqL4E6Fg/story01.htm

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