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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Balance is a challenging mouse-based physics game

balance
Years of computer use have taught us that the mouse cursor is "above" the windows. It doesn't push anything around; at least not without you clicking anything.

Balance takes that ingrained bit of knowledge and cancels it out. Suddenly your cursor (a blue dot) is solid - and if it touches the blue block, it pushes it around.

Your job is to use your cursor to nudge the blue block over to the orange block. You will have to push it, lift it and even flip it on its side, and then balance it. It's a very tricky game - one I wouldn't recommend tackling with a laptop trackpad.

Still, if you have a mouse and a hankering for a little physics gameplay, this is a cute little game. I like how the blue block never stops smiling, it makes me feel better about the world.

Balance is a challenging mouse-based physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/10/balance-is-a-challenging-mouse-based-physics-game/

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Strange Internet Rumblings Coming From China

China's Internet users on Thursday were restricted from accessing foreign websites for about an hour, setting off speculation that the nation was instituting -- or at least testing -- a new online censorship technique. According to The Wall Street Journal, "At around 11 a.m. local time Thursday, China's Internet suddenly began behaving very strangely."

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/74857.html

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Barnes & Noble NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight announced

Barnes & Noble NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight

Barnes & Noble has now taken the covers off their latest NOOK device headed to store shelves and online just in time for Mother's day, Father's day and graduations. The NOOK Simple Touch introduces the GlowLight screen that looks to solve the many concerns of folks reading in the dark be it the fact you don't want to wake others or just simply that you find reading in the dark strenuous on the eyes.

“To date, readers have had to compromise: either buying black-and-white E Ink reading devices to optimize their outdoor reading or color LCD devices to be able to read at night in bed with the light off. NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight is like two Readers in one,” said William J. Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble.

The NOOK Simple Touch weighs in at just under 7 ounces, will retail for $139 and will be available in early May. Couple that with the notably long lasting battery life of the NOOK series, WiFi support and enough storage space for up to 1,000 books it makes for an ideal E Ink reader. You can jump past the break for the full press release or just head over to the source link for more information.

Source: Barnes & Noble

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/-6z7oP6Ilwk/story01.htm

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Spotify's got a 'special announcement' coming next week

Image
Looks like Spotify's not done with its big news. Two days after launching the new Play Button, and a day after getting entirely too excited about adding the Red Hot Chili Peppers to its catalog, the music streamer sent out invites for an event in New York City featuring the company's CEO, Daniel Ek on center stage. Oh yeah, and we'll be there too, of course.

Spotify's got a 'special announcement' coming next week originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/13/spotifys-got-a-special-announcement-coming-next-week/

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Verizon upgrade fee, Phone vs. Phone [From the Forums]

From the Forums

It's been a busy Thursday for Android news. If you happened to miss out on any of it, you can take some time to get yourself caught up here on the blogs. Plus, if you're looking for more Android discussion the Android Central forums are always open for business, hop on in.

If you're not already a member of the Android Central forums, you can register your account today.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/bJK2mJ76DJE/story01.htm

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TripAdvisor app for Windows Phone 7 now available

tripadvisor windows phone 7TripAdvisor, the popular travel planning tool, has just launched an app for Windows Phone 7. Just like the mobile website, the app allows you to search for anything travel-related -- from hotels and flights to restaurants and points-of-interest to visit once you reach your destination.

Geolocation is supported, which allows TripAdvisor to quickly locate places nearby. But while that's a neat feature, it's also a bit of a downer -- because, really, it's about the only feature TripAdvisor for WP7 brings to the table that its mobile Web app doesn't already offer (its browser-based geolocation doesn't work with WP7 at the moment).

While it's nice to see Windows Phone 7 users getting some big-name apps, it'd be even nicer if we saw some packing a bit more swagger.

Still, TripAdvisor for WP7 might just be worth installing on your device if you're frequently on the go -- at least until a better browser arrives with the Mango update.

TripAdvisor app for Windows Phone 7 now available originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/tripadvisor-app-for-windows-phone-7-now-available/

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Drone Helicopter Gets Deadlier with "Precision Kill" Weapons Upgrade [Video]

The MQ-8 Fire Scout, an unmanned helicopter used for reconnaissance work by all branches of the US military, made news this week when the Navy grounded its Fire Scout aircraft after a pair of recent crashes. The current machines are unarmed, but by 2013, a planned weapons upgrade will make them first sea-based, armed drone helicopter in the Navy's arsenal. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/XNo1ZkmS5iI/drone-helicopter-gets-deadlier-with-precision-kill-weapons-upgrade

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Why iPhone Users Hate Mobile WiFi Slightly Less Than Android Users Do

A cool study caught my attention recently. It says that iPhones have significantly higher rates of WiFi utilization than Android phones in the U.S. and the UK. I immediately found that point weird, because after all, most Android smartphones also come with contracts that require users to pay for a data plan.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/74839.html

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