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.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Shot Shot Pirate is a fun, simple physics game

Shot Shot Pirate is very satisfying, because each level is short and to the point. You know what you have to do and you just do it.

As you may have gathered from the name, you're cast in the role of a pirate. Your goal is to shoot at a diamond and make it fall off a tower of bricks. The height of the tower changes as you progress through the levels. It's not enough to just make the diamond fall off the tower of bricks - it has to fall below a certain line (drawn on the screen) for the level to be completed.

There are also different kinds of bricks, with some heavier than others, and different kinds of ammo. You only get a certain amount of ammo for each level, and when it's gone, you lose. But don't worry! If you don't make it on the first try, it's very easy to restart the level and just give it another shot (or three).

All in all it's a cute game. I've seen similar games with better graphics and music, but the game delivers on its main promise - a few minutes of pure time wasting!Shot Shot Pirate is a fun, simple physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Kindle 3 (Keyboard) not gone or forgotten ? Firmware Update

While the Amazon Kindle family is still growing with new models, it looks like Amazon hasn’t forgotten or stopped developing for those who have or prefer the Kindle 3 ( Keyboard ). Firmware 3.3 updates the K3 to match some of the features of the newly (to be) released siblings. Primarily : Download your archived [...]

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Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only

It's hard to believe: our world-spanning network, our Internet, which is the cornerstone of free speech and free society -- which, on a good day, is capable of causing populist revolutions -- is still crippled by banal geolocation restrictions. We are, of course, talking about Amazon's two latest offerings, both of which are only available in the United States. Last week it was the excellent Android Appstore for Android, and today it's the Amazon Cloud Player for Web and Android.

Along with Cloud Player, Amazon also launched Cloud Drive, which is basically just like any other cloud storage digital locker. It's not particularly feature rich, and there's no real reason to use it over something like SugarSync or SkyDrive -- it does work outside the US, however.

Its primary purpose, as far as we're concerned, is that it stores your your Cloud Player music in a subdirectory. You get 5GB of Cloud Drive storage for free, and then it's $1 per gigabyte per year if you need more space.

The Amazon Cloud Player itself will not, to put it bluntly, blow your mind. It works, but it's very much an early, and possibly rushed, release. Let's dive in to the Web and Android players for a closer look.Gallery: Amazon Cloud Player and Cloud Drive: on Web and AndroidContinue reading Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-onlyAmazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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How to Get the Best Features of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Now [Lifehacker]

We've taken our first look at Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and we like what we see—but it'll be awhile before most devices get their hands on it. With the right mix of apps, tweaks, and even a custom ROM or two, you can get a lot of what promises to Ice Cream Sandwich great right now. Here's how. More »

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Nokia 800 WP7 Phone Pictured Again [Nokia]

A nice high-res photograph of what could be a finished version of Nokia's first WP7 phone has appeared online, showing us the phone previously known as the "Sea Ray" in all its... er... glory. More »

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The Best IM Apps [App Battle]

Does anyone use their smartphones as phones anymore? Faux pas, dude. Text me! Send an e-mail. Heck, you know you can even IM me, right? Oh but you don't know what the best Instant Messaging app on iOS or Android is. That's okay. Here you go. More »

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