web

Using many Firefox add-ons at once can cause the application to dramatically slow down. This is because for each add-on, you're using a piece of your computer's memory. The most obvious solution is to uninstall some of them, but perhaps that's not a good option for you.

As an alternative, try checking out how much memory each add-on is using. Firefox provides information on memory allocation (about:memory), but it isn't in the most user-friendly format. The next best option is to install yet another add-on. However, this particular add-on will report its own memory usage … Read more

The dead bodies come into your morgue every day.

Sometimes, no one comes in to identify them. Who are these people? Does no one miss them? Are they all people who lived a lonely life? Isn't there someone out there who at least knows who they are?

The Medical Examiner of Cook County in Chicago, Dr. Steve Cina, wants to give these bodies a chance of at least being known, one last time.

So he has taken the difficult decision to put images of them online.

As he told Fox 32 in Chicago: "We're hoping that that … Read more

The numbers are out -- people increasingly prefer to browse the Internet on tablets rather than smartphones.

Adobe released its latest Digital Index today and discovered that for the first time ever worldwide tablet traffic has surpassed smartphone traffic. Tablets now drive 8 percent of all Internet traffic, while smartphones generate 7 percent.

"We've been keeping a close eye on how quickly tablets have taken off," manager and primary analyst working on Adobe Digital Index Tyler White wrote in a blog post today. "Smartphones remain much more common, but the tablet form factor makes it ideal … Read more

Taking a page from Opera and Amazon playbooks, then writing on it some more, Google is using its own servers to speed up page loading on its mobile version of Chrome.

The feature, called proxy browsing, is enabled in the Chrome 26 beta for Android, though it must be manually activated through the chrome://flags interface by selecting "Enable Data Compression Proxy." With proxy browsing, a server with a fast Internet connection and more processing horsepower than a mobile device loads the Web page on behalf of that mobile device.

The chief advantage of the approach is that … Read more

Google is once again trying hard to convince users of Picasa Web Albums to jump over to Google+ Photos.

The URL http://picasaweb.google.com no longer brings you to Picasa Web Albums but instead redirects you to Google+ Photos. As described by the Google Operating System Blog, which is unaffiliated with Google, you have to enter the URL https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos?noredirect=1 to sneak back into Picasa Web Albums.

You only need to enter that URL once, though. After you use it the first time, Google sets a cookie that turns off the redirection. So … Read more

The first results of Opera's WebKit brain transplant are now available for people to try: a beta version of Opera for Android.

The new version uses Android-native user-interface elements but preserves many Opera features such as Speed Dial. It gets some new features, too, such as Off-road Mode to enable a proxy-browsing technology designed for slow network connections and the Discovery tool for people who want to browse content tailored to their interests.

The Oslo, Norway-based company announced in February that it's scrapped its own Presto engine, except in its TV browser product line, in favor of the … Read more

In response to discovering that hackers were actively exploiting two vulnerabilities in Java running in Web browsers, Oracle has released an emergency patch that it says should deal with the problem.

"These vulnerabilities may be remotely exploitable without authentication, i.e., they may be exploited over a network without the need for a username and password," Oracle wrote in a security alert today. "For an exploit to be successful, an unsuspecting user running an affected release in a browser must visit a malicious web page that leverages these vulnerabilities. Successful exploits can impact the availability, integrity, and … Read more

Google Chrome has matured from a lightweight and fast browsing alternative into an innovative, standard-bearing browser that people love. It's powerful enough to drive its own operating system, Chrome OS. The browser that people can use today, Chrome 25, offers highly competitive features, including synchronization, autofill, and standards compliance, and maintains Google's reputation for building one of the fastest browsers available.

Chrome 25 represents a major milestone for the browser, but those expecting to see dramatic changes in major version-point updates will be disappointed. For a while now, Google has been pushing features over what it calls milestone … Read more

Advertisements, poor text color and background color choices, or even annoying Web site themes can distract you while reading an article online. And sometimes it's not just the distractions, but the strain on your eyes, that makes you want to stop reading.

Instead of suffering through the awful color palettes or vibrant advertisements, you can install a lightweight Chrome extension that will remove the color from the Web page you're reading. Here's how:

First you'll have to grab a copy of Grayscale Tool, by Emanuel Malmquist. Just click Add to Chrome in the top-right-hand corner.

Next, … Read more