script

Performance issues in Safari could be related to third-party add-ons

Safari may experience performance issues, including quitting unexpectedly, running slowly, an inability to download files properly, and other unexpected problems. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms when running Safari, follow these simple steps to help restore Safari's full capabilities.… Read more

Google declares Chrome stable for Mac, Linux

Just shy of a year after releasing the first rough developer's build of its Chrome browser for the Mac, Google announced stable versions of Chrome for Mac and Linux, and upgraded the stable release of the browser to version 5. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Chrome v5.0.375.55 includes support for extensions and themes, improved bookmark management and synchronization, browser preferences syncing, and the most recent stable updates to Chrome's trailblazing JavaScript engine, V8.

The browser also offers several HTML5-based features, including geolocation APIs, App Cache, Web sockets, and attachment drag-and-drop in Gmail. Although Adobe'… Read more

Screenwriting on the iPad: Scripts Pro hands-on

A handful of weeks ago, before I bought an iPad, I wondered whether Apple's slim little go-anywhere tablet could help redefine the casual editing process for writers everywhere.

Well, I've been a little disappointed on that front.

I was dreaming of the iPad becoming a way of editing a paperless "printout" in a far better manner than either a laptop or physically printed pages could normally allow. Yes, I was an idealist. Perhaps foolish. I was excited about news of an upcoming iPad app from veteran screenwriting-software maker Final Draft. To date, it hasn't materialized.

I read scripts via PDF readers such as GoodReader, but as far as writing and editing go, I've had problems. A noble effort by some clever outsiders created a script-formatting template for use with Apple's Pages, but it's essentially a preformatted document you can erase and write over.

Scripts Pro, which became available in the App Store a week ago, is technically what I was looking for.

This isn't a new app: it's been out for the iPhone/iPod Touch for a while. Scripts Pro is a simplified script-writing app that accepts both Final Draft .FDX and .CELTX documents or .TXT files, and can create new documents in any of those formats as well. The latest update turned the app into a hybrid with iPad-optimized graphics and layout, all for a downright cheap price of $5.99. The real question is, how does the app stack up as a tool?… Read more

Cloud computing's secret sauce

Vivek Kundra, the federal government's first CIO, said recently that he likes cloud computing because it provides "access to powerful technology resources faster and at lower costs."

That's a great reason and perhaps it will be the key underlying drive behind cloud computing's increased popularity as an IT delivery mechanism. But should it be the reason? That is, are there other, better reasons to move to the cloud?

Yes, there are. Among them, as Dan Woods points out, is the increased control that end users, and not just IT, gains over critical IT infrastructure. While … Read more

iPad app fatigue: Is it happening to you?

I've been noticing something funny lately, and it seems to be happening to iPad owners everywhere: they're starting to lose a little bit of interest.

A few of CNET's editors have mentioned this, and I'm also feeling it a little. Especially as of the last few weeks. We even discussed it on the Digital City podcast. Why? Well, it's simple. For some reason, there haven't been many good iPad apps lately. Maybe it's the App Store economy, and higher-priced iPad apps are simply not generating enough sales yet. Maybe it's the more … Read more

Firefox 4 release plan: The need for speed

Mozilla hopes to release Firefox 4 in October or November, a new version that has speed among its top goals.

"Performance is a huge, huge, huge thing for us," said Mike Beltzner, vice president of engineering for Firefox, in a Webcast on Tuesday about plans for the browser. "We created the performance story, and we've got to keep at it."

Among other features planned for Firefox 4--and Mozilla emphatically cautions that plans can change--are support for high-speed graphics and text through Direct2D on Windows; a tidier user interface with more prominent and powerful tabs; support … Read more

Google scraps plug-in, refashions 3D Web plan

Google has partly scrapped a browser plug-in project called O3D, instead throwing its full weight behind a 3D Web graphics technology called WebGL that got its start at Mozilla.

The move, first reported by CNET, has the potential to simplify the effort to bring hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the Web, an idea that has appeal to those trying to refashion it as a foundation for applications such as games. However, it also means the functioning--if experimental--O3D technology is going back to the drawing board for a while.

The overall idea of O3D, a higher-level interface than the 3D nuts and … Read more

Steve Jobs sets the record straight with Adobe's Flash

Since the original iPhone was release a few years ago, the major knock on the iPhone OS was its lack of support for one of the Web's most ubiquitous plug-ins--Flash. Steve Jobs, on Apple's homepage has set the record straight, leaving little doubt where Apple's stance is on the much maligned Flash.… Read more

Opera 10.52 for Mac finally debuts

It's news enough to make a Mac-using Opera fan sing: the browser has officially ditched its old JavaScript engine Futhark for the speedy new Carakan. Available for both Intel and PowerPC, the final version of Opera 10.52 for Mac comes 11 days after the second beta, although two months after the public encountered the first Mac beta of Carakan.

Besides the impressively fast JavaScript engine, which Opera claims is 10 times faster than the previous Mac version, the new browser comes with an interface overhaul and has been completely rebuilt in Cocoa. There's Growl and multitouch trackpad … Read more