memorial

Performance and improved memory use were the goals of Firefox 7, which arrived on schedule today from Mozilla. Firefox 7 is available to download for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android.

The wide-release version of Firefox 7 brings changes to the majority of Firefox users that the beta and Aurora channels have been playing with for some time. These include claims of significant gains in reducing memory use, "often 20 percent to 30 percent less, and sometimes as much as 50 percent less," a company representative wrote in a blog post based on work by Firefox developer Nicholas Nethercote. … Read more

Despite a globe-spanning, bruising legal battle with Samsung, Apple has little choice but to keep getting key parts for its iPhone from the electronics maker, according to sources and a news report.

Those key parts include the iPhone 5's expected main processor, the A5, as well as system memory and flash memory--components that together make up the electronic core.

Sources who track the chip industry say that Apple must stick with Samsung for the time being. Some rumors had claimed that Apple would switch to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for a so-called "shrink" (smaller version) of the A5 for the iPhone 5.

That's simply not doable, sources tell CNET. TSMC has not perfected the advanced manufacturing processes needed to make an A5 for the iPhone and, maybe more importantly, it's prohibitively difficult to jump to a different manufacturer for the same chip design. … Read more

Tabbed Internet browsing is a great tool for browsing different sites without cluttering your desktop with individual windows. Unfortunately, having a lot of tabs open will often slow down your browser or even your entire machine. Follow these steps so you can have all of the convenience of tabbed browsing in Chrome or Firefox without sacrificing performance.

First you will need to download, install, and configure TooManyTabs for Chrome or Firefox. Note that you may be required to restart your browser before the add-on's functions become available.

Step 1: Click on the TooManyTabs icon to the right … Read more

Amazon wants to be the Netflix of books, and we can't wait. The 9/11 Memorial uses tech to honor the victims memory. If you just use Twitter to lurk, you're not a bot, we're paging Dr. Watson and we want your Android OS name ideas!

Apparently a shortfall in PC sales and demand has resulted in a surplus of RAM from various manufacturers like Samsung, Micron, and Nanya, and as a result the cost of RAM upgrades has been steadily falling as these surpluses have been pushed into the market. Only a few months ago an 8GB RAM upgrade for a laptop system would have cost around $100 to $150, but these days they are going for between $50 and $70. Similarly, RAM prices for desktop systems are also dropping.

What this means is if you are in the market for a RAM upgrade then … Read more

This post is more of a heads-up than how-to. If the approaching 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has put you in a reflective mood, there is a wonderful iPad app that provides a retrospective of the World Trade Center, a look at the projects occurring at the site today, and a look to what the future holds for the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum. The app, The 911 Memorial: Past, Present and Future, is free, though only for a limited time.

The app was created by Steven Rosenbaum, the filmmaker behind 7 Days in September, a documentary … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers. This week we had questions on Spotlight having problems indexing an external drive, the memory slot utility continually showing messages at bootup, keyboard brightness controls not working on external monitors, and DVD drives not playing audio CDs. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few answers here, we welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: Spotlight indexing hanging on new external drive MacFixIt reader Kyle asks:

Chemists at Yale University are unveiling what they call the first practical method to create the compound huperzine A, which is a naturally occurring extract of Chinese club moss.

The enzyme inhibitor has been used widely in China and now beyond to treat memory loss in disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, and some research indicates it might help fight the effects of chemical warfare agents in primates.

But the plant, whose scientific name is Huperzia serrata, is both slow-growing and overharvested, resulting in a price tag upwards of $1,000 per milligram. The Yale team's success creating a … Read more

Two days after Mozilla delivered Firefox 6 to its wide-release stable channel, Firefox 7 and its much-anticipated spate of better memory management and reduced load times got promoted from the developer's Aurora build to the Beta channel. You can download Firefox 7 Beta for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android.

The performance improvements are the first major performance changes for Firefox after a summer of complaints from a small yet vocal minority that was experiencing severe memory leaks and crashes. The company is anticipating around a 30 percent gain in performance that derives from changes to the JavaScript garbage collector, … Read more