perform

Google has begun work on a feature to let Chrome load pages before they're needed, the latest instance of the company's relentless focus on Web performance.

The work, described briefly in the Chrome issue tracker, said the project to "pre-load pages in background tabs for 'wicked fast' page loads" is scheduled to arrive in the browser's code base in February. The very early stages of work has begun: support for an eventual option to enable testing the feature through Chrome's "about:flags" interface.

With Chrome's tabbed browsing interface, multiple pages can … Read more

Sometimes it feels like sharing a flash drive around an office is dangerous enough. The question is, do you feel lucky enough to trust one stuck in a public wall?

Aram Bartholl has begun installing USB "dead drops" throughout New York City as a living experiment in public data networks. Bartholl's an exhibiting German artist in residence at Eyebeam in New York City with numerous installation art projects under his belt. Currently, these dead drops are in five locations, with more to come.

"Dead drop" refers to a spy term for physical locations where information … Read more

The 1,200 horsepower club has a new member. Hennessey Performance's 2011 Venom GT makes its first appearance at the 2010 SEMA show next week, the same aftermarket and tuner conference at which its prototype was revealed three years ago.

Since then, the Texas-based boutique carmaker has been busy producing what could be described as the Tesla Roadster's much dirtier evil twin. The Lotus Elise/Exige-based supercar has a 6.2 liter V-8 mid-engine that delivers 1,200 horsepower, a top speed of 267 mph, and a 0-60 mph time of 2.5 seconds. Getting to 200 mph … Read more

Most of the time when people mention "benchmarking," they are referring to ways to compare one computer's performance against another's under the same software conditions. While this is useful to find the fastest RAM, quickest hard drive, or any other component that will give you the best bang for the buck, it can also be used to outline when the computer is running slower than expected.

Systems can run slower for a variety of reasons, including full hard drives, connected peripheral devices, large and complex user caches, or also from problems with file and file-system corruption. … Read more

The 2012 Hennessey VelociRaptor APV, based on the new Ford Raptor Super Crew, boasts a supercharged 6.2L V8, with off-road capabilities--and it comes in armored and nonarmored versions.

This vehicle will be produced in limited quantities; about 50 will be made each year, said company owner John Hennessey.

The vehicle comes with seating options for six, seven, or eight passengers and an entertainment package--including satellite TV, high-speed Internet, and viewing monitors--is available.

According to Hennessey, the nonarmored VelociRaptor will have a curbside weight of 6,000 lbs. The version with armor will weigh between 9,000 and 10,500 … Read more

After Apple's investigation into iPhone 3G users complaints related to slowness and poor battery life after updating to iOS 4, early reports make it clear that iOS 4.1 has turned the tide for most people.

Distraught iPhone 3G owners have been doing everything from frequent resets and restores to downgrading the iPhone firmware to version 3 all summer. Today's iOS 4.1 release has brought relief (and a lot of functionality) back to those users. Apple Support Discussions forum users as well as users commenting on CNET's article about the update have left several positive comments:… Read more

Windows' disk defragmentation tool is an old workhorse that recent upgrades haven't really improved. In fact, more than a few users were disappointed that the strangely mesmerizing block-by-block progress display had vanished from newer versions. You can get the old view back and much more with O&O Defrag Professional, a powerful automatic utility that can not only improve your system's performance by defragmenting data but also keep it running smoothly by preventing data fragmentation before it happens even as it runs unnoticed in the background.

The software's installation wizard lets you make Defrag Pro your … Read more

When it comes to graphics performance in OS X, Apple has taken the conservative approach and focused on compatibility and stability in drivers instead of including the cutting-edge and highly tweaked drivers and graphics systems that bring the best quality to performance-related applications like games.

This compatibility-based approach may be good for productivity applications to prevent potential crashes, but has kept Apple behind when it comes to gaming performance. For awhile this was not an issue, but the recent release of Valve's "Steam" client for the Mac along with a few other gaming titles have not only … Read more

Effective project management is not a matter of crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, but rather of planning for things that could go wrong and knowing in advance how you'll deal with them. RiskyProject Professional is an easy way to complete all aspects of project planning and tracking, including the analysis of and preparation for potential risks.

The program's interface isn't the most beautiful we've ever seen, but it's well-organized and easy to navigate. There are drop-down menus and toolbars across the top, while the program's major functions--Schedule, Risks, Analysis, Tracking, and … Read more