Gmail Speeds Up, Improves Contacts

Paul

Dang, Gmail really is stepping it up these days. gmailenvelope.pngFirst IMAP support, and now a new version’s rolling out which includes message pre-fetching for speedier performance, a new contacts manager, and more keyboard shortcuts. The Official Gmail Blog writes:

Even on a fast Internet connection, it can take a second to request and render a new web page, and when you read a lot of mail, these seconds can accumulate to hours waiting for email to load. We’ve spent a lot of time profiling all parts of the application, shaving milliseconds off wherever we can.

Some of the most common actions should be faster now. For instance, we prefetch messages in the current view, so when you open an email your browser doesn’t have to talk to Google’s server; it just displays the message. These techniques really shine on newer browsers and computers. Using an alpha version of Safari 3 on a MacBook, we’re seeing sub-200ms times when opening messages–pretty quick.

While Gmail itself doesn’t look too different, the revamped contacts manager does. Here’s a screenshot of the new, much more usable layout:

Wow, they are stepping up to the plate!! Go check out the full article!!

Leopard’s Revamped Terminal Sports Tabs and More

Paul

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Mac OS X 10.5 only: Command line-lovers who’ve upgraded to Leopard will also love its new tabbed interface and fine-grained window control. To create a new tab, hit Cmd+N Cmd+T, and to cycle through tabs, use Cmd+} and Cmd+{. You can also drag and drop an existing tab into its own window, configure and save window groups, and skin Terminal windows using prefab or custom themes. After the jump, see the theme options (“Pro” pictured here.)

Go Check out the full article, I thought this was a good article to show people!!

Auto-Hide Your Firefox Bookmarks Toolbar

Paul

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Firefox only: Love the bookmarks toolbar but only want it there when you need it? Reader Andy writes in with a tweak that makes the toolbar hide automatically, unless you mouse over it (like auto-hiding your Windows taskbar or Mac Dock.) To turn on auto-hiding you have to edit your Firefox profile’s copy of userChrome.css Here’s the code you need:

/* Pop-up bookmarks toolbar */ #PersonalToolbar {display: none;} #navigator-toolbox:hover > #PersonalToolbar {display: -moz-box;}

If you haven’t edited userChrome.css before, here’s a primer on doing so. The ChromEdit Plus extension makes user-specific tweaks easier.

A few other bookmark toolbar tweaks:

For more space-saving, here’s how to consolidate Firefox’s chrome. Thanks, Andy!


Hmm, I nice little way to hid those bars!!

Blu-ray Copy Protection Cracked, Disk Copying Software Out by Year’s End

Paul

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Slysoft, the makers of AnyDVD, CloneDVD, and many other disc-copying software apps, have just cracked the Blu-ray BD+ copy protection. This means, if Slysoft’s predictions are correct, a commercially-purchasable suite to copy Blu-ray movies will be available by the end of the year. However, Blu-ray blanks—especially dual-layer ones—are still so costly right now ($40+ for a writable) that it’s not financially feasible for people to be duping their own movies. You know, unless you really enjoy the blank disc look over the professionally done Blu-ray disc with the proper case and materials. Weirdo. [Golem via Inquirer]

I wonder how long this takes before they dump Blu-ray Disc!!