test posts

Which browser isn't such a battery hog?

by Jay Hathaway Sep 14th 2009

If you use your laptop primarily for web browsing, the browser you choose could make a difference in how long your battery lasts. AnandTech tested out the latest versions of the most popular Windows browsers on three different laptops, and it turns out that - when it comes to battery endurance, anyway - IE 8 is the champ. It yielded 5 to 10 minutes of additional battery life compared to Firefox, Chrome and Opera, and nearly half an hour more than Safari.

The three computers in the test were a Gateway with an Intel processor, a Gateway with an AMD processor, and a netbook, the Asus Eee PC. The two Gateways were running Vista, with the Eee PC running XP. On the Eee PC, the browsers all came in within a few minutes of one another, meaning you should make your decision based on other features. On the other machines, though, IE was the clear leader. Firefox (with adblock installed) came in second. Because adblock keeps battery-intensive Flash elements from being displayed, running it will let you eke out an extra 10 minutes compared to standard-issue Firefox.

Tags: battery, battery life, BatteryLife, browsers, ie8, laptop, test

Filed under: Design, Web services, web 2.0

Checkmycolours.com spots color gaffes in your web designs

by Lee Mathews Jun 11th 2009

If there's one thing I've learned from watching the front page of Delicious, it's that designers love to bookmark things. More to the point, they love handy web tools that help them with their creative work.

One more tool to consider adding to your arsenal is Checkmycolours. Drop a URL into the box and press the check button, and you'll receive an exhaustive analysis of page elements and their contrast ratio and brightness/color difference. You can view the complete report or switch to an error-only view to focus on potential problems.

No, an automated checker isn't a substitute for years of design experience and an eye for what works, but this can definitely be a helpful reference point.

Here's a shocker for you - Checkmycolours.com passes their own tests with flying...oh, never mind.

Want more great color tools? If you missed it, Dolores put together a fantastic roundup of 10 great online color apps.

Tags: color, color-scheme, design, test, testing

Filed under: Odds and ends, Internet, Design, Fun, Games, Web services

What's your Hue IQ?

by Lisa Hoover Sep 16th 2008

Ever wondered how accurately your eyes can see the subtleties of color? Find out by taking this quick test. Drag and drop colored squares in each of four rows according their hue, then submit the results for calculation. The lower your score, the better your eyes discern color.

The test indicates which hues you see best and also lets you compare your results with others in your gender and age range. I wasn't too thrilled when I got a 61 until I found out someone scored over 1,000. Wow.

For most people, this is just a fun little time-waster (or a way for you super-competitive types to beat up on your pals -- "Dude, I see olive-green better than you!"). For anyone in Web or graphic design, however, it might be an interesting little test to see how your eyes measure up.

Tags: colors, eyes, hues, test

Filed under: Developer, Internet, Features, Linux, Open Source, How-Tos

Flipping the Linux switch: Linux web tools, Pt. 2 - Using LAMP for testing

by Kristin Shoemaker Jun 13th 2008

There was a toss up this week about whether it would be better to dig right in to the Linux HTML editors, or to wax poetic about setting up LAMP so that those choosing to go the content management system (CMS) route could test any changes they made with such editors on their local machines.

We ultimately decided to tackle setting up a LAMP testing ground. This will certainly not be necessary for every single person out there who just wants to put up a web site. If your site is not using PHP-driven content that interacts with or requires a database backend, and you just plan on designing static web pages, there is absolutely no need to do any of this.

If you are perfectly content to upload your site and integrate any supporting elements (once again, things like databases) live and on the web and make changes there, where it is possible that everyone can see your style sheet testing or things may be temporarily broken, you don't need to do this either.

Some people, though, really like to get things on their CMS tweaked to near perfection before releasing their content on the world. Other people need to know exactly what a dynamic site is going to look and act like before it goes live. The combination of Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP (LAMP) makes this possible.

Tags: apache, content management system, ContentManagementSystem, LAMP, linux, linux-switch, localhost, mysql, php, server, test

Filed under: Design, Developer, Internet

htmlPlayground: learn and test HTML and CSS

by Todd Ritter Feb 6th 2008

htmlPlayground is a helpful reference for web developers of any skill level. It provides an easy way to generate, test, and learn about HTML and CSS syntax. Simply select your reference (HTML tags, attributes, or CSS properties), and then select an item like "blockquote."

htmlPlayground will then display a description of the item (to explain what it's used for), an example code snippet that is editable, and a rendered preview of the code snippet. The snippet is color coded: green for tags, red for attributes, and black for regular text.

If you click on a green tag in the snippet, you can edit the tag's attributes easily via another pane. When you're happy with your finalized code, you can of course copy/paste it to an HTML file to use on your website.

[Via garyll]

Tags: code, css, html, learn, test, xhtml

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Web services

Test Everything! - Test your website with over 100 tools

by Todd Ritter Dec 27th 2007

Serving as a webmaster's Swiss Army knife, Test Everything! allows you to run a bunch of different tests on your website and domain name, ranging from Alexa traffic details to CSS validation. To use, simply type in your website's URL, select a category, and check the boxes next to the tests you want to run. When you've selected all of your tests, click the "Test website!" button and wait for your test results to be generated. The Test Everything! site will then return a helpful aggregation of links to each of the specific tests you chose.

While some tests like the "Crapola Web Translator" aren't very useful, Test Everything! lets you run over 100 tests in one fell swoop. Our favorite tests (aside from standard HTML/CSS validation) include "Server Info" which displays info like your webserver's IP address and OS, "Website Speed Test" which shows how fast your specified URLs load, and the "Test your web design in different browsers" test which, well...you know.

[Via makeuseof.com]

Tags: css, html, test, validation, website

Filed under: Audio, Business, Google

Google looking for radio ad guinnea pigs

by Chris Gilmer Mar 14th 2007

Google has been testing their audio ads in a few markets since the purchase of dMarc last year. In December they officially announced the start of beta testing and things are apparently going better than expected. So well in fact that the team is looking for additional advertisers to jump on board to join the beta test and create high quality radio ads, and even set their own budgets.

Interested parties can sign up to test the clean and simple interface, with custom reporting and targeting options. Ads only take a few days to create before the initial campaign is launched which is a far cry from the weeks that it normally takes for radio ads. If you want to listen to some sample ads, you can check them out here.

Tags: ads, adsense, adwords, audio, beta, dmarc, google, test

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Web services, Freeware, Open Source

VirtualSafari: a web-based front end to Apple's browser

by David Chartier Jul 28th 2006

If you're building a website without a Mac on hand, but need to test how it performs in Apple's Safari web browser, a mere screenshot of how it renders might not be enough. Since a Mac isn't lying around for hands-on testing, what's a web designer to do? Why, install VirtualSafari on your own server, of course. VirtualSafari is a web-based front end to WebKit, the open source rendering engine behind Apple's browser. Setting this up to might not be for the faint of heart (instructions are included in the download), but if you follow through, you'll have the proper testing grounds for making sure your sites are ready for prime time on a Mac - sans the Mac. This could be a handy tool for designers who want or need to consider the Mac constituency, especially since Safari's market share is on the rise, and WebKit powers more popular Mac OS X browsers than just Safari; OmniWeb (random trivia: it beat Netscape by a year with image support) and Shiira also ride the WebKit wave.

VirtualSafari is provided free from Sveinbjorn Thordarson's site, where he (as you might expect) hosts a test copy.

Tags: apple, browser, open source, OpenSource, safari, server, test, testing, virtual, web, webkit

Filed under: Web services, Google

Google comments on UI tests

by Jordan Running Apr 24th 2006

It seems like every month there's talk of Google testing some new feature on a few randomly-selected users. Until now they've kept to themselves about these things, but today there's a post on the offical Google Blog that confirms and explains what's going on. There's no revelations, here, just what we already knew: "From time to time, we run live experiments on Google—tests visible to a relatively few people—to discover better ways to search. We do this because there’s no good substitute for understanding how real people, in real-world situations, actually operate." They do toss a little denial into the mix, though, passing off their recent job search move as just "testing new ways to refine searches." "There's no set schedule when we'll roll out these sorts of new ideas (if at all)," the post says, "but these tests help us to improve your search experience." In other words, expect these little tests to keep popping up from time to time.

Tags: beta, google, googleblog, test, testing

Filed under: Fun, Web services

Web 2.0 or Star Wars character?

by Jordan Running Mar 15th 2006

So Victor already hooked you up with today's Time Waster, but here's a little knowledge test to try on your lunch break: Web 2.0 or Star Wars Character? A couple examples: Oyogi? Meebo? Tarkin? I somehow managed a score of 39 out of 43 ("I recommend moving out your parents' basement.") despite my inferior Star Wars knowledge, but then I write about Web 2.0 all day, every day and found it hysterical. Post your own scores in the comments.

[Via kottke.org]

Tags: fun, funny, humor, quiz, starwars, test, web 2.0, web20

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Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

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