In the case of ad networks, the actual running time of the javascript is rarely an issue. The biggest problem is that when the browser encounters a script tag on a page, it stops rendering until the javascript has fully downloaded and run (because, as you say, of things like document.write). So the biggest factor in this case is how fast the script downloads, and a lot of ad servers are so overloaded, this can take tens of seconds, making the page appear much slower.

"It's bad enough I can't just hit 'Reply' on those Facebook message notifications you get in your Email."

You can.

WebGL doesn't appear to work at all yet, at least not on my iPhone 3GS with iOS 4 installed.

Add in Fart Simulator and Flashlight and you just described half the apps on the official App Store.

The speed may be 20Mbps, but at that price you're usually limited to 2-10Gb bandwidth per month.

They do indeed - link.

Isn't this exactly the sort of thing that reflection is designed for? As an analogy, it's like looking specifically for "Microsoft Internet Explorer" when writing web pages, instead of checking if document.addEventListener is available. It's flakey and easy to break when the platform gets updated.

It's actually worse than that. It's $99 per year, plus $99 per application.

It's not being used as a reason to drop the charges, it's being used as a reason to prevent his extradition. If he's going to stand trial, there's no reason why it can't be done in a UK court instead of a US one.

There's this image (left without bytecode, right with) I found which has a comparison for a number of fonts, but the site mentions that other patches were also included, so it may not be entirely representative. Perhaps someone else can find a better example.

It does. Android is GPLv2 and Apache 2.0 licensed, therefore that does not apply here.

Education store, 15% off for university students.

Ah, sorry, United Kingdom.

I still find it pretty surprising that free contraception isn't universally available, but maybe that's just because it's been free here (regardless of whether you can pay for it) since 1948.

With Skype, you have to launch the application. Then the other person has to be running skype - if they are not a skype user they are probably not going to do so. Then you have to arrange to have a time when they will run skype, and in the end wasn't a phone call just easier?

With this FaceTime thing, you both need to have an iPhone 4, and you both need to have be connected to WiFi. I fail to see how this is more convenient.