The HTML5 Extension for Windows Media Player Firefox Plug-in is an add-on that enables Firefox users to play H.264-encoded videos on HTML5 pages by using the built-in capabilities found in Windows 7. This Extension adds to the functionality of the extremely popular earlier Windows Media Player Plug-in for Firefox to enable web pages that use the emerging HTML5 standard.

Firefox has issues with H.264 and its patent-protected technology (even though, users will be allowed to encode HTML5 video using H.264 for free, forever) and has refused to allow HTML5 videos encoded using H.264 to playback in its browser because of its policies. And then *Microsoft* release this.

*Microsoft* of all companies, release a *Firefox* plugin that enables H.264 video! (Okay, albeit for Windows 7). #whowouldvethunkit I gotta say, I've been very impressed with Microsoft over the past few months. First Windows Phone 7, and now this. Very impressive.

But iTunes did succeed. Apple's relentless emphasis on simple, attractive user interfaces, backed by Jobs' steely negotiating power in dealing with music studios, produced a streamlined, curated service with which you could download and transfer music with a minimum of fuss. And we did — even though it cost us money and our purchases were bogged down with DRM that constrained what we could do with them.

It turns out that there is something that can compete with free: easy. Napster, Gnutella and BitTorrent never attained the user-friendliness that Apple products have, and nobody vets the content on file-sharing networks, so while the number of files on offer is enormous, the files are rotten with ads, porn, spyware and other garbage. When Jobs offered us the easy way out, we took it. Freedom is overrated, apparently — at least where digital media are concerned.

I remember the first time I bought an iTunes track, back in 2007. It was so effortless that ever since that day, every song I downloaded was bought and delivered through iTunes.

Network Controlled Fast Dormancy (NCFD), which was developed by Nokia Siemens Networks, reduces network congestion by keeping smartphones in an "intermediate state" instead of alternating between idle and always active on the network.

From this intermediate state, smartphones can "wake up" more quickly while conserving battery life when not in use. NCFD also reduces the number of signals needed to start a data connection between a smartphone and a network.

I've noticed the battery efficiency first hand. Since my iPhone 4, I don't leave it plugged into charge at night (since it's perpetually on its dock during the day while I'm coding). My iPhone 4 used to drain about 8-12% during the night while I slept, and since upgrading to 4.2.1, it only uses 2-3% battery now.

Today’s gadgets are intensely personal. Your phone or camera or music player makes a statement, reflects your style and character. No wonder some people interpret criticisms of a product as a criticism of their choices. By extension, it’s a critique of them.

Really great post by the one of the best tech reviewers on the planet. Pogue commemorates his 10th year writing for the New York Times with this two-page look-back.