Neowin: A speed bump on the Information Superhighway.

By Ice_Blue
in Site & Forum Issues

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Detection

Posted
Posted

Occasionally I get big slowdowns and find the "Slowing down" thread to report them but lately its been fine, (lately as in the last few days)

Main issue I see is quoting someone and then editing that quote, sometimes it doesn't refresh as posted, even though hitting the New Posts button shows the thread as having been updated

Grand Master

articuno1au

Posted
Posted

Just to throw some info into this. I've been lurking the Neowin IRC channel for a couple of months now.

The staff (be it Neobond, Redman, Timan or the moderators general) always respond to issues brought to their attention and do so quite rapidly.

I've been witness to discussions about the issue and what they have done to fix it, this was in a public channel, so I assume as much (and likely more) has been discussed in the dev channels.

I spoke to Redmak about it (because I'm a nerd and was curious) and he listed all of the things he'd done to look into it and where he thought the issue was. His checking was methodical and his conclusions sound. He's not oblivious to the issue and it's not being ignored.

Now I run IPB for forum software on my website, and I can tell you it is HORRIBLE to work with if you start getting hit hard. Making it run faster is a ###### of a job. I'd happily dump IPB except that translating forums (the information posted) from IPB to other formats is extremely difficult. IPB tend to make enormous changes to the structure of their software/data with each release, making porting extremely difficult. They also tend to do stupid proprietary bull****. I cringe at the thought of moving and IPB forum of this size to another forum software. I cringe thinking about their update process. My site is an enormous **** to update and rarely goes as intended, and takes forever to execute. I have a ton of extra resources on my machine and the update scripts take forever to execute. It's pathetically bad.

Whilst I agree that the issues just aren't good enough, that the issues are annoying; I wholeheartedly disagree with the assertion that Neowin aren't doing their utmost to fix it.

I just think you should know more about what's going on before you start asserting wildly into the night. I'd also like to see the Neowin staff bite back at some of this stuff, but they're way to controlled (dare I say professional) for that >.>

  • Redmak and Steven P.
  • Like 2
Grand Master

The Rev

Posted
Posted

I would be inclined to think it's something that loads with every pageload... Like the mini spy, or the edit function itself... Maybe the facebook, twitter functions... I know that this is PROBABLY a dumb question but... Could it be the server?

Grand Master

Detection

Posted
Posted

Just to throw some info into this. I've been lurking the Neowin IRC channel for a couple of months now.

The staff (be it Neobond, Redman, Timan or the moderators general) always respond to issues brought to their attention and do so quite rapidly.

I've been witness to discussions about the issue and what they have done to fix it, this was in a public channel, so I assume as much (and likely more) has been discussed in the dev channels.

I spoke to Redmak about it (because I'm a nerd and was curious) and he listed all of the things he'd done to look into it and where he thought the issue was. His checking was methodical and his conclusions sound. He's not oblivious to the issue and it's not being ignored.

Now I run IPB for forum software on my website, and I can tell you it is HORRIBLE to work with if you start getting hit hard. Making it run faster is a ###### of a job. I'd happily dump IPB except that translating forums (the information posted) from IPB to other formats is extremely difficult. IPB tend to make enormous changes to the structure of their software/data with each release, making porting extremely difficult. They also tend to do stupid proprietary bull****. I cringe at the thought of moving and IPB forum of this size to another forum software. I cringe thinking about their update process. My site is an enormous **** to update and rarely goes as intended, and takes forever to execute. I have a ton of extra resources on my machine and the update scripts take forever to execute. It's pathetically bad.

Whilst I agree that the issues just aren't good enough, that the issues are annoying; I wholeheartedly disagree with the assertion that Neowin aren't doing their utmost to fix it.

I just think you should know more about what's going on before you start asserting wildly into the night. I'd also like to see the Neowin staff bite back at some of this stuff, but they're way to controlled (dare I say professional) for that >.>

+1

EDIT -

Something I just thought of, I rarely, if ever use IE, but the times I do visit Neowin using IE it seems to load perfectly

Just throwing this out there, but maybe make a poll seeing if issues are browser specific, I use FF 99% of the time

Grand Master

articuno1au

Posted
Posted

I have to say I nearly never see load time issues. The worst I've seen is like, 5 seconds to post.

I have all facebook/twitter etc linky things blocked.

For those encountering issues with Chrome, perhaps take a look at:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/collusion-for-chrome/ganlifbpkcplnldliibcbegplfmcfigp

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/disconnect/jeoacafpbcihiomhlakheieifhpjdfeo

Neither app has ever caused my problems, and it's dramatically improved my browsing life (I'm in what's called a Congestion Zone in Australia. We have an 8mbps connection, but the back haul isn't even close to being able to provide that speed for us and those around us.)

Grand Master

Timan Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Redesign Neowin with touch tiles and a new Metro UI, that would speed things up!

/s

Can't do a metro theme, because if anyone has been following the mobile theme, people don't like things where text is cu.....

Grand Master

Crisp

Posted
Posted

Can't do a metro theme, because if anyone has been following the mobile theme, people don't like things where text is cu.....

How about a Minecraft page next to "Contact" (top of page)? Wh... It... se... up... of... cour...

Grand Master

n_K

Posted
Posted

How about disabling the 'saving text' thing I see a lot whilst typing. If my browser crashes or I accidentally close the tab, I've lost the 'saved post' anyway and know no way to get it back so surely disabling it would speed things up without removing any features?

Mentor

Jub

Posted
Posted
  1. Remove integration with social media, reputation, paste formatting and all the extra crap.
  2. Replace IPB with FluxBB.
  3. ????
  4. PROFIT!!

Or Vanilla!

I still the DB queries are to blame since the home page is relatively quick. But then again, you could easily find out.

Grand Master

Ice_Blue

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It's to stop double posting, and its a great setting for a forum to have, there is no reason to have 3 separate posts from the same member one after another, grouping them makes perfect sense unless you're a spammer

How exactly is not knowing a lame excuse?

Do you know the cause? Do you know how to fix it? No, so stop giving staff sh*t for no knowing either.

And as for your OP, bye bye then, I'm sure you'll be greatly missed

Everyone wants the site to run perfectly, report the issue and carry on, if Neowins speed issues are causing your life to collapse, and in such a way you need to leave, you have bigger issues you need to address

EDIT - I guess this explains your childish outburst

http://www.neowin.ne...__fromsearch__1

What are you so butt hurt about? Someone expressing an opinion?

I guess from now on I will just have to shut up and not complain about anything on this site, since this apparently sends you into a tizzy.

There's entire threads dealing with more or less the same issues, with at least one of them being official.

But no. You gotta put on your shining armour, get up on your high horse, and smite all detractors.

What I do during my weekends ticks you off too? Well, well.

Grand Master

articuno1au

Posted
Posted

No, I'm in the same bag as detection.

You didn't just come out and say the site has issues and farewell. You came out and attacked the site proper.

Feel free to complain, but there's a difference between complaining and being a dick. Hell, you can do whatever you want, but expect people to call you out if you go about it wrong.

Also, look at my horse, my horse is amazing..

Grand Master

DirtyLarry Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

What are you so butt hurt about? Someone expressing an opinion?

I guess from now on I will just have to shut up and not complain about anything on this site, since this apparently sends you into a tizzy.

There's entire threads dealing with more or less the same issues, with at least one of them being official.

But no. You gotta put on your shining armour, get up on your high horse, and smite all detractors.

IMHO, you answered your own question. As you pointed out, there are already threads, with at least one of them being pretty official, yet you felt the need to create another thread instead of posting in one of them. Seems a tad self serving from those observing.

Grand Master

Detection

Posted
Posted

What are you so butt hurt about? Someone expressing an opinion?

I guess from now on I will just have to shut up and not complain about anything on this site, since this apparently sends you into a tizzy.

There's entire threads dealing with more or less the same issues, with at least one of them being official.

But no. You gotta put on your shining armour, get up on your high horse, and smite all detractors.

What I do during my weekends ticks you off too? Well, well.

Diddums :cry:

Grand Master

_neutrino Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Believe me when I say, everyone here would like to replace IPB lol

I thought there was a plan to build a forum off of the Ignition concept from the home page?

Grand Master

jakem1

Posted
Posted

I don't think there's any need to bash the OP. The performance issues can be pretty frustrating, especially when you've spent quite a bit of time responding to someone only to find that the post won't save. Right or wrong, I can understand why he felt the need to create a new thread because there's very little official news about the issues. Thanks to this thread I now know that staff are actively looking into these problems so some good has come from it.

Edit: As an example, I had to enter this post twice because the first attempt just got stuck at the saving stage. This sort of thing happens multiple times per day for me on a range of browsers.

Mentor

Davo

Posted
Posted

A free site isn't as fast as I want it to be?

*demands answers*

*jumps out the window*

This thread almost amuses me as much as a post on Google Code. "Guys, I use the wifi tether on my Galaxy S3 and now it isn't working after Jelly Bean. Can we please make this a priority? Thanks."

People are ****ing hilarious.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • Elgato Stream Deck+ is now available at the lowest price

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Elgato Stream Deck+ is now available at the lowest price by Taras Buria During Amazon Prime Day 2026, Elgato is offering a big discount on its Stream Deck+ accessory. This streaming and productivity accessory is now available for $141.99, thanks to a 21% discount. For those unfamiliar, the Stream Deck+ is a console-like device that features eight buttons with built-in displays. You can map these buttons to various actions and specify what each display shows. Unlike "classic" Stream Decks, the Plus model features four additional knobs for adjusting zoom, brightness, volume, microphone, and more. Above the knobs, there is a wide display that shows various values and sliders. Elgato's Stream Deck devices are highly customizable devices, and you can expand their capabilities using hundreds of plugins from the official Elgato Marketplace. You can create your own presets or use pre-made profiles to save time when configuring the device for specific apps. In the box, you get the Stream Deck+ itself, a USB Type-C to Type-C cable, and a user manual. The Stream Deck+ is a single-cable device, and all you need to set it up is to connect it to your computer and install the official Elgato app. Elgato Stream Deck+ - $141.99 | 21% off for Prime Members Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Rufus alternative Ventoy now supports Windows 11's mandatory update, fixes major boot bug

      By Zeromus2003 · Posted

      Can you give an example of when you would want to use Rufus over the other or vice versa? Just wondering which is the "best".
    • Steam Summer Sale 2026 kicks off offering weeks of PC game discounts

      By Zeromus2003 · Posted

      Oh no...the wallet is already screaming. So many games and so little time. Being old and responsible is awful!
    • LibreWolf 152.0.2-1

      By Copernic · Posted

      LibreWolf 152.0.2-1 by Razvan Serea LibreWolf is an independent “fork” of Firefox, with the primary goals of privacy security and user freedom. It is the community run successor to LibreFox. LibreWolf is designed to increase protection against tracking and fingerprinting techniques, while also including a few security improvements. This is achieved through our privacy and security oriented settings and patches. LibreWolf also aims to remove all the telemetry, data collection and annoyances, as well as disabling anti-freedom features like DRM. LibreWolf features: Latest Firefox — LibreWolf is compiled directly from the latest build of Firefox Stable. You will have the the latest features, and security updates. Independent Build — LibreWolf uses a build independent of Firefox and has its own settings, profile folder and installation path. As a result, it can be installed alongside Firefox or any other browser. No phoning home — Embedded server links and other calling home functions are removed. In other words, minimal background connections by default. User settings updates Extensions firewall: limit internet access for extensions. Multi-platform (Windows/Linux/Mac/and soon Android) Community-Driven Dark theme (classic and advanced) LibreWolf privacy features: Delete cookies and website data on close. Include only privacy respecting search engines like DuckDuckGo and Searx. Include uBlockOrigin with custom default filter lists, and Tracking Protection in strict mode, to block trackers and ads. Strip tracking elements from URLs, both natively and through uBO. Enable dFPI, also known as Total Cookie Protection. Enable RFP which is part of the Tor Uplift project. RFP is considered the best in class anti-fingerprinting solution, and its goal is to make users look the same and cover as many metrics as possible, in an effort to block fingerprinting techniques. Always display user language as en-US to websites, in order to protect the language used in the browser and in the OS. Disable WebGL, as it is a strong fingerprinting vector. Prevent access to the location services of the OS, and use Mozilla's location API instead of Google's API. Limit ICE candidates generation to a single interface when sharing video or audio during a videoconference. Force DNS and WebRTC inside the proxy, when one is being used. Trim cross-origin referrers, so that they don't include the full URI. Disable link prefetching and speculative connections. Disable disk cache and clear temporary files on close. Disable form autofill. Disable search and form history...and more. Download: LibreWolf 64-bit | Portable 64-bit | ~100.0 MB (Open Source) Download: ARM64 | Portable ARM64 Links: LibreWolf Home Page | Addons | Screenshot | Reddit Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Hands on with iFlyTek AINote 2 E-Ink tablet: insanely thin and smart

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Hands on with iFlyTek AINote 2 E-Ink tablet: insanely thin and smart by Taras Buria During Amazon Prime Day 2026, iFlyTek is offering its E-Ink tablets with big discounts. The AINOTE 2 is now available at 20% off, allowing you to save quite a lot on one of the thinnest E-Ink tablets out there. I was offered a chance to look at the device, so here are my impressions. The AINOTE 2 is a large 10.65-inch E-Ink tablet that strikes you the moment you take it out of the box. It is extremely thin. At just 4.2 mm, this tablet is at the edge of what is possible for a device with a USB Type-C port. It is also very light, which makes it comfortable and enjoyable during long reading sessions. The tablet has a gold metal chassis with the front and back made of plastic. The back also features four rubber feet that prevent it from sliding around your desk when writing. Besides a USB Type-C port and an LED indicator, there are two buttons mounted on the top edge: a power button with a built-in fingerprint scanner and a dedicated AI button. I would say the fingerprint scanner is quite mid. Given that iFlyTek positions the device as a digital notebook, it makes sense to have a biometric scanner to protect sensitive information. However, it is not the fastest fingerprint reader, and sometimes it fails to recognize my finger. I assume that is due to the tablet's insane thinness. A dedicated AI button is an interesting choice, especially in the middle of the top edge. I can see this button being useful for those who heavily rely on AI and use it frequently, but I cannot help but think its placement is impractical. Having it on one of the longer sides would make so much more sense. The AINOTE 2 is a very pretty device. Gold finish with thin chassis and nearly symmetrical front bezels create a fantastic combination, and iFlyTek cleverly hides the front chin with a section that looks like an extension of the screen, housing two touch-capacitive buttons: one for AI and one for quick notes. This section can also scroll pages when you swipe from the middle to the left or right. It is a cool idea, and very handy when you need to scroll tens of pages at once. AINOTE 2's elegant look extends from its exterior to its software. The user interface is very clean and not cluttered with an abundance of buttons. The tablet prioritizes the note-taking experience, and when you unlock it, it defaults to the list of all notes and folders. Additionally, there is a separate "Schedule" section with your calendar, tasks, memos, and other productivity features. You can connect your Outlook or Google account or use a local calendar. The tablet has quite a lot of AI features powered by OpenAI's GPT-5 and Google's Gemini 3. Besides a standard app with all your chats, you can invoke AI by pressing its dedicated button and dictating your request. It is not limited to just chats. It works with the built-in calendar, and you can tell it to create events, tasks, notes, and more. Additionally, AI features are integrated into the built-in notepad, allowing you to summarize notes, ask questions about your notes, and more. The tablet can OCR handwritten text in different languages (about 120 languages, which is very impressive), and it surprised me with very good accuracy. Voice note transcription is also available, including a "multiplayer" mode where the tablet detects each speaker. Unfortunately, the AINOTE 2 has no built-in speakers (even though it somehow makes a tapping noise when you flip pages using the Quick Bar), so the only way to listen to something is to connect a Bluetooth speaker or headphones. However, there are four front-facing mics for dictation, voice notes, AI chats, and more. Unfortunately, certain features require a Pro subscription that costs $5.99/mo or $59.99/year. Those include offline voice transcription, access to better AI models, the ability to edit notes on a PC or mobile app, and extended service coverage similar to Apple Care. It is a bummer to see yet another app, especially in a device that costs $649, but at least they give a free 90-day trial so that you can see if the benefits justify the price. As for the reader, it supports PDF, EPUB, TXT, MOBI, AZW3, DOC(X), XLS(X), PPT(X), JPEG, JPG, and PNG. The app is quite customizable, with features like text contrast/boldness/size adjustments, margins and spacing customization, and the ability to load custom fonts. Plus, you can annotate books with the stylus, add text notes, and use AI to work with them. Just keep in mind that most AI features require an active internet connection. Like with other E-Ink tablets with Android inside, you can load any other reader you want from the Google Play Store or a third-party source. Despite its hefty price tag of $629 or $519 by the time of publishing this article during Prime Day 2026, the AINOTE 2 has quite modest hardware inside. There is only 4 GB of RAM and about 42GB of storage. It is powered by the RockChip RK3576 processor with 8 cores at 2.2 GHz. Given that the tablet runs Android 14 and has Google Play, you can install Android apps, but do not expect much from this thing performance-wise. As for the battery, there is a 4,000 Li-Ion battery, which, on full charge, lasted me for about one week of active daily use of reading and note-taking. The screen has a resolution of 1920x2560 pixels, which equals 300 PPI, a perfect spot for a sharp, nice-to-read display. It supports EMR styluses that do not require charging, and I have to say that the note-taking experience on this tablet is fantastic. Stylus lag is nearly imperceivable, creating a very natural, paper-like feel. The stylus comes in the box (including two extra nibs), and it features an extra button for various actions and an eraser on top. It magnetically attaches to the tablet and stays safely secured. The stylus has a very nice coarse texture, and thanks to using Wacom tech, you can swap it for any other EMR pen if you wish. The AINOTE 2 has no front light, and because of that, the display sits very close to the screen surface, reducing the distance between the stylus tip/your finger and the display to a minimum. No front light is certainly an inconvenience in certain scenarios, but the screen makes up for that with a seriously impressive paper-like feel and writing experience. In dark conditions, you will have to find a lamp, but the good thing is that the screen has a solid anti-glare surface that diffuses light. The display has two modes: Crisp and Fast. Crisp ensures the image stays, well, crisp and sharp, while Fast speeds up refresh rate and response by toning down display resolution and making everything a bit more jagged. In my testing, I only used Fast mode when browsing the web for a much faster render time. The iFlyTek AINOTE is an impressive device, but it's not flawless. A few things disappointed me during a week of using it. Software localization has a bunch of not necessarily broken, but certainly awkward, machine-translated English. System navigation is not good, as there is no universal "Home" gesture. To go to the main page, you have to swipe up and then press the Home button from the multi-tasking window. There are many gestures for various actions, such as display cleanup, screenshot, undo/redo, but no back/forward or Home gestures. I really hate that the tablet won't let me update its software without creating an iFlyTek account first. Finally, privacy could be a concern for some, as most tablets' features require an active internet connection, an iFlyTek account, and sharing data when using AI. If you can overlook its quirks, some of which could be addressed with software updates (I received two with massive changelogs over a single week), and accept a $519 price tag (with a discount), you will be happy with the AINOTE 2. However, if you do not need that many AI features in an E-Ink reader or you want something a bit more affordable, you'd better look at cheaper competitors from BOOX or Amazon, such as the BOOX Go 10.3 Gen 2 or the Kindle Scribe, which is currently 24% off during Prime Day sales. Buy iFlyTek AINOTE 2 on Amazon - $519 | 20% off with Prime What I liked What I disliked Very impressive hardware Beautiful design Fantastic display with an EMR stylus Supports offline voice transcription Easy-to-use software Clever, useful, and well-made AI features A fingerprint scanner Very expensive Some features require a subscription Poor system navigation Mandates a user account No speakers Privacy could be a concern Note: iFlyTek provided the review unit without any editorial input or review guidance. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

  • Recent Achievements

    • First Post
      kinowa earned a badge
      First Post
    • Rookie
      krychek57 went up a rank
      Rookie
    • Grand Master
      Jaybonaut went up a rank
      Grand Master
    • One Year In
      Philsl earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Dedicated
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Dedicated

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      416
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      168
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      132
    4. 4
      Xenon
      73
    5. 5
      Michael Scrip
      73
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!