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This is why I left the commercial software behind so many years ago. Let us contrast OS X, Windows and Linux+GNOME. All have recently succumbed, or will soon, to tablet madness. By this I mean that they are all undergoing an almost total rewrite to target an audience almost exactly unlike the one that currently uses the product. Whether this will be 'successful' is still debatable but for my purpose, as a current or past user, almost beside the point.
If you are a Mac user, as a drinker of the Kool-Aid y
Look. All I want is a computer with two keys. A 1 and a 0. Preferably really, really big keys. No software. No firmware. Just me and the machine. No way to screw things up. It will do what I tell it, and no more. That way, I can keep banging away until I get either Turing's syndrome, or Tourette's.
Or Carpal Tunnel
This is why I left the commercial software behind so many years ago. Let us contrast OS X, Windows and Linux+GNOME. All have recently succumbed, or will soon, to tablet madness.
I'd buy that in the case of Win8, and maybe Gnome 3, but not OS X. Apple already owns the most successful tablet OS in the business. OS X has borrowed a few iOS touches, mostly aesthetic [eg superficial and easily ignored] ones, but has not succumbed to "tablet madness" the way Microsoft did. Probably because Apple was the only OS vendor that didn't have an "Oh-shit-we-need-our-own-iPad-thing" reaction.
OS X still has a Desktop metaphor.
Still has a user-accessible filesystem.
Still has windows and a menu bar.
Doesn't even have native touch-screen support at all
And these are not accidents, or features that Apple forgot to cover up or replace with tablet-like equivalents. They're there because Apple was smart enough to understand the differences between tablets and traditional PCs, and had enough foresight to come up with a separate OS for the former five years ago.
For all the arguing we do about Apple, there are a few things I think we can agree on with regard to their last decade:
They plan ahead.
Everything they do is for a reason consistent with that plan.
So they're all shiny and finished on the outside, like every little product just pops out effortlessly, but that place is like a well oiled machine on the inside. You don't hear a lot about half-hearted tinkering at Apple. That's not to say they don't have flops, but still, they're on-mission every. single. day. And it's working for them.
>Free means never being at the mercy of someone else's business plan.
It just means being at the mercy of a bunch of random developers instead.
Nobody has enough time to maintain forks of everything they use, never mind the people who don't even have the knowhow.
> Nobody has enough time to maintain forks of everything they use, never mind the people who don't even have the knowhow.
The point is that we usually don't have to. Unless you really are a unique snowflake, you aren't the only one being abandoned. In the case of GNOME going nuts there were lots of options and more directly on point a lot of pissed off former users creating offshoot replacement projects. Most of those will fail but it doesn't matter because it will be because a couple will succeed and attract in attracting the majority of the outcast former GNOME users. You don't HAVE to create everything yourself, from scratch. You can even take the last 'good' version of a software line that goes off the deep end and use that as a starting point.
If you don't like MIcrosoft or Apple's new direction you have fewer options. You can suck it up, switch operating systems or start a cleanroom cloning effort of the entire stack from scratch. And look at ReactOS or Wine to see how impractical that last option has proven to be.
The point is that we usually don't have to
Thus putting yourself at the mercy of someone else.
I'm sure you're trying to make a point in there somewhere, but it's pretty evident that you haven't used OS X Lion or the new Mountain Lion. With a few tweaks, my desktop looks the same in Mountain Lion as it does on my older machine running Leopard. I just don't see what you are talking about. A single application named "Launchpad" doesn't mean that OS X has abandoned the desktop and gone tablet crazy.
Congrats on your effort to somehow include Gnome 3 and your free software slogan in your diatribe.
...um... And here I thought I was just upgrading to a newer release, not drinking Kool-Aid or proving I am a slave or whatever.
10.8 is a nice dot release. I am VERY happy to have AirPlay mirroring to my AppleTV. I travel and give presentations to small groups and in meetings, knowing that I just lost my tether and will be able to sit anywhere around the table instead of right next to wherever the monitor cable happened to be is kind of nice. I also appreciate the integration with my reminders app on my iPhone.
I dislike the fact that they removed Podcast Publisher. This means I am going to have to find a workaround for what (had been) an easy workflow for me. I'm sure I'll find other little annoyances over the coming days and weeks. And I'll adjust.
All things considered, I'm pleased. More than that, though, I guess I'm just really confused by the us-vs.-them mentality in the above post. I happen to use the OS I do because it seems to be the right tool for the job. I also run Windows 7 (via Parallels) so that I can run Visio and MS Project and a few other programs that I need. Sometimes my smartphone is the right tool (happens to be an iPhone but I've seen similar functionality on Android phones and Windows phones) sometimes my tablet... I don't feel "locked in" to any of it any more than I feel locked in by the choices a television network makes for their fall lineup or the choices my state has made for when and where road construction will occur. There are projects in life that are bigger than one person and choices are made we don't always agree with.
Jeepers. I had no idea I was drinking Kool Aid or stifling dissenting thoughts so as to stave off madness. I've been coming to Slashdot for over 14 years. I appreciate a low 4 digit UID. But really, does a content free screed about how open source is the only right path posted minutes after the article hits the front page really further the discussion about the OS X Mountain Lion review?
If you are a Mac user, as a drinker of the Kool-Aid you have no choice. Whatever is coming out is insanely great, you simply must believe that because any other thought would lead to madness. Windows folk will simply bitterly cling to Windows 7 until it end of lifes and hope policy changes, as it often does. They are more like Star Trek fans, they admit there is a pattern to which releases suck and don't suck.
Perhaps you neglected to mention that you are as 'locked in" to your preconceptions about Apple, Microsoft, and even Linux to the point that you just assumes the 'competition' is doing something boneheaded, even though a read through the article in question would answer most of your preconceptions. The fact that it's marked insightful is pretty telling.
In what way has OS X "succumbed to tablet madness"?. When the your description of OS X is entirely counter to reality and shows that you have no clue as to what this version of OS X looks like, what the last version looked like, or the version before that, it speaks volumes. Slashdot is about anything that is anti-Apple, Anti-Microsoft, or pro-linux/android. It's no longer someplace to go for an adult discussion of new tech, new software, or new features. It's turned into an Android Thunderdome. I expect this post will be marked 'troll' or 'flamebait', or oddly enough 'Offtopic' even though the thread is an OS X thread because it speaks ill of the general bent of Slashdot these days. They've all put their blinders on and have turned into a Fox News of Technology unless the posts in question praise Google or Android regardless of the story.
OS X It looks nothing like a tablet OS and is nothing like Windows 8's push to tablefiy it's OS. It borrows some features that work well on a desktop or that are cloud centric, but that's about the extent of it (excluding Launchpad, which for the life of me I still can't figure out why they put it on the desktop). For most Mac users, it's just an OS Update. I'm betting a large number of Mac users can't even tell you the version of the OS, or the name for that matter, just as you would find on a Windows machine, or possibly a Linux machine if they are of the non-geek orientation.
Is wanting to upgrade to get some decent new features 'drinking the Kool-Aid'? I'm betting that for the majority of us, it's not a religious war. It's just a computer that fits our needs, and this is just an update that adds some decent features for $20 bucks.
Precisely. I used PCs running various flavours of DOS and Windows for years. I was constantly upgrading drivers, fixing problems, updating my components etc. I liked being in control of my hardware, but the net result was a lot of time spent making the computer work.
Eventually I decided to try an iMac desktop. I love it. yes, I give up the ability to upgrade components, but on the plus side I have had this desktop for 5 years or so and it still meets all my computing needs including gaming. I no longer spend 10-20% of my time fixing something that broke mysteriously. It just works and I can get on with doing what I want to do.
I also ran various distros of Linux, FreeBSD, even tried out Solaris briefly. When the need could be met by FOSS, I used it, and still do. When the need could be met by commercial software, I used that if I thought it worked better. Eventually I switched to running an iMac that runs OS/X and I am happy with that. I bought an Apple TV, my wife has an iPad, we are happy with those.
That however is apparently "drinking the koolaid" and I must be put down for enjoying the product I paid for. What fucking bullshit. You know, sometimes when companies really work hard to develop a decent product, it turns out to be decent, and worth the money they charge. Apple is doing that for me, and so long as they continue to do that I will likely buy their products, but when that is no longer true, or something better comes along I will buy that instead. For me, nothing has so far.
I guess I'm just really confused by the us-vs.-them mentality in the above post.
It's just the cognitive dissonance created when a zealot is forced to reconcile two thoughts: the free market is correct, and customers (i.e. regular people) choose something else than their fervent attachment. They can't figure out why everybody doesn't use the same stuff as they do, after projecting their identical preferences/tastes and workflow or usage patterns onto the rest of humanity. Since they are naturally correct in every way, the conclusion is people are sheep or just don't get it.
I used to be like that, but I'm also more willing to try stuff out and think critically. Over the years I realized that outside gaming, about 90% of what I do on a computer easily transfers between Windows, OSX, and Linux. These days rather than obsessing over OSes, I'm enjoying programming languages more - just learning and fiddling around with all the various new fangled languages there are. And that stuff is readily available for free on every platform.
What if. What if Linux and Windows ARE that "multitude of options" to OS X? You know you can install GNOME in OS X and use that, right? You can drop right to a command prompt too and to the lay person it doesn't look any different than any other BSD OS.
What if. People actually like these improvements? What if you had actually liked GNOME3?
Dun Dun Dun.
This is amusing, because most of the Linux users I know are *constantly* upgrading to the latest version of everything. I'm still using Windows XP at work, though I have 7 at home, and my Mac (and most of my friend's) is/are still on 10.6. If it works, why upgrade?
In any case, why would you *bitterly* cling to Fedora 14? Does 15 have something you *absolutely* must have? Why did you upgrade to begin with?
I think you're blowing the "iOS-ness" of Mountain Lion out of proportion. I've been using the GM for a while and the DPs before that, and my core usage has remained unchanged since Lion. "Now wait," you say, "Lion also brought iOS features!" True. Of course, you don't have to use them. My Lion usage patterns are unchanged from Snow Leopard.
If you look at the main features [apple.com], you'll see two things. First, it's not a big update like Leopard or Tiger (hence the $20 price tag). Second, the most iOS-like feature is Notification Center, which is basically just a better version of Growl that Macs have had for years now. Reminders and Notes are apps that appear in iOS, yes, but that's all they are--apps. Use them or don't.
There are two major features of Mountain Lion. iCloud is the most obvious user-facing one, as it is much more tightly integrated with the OS than it was in Lion. The biggest feature is probably the one least talked about, and that is Gatekeeper. It's pseudo-iOS-like, because by default it only allows apps from "identified" developers to run on your system, but when you try to run an unsigned app it lets you know how to turn it off. It should be noted that "identified" does not mean App Store only, though obviously App Store developers are "identified".
Compare this to Windows 8, which is getting a near-complete UI change. Or GNOME or Unity and possibly other DEs I haven't used, which are also heavily influenced by tablets. Apple seems to be the only one that isn't trying to completely change my workflow. I wouldn't be sure I'd call this update insanely great or anything--frankly, the iCloud features should have been present in Lion--but it's a nice update and it's cheap.
Exactly. Since Apple designed the iPad (before the iPhone, actually), it's understood that there are similarities and differences between laptop/desktops and tablets/phones. Microsoft never got this, which is why its tablet and phone OS's sucked: they tried to port a desktop OS and UI into a smaller form factor. Now, Microsoft is assuming that its philosophy was right, but the direction was 180 degrees off: they're porting a phone OS and UI to the desktop.
Meanwhile, Apple continues to share ideas between th
I can dismantle your whole pro-Linux argument with one sentence:
- Show me how to run Microsoft Visio on Gnome, KDE, or any other distribution so I can open, edit, and then save *.vsd files on my company's network drive.
I don't use MS-Windows because I like it. Anymore than I drive through interstate jams for fun. I do it because it's the defacto standard that everyone uses. I avoid Microsoft as much as possible but using alternatives (LibreOffice, VLC Player, Winamp, Mozilla seaMonkey, etc). But at the end of the day I still need to use Windows as my base because that's where the office & engineering tools run.
I can dismantle your whole pro-Linux argument with one sentence:
Wow, you're confident.
- Show me how to run Microsoft Visio on Gnome, KDE, or any other distribution so I can open, edit, and then save *.vsd files on my company's network drive.
And yet again, your confidence is misplaced...
I don't use MS-Windows because I like it.
So, basically, your argument about how free is better because you're not a slave to proprietary software is to show that you are a slave to proprietary software and how you dislike thi
The guy's argument was that we should all stop using OS X or Windows. I dismantled the argument by showing that I can't run Visio or ModelSim or other worktools on Linux, because they are only available on Windows.
Therefore his advice to abandon Windows is an automatic deadend, and as brain-numbingly stupid as the Libertarians' advice to get rid of government-built roads. Clear?
I came here to see a first post along the lines of "I heard you like reviews so I did a review of your review so you could review your review" or something.
I don't know if I was happy, or sad, to see an interesting FP instead.
If you are a Mac user, as a drinker of the Kool-Aid you have no choice. Whatever is coming out is insanely great, you simply must believe that because any other thought would lead to madness. Windows folk will simply bitterly cling to Windows 7 until it end of lifes and hope policy changes, as it often does. They are more like Star Trek fans, they admit there is a pattern to which releases suck and don't suck. But again, their choice is limited to picking one of the available supported versions. When you hitch yourself to a commercial entity you always subject yourself to their business needs, which are rarely in alignment with your own and you get little input into the decisions they make and few options when they change directions and abandon you.
Except distros pretty much demand that you're on the upgrade treadmill to get newer versions of software, backports are few and far between and library versions are often carelessly bumped so everything turns into a massive upgrade. For the most part you can install a brand new Windows application on an OS released in 2001 and it'll still work fine. I don't have to "bitterly cling" to Windows 7, it's not me losing out on that but Microsoft. Yes, maybe eventually after a string of horrible releases where I d
Ridiculous. Microsoft may have "succumbed to tablet madness", but the review made clear that Mac OS X has not. Mountain Lion has borrowed things from (tablet) iOS, but many of these ideas are not tablet-specific at all. The review specifically states that OS X has not been subsumed by iOS, and has a distinct trajectory.
Do iOS 6 and Mountain Lion converge a bit? Yes. Is there "madness" to it? Not even a taste. You should actually read the article instead of using it as a jump-off point to grind your Linux axe.
If you are a Mac user, as a drinker of the Kool-Aid you have no choice.
I have been using Mac computers since 1989 and to this date I have found the OS to consistently improve over time. The only exception being OS 9, which kinda sucked. I'm speaking about my perception of their software of course, and implying others should share my opinion.
It makes no sense for me to believe it's better to switch to Linux out of fear of being let down in the future. I really have no reason to believe it will happen. Even if it did, moving my files to some other PC would not really be an issue for me.
My experiences with Linux weren't very happy ones either. I'm not trying to generalize but I've more than once found myself in a situation in which I've been told to fix something myself - which really is not something I'm interested in doing at all. I've got my dev projects and work, and I don't really care about improving the OS I use at home. Some of those issues were things that I know I can get working much easier in windows or mac (maybe due to experience on the OSes, that's not really important to me). My personal opinion on the subject is that Linux is not for me.
Going back to your idea about Mac users drinking Kool-Aid, I think you're failing to put yourself in other people's shoes. Maybe your principles regarding open source/free software vs commercial software are not as important to others as they are to you?
It's a post about a review of a review of a review.
post about a review of a review of a review.
Whereas this is a response to a comment on a post about a review of a review of a review.
OS 10.8 is not trying to be a tablet OS like Windows 8. (Interesting that Apple and Microsoft have synced-up with their numbers)
old OS: Win7 and 10.7
new OS: Win8 and 10.8
BTW the review of the review was funny. But this award-nominee was even funnier: http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/04/the-shadow-war-of-the-night-dragons-book-one-the-dead-city-excerpt [tor.com]
"It feels like Apple has run out of ideas. Or worse, that Apple is too afraid to implement new concepts, fearing it will kill the company's golden goose. "
Metro's getting flak because its a legitimately bad idea to make that the desktop paradigm.
As long as Apple steers clear of anything in the vein of "Screw business users, we're competing with iPad!", they should be fine.
Apple blacklisted Gizmodo after they bought a stolen iPhone prototype a few years ago and refused to give it back before doing a full disassemble and report on every little detail. Since then, they've been left as the only major blog or news outlet that can't do firsthand reporting on the keynotes and product announcements, which has left them a little bitter. Small wonder that Gizmodo (Jesus Diaz in particular, of recent) has been saying all sorts of nonsense about Apple ever since.
Even if we ignore the chip on their shoulder, their reporting is shoddy and slimy, with them sometimes substantially altering their articles after they're posted. For instance, Briam Lam's account of returning the iPhone [gizmodo.com] makes it sound like they got a letter from Apple's legal team and they sent it right back. What you don't see in that version of his account is that Brian received a personal phone call from Steve Jobs, asking for it. Brian responded with an e-mail in which he refused to return it until Apple went on record [businessinsider.com], then altered the online version of the e-mail he sent to Apple's legal department, since the original version [edibleapple.com] made him look like an ass. The original reporting also contained a rosy accounting of a lot of those facts, but even that was later edited out in an effort to sweep it under the table as the original text of his correspondences leaked from other sources.
And that's far from being the only incident, though it is the most famous. RoosterTeeth lampooned Gizmodo [roosterteeth.com] and their "reporting" a few years back. They're a bunch of classless jackasses who treat facts as malleable ideas for their own benefit and cannot be trusted.
"We all pay lip service to the idea that most users never change the default settings in software, but we rarely follow this through to its logical conclusion."
That most users are ignorant?
I use default settings too, but not because of "ignorance". (1) I got tired of tinkering with my computer to try different settings. I've been doing it since the 80s and ultimately decided I'd rather DO something useful than just try different windows colors or graphics. (2) Using the default means I can jump from one computer to another without disorientation. They are all near-identical.
"We all pay lip service to the idea that most users never change the default settings in software, but we rarely follow this through to its logical conclusion."
That most users are ignorant?
You seem to have Slashdot still set to the default "vapid elitism" setting.
QUOTE: "The old way: go to the Finder, find the file you want, and open it. The new way: go to the app and open the document from within the app. Conceptually it works just like iOS â" your files arenâ(TM)t in the file system, but rather âoeinâ the app you used to create them. This is the future, but Apple isnâ(TM)t forcing it upon us. The feature is prominent, yes, because Apple wants us to use it. But it is far from mandatory. Donâ(TM)t want to use iCloud document storage? Th
Stuck in a PhoneOS mindset on the desktop?
I don't like being stuck in a PhoneOS mindset on a tablet.
The old school file hierarchy is not a bad thing. It allows you to organize things in ways that Apple products simply don't account for.
Having a great big pile of stuff to look through is not "usability".
They're still on the filesystem, so you can still get to them just like before. You can also change the program the file is associated with.
The old way: go to the Finder, find the file you want, and open it. The new way: go to the app and open the document from within the app.
The "new" way sounds like Windows 3.0
Their handling of the retina display was a major screw up that sacrificed the very reason to call the MacBook Pro a professional device so that normal users (home and manager types, for example) could have an expensive and sexy fashion statement-laptop (instead of giving them a 17 inch retina display Air). Their unwillingness to maintain the Mac Pro is another reason why people get the impression that the iPhoneification of OS X is underway.
I think it's much simpler: Steve Jobs was the last executive who un
1 year was my call. 1 year after Jobs death, Apple will have lost noticeable momentum. You cna't replace one dynamic, smart driver with the ideal of make quality products, and the money will follow with a committee.
I'm not an Apple Fan boy, but I do hope I'm wrong. While they didn't really invent the mp3 player, tablet, or smart phone, they raised the bar for everyone else.
Their handling of the retina display was a major screw up that sacrificed the very reason to call the MacBook Pro a professional device
Except they didn't do that in any sense of the word.
Their handling of the retina display was a major screw up
You didn't lay out the case for that well at all.
The fact is the VAST majority of professionals like and use the 15" form factor. The Macbook Retina is a "pro air" in that form factor, really light, really thin and an amazing display. Months after launch, there's still a 1-2 week shipping delay on new systems.
I myself have a 17" macbook pro, and while I don't plan to upgrade soon (my system works well enough as is for a year or so more I think) I wo
I'm still on Snow Leopard because I still have some old OSX PowerPC code I need to run.
Does anyone know a way to run PPC OSX code in Lion or Mountain Lion? I have the Sheepshaver emulator which runs PPC stuff, but only OS 9 / Classic, not OS X.
Is there a way to emulate, say, 10.4 in 10.7/10.8?
Doesn't that only work with the Server version of Snow Leopard?
(Not yet published, but will probably go "live" on www.techcitement.com later today) I didn't really come here to promote my article though....
I was just going to comment that while it's probably true that Mac users often confuse tradition for the "best" way to accomplish something in their OS, it's also true that in the case of OS X Lion, an awful lot was removed..... In some cases, I think these deletions were unjustified and let people to a poor user experience, despite many benefits with the upgrade.
the changes OSX is making and the dumb moves that ubuntu did.
Removal of scroll bars on OSX is not a big deal, Apple hardware had scrolling devices (magic mouse and multitouch pad) for a long time. so scrolling is not affected on that platform. Removal of scroll bars on Ubuntu was the stupidest move ever. I dont have a multitouch device to scroll with, so now I have to hit a 2 pixel bar on a window. WTF is that??!?!?! ROWARRGH!
Ubuntu needs to stop everything they are doing right now and support apple multitouch hardware and tell everyone to use X,Y or Z and suck it up. OR they need to stop chasing a UI that requires special hardware to make it useable.
Now the "single window" mode is retarded. on a 27" mac it is utterly stupid to do this. on a 11" macbook air? ok, I can see that. Dumbification of the UI needs to be optional. Let me have a "professional mode" to switch to a power users multiple window setup.
Having used Ubuntu 12.04 for a while, I don't really find it too bad. Specifically, the lack of scroll bars is fine because when the cursor is moved to an area where the scroll bar would have been, a real scroll bar pops up. The area trigger for when the scroll bar pops up is actually wider thant the width of the actual scroll bar.
This is the most chilling thing I've read in a while: "Three decades ago, the personal computer industry was built on the backs of technology enthusiasts. Every product, every ad was created to please us. No longer. Technology must now work for everyone, not just 'computing enthusiasts'." Why is it chilling? Because I'm seeing it everywhere. Things that I consider to be killer features that MUST exist on a computing device are just disappearing. No OS is immune at this point. As a hardcore Linux fan since the early 90s, even I have to acknowledge that Linux is dying. Ubuntu is killing it. Windows isn't looking to sharp in version 8 either. It sounds like Mac OS X is headed down the same road.
If by "technology enthusiasts" it means hobbiests who want to overclock their CPU and add a steam-powered cassette storage mechanism, Apple hasn't been the place for those enthusiasts since the Mac came out. If it means people who compile programs from source code, Mountain Lion has better compilers than GNU and tools for things like process monitoring (DTrace) and multi-threading (Grand Central Dispatch, blocks, etc) that are better than just about anything else out there.
Those who play with computers to play with computers are a dying breed. Those who play with computers to accomplish something else (including very techie things like statistics) can do so under Mountain Lion as easily as ever, without being subjected to designs created by "enthusiasts" without design skills.
Mountain Lion might be the thing that tips me over. The retina Macbook Pro is becoming hard to resist and there is no comparable Windows laptop on the horizon. I like Windows 7, I am comfortable with it, but if I am going to relearn stuff from scratch, I would pick ML over the travesty that is Windows 8. I'll pick something that doesn't show me a blocky touch based interface on a goddamn laptop. I never wish to use a touch screen on a laptop or a desktop, it's the most uncomfortable thing ever, I don't know why Microsoft and everyone forgot about Gorilla Arm. OSX doesn't look like it's going to anything that crazy, some of the things copied over from iOS, like notifications, are actually worth copying over. At least for now, Mac OS still doesn't put restrictions on anyone who wants to do stuff from the command line or install unapproved apps. App support in Macs has improved with growing market share. The only thing I will miss about Windows is games, but for the few times I do play games, dual booting with Boot Camp will do.
I can't think of a reason why I shouldn't 'learn' ML rather than learning Windows 8.
Slightly OT in that I'm getting away from the Apple-ness of the topic, but...
This is precisely why smart phones and pads are going to return us to the days of $2000 hard drives and $5000 PCs. The general population has needed to buy a PC or laptop in order to not be left behind in our increasingly computerized and online society. Now that the average person has access to surfing the web, reading email, and anything other than compute-intensive work in the palm of their hand, there is absolutely no need for them to buy desktops or laptops. The commodity surge of desktops and laptops is now passing us by, and we're going to see general purpose computing return to non-commodity prices.
To quote Samuel L. Jackson, "Hold on to your butts!"
Never buy from a rich salesman. -- Goldenstern


text:
Walk along the aisles of any car show and you'll see it: Lots of cars with paint jobs that appear fine, as long as you're several feet away. Then there are a couple of cars that look just astounding--especially up close. The sides on these masterpieces look like mirrors, with the paint seemingly miles deep. What's the difference? Well, much of it begins with the preparation before the paint color is even chosen. A typical "just bought" used musclecar today will wear at least one or more paint jobs completed years ago, when the standards weren't as high, or suffer from years of weathering, which may have allowed rust to form. In some cases there may be hidden bodywork that really could have been done a little better and, of course, a few paint chips here and there. The bottom line is if you're getting ready to invest months of work and your hard-earned money to repaint your car, you'll want to start by scrutinizing the panels and removing any ailing paint, rust, or marginal bodywork beforehand, not just painting over it. For the project warranting a completely clean body, media-blasting, chemical-dipping, sandblasting, or stripping the existing finish to bare metal is the best place to begin.
To address this, we'll explore the potential pros and cons of the various methods. But what's important is that with the proper research and application, each of these processes can be managed to provide excellent results--if suited properly to the individual car's restoration. To show what's involved, we followed along with our friend Ed Zinke, who had his recently acquired '64 Malibu SS convertible media-blasted. Although the car had experienced loving care since new (he purchased the car from the original owner), Ed's Malibu had the common rust in the trunk, universal parking lot bumps, and had at least one repaint during the '70s. Since Ed wants his Malibu's paint to glow with a deep, lustrous shine, he decided to start from scratch and take the convertible to the experienced folks at Abrasive Finishing Company (AFCO) in Gardena, California, to get media-blasted. To strip the old finish off the Malibu, the guys at AFCO use a process called walnut shell- blasting on the outer body. Walnut-shell media is comprised of ground walnut shells processed into particles smaller in size than Grape Nuts cereal. Inside the floors and trunk they found small amounts of rust. To clean these areas AFCO uses a DuPont product specifically designed for media-blasting called StarBlast.
Choose Your Media Accordingly
We'll give a short rundown of the options available, but you'll want to contact an experienced body shop, as well as the media-blasting shop, to find out what they recommend for your car's specific needs. It's also a good idea to ask people at various car shows in your area who have already been through a media-blast or chemically stripped process to learn how pleased they were with their results. And be sure to find out what their cars required prior to the treatment. Keep in mind that criteria including existing rust, metal thickness, and shape are all important factors when choosing the right media for the job.
Take it Off
The first step to getting a car ready for media-blasting is to take off as many parts as possible. You'll want to do this for two reasons. First, trim and other items left on will keep the existing finish from getting completely stripped clean. Second, parts left on may be damaged during the paint-removing process. On Ed's Malibu, he began by removing the complete interior, all the glass, wiring, the engine and transmission, convertible top, and all the body trim and chrome. If you want to do a more thorough job, it's highly recommended to remove everything. This means the doors, fenders, heater box, core support, and sometimes the frame. Since the items you have removed should be blasted too, you'll want to disassemble them as well. Generally, the more you remove, the more areas can be blasted thoroughly.
As mentioned, there are many forms of blasting to remove paint, such as walnut shells, sand, plastic, Starblast, and baking soda. Generally, the softer the product, the less likely it is to warp or damage the metal. But it must be mentioned that if the equipment operator is not properly trained or blasts any type of media (no matter how soft) improperly, the body can be warped. This is especially true on large, flat hoods. Bottom line, play it safe and use a good media-blasting shop with lots of experience and good recommendations from both car owners and body shops. There are plenty of media-blasting shops that perform excellent work.
In a Nutshell
Walnut shell-blasting is very popular because the media is soft, relatively easy to clean up, and is not abrasive after the blasting is completed. If your body has even minimal rust, though, chances are the walnut shell will not remove it. In cases like these, you may want to consider something more aggressive for these areas. Or sometimes after the car is walnut shell-blasted, you can go back with a small rotary disc and remove the rust. Plastic media is often used because it is not abrasive and is derived from the same material most plastic buttons are made from, but like walnut shell, it will not remove rust.StarBlast is a general-purpose staurolite abrasive used frequently to remove paint, as well as light amounts of rust, from automotive bodies. The grains are uniform in size and have clean, rounded surfaces so they do not damage the metal (if blasted properly). This media works by knocking the paint off--instead of cutting it off like harsher medias.
The Sand Man
True sandblasting has been around for decades, and is typically best for thicker items with rust. These would include frames, brackets, and older, thicker, and rigid sheetmetal components blasted properly. Here extreme caution should be used because the sand particles can peen, stretch, or warp the sheetmetal. Sand is sharp and unforgiving, and consequently, the operator must use extreme caution when blasting. Whenever sand is used, it is best to remove everything possible from the body (i.e., window regulators and drivetrain components) to avoid damage after the vehicle is put back into use. Then, as with all media-blasting, the remaining product should be blown or vacuumed out of the body. The media removal process (no matter what is used) can take several hours (or days) to complete.
Chemical Removal
Hot tank-stripping or chemical-dipping is a very effective way to remove paint and rust. Entire car bodies can be dipped into a tank for several hours, and the caustic solution will flow into areas where a media-blaster would never get. Chemical-stripping typically leaves the item looking fresh and clean and ready for the body shop. There are a few concerns to this process that should be mentioned. After the paint or rust is removed from unexposed areas (such as bracing inside of a car body or a hood), there is no way to paint or treat the hidden bare metal, leaving it vulnerable. Second, all the chemical must be removed (and sometimes treated with metal conditioner) so that it does not weep into the new paint or primer. Finally, if you have any aluminum items, do not have them chemically dipped, because the caustic solution will ruin them.
Hand-stripping is great at removing paint and some body filler. If you're concerned about the possible problems associated with some forms of media-blasting, hand-stripping will allow you to remove all the old paint, but the entire car will not come totally clean as with media-blasting. When using any hand-stripping product, be sure to remove the old stripping solution completely from the crevices and metal surfaces. Otherwise, the remaining paint-stripping product will come to the surface and ruin the final paintwork.
Power Sanding
In many cases, you can remove most of the old paint and some existing rust with a power sander. It's labor-intensive, but can be done almost anywhere and will only cost you the price of the equipment, sandpaper, and power to run your compressor. Again, this process will only work on areas the sander will reach.
Before tackling any media-blasting or paint-stripping job, decide what your goals are for your car. Next, talk with an experienced body shop, a media-blasting facility, and others who have had their cars stripped. In some cases, you may want to use a combination of the processes described here. If you're planning to replace any body panels, ask your body shop if that should be done before or after media-blasting. Remember, there are no rules that apply to all cars. In the end, whatever route you take will contribute to making your car's body and paint a true prize in anyone's eyes. That's worth it at any distance.

subset: commoncrawl


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July 27, 2012– The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) hosted a week-long wetlands workshop in mid July to train Louisiana teachers on the history of the state's coastal wetlands and issues that face the natural resources within those wetlands.
The workshop resources included funding provided by the Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP) through the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation and educational materials provided by the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program.
During this comprehensive workshop, educators experienced research trawling, seining, fishing, water quality sampling, coastal botany, birding and presentations from experts in the fields of coastal restoration, invasive species, and oil and gas exploration. Participating teachers earned 55 professional contact hours upon successful completion of the workshop.
WETSHOP 2012 included 19 educators representing 13 different parishes. The base of operation was the LDWF Fisheries Research Lab located on Grand Isle, which provided dormitory and cooking facilities for the workshop conducted by LDWF Aquatic Education staff. Participants also heard presentations from the lab staff and representatives of the Nature Conservancy, BTNEP, LA Sea Grant College Program, LA Department of Natural Resources, CWPPRA (Coastal Wetland Planning Protection Restoration Act), the Port Fourchon Commission and LUMCON (Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium).
Once trained, WETSHOP graduates return to their parishes and collectively train and equip teachers around the state with the knowledge and resources to conduct lessons on the state's coastal wetlands. Those 19 teachers can impact an estimated 40,000 Louisiana students.
WETSHOP has been conducted since the summer of 1993. At that time, the workshop was entitled "Wetland Workshop for Upland Teachers" and targeted teachers north of US Hwy. 90. Since 1995, the workshop has been offered statewide andcontinues to provide educators with up-to-date facts and experiences related to Louisiana's coast, wetland values and functions, and the history of the state's rich culture and geography. Based on pre- and post-workshop testing, participants in 2012 increased their science content knowledge from an average score of 56 to 93 percent.
Teachers that are interested in WETSHOP 2013 can contact Angela Capello, LDWF biologist supervisor, ph. 318-748-6914 or email firstname.lastname@example.com [4].


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Herb gardens in strips of earth bordering sidewalks. Apples, pears, cherries, raspberries and strawberries growing all around the town's health center. Corn growing tall in front of the police station, and fruit trees surrounding the fire station. Vegetables (with invitations to "help yourself") next to the railway station and bordering parking lots. Residents growing food for themselves in any space not otherwise used. Visitors to the town invited to "take the walk" through the town center to view all of these edible delights for themselves.
No, this isn't a vision from an inspirational sustainable treatise—it's a real place.The inspiring result is England's Incredible Edible Todmorden.... http://organicconnectmag.com/wp/todmorden-incredible-edible-town/#.UO489rbZ03Y
Taking the urban garden to the next level: Seattle Creating Massive Edible Forest Filled with Free Food http://www.scoop.it/t/agriculture-gmos-pesticides/p/1590944878/taking-the-urban-garden-to-the-next-level-seattle-creating-massive-edible-forest-filled-with-free-food


text: When the puck drops in a couple weeks after four months of lockout, even less people are going to watch the hockey than did before. It's time for the NHL to finally embrace its status as a marginal sports league. Only then can hockey find its place in the sports ecosystem.


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Tim Willits of id Software has talked a little about the misfiring Rage and the upcoming Doom 4. The studio has learnt a harsh lesson when it comes to marketing dos and don'ts.
They gave glimpses of the shooter "too damn early" which ended up warping fan perception. He also admits they're "definitely a NVIDIA shop," and ATI issues hurt them.
I suppose that is one way to look at it. If you are going to knowingly release a bad game, then you should hide its faults as long as you can to get those first week sales. The alternative, albeit more challenging, marketing strategy would of course be to create a really good game and release it when it is ready.
If a gamer read the interviews, so the videos and read the articles and DIDN'T know what Rage was, then they might have been mildly retarded.
Rage was a great game. It didn't have competitive multiplayer, but not all games need that for longevity, the coop missions where EXCELLENT, but they needed more of them.
ID just simply took a punch in the face and ran home with their tales between their collective legs. Instead of supporting their product and polishing the thing post-release.
So what do they do? Go back to Doom. Which if you remember was not that great last time it passed by these parts.
Carmack has proven over the course of the last 10 years or so that he is brilliant on the technical aspects of creating engines, but is dumb when it comes to the simplest issues such as why do I have to make a choice between a light source and a shotgun (I'm looking at you Doom 3).
With Rage, game ending that was weak, and no support for a new fledgling IP.
It's clear to me now that although John Romero is no great programmer himself. He was the "flair" part of this symbiotic relationship.
Cant keep giving Carmack a pass, cause of Quake.
I'm not even talking about the PC version of the game which for seasoned developers WHICH COME FROM the PC development world to say they "forgot" that their are gamers that play on ATI cars, is ludicrous beyond belief.
Id rather believe in Smurfs.
It was a shame that the focus was on console but I have faith in Doom 4 and with the RAGE DLC and possible mod tools incoming I think we will have the game carmac originally intended. I picked it up for £6 on steam sale and look forward to playing it.
.. goes back to playing DayZ
Even worse is making consoles lead platform and expecting it to look the best 5 years later.
Showing stuff early was not Rage's problem.
The nonexistent story, the repetitiveness of the enemy encounters, and (on consoles) the lack of some auto-aim to compensate for the analogue sticks were the problems.


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Ryan Clark, DB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Sample tweet: "Yes I watch Jersey Shore. Hey we all have faults. Lol"
While Clark is often overshadowed by fellow teammate Troy Polamalu (he once joked that he likes to be introduced first because otherwise, his name would be drowned out by the cheers for Polamalu), over 14,000 fans are now following him for a daily dose of analysis and personal introspection. Unlike many athletes, Clark engages his fans in healthy discussion — even once inviting some out to breakfast (something his wife later nixed). Deeply religious, Clark regularly posts Bible quotes and ventures into theology as well.
LaMarr Woodley, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Sample tweet: "Mich st doesnt know what theyre gettin themselves into comin into the big house next wk they bout to get denard robinschooled"
From the sample tweet, it's pretty clear that LaMarr Woodley still bleeds the maize-and-blue from his alma mater, Michigan. He has become a quick fan favorite for his hustle and dedication on the field.
Mike Rupp, C, Pittsburgh Penguins
Sample tweet: "Been training far too long with the bad taste in mouth from last years playoffs! Tomorrow is an OPPORTUNITY… And the boys are hungry!"
While his teammates are split on the value of Tweeting, Mike Rupp used his account to document his recent tour of Haiti with fellow teammate Max Talbot. On the hockey front, he recently ran a contest among his 6,000 followers to find a new nickname for the Consol Energy Center – rewarding respondents with game tickets and gloves.
Sean Casey, 1B, Pittsburgh Pirates (retired)
Sample tweet: "Talked to Joey votto on MLB Tonight n he clearly is the new mayor in Cincinnati n the NL MVP too!! Great dude n he rakes! Go reds!"
Former Pirate first baseman Sean Casey earned his nickname "The Mayor" because of his high public profile, both on the field and with the fans and charity organizations. The Upper Saint Clair native only spent part of the 2006 season in his hometown, but he continues to make his presence known as an analyst on the MLB Network. He, too, joined Rupp and Talbot on their venture to Haiti.
Joel Hanrahan, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
Sample tweet: "Does anybody know if you are supposed to tip the Stanley steamer carpet cleaners?"
One of the lower-profile local athletes to Tweet, Hanrahan has been actively tweeting his time in Pittsburgh since arriving from the Dodgers last season. His account focuses more on the day-to-day travails of being a ballplayer, but interacts with fans on a regular basis. While Bucco fans may choose to not relive the 2010 season, Hanrahan promises to document his favorite teams during the college and NFL football seasons instead.
Steve Breaston, WR, Arizona Cardinals (Turtle Creek native)
Sample tweet: "You can not always control circumstances, but you can control your own thoughts." -CP- Goodnight everybody"
If you've ever wanted to get in the head of the competition, check out Steve Breaston's Tweets. While many Steelers fans won't even consider following a Cardinal, Breaston is a hometown kid, one of five Woodland Hills High School grads currently playing in the NFL (the most of any high school in the country.) He often asks followers for updates on his old neighborhood, and checks in with fans, racking up more than a dozen tweets a day.


text:
Whats your trail cam 20 megapixels? Thats a high quality trail cam pic
Does he fit the description of being a pizzcutter?
Whats your trail cam 20 megapixels? Thats a high quality trail cam pic
Obviously a water hole pic...can't believe folks put their cams there trying to stake claim to the spot.
BEER All I really wanted to say was beer but I was reminded my post had to be atleast 10 letters long so I had to explain why I have now said more then just beer to make my post long enough. Now I need another BEER
Drinking a Blue Moon right now, my favorite.
ZiegenBock Amber
Coors beer
I'm heading to Menlo park for a week next month, any suggestions on places to see or go? I will be taking a class from 8-5 and want to burn time in evening doing SOMETHING!
As in menlo park, CA?


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I can understand why HP, Lenovo, and others are bent out of shape over this. Yearly sales numbers are an important pissing match in the industry, and nobody likes to be outmaneuvered. But of course what the other PC makers should really be mad about isn't that Apple's being counted as the #1 PC maker, but that Apple's actually selling so many devices. And why is Apple selling so many devices? Say all you want about brainwashed zealots and "marketing," but the hard truth is that Apple products sell because people want Apple products. And what do they want them for? Broadly speaking: computing, media, and communication. The same things people want any computing device for.
Some observers are saying that devices that don't have a "full size keyboard" or aren't primarily used for "content creation" shouldn't count as PCs. But that's as preposterous as saying that because some computers don't have spinning hard disks and aren't primarily used for running spreadsheets shouldn't count as PCs. Both technology and people's uses of technology evolve over time, and it's precisely because HP hasn't done as good a job as Apple at adapting their product lineup to meet consumer need that they're being outsold. For goodness sakes, HP even decided at one point it wasn't going to make PCs anymore. How to they expect to stay on top with an attitude like that?
My mother is a good example. She owns two computers. One is a very nice Core 2 Duo desktop with Windows 7, a solid state drive, 4 GB RAM, and a 22" monitor. I built it up for her, and she likes it a lot. She's a teacher, and she communicates with her students by email, she loves Facebook, and she's addicted to online news. She spends at least four hours per day online. Her other computer is an iPad. Even though it's pretty much inferior to her desktop computer in every way, she uses it for 3/4 or more of her daily computing. And that's because of its one key superiority: form factor. She doesn't even value its portability all that much. It rarely leaves the house. But she sits on the couch, half watching TV, half browsing with the iPad, like millions of other, mostly younger, people.
What my mom does on her iPad is completely interchangeable with what she could do on her desktop. Sure, each form factor has its pluses and minuses. She makes certain sacrifices to use the iPad, and reaps certain benefits. Same goes for my daily use of a Macbook Air, compared to my Windows 7 desktop, compared to my 5" Android tablet, compared to my iPhone. We're going to have to get pretty comfortable with the term Personal Computer getting mighty blurry over the next ten years.
So let's break it down:
Personal: something that's designed to be for one person's exclusive use
Computer: electronic device for storing and processing data
A personal computer is a computing device that's designed for one person to use, rather than, for example, a server that's intended for many people to access simultaneously. It can run many operating systems, have many form factors, and even be used for very narrow purposes. Get used to it.


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Submission + - Microsoft Dumping License Fees for Windows Phone? (slashdot.org)
Nerval's Lobster writes: For years, Microsoft remained adamant about its licensing fees for Windows Phone: if a smartphone manufacturer wanted to include the software on its devices, it would need to pay Microsoft a certain amount per unit. That was a logical strategy for Microsoft, which became a very big company thanks to licensing fees for Windows and other platforms. Unlike some of those other products, however, Windows Phone has struggled for adoption in its marketplace, which is dominated by Apple and Google. In response, suggests the Times of India, Microsoft may have dumped licensing fees for two Indian smartphone makers, Karbonn and Lava (Xolo). Microsoft's biggest rival, Google, gives its Android mobile operating system away for free, a maneuver that helped it gain spectacular market-share in a relatively short amount of time. If Microsoft pursues a similar strategy in different markets, it could encourage more smartphone manufacturers to produce Windows Phone devices, which could increase the platform's market-share—but there are no guarantees that scenario will actually play out. The smartphone market is increasingly saturated, and Microsoft's opponents have no intention of allowing Windows Phone to gain any ground.


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Can anyone check that for me,please?
****The question is attached as a .jpg file below.****
Maintain world peace,teensNeedless to say,in Hong Kong,people are living in bliss . Our technology is modern , we have enough food to eat and the most important thing is that there is absence of war. When we read news , we are not surprised people have a poor life in other countries , which are surrounded by numerous conflicts ,rows, wars and hatred . They are so far away from peace.
Without world peace, people live very harsh.For instance, people's family may beark and we lose our properties or even our loved's life when there is a war.Every day , we need to worry about if our life will be taken .Living in such a dangerous and hopeless place, how can people thrive on it and live happily?World peace, however, is not merely the absence of war or hatred, but also the presence of cooperation , compassion and worldwide justice between all countries .Lack of cooperation and compassion can lead to conflicts easily and worldwide justice can maintain world peace by stop any countries from making troubles. No peace is equal to the absence of happiness and bliss, we will not be satisified mentally.
But, how can we maintain world peace as we are only youngsters living in a small part of the Earth?The answer is to promote our international understanding. As teenagers are the future adults ,a role essential to bulid up society , we must gain our worldwide knowledge .When we consider both sides of the rows, it is much more easily to tackle the problems. Therefore, promoting our international understanding can help.
One convenient and effective way to acheive this goal is to read newspaper or international magazines.Via the press ,different opinions from different backgrounds and culutures can be read , helping us be open-minded to listen to different voices.The information in newspaper or international magazines is up-to-date.Therefore, we can catch the trend of the world.Keeping our mind open ,you can see that many conflicts are made by the egos of humans only.
Another way is to join the exchange programme.When we travel to a country,we get the best chance to know more about the country. The commmunication with the local people make us know what they are thinking directly.Also, we can make more friends from different culutrues , swapping our thoughts and discuss with them on issues to enrich our knowledge on intennational understandings.
Making netfriends can achieve this goal,too. We can find express our feelings to people in other countries easily since a computer is the only thing we need. As the use of computer is popluar nowadays , we can contact to many people from differents places . Talk to them and listen to them ,you can widen your mind.
On the whole,ALL of which is to say that ending rows is the only method to maintain world peace.Once we know more about different cultures , people with different race can work together.Hence, as a hope for the future,youth really need to promote international understandings. You may wonder if there is much you can do,but if everyone do it,it helps in maintainence of world peace. To live in a peaceful and harmony world, plesase do not just sit back,it concerns every individual-of course, including teens!
****Please do check any worng spellings and grammatical mistakes.Also,please take a look if my points are relevant.Thanks a lot!
Can anyone check that for me,please?
1 The title talks about world peace, so the part about life in Hong Kong doesn't seem relevant to me. You jump in with 'needless to say', but who is your target audience- the United Nations.
Paragraph 3- You say international cooperation can help, but this is assumed in the question. You shouldn't be discussing whether it helps, but the ways in which you can achieve it.
Pargarph 4&5 These are a list of pints- there's no real reason for the paragraph break. You should think through your list and group them logically- how about dividing them between passive ones like reading and active ones like exchange programs.
ALL- don't use capital letter like this in an essay.
! Don't use exclamation marks in this kind of writing.
Thank you very much!
You're welcome.


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Palestinian nationality is an entity defined by its opposition to Zionism, and not its national aspirations.
This propaganda war has been successfully waged by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) since its creation by the Soviet Union's KGB in 1964.
Ion Mihai Pacepa, former acting chief of Communist Romania's espionage service in an interview with Front Page Magazine on 1 March 2004 spilt the beans on the PLO and its connection to the Soviet regime when he said:
The PLO was dreamt up by the KGB, which had a penchant for "liberation" organizations. There was the National Liberation Army of Bolivia, created by the KGB in 1964 with help from Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Then there was the National Liberation Army of Colombia, created by the KGB in 1965 with help from Fidel Castro, which was soon deeply involved in kidnappings, hijackings, bombings and guerrilla warfare. In later years the KGB also created the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which carried out numerous bombing attacks on the "Palestinian territories" occupied by Israel, and the "Secret Army for Liberation of Armenia," created by the KGB in 1975, which organized numerous bombing attacks against US airline offices in Western Europe.
In 1964 the first PLO Council, consisting of 422 Palestinian representatives handpicked by the KGB, approved the Palestinian National Charter—a document that had been drafted in Moscow.


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Hi Sugar! Happy Pet of the Day to you, from all of us here in this piggie loving home!:)
What a beautiful, simply precious piggie you are, and just as your name implies, just as sweet as they come! That little face of yours could melt the coldest and hardest of hearts!
Sweet, smart, talented and so loving...you're everything a human could ever hope for in piggie pal, and your person so very lucky to have a best friend in you, Sugar!:)
Thanks for the BIG smiles, sweet baby girl! I so enjoyed reading all about your happy life, and all that you meant to your family! And your pics are heartmelters all, but unfortunately the video is "currently unavailable.":confused: I'll check back though; hopefully your human can "fix" that!
I hope you're enjoying your well earned day of honor, cutie pie, being treated to all your big heart desires, and more!
Lots of love, cuddles and little kisses to you, sweet Sugar!:love::love::love:


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Fire destroyed a home on Third Avenue in Paden City Friday night; the home's resident did suffer serious burns.
Paden City Police Chief Mike Kelly said Tanya Smith, the only person in the home, was taken by Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter to the burn unit at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He said Tuesday that she was still in critical condition.
A cause for the blaze that happened at about 11 p.m. is not known, but Kelly did say there were "three or four explosions." Contrary to some rumors, Kelly said his department "did not find any evidence of a meth lab at all." He did note a possible source of the explosions, "There were some oxygen tanks in there."
Article Photos
A blaze destroyed this home in the 600 block of South?Third Avenue in Paden City Friday night.
The PCPD did the initial investigation, even traveling to Pittsburgh to interview Smith. Now all of that information has been turned over to the West Virginia Fire Marshal's Office, who will complete the investigation.
Kelly said Smith's neighbors were extremely helpful during the blaze.
One man, whose name Kelly doesn't know, literally saved Smith's life. He said a neighbor put a ladder up to an upstairs window. "He actually went in the fire, carried her out, and saved her life," said Kelly. "He should have some sort of recognition for this. I want to find him and shake his hand."
Other neighbors caught Smith's dogs and reportedly took them to the Olive Branch Animal Rescue and Refuge. Olive Branch President Linda Henriksen said only one dog went into their care; she declined any further comment.
The Paden City Volunteer Fire Company, New Martinsville Volunteer Fire Department, and Sistersville Volunteer Fire Department responded to the blaze. Also, the Wetzel County Emergency Medical Service provided medical assistance.


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I'd like to submit a petition to the Federal Government of the United States:
That the Federal Government add another Holiday to the calendar, said holiday to be a floating holiday falling on the third Monday of the Month of March, and that a similar holiday be proclaimed falling on the second Monday of the month of August.
That these Holidays be officially named "Excuse to sell stuff in (fill in the respective month) Day"
Federal Employees get the day off, with no mail delivery, giving people yet another reason to carp about all the benefits Federal employees get.
Due to the nature of the Holiday, Banks would, of course, have to remain open, as would retail establishments.


text:
Jeter adds to postseason legend
Yanks captain sixth player to collect five hits in playoff game
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
• Jeter goes yard: 350K
• Jeter starts big DP: 350K
• Jeter's postseason records
• Derek Jeter postgame transcript
NEW YORK -- There was no easing into this postseason for Derek Jeter. His October reputation already set for the ages, Jeter somehow managed to add another chapter to his legend in Game 1 of this Division Series against the Tigers.
By the end of the night, the Yankees captain had once again awed everyone from teammates to opponents to fans.
All Jeter did was go 5-for-5, tying the record for most hits in a postseason game. The feat had only been done five times before, so naturally, Jeter had to do it. He did it in the flow of the game, helping the Yankees to an 8-4 victory over the Tigers.
"It's easy to fall into the trap of, 'Oh, it's just Derek being unbelievable in the postseason.' To him, it's just another game," said Yankees slugger Jason Giambi. "I don't know if it's because he started his career young and has been in the playoffs, but he's definitely a special talent, no doubt about it. He's unbelievable. He just gets into those games and bears down and just starts throwing hits all over the place."
Jeter capped off the magical night by belting a solo homer to left-center in the bottom the eighth. Deafening roars cascaded from the packed house at Yankee Stadium. A curtain call followed.
Just another night at the office for one of the great clutch players of the last decade. Jeter extended his postseason hits record to 147 and his Division Series hits record to 64.
Per usual, the least impressed person at Yankee Stadium seemed to be Jeter, who was interested in the win and not much else.
"Not necessarily when I have a night like this, [but] when the team has a night like this, you're able to relax a little bit," said Jeter. "But it's a short series. You can't relax in this series. You come right back [Wednesday]. You want to win the first game, especially at home."
It was as if Jeter was on a mission to get a win. Before he had reached full throttle with the bat, Jeter made a brilliant play with the glove in the top of the third inning. He went into the hole to field a grounder by Placido Polanco, swiftly got it to second base for the force, and watched Robinson Cano complete the 6-4-3 double play.
Then, in the bottom of the third inning, Jeter grabbed a big piece of momentum by smashing a basehit into center and stretching it into a double with all-out hustle. A game that was scoreless up to that point suddenly had Yankees at second and third with nobody out. From there, the Yankees wouldn't be stopped. Bobby Abreu hammered a two-run double. Gary Sheffield slapped an RBI single. Giambi roped a two-run homer and it was 5-0, Yankees.
Jeter had set the tone.
Most hits in a postseason game
|Paul Blair, Bal, 10/6/69, ALCS vs. Min.
|Paul Molitor, Mil, 10/12/82, WS vs. Stl.
|Marquis Grissom, Atl, 10/7/95, NLDS vs. Col.
|Mike Stanley, Bos, 10/10/99 ALDS vs. Cle.
|Hideki Matsui, NY, 10/16/04, ALCS vs. Bos.
|Derek Jeter, NY, 10/3/06, ALDS vs. Det.
"The thing is, every at-bat means something," said Jeter.
Just as the Tigers crept back into it at 5-3, Jeter helped spread it back out. His double in the sixth once again set up runners at second and third with nobody out. And Abreu came through with another two-run hit, this one a single.
"He was awesome as usual," said Sheffield. "He stepped up for us big today, and once we got up big, he kept pouring it on for the rest of the game."
Coming off a regular season that just might win him his first Most Valuable Player Award, Jeter again reinforced that the postseason is what counts most for him.
"Derek is a special player," said Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. "I'm very proud to be his teammate."
Of course, the Yankee who is linked most often to Jeter is the manager. Joe Torre and Jeter planted roots together in New York in 1996. Ten years later, Torre still shakes his head in disbelief when asked to recap another heroic night by his shortstop.
"I don't want to say he has a plan, but he just seems to relish this atmosphere," said Torre. "He's been so big for us for 11 years here and, you know, again, I can't say I'm surprised. Everything worked well for him tonight. Starting that double play was not an easy play. Swinging the bat tonight, he was on everything."
This was what Abreu saw on television for all those Octobers he was a spectator. Tuesday night, he got to witness the Jeter legend up close.
"That guy is amazing," said Abreu. "Right now, being behind him, watching him play, it's amazing. That guy, he's a gamer, he's a leader and you can learn a lot of things from him. Like I say, it's amazing. That's amazing, watching him play."
Most amazing of all is that such a performance was not entirely unexpected when you consider who produced it.
"He doesn't amaze me at all," said Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. "I've seen it before, and he'll keep doing it as long as he's here."
Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Festival of Trees accepting donations
A traditional Christmas season event in Wapakoneta will soon be underway.
The 14th annual Festival of Trees is slated for Nov. 14-18, with donations still being accepted until Nov. 10.
The Festival of Trees is a silent auction of decorated Christmas trees and other decor to raise funds for the organization's hospice care.
"It definitely gets you in the mood for Christmas," Community Health Professionals Marketing Coordinator Niki DuVall said. "I have people tell me that they go every year."
Businesses, organizations and individuals donate decorated items, including trees, wreaths and specialty items, to the Festival of Trees, which is sponsored by the Community Health Professionals of Tri-County, which is a non-profit and United Way of Auglaize County Partner Agency. The items are then up for silent auction throughout the event.
"This is something people look forward to each year," DuVall said.
All of the proceeds from the event goes to the visiting nurses and hospice program through the Community Health Professionals of Tri-County and all of the money raised will stay in the county.
The funds help cover the expenses of medical supplies, care and equipment of the local hospice patients that are not covered by Medicare or insurance.
The community can stop by The Gardens of Wapakoneta from 1 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 14 through Nov. 17 and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 18. The event will include refreshments and raffles.
On Nov. 17, Santa Claus will be available to take pictures with the children from 2 to 4 p.m., along with children being able to take part in holiday crafts.
This will be the 13th year for the organization to host the event at The Gardens, and DuVall said that throughout the years they have created a great partnership with The Gardens through this program.
"We moved out to The Gardens when they opened," DuVall said. "It got people into the facility. The residents just love it, too."
All are invited to attend the free event, and there are opportunities for raffle prizes with raffle tickets that will be available for purchase.
The top trees and decorations will be voted on the Tuesday prior to the event, and then a tag will note the winners during the duration of the event.
The deadline to sponsor a Christmas tree, wreath or centerpiece is Nov. 10. Contact 419-738-7430 for more information, visit The Gardens, 505 Walnut St., Wapakoneta, or Community Health Professionals, 803 Brewfield Dr., Wapakoneta for more information.
DuVall, along with planning committee members Jana Ashba, Pam Miner and Brenda Meckstroth have been working on this event for months, along with the help of the staff of Community Health Professionals, The Gardens of Wapakoneta and the Women's Civic League of Wapakoneta, who volunteer their time to man the front table during the event.


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The Millikin men's basketball team lost to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 55-64 on Dec. 9 at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Ill.
Millikin started out strong holding a lead for most of the first half. Rose-Hulman put on a strong push to end the half and took a 30-26 advantage into halftime.
The Engineers took control of the game early in the second half building a lead as large as 15 points. Millikin battled back to pull with four at 55-41 with four minutes left to play, but the Engineers hit on nine of 12 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
Rose-Hulman hit on 43 percent from the field while Millikin connected on 39 percent. The Engineers had an advantage at the free throw line hitting on 22-27 (81.5 percent) compared to 10-14 (71 percent) for Millikin. The Engineers won the rebounding battle 29-25.
Deavis Johnson was Millikin's top scorer and rebounder with 13 points and eight rebounds. Tives Gardner added 10.
Julian Strickland scored 19 points to top Rose-Hulman. Strickland was 10-12 from the free throw line. Jimmy Miller and Jordy Martin each had 11.
Rose-Hulman improves to 4-3 while Millikin goes to 5-3.
The Big Blue host Concordia (Wis.) on Dec. 14 at 3 p.m.


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TSF didn't exactly sprint to the newsstands upon hearing about V Magazine's 59th issue — a swimsuit spectacular shot by one of our faves, Mario Testino. But after seeing a web version of the editorial, we're on board. Sprinkled among the luscious ladies are guys in their swimsuits (check), guys in swimsuits and posing with stilettos (double check), and a shoulder-branded hottie with a Coke bottle in his Speedos (<3).
Browse: Flip through the issue here.
(screengrab via vmagazine.com)


text:
Lawrence Brown was ready. He had been studying and quizzing for months. He knew the real names of certain black celebrities and which nonprofit organizations had been started by others. He could share random tidbits on black pop culture, history, literature and theater.
Lawrence Brown was ready. He had been studying and quizzing for months. He knew the real names of certain black celebrities and which nonprofit organizations had been started by others. He could share random tidbits on black pop culture, history, literature and theater.
What the 20-year-old Stillman College junior did not count on was the nerves that took over when the TV cameras came out and began filming the seventh annual Ford Black College Quiz.
"The actual competition wasn't the big stress. I did the best I could and didn't really focus on my competitors," Brown said. "But knowing I was going to be on TV was really nerve- wracking. I was visibly shaking during the first round, but then I was able to chill out and relax."
Brown was one of 12 students from historically black colleges and universities selected to participate in the "Jeopardy!" style game show that challenges the students' knowledge of black history and culture. The students were competing for $20,000 in scholarships.
Taped at Spelman College in Atlanta, the show is set to air between January and March. The series will consist of four half-hour quiz shows with three schools competing in each segment. The winners will not be released until after the show has finished airing nationwide.
After learning that he would be competing, Brown received an 87-page study guide that covered a variety of topics, from black Olympic medalists to black theater.
He used the guide to create flash cards and practiced with Stillman's quiz team, of which he is also a member.
"We replicated the quiz format, acted it out like it would be played on television," he said.
Even though he's an English major, Brown said the literature category was his most challenging. The questions covered both well-known and not so well-known authors and books and included several he had never heard before. The key to the competition, however, was memorization, he added.
"It was a great experience, one I'll keep with me for a long time," Brown said. "I got to meet a lot of great students, faculty members, and the networking opportunities were great. I really enjoyed it."
This was the first year Stillman had a student participating in the event.
Brown was selected by Thomas Jennings, an associate professor of history and quiz bowl team coach.
Jennings said he wanted a student who would have the "best chance of doing well in the competition," but it could not be a senior because the scholarship was for undergraduate work.
"It's fantastic for Lawrence. He's a very intelligent, very capable individual," Jennings said. "(The competition also) does a really good service to the African-American community, highlighting the contributions made by HBCUs and the population. A huge portion of our students are the first to go to college, and when you see them on a show like this, it sets a positive role model for their community. They see they can achieve higher education."
The show's airing schedule will be announced by Central City Productions. For information about the show, visit ccptv.com.
Reach Kim Eaton at email@example.com or 205-722-0209


text:
Thursday, February 01, 2007
A little "bathroom" humor...
P.S. And I think that's Angelina Jolie's brother in this thing.
6 comments:
- MGOBLUE94 said...
Where is the Yost and Benny blogger spinoff ...er...knock off story
At least this should be PC after last weeks post ... hopefully Title IX will agree and enjoy the bathroom love story.
- February 01, 2007 8:50 AM
- Out of Conference said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- February 01, 2007 10:15 AM
- Out of Conference said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- February 01, 2007 10:22 AM
- Out of Conference said...
I tried to make a funny post as a satire pointing out all of the inequalities one could point out from that funny video clip, but deleted it (twice - the first time ws to fix a spelling error) because I thought someone might not share in my sense of humor or think it as benign as I did.
Funny video though.
- February 01, 2007 10:38 AM
- TitleIX said...
James Haven's parents (the bathroom attendant guy) are American actor Jon Voight and the late Marcheline Bertrand, a French Canadian actress. His sister is actress Angelina Jolie.
and, honestly, the bathroom love story was lost on me
but from a cinematography point of view, I thought the synchronized peeing (aka micturation) was brilliant!
- February 01, 2007 3:50 PM
- Yost said...
Yeah, how many takes did that require?!
- February 01, 2007 3:52 PM


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What a photo !
What a photo !
The other guy's Greg Kinnear. They were in a movie together called "The Matador".
Oh Pierce ! Sexiest man on the planet !
Not enough butt in this thread!
Thomas Crown Affair and Nomads. I know he has a very short thrusting butt shot in The Tailor of Panama, but I don't have that one.
very sexy nipples ! Pierce is so hot !
Pierce Brosnan and mamma mia gallery
Totally random: Does anyone else think he'd make a good Magneto/Erik Lensherr, if they made an X-Men movie set sometime between 'First Class' and the first Bryan Singer film?
Pierce Brosnan in The Matador
His nipples drives me crazy ! !
Pierce with a mustache is oh-so-sexy. Kind of like a Tom Skerritt vibe, coincidentally who makes me cream in my pants.
So hot !
Stellan is a huge exhibitionist in his films, always showing his dick and/or butt. I wish Pierce did.
so hot !
Please let me on board sirs, we have a lot of fucking to that we must catch up on, and then some.
I love my imagination!
What movie is that shower scene from? I love it.
My eyes, my eyes!
I used to quite like him. These days, meh.
He is so damn sexy I can barely take it. Thanks for the great picture of him.
One of the most handsome faces in Hollywood. Sexy as hell, too.


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Remember that kid in the second grade? Stomach crammed full of paste and boogers, cruel little beady eyes always scanning for the slightest transgressions, and a big stupid mouth that would go blabbing to the teacher any time you even thought about doing something fun? Well, that little fuck now drives a Pontiac Grand Am outside of Pittsburgh, and is still trying to get you in trouble.
How do I know this? Because cryptically-named Jalop reader "G" sent us in this picture of the little snitch, and sent us this description of what he saw:
There's nothing I hate more than a slow driver in the passing lane. This guy in white Grand Am with Illinois plates and a racing stripe was holding up several of us. As I finally had my turn to pull up behind him ready to unleash a load of horn-honking and intimidation-tailgating, I realized there was a rear-facing camera mounted outside the back window. A message in the window read something about "for law enforcement use". As my exit was coming up, I just shook my head in disgust and grabbed a quick pic. Rest assured speeders, the Civilian Highway Patrol is here to not only monitor traffic, but regulate the speed. Most drivers just decided to pass in the far right lane, which seems to negate any intended safety this clown was trying force onto his fellow drivers.
If there's anything more infuriating than some self-appointed dipshit trying to keep the pace of traffic to some anemic and misinformed idea of what they think is safe with the implied threat of ratting you out to the cops, I don't want to know about it. At all. Because this awful, just awful.
And possibly illegal. Does this count as impersonating an officer? It does say "FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT USE" right there on the back window, which does imply a certain legal authority, even though I can't imagine any highway patrol officer is going to watch 20+ hours of shitty video of car after car passing this high-strung human gallstone going 51 MPH.
And, if that video from the camera isn't going to the police, what exactly is Officer Grand Am planning on doing with it? Tracing license plate numbers to home addresses so he can Citizen Arrest you, and then give you a trial in his kitchen before sentencing you to a three week sentence locked in the spare bedroom/crafts room? This is, of course, assuming you're found guilty by a jury composed of the snitch's twelve cats.
So, self-righteous vigilante of I-79, please, on behalf of all of us in the non-terrible-people driving community, fuck off. Take that camera off your rear window and put it back to use broadcasting your pale, wrinkled genitals on Chatroulette, where its serving the world in a far better capacity.
Also, my dear stoolie, your right rear side marker light appears to be lacking the DOT-required red lens. I'm totally telling on you.


text:
Years of tax cuts, falling property values and unexpected expenses have finally caught up to the City of Chiefland. "The city's going broke," Chiefland Police Chief Robert Douglas told commissioners and a room full of concerned citizens at the year's first budget meeting Monday night.
"Let's be realistic. If this continues, the state's going to come in" and take over. Douglas, who wasn't the only department head or voice from the audience to express concern, wasn't exaggerating.
The state can, if it finds a municipality has been run into the ground, come in and take control, appointing its own commissioners and setting its own tax rates, among other things.
Staff at Monday's meeting told commissioners that in order to start fixing the problem, commissioners need to seriously consider raising taxes, something that hasn't happened in years.
Since 2008, commissioners have voted to keep the tax rate the same, at 4.75 mills. A mill represents $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. As property values fall, which they have for the last five years, tax revenues fall, too, unless they are raised or at least kept the same through the adoption of what's called a roll back rate.
But commissioners, against staff recommendations, have voted against a roll back rate each year since property values started declining.
City Financial Coordinator Laurie Copeland told commissioners that since that time the city has lost $457, 296 "that it was entitled to." About $169,000 of that money was just from last year, which actually saw two drops in property value.
If the city continues on its current path, it will have about $48,000 less than it needs to operate, she said, adding that there were unknown factors that could increase that number by even more.
A roll back rate needs to be adopted, Copeland said. "You can go middle of the road (6.2713 mills), or you can go as high as you can go (6.8984 mills). Whatever you feel comfortable with on your millage," adding that a rate would need to be proposed by the next budget meeting in two weeks. "The higher you go, the better. We can always lower it (in later budget meetings)."
City Manager Kevin Gay said the staff recommendation, at this point, is to set the rate at 6.8984, a rate that would allow the city to collect about $222,000 above expenses for use as a cushion.
"We could put that money in the bank," he said.
"As long as you don't have anything that breaks …" Copeland added, explaining that money saved might be needed for the unexpected.
The city was hit with just such an expense earlier this year as it was forced to fix a costly mold problem at City Hall that wasn't covered by the city's insurance provider.
"As a business person in the community, I totally agree with Mr. Gay," area business man Dr. Robert Mount said. The city provides important services, such as fire rescue and police that keep people safe, he said.
"And to get businesses to come in, you've got to be able to show them you can provide services."
Mayor Teal Pomeroy said the city's services are "top notch," stating that the police department is better than it used to be and that the fire department is "three times better than it was in 2005."
Mount reminded him that the city has to call the county to fill potholes in city streets.
Chiefland Fire Chief James Harris said the fire department may be better than it was, but that's largely because of grants and because things have been reorganized.
"We've run out of all that," Harris said. "I can't think of any more ways to make it better." And problems will get worse over the years. Calls to the department increase by about 100 a year, he said.
"We're gonna' have to decide if we want services or low taxes. We can't have our cake and eat it too." Gay said another option to bring in revenues would be to raise the base rate on water users in both residential and commercial settings, an option he said he'd bring more information on at the next meeting.
So far, proposed cuts from staff include eliminating about $4,000 a year the city contributes to the Luther Calloway Public Library — the only full-time library run by the county — for cleaning services, utilities and supplies.
And staff has also proposed closing the city dump to commercial users, saving an estimated $5,600 from the budget.
About $132,000 has already been cut from the budget, mostly through the loss of city employees or those employees' respective departments, according to staff.
Factors that could cause the budget to increase include a state-mandated raise in contributions by the city to staff and officials for pension funds.
About $40,000, according to staff, could be tacked on to the budget, as well as an additional $21,722 for the fire department, if new firefighters are hired. Harris is requesting that three part-time firefighters be moved into full-time status to help with an increasing call load. The overall difference with the new firefighters would be an increase of about $86,000.
Dwindling funds have also caused the city to lose employees, either through leaving for other jobs that pay better or through department cuts.
This, however, has caused the city to be lumped into a smaller, more expensive health insurance plan, according to staff. The exact increase isn't known, at this point, but staff has estimated a 12 to 18 percent increase.
Related to the loss of staff, Gay said he'd like to make sure city employees are given a raise after completing certain requirements for the positions they hold. Employees are already supposed to get a 5 percent increase after graduating from a school or earning certification, he said, but it hasn't been honored. "It's incentive to keep employees around," he said.
Three of the four commissioners in attendance Monday night said they were in favor of adopting a roll back rate.
Pomeroy and Commissioner Rollin Hudson said they'd like more assurance that "projected" savings from the adoption of a roll back rate meets "actual" savings.
Vice mayor Teresa Barron was not in attendance.
The next budget meeting will take place immediately after the next regularly scheduled commission meeting, which starts at 6 p.m., Monday, July 22.
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Residential Property Lawyer - East Midlands
- Recruiter
- Austen Lloyd
- Location
- Salary
- £25000 - £45000 per annum + Competitive Salary
- Posted
- 26 Aug 2013
- Closes
- 23 Sep 2013
- Ref
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- Austen Lloyd
- Sector
- Legal
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- Job Level
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Please note our advertisements may use PQE/salary levels purely as a guide. However we would be happy to consider applications from all candidates who can demonstrate the skills needed to perform the role.


text:
Original URL: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/13/woa_office_15_ie10_clearer/
Windows 8 on ARM: Microsoft bets on Office 15 and IE10
WOA: hardware saviour to software challenges?
Posted in Software, 13th February 2012 15:18 GMT
Steve Ballmer wasn't kidding when he said Windows 8 could be Microsoft's "riskiest product bet."
With two-and-a-half weeks to go until Microsoft delivers the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, time has run out on holding back and Microsoft is now telling Windows devs just what they're in for with the next version of its PC client.
We're looking at an operating system that fundamentally changes the way apps will be written for, and delivered to, versions of Windows.
And while Microsoft has tried to cushion the blow with some developments on app-coding, this remains a huge step change in the development and consumption of software on Windows. It's also a change that's owes much to Apple's iPad.
The problem for Microsoft is that, unlike Apple, it has so many more commercial and off-the-shelf apps and app partners that it must convince to work the new way. These are people already going for existing Windows.
Windows on ARM (WOA) – unveiled just over a year ago – is the big break point. And it's not so much that the future is WOA and nothing else – Windows 8 will continue on Intel and AMD, so those uncomfortable with Microsoft's new approach can keep on using the old methodologies – the problem is that Microsoft's development and marketing focus is on tablets in general and WOA in particular.
Fittingly, the Windows 8 consumer preview will be officially launched at the Mobile World Congress on 29 February. All previous Windows launches have been Microsoft events supported by PC OEM partners.
We already knew that existing x86 apps would not run on Windows 8. Now, though, we've been told that two apps will squeak though – but that they are Microsoft apps, not partners' apps. The two apps are: a version of Microsoft's Office – the upcoming Office 15, currently in technical preview – and Internet Explorer 10.
Office on ARM was touted by Windows Chief Steven Sinofsky in January 2011 when Microsoft's commitment to WOA was announced, ending Redmond's x86 monogamy.
Now, according to Sinofsky, WOA will "include" desktop versions of the new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. It is unclear what "include" means in this context; it might suggest Office will come as part of a bundle, but the suite makes some serious money for Redmond so it's unlikely the company would just give this away. Somebody will pay, whether it's the consumer buying the device, the OEM swallowing the price, or Microsoft.
It seems Office 15 will run on the desktop of WOA PCs, and won't be rewritten for the Metro-UI side of Windows 8.
Plug-ins gone
Further, it seems while IE 10 will run on the desktop and Metro editions of Windows 8, plug-ins for Microsoft's browser aren't being allowed on ARM full-stop. That means no Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight, ruling out many line-of-business apps, web media and ads.
Microsoft last year released an IE10 platform preview that saw plug-ins banned from Metro UI but allowed on the desktop.
According to this All-Things-D interview that was posted on exactly the same day as Sinofsky's official blog appeared, IE plug-ins for WOA desktop edition are also out with Sinofsky "noting the trend in the industry away from supporting Flash on mobile devices".
This confirms what we have written: that WOA would be locked down tight. Gone are the days of the ever-expandable Wintel PC, bloated with vendor crapware and whose sparkling performance became a wheezy jogger's crawl six months out of the box.
Battery burn baby, burn
Microsoft wants to ensure that WOA does not fall over and does not burn up the battery – the latter especially is one of the big plusses about ARM. Sinofsky says one reason there aren't any x86 code ports or virtualisation of existing apps on ARM is because this would defeat the idea of longer battery life.
With the safety blanket gone, Windows 8 brings two new ways of doing business: the Windows marketplace – a concept so far mostly pushed on the Windows Phone side of Redmond – and something called WinRT. The latter is Microsoft's Windows Runtime, a programming model and execution environment for Metro UI that lets you develop using C, C++, C#, VB.Net and Javascript. Apps will be downloaded from Microsoft's Windows Store to WOA.
"Consumers obtain all software, including device drivers, through the Windows Store and Microsoft Update or Windows Update," Sinofsky wrote.
Software companies run a huge risk when they change basic tenets or established practices of coding for their software. They risk losing partners and customers that might want to stick with the existing way of working and may drift over to the competition. In Microsoft's case, the threat is less that devs drift to Apple – as there's relatively little historical crossover there – but that Windows devs stick with the x86 way of life.
Microsoft hopes to keep devs on side with its conscious decision to keep the desktop and not jettison it entirely for a future of Metro-UI touch and the Windows Store. Hence Office 15. It's also the thinking behind WinRT.
Sinofsky blogged: "Some have suggested we might remove the desktop from WOA in an effort to be pure, to break from the past, or to be more simplistic or expeditious in our approach. To us, giving up something useful that has little cost to customers was a compromise that we didn't want to see in the evolution of PCs."
Success for Microsoft's Windows 8 bet will depend on two factors, however. The first is whether WinRT proves to be as smooth as Microsoft has contended. If so, then it stands a chance of carrying existing developers skilled in programming for Windows. This is something Microsoft is counting on, to open up a new platform to its standing army of coders.
WinPho and Silverlight once more
This kind of thinking was also found in Windows Phone and Silverlight. That is, if you made the tools and development framework smooth and painless enough for existing Visual Studio PC coders, they could also code for Windows Phone or Silverlight. The market didn't flip.
The second factor Microsoft is banking on – and which is more or less out of its control – will be popularity of ARM PC devices running NVIDIA, Qualcom and Texas Instruments designs that are due at the "same time" as Windows 8 for x86 systems. It's the sexiness of the device and its ease of use that has helped sell things like the iPad, iPhone and Kindle to end user and coder alike. Large market share has given developers something they can address, not simplified coding frameworks and tools.
The ARM PC makers have proved a lot less leaky and showy than their x86 cousins, so it remains an unknown just what's coming and whether they can seduce devs as successfully as Apple's iPhone and iPad. So far, all we have is Sinofsky's predictable promise that what is coming will have been worth waiting for.
"PC manufacturers are hard at work on PCs designed from the ground up to be great and exclusively for WOA," Microsoft's Windows man said.
The bet is still in play. ®