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Posted on 04/06/2011 2:41:32 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Just this week, Consumer Reports posted an online review covering the iPad 2, and a small number of also-rans in the tablet PC world. This report was meant as an upgrade to an article that appeared in the May 2011 newsstand issue, which was prepared before the iPad 2 was available to evaluate.
The conclusion was predictable. The iPad 2 gets an excellent rating in nearly every category. Curiously, the original iPad was placed in a tie with the Motorola Xoom, though heaven knows why. Well, at least CR didnt find any bogus antenna issue with which to downgrade Apples iconic gadget, but they arent entitled to much more credit than that, simply because they still havent a clue how to properly review products of this sort.
They have, for example, an ephemeral ease of use category, but they dont really explain the criteria for such ratings. If they were really paying attention, it would seem highly questionable for the Xoom to rate very highly because, if you consider what you can do with this gadget, it barely rates a xero make that a zero.
You see, you can rate CPU and graphics performance, and whether the interface is snappy or not. You can certainly judge the features, such as onboard cameras, or, in the case of the original iPad, the lack thereof. You might also look at accessory ports, such as an SD card slot, or an HDMI port, neither of which Apple incorporates, even though they offer convenient and relatively low-cost adapters for both.
But none of this matters if there are no apps to run. Apple has over 65,000 specifically designed to run on an iPad. In contrast, the Motorola Xoom, which uses Android 3.0, or Honeycomb, has a few dozen.
As a result, the argument is over. Your usability options on a Xoom, or any other Android-based tablet, are extremely limited, unless you want to stick with regular smartphone apps, which look horrible when blown up to the full size of the display.
Other Android tablets, using older versions of the OS, are in worse shape. Those products are dead ends, because they werent designed with tablets in mind, and new apps will never be compatible. Thats their fault for not paying attention to Google. This, along with the growing and irritating fragmentation issue, are the reasons that Google is asserting greater control over the ways licensees can fiddle with the interface and bundled software. Indeed, they are also holding off on releasing the source code, with no definite date as to when it might be available.
Unfortunately, CR doesnt grok any of this. They seem utterly unable to judge these products on the basis of real usability, which means having enough apps to actually afford a choice of what to do beyond email, Internet access, and access to your favorite social network. Indeed, one of the reasons that the Mac was denigrated early on was the myth that very few applications were available for that platform. In that case, it wasnt true for the most part, except for certain vertical applications for business consumers that were only available on Windows.
When it comes to an Android 3.0 tablet, the situation is dreadful, utterly dreadful. Worse, app developers arent going to have much of an incentive to build apps for the Xoom and its ilk, simply because the iPad has swamped the marketplace. Developers who want to make money know which platform is best.
Understand that CRs editors are entitled to their opinions, and they even entitled to publish highly flawed reviews that fail to address the needs of the end user. Rather, Im concerned why the media, tech, mainstream and elsewhere, largely accepts CRs word as gospel. The vast, vast majority of articles about their reviews are not critical. They never consider whether or not the magazine is using poorly conceived testing methods.
I can see where manufacturers might avoid public criticism, simply because it will sound like sour grapes. Indeed, when it comes to auto testing, CR has it right when handling tests revealed certain vehicles nearly tipping over or swerving out of control in extreme handling tests. While CR was once sued by an auto maker over this issue, more recently Toyota promptly responded to a reported handling flaw by rejiggering the onboard software so the electronic stability control would kick in faster. But you wonder why they never noticed during the product design phase.
When it comes to consumer electronics gear, Apple didnt suffer in any noticeable way because the two flavors of the iPhone 4 werent recommended, based on that alleged Death Grip. Certainly, if there was an ounce of evidence that sales might be hurt, Im quite sure Apple would have gotten ahold of CR in order to set them straight. Certainly what CR reports flies in the face of Apples tests, once posted online, and still mirrored all over the globe, not to mention blogs populated with antenna experts, and all those people who posted YouTube videos demonstrating that antenna sensitivity issues can be duplicated on many smartphones. Im most troubled, however, that CR doesnt seem to know about warning labels, and those cautions in user manuals about the unsavory impact of holding a mobile handset the wrong way.
Or maybe their test team doesnt believe in reading manuals. While I realize consumers dont either, a magazine that prides itself on thorough and balanced product testing ought to know better.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
That's funny.
My wife works at a University where just about every student assistant has an iPhone. And they have ALL bitched about this little gap on the edge of the phone that if you happen to put your fingers across the call gets dropped.
I don't have an iPhone so I'm not sure what they are talking about, but talk about it they do. Wonder how Consumer Reports got them all to lie like that?
CR has been questioned for years.
Their devotion to certain brands created suspicions.
Their unwillingness to divulge their raw data, weighting, etc is another flag being raised.
CR will not tell you what a "defect" is. In fact, they leave it up to their subscribers. Therefore, a blown fuse in a car could be considered a defect by one reviewer and ignored by another.
Sample sizes have been questioned and CR always stonewalls on that issue as well.
Anyone who relies on CR is only fooling themselves.
CR is another left-wing rag. Has been for as long as I can remember.
I find CR helpful because they give detailed info on features for products when I'm first beginning a search for a new big ticket item. I just bought a new landline phone. Yeah, I checked CR first in order to figure out what features different ones had instead of trying to get info from the kids who work at Best Buy etc. That made it easier to start whittling down the choices.
There are much better places to get consumer electronics info such as CNET.
Well, because of their ratings of SUVs I have been stuck with a dog SUV and instead of driving it into the ground, my usual model, I am selling it fast.
Yet another person who has clearly never used a Xoom before. The "lack of apps" battlecry is particularly amusing, considering I own one and haven't found an app I need and can't get. Macunists sound a lot like democrats - repeat a lie over and over until people believe it.
Read the article... and the reports of people who WORK with cell phone radios and antennas who could not duplicate the so called problem. I have an iPhone4 and could not duplicate the problem using PROPER test equipment in proper testing labs, unlike the junk that CU used. They found that the iPhone4 starts out with a better ability to receive signals and finishes with a better ability to receive signals than other phones even after attenuation... The drop is a percentage of the starting signal... and that was something the clueless testers at Consumers Reports had no awareness of.
I have over 25 friends with an iPhone4... and none of us could duplicate the problem, and we tried, hard, and only one had a problem with dropped calls greater than she had with her iPhone 3Gs... and she lives in the boonies where the AT&T signal is pretty spotty. All of us have BETTER reception with our iPhone4s than we had with our previous phones. The facts are different than what was being reported... which was a load of FUD being orchestrated by Google to promote sales of the Android phones.
It is very strange that the REST OF THE WORLD MARKETS could not duplicate the antennagate issues when the unchanged iPhone4 was released there. Once those facts came out, the FUD essentially stopped! In fact, the antennagate issue dropped out of site and Apple discontinued its free bumper program the started to counter the bad publicity that was being pushed so heavily in the press. In the rest of the world, they did NOT SEE THE DROPPED CALL issue at all. So where was the antenna problem??? IT SIMPLY DID NOT EXIST!
The issue was solely limited to AT&T and it's poor quality network in certain markets... mostly in cities where NIMBYS had prevented the buildout of new cell towers... particularly New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and other metro areas, where the heavy data usage of the iPhone 3G network demand overwhelmed the system's ability to carry the sheer numbers of people wanting to use to system.
The specialists in cell phone testing all tweaked Consumers Reports, pointing out that they did not know what they were doing in their "tests" and also pointed out that they did not even use proper test equipment... using the iPhone's own five bar signal strength meter as their "sophisticated" test equipment to show how strong the signal it was receiving was. The did not test real world calls at all... just squirted signals at it... Nor did they test ANY OTHER of the cell phones in their samples for signal attenuation, just the iPhone. Why? Was their an agenda?
Can I ask which dog suv you are referring to?
totally agree
CR is composed of Northeast liberals.
My personal experience is that when I take the time to do the research and buy something that they have rated highly (clothes washer/dryer and space heaters most recently), I have been very pleased with the products' performance. I can't really say that they are "the best" because I have nothing to compare them to, but I haven't bought something they rated highly and determined it to be a bad choice.
Just my 2¢.
These are not stats being "lied about" by Mac proponents. Are those apps TABLET optimized or are they merely Android phone apps size doubled to improperly fit on your Xoom screen? Surveys done on multiple non-Apple oriented sites that have found fewer than 70 apps for Android tablets. Tell us what kind of Apps you are using?
One Month Later, Android Tablet Platform Has 50 Apps
By Mike Isaac March 30, 2011 | 7:12 pm | Categories: Tablets and E-Readers
Motorolas Xoom tablet is the first promising alternative to Apples iPad, but the sickly condition of Androids tablet app ecosystem may end up stalling the platforms progress.
One month after its launch, the Xoom currently has about 50 native apps available for Android 3.0 Honeycomb, Googles version of Android optimized for tablets.
Thats pitiful compared with the iPad, which was released last year with approximately 1,000 native apps on launch day. The Xoom debuted with a paltry 15 Honeycomb-native apps available for download in its catalog.
50 apps is a pretty small number, and the actual total may be even smaller. The official Android online market, as well as other online message forums for Android enthusiasts, place the number of Xoom apps somewhere close to 50. But this number hardly seems accurate, as it includes existing Android applications which have been re-sized to take advantage of the tablets larger screen. The number of apps with interfaces made specifically for the tablet is probably diminutive.
Still, its unclear why more developers havent taken the short cut and re-sized their apps for Honeycomb. It could be that developers arent sold on the idea of re-sizing their apps to fit more screen real estate, as opposed to building a true tablet experience that takes advantage of the new platforms possibilities, iOS developer Justin Williams told Wired.com in an interview.
And even if developers wanted to create such a true tablet experience, theyre hard-pressed to do it without the source code for Honeycomb, which Google is currently keeping a tight reign over. The big device manufacturers working on Honeycomb-powered hardware like HTC, Motorola and Samsung all have early access to the code, but only after licensing agreements were made with Google. Smaller developers dont have this luxury.
Apple was wise to have the tools out there months in advance of launch, Williams said, as compared to Google who made them available only a short time before.
To be fair, the Xoom is currently the only Android tablet on the market running Android 3.0. Once the glut of Honeycomb-running hardware devices arrives like the June release of LePad from Chinese electronics manufacturer Lenovo, which was delayed specifically to ensure the tablet will run Honeycomb we could reasonably expect to see more tablet-optimized applications available. Samsungs redesigned Galaxy Tab 10.1 will also run Honeycomb, and will also launch this summer.
Google needs more hardware, says Williams, and they need to get developers excited about building tablet experiences, not just larger screened phone apps.
Hmmmm, 50, to over 70,000 for the iPad. Not much of a comparison, is it?
However, another NON-Apple source, Mobility Feedsa site specializing in analyzing mobile devices and mobile trends, found that Android 3.0 Honeycomb had only 14 native applications in those 50.
Almost no tablet-specific apps developed for Android Honeycomb
Second Gears developer Justin Williams, following a new check, has revealed the little progress made by Google's Android 3.0, codenamed Honeycomb, application catalog in the month since its launch.
Only fourteen applications are truly native.
A total of fifty include both native applications and phone applications meaning resizing for a larger screen.
The report includes Googles applications and might miss certain titles, but there is no simple way to separate tablet optimized applications and tablet-only ones by applying a filter on Android Market.
Among the fully native titles, there are a few ports of their Apple iPad versions, like Pulse, CNN or USA Today.
The situation reflects an ongoing problem with application support on Android 3.0 and confirms a hastened launch schedule.
Google released the beta SDK only a month before the Motorola Xoom was shipped, while the final version was released only two days before the date of the launch.
Excepting certain developers with special access rights, most have only had less than two months to start and make ready their first applications for the Android tablet.
The lack of devices itself has reduced the accessibility to the hardware.
A second wave would not ship until the LG Optimus Pad arrives in Japan these days, while the decision of Samsung to rework its Galaxy Tab 10.1 following the iPad 2s release would push it to not earlier than June.
Apple was more careful with its tablet plan and allowed developers to have two months lead time.
The App Store started with 1,000 iPad-native applications and has about 65,000 s of the first-year anniversary of the design.
A more flexible development has been the key factor for inroads into enterprise and catering to niches such as music production.
Then there's this. Electronista is reporting that Deutsche Bank, using Google's own Android usage statistics released at the end of March, has concluded that the Xoom Tablet has sold only 100,000 units in the five weeks it has been on the market since being released February 24th.
Analyst rough estimate has just 100,000 Xooms shipped so far
by Electronista staff
Updated 11:35 am EDT, Wed April 6, 2011
Deutsche Bank guesses just 100,000 Xooms shippedAnalysts at Deutsche Bank have put a potential number on talk of possibly slow Xoom sales in a new research note. Extrapolating from data in Google's Platform Versions chart, it estimated that about 100,000 of Motorola's tablet had shipped between the February 24 debut and the end of March. The prediction also likely included a small number of hacked installs on other devices.
Motorola has never publicly discussed its Xoom shipment figures and might not quantify them until its next quarterly results, if at all.
The figure is likely to be off of the actual count without more concrete data at hand. It might still reflect a relatively tepid adoption and is supported in the abstract by Google's Android figures, which put 3.0 at just 0.2 percent and well under the 2.5 percent using a Nexus S or Nexus One with Android 2.3.
Low Xoom adoption has been blamed partly on the limited launch. The February 24 release was limited to just the 3G edition for Verizon, putting the minimum asking price at $800. Wi-Fi versions only began showing in late March, and international releases are only just beginning with launches for Canada this week and other countries soon. Apple shipped the iPad 2 to about 25 countries two weeks after the US and starts at $500 for a Wi-Fi version and $630 for 3G.
the issue is the screen size.
these are not tablets they are toys. They need true useful screen sizes of 10 inches or more to be of consequence.
Wired's Gadget Lab, hardly an Apple centric site went looking for Android tablet optimized apps for your Xoom... here is their March 30th report:
I don't!
Give Consumer Reports credit for reporting the Chevy Volt is a joke.
Thanks for all the FUD, but the point is that "tablet-optimized" is itself a loaded term. As Android developers have been dealing with varied screen sizes in their apps for years, the vast majority of apps originally written for phones scale perfectly well to the Xoom's screen size. Hence why I say these people have clearly never used one before. Just because apps originally written for tiny iPhone screens (remember, the iPad came out before the iPhone 4, which introduced better resolution) looked like crap on the much larger iPad screen doesn't mean Android apps do.
Take for instance SlingPlayer. It's not "tablet-optimized", but it looks great on the Xoom. Why? Because the people who wrote it were smart enough to code their program to adjust for resolution. They're not the only ones - every single program I use on my phone (Droid X) also works on my Xoom, with no noticeable drop in quality.
Trouble is, very few car review sources take reliability into account other than Consumer Reports.
CR has recommended buy ratings for Mercedes M- SUV and C-, E-, and S- sedans, as well as Ford Fusion, Chevy Malibu, and other "American" models.
CR does not differ radically from other publications in their ratings if reliability history is taken into account. Truth is, GM and Chrysler do indeed make a higher percentage of mediocre and poor vehicles than other manufacturers; that's why the government bailed them out.
What are you referring to? The iPad has a 9.7" screen and the Xoom has a 10.1 inch Wide angle screen... both are quite usable for their purpose as tablets. The 7 inch screen "tablet" are what I would consider too small to be useable at just 45% the area of the iPad. The Xoom is just 2.9 square inches larger than the iPad.... it's a bit longer than the iPad screen by about an inch while the iPad is wider than the Xoom's screen by about 3/10 inch.
Reviewers say the Xoom is designed to be used in most conveniently in landscape mode while the iPad can be used either way.
Then all those articles from respected NON-Apple sources are slinging FUD? I don't think so. Your Xoom is therefore just a big Android phone? No, those apps are NOT tablet optimized apps.
Then using your criteria for counting apps, then the iPad has 350,000 apps plus the 70,000 apps that are iPad optimized. You Xoom is simply not in the same league.
No, you can't have it both ways. Either the apps are optimized for the tablet or they are not. Just because it CAN run them... it doesn't mean they run well... and most of the reviewers say the phone apps DON'T run well or fit on the wide screen format properly, often operational screen buttons spill into areas where they are simply unreachable! On the iPad, because the form factor was maintained, they do fit and work. Many times these reviewers are ANDROID fans... and they are not happy with the state of app availability.
I remember back in the early 80's CR declared the new Coleco Adam as the "Computer of the Decade", maybe even the century.
Yeah, right!
Nissen Xterra
ahh then I sit corrected. the only non-ipad tablet I have seen in the wild has been of the 7 inch varieties.
still I wish the windows tablets, like the asus, were much less expensive.
What? Someone believes Consumer Reports? NFW dude!!
Not for a review of anything more high-tech than a wooden toothpick.
Let me propose an analogy.
When I was a kid I had a transistor radio, about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Like every radio, it has a speaker. The sound comes out of the speaker. If the speaker is covered, it sounds weak and horrible. But if you hold it right, the speaker is open to the air, and it sounds good.
Depending on how you held it, your fingers or palm could either a) cover the speaker, or b) not cover the speaker.
Nobody back then made a Big Freakin' Deal out of the fact that if you held it in such a way as to cover the speaker, it sounded like drek.
Instead, they said, "Well, don't hold it that way, duh!!"
I fail to understand how people don't see that the iPhone4 antenna issue, which revolves around a well-known characteristic of antennas, is any different.
The antenna issue was real, but so was the "speaker issue". As a kid, it was obvious to me how to avoid it.
How did people get so much stupider in 40 years?
Constantly repeating the number of apps that are "tablet optimized" is an attempt to make it sound like apps that are not "tablet optimized" won't work and thus the Xoom only has a few apps that work on it. This is the definition of FUD because it's a completely false attempt to steer people away from Android with propaganda.
Tablets, including the precious iPad, ARE little more than big phones. Why do you think so many non-computer making phone manufacturers are jumping in? Because they already manufacter most of the parts.
As I said, Android coders have already made most apps scalable to different screen sizes perfectly, because they've been dealing with different resolutions for years. Thus every single app I use on my phone looks perfect on my Xoom too. Should I believe your reviewers or my own lying eyes?
If you have any integrity at all, you'll stop posting FUD like this.
If you have any integrity at all, youll stop posting FUD like this.
Having been on the receiving end of many, many Mac Pinglist posts, with much, much relevant information, I'd think you need to apologize to SM. Just because you like your few apps on your android device does not mean they are a viable competitor to the Apple devices. There tens of thousands of iApple apps. There are a few dozens of apps for your toy. 'Nuff said!
Try listening before you open your pie hole, troll!
I think I will trust the ANDROID APP REVIEWERS who know what they are talking about, in judging usability for these apps, over a random guy who tells me that a scan doubled blocky 3x4 graphic design screen of a small phone app has somehow been stretched to fit a 16x9 screen with four times oversized pixels "looks good" and claims that is somehow the equivalent of being "Tablet optimized," when those apps were not ever designed for tablet sized or HD Rez screens. Android is NOT resolution independent and never was! Each App has to be customized internally for each device and each screen size it will be displayed on. Thats what the fragmentation problem of Android is all about. That's just BS, Echo, that your phone apps count! As I pointed out, we are NOT counting screen doubled iPhone apps among those 70,000 optimized iPad apps.
Why is it that YOUR Android reviewers, who have every reason in the world to push Android and the Xoom by claiming the same thing you are, yet they are the ones who are saying Are they being paid to promote Apple iPads? these negatives? Why are they saying things that you claim are FUD? The answer is that it isn't FUD when it's true.
If it's so true I assume that means you've tested it yourself on your Android phone and Xoom tablet, right? Since you're so sure it's true and all? Oh, that's right, you don't own either, but are perfectly willing to be spoonfed nonsense by the media just like any other lemming.
To say that each program has to be customized for each device shows your lack of knowledge of how Android programming works. Come back to me when you've written a program in your life besides "Hello World". In fact, with vector-based programming there is literally no drop in quality between a phone and tablet. And since the Xoom's aspect ratio is fairly standard, there isn't any odd stretching.
Seriously, stick to posting about Apple devices unless you're going to take the time to actually use an Android device, rather than just believing what you read. Conservatives are supposed to be better than believing media nonsense.
And Kayaker, the only troll here is SM. Have I said any bad things about the iPhone or iPad? No, because they're literally irrelevant to this discussion. SM posts troll threads attacking devices he's never used or coded for before, and I'm the troll for defending them with actual experience?
"considering I own one and havent found an app I need and cant get."
That is called "anecdotal evidence". Perhaps you should consider that others need more functionality than you do. Which of the following apps are available on Android?
The Daily
Rush Limbaugh
MLB.com At Bat 11
The Weather Channel
The Onion Tablet
USA Today
Hulu +
Tiger Woods PGA Tour '11
Pandora Radio
What productivity software is there? Any equivalent to Pages, Numbers, Keynote etc? What about something like Garage Band? How many really good games are available?
The fact is that the iPad has a phenomenal and rapidly growing software ecosystem...Android, not so much, and Android's hardware/software fragmentation issues are a problem for developers.
Some of the apps you've listed are nothing for than portals for websites. I mean, The Weather Channel? Seriously? I actually have a very nice weather widget on my home screen - something that's impossible on iOS. And yes, we've had Pandora (including a nice widget) for quite some time. The Netflix and Hulu apps are currently being developed, according to reports, but both are currently accessible using PlayOn thanks to another feature iOS doesn't support - Flash.
As for productivity, there are several apps that allow for editing documents, like DocsToGo, or you can do it directly using the Google Docs site. You can also print using PrinterShare. You'll have to forgive me if I have no use for Garageband, but I don't think I'm the target demo for that anyway.
As for games, name for me some "really good" iOS games. You also might want to take a look at the upcoming PlayStation Suite, as well as the fact that there are numerous console emulators you can get on Android - something else impossible on iOS unless you jailbreak.
If you really think the Android ecosystem isn't rapidly growing, I don't know what to say to such ignorance. Have you looked at the Android market in the last month?
"Websites" aren't optimized for either the input methods of the tablets, or the screen form factor. Apps give the best experience, and provide a way for the publisher to customize and extend their content in a way you just can't with a website. So yes, seriously. ;-)
As to the rest of it, widgets might be a nice feature. Flash is a fading technology which I can personally (anecdotally;) do without very nicely. BTW, I hear repeated stories of the mobile Flash player being lackluster...and it is an acknowledged resource hog.
"As for productivity, there are several apps that allow for editing documents, like DocsToGo, or you can do it directly using the Google Docs site."
DocsToGo sounds pretty good, but IMO it doesn't compare to full featured apps with guaranteed compatibility with the desktop equivalents. As to Google Docs, I don't know about you but I'd prefer not to trust Google (or any other third party) with sensitive personal or business information. And again, you're faced with a "web experience" not a "tablet experience".
"You can also print using PrinterShare."
PrinterShare is a more limited and less convenient alternative to AirPrint.
"Youll have to forgive me if I have no use for Garageband, but I dont think Im the target demo for that anyway."
Apparently you're not the target demographic for anything not available on Android. :-)
"As for games, name for me some really good iOS games."
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
Angry Birds Rio
Tiny Wings
Fight Night Champion by EA Sports
Hot Springs Story
Speedball 2 Evolution
NBA JAM by EA SPORTS
Pocket HalfPipe
How many of those (top rated according to toucharcade.com) titles are on Android? You'll note two EA Sports titles there, how many EA Sports games have made it to the Android store?
"You also might want to take a look at the upcoming PlayStation Suite, as well as the fact that there are numerous console emulators you can get on Android - something else impossible on iOS unless you jailbreak."
I'm glad you brought that up. Atari just released "Atari's Greatest Hits" for iOS (iPhone and iPad). To quote the review:
Early this morning Atari released perhaps the most significant single retro gaming application yet to appear in the App Store. Atari's Greatest Hits [link] is a free Universal application for the iPhone and iPad that comes bundled with their first game ever, the 1972 classic Pong. And, while the games-for-free situation ends there, the fun certainly doesn't not by a long shot.This app gives you access to a total of 100 classic Atari arcade hits - in some cases the full arcade machine versions, not a home version. You can buy all the games for a total of $15.
I'll leave you with one more paragraph from the review:
The stars of this collection are the arcade titles, certainly. And there are some amazing games in here Tempest, Major Havoc, Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, and Battlezone, among others. Many of these titles were originally vectorscope games, where the screen draws the images laser light show style, as opposed to in terms of scanlines and pixels. These games translate amazingly well to the iPhone 4's Retina display which renders them at over 300 dpi, with antialiasing to boot. But, then, the iPad's larger physical display is quite a boon for these titles, as well.I sort of wish I hadn't participated in this thread, 'cause it just cost me $15... lol
Who but CR could rate a car's overall reliability as "average" when all but a few areas are above or much above average, and those few problem areas are minor ones (such as audio system)?
Who but CR could rate a car's overall reliability as "much above average" when there are serious mechanical problem areas (such as fuel system)?
I've seen both.
They have, for example, an ephemeral ease of use category
This can be tested by numbers, time it takes to complete tasks, time it takes new users unfamiliar with the system to do things without having to be guided. Video them while they're doing it, looking for negative or positive facial expressions.
No one's lying. They're just describing a subjective experience in ways that are influenced by everything they've read about the "grip of death." Furthermore, I'd wager that your wife's retelling is also a subjective report influenced by what "everybody knows."
None of these TAs has a case on their iPhones, which eliminates the issue?
Seriously. With TWC (and Weather Bug, and some other weather apps), you can tap a button to zoom in on your current location, which is great when you're on the road. You can pinch-zoom in on the radar map to see your neighborhood, or zoom out to see a wider area and swipe to the west to see where the weather is coming from (and for how long you might expect it to continue).
There certainly are apps that are just a front end for the Web site, but you chose a poor example. TWC is, in fact, a great example of how thoroughly an app can make the same basic content more accessible and useful; when I'm sitting at my computer, if I want a quick check of the weather, I pick up my phone.
The Netflix and Hulu apps are currently being developed, according to reports, but both are currently accessible using PlayOn thanks to another feature iOS doesnt support - Flash.
PlayOn has bugger-all to do with Flash on the mobile device. And it's available for iPhone.
1. This has been going on for at least two years, so it must be a mixture of old and new iPhones. To be honest, neither of us could tell an old iPhone from a new iPhone.
2. All of the service would have been on AT&T, which is really crappy in San Antonio (which is also a hoot because they were headquartered here for many years).
3. One of her SAs from India got so mad when her iPhone cut off that she flung it hard enough against the library wall as to break it into several pieces.
4. My wife's boss has had an iPhone since the beginning and bitches about how you have to hold it, "just so" constantly. He also thought the episode in item 3 was funny, and outlined the mark on the wall with tape and put a sign underneath of it that said, "If you intend to smash your iPhone against the wall, please aim here as we don't want to have to repaint the entire library." Everyone thought it was funny but eventually the Dean of the Library said to take it down.
5. As far as the all cel phones do this argument - the answer is no they don't. I have a Mil-Spec Samsung phone on Verizon. It does not do smart things (but neither do I). I have used it in moving cars, private aircraft, elevators, metal buildings, and held it in every conceivable manner with my gorilla sized hands - and never had a call dropped.
I'd love to see how long you can watch a movie that way.
"Not even Mercedes can crack their top 10."
And they usually rate BMW highly.
My personal experience tracked CR exactly for Mercedes, with an extremely unreliable ML20.
The old iPhones don't have a "little gap on the edge of the phone" that will cause calls to drop. The antenna is inside the phone, behind the plastic back. If this has been going on for longer than two years, it is some other issue that I have never seen reported by anyone else.
2. All of the service would have been on AT&T, which is really crappy in San Antonio
My best guess is that there were a lot of dropped calls because the coverage sucked, and the mythical little gap became a folkloric explanation. Data is not the plural of anecdote.
As far as the all cel phones do this argument - the answer is no they don't.
All cell phones exhibit signal attenuation if you cover the antenna. If the phone is brick-like, you're less likely to see it because your hand simply can't get close to the antenna. On any phone, including the iPhone, the signal attenuation is only noticeable, only results in dropped calls or slow data transfers, if the signal was already marginal.
Not just CR, but almost all car reviewers purposely obscure real safety data, comparing cars to other similar cars instead of to real-life situations.
If CR seems to shill for the Japanese, it sure seems like Motor Trend shills for General Motors. CR lately seems to favor Fords! Probably it reflects the biases of individuals hired rather than editorially.
CR does indeed admit that most cars are very reliable compared to 20 years ago and notes that buyers know this too.
My wish is that Car&Driver, a mag that I trust, would include reliability info in their reviews. The vaunted BWM 7-Series, for example, is a work of art, but the few folks I know who own them are furious at the frequency and expense of unexpected problems. Prospective buyers would want to know that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


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Based on the opinions of several political pundits, it appears the Democratic presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will go to the fall convention and will be decided by party insiders called superdelegates.
This could potentially be a disaster given the differences of race and gender. There has never been a presidential race like the one we have between Obama and Clinton.
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text: Jupiter officer's attorney dismisses excessive force allegation after arrest video released Alex Sanz 6:54 PM, Oct 30, 2013 8:33 AM, Oct 31, 2013 Previous Next Dash cam video of the incident has been released WPTV A Jupiter mother is accusing Jupiter police of excessive force against her son Cody Ross Blankenship. Photo provided Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Show Caption Hide Caption Previous Next JUPITER, Fla. -- An attorney for Kevin Jacko, the Jupiter Police Department officer charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, said a videotape released by the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office showed the charge against the veteran law enforcement officer wasn't warranted. The videotape was recorded by the dashboard camera of a police cruiser and captured the arrest of Cody Blankenship, the Tequesta man who alleged Jacko had used excessive force against him. "What you see on the videotape is something that doesn't seem to chime in with what my client, Kevin Jacko, has been charged with," Darren Shull, Jacko's attorney said. "It seems to be an arrest where a suspect is trying to get away, where he is struggling with the police officers, and the officers are trying to subdue him. And, as you can see in the videotape, it takes several officers to take Mr. Blankenship in control." In September, Jacko turned himself in to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office after an investigation by the public corruption unit of the State Attorney's Office. According to the independent probe, investigators said Jacko used "deadly force" during the arrest. Jacko has pleaded not guilty to the charge. "I couldn't move because they were holding me down," Blankenship told police investigators in audio recording obtained by WPTV NewsChannel 5. "I did my best to roll my face over to the other side, the right side of my face to the ground, and I see, he's holding the baton and he grabs it by the butt of the baton and he's ramming it into my eye." Frank Kitzerow, Chief of the Jupiter Police Department, released the following statement: "This is an on-going case currently being handled through the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office and Officer Jacko is entitled to due process. As with all pending criminal cases, our agency will conduct an internal investigation at the conclusion of the criminal case and details of our investigation will be released at the appropriate time." Jacko is expected to return to court in January. A Share A A A Share Article


text:
"Bigger Than Life: Somewhere in Suburbia"
- B. Kite (via The Criterion Collection)
Essential reading:
- Bernard Eisenschitz, Nicholas Ray: An American Journey, Faber & Faber, 1993
- Geoff Andrew, The Films of Nicholas Ray: The Poet of Nightfall, British Film Institute, 2008
Top Tier, 1956
Nicholas Ray's miracle drug horror film, one of the noteworthy uses of CinemaScope framing in 1950s movies. Ray populates the frame with an overwhelming array of architectural horizontals and verticals, and fills the spaces in with fantastic colors that blur the line between Madison Avenue and a waking nightmare. And then there are the shadows, which are as varied and meticulously placed as the props and the decor. (It's hard to imagine another film in which the simple 'Scope rectangle is as thoroughly complicated - even compromised - as it is here.)
Geoff Andrew points out that James Mason's big speech to the PTA is thought of (by the speaker) as radical material, while in reality it is utterly reactionary. (Reaction shots from spectators provide subtle but pointed commentary.) In parallel, Ed's (James Mason) post-treatment transformation, from good cheer to superhuman mania, corresponds with a personal swelling, as if to fill in with his person the infinite mass of correct corners, impenetrable walls, and garish colors. Reluctant as I may be to inscribe the pull of American values into the film's spaces, there is something to be said about Ed answering the call of social expectations in such an earnest, all-consuming way that leads to near-catastrophe and a very definite upheaval of normal life. (As if it was not apparent, Barbara Rush spends the final quarter of the film in an elegant, poinsettia-colored dress, better suited to a movie premiere, to indicate that the world has gone topsy-turvy.)
James Mason's performance is among his most perfectly-keyed, and seems to use all of him (which is a lot), and extremely well. Without his skill in grounding the character, few if any of Ed's maneuvers towards deeper, more turbulent waters would be as easy to absorb. He seems to push to underplay even the reading of the Book of Abraham that leads up to the film's best-known line. His early scenes, during which the script establishes Ed as bland, boring, but nevertheless palpably uncomfortable in his own skin, are perhaps catalyzed by Mason's Englishness, but he's so at ease with being ill at ease that we never once raise a red flag.
Another film in which a middle-class ne'er-do-well, aspiring to greater things - the greatest things - endangers himself and his family by taking those same urges well past their logical ends, and in which the conflict is mirrored in, even exacerbated by, the precise, bedeviled architecture of the film's setting: Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
- Jaime N. Christley, Curator


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The scale of the project is significant by Finnish standards. PVOIOY is proposing to erect eighty 3 to 5-MW windmills at Kristiinankaupunki, with a potential installed capacity of between 240 to 400-MW.
"The planning process is advanced, and the environment impact studies are being considered. We do not have a clear idea of how long the process will last, but an investment decision will not be taken until the process concludes," said company spokeswoman Hannele Kukka.
The Finnish government's wind-power development strategy aims to add an average of 200-MW of capacity a year to achieve its target for 2,000-MW of wind-capacity by 2020. Its success is dependent on mega-projects such as Kristiinankaupunki proceeding to their start-up stage.
The Kristiinankaupunki project, if realised in the expected timeframe of 2010/2011, would similarly help the government reach its target to have upto 500 MW of windpower capacity in place by 2012.
However, PVO-Innopower envisages that the project will be realised over a period of two to three years, rather than a complete roll-out in the same year.
Kristiinankaupunki is 10km from the south west mainland town of Närpiö. Under the planning proposal, the windmills would be built in waters up to 10 metres deep. The distance between individual plants is estimated at between 500 to 600 metres.
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text: The Aviator's DesktopAdam Dachis8/12/11 6:00pmFiled to: Featured DesktopDesktopsCustomizationWallpaperSkinsThemesSystem MonitoringDockIcons12EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalinkToday's featured desktop has a thing or two for airplanes. It features a P51 B Mustang image and diagram with integrated widgets to make it feel a bit more like the cockpit of aircraft. AdvertisementKen Crooks, the creator of this desktop, made most of the modifications himself so they're not publicly available. You can, however, grab the wallpaper and icons he used.Do you have a great beautifully productive desktop of your own that you'd like to share? Go ahead and post it to the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr Group with a description of how you made it and it may be the next featured desktop.AdvertisementP51 B Mustang | Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr Group You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook. Twitter's the best way to contact him, too. Reply12 repliesLeave a reply


text:
Frustrated by a slow computer? Try cleaning up your hard drive and running a defragmentation utility to speed things up.
People. Social. Mobile. Tech. Humor.
Content on SocMedSean.com by Sean R. Nicholson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. If you have questions about licensing material from SocMedSean.com, please feel free to contact me. |
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text:
Definition of doges
plural of doge 1
The word "doges" uses 5 letters: D E G O S.
No direct anagrams for doges found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after doges (in bold), or to degos in any order:
a - dagoes dosage seadog d - dodges e - geodes f - defogs g - sogged i - dogies geoids l - lodges o - goosed t - godets stodge w - wodges y - dogeys
Shorter words found within doges:
de do doe does dog doge dogs dos dose ed eds ego egos es ged geds go god gods goes gos od ode odes ods oe oes os ose seg sego so sod
List shorter words within doges, sorted by length
Words formed from any letters in doges, plus an optional blank or existing letter
List all words starting with doges, words containing doges or words ending with doges
All words formed from doges by changing one letter
Other words with the same letter pairs: do og ge es
Browse words starting with doges by next letter
Previous word in list: dogedoms
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text: I had a scare this morning. It appeared my TT Pro Control G3 transmitter wasn't working. Turned out a new 9 v battery solved the issue. But it got me to wondering if TT/Garmin was going to continue making these or come out with new ones. Anyone have any info on this.


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Browse by top tags:
helmet at Scott stand at ISPO Munich 2013 Copyright: Juliane Matthey
helmet and goggles at Scott stand at ISPO Munich 2013 Copyright: Juliane Matthey
Matching helmets and goggles were a trend at the ISPO 2013 Copyright: Skiinfo
Alpina Cheops will come in a set with goggles and a protector in 2013/2014 Copyright: Skiinfo
Scott helmet with MIPS technology Copyright: Skiinfo
The Salomon X-Tend goggle is the best goggle on the market in terms of field of vision. It has a custom frame suspension system for better fit and venting. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
HEAD's Runtastic helmet uses a well-known smartphone app technology Copyright: Skiinfo
New Alpina helmets Copyright: Skiinfo
A complete K2 women's gear set: skis, boots, helmet and goggles Copyright: Skiinfo
The Vantage Helmet from Smith Optics. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
The click to fit system in the Bollé Sharp Helmet ensures a perfect fit around the head. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
The Smith Vantage Helmet utilizes Aerokore technology with Koroyd for increased airflow and protection. The helmet has under the helmet goggle fitting as well as vent compatibility. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
The click to fit system on the Ozmoz Helmet/Goggle combo from Bollé ensures a perfect fit. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
The halo around the entire head ensures a perfect fit with the Smith Vantage Helmet. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
The Sharp Helmet from Bollé features adjustable venting for increased airflow and breathability as well as a click to fit system that ensures the perfect fit. The helmet is also ultra lightweight. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
The Aerokore Koroyd technology within the new Smith Vantage helmet has added protection without sacrificing venting capabilities. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
The Fornix Backcountry Helmet from POC now features MIPS technology, allowing the inner shell to move freely to cover various impact points and cut down on concussions. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
The Skull Orbic Race Helmet with VPD 2.0 from POC uses Body Armour material to keep wear and tear down on the helmet so it can last longer. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
The POC Receptor BUG Communication Helmet is now available exclusively with Beats By Dre integrated headphones. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
In addition to its Boa® 360 Fit System and Skullcandy™ ASFX Audio Compatibility, the Thompson Helmet from Anon is made of a Hybrid 50/50 Shell Construction and features Active Ventilation. Copyright: Anon
New Alpina helmet featuring a stylish visor Copyright: Skiinfo
The Bollé Osmoz goggle integrated helmet comes with the Bollé's Rocken lens system as well as an interchangeable lens. Copyright: Ashleigh Miller Photography
Slytech and Shred symbiosis: helmet substitute with goggles Copyright: Skiinfo
Uvex Freeride Helmet Collection 2013/14 Copyright: Skiinfo
Uvex p1us Pro: a lightweight All Mountain helmet Copyright: Skiinfo
Bollé displays a helmet with visor as well Copyright: Skiinfo
The Talon helmet from Anon features a Boa® 360 Fit System, Endura-Shell ABS Construction and is SkullCandy™ ASFX Audio Compatible. Copyright: Anon
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text:
Most people only see the public faces of the Tea Party Patriots: those doing television interviews, appearing on the covers of magazines, waving from the steps of private jets at political rallies, and who spend the millions of dollars in tax-free donations they have raised; but who are the 15 million "patriots" who actually attend the thousands of local tea parties across the heartland of America? Answers were sought at the TPP's American Policy Summit held during the last week of February in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Faces of Fear
Although organizers had planned for 7,000 attendees, about 2,000 showed up and several thousand more attended, virtually, via the Internet.
There weren't many body piercings or tattoos visible among the activists at the summit; no horns or forked tails were detected; nor were there very many colonial costumes or tri-cornered hats in evidence. There was, however, an abundance of serious faces and crossed arms.
There were as many women as men in attendance, but the most striking thing was the absolute absence of faces of color. None. Not a single Black, Hispanic or Asian face could be seen in the crowd. This is not to say that the "Patriots" are racist; they cheered former CEO Herman Cain, the conservative African-American Republican presidential candidate who claims that liberals are destroying the American Dream.
When Tea Party leader Mark Meckler was asked about the absence of faces of color, he said he doesn't "pay attention to color" and he doesn't know why there aren't more. He didn't answer when asked if the Tea Party intended to do anything to attract minority members.
Many women wore crosses on neck chains, but Stars of David and "peaceful coexistence" pendants were not displayed. There were numerous references by speakers to America as a Christian nation, including a prayer by Congressman David Swickart that called on all members to become "soldiers for the message." Another speaker said a "Christian Nation doesn't need health care reform," only Good Samaritans to help others. The prayer service on Sunday morning was held by Al Larson, who seeks to establish a "network of dangerous men in and through our churches who so treasure Christ as Leader in their hearts that they are willing to risk anything to follow Him."
If nothing else, the Patriots are very patriotic. Sessions were opened with the national anthem and the pledge of allegiance to the flag, and all veterans were encouraged to stand and offer a military salute.
The Patriots want a government that does nothing more than what it is authorized to do by the Constitution. The conference tote bags contained three copies of the Constitution, and the overriding theme of the Summit was a reduction of the federal government to conform to the powers set forth in Article I of the document.
Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition called upon the audience to restore the nation to the principles on which it was founded, and said, if the government fails to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, "there is a moral obligation to overthrow the government, by force if necessary." He stated America was settled with "three tools: the axe, the plow and the Bible." Then, he added a fourth - the gun.
Arizona State Senate President Russell Pearce told the crowd it was time for a "rag tag army" led by the "congregations" to step up and fight against illegal immigration and the failure of government to do its job.
More than half of the audience appeared to be of retirement age and more than a few carried oxygen bottles; however, most cheered when Yaaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute stated "social security was the most immoral scheme ever devised by politicians" because it forces the responsible to care for the irresponsible.
Howard Sprague, a retired inancial advisor who collects social security, believes it would be unfair to take social security away from those who were already receiving it, but that future generations should have a choice to opt in or out of social security and Medicare. Retiree Ralph Westburg wants to replace social security for the next generation with individual payments into private insurance company annuities; however, he also wasn't willing to give up his own social security and Medicare benefits.
The only crack in the solid wall of conservatism was exposed by the few young people who were in attendance. Unlike older participants who declined to talk about "social issues," Alexander Falkenstein and Carlos Alfaro of Students for Liberty, a libertarian youth organization, favor gay human rights and freedom of choice for women. They oppose the War on Terror and the War on Drugs. They believe in free market ideals; however, they fear the political power of big corporations. They stated the U.S. should be placing goods rather than troops in other countries.
More than anything else that can be said, the Patriots are fearful. They fear the loss of the quality of life they and their parents enjoyed following World War II; however, they also believe that the unions who led the battle for the wages and benefits they received are becoming too powerful. They fear the influx of immigrants and the loss of "American" jobs; however, they overlook that every single one of them is either an immigrant or the descendant of immigrants. They fear the loss of the moral values they were raised with; however, they are quick to deny others the choices they have had the freedom to make.
Those who join the Tea Party Patriots could be your parents, the veteran next door, the Little League coach, or the guy at the hardware store. They are hard-working, conservative, self-sufficient people who are afraid for the future of their families and their way of life. Having been empowered by the rewards of their efforts, they now feel helpless to confront the forces that threaten them. They feel compelled to do something, anything, to defend their beliefs. They are drawn to the Tea Party to meet like-minded patriotic people and to "make a difference."
The fears of the Patriots are not unreasonable. However, it is not reasonable for their leaders to encourage and to take advantage of their fears; nor is it right that the leaders sell out the membership to those who finance their efforts to influence Patriots to act against their own self interest.
The Public Faces
In addition to the prayers and patriotic programs, the American Policy Summit frequently took on the atmosphere of an ongoing infomercial as CFO Jenny Beth Martin threw tee shirts out into the crowd and CEO Mark Meckler raced up and down the aisles giving away free copies of books that were on sale in the Exhibit Hall.
Both have ties to the Republican Party, Martin as a "former paid consultant for local Republican candidates," according to USA Today, and Meckler as a "petition circulation" manager for the Lincoln Club of Orange County, a GOP lobbying group, and for other Republican candidates and causes. However, the "huckster" image of the Tea Party Patriots' summit may be due to Meckler's background as a "network marketer" for Herbalife, which has a long history for making false claims about its products and for running a pyramid-style marketing scheme.
According to Mother Jones, Meckler was a top 1% distributor, a member of the "president's team," each of whom have to book more than $200,000 a month. In 1999, Meckler and his wife wrote that multilevel marketing can provide a "lifestyle offering total time freedom" and an opportunity to build an "unlimited residual income stream." In 2002, the couple claimed a monthly income of $20,000.
In 2004, Herbalife settled a class-action lawsuit in which 8,700 low-level distributors claimed that the company was in fact a pyramid scheme in which the only winners were those at the top and the losers were the 90% at the bottom.
Meckler ceased being a Herbalife distributor in 2004; however since at least 2007 he has worked for Shai Pritz, a fellow member of Herbalife's president's team, as general counsel and chief operating officer of UniqueLeads. The company provides marketing services to companies, such as Herbalife, who are a part of the "affiliate marketing" industry, which has been investigated and charged with credit card fraud, among other illegal practices.
Meckler's job at UniqueLeads is to help affiliate marketers avoid such criminal charges, and it appears he had to rescue his license to practice law in 2006 in order to do so. At that time, his license had been suspended by the California State Bar for more than five years for failure to pay his bar dues and for noncompliance with continuing legal education requirements.
In a comprehensive three-part series of articles published just prior to the Phoenix summit conference, Mother Jones extended the parallels between TPP and multilevel marketing companies it had established in its earlier article. In both organizations, members are recruited through the use of fear tactics into an elite and "enlightened" group, which ultimately fails to actually accomplish anything except to maintain its own organization and to reward the organizers.
Although TPP received an anonymous donation of $1 million last year and books a steady stream of online contributions from its claimed 15 million supporters, it has never accounted for the money it has received - neither to the government, nor to its members.
In addition, it has signed agreements with at least three fund-raising companies to make use of its membership lists to raise even more money. These companies keep as much as 75% of the funds they raise for their operating expenses, especially for the salaries of their officers, and they are closely affiliated with the Republican Party and ultra-conservative evangelical organizations.
According to TPP's website privacy policy it has the right to use submitted information for "TPP'S internal marketing and solicitation purposes . . . We never share the personal information that you supply to TPP, other than to allow Third Party service providers such as TPP's contracted merchandise vendors, donation management vendors, email vendors, etc. to provide contracted services on behalf of TPP . . . By agreeing to these terms, you hereby consent to disclosure of any record or communication to any Third Party when TPP, in its sole discretion, determines the disclosure to be appropriate in accordance with this provision."
Laura Boatright, a former TPP regional coordinator in Southern California says, "Tea Party Patriots? I can't attribute one victory to them at all. Where's the success with what they've done with all this money? My view is that it's just a career plan" for its officers.
The year before her incorporation of Tea Party Patriots in Georgia in 2009, Jenny Beth Martin and her husband, Lee, declared bankruptcy. They claimed debts of more than $1.4 million resulting from a failed "temp" agency that supplied thousands of Spanish-speaking immigrant workers to local food production businesses, including Coca-Cola.
Lee was not allowed to discharge the payroll taxes he had withheld from his employees and diverted from the taxing authorities, and the Martins continued to owe $510,000 to the federal government and $172,000 to the state of Georgia. They lost their five-bedroom home in Woodstock, matching Lincoln Navigators, and club membership, and Jenny Beth had to go to work as a house cleaner.
According to its website, "Tea Party Patriots, Inc. operates as a social welfare organization organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to the corporation are not deductible as charitable contributions for income tax purposes." As such, it is not required to pay taxes on its income although it is required to file tax returns; however, even though its bylaws were ratified in February 2009 and it should have filed a return in April 2010, it has failed to do so. By later declaring that its fiscal year ends on May 31st, TPP has delayed its first filing until April 2011, more than two years after its incorporation.
Although Jenny Beth Martin is listed as the Chief Financial Officer of TPP, its day-to-day finances are overseen by Lee Martin, who serves as the financial gatekeeper and de facto human resources manager. He is assisted by Jenny Beth's cousin, who formerly worked as Lee's operations coordinator at the failed temp agency and is now Jenny's "right-hand man." Lee says, "if people want to get paid, the bill goes through me for administrative purposes."
Lee was personally involved in offering a $20,000 payoff to TPP's former technology manager, Rob Gaudet, if he would sign a nondisclosure agreement about the conditions of his employment severance. Gaudet refused to agree that he left on good terms or that he would refrain from making negative comments about TPP.
In addition to the IRS, local tea party groups have also been kept in the dark, and some are growing increasingly concerned about the financial operations of the TPP. Laura Boatright says, "You'd think they'd lead by example, you'd think they'd open their books and not hide behind their tax status." Cindy Chafian, another coordinator from Southern California complains that the national organization does not share resources: "They make it seem like they help local groups, [but] none of that money ever goes back to local groups." Former Georgia state coordinator, Joy McGraw complains that, "There are a lot of other people in the country who've done events and have gotten screwed over. We are all volunteers. We do not get paid like [Martin] does. They don't say, 'Thank you.' They use and abuse you." Former New Mexico state coordinator, Jeanie Backus Coates warned other activists that TPP was using telemarketers to raise money from them. She was upset that the national organization was pressuring local groups to turn over their membership contact lists.
There does not appear to be any true commonality of interests between the leadership of the TPP and the rank and file members recruited and used by the leaders for their own selfish purposes.
Behind the Masks
It is almost impossible to obtain information beyond the public faces of TPP. Its website does not list any officers or directors on the site's About Us Page, but it does have a prominent "Donate to Tea Party Patriots" link that takes you to a PayPal connection. The address listed by the Georgia Secretary of State is Suite 620-322 at 1025 Rose Creek Drive, Woodstock, Georgia 30189, which is a UPS Store in a strip mall.
Although TPP was allegedly incorporated by Jenny Beth Martin in 2009, its antecedents are closely associated with FreedomWorks, which was already heavily engaged in the organization of anti-government protests when TPP was formed.
FreedomWorks was created in 2004 by Dick Armey, C. Boyden Gray, Jack Kemp and Bill Bennett, all of whom had served in powerful Republican political positions. They are leaders of the conservative, free-market movement that supports the privatization of social security and opposes regulation of tobacco, climate and asbestos legislation and health care reform. At least, initially in 2009, TPP's activities were directly orchestrated by FreedomWorks.
As Martin and Meckler were flying around the country aboard "Patriot One" attending Tea Party Patriot rallies during the last weeks of the 2010 campaign, Meckler complained that the rival Tea Party Express (which is funded by a GOP consulting firm) was a fake, they're not from the grass roots. These are longtime Republican political activists with their own agenda. However, the luxury executive jet enjoyed by Martin and Meckler was made available by Ray Thompson, the founder and former CEO of Semitool, who has been a major donor to the Republican Party for 15 years.
Pastor William Temple, who regularly attends tea party events in Georgia, compared "the jet-set Tea Party Patriots leadership to Nancy Pelosi and her alleged misuse of US Air Force resources."
Oil companies continue to make exorbitant profits by cutting corners on safety, both for their workers and the environment, and by raising the price of gasoline to record levels; however, how many patriots are aware that their movement is being secretly subsidized by the Koch brothers?
Koch Industries is the second-largest private company in America with annual revenues exceeding a hundred billion dollars. Koch was originally founded to construct oil refineries for Stalin's communist government and today specializes in manipulating the free market and obtaining special treatment from the government.
At the Policy Summit, the TPP prominently displayed its association with the Health Care Compact Alliance, which seeks to conduct an end run around the health care reform act. The alliance is headed by Eric O'Keefe, who with his wife Leslie Graves is connected to David Koch through the Citizens in Charge Foundation and Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
The source and amounts of funding for the Alliance remain secret as the organization "respects the wishes of its donors to keep their identities confidential"; however, it started with abundant financial resources required to place teams in 37 states to secure local legislative approval of the Compact.
The Compact would shift the problems of health care affordability and coverage to the states resulting in a race to the bottom in the quality of care; by allowing states to establish their own regulations and by allowing insurance companies to operate across state lines, it will likely be impossible to create community-rated risk pools and to obtain effective negotiating power with drug companies and medical suppliers.
Corporate moguls, such as the Koch brothers and health care industry executives, only have one vote each, but by spreading a little chump change of the billions they take in each year, to educate, fund and organize the TPP and other "grassroots" organizations, they have been able to convert their private agendas into a mass movement against the interests of its own members - those who will ultimately pay the tab.


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Belcando Junior Maxi contains optimum quantities of protein fat and calcium to meet the nutritional needs of large-breed dogs from 4 months. Large dogs have different requirements to small-breed dogs and can benefit from specialist nutrition. The size and shape of this kibble is also ideal for young large-breed dogs and is designed to encourage intensive chewing. This dry food is made with premium-quality low-ash poultry meat suitable for human consumption. Poultry is a delicious easy-to-digest source of nutritious proteins. Belcando Junior Maxi also includes herring which is freshly prepared just after it has been caught and contains important amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids. Processed carbohydrates are gluten-free and easy to digest. Unlike wheat they are also well-accepted by sensitive dogs. Dried carob bean provides your dog with important prebiotics which can support healthy bacteria and help to prevent the spread of pathological bacteria in the intestines promoting a balanced gut flora. Brewers yeast is not only an excellent source of immunobiologicals and vital nutrients such as B vitamins amino acids trace elements and minerals but also gives the food a great taste. Other function ingredients such as chia seeds and linseed are especially rich in valuable fatty acids which can promote a healthy coat and skin. Belcandos ProVital concept helps to strengthen your dogs natural defences. In the wild dogs are exposed to a wide variety of fungi that stimulate and boost the immune system. Natural yeast components stimulate the immune defences in a similar way resulting in increased metabolic activity and stronger natural defences. The second vital component of Belcando Junior Maxi is ProAgil which supports the healthy development of bones and joints while also helping to prevent the onset of degenerative joint diseases. Bioactive collagen peptides from gelatine have been proven to supply important amino acids. A special process breaks down this gelatine protein to prevent it from triggering an allergic reaction. Belcando Junior Maxi at a glance For growing large-breed dogs from 4 months. Made in Germany. Nutritional values and kibble size meet the needs of large dogs. Also suitable for sensitive dogs. No wheat gluten milk products soya or artificial additives. Proteins 75% animal protein (60% poultry 10% fish and 5% gelatine) 25% vegetable protein extracts. High-quality poultry meat Easy to digest well-accepted and extra tasty. Suitable for human consumption and low in ash. Processed carbohydrates Easy for dogs to digest. Wholesome rice and corn have a very low allergenic potential. Carob Contains natural tannin to support digestion. Source of valuable prebiotics which can support healthy bacteria and help to prevent the spread of pathological ba
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Configuring Sudo
From FedoraProject
Fedora users should use a regular user account for regular day to day activities and a root account only for system administration. Use the personal account you created during installation (at First Boot) for daily use and root only for administration of your system. To run as 'root' use su or sudo commands. It is highly recommended that you do not use root for non-administration usage. For a single user desktop, configuring sudo so that you can use the same password for both root and your regular account is very convenient. This guide will help you configure sudo to do that:
As root user, do
# echo 'sampleusername ALL=(ALL) ALL' >> /etc/sudoers
Where 'sampleusername' is your user account. For example, if your user account is "foobar", you can run
# echo foobar ALL=(ALL) ALL' >> /etc/sudoers
Note that if you are prompted for a password with 'sudo' it is the user password, not root.
If you don't want to be prompted a password, use
# echo sampleusername ALL=(ALL) ALL NOPASSWD:ALL' >> /etc/sudoers
Note that above setting would allow anyone with access to your account to simply run any command including those requiring root access without any password and represents a substantial security risk.


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Holy, er… Moley
By VA Blogger
No, those weren't my exact words when I saw this:
Survey USA, conducted 10/30-11/2, MoE=4%
Virgil Goode (R-inc.): 50%
Tom Perriello (D): 47%
Goode is at 50%, so chances are he'll win tomorrow. But egads, man! Note to Virginia Republicans: this is a prime primary opportunity in 2010.
Any possible candidates in mind?
Virgil Goode will never exhibit loyalty to the Republican party. He never submitted himself to Democratic party discipline, either. For better or worse, Virgil Goode does what's best for the political fortunes of Virgil Goode.
If he should manage to squeak by this time, sure, he'd deserve to be challenged in a primary. That said, if he gets knocked out in a primary, he'll run as an independent. You can count on that.


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The discussions at the New Yorker Festival have become kind of legendary with events often selling out just minutes after they go on sale.
Read Whole Story
It's time for another installment of Reading In Public! When someone takes a book into a public place, it's a big commitment. We have lots of things ...
Born in Canada, raised in the South, and now living in the writer's paradise of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Wells Tower offers a fresh ear for dialogue and well-researched characters drawn from seemingly anywhere and any time.
As part of a project to raise money for chess schools and clubs, independent publisher Mongoose has just released an anthology of chess fiction entitled Masters of Technique.
Travel writing is mostly bad. It's partly the fault of the form. Sometimes, quality sneaks in. And every so often the glossies still let Paul Theroux into the works so as to keep their bonafides burnished.
Get top stories and blog posts emailed to me each day. Newsletters may offer personalized content or advertisements. Learn more.


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Home page » Technology » Glossary
- D1 — 720x576 (PAL-based), 704x480 (NTSC-based)TV video resolution). Subsets of D1 are CIF (352x240 and 352x288 respecrively) and QCIF (176x120 and 176x144 respectively).
- Deinterlace — The process of converting a progressive video stream out of an interlaced one is called deinterlacing.
- Demultiplexing — The opposite of multiplexing. In this process a combined audio/video stream will be separated into the number of streams it consists of.
- DirectShow® — Microsoft® DirectShow® is an architecture for streaming media on the Microsoft Windows® platform.
- DirectX — Microsoft® DirectX® is a set of low-level application programming interfaces (APIs) for creating games and other high-performance multimedia applications. It includes support for two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) graphics, sound effects and music, input devices, and networked applications such as multiplayer games.
- DSP — Digital Signal Processor.
- DTV — Digital Television. DTV can be used to carry more channels in the same bandwidth than analog TV (6 MHz or 7 MHz in Europe) and to receive high-definition TV program.
- DVR — Digital Video Recorder.
- DXVA — Microsoft DirectX Video Acceleration. DXVA is a specification for hardware acceleration of digital video decoding processing.


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Carotid wall motion analysis based on B-Mode Ultrasound images
Hopkins, Warren and Gao, Hao and Das, Saroj and Long, Quan (2010) Carotid wall motion analysis based on B-Mode Ultrasound images. In: IFMBE Proceedings. Springer, pp. 871-874.
Full text not available in this repository. (Request a copy from the Strathclyde author)Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the arterial wall dynamics in an attempt to demonstrate premature atherosclerosis and arterial stiffening. Methods: A dedicated motion capture (MOCAP) framework was developed based on Matlab® using a cross correlation algorithm for block matching. Results: This study demonstrated that longitudinal and radial movements decreased according to age. 60 healthy carotids were assessed using our motion tracking algorithm. The subjects were divided into three age groups; group 1: subjects younger than 35, group 2: 35 to 50, group 3: subjects over 50. A unilateral t-test was employed to assess the relationship between groups. The hypothesis test showed that wall motion in group 1 was significantly different from group 2 and group 3 (p<0.05). It was also evident that the intima-media complex demonstrated a larger longitudinal displacement than the adventitial layer. Therefore there is shear strain within the vessel wall. Conclusion: With the development of MOCAP using Matlab®, we were able to quantify and reproduce arterial wall dynamics. We aim to implement MOCAP into the routine ultrasound examination, providing a new diagnostic parameter to improve patient management. (Courtesy of SpringerLink)
Item type: | Book Section |
ID code: | 29430 |
Keywords: | Bioengineering |
Subjects: | Technology > Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) > Bioengineering |
Department: | Faculty of Engineering > Electronic and Electrical Engineering |
Depositing user: | Pure Administrator |
Date Deposited: | 08 Mar 2011 00:08 |
Last modified: | 22 Mar 2017 15:36 |
URI: | http://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/29430 |
Export data: |


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Bought these bowls for my new puppy as I'm always bringing him with me to different places. They make it much easier to pour some water or dry food when on the go instead of bringing his plastic bowl from home or trying to find something for him to drink from. They definitely fit in my pockets too and my puppy gets excited when he sees me holding them and pop them open. Great price, durable, lightweight, perfect size for my small dog, and I'd definitely recommend. I show them to all my friends with dogs!
These are excellent to use when one is planning to travel. Perfect size for my cat. Little space needed for these items Must have!
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Tropical Fish Keeping - Aquarium fish care and resources
- Beginner Saltwater Aquariums
- - Beginning 29 gallon saltwater
Beginning 29 gallon saltwater We are just beginning our 29 gallon saltwater aquarium. We have 40# live Fiji Sand and about 2 pounds of live rock. We set this up in August and lost 3 clown fish (They didn't even move or eat as soon as we put them in the tank). We let the filters continue to run on an empty tank. We added 2 small yellowtail blue damsels on Saturday (Selected because they were cheap and we didn't want to kill another pricier fish). They are still living today.:-D We are slowly regaining our confidence at trying this. My question is do we need to canister filter that we currently have running? Upon reading another thread, we unplugged the biowheel filter. I am starting to think we need a protein skimmer. So here are my questions more succintly:
definately more live rock, I would say at least 30 lbs total would be sufficient, and definately get a protein skimmer there are a few (not too pricey) that would do the job on this size tank, there are a whole bunch of explanations on why a protein skimmer and benefits from them on this forum, you can also find alot of info on the net. as for adding a clownfish, I don't see a problem, BUT since damsels are aggresive, I would definately get a clown that is bigger in size than the damsels, I have read however the yellow tails are not as aggresive as some damsels. as for the test kit, I use API, you should be checking for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, calcium and alkalinity. I am also sure others with much more experiece than me will be happy to offer alot more info. good luck!! |
You definitely need to increase the amount of rock. I would suggest 5 pounds of live rock and 25 pounds of dry rock. Check out Marco Rocks The finest aquarium rock available, base rock, live rock, reef rock, marco rock, reef tank saltwater fish, live corals, Marco rocks, Fiji live rock, Tonga Live rock for your dry rock. A 25 pound order of Key Largo Rock would be perfect. In a marine setup, live rock will serve to process organic waste naturally. Live rock will serve as a natural biofilter, breaking down ammonia and nitrite, and even reducing Nitrate levels, with an end result of nitrogen gas. This is by far the most efficient method of filtration, and works very well on home aquariums when a protein skimmer is used. The protein skimmer removes organic acids directly from the water, before they have an opportunity to break down. This helps to reduce the depletion of carbonates, stabilizing alkalinity and pH. The direct removal of organics (waste) also dramatically reduces (nearly eliminating) the break down of organics, resulting in very little nitrate buildup. This allows for the live rock and sand to process reduce nitrates into nitrogen gas. A quick explanation. If you use an artificial biofilter, such as a biowheel, then the constant break down of organic waste into nitrate is overwhelming for the system. The live rock and sand simply can not process this amount of nitrate. The skimmer removes these organics, resulting in less nitrate, which can be processed by the rock and sand. This is referred to as denitrification. I am glad you bought Yellow Tail Damsels. They are very sturdy fish and much less aggressive than other Damselfish. However, they are still a rather territorial fish, and your other fish additions will need to be on the aggressive side. At this point, I think adding a couple of Clownfish, and perhaps a Basslet, Flame Angel, Cherub Angel, or any Pseudochromis would be the ideal stocking list. If you are doing a fish only tank, with no inverts or corals, then you could also consider a Hawkfish or a Canthigastar genus of Pufferfish. This web site might help you discuss possible fish selections: Fish Index |
Thank you! Thank you so much for your answers! We have sought help at National Chain stores and local pet stores. None of which were nearly as helpful as you.:thankyou: |
They are in it for the money. No one on a forum really has anything to gain from helping you so generally the info is a little better than a store which can 'innocently' forget to give info. I often when at a new store or with a new employee ask questions on things I know are iffy and I already know the answer to just to see if a: they know what they are doing and b: if they have any integrity. Nothing I can really add that Pasfur hasnt covered besides dont use strips. I find the strips are ok for generalized testing, but to get a good accurate reading the liquid ones are better. With a new tank its important to test this stuff, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. |
Best to add your live rock and skimmer first then monitor amonia and nitrite levels first when these are zero then start adding fish and don't put aggressive fish like damsels in first if you intend adding clowns or they will be killed by the terretorial damsels. |
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TNL Presents...Feed Your Friends! (Make Your Own Birdfeeders)
Start Date: April 18, 2013
End Date: April 18, 2013
Time: 8:00 pm
TNL Presents…Feed Your Friends! (Make Your Own Birdfeeders)
Thursday, April 18, 2013
8:00 p.m.
Boutin Dining Hall (Fuller Campus Center), Leicester Campus
Just in time for Earth Day! Join your Cabbies for some fun, earth-friendly/biodegradable, make-your-own bird feeders!
Refreshments will be available.
Sponsored by your Campus Activities Board (CAB)
Organized by
Event Categories: All and Campus Activities.
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The European Patent Office will grant patent rights over the use of CRISPR in all cell types to a University of California team, contrasting with a recent decision in the U.S.
A round-up of recent discoveries in behavior research
A rare bleeding disorder leads scientists to uncover an unusual blood component that might be common to us all.
Tracks and Shadows, The Gap, The Cure in the Code, and An Appetite for Wonder
Theoretical anthropogeny seeks to understand how Homo sapiens rose to a position of global dominance.
Innovations in imaging techniques and genetic sequencing take neuroscience to a new level.
Biologists have struggled for centuries to properly define what constitutes a "species." They may have been asking the wrong question—many smaller organisms might not form species at all.
Neurosurgeon Andres Lozano discusses deep-brain stimulation in this TEDx talk.
Differential gene expression between dominant and subordinate male turkeys could help evolutionary biologists deconstruct the roots of sexual dimorphism.
Researchers are piecing together the devilishly complex sets of genetic alterations underlying schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
By audaciously pursuing an abandoned area of research, Ana María Cuervo discovered how cells selectively break down their waste, and revealed the health consequences when that process malfunctions.


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Eleanor (S1) failed her MOT due to a duff ball joint. Replacement is on its way from Elise parts. Approximately how long does it take to fit please so I can ensure I dont get ripped off for labour at my local garage. Thanks
Edited by Mutley00, 24 July 2014 - 9:07 AM.