text:
Samsung Samsung Galaxy S5 Smartphone Tech Reviews Technology
Samsung Galaxy S5 review: Samsung goes for evolution over revolution...again.
Techno Idea's verdict
"Powerful, competent and with a whole new UI, it's a shame that Samsung hasn't progressed further with the look of its new challenger."
Amazing screen
Great battery life
Hugely powerful
Creaky design
Unnecessary heart rate monitor
Slow background de-focus
The Samsung Galaxy S5 can be defined by one word: evolution.
The camera has evolved to give clearer, faster snaps. The fitness-tracking abilities of the S5 are enhanced over the Galaxy S4 by packing in a more powerful S Health app and a dedicated heart rate monitor on the rear. A fingerprint scanner adds to the most secure Galaxy phone ever made.
The battery is larger, the screen bigger and brighter, the processor quicker and the design altered.
The spec sheet certainly doesn't let it down: a 2.5GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 2800mAh (removable) battery, 16 / 32GB of memory (with up to 128GB extra through microSD), one of the world's most vibrant screens that's been extended to 5.1-inches and added biometrics.
|Mud still penetrated the casing
However, it's hard to point to one stand out feature that will grab the prospective user when they handle the Galaxy S5 for the first time.
To many, that won't matter, as Samsung's built a fan-base that only Apple can rival, and a number will be picking up the new Galaxy without a second thought over whether it competes adequately with its rivals.
Price-wise, if you're shocked by the cost of the Samsung Galaxy S5 then you've not really been paying attention to the previous flagship models. It's actually a little cheaper than previous years in some territories, coming in at around £550-£600 SIM free in the UK, $650+ in the US and AU$900.
As you can imagine contract offers are flying all over the place at the moment, but the Galaxy S5 is being offered for a near identical price to the HTC One M8 and the iPhone 5S give or take a few dollarpounds.
The messaging around the launch of the Galaxy S5 was that Samsung had listened to the consumers and dialled down the gimmicks, focusing instead on what makes a phone special to the consumer.
It promised a 'fashionable' and 'glam' design, a camera that works in the way you'd want it to and strength through being water resistant.
So let's look at one of the key questions that Samsung needed to answer with the Galaxy S5: is it good enough in market that's becoming saturated with decent high-end handsets?
The simple answer, from the second you hold it in the hand, is no – because the design simply isn't up to the same level as the likes of Apple and HTC. That's only a small part of the story though, and underneath the hood Samsung has continued its play of stuffing all the latest specs in and optimising them in a way that doesn't suck down oodles of battery.
Is this phone good enough to keep Samsung fighting with Apple at the top of the sales charts? Yes, but that's mostly through the impressive marketing machine that rolls out in every territory. Samsung needs this to be the last phone that rolls with such design language - the Galaxy S6 needs to be the dawn of a new age for the South Korean company, something to give consumers real lust for the way it looks.
Critically, it feels like there's very little to shout about with the Galaxy S5 – but perhaps that's no bad thing for a brand that was accused of bringing pointless innovation with last year's model.
I've always played it safe when talking about the design of a Samsung phone. The Galaxy S2, the brand's first big hitter, was made mostly of plastic and still was one of our very few five star phones, after all.
That said, year after year, Samsung has failed to bring out something that wows where the rest of the competition has seen this as a key battleground.
HTC is the frontrunner here with the metal unibody design of the One M8, and Apple has maintained its position at the sharp end of design ever since the launch of the iPhone 4.
Sony's efforts with its Z range have culminated in the industrially designed Xperia Z2, and even Nokia has been toying with aluminium to make things feel a little more premium. All of this makes me curious: why is Samsung refusing to give the consumers what they want… namely, a metal chassis?
There are a few possible reasons: cost of manufacture could be too high, especially at the volume Samsung spits them out at, Samsung likes to keep things lighter, waterproofing with a metal shell could have been trickier.
However, none of these arguments really holds water, given Apple does the same with a metallic phone, balanced handsets are better than lighter ones and Sony's Xperia Z range has combined metal and water without a problem.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is a more solid phone than the Galaxy S4, that's for sure, and looks more well-packaged thanks to the wider back and the grippier, pock-marked battery cover.
However, it doesn't look like a cutting edge smartphone. It seems more akin to the product of a Galaxy Note 3 and the S4, with the metal-effect band around the outside subconsciously making me search for an S Pen.
The rear of the phone isn't something that wows either. While I think the comparisons to a sticking plaster are a little cruel, it does share a more 'medical' feel, especially in the white colour.
The blue and copper options are more attractive, but still don't have anywhere near the appeal of the likes of the HTC One M8.
With the larger screen on board, Samsung's still managed to keep things well in proportion. Although the chassis is larger, it's not unmanageably so, although if you're coming from an iPhone, you might find it a little tricky to move up.
Those that have previously been fans of the Samsung Galaxy range before will find a lot to like here though. The home button – which now houses the fingerprint scanner, remember – is solid and easy to press, and the power key remains on the right-hand side of the phone, raised slightly and very easy to hit.
The same can be said of the volume key on the right, although as the handset has increased in height I found it a little harder to get to this area when I wanted to change the level on music when walking along.
One of the key changes to the Galaxy S5 is the fact that it's now water-resistant, with IP67 rating meaning you can dunk it water for a short while, although going swimming with it isn't advised.
It's also dust resistant too, which makes the uncovered headphone port all the more impressive as it makes the S5 much easier to use without having to pull open a flap to listen to some tunes.
The USB 3.0 connection – which will look odd to some, but is the same used in the Galaxy Note 3 to give more power quickly while still allowing standard microUSB cables to be used – is covered to facilitate this IP rating, and it's a little stiff to get off.
The groove to get your nail in to open it is quite small, and might be the only thing that irks those looking to get their hands on the best Galaxy phone and don't care much about it being waterproof.
The capacitive buttons still flank the home key as before, but are slightly different now. Gone is the menu key, replaced by the multi-tasking button that seems to be Google's new favourite in Android 4.4.
You can still use this as the menu key with a long press, but it doesn't work intuitively and the distance from the right-hand side, where the right-handed will predominantly have their digits, is a little too far.
It's not a bad system though, and the presence of a physical home button, while less necessary than before, still provides welcome tactility.
The other big design win Samsung still maintains with the Galaxy S5 is a removable battery. This is mostly for peace of mind nowadays, given that the battery life is so good on the S5, but if you're worried about failure then this is a good option.
It also means the ugly FCC regulation stamp can be hidden from view, and you won't need a SIM tool to get your card out – plus it's easier to pop in a microSD card too.
The cover does give me slight cause for concern when you consider it from a water-resistant point of view, as it can be hard to make sure all the clips are securely fastened when snapping it back on.
A warning message does come up on the screen to remind you of this, but it can take a couple of passes to make sure it's completely fixed on.
If you look under the battery cover, you'll see that the battery is protected by a tight ring of rubber - if you've just dunked it in water, it's a little disconcerting to see how much fluid is in the phone already... but this seems to be fine.
I did worryingly notice some grit got into the home key, but after an hour or two it seemed to dislodge itself, although it doesn't make me think this phone is really that dustproof.
Overall, the design of the Samsung Galaxy S5 is likely to be the area that receives the most criticism, and for good reason.
It doesn't command a premium feel in the hand like so many other high-end phones on the market, and while some will point to how strong and high-quality the polycarbonate used is, it still pales in comparison to the competition.
Yes, it's lighter and probably more hard-wearing (you're much less likely to need a case with the Galaxy S5, for instance) but this is the biggest pain point for Samsung and it's one that it needs to improve with the Galaxy S6
Key Feature
Last year it was quite tricky to talk about all the new elements that the Galaxy S4 offered, as most brought very little to the table other than technological gimmicks.
Things like Air Browse are still there, quietly nestled in the settings, and it's to Samsung's credit that it hasn't just removed them completely.
With the Galaxy S5 though the effort is more on making the phone more usable, more in keeping with what consumers actually need day to day – so let's see if the new features actually offer enough:
S Health
One of the most obvious things about the Samsung Galaxy S5 is the heart rate monitor stuck on the back under the camera.
It's designed to be something that allows you to get the most out of your day to day activity by moving forward into the 'quantified self' - namely, seeing all the data on your daily activities.
S Health 3.0 is a good upgrade, and fills in a lot of the blanks that a lot of other apps miss. You can get better apps for each element that S Health offers - for instance, My Calorie Counter does a better job of managing your calorie intake - but for convenience with one central app, this is a pretty good offering.
The pedometer is, like on most phones, largely useless as it gives you an arbitrary number of steps to follow each day, which you can only hit if you're going to glue the Galaxy S5 to your thigh.
It's also not as accurate as something that's wrist or shoe based, and given Samsung has put a lot of effort into the Gear wearables, this seems to be something that's more novelty than helpful.
You can track exercise from the phone better though, which is a neat feature as it adds that data into the centralised pot. Again, there are much better apps out there for tracking your runs - Adidas MiCoach, Runkeeper or Endomondo are nice alternatives - but this is a good place to start for the novice runner, albeit without much structure on the kind of runs to aim for.
The big hitter for S Health this year on the Galaxy S5 is the new heart rate monitor on the back of the phone, just under the camera and giving you easy access to your pulse rate whenever you fancy it.
But that's the thing: why would you fancy it? It's one of those elements that seem to be there for the sake of it, like Samsung was trying to think about what it could add into the S5 mix to make it seem shiny and new.
And, to its credit, it mostly works. It's nowhere near as robust as something that's wrist or chest based (I found that it couldn't find my pulse one in every three or four tries) and there's also the issue of when you'd use it.
Ideally, you'd remember to take your pulse the second you wake up, when you're relaxed and able to easily access your resting heart rate.
And maybe at key points of exertion throughout the day would be helpful too, so you can track your increasing fitness over time, assuming you're using the app properly.
But it's really had to remember to perform this action at the right times, meaning your average can be largely skewed depending on what you're doing each day.
Someone I know is currently recovering from heart failure, so I asked her how she felt about having such a function, and for those that need to take a heart rate throughout the day, or just to check if it's gone up from exertion, it's a really handy thing to have (although this isn't exact enough for medical readings).
So S Health is a great app for those that have a medical condition and require non-exact read outs (the monitor on the Galaxy S5 isn't intended to replace proper medical equipment) but for those that don't have such a condition I can see this quickly falling into the 'show people at the pub and see who has the lowest heart rate' category.
Ultra Power Saving Mode
Samsung, like many of the other big phone manufacturers, is going hard on the notion of making it easier to get your phone battery to last when things are getting a bit critical towards the end of the day.
As you'll see in the battery section, the Galaxy S5 is an excellent choice if you want to spend some time away from the charger every so often, but this new tool allows you to feel more secure when things are getting dicey.
It works by activating when you decide to turn it on, rather than at a pre-defined level. The screen will go black and white, the power will ramp down massively and the apps you're able to use are limited to just six that you choose.
The selection isn't that wide (to ensure you don't run down the battery when you need it most) but does include the likes of Twitter and internet browser, which surprised me somewhat.
When in UPSM, the phone will keep data consumption down to only when you've got the screen fired up, which means you won't get background notifications or similar. It's also not a good idea to use the browser or any other data-hungry apps in this mode, as they seem to completely negate the point.
For instance, at 7% I activated UPSM, and it told me I had 21 hours of standby remaining. One hour later, I pulled it out my pocket to see the same readout. However, I then spent three or four minutes browsing the web and then checking a couple of things on Twitter, and it had inexplicably fallen to 2% battery life.
However, on the plus side, if you've got a full battery and want to use this as a festival phone, you're laughing as it can last days in this mode if you're efficient with use.
In reality, I'd suggest that you use this mode wisely. Don't do anything data-driven, just have it as a method of sending and receiving calls and texts when you're on a night out and need to preserve precious battery juice.
I was quick to decry this mode as relatively pointless when I first played with it in Barcelona, stating that you might as well just switch the phone off, but in reality it's a good idea and one that works better than that found on the likes of the HTC One M8, which is an almost identical system but doesn't add in that handy grayscale screen mode.
It does take nearly 15 seconds to switch from the normal mode into this hyper power saving option, which is odd and irritating – so get ready to just activate it and dump the phone in your pocket. If it was quicker, I'd probably turn it on and off when I knew I wouldn't need the phone - sadly that's not really an option.
Camera and Selective Focus
I'll dig through the camera's power in more depth later in this review, but there are some top-end features that it's worth talking about here as they're some of Samsung's big hitters.
Selective focus (or background de-focus, depending on how you want to term it) is the Big Thing for smartphones manufacturers this year, with the likes of Sony, LG and HTC all joining Samsung in making it possible to take a photo and then give it a 'pro-effect' by defocusing the background with bokeh and keeping the subject in place - something Nokia started offering back in 2013.
HTC has by far the best implementation of this, thanks to adding in dedicated sensor to give the depth information needed to properly make this trick work.
Sadly, Samsung seems to be the worst of the bunch at doing the same thing, as the method used here is excruciating at times.
Once you've fired up the camera, you then have to toggle 'Selective Focus' on the left-hand side. Then hope that the subject you want to look all nifty conforms to the S5's stringent parameters of what it can see, as too often I found a message telling me that it couldn't work out what was in the foreground.
The phone then takes a few pictures and processes them - again, not a swift task. From there it's a trip into the gallery and a tag on the icon to start processing the image, which is another few seconds. And if that all falls into place, you can choose to have the foreground or background blurred - with no option to save both styles.
Normally this would be dismissed as a gimmicky feature, and it is in some respects, but given Samsung made a big deal about it at launch and HTC has done it so well on the One M8, it seems a real shame that the South Korean brand made it feel like such an afterthought.
Thankfully, the rest of the camera is slightly better implemented, with a powerful sensor and swift autofocus the main things that will engage the user.
It seems that the brand hasn't quite worked out the kinks in its software here though, as firstly, the camera is very slow to fire up, especially from sleep mode. I also noted that while autofocus was swift, it didn't always sharpen the image enough, so Samsung's claim that this phone is great for capturing the image you want doesn't really hold water.
If you've got a bright, well-lit scene and you know what you want to capture (and therefore have the camera ready) it's a good system... but that's not what we use camera phones for most of the time.
Fingerprint Scanner
The addition of biometrics in phones is a topic that can be infuriating - namely because so many brands try to do it for the sake of it.
Apple managed to get it right first time with TouchID (slight accuracy issues at times aside) and the rest of the industry seems to have been quietly playing catch-up.
HTC's One Max had the scanner on the back of the massive phone, but it was impossible to hit. Samsung has at least placed it on the home key, which is a more intuitive place, but the accuracy isn't as high as Apple's version.
It's not bad, and it's definitely the second best on the market from Samsung, but the Galaxy S5 wants you to swipe your digit down vertically in line with the phone - not a natural gesture.
The good news is that you can swipe a thumb sideways across and still have things work, but the accuracy is lower. Only about one in seven or eight attempts would see me able to open the phone first time, and if your hand is slightly askew then you'll hit the maximum of five attempts pretty easily.
I found that it began to degrade even over only a few days, but as you can add in up to three prints, I deleted my first effort and tried using my thumb both straight down and at an angle. This seemed to satisfy the sensor a lot more, leading to a much greater accuracy when unlocking the phone.
I'd usually have deleted the last section when I found a way around the issue, but I'm going to keep an eye out for further degradation and most users wouldn't think to retry their print. As I said, by having the same thumb print in two different ways it seems to have made a world of difference to the accuracy, but that shouldn't need to be the case.
The notion of PayPal support seems to have completely missed this initial launch of the Galaxy S5. Upon entering the fingerprint settings you'll be asked to download a couple of apps (including PayPal) to get things started.
However, once you've done all that and linked your fingerprint, the app doesn't seem to want to let you use that method of verification again, nor have I found it as an option online.
This seems like a glitch in the initial retail software from Samsung and needs to be rectified ASAP, as it's meant to be one of the top features of the phone.
Download Booster
Download Booster – one of the best ways to destroy your data allowance if you leave it turned on. I'm joking, as it's not going to harm you that much unless you've got a tiny 4GB data cap.
The premise is simple and it works: you have 4G but are connected to Wi-Fi and you want to download a file from the magically cloud-based world of the internet. Instead of just using the speed of one, their powers are combined to create a super speed.
If one fails, the other will pick up the slack and keep the download rocking, which means as long as you're nabbing things over 30MB, you'll be speedier than ever.
I don't know why 30MB is the limit – given a lot of things are smaller than that but can still take a minute or two to download, it would have been brilliant to use the upgraded speed as I saw fit.
One confusion from Samsung is whether or not you can use the Download Booster when not connected to LTE / 4G. The app says only the superfast next-gen mobile speeds are allowed, but the icon at the top of the screen will still appear when 3G is on offer.
However, it doesn't fire to speed up downloads, so one has to assume this is another glitch from Samsung.
The screen on the Samsung Galaxy S5 is one of the best on the market, and easily the best feature of the phone. You can talk about the extra innovation all you like, but if a phone has a good battery, strong camera and great screen then it's on to a winner.
The thing I like is the range it offers – it's brighter than some LCD panels, looks more vivid at full power than the likes of the HTC One M8, can go darker than the rest (as Samsung acknowledges that a lot of us like reading in bed) and is still pin sharp throughout.
The Full HD Super AMOLED screen delivers 22 percent higher brightness than the Galaxy S4 without munching down any more power, according to DisplayMate. You can head over there now to see the full, detailed run down of just what makes this a brilliant screen in superb detail.
But here's the upshot: the days of the Super AMOLED screen being a colourful mess are over. Samsung has plied the Galaxy S5 with all manner of settings to let you find the exact balance you want, and features like Adapt Display are excellent at making sure that even in bright light, the screen is clear.
Annoyingly this latter mode can't be used with all apps, but it still makes the main ones, like internet browser and gallery, look a lot better even outside.
The high brightness, exquisite sharpness and better colour reproduction (catering to most tastes) will impress all but the most exacting of standards, and if you're someone who will spend a high chunk of time looking at your phone screen for movies, internet browsing or just flicking through photos, this 5.1-inch 1920x1080 option is the best out there right now.
Interface an Performance
The interface on the Samsung Galaxy S5 is improved quite a lot over the S4 and previous iterations of the Galaxy family.
This is mostly do with the new circular icons and geometric layout allowing everything to look a bit more premium and fluid - you could argue that it's relying a little less on skeumorphism, but then that would insinuate that it's trying to look like Apple again, which I don't think Samsung is trying to do here.
At least, I hope not. I don't want to write about any more court cases.
The lock screen is the first place to get an overhaul, with the weather and pedometer steps now part of the furniture. There's a camera swiper in the corner as well, allowing easy access to snapping without having to open the phone (although it's very hard to work out if this has been hit correctly or not). When it works, this is particularly helpful when you've got the fingerprint scanner as the lock.
One of the best parts of the new homescreen is the increased snappiness in Touchwiz - I've never been one to really notice the lag in an interface, more preferring a stable feel under the finger, but those that tried the S5 said that it was speedier.
The animation transitions between homescreens is a little slow still, as the pages stack on top of one another, but it's a negligible wait.
The notifications area is one of the places that have been tweaked quite heavily, as it's now got that circular font that I mentioned, and looks a lot nicer.
The settings menu is the same, and has been divided up into better sections to get to where you want more easily, although this does take some getting used to if you're already familiar with Android.
Samsung has clearly noted the trend towards news aggregation on other handsets and has continued its own integration with Flipboard with 'My Magazine', which lives to the left of the main home screen.
It's basically taking the Flipboard topics and methods of integration and showing them in categories - and it's really not a great implementation at all.
Once you've opened it up, you're asked to choose topics that might interest you... but what is 'New and Noteworthy'? Which 'Sports' are being covered? There's no way to drill down, and instantly I'm greeted with a glut of content I don't care about.
If you drill in a little further, you'll confusingly find that Flipboard's Magazine interface is right there under the surface, allowing you to set custom feeds etc - and it's much better.
Samsung has really confused things here, and My Magazine needs an awful, awful lot of work to be considered a plus point - or let me turn it off.
It's a shame, as news aggregation from most parties isn't great or intuitive enough yet - but I can see a time in the not-too-distant future where it does find content I care about, so it would have been nice to see Samsung push that message on.
But that's not to say Samsung doesn't have some other new features to like: for instance, the Toolbox icon, which is a little floating circle on your front screen, allows you to choose five applications that can be accessed by tapping wherever you are in the phone.
I didn't want this activated all the time, but you can see situations where you need quick access in and out of things like the calculator or voice recorder, and this is a great way to offer such a thing.
Multi-Window still is kicking around, but I'd suggest you turn it off generally in the options. The reason is that if you're trying to watch a video, the main app won't let you... you can only have some of the videos previewed and the one you're trying to watch taking up the other half of the screen.
The same trick is repeated through the internet browser and apps, and is really rather annoying when you don't want it.
Overall, I'm a bit confused about the interface of the Galaxy S5. The power is there: a 2.5GHz CPU from the excellent Qualcomm 801 chip should be market leading, and yet I found a lot of slowdown in places.
The camera takes an age to start up, playing a graphically intensive game like Real Racing 3 has a slower frame rate when many cars are in shot (although a reboot did reduce this problem somewhat) and opening the gallery when you've got cloud storage activated takes a long time too.
This smacks of Samsung not having optimised its software for these areas, as oddly things like RR3 will actually warm up as the game goes on, which hints of a phone that can't rouse itself from sleep mode effectively.
This confusion is compounded by the fact that in the GeekBench 3 tests, the phone manages to get a respectable 2909, which is slightly better than the HTC One M8. It should be noted that the HTC has admitted to adding in a 'High Power Mode' that will allow these apps to get the best out of the performance, a practice Samsung has said it has ceased.
There was very little to choose between these two phones in terms of general speed, but that issue with the slowdown in gaming was odd. The gallery speed has been a problem for Samsung over a number of models, so I doubt that's going to change - but for a phone that's meant to have a speedy camera I hope things get altered soon.
I wanted to put out a special mention of the storage, given Samsung came under such fire for the weight of its OS with the Samsung Galaxy S4. Of the 16GB of internal space, you get to use over 11GB, which is comparable with the best on the market having been the worst.
Battery and Essentials
This is slightly helped by the fact Samsung has stripped out some of the less essential apps and made them available instantly for download from its own app store – meaning you've got more control over the internal space.
I'm just going to come out and say it: battery life on the Samsung Galaxy S5 is excellent. If you don't want to read on, I won't blame you.
The reasons that it has improved are two-fold: one, you've now got a larger 2800mAh battery pack, which obviously extends the life of the device day to day. Two, you've also got the snappy Snapdragon 801 processor kicking things along under the hood, making everything more efficient and keeping your battery life from draining away.
On top of that, the screen is also much more efficient at the same brightness as the Samsung Galaxy S4 - which was itself no slouch when it came to keeping your power locked away tightly.
Let's give this some context: in our battery video run down test, looping the same video for 90 minutes at full brightness, the Galaxy S5 managed only a 16% drop in life, which is comparable to the iPhone 5S, which has a slower processor, smaller screen and fewer pixels to drive.
It far outclasses the 23% drop of the HTC One M8, which, if you've read that review, is a great device for battery life too, so you can see how happy I am to see these improved results.
In fact, only LG (of the big manufacturers) seems more adept at optimising the battery life of its devices, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what's on offer with the LG G3.
The Samsung Galaxy S5's battery was so good that I found myself having to think of all the things that drain the power quick enough so I could re-test the Ultra Power Saving Mode - which means that it can handle an hour or two of photography, Real Racing 3 (a real power sucker) and 2 hours of video before dropping to 25%.
That's among the best we've seen from a phone, and should give you all the confidence you need that this is a handset that's able to last all day.
The two power saving modes (Ultra and normal) both work well enough - with normal power saving mode coming with the ability to turn your screen black and white too, meaning you won't need to worry as much about the drain (nor will you want to look at your phone as much, thus saving power again).
There's no way to order these apps to fire at a specific point of battery drain, which is odd, but perhaps that's something Samsung will add in at a later date.
The essentials
It's worth remembering that at its heart the Samsung Galaxy S5 is still a phone, and comes with some of the best performances on the market in a number of ways.
For instance, it still has strongly integrated social networking with its contacts, comes with a host of decent apps and widgets from the off (we're still glad that the torch / flashlight widget is only one icon wide) and generally knows how to get the best out of its phone-based credentials.
Calling on the Samsung Galaxy S5, like most of its Galaxy brethren, is a great experience, with clean and crisp sound going in and coming out of the device. The reason we've relegated this category to 'the essentials' is simply that most phones can do this well, but Samsung still comes out top of the pile in this respect.
There are still the old familiar touches on show, such as being able to see the last message you exchanged with someone when you give them a call, and the ability to phone back or message when hanging up, which gives the option to perform some of the most oft-used functions.
The network coverage of the Galaxy S5 is more than acceptable, although not the best I've seen around, which is something of a shame as I'd have expected something clad in polycarbonate to be a really clear experience when it comes to connecting to the cell towers around.
But still, it's a phone with great powers of calling other people, and if that's what you're into then (apart from possibly wasting money on such a high end smartphone) you could do a lot worse.
The notion of messaging on a phone has come a long way in recent years, with the likes of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger providing a real challenge to the incumbent SMS.
Thankfully Samsung has stuck with its own messaging app rather than forcing you to use Hangouts on Android 4.4, which I think is something Google is keen to have more people do, such is its insistence that you use the app for texting when you download it for the first time.
In keeping with the new Touchwiz UI Samsung has added in another clever feature in the shape of priority senders at the top of your inbox. This means that the people you talk to the most will be never more than a tap away when you open the app, making it very easy to get around.
The keyboard on the Galaxy S5 is something of a mixed bag though. I always test it by working out whether or not I want to download SwiftKey straight away (one of the better keyboard apps on the Android Play Store) or if I can soldier on with the incumbent.
In this case, I think you could probably just get away with keeping hold of what Samsung's offering, providing you don't use a lot of commas. There's only a full stop key visible with the letters, meaning a frustrating tap over and over again.
The keyboard is also supposed to learn your style as it goes along, but there were times when it refused to let me enter the word I'd tapped out as it wasn't in the dictionary.
I almost feel like praising this keyboard as Samsung used to make some really awful options, but you'll probably still be happier trying out some other options.
Like most smartphones today, Samsung still has the dual threat of its own browser and Google Chrome. If you're using the latter as a desktop browser, then you'll probably be loathe to change as it will have all your history and passwords saved right away.
That would be something of a shame, as Samsung has put together a really nice option that's designed to look as good as it is fast.
The interface is clean, with the URL and navigation keys getting out of the way when you start scrolling through the webpages. It has all the standard tricks of Chrome, such as incognito mode and Desktop View, so you won't miss out on much by switching between the two.
The bookmarking system is intuitive, and saved pages work well in a Pocket-style way.
As you can guess, most smartphones running Android have a top end browser these days, but Samsung's implementation, including the loading bar hitting the top of the page, is nice.
Kids' mode
You can argue whether this is an essential, but for anyone looking to keep their children entertained with a smartphone, the Kids Mode on the Galaxy S5 is a useful too.
It's standard fare in some ways: you turn it on, enter a pin, show a picture of your child and give it an age range so your boy or girl knows that this is something that's special to them.
Then you can select the apps they can use (which are shown rather nicely as presents on the home screen top be unwrapped... "Daddy, look, it's Escape Zombie Land! Thank you!" "Er... sorry, give me the phone. That's not for kids.") and you can also set the amount of time they're allowed to play.
From being able to tap the landscape and find hidden treasure to being able to doodle, record your voice or watch pre-approved media, it's a nice app to look at and can be added to with other apps as well.
I'm trying to pretend that I didn't accidentally end up playing with this mode for half an hour during testing. I can't. There's an app that lets you record your own voice and have it play back as a robot.
The camera on the Samsung Galaxy S5 is one of the more powerful on the market, featuring an Isocell unit that offers up 16MP snaps.
There are a whole host of other features here as well that a lot of people will like: real time HDR mode lets you see how your photo can be enhanced before shooting, for instance.
But the big thing that Samsung's touting is the speedy autofocus, which can manage to work out the image sharpness in up to 0.3seconds.
It's fast, and there's no doubt that it can indeed focus that quickly. However, I've got a couple of gripes before we get into that.
I've mentioned it already, but for some reason it can take a few seconds to boot up the camera, which is way longer than the competition. If you're trying to use the 'quick swipe' from the lock screen, it can take even longer as it's very easy to think you've hit this icon when in fact you haven't swiped far enough.
The camera then takes around 3 seconds to even be ready to start firing, which means if you trying to capture a moment that has come upon you suddenly, you'll likely have missed it.
The autofocus, as I mentioned, is indeed fast and will often get what you're trying to shoot - especially if it's on a well-framed scene. However there were a few occasions when I was waiting to capture something and the autofocus went green, despite the subject clearly still being blurry.
It's an odd situation - I kept finding myself cleaning the lens or flicking through the settings to see if there was something amiss, but there was nothing to be seen.
At least the HDR mode works well, and it's nice to have it alongside Selective Focus as one of the main options. You really do get some better snaps with real time HDR, and it doesn't take very long to process at all, which is a plus.
Selective focus is something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it can work in macro mode, which means you can take some close up shots and have the background blur out, which is what you'd want (and can't be done on some competitors).
On the other hand, too often it would tell me that it couldn't work out what I was taking a picture of, so the picture couldn't be altered after the snap.
The output wasn't blurry enough for me either - if you compare it to the HTC One M8, which has a weaker sensor but faster shutter speed, better defocus and all round better chops in the low light scenarios, you'll realise that this is something of an afterthought for Samsung... or at least that's how it feels.
But if it sounds like I'm railing against the camera in the Samsung Galaxy S5, then apologies – I'm certainly not. It's a competent and powerful sensor, but one that needs more effort to unlock the stunning pictures than the rivals.
The larger sensor needs a little longer to process pictures (we're talking nanoseconds for the main pictures in automatic mode) and the autofocus isn't as sharp as I'd like, but line up your shot and you'll definitely get a better image.
If you're trying to take a picture of something in candlelight, the S5 is the better option. If you've got a glorious landscape, you'll get better colour reproduction with the S5.
However, the modes are a little redundant as before – GIF-creating animated shot aside, I can't see ever wanting to use any of the modes.
Samsung has dialled these down massively since the over-complicated S4, and it really helps. Touch Up beauty mode will never cease to scare me, and as much as a like Virtual Tour, I can't ever envisage a time when I'll ever want to share a walk-through of my house.
It's one of only a few devices on the market to offer 4K video recording as well - however, I think we're at least a year or two off needing such a capability, and it will certainly require more storage to shoot in this high-res format for now, regardless of how it looks.
The camera in the Galaxy S5 is as competent as it is powerful – it's nowhere near as good as the Nokia Lumia Pureview sensor, but then again, it's more adept than the HTC One M8 if you're willing to put the time in.
However, the One M8 is the better option for day to day point and shooting – the sharpness is actually comparable as too many S5 pictures didn't quite come out as pleasant as I thought they had when viewing on the screen.
Camera Samples
Samsung Galaxy S5 VS HTCM8
I've reviewed a huge number of Samsung phones over the years, and they've all had one thing in common: an excellent ability to play back your media.
It's almost getting to the point where there's very little point in making a big deal about what can be done with the phone in terms of playing back music, watching video and playing games.
However, ever the professional, I'll do my best.
Samsung's not got the same hardware as HTC or Apple in terms of dedicated amplification of the sound output, meaning your headphones have to work less hard to output noise to your ears.
That said, the volume on the Galaxy S5 is such that I'd be surprised if there's not something similar, even on the software side, working hard to compensate.
The output, especially when combined with a decent pair of headphones, is excellent. I could make out every note and bass was punchy enough without being overbearing.
The music player interface is simple and easy to understand - the ability to see all the music the S5 can gather throughout the handset. You can select by album, track and playlist - plus the music mood square makes a welcome return.
It's never been something that I've used properly - nobody ever wants a playlist that goes from 'moody' to 'energetic' - but it's a nice way to get a random look through your tunes with a semblance of progression.
The sound output from the single speaker on the back of the phone isn't as powerful, obviously, as the Boomsound speakers from HTC, nor the front-facing options on the Xperia Z2, but it's acceptable for most things when placed down on the table to let the sound spread out.
In short, the music output of the Galaxy S5, whether it be through a streaming service or the inbuilt music player, is great, and the ability to slip through tracks in the notification bar or lock screen never fails to be a decent trick.
The Samsung Galaxy range has historically always been one of the best for watching movies on. Every year the Note comes out, makes things even better, and the following S version appears to make that a more mainstream technology.
I used to have to apologise for the higher colour saturation of the S range, as it was something that I personally enjoyed but others found intolerable (not all, but some).
Since the S3, things have been a lot better, and DisplayMate has found that in cinema mode, the S5 is almost perfect in its colour and white balance - and I'm inclined to agree.
Thanks to the infinite contrast ratio of the Super AMOLED Full HD screen everything looks deep and rich, and if you're into watching Netflix on the train to work, the bright mornings won't ruin your daily cinema fix as there's no washout even in direct light.
Given OLED screens used to be terrible for this, it's a tremendous experience from Samsung and should be applauded.
The video player is simplicity itself: showing your videos in small thumbnails that play automatically to show you what's on offer before tapping to get the full experience.
The only issue is if you've got Multi-Window enabled, as I mentioned earlier: the split screen is annoying and can't be removed unless you take the option away.
Also make sure you only show local content - if you add in Dropbox you'll be given access to far too many movies that can be hard to sort through if you've uploaded all your content.
It would be nice to see a social element here, something that aggregates all the video your friends post to Twitter and Facebook - anything to see more content on this screen.
The gaming experience on the Galaxy S5 should be excellent, but as I said earlier (starting to worry I'm repeating myself a little) the higher-power games seem to struggle at times.
Clearing out the cache by restarting the phone seems to remove the problem somewhat, and if you're only going to be a casual gamer, the S5 has that lovely large screen is the best place to check it out on.
But beware of pushing the GPU, especially just out of sleep mode, as the experience can be marred by low frame rates.
Samsung's continued with its trick of letting you see content from Picasa / Google+, Facebook and Dropbox from the gallery, and this sadly seems to slow things down badly as well as filling up the internal storage.
Opening the gallery with more than a modicum of content already in there or a microSD card inserted will slow things down terribly, to the point where you're waiting seconds just to see the snap you just took.
This is something that I've been mentioning for a couple of years now, and Samsung's still not nailed it. It might not sound like a big thing, but not being able to see your photos with ease really irks.
The Competition
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is a phone to be reckoned with, that's for sure - but how does it stack up with the competition? Remember, you're going to be paying a pretty penny to own it, so does it have the power to match the best of the rest?
HTC One M8
The obvious threat to the Samsung Galaxy S5 is the HTC One M8 - critically, at least. The two are locked together in terms of specs, with both having the same Snapdragon 801 CPU, a microSD slot, 2GB of RAM, a Full HD screen and rocking Android 4.4.2.
However, there are a couple of key differences: the Samsung Galaxy S5 has a much more powerful camera, albeit one that doesn't perform as well as you'd expect it to in day to day snapping.
The One M8 takes photos more snappily, and more in focus, but offers lower quality if you're sharing to a larger screen.
HTC's effort is packing a much, much nicer design though - it's almost bewildering how the aluminium chassis can feel so nice in the hand and yet Samsung continues with the same boring plastic. Even the fact that it's water-resistant doesn't make up for the fact that I feel a little unimpressed each time I pick it up.
iPhone 5S
The iPhone 5S. Samsung's current nemesis, showing consumers that you don't need a Full HD 5-inch screen to be a world-beater - plus it's got a 64-bit chip as well.
OK, that spec's a little moot as it doesn't really add much at this point in time, but it is somewhere that Apple's a little more advanced. The colour reproduction on both phones is excellent, and the price is pretty comparable.
Apple's interface is simpler and more stable, with little lag anywhere throughout the phone, and while the camera has a lower megapixel count, there's no doubt it still can take some stunning pictures.
But Samsung brings a lot more to the table, not least that water-resistant nature, a larger capacity and the ability to take better pictures overall - plus 4K video recording, if you're desperate to look for other improvements.
In reality, there's very little point comparing these two phones, as most users are still stuck in the Apple or Samsung camp and it doesn't matter how the specs measure up.
The iPhone is too small these days, in a world dominated by larger screens, and the cramped conditions don't add much in terms of innovation. It does have a slightly better fingerprint scanner though.
Sony Xperia Z2
Sony's been doing well in the smartphone world: from the Xperia Arc (admittedly from the +Ericsson era) to the current Xperia Z2, there's been a strong upward trajectory.
The same Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU is on offer, a microSD slot pervades, and it's also water-resistant. If you wanted to split hairs, the Z2 can last longer in the water, but the Galaxy S5 likes rolling around in the dust a little more, but both will survive a trip into the toilet with aplomb.
Both can also record in 4K, which is still a mostly useless feature, and both have a large and vibrant screen. The design, once again, splits the two, with the industrial chassis of the Xperia Z2 covered in solid metal where Samsung's opted for plastic.
But both have a strong battery, great screen and cost roughly the same on contract - so it really depends on whether you like Sony's thicker styling or not.
Samsung Galaxy S4
True to form, Samsung's still selling its older model for another year at least - and it's not a bad buy, especially as it's being offered at some really low price points and packs the same Android 4.4.2 OS.
It's almost a shame that it doesn't have the same funky overlay as the Galaxy S5, as that would be a real win for the brand.
In terms of raw power and specs, it obviously falls behind in nearly every way compared to its bigger brother: no heart rate monitor, an older camera, smaller battery with higher screen power, a slower CPU and more of a dependence on air-waving gimmicks.
It does have a more compact chassis though, and shares a lot of the same strong DNA - so if you want to save money (and can get it on a 12 month deal or SIM free) you'll have a decent phone for a year at least... after that the software updates might dry up, so be ready for that.
The one thing that writing this review has left me thinking is this: Samsung HAS to be making another premium model to show us later in the year.
I've been hearing a number of underground rumblings that the upgraded model is in the works (or is at least being tested), and will come with a metallic chassis and high-res 2K display (yes, I know that the current screen is technically 2K, but I mean the iteration below 4K).
Samsung's mobile head, JK Shin, has said such a thing isn't going to happen, but the very fact that people are so excited by the prospect should tell you all you need to know about this phone.
We liked
The Samsung staples are still here, and that's excellent. That means that the screen is powerful, bright and a joy to watch movies on, be they HD or SD quality.
The sound output is also excellent, bringing you the best from your tunes and making it easy to follow dialogue and hear effects even when on noisy public transport. While I wouldn't recommend whacking up the volume all the time, in certain instances it's excellent.
The 16MP Isocell camera is a step forward for the brand - maybe not offering stunning pictures each time, but on the whole delivering very attractive snaps, especially when you take the time to set the scene.
I'll never tire of highlighting the microSD slot and removable battery as good things to have, if nothing else for peace of mind, and I'm impressed by Samsung for sticking to its guns there.
The battery life is also, once again, excellent, and if you're after something that will keep chugging along no matter what, this is a top smartphone to check out.
We disliked
Despite the fact Samsung is probably going to sell a record number of Galaxy S5 units, I can't help but think it's missed a massive trick by popping out another phone clad in plastic. Spin it however you want, the S5 feels cheap and if it came from a no-mark smartphone brand would be dismissed as uninspiring - it's only because the adverts everywhere ram it down our throat do we discuss it.
There's got to be something better here - when, for the same price, HTC and Sony are able to bring out appreciably superior designs, Samsung needs to step up.
I wasn't always impressed by the speed of the phone either - the camera could take a while to load, games sometimes showed lag and opening the gallery will always be a sticking point for me.
There's not a lot that's particularly wrong with the Samsung Galaxy S5, but it feels like the Galaxy S3-S-S... another iterative design and power boost when it needed a reboot after the S4 didn't add much to the Galaxy mix.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is a great phone - the problem is we're now in a world where stunning smartphones are becoming the norm.
Samsung seems to banking on the fact it knows there will be some people out there who will buy its devices no matter what, else it would have jumped to a more premium design.
Some might think I'm overstating my disappointment in how the S5 looks, but this is a critical part of the buying cycle. You can't rely on brand recognition and loyalty for long if competitors are making something that can cause design envy.
And there's the divide in terms of how to deliver a verdict on the best Samsung phone ever: if you're excited about what Samsung does, you'll love this phone. The brand has definitely done a lot to make it more useable and deliver things you'll actually use, such as a better, faster camera and health info.
But if you're on the fence, or in the iPhone camp, it would be easy to decry this as a mere update to what came before, offering uninspiring design and a feature set that doesn't mark it out well enough from the competition.
Samsung has done enough with the Galaxy S5 to still be one of the top smartphones of 2014, and I would still recommend it as a solid, if unspectacular, smartphone that ticks the boxes it needs to and very little more. it just squeaks in as a 4.5-star phone, largely due to the fact that it's got an excellent screen, great battery and high-end specs combined with a strong camera - and that spells a decent smartphone to me.
If you're a Samsung fan, this is the phone you should buy without question. If you're more agnostic, there's better out there.


text:
Increase fluid line protection against hot and cold temperature extremes with Pennzoil's improved Hydra-Tranz tractor hydraulic fluid.
The fluid now is formulated with the company's PureBase, which is the same base oil used in its motor oils. The fluid can be used in transmissions, hydraulic systems, differentials, wet brake systems and PTOs in tractors, combines and other farm machines. Contact Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., Dept. FIN, Box 2967, Houston, TX 77252, 713/546-8365 or circle 197.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Totally Tubular: Thonet, Steelcase & Chrome Desk
Rad, bitchin', cool, gnarly, awesome, off the hook, sick, and da bomb. Or, these are just great.
- Brooklyn, NY: Thonet Club Chair - $250
- Oakland, CA: Bold Modern Chair - $580
- Baltimore, MD: Steelcase Chairs - $100
- San Francisco, CA: 1940s Chrome Desk - $200
- Chicago, IL: Vintage Dining Table - $200
Shoppers, check out the Classifieds for many more listings. Sellers, gather up your goods and list them in our Classifieds to turn them into a little extra spending cash.
Go To: Classifieds Main Page
(Images: As linked above)
Apartment Therapy is not the seller of these items. This is an edited selection of our favorite offerings from our Classifieds. For more information, see How it Works. Happy Scavenging!


text:
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Music Through The Pages Schedule
Welcome to 'Music Through The Pages', a 'Summer Special' August event!
Throughout August, I'll be bringing you a series of posts linked to all things music and book-related. I'd love it if you'd join in through your own blogs, facebook, twitter, or comments on my posts.
There will be a giveaway running throughout the event, entry entries for which can be gained for each daily topic you post about.
To help you find these topic posts (which will be spread over all my blogs) and to allow you to schedule your posts wheree possible, here's a schedule of where posts will be hosted each day:
Wednesday 1st August- Introduce Yourself
Thursday 2nd August- Music To Our Ears (Giveaways launch date)
Friday 3rd August- Music That Makes My World Go Round
Saturday 4th August- Favourite Authors
Sunday 5th August- Music Book Review
Monday 6th August- Music That Inspires Writing
Tuesday 7th August- Stories That Inspire Music
Wednesday 8th August- Music That We Listen To Whilst Reading
Thursday 9th August- Writing Music
Friday 10th August- Music In Writing
Saturday 11th August- Writing in Music
Sunday 12th August- Journalling a Personal History of Music
Monday 13th August- Book Soundtrack
Tuesday 14th August- Story of a Song
Wednesday 15th August- Hymn Books
Thursday 16th August- Bookish Music Parodies
Friday 17th August- Music in Writing
Saturday 18th August- Writing in Music
Sunday 19th August- Character Interview: The Music Edition
Monday 20th August- Setting the Scene
Tuesday 21st August- Books, Music & Craft
Wednesday 22nd August- Matching Music To Reading
Thursday 23rd August- A Culture of Music & Literature
Friday 24th August- Music in Writing
Saturday 25th August- Writing in Music
Sunday 26th August- Marking the Ocassion
Monday 27th August- A Musical Argument
Tuesday 28th August- Music of the Moment
Wednesday 29th August- Characterising an Attitude to Music
Thursday 30th August- The Final Party
Friday 31st August- Wrap-Up Post
As yet we have no banner or button for this event. If you (or anyone you know) is able and willing to create one I'd much appreciate it. Plus, as a thankyou, I'd like to offer you the chance to win a book. Click here for details.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Vinny Doombats
Race: Transylvito Vampire
Faction: Transylvito
Class: Warlord
Special: Leadership, Noble, Flight
Proposed Canon
Count Vinny Doombats is a noble Transylvito Vampire Warlord in the Transylvito faction. He is the Count of Duckula. Vinny appears to be of normal height for a man with grey skin, black hair with a widow's peak, red eyes, and fangs from the lower jaw. Vinny is a flying unit and can fly and hover as a natural ability.
During the Battle for Gobwin Knob, Vinny was Prince Ansom's closest aide, often aware of information at the moment Ansom received it. Vinny counseled conservative approaches to problems, and tried to curtail the more wasteful heroic impulses of the leader of the Royal Crown Coalition. Vinny survived the Battle by being assigned to the Choke Point Trap laid for Stanley the Tool along with Jillian Zamussels and other Transylvito Warlords and Units.
Vinny travels with doombats, the most common Unit of Transylvito. He sometimes keeps them inside his cape. Vinny, as other Transylvito Vampires, sleeps in his casket. This can be shrunk down and stored in his cape for easy travel.
Real World References
- His name is a reference to Vinny Boombatz, a fictional character created by stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield.
- Some of his actions also reference The Fonz, from Happy DaysErf-b1-p073.
- Vinny's coffin has a symbol that that may be a reference to the Bacardi brand logo. [1] Erf-b1-p044. Note that this symbol may be the shield or emblem of Transylvito, as Don King is seen wearing a medallion with the same design and the Skanks that escort Vinny, Jillian, and the other Transylvito warlords have this design on their lower backs.
Other Notes
Vinny's name is frequently misspelled as "Vinnie" in both the comic and by the fanbase.


text:
|Momma's Baby Book
I couldn't even begin to count the number of times Momma and I went through the treasures in her hope chest. The chest held only special memories of her life and of course my fathers too. Oh my, how I loved touching her pretty things and listening to her stories. There were letters tied with ribbons, some filled with sadness and others with joy. Old pictures of family filled my head with questions that could not be answered. One small box held my baptism dress, bonnet and pink booties. The tiniest red rose with a white ribbon was perfectly dried and kept as a remembrance of that day. I wonder if she ever tired of telling me about the day I was born. Gosh, it seems like yesterday that I was that wide eyed little girl sitting on the floor with Momma. Isn't it wonderful that we can hit the rewind button in our heads to these precious memories and revisit them anytime we want to.
Momma was born in south central Nebraska in 1922 in an area primarily made up of German immigrants. There were a few Swed's in the mix for fun. Her father had emigrated from Germany in 1906. Her Mother was 1st generation American, whose parents had emigrated from an area known as Ostfriesland, Germany. Grandma's parents were farmers going back for generations, but Grandpa was a city boy who grew up in Hamburg. I wonder now how hard it had been for him to adapt to such a change.
She was the second born of six children and the oldest daughter. By the time her twin sisters were born in the thirties Momma was 12. Two years later another little sister arrived. Growing up in a big family on the farm meant everyone from the youngest to the oldest had to pitch in and help. Since Grandma was busy with cooking for her big family, and also helping out in the fields, meant Momma was in charge of taking care of the girls. She often referred to herself as their "second mother", something she seemed to take great pride in. Every Saturday night she would curl the girls hair for church on Sunday. Remember this was before the day of curling irons, she would take candles and roll their hair around them and the girls would have to hold them until it was dry. When Momma would tell these stories there always seemed to be a little glint in her eyes. I think her love for them went beyond the love of sister to sister.
Going through Momma's hope chest after she died brought a lot of sweet memories back of the times we looked at them together. I thought I knew every little thing in it by heart, but when I found her Baby Book I was taken aback. I don't recall ever seeing it before, surely I would remember something so precious. The handwriting in the book was so familiar and I recognized it immediately as my Grandmas. As I went through the pages and read the things my grandma had written about her little girl I couldn't help but smile. Oh, how I wish I would have seen it when I could have shared it with her. But, you know something? Maybe it was a treasure meant to be found today – a small connection to the past. Something to warm a broken heart.........
To be continued.


text:
Now that the Raiders have reeled in Matt Flynn and soon will unload Carson Palmer, the question becomes where will Palmer go?
Many think it will be with the Cardinals, for a mid-round pick and a reduced contract.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, those who know Palmer believe he wanted to land in Tampa, as the backup (and potential replacement) for Josh Freeman. "Doesn't look that way now," Schefter observes.
But Palmer still holds the cards. If he refuses to reduce his base salary from $13 million, he'll eventually get cut, because no one will trade for him. Then, Palmer can sign with whoever he wants to sign with.
Of course, Palmer possibly is tapping the brakes because he realizes that, eventually, he'll be criticized heavily for forcing his way out of two cities in less than two years. But if he chooses to put the pedal to the metal, he could still be wearing pewter, if the Bucs want him.
Regardless, Palmer will play for a new team in 2013. Whether it's the Buccaneers or the Cardinals, his team will be facing a very stiff challenge in its division.


text:
Notify me when this product is available:
Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more …
Whether searching for a single light fixture, or undertaking a complete house makeover — enhance your urban space with over fifty of the world's best furniture lines, with one stop shopping at Urbanspace.
Our in house team of design experts is here to help you refinish, redefine, and reinvigorate your urban space — whether it's a single room, a full house, or an entire downtown condo tower.
© 2019 Urbanspace Interiors.


text:
DESTIN � Last Sunday, Ironclad Crossfit gym had one of its busiest days yet. A challenge of three tough workouts in a row had drawn a crowd.
DESTIN � Last Sunday, Ironclad Crossfit gym had one of its busiest days yet. A challenge of three tough workouts in a row had drawn a crowd.
Shortly after everyone finished, the participants were hanging around, chatting and joking, basking in the day�s success.
Then a call came in.
Something had happened in Afghanistan.
Quickly everyone was cleared out except for two people: the girlfriend and the roommate of Army Staff Sgt. Alex Viola, a coach at the gym.
The boisterous celebration was over. All was quiet, the news couldn�t be good.
A chaplain arrived to break the silence.
Viola had been killed on Nov. 17 in an improvised bomb explosion at the age of 29.
�It was devastating,� said Brett Simmon, 31, Viola�s roommate, a coach at the gym and a fellow soldier with the Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Eglin Air Force Base.
The sarcastic friend, encouraging coach and devoted soldier who had done everything he could to get to the Middle East, where he wanted to make a difference, was not coming home.
He had left for the first deployment of his career just last month.
One week after his death was announced, an even larger crowd again packed the gym, this time for a memorial workout in Viola�s name. The workout was held at the same time his teammates in Afghanistan and hundreds of people at more than 20 other gyms nationwide � from his home state of Texas to New Jersey � completed the same routine.
View a gallery of photos of Viola and from the workout.
Shortly before 10:30 a.m. in Destin, Simmon addressed the crowd, trying not to cry. Viola�s girlfriend, Hope Traylor, stood next to him.
The about 100 people gathered in silence for a few moments.
Then the clock went off and those closest to Viola began, some with their faces crumpled in sadness. Several rubbed at tears in their eyes as they struggled to hoist their bodies into the air and onto a line of boxes on the gym floor.
They wouldn�t quit, though. That�s not what Viola would have wanted.
In life, both at work and personally, he had a commitment to whatever he set his mind to, his friends said.
�He had no off button, he would just go and go and go until it was done,� said Simmon, who is 31.
The two met during Special Forces qualification in 2010. Viola had given up a commission in the Navy to enlist with the Army and try to become a Green Beret, Simmon said.
�He wanted to be an operator, a team guy on the ground,� Simmon said. �That�s what he worked for. All he wanted to do was deploy and get to Afghanistan.�
Simmon credits Viola with getting him through the tough qualification course.
Once, Simmon said, he had wanted to give up � it had been raining for days and they were facing a tough objective � but Viola wouldn�t let him.
He had a way of using creative, if sometimes explicit, language to encourage people. He goaded Simmon a little, told him he was being weak, that they were almost there, and they pushed through.
Shortly after that moment the skies cleared and the rain let up.
�If it wasn�t for him I probably wouldn�t have made it,� Simmon said. �He got me through a lot.�
Viola's friends said he was funny, too, constantly ready with a sarcastic quip.
Charis Maines, 36, said everyone pronounced her name wrong at first, but Viola just ran with it. At the gym, he would without fail write the incorrect identifier � Sharese � on the board and feign ignorance.
On his own bio on the gym�s website he wrote, �Crossfit came easy to him, mostly due to his strong genetics and rugged good looks ... Legend has he was once spotted one-arm power-snatching a car off of a pregnant woman, using the other hand to actually deliver the baby.�
Viola came from a large family, which he loved, rooted in his hometown of Keller, Texas, said Army Staff Sgt. Bret Gratson, 31, who lives in Salt Lake City but traveled to Destin as soon as he heard the news of Viola�s death.
He was especially proud of his sister�s son, regularly donning a shirt that read �Most Awesome Uncle,� Gratson said.
When Viola�s body was returned to Dover last week, dozens of family members arrived for the ceremony. The Air Force personnel there told Simmon they had never seen such a large turnout.
Simmon was similarly impressed with the showing for the workout Sunday, both at home and across the country.
�He just touched everybody�s heart in some way or another,� said Capt. Forrest Davis, 30, a 7th Special Forces soldier who had been close with Viola since they attended dive school together. �There�s always somebody who knows somebody who knows Alex.�
Toward the end of one heat, a woman was struggling to hoist a barbell.
More than a dozen people started gathering around her, cheering and shouting and encouraging her to keep going.
�Everybody�s going to go up there and make sure she finishes,� Maines said. �That�s what Alex would have done. He never left anybody behind.
�If my sons turn out half that good and that willing to fight for our country, I�ll know I�ll have done a good job.�


text:
Last week, we got a chance to dig into Kane & Lynch's multiplayer component and were amazed at how compelling this game is turning out. The hook, as we've known for some time, is brilliant: two career criminals join forces to pull off the biggest jobs of their lives. Maybe there are some other motivations going on (like Kane's search for his daughter), but the main point is that you are about to engage in the business end of a seriously dangerous grift every time you start a new level. We checked out both co-op and competitive multiplayer and emerged with a new appreciation for this quirky, attitude-packed shooter. As a quick aside, however, we need to mention that Kane & Lynch is severely mature and is intended for adults that are looking for a little vicarious bloody mayhem... don't say we didn't warn you.
You Killed All the Hostages!?
During co-op play, as you might expect, one player takes on the persona of Kane while the other handles Lynch. What struck us most was that even though you are playing together, you and your partner don't always stick together on the same path through the game. After breaking into a bank to steal untold fortunes, we found ourselves separating from Kane as he delved into the vaults below with our safe-cracker guy (annihilating poor bank security guards as they went) while I remained in the bank lobby as Lynch to cover the hostages.
It's important to note that the developers at Io Interactive are consciously toying with the pacing of Kane & Lynch during these periods when the characters are separated. As a perfect example, while Kane and the safe-cracker are busily blowing away security guards and popping vaults, Lynch hangs out upstairs tensely waiting. On pins and needles, we meandered about the bank lobby as Lynch, watching through the windows for cops and making sure the hostages didn't try anything cute, but not much else. We had plenty of time to get good and paranoid as to why the job was taking so long and what kind of things were about to inevitably go awry. Ordinarily, you might think that standing around waiting would be boring, but in Kane & Lynch it seemed to heighten the drama -- especially when things eventually started getting crazy... literally.
See, Lynch is nuts: certifiably so. Consequently, when our screen fractured like a smashed computer monitor, refracting the environment into a sort of kaleidoscopic haze, we knew that Lynch was having some trouble coping with the current situation. Suddenly, all of those innocuous hostages had guns, police uniforms and serious hero complexes. As they charged at Lynch en masse, we had no alternative but to gun down the pigs in cold blood. Of course, once Kane returned with the safe-cracker, they were a little nonplussed to find Lynch standing on top of a planter box screaming profanity at the corpses of our former hostages. That's what you get for signing up a psychopath as your partner in crime.
Combining deliberately obtuse and tense pacing with straight-up madness, we were immediately entranced by Kane & Lynch's ability to manipulate our mood. While playing alone, you'll still get all the delicious mayhem that comes from Lynch's delusional fugues, but if you are playing with a friend, you'll actually get to experience them yourself, and believe us, we are always calling Lynch from now on when we get on multiplayer.


text:
Playtime has just begun for "The Lego Movie," and film critics could scarcely be more delighted. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's new 3-D animated film about an ordinary Lego minifigure-turned-unlikely-hero is meeting with nearly unanimous positive reviews.
The Times' Betsy Sharkey writes, "'The Lego Movie' is a massive collision of subversive humor, hyper-kinetic energy, mind-jangling design, spinning colors and about 15 million Legos, no exaggeration." The film benefits from "a cast that knows precisely how to play with a good line," including Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell and Will Arnett. Lord and Miller, meanwhile, "know how to shake and bake the kid stuff so that adults will bite too."
Sharkey adds, "If you're wondering if the film plays like a 90-plus-minute commercial, strangely it does not. … 'The Lego Movie' is strikingly, exhilaratingly, exhaustingly fresh. Not plastic at all."
The Boston Globe's Ty Burr says that most Hollywood toy movies "are put together and come apart with disposable shoddiness, but every once in a while a couple of lunatics will build something ridiculous and lasting. When that happens, it should be honored. My fingers rebel, but type it I must: 'The Lego Movie' is the first great cinematic experience of 2014."
He adds, "The keys to the movie's absurdly high enjoyment factor are its exuberance, timing, wit, and willingness to stoop to its source — or kneel on the carpet looking for lost bricks, as the case may be."
Michael O'Sullivan of the Washington Post agrees: "There are so many things to like about 'The Lego Movie': a great voice cast, clever dialogue and a handsome blend of stop-motion and CGI animation that feels lovingly retro, while still looking sharp in 21st-century 3-D."
For O'Sullivan, the best thing about the movie is its subversive nature. With its rule-breaking spirit, "The Lego Movie" undermines, "with delightful results, the hegemony of a creative toy that comes with its own set of inflexible rules."
The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips raves. "Finally! A comedy that works," he says. "An animated film with a look — a kinetic aesthetic honoring its product line's bright, bricklike origins — that isn't like every other clinically rounded and bland digital 3-D effort. A movie that works for the Lego-indebted parent as well as the Lego-crazed offspring. A movie that, in its brilliantly crammed first half especially, will work even if you don't give a rip about Legos." And that's just the first paragraph.
Claudia Puig of USA Today concedes that "at times the whole thing becomes a bit too noisy and frenetic," but she adds, "overall, the experience is giddy fun for the kids, and the irreverent dialogue and gently pointed satire is amusing for the adults who accompany them."
The New York Times' A.O. Scott is less effusive but still positive. The film's visual environment, he says, "hums with wit and imagination," even if the story is "a busy, slapdash contraption designed above all to satisfy the imperatives of big-budget family entertainment."
A contradiction in the film, Scott says, is that its "overt message is that you should throw out the manuals and follow the lead of your own ingenuity, improvising new combinations for the building blocks in front of you. But the movie itself follows a fairly strict and careful formula, thwarting its inventive potential in favor of the expected and familiar. But of course that tension lurks in every box of Lego."


text:
Contact us 24/7: +1 877 678 9627
Leighton Denny
Nail Polish - Mutual Attraction
View product details
Leighton Denny
Nail Polish - Mutual Attraction
Zoom In
Need a second opinion or sizing advice? Ask your Personal Shopper:
Need a second opinion or sizing advice? Ask your Personal Shopper:
GET EXPERT ADVICE Need a second opinion or sizing advice? Ask your Personal Shopper:
- Instructions for use:
- - Smooth the edges of your nails using Leighton Denny's crystal nail file to create a flawless base
- - Roll bottle gently between palms before use to warm product
- - Starting from the center of your nail, apply two thin coats over a base coat from the nail bed to the tip to reduce chipping and extend wear time
- - Finish with One For All top coat
- - 12ml/ 0.4fl.oz.
- Ingredients: Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Isopropyl Alcohol, Adipic Acid / Neopentyl Glycol / Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Stearalkonium Bentonite, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, N-Butyl Alcohol, Acrylates Copolymer, Silica, Benzophenone-1, Dimethicone, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, +/- Mica, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Calcium Aluminium Borosilicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Polyurethane-33, Polyurethane-11, Tin Oxide, CI 15850, CI 15880, CI 19140, CI 42090, CI 77000, CI 77007, CI 77266, CI 77288, CI 77491, CI 77499, CI 77510, CI 77891, CI 77820, CI 77742
EXCLUSIVE TO NET-A-PORTER.COM. Leighton Denny's 'Mutual Attraction' is a glamorous take on classic mauve. This sophisticated shade features a subtle shimmer, lending it dimension and added shine. Intensify the effect with a glossy top coat.
- Long-lasting and chip resistant - High performance color does not fade - Part of the Temptation Collection
Product Code: 414834
For alternative suggestions, contact our Fashion Consultants
Help & Advice
Product Code: 414834


text:
Light Hi-Hat
Sizes: 14"
Weight: light top / medium heavy bottom
Volume: low to medium loud
Stick Sound: fine, somewhat washy
Intensity: lively
Sustain: medium
Chick Sound: soft, controlled
Sound Character: Fairly bright, mellow, warm. Medium wide range, clean mix. Soft, responsive feel. Fresh, warm open sound. Soft, clear chick sound. Sensitive, controllable hi-hat for acoustic music styles.
Sound Room:
Click the icons below to hear them.
Download MP3 Sound Files PST 7
Click the icons below to hear them.
Click to add a size of this model to the soundroom: 14"
Download MP3 Sound Files PST 7
Home > Products > Cymbals > PST 7 > Hi-Hat > Heavy Hi-Hat | Hi-Hat | Light Hi-Hat |


text:
C. Peter Magrath, 1974-1984
At 40 years old, C. Peter Magrath became the University's youngest president since the first, William Watts Folwell. A political scientist specializing in American constitutional government, Magrath earned his bachelor of arts degree from the University of New Hampshire and his Ph.D. from Cornell. He taught at Brown University and held administrative positions at the University of Nebraska. When approached about the University of Minnesota presidency, Magrath was in his second year as president of the State University of New York at Binghamton, and he was not ready to leave. Chair of the Minnesota Board of Regents, Elmer L. Andersen, persuaded him to change his mind, pointing out: "Right now there is only one [Midwestern land-grant university] looking for a president. This doesn't happen every other moment." Magrath recalled, "That was very persuasive." Snow fell heavily during Magrath's inauguration. Many years later, he reflected that the weather that day might have been an omen for the depressed economic climate that he faced as president of the University.
Just as presidents Morrill and Wilson were fortunate to serve in a time of growth, Magrath had the challenge of serving in a decade of tightening budgets. He assumed office with the goal of improving the national ranking of the University. In his inaugural address, he highlighted the importance of graduate programs and research and their collective impact on the well-being of the state. Magrath looked to systemwide planning to help the University clarify its mission and priorities and to help guide it through a series of budget crises. Tough economic times necessitated large cuts, tuition increases, and disappointing salary levels for both faculty and employees.
The Magrath presidency had a number of notable successes. One of these was maintaining academic quality despite the disruptions of repeated retrenchments. The 1982 National Research Council rankings of faculty quality placed the University of Minnesota 16th among all American research universities, and within the top 10 of public institutions. Other successes include rebuilt relationships with the legislature and continued growth in private fundraising efforts that had begun under presidents Wilson and Moos.
Magrath welcomed social change. He supported the establishment of women's intercollegiate athletics programs throughout the University system and was a strong advocate on behalf of equal opportunity and affirmative action. In 1980, a court-approved settlement ended a seven-year sexual discrimination case brought against the University over hiring practices in the chemistry department. Internationally, Magrath welcomed new ties between the University and China soon after the U.S. government normalized relations between the two countries. Three years later, in 1981, he led a University delegation to Asia.
Magrath left Minnesota in 1984 to become president of the University of Missouri. In 1992, he became president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges in Washington, D.C.
Sources: C. Peter Magrath interview with University historian Ann M. Pflaum, December, 1998, 6; Stanford Lehmberg and Ann M. Pflaum, University of Minnesota, 1945-2000 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001), 133-191 and 329.


text:
Hi all
I've just started using xfce after being a KDE user. One reason was the promise of Olivier: Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for various *NIX systems. Designed for productivity, it loads and executes applications fast, while conserving system resources." I'm a linux user, but nowhere near an expert. A mate has helped me get started.
However, after using xfce for a few weeks now, it is apparent that my memory usage keep increasing through my workday. After logging in about 8 hours ago, I seethe following:
xfdesktop is consuming 282MB of memory, and xfce4-menu-plugin about 276MB. Half an hour later, the figures are 302 MB and 297MB respectively.
At the start of the day, it was much smaller. In fact, my 2GB of RAM is currently using 1499MB. So much for lightweight! If I do not reboot, eventually the system becomes so slow that it is unacceptably slow (obvious delays of the order of seconds). If I log out and log in every day, things are kept at bay (ie, the machine doesn't slow down so much that it becomes unuseable). But that's hardly the point.
Where should I look for the problem so I can fix it (or, more likely, someone else can tell me how to fix it)?
Which version of xfce are you running?
If I'm not totally wrong here, I remember that:
1. The menu plugin will try to load all .desktop files to populate itself with applications.
2. The paths that it will look in are XDG-standards plus some config settings that can be distribution dependant.
Perhaps some of these paths are symlinked in a loop on your system?
What number do you get when you do:
locate -r .desktop$|wc -l
> locate -r .desktop$|wc -l
I'm not sure what that means or tells you, but that's the number!
Which version of xfce are you running?
Which version? The "About Xfce" menu item tells me it is version 126.96.36.199 (Xfce 4.4 RC2).
Hope that helps. Thanks.
This known bug probably applies to you:
Obvious exits are:
- upgrade to 4.4
- compile plugin only (perhaps your mate knows)
- switch (use well known kicker with Xfce)
You may have a memory leak of sorts with your configuration. Upgrading to latest version should at least fix some of the known bugs. I would also recomemnd to try a minimum XFCE (without many plugins) and then install the plugins one by one and only proceed to the next one if you are convinced RAM usage is not increasing.
Some other info on RAM: You quote a number of 1499MB of RAM in use, whcih I guess refers to total amt of RAM in use by Linux. The free command shows you how much of this is used for buffers & caching -- typically a lot (Linux is pretty aggressive with this, but happily returns it when other apps need RAM). I run Xfce on a 512MB system which also has a lot more than desktop processes running (mail server, web content filter & caching proxy, spamfilter, NFS-fileshare, samba and some heavy duty crunching worth approx 68M resident) without noticing issues. May be run the top command to see whether certain processes are hogging the CPU..
when running the free command, you should look at the second line it displays


text: From: Mark Hahn on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 5:27 PM > > > Corporate users and ISVs don't want to see the OS revised more than once > > a year. > > which is sad, really. they've been so traumatized by the dominant > platform that they expect that changing anything will break everything. > the very concept of a standard, let alone an interface standard (ABI) > is foreign to this mentality. Theory v. practice. Implementation (i.e., compiler and linker output) can substantially impact performance and correctness. As example, the 2.4.6-2.4.18 range of kernels saw a steady rise in short/small I/O performance at the expense of a steady and significant loss of large-I/O performance. In a cluster that we built, we had to have an I/O monster app run on 2.6.3 nodes and another app run on 2.6.10? nodes so that both apps made their performance targets. > > On the user side, it takes a lot of effort to install, certify, > > and then deploy a new OS. On the ISV side, there is little to no > > certification is bad for users. instead of an ISV stepping up to the > plate and saying "our application requires Linux ABI 3.14 and we will > fix bugs where it doesn't", the ISV just annoints a particular config > (OS release, firmware revision, disk setup, these magic three patches, > phase of moon). certification is really an admission that the app is > buggy in indeterminate ways, and that the ISV doesn't care. When I was responsible for such a statement, I had a "batch" app that was truly only sensitive to kernel and glibc -- and that's EXACTLY the requirement I enumerated, a minimal set of kernel and glibc requirements; eventually it needed to become a bounded range. I also had a substantial history with the app and a sufficient understanding of the kernel and glibc to confidently make the claim. A sister app, a large graphic app was much more sensitive to the environment, e.g., C++ libs, graphics device drivers, yada, yada, yada. Despite my best efforts, they stuck with RHL x.y requirements. They too had a substantial history with their app that supported their position; they also thought I was out of my mind--perhaps, but not to this point. > > revenue associated with certifying an already released app on a new OS > > -- it's purely a cost factor unless the ISV is releasing new code. > > managing cost is a good thing. but doing so does not necessarily mean > that you also have to screw your customers. hey, with a little spin > we can even make certification sound like we're _doing_them_a_favor_! Many customers DEMAND certification, most accepted policy explanations and our continued specific performance in lieu of certification. But, even so, on a couple of occasions I was ultimately required to provide distro-release.version-specific certification to specific customers based solely on their insistence--this I do blame on the lawyers... -- dnl My comments represent my opinions, not those of Intel Corporation.


text:
Promote our shirts on your own site and make money! $2 Per shirt!
Think you have a good shirt idea? Send it in, you could win $$$
Members only exclusive content and contests. Sign up now, it's free!
Tags: i'm part of the problem shirt, i'm part of the problem t-shirt, i am part of the problem tee shirt, i am not part of the solution i'm the problem tee shirt, i'm a problem not a solution shirt


text:
More refinements
We couldn't find anything matching your search criteria:
Special offers
As part of ongoing improvements to our site you can now search specifically for new or established properties.
Realestate.com.au is the home for sold real estate in Australia, with sold property in WA, sold property listings by real estate agents in WA, and the latest WA auction results. To help with your real estate search, Realestate.com.au provides WA house prices. So whether you're looking for property for sale in WA, rental property in WA, or WA open for inspection times, we can help you find the property you need. Our real estate resources section can help you with buying a home or finding share accommodation in Western Australia.


text:
Founder's kin fights to stop Higgins Armory's closure
Plan to close Worcester museum is set for a final vote
Growing up in the 1950s, Clarinda "Rindy" Higgins liked hanging out at the museum that her grandfather, John Woodman Higgins, founded next to his Worcester Pressed Steel Co. But Wednesday, when she returns to the castle-like Higgins Armory Museum on Barber Avenue, it will be to battle the current leaders of the institution. She is making a last-ditch effort to stop the arms and armory museum from closing on Dec. 31 and sending its 2,000-piece collection to the nearby Worcester Art Museum.
"It's not just about blocking," Higgins said. "I want a different proposal."
Wednesday, Higgins and the museum's other incorporators are scheduled to vote on transferring assets to the art museum, a plan already approved by the boards of directors of both institutions. The deal requires support of two-thirds of the incorporators.
Higgins said her cause has been gaining support, but museum leaders believe she is bluffing. They also say that the only hope for her grandfather's legacy is striking a deal with the art museum and shuttering the cavernous, steel-and-glass building that has contained the collection for 82 years.
"Is it reasonable to think that the museum can balance its budget?" said Jim Donnelly, the president of the Higgins board. "The answer is no. And this is the time to deal with it."
And the armory museum is under pressure to shut down. Local foundations have helped the institution balance its budget in recent years, but with an ultimatum that it must come up with a long-term solution, said the Higgins museum's interim director, Suzanne W. Maas.
The opposition to the Worcester Art Museum plan has baffled that museum's director, Matthias Waschek. He suspects that a small group of people, including Clarinda Higgins, is behind a "Save Higgins" Facebook page, phone calls, and letters that have circulated in recent days.
"If there is no money, there is no money," Waschek said. "The Worcester Art Museum has a major endowment. They don't. The next time they get upset, ask them how much they've been giving. The result will be rather sobering."
The Higgins Armory combines exhibits of helmets, armor, and weapons with family-oriented programs, including birthday parties in which the cake is sliced by a sword-wielding, costumed interpreter. While attendance at the Higgins Armory has been strong – 60,000 people last year – the endowment has always been too low to provide stability, Maas and Donnelly say.
In recent years, deficits have ranged from $500,000 to nearly $1 million, according to tax filings. That has forced the museum to draw on its endowment, currently $2.9 million.
The proposed Worcester Art Museum deal would move the collection into a gallery renovated especially for the prized arms and armor. Also, the endowment and proceeds from a March 20 auction in London, which brought in just over $2 million, would go to the art museum.
It is not clear whether there is sufficient resistance on the board of incorporators to slow the deal. Clarinda Higgins, who lives in Connecticut, has offered the name of only one other voting member supporting her side, Michael Miranda, an orthopedic surgeon in Hartford.
In an interview, Miranda said that the museum's leadership has "worked very, very hard," but their alternative to the financial bind is not appealing. "I was kind of excited when Clarinda contacted me and brought new sort of life in a different perspective," he said.
Higgins's ideas include hiring a national firm to raise money for the museum; seeking free assessments from architectural firms for what is needed in the building — she says she has several commitments in hand — and creating naming opportunities for something as basic as a new window.
Among her supporters are two museum professionals, brothers who lived in Worcester as boys: Richard Johnson, the curator of The Sports Museum in Boston, and Robert Flynn Johnson, the now-retired curator in charge of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
In separate interviews, the two blasted the armory museum's leadership for failing to reach out to potential donors outside Worcester, and for negotiating a deal with the Worcester Art Museum that does not protect the armory building.
"This should be a last resort," said Richard Johnson. "Instead, the museum took a ready, shoot, aim strategy. The context of that museum is everything. I would sort of imagine it like the Red Sox playing at Dilboy Field instead of Fenway Park."
"The armory was built specifically for the arms materials," said Robert Flynn Johnson. "That's Mr. Higgins's vision. And nobody seems to want to keep Mr. Higgins's vision alive."
That's not the case, said Maas, who was hired in 2010 to turn around the museum's flagging finances, and curator Jeffrey Forgeng, who has been at the armory since 1999.
"We've been scrambling for years just to keep this from being a train wreck," said Forgeng.
The museum's annual budget is now $1.3 million. In 2010, the Higgins drew 16 percent of its endowment to cover the budget and, in 2011, 9 percent, Maas said. The recognized standard for museums is around 5 percent. Recent grants allowed the Higgins to reduce its draw to 4.5 percent over the past year, but the money came with the directive to fix the structural problem.
Mark Fuller, an incorporator whose family foundation provided a $100,000 grant last year, said that moving the holdings to the Worcester Art Museum is the best possible solution. He has told museum leaders the foundation will not again offer money to the Higgins.
"This is not a new problem," he said. "Unless they were to get a huge increase to their endowment, they would need a minimum of $10 million to come in quickly."
Raising even half that has proved impossible in the past. A campaign in the 1990s raised $2.6 million for improving the buildings and facilities, and an effort about a decade ago led to an additional $2.4 million, said Donnelly.
The arrangement with the Worcester Art Museum, says Donnelly, will offer the public the best solution. The collection will be displayed just 3 miles down the road in a renovated gallery space. Waschek said it was too early to know the details of the transfer, including whether Forgeng and other staffers will move to the art museum, but one decision has been made.
"At this point, I cannot tell you if we are cutting cakes," said Waschek. "I will tell you that Helmut, the armored dog — he is going to come and be our mascot at the Worcester Art Museum."
Geoff Edgers can be reached at email@example.com.


text:
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
busy bee
- finishing up & dropping off a wedding cake, just in the nick of time
- delighting in the fact that there is now a ramen bar less than 1 block from our apartment
- swigging whiskey & water from a water bottle, waiting in line for SNL
- laughing a little too hard as a result
- having brunch, walking all over williamsburg, and having craft beer in a bar with a shuffleboard table
- having 4 old friends in my apartment for fish tacos
- sneaking our own popcorn into drive
- spending an evening with elie tahari, and having the man himself tell me, "that dress was made for you." (his dress, sadly. not the one i came in.)
tomorrow after work we're packing up and heading down to new jersey for the all tomorrow's parties festival; i'm crossing my fingers for dry, warm-but-not-too-warm weather. will any of you be there, by chance?
and now, a photo of me, looking like i've never seen a camera before.
dress: peter jensen for UO
slip: thrifted
shoes: jill stuart
brooch: thrifted
i'll do my best to get some photos in before i take off for the weekend, and i'm hoping to try my hand at some festival street-style photography while i'm in asbury park.
until next time,
xo audrey
15 comments:
- AnonymousSeptember 28, 2011 at 2:07 PM
soooo jeals!!! I love Williamsburg. and cake. and ramen. and friend visits. and drunk laughing. and pretty much everything else mentioned. except whiskey. whiskey hates my gutzReplyDelete
I don't live too far from Asbury...Portishead, huh?
Hope the weather holds out for you!
This sounds like a fantastic week :) Although I'm not sure my constitution is strong enough for whiskey & water. I would have packed some G&T.ReplyDelete
LOVE your bright red dress.
I am totes looking forward to some festival pics.
- AnonymousSeptember 28, 2011 at 3:52 PM
You know Elie Tahari???? Wow. I love his stuff.ReplyDelete
i imagine he told you the dress was made for you and then handed it over. that would be the polite thing to do.ReplyDelete
I just love the floor in the room that you took this picture in. Your apartment must be fantastic. Have a good week!ReplyDelete
Ooh this look is so mod and fabulous! Your use of colour is continually inspiring. And all tomorrow's parties? That's awesome! Here's to all your magical weekends xxReplyDelete
i love your boots....and i think that the dress you're wearing WAS made for you. you look great in that color....ReplyDelete
Hey, I just saw this headline on Women's Wear Daily: "Elie Tahari Taps Bloggers for E-commerce Launch." Are they talking about you?? =DReplyDelete
Cute dress and scalloped-hem slip! And I don't think I've seen you wear those shoes before...they're awesome. Have fun at the festival!
THAT dress looks like it was made for you! :)ReplyDelete
Seriously, the color is fantastic. And your happenings about town sound just lovely.
i love this dress so much!! so pretty with the little scalloped slip peeking through. whiskey and water huh..please tell me you were laughing at inappropriate times haha! i had y'all over for dinner..fish tacos!ReplyDelete
This is a Fabulous look!ReplyDelete
Love these catchup posts.ReplyDelete
You're always so clever, even with short sentences. Or maybe especially cuz of it? I'm very sleep deprived, can't think straight. Though, in my stupor, I still can tell how gorgeous you are and one of the things I've noticed about the things you wear is how MOST of them look like they were made for you. I'm only not saying ALL so it'll sound like this is a very scientifically assessed compliment, as opposed to a generic one. Though it's not rigorously documented, it's also certainly not just the latter either.
P.s. Those shoes? Are they 'booties'? Cuz they melt my heart just like the word booties.ReplyDelete
P.P.S. I've never even HEARD of a ramen bar and SNL?! You got into SNL? How many times a day do people tell you how charmed your life is?
cool boots, i've seen similar ones in zara which i'm hoping to score :)ReplyDelete
sounds like you've been busy! yay for smuggling your own popcorn in!
Katie x