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The lawsuit filed by victim 6 in the Jerry Sandusky case will go on as scheduled. In a court order on Monday, Federal Judge Anita Brody denied Penn State and The Second Mile's request to stay the lawsuit because the "young man has already waited a long time for justice and would be burdened with further delay."
In the order, Brody did say that
Lawyers for the university asked to delay the case because they felt their defense would be hurt without the testimonies of Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, while the Second Mile asked the case to be delayed until the prosecutions were done.
A hearing for the lawyers of both sides was scheduled for yesterday in
Jerry Sandusky is appealing a federal judge's ruling that absolved The Second Mile from paying for his defense in criminal and civil cases.According to PennLive,
In the ruling granting summary judgment to Federal Insurance Company, Kane found
Governor Corbett visited the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology yesterday. The school is expanding thanks to a 2 million dollar Economic Grown Initiative grant from the state.
Corbett said the state investment will pay off because it will create jobs. According to the Centre Daily times the initiative is expected to create 31 new permanent jobs and 14 part time jobs at the facility within a year. Corbett estimates that it will create 185 jobs statewide with additional trained workers coming out of the school.
Senator Jake Corman is backing Governor Corbett's effort to privatize the state liquor system, but he does have a few concerns.Corman said yesterday that he supports the concept, but is concerned that a large number of new licenses can flood the market. He also wants to examine the financial impact of the privatization bill which has already passed the house and is expected to be taken up by the senate next month.
Road Work
Weather permitting, a contractor for the Borough of State College will be installing a flow meter in a sanitary sewer manhole on
Any questions or concerns can be directed to the Borough of State College Public works Department.
Centre LifeLink EMS and the Central Region Emergency Strike Team will be conducting a large-scale mass casualty incident drill tonight at 6pm in


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Re: "Mountain biking is no more damaging than other forms of recreation, including hiking."
On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 11:43:25 -0500, "Edward Dolan" <firstname.lastname@example.com>wrote:
>"Mike Vandeman" <email@example.com> wrote in message
>[newsgroups trimmed]
>> On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 00:10:24 -0500, "Edward Dolan" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
>> wrote:
>>>My main point which I like to make over and over is that bikers and hikers
>>>do not get along at all well on hiking trails. It does not have so much to
>>>do with impacts on the trail itself or even on wildlife, but rather on the
>>>kind of attitudes we bring to nature and to wilderness.
>> True, but without wildlife (living things), there would be nowhere
>> worth hiking. That is the long view.
>Yes, you are quite right about that. I have been on many a long hike in the
>wilderness where I never saw any wild creatures at all. I am more into plant
>life than I am animal life, but to never see any wild animals is on outrage
>and we should be ashamed of ourselves for having eliminated so much of their
Yes. I have 3, no, 4 criteria for a successful hike: (1) see and try
an edible plant, (2) see a wild animal (common ones like insects and
birds don't count, UNLESS, SADLY, THERE IS NOTHING ELSE), (3) go to
some high place and get a wide view to see the lay of the land, (4)
don't see any bikes (I just added this one, which I used to be able to
take for granted ...).
>Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
>Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

subset: commoncrawl


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24 January 2006
Bad News
Evan Hotcorey Cornish is in town visiting, and that's the good news. The bad news is as huge Canucks fans and expat Canucks we were greeted with an onslaught of bad news. First and foremost our new PM is that douchebag Stephen Harper. That was a bad CBC homepage to open up to. But then to find out on top of that that the Canucks lost 4-0 to last place St. Louis is the insult to the injury. All in all it sucks alot, news wise today.
However, after talking and thinking and looking at the politics from afar here it looks like Stephen Harpers election could be a blessing in disguise. With a minority government it's unlikely that he'll totally wreck the country, which bodes well for my return. However he still may manage to shoehorn through some really bad dickhead policies, but let's hope not. And by tossing Paul Martin and showing the Libs they're not invincible we can perhaps even hope for Ottawa to try and push ahead- the Tories trying to keep their government in power, as they must be giddily crapping their pants right now at the thought of getting to claim a Prime Minister for the first time in 13 years.
But I'm not betting on it. I'm betting on a hamstrung Conservative Minority struggling to not fuck anything up and metric tonnes of arguing leading to another election at least within the next couple years. It's that election I'm hoping for a good result in.
As for the Canucks, I just hang my head.
C'mon Boys!!


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My Profile
Washington, District of Columbia
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Reviewed Summer Squash with Turmeric Butter
Sep 12, 2011 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"Aarti is offically my culinary angel. Sorry, Giada and Bobby. These veggies were divine. It was a really lovely and unexpected flavor combination. I used two pounds of squash rather than one pound and the sauce was still more than ample. """
Reviewed Fish for Crish: Red "Mole" Swordfish Steaks with Pickled Shallots
Aug 16, 2011 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"This was terrific. The mole sauce was rich and earthy with just the right amount of zip. The pickled shallots were surprisingly easy to make, was light and bright, and made for a terrific contrast to the mole. I made this with the zucchini ribbon salad and the family loved the entire meal. Two days later and my husband's already lobbying for ..."
Reviewed Pomegranate, Sriracha and Mint Chicken Wings
Aug 14, 2011 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"Thank heavens for Aarti. This is another home run recipe. The spice rub gives the chicken a nice crunch and the combination of flavors in the sauce is both unexpected and delightful - fruity, spicy, with just a hint of mint. We could have eaten twice what I made. I served this as an entree and my only issue was getting the side dish right. I mad..."
Reviewed Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Lime Juice, Red Chile and Peanuts
Aug 14, 2011 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"I rarely comment on recipes but this one definitely merits it. This is an absolutely fabulous salad. Imagine a Thai green papaya salad but with zucchini instead of papaya. Terrific flavors. Easy to make. Perfect for a hot day. Leftovers keep well. Another real winner from Aarti!"""


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[tool] DiffDoc - Show differences between Word documents (and PDF, XLS, PPT, RTF..)
I just read about DiffDoc on Buck Hodges' blog. This thing's amazing - it shows differences between all sorts of businessy document formats - MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Wordperfect, PDF, RTF, and HTML
[fix] Killing the F-Lock on MS Keyboards (even under USB)
None of the normal hacks to disable the F-Lock key on Microsoft keyboards work if you're connected via USB. The XML file at the end of this post corrects it.
[tip] (Re)installing Windows on a SATA drive
I recently bought a Dell Dimension 9100, mainly due to the 24" LCD bundle. I blew out whatever goofiness had been preinstalled and went to intall Windows XP SP2. Well, it has a SATA drive and Windows still doesn't include SATA drivers.
One solution, as Jeff Key describes, is to slipstream the SATA drivers.
In my case, though, there was a simpler solution - change the BIOS settings for SATA Operation from "RAID Autodetect / AHCI" to "COMBINATION" as detailed here. That did the trick.
Of course, the network drivers need to be loaded. For a Dell 9100, the drivers are here.
[wish] Windows MCE TV / Video Playlists
I'll confess - my kids watch the occasional TV show. At least with our Windows MCE setup, they watch shows my wife and I preselect instead of whatever happens to be on at the time, but that brings with it the annoyance of having to change the shows when each one ends.
Why doesn't MCE have TV / Video playlists which work exactly the same as Windows Media Player music playlists? I'd love to stack up two or three shows and play them in order without any intervention. That could be handy for parties, too - have a playlist of interesting shows or videos playing in the background without having to run and change them each time one ends.
3D Pie Chart
Here's a nice free3D Pie Chart class on CodeProject. Version 1.4 (just released) includes some bug fixes and a demo app. Purty.
[FIX] BizTalk 2004 - Failed to generate the master secret (error code 0X80070005)
The BizTalk Server 2004 installation fails on XP SP2 with an error message that doesn't give much of a clue as to what the problem is: Failed to generate the master secret (error code 0X80070005). As Marco says in his post, it's easy enough to Google it if you know that XP SP2 caused the problem, but otherwise it's not easy to figure out.
The install failure is: An unexpected error occurred while configuring the Single Sign-On server. The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. Microsoft support article 841893 explains in detail how to resolve the issue by:
* Using Gpedit.msc to enforce the authentication of client calls or
* Using Registry Editor to enforce the authentication of client calls -
[tip] Use the Coral Distribution Network to save bandwidwidth
A family member called me about the bandwidth on his site due to MP3 downloads lately. The host company said there had been 40GB of downloads this past month, which required extra fees since the hosting plan doesn't allow for near that bandwidth. I changed the offending MP3 links to use the (free) Coral Distribution Network , and thought it would be good to share the information on this service since it's bailed me out more than a few times.
The Coral Distribution Network (CDN) is a free service that was started by NYU includes a global network of universities and other nice folks. More info about it on the Coral CDN site and on the Coral Wiki.
The coolest thing about it is that it's really easy to use. You just modify your links to include .nyud.net:8090/ after your domain name. So instead of this:
you would use this::
http://www.mysite.com.nyud.net:8090/mysite/media/mp3/example.mp3The file is still on your website, but when people click on the link it gets routed through CDN. The first time someone clicks on the link, the file's not there and it gets downloaded from your site just like it always would have, but now the CDN knows about it and grabs a copy. From then on, if someone clicks the link, CDN checks if it's still on your website and hasn't been changed, then sends the file itself. You don't pay for the bandwidth; they handle it. What's even cooler is that they have a global network, so if someone in Australia downloads it, they get the file from an Australian Coral server, so it's much faster from the user point of view.
(see area maps here)Some caveats:
1) I read in their FAQ that it's possible for people to have problems with downloads if they have a weird firewall setup (port 8090 outbound blocked), but I haven't run into this. Something to be aware of, but if the alternative is to pay thousands a year in hosting I think this is worth it.2) Transfers > 50MB just redirect back to the original host due to bandwidth overuse (see the FAQ).
3) You're not able to track your downloads. If you need hit counts for sponsorship, this won't work for you. On the other hand, if you want to post some audio or video and
[OT] 300th post
Well, hey, look at that! This is my 300th post. Hooray for multiples of 100!
Best free VistaDB post - "If VistaDB was a woman... I'd marry it."
...or rather... if VistaDB was a woman... and I wasn't already married... and I was into chicks who were thread-safe and crash-safe.... then I'd marry...
NSurvey goes 2.0, shifts to mixed license model
NSurvey V2.0 is finally available along with new licensing terms from the member section. A a FREE community license is still available for small to mid size surveys.
E4X - XLINQ in Javascript, but when?
With all the AJAX / Web 2.0 hype lately, I've been thinking about what's next for Javascript (the J in AJAX - Asynchronous Javascript And XML), a.k.a. ECMAScript.
[link] C# 1.1 Project Templates for VS 2005
DotNetRocks San Diego Show
I saw the the DotNetRocks Roadtrip in San Diego Thursday night. It was a fun and informative time. Carl Franklin's info on VB.NET 2005 was interesting. Most of it was just general VS 2005 / CodeRush info, which was just great for me. Richard Campbell is a hilarious speaker and gave a great overview of the Windows Mobile platform and devices, which helped make some sense of a pretty disorganized space (Smartphone 2003, Smartphone 2003 SE, Windows Mobile 5, CDMA, GPRS, EDGE, etc.). I went home played with wrote VS2005 / Smartphone apps for my Audiovox SMT5600. Fun stuff.
Let's get the Blog Worth thing out of our system
Here's the blog worth of every feed on the weblogs.asp.net OPML, with code included to keep it on topic (webrequest, xml, and regex). We can be done with this now.
DevAge Source Pack 22.214.171.124 - SourceGrid 3 and more ...
I blogged about the DevAge Source Pack this past summer when it was in Beta 1. The DevAge Source Pack 184.108.40.206 has just been released now - download it and try out the demos.
The SourceGrid 3 is the star of the Source Pack. It's a full featured Winform grid control with sophisticated features like virtualization and a well thought out extensibility model. There are some other nice treats in here too though, like validaton controls and XP theme support. As a nice bonus, the DevAge Source Pack is free and comes with source code.
internet explorer tab within firefox
Great new extension for Firefox that opens an IE Tab. Comments indicate it may be a bit quirky, which shouldn't be surprising since it's kind of a hack. It's working great for me in Firefox 1.5. I just ran Windows Update with no problems. Of course you're really running IE embedded in a tab, but fewer open windows means less clutter on the screen and on the taskbar, which is all good news.
Why not an Expression Query Language?
Regular Expressions are extremely powerful and ugly as all hell.[1] Even with comments and a good RegEx IDE like the Regulator , they're total gibberish. Why not a RegEx 2006 with a more readable syntax?
"Firefox support - available soon!" means you're doing things the hard way
I am disappointed to see that Windows Live is not working right in Firefox.[1] Not because I'm all religious about browser support and all that, although Firefox has been my default browser for quite a while. I'm just as dismayed when I see sites that only support Firefox, Safari, or Lynx and say they're adding IE support soon...
Windows Live - I think I get it...
Scott Hanselman's response to Windows Live: I just don't get it. That was my response today as I read about 50 different announcements on it. But after reading Dare's explanation, it starts to make a bit more sense:
[quote] Play a Sony CD, Get a Rootkit Installed
Nice. Oddly enough, you may be safer with illegally copied music. I stopped buying music from online stores due to DRM restrictions preventing copies to more than 3 computers. I've got 5 CPU's just in my house right now.
Firefox Web Developer Extension Beta 0.9.9
I recently upgraded to Firefox 1.5 B2. It's been working great, except the Web Developer Extension stopped working - it showed it was installed, but the toolbar and menu item were disabled. Fortunately, Chris just released a new beta of the Web Developer Extension that works great with Firefox 1.5 and has a ton of new features to boot . Yippee!


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We love a hot guy. And a hot guy with a cute dog is even better. So when pictures of Hugh Jackman cradling his new French bulldog pup Peaches came out, we were floored. And Hugh isn't the only super sexy celeb who has been seen avec doggy lately. Click through for more hot guys with adorable doggies.
- Popular


text: Hey guys as much as I've had a great time enjoying the first bumps on this side of the coast in months I just haven't had much luck. Here in monmouth county it has either been to deep, the wind wasn't right etc. With the wind this afternoon I know a longer jetty should clean it up a little. Does anyone know of any good monmouth county breaks that have been grooming this swell, I think 3-4 ft this afternoon could be allot of fun at the right spot


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Hot Nikon 14mp Camera on Walmart.com!!!
Check out this HOT Deal on Walmart.com!!!! They have a Nikon 14mp, memory card, case, AND 50 free prints from Walmart for $89!!! This is an awesome camera and sure to be a great gift any camera lover on your list!!!! You can bring th … Continue reading


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Pre-construction work starting on Valpo's next roundabout
By James D. WOlf Jr. Post-Tribune correspondent January 9, 2013 4:32PM
Updated: February 11, 2013 6:39AM
VALPARAISO — Drivers may get slowed down around the intersection of Vale Park Road, Calumet Avenue and Roosevelt Road.
Although construction of a roundabout at the so-called "five points intersection" won't begin until about April, the city will check for utility line depth before possible relocation of the Frontier Communications copper and fiber optic lines.
The city will drill five "potholes" in the south lanes of Calumet and one on Vale Park, City Engineer Tim Burkman said. The holes will be about 12 inches in diameter and may cause lane closures for the truck that does the drilling.
Traffic won't be stopped or detoured, though.
The city will drill the Calumet holes by the center of the pavement near the lane divider, but the Vale Park hole will be off the pavement edge.
Actual utility relocation for Frontier and Northern Indiana Public Service Co. will begin as weather permits but before construction of the roundabout, Burkman said.
Utilities were called in before Christmas to locate their service lines, and they finished relocation work last week.
Frontier general manager Todd Pence stated by email that accommodating the roundabout will require his company to relocate the entire conduit system including five manholes.
"This project requires replacing all cable from our Vale Park remote to the east of the intersection and then completely through the entire construction limits of the project," he wrote.
It will cost the company between $285,000 and $300,000 and involves "3,355 copper lines and 96 customers on fiber optic services ranging from cell towers to businesses located in the area," he stated.
Frontier plans to retain customer service during relocation.
Burkman said that depending on how deep Frontier's lines are, there may not be a need to move them in some locations, and the city would work with the company when its lines are.
"We're just trying to minimize relocation effort," he said.
NIPSCO is working on its relocation plan to submit to the city, he said.


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The Texas Is OnlineWant to find out what's going on at the Texas? Visit the new Texas Theatre website for coming attractions, news, information, and much more!
Celebrating Seguin's 174 Years – amazing!
On Saturday, August 11, the Seguin Conservation Society with the help of the City of Seguin will be celebrating Seguin's 174th Birthday. The festivities will begin at 5:30 in the Heritage Village. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips drinks, popcorn and snow cones will be available for purchase and entertainment will be provided by area youth showcasing their musical talents starting at 5:30. If you are a connoisseur of ice cream, we would like you to put your culinary skills to the test and enter our homemade ice cream contest. The categories to be judged are best pecan, best traditional and people's choice. If you want to have your ice cream judged it will need to be at the First Church no later than 5 p.m. Late arrivals will not be in the judging. At 6:15 the Guadalupe County Mounted Sherriff's Posse will arrive on horseback to present the proclamation to the mayor. After this a short business meeting will be held to elect new board members. Hope to see you on the 11th.
Patrons enjoying a prior year's Seguin Birthday celebration.
More at the Moore House
We want to offer more at the Moore House! So we are making some changes.
The first Thursday of each month September through December and February through June will still be our luncheon day. The seatings will still be at 11:30 and 1:00.
The caterers will be different each month and so our menus will be varied according to what they offer. We've appreciated the many years that All occasions Catering has served us however, we wanted to give some versatility to our luncheons. With this change we will be charging a little more. $10 per meal and $12 with desert. You will find an appetizer waiting for you upon arrival and still be served a full plate including salad and tea with desert choices offered.
We will also have entertainment in the form of living history performances, style shows, music and/or displays.
You'll still call Cascades to make your seating reservation by the Tuesday prior to our luncheon day at 379-7173.
All proceeds from the luncheons go towards the maintenance of The Moore House and we want to make sure that this wonderful part of our Seguin history stays in good repair.
Once again we have our wonderful sponsors supporting our efforts and hope that you also will continue the luncheon tradition. We thank the following businesses for again sponsoring this coming year: American Bank, Argent Court, Independence Title, Mickey Ferrell Realtors, Karen McMillan Realtors, First Commercial Bank, Keepers, First National Bank of Beeville and Kathy Nossaman's Edward Jones office.
Our servers are from many of our sponsors but also include Republican Women, the Guadalupe County Democrats, the Seguin Chamber Ambassadors, theHispanic Chamber, Mid-Texas Symphony Guild and Seguin Conservation Society members.
We look forward to another great year! Bring your friends and enjoy a delicious and delightful lunching experience at The Moore House!
Red Hat Ladies enjoy luncheon.
Texas Theatre Hosts Variety of Community Events
A whirlwind of events and activities keep the Stephen and Mary Birch Texas Theatre at the center of attention in downtown Seguin.
Upcoming events open to the public include the popular Heart of Texas Road Show on Saturday, Aug. 25 featuring the legendary Johnny Bush, Justin Trevino, Dottsy and Frankie Miller. There will be two shows at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at the usual locations around town and by calling the theatre office at 372-6168. For more information or to purchase tickets on-line visit our website at www.thetexas.org.
In September, we will be hosting a new event. We will be bringing in from San Antonio Mariachi Azetca de America. This group has traveled across the state and outside Texas. This upbeat concert will help kickoff National Hispanic Heritage Month. The concert is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 21 and ticket information will be released soon. Again you may also visit our website.
A new addition to our schedule as well will be our first "Dining Under the Stars" event on Thursday, Sept. 20. A number of requests were made by participants at other Texas events that we start some type of dining experience. Responding to that, we will feature the culinary talents of the chefs of Sodexo Food Service from Texas Lutheran University. Details of the appetizing menu and costs will be available soon.
Performance at The Texas
You will not want to miss our next dramatic presentation – Steel Magnolias. Our own stage veteran Pat Hoppe will direct this audience favorite. Cast auditions will be 9 to 11 a.m. on Aug. 25 and from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 28 at the Texas. The show will be presented Oct. 19-21 and 26-29 and ticket and cast information will be released in late September.
In late November we will kick off the Holiday season and Holiday Stroll in Seguin week with a concert at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 25. The Almost Patsy Cline Band will return with their beautiful renditions of some classic holiday tunes as well as sharing a little history about those songs.
As you can see, the theatre is a hub of activity. In between these public events we have, at this time, 10 private rentals. And, if you haven't booked your holiday party yet, there are still a number of December dates available.
On the books as well are six private rentals for 2013!
In June we hosted our second drama camp. Working with Tempest Theatre directors, Rebecca Phillips and Lydia Robles, we had an outstanding camp with nearly 25 students involved. The two week camp ended with a beautiful presentation of "Music Man Junior." Plans are already in the works for next year's summer camp.
In coming months you will hear more about the Texas Theatre's involvement with youth programming. The theatre management team is committed to not only providing quality events but also working to get more student involvement in the arts. With the cooperation of several groups we are about to see that become a reality.
We also had another successful recruiting session for our Friends of the Texas. About a dozen new volunteers were present and are eager to help welcome audiences. They join our group of 35 volunteers who have helped in the past year.
"And again, we want to remind everyone - we have No paid staff," says Marty Keil, SCS president, "Everyone working there is doing it for free and because they are committed to seeing the Texas succeed."
The Texas still has a number of needs. One of the most pressing is to get a screen and projector, says Steve Tschoepe, theatre volunteer, "we have raised about $2,500 towards that goal but still need considerably more."
Donations may be made in any amount and can be mailed to The Texas Theatre, 425 N. Austin St., Seguin, TX, 78155.
Message from the President
Dear Fellow Conservanists,
Happy 60th! And we're going strong! This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the Seguin Conservation Society! The Society was formed following the saving and refurbishing of a small adobe structure sitting at the corner of S. River and Live Oak, now known as the Los Nogales Museum.
Thanks to a group of people led by Mrs. Virginia Woods the building was saved and it's significance was researched and shared with Seguin. The mission of the Seguin Conservation Society continues with preserving historic buildings, objects and places in Seguin and Guadalupe County, celebrating historical events, and engaging our community in remembering, understanding and advancing our shared heritage.
Seguin moves into it's 175th year this August. We will enjoy our usual celebration at the Heritage Village site with a cookout and homemade ice cream contest, entertainment and our annual membership meeting. As we prepare for this occasion, we reflect on the many maintenance needs that have been remedied this year preserving our properties for visitations from a variety of people. We are fortunate to have a dedicated Board that works to keep our buildings in good repair. There is always something to be done.
Do you ever notice those large buses in town slowly traveling around the square, down Nolte street or Court Street? We still have groups coming for True Women tours as well as groups from Houston, Georgetown and parts south interested in touring Seguin at large. They love our downtown square, Walnut Creek Park project and the Texas Theatre. Complimentary comments flow on the wonderful way in which our downtown showcases the fountain, gazebo, refurbished buildings, and the proximity to Walnut Creek just blocks away. These visitors are aware of Seguin's growth and notice that special attention is being paid to preserving and protecting the rich history of the town. We can all take pride in this recognition.
The Seguin Conservation Society has proven itself to be a viable and important group for sixty years. We will continue to work hard, and keep focused on our mission. We count on the support of the community and our membership to keep our projects and properties viable. We are always in need of active participants, since there are multiple properties and projects that need volunteers to keep them going. Please contact us if you have an interest in becoming more involved.
Preserving Seguin Together,Marty Keil
Thank You!!!
The Seguin Conservation Society wants to extend a special thank you to several area businesses and an organization that are always so helpful and supportive in taking reservations and selling tickets for various events, especially those at the Stephen and Mary Birch Texas Theater.
Those supporters are:
Cascades Gift Shop - Gail RobersonGift and Gourmet - Mary ReileyKeepers - Amber EhrlichSeguin Area Chamber of Commerce
These businesses, owners and employees are always so gracious in assisting patrons. We thank you!!!
Consider Us!
We ask that when you are making a memorial or honorarium in rememberance of someone that you consider The Seguin Conservation Society or the The Stephen and Mary Birch Texas Theatre.
With your gift you will help preserve Seguin's history and remember someone who was a part of it. We will send a notice to the family of the gift and you will receive an acknowledgement from us as well.
You can mail monetary gifts to the Seguin Conservation Society, P.O. Box 245, Seguin, TX, 78156 or the Texas Theatre, 425 N. Austin St., Seguin, TX, 78155.


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SPAWNews is packed with writing, editing, illustrating, and publishing information. Each month you receive market opportunities, events, and articles you can use now! Not sure? Check out back issues of SPAWNews on our blog, or in the older SPAWNews archives)
Editing articles
Internet articles
Sharpen your pencils, summon your muse and start writing, Poets, because there are three exciting events coming up that are tailor-made for you!
The first is the SPAWN Poetry Slam to take place next month. (See the following article by Roni.)
The second is the 2nd Annual SPAWN Poetry Contest. Rules for the Contest will be posted next month.
And the third is SPAWNs book of poetry to be published in mid-2000.
John Taylor-Convery and Rosemary Tribulato of Cadmus Editions and Archer Books have offered to publish a collection of poetry by SPAWN poets under their Archer Books imprint.
They will donate all typesetting, cover design and interior layout, manage the print process, and market the title along with their others through their national distribution network. They will also include the title in their advertising efforts. Further, all revenue from the title would be returned to SPAWN. That's right, ALL.
The only cost to SPAWN will be the printing charges. The initial print run will probably be 500 copies of a softcover book.
The publisher is already releasing seven titles this year between Cadmus and Archer.
The poetry will be selected from the entries in SPAWNs poetry contest. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners from both our first and second annual contests will be included and will receive a copy of the book as part of their prize. The other poems will be chosen from among the remaining entries in both contests. As there will probably be 70 or 80 poems in the book, this will give many poets the opportunity of having their poems published.
Its a truly remarkable and magnanimous offer by John Taylor-Convery. And SPAWNs board members and leadership committee have accepted wholeheartedly.
Its a SPAWN Poetry Slam
by Roni*
Stand up and run to the summer fun! All three chapters of SPAWN will sponsor a Poetry Slam (a performance poetry contest) on August 18, 1999, 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, at the Book Mall, 105 S. Oak Street in Ventura.
A poetry slam is a word duel, a battle of brains, not brawn. Its like a verbal boxing match, only the poets dont put on gloves; instead, they present their poetic imagery and let the power of the words win or lose the prize.
Admission is free. Yippee!
If youre not a poet, then come be the vitally important other half of the show: the audience. Instead of letting stuffy literary critics decide which poetry is best, the judges will be randomly chosen from the listening audience. They will score each poem publicly Olympics style, immediately after its performance with a score from one to ten (ten being the best).
The decision is based on written content and performance equally weighted. So anything is possible in this fast moving, unpredictable competition between performing poets.
There will be Cash prizes of $50, $25 and $10. Each poet has three minutes to perform his/her own poetry. Only the first 12 poets to sign up are eligible. Sign ups start at 7:00 p.m.
If you missed the action at the Borders Spring Poetry Slam, now is your second chance to experience the fun. I will be the Slam Master again. To get the rules contact me via e-mail email@example.com or call Laughing Buddha Press at (805) 386-3061. The SPAWN Poetry Slam will be exciting, humorous and dramatic, so dont miss your chance to be a winning poet, an impartial judge or a curious spectator. See you at the Slam!
By Virginia Lawrence, Ph.D.
Most writers and publishers do some online research, and some of us do a great deal. As we do our research, we want to save the information efficiently. Using the bookmark option in the browser can help us to retain the addresses of a handful of sites. Of course, the bookmark holds only the addresses, so when we want to view a page again, we must use the address to go to that page online. Then, after several successful searches, the bookmark list in the browser gets unwieldy. Organizing the bookmark list is not a simple project, so how can we organize the important site information we unearth? Even more important, how can we save our research information so that we can later find everything we seek?
Several software companies are now offering a new category of software to help us save and organize our findings into logical groupings. Webforia Organizer, for example, is a recent Windows software offering from Webforia, Inc.
When we install Webforia, we get a new toolbar across the top of the Windows screen. The toolbar appears as soon as the PC boots up, and it remains available for use at all times. To use Webforia, we start by opening the Internet Explorer browser as usual. Then we begin the search in our favorite search engine or directory.
As soon as we find an interesting site, instead of clicking on Bookmark to save the address of the page, we click on the Clip icon in the Webforia toolbar. Webforia immediately grabs the entire page with its graphics, links, and URL, placing everything in the Clip Tray. After clipping the page, we continue on with our research to find more pages with relevant information, clipping each page to be saved.
When we have finished the current search, we go to the Webforia Clipbar and open the Webforia Organizer. Here's where the fun begins.
We use the Organizer to create a library for the current online research, then we create as many categories as we need within that library. Finally, we drag each clipped page into the appropriate category. At any time, we can link keywords and/or an abstract to these pages.
The libraries with their categories are available for review at any time within Webforia, but that's only the beginning. We have all the information on our own hard drive, and we can retrieve that information. The automatic search feature lets us search one or more of our own libraries using any word which might occur within the pages of interest. For example, we might have many pages on the topic of horse breeding. Within that horse breeding category we can search and find and review any pages mentioning mini horses or Palominos or Arabians or Kentucky or ...
When we find the appropriate page, we can view our saved copy of the page without going online. We can race through the pages to compare and consider their content.
As Webforia says, "It's like having a personal librarian who stores, indexes and tracks the information you select. That means you have more time to think about important things, like actually using and sharing your search results."
The registered version is $79.95.
NOTE: On December 2, 2003, we discovered that Webforia had disappeared from the Internet.
~ Virginia Lawrence, SPAWN's Webmaster, is a technical writer, editor, and professional webmaster
Dan Poynters all-new Web site has over 500 pages of free help on book writing and publishing. Check it out at http://ParaPublishing.com.
Hey, SPAWN members! Where is your news for this section? We want to know all about you. Send your info to SPAWNews, P.O. Box 2653, Ventura, CA 93002-2653 or e-mail it to me at email@example.com. M.E.
by Mary Embree
Recently, in looking up what the Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Edition (published in 1993) had to say about split infinitives (which I believe should often be done) I came across an unusual word: infelicities. It was under Section 2.98 Watching for errors and infelicities.
I searched my memory for where I had heard that word before and what it meant in connection with writing. The wordfelicity comes from the Latin felîx which originally meant fruitful but progressed semantically to happy. So infelicity must mean unhappy. The word is now also defined as inaptness or inappropriateness, as of action or expression.
How felicity, a word originally meaning fruitful, came to also mean happy and appropriate is a thought to ponder but as that has nothing to do with editing, Ill ponder that another day.
There used to be a clear division between styles for writing and styles for speaking. That is no longer the case except in some forms of formal writing such as scientific papers and some academic works. But they could also gain by writing in a more natural style and striving for clarity over pedantry.
Styles have changed so much in the past decade or so that many of the rules we once followed are no longer valid. Heres an interesting footnote to that Section 2.98:
The thirteenth edition [1982] of this manual included split infinitives among the examples of errors and infelicities but tempered the inclusion by adding, in parentheses, that they are debatable error. The item has been dropped from the fourteenth edition because the Press now regards the intelligent and discriminating use of the construction as a legitimate form of expression and nothing writers or editors need feel uneasy about. Indeed, it seems to us that in many cases clarity and naturalness of expression are best served by a judicious splitting of infinitives.
So you can now split those infinitives, end your sentences in prepositions, and dangle your participles without being in error as long as you are felicitous.
And your writing will probably be easier and more enjoyable to read.
August 28 through Thursday, September 2 is billed as six intense, inspiring days learning the art and craft of fiction, nonfiction and screenwriting. There are small, intimate, hands-on groups in a variety of settings from workshops to mentoring sessions and seminars. Tuition is $1,075 per person and includes breakfast and lunch and two special event meals.
Labor Day Weekend, September 3 through 6 features four days of inspiring speakers, in-depth workshops, and one-on-one consultations with agents and editors. There will be plenty of networking time with the people who can help you succeed, and open mike sessions where you can read your works-in-progress.
While the conference highlights the fields of fiction, nonfiction, and screenwriting, there are also workshops on the business of writing, childrens books, journalism, food and cookbook writing, poetry, and self-publishing.
The fee before July 1 is $495 per person; after July 1, $595.
For more information on both of the above, contact Maui Writers Retreat/ Conference, P.O. Box 1118, Kihei, HI 96753 or call toll free: 888WRITER3.
Their 14th annual writers conference will be held at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, CA, Sunday, October 17 through Tuesday, October 19.
Each participant will be a part of a five-person group headed by a published novelist or short story writer, and their work will receive up to an hour of critical attention from members of the group.
Cost is $225 per person which includes the conference, lodging and all meals. A special commuter price of $150 includes the conference and all meals, but not lodging. Keynote speaker Catherine Ryan Hyde is an author, editor and writing instructor. Additional perks include four open sessions: ¨Hearing Voices (Dialogue);
¨People, plots and story;
¨Making it Sing (Wordcraft) - Bill Blundell, instructor;
¨Endgame (rewrite) - Jean Brody, instructor.
A $100 deposit is due by July 15, 1999. Hurry, space is limited. Balance
of $125 is due no later than August 15.
Five copies of up to 25 pages (double-spaced) of a short story or novel chapter to be reviewed at the conference should be submitted by August 15, 1999.
A Nighthawk session will feature readings of great modern short stories
with a discussion period.
Workshop coordinator, Bill Blundell, formerly a national correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, is a newsroom consultant and author of The Art and Craft of Feature Writing.
For more information call Cindy: 805/238-0596 or Dana: 805/927-8496.
Their 6th annual conference at Troutbeck in New Yorks Hudson Valley will be held November 11 through 13. It features assigning editors from Travel & Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, Family Fun, The Sporting Life, The Golfer, Backpacker, Spa, Mountain Living, Scouting, and Distinction. Special guests are from Gourmet, Modern Maturity, biztravel.com, New York State Division of Tourism, and American Airlines. The assigning editors provide inside information about their periodicals and meet with writers individually.
The conference is limited to just 35 writers, with an editor/writer ratio of 1 to 3. Media rate air fares are provided by American Airlines.
For more information, contact Karen Misuraca, email@example.com
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Sat, Apr 23, 11 at 7:37
Building a new home and getting to the flooring decisions. I just saw at Home Depot they have a special buy going for Bruce solid 3/4" x 2 1/4" Maple for $2.99 sq ft. Multiple stains, natural, gunstock, cinammon and cherry.
They also have hickory natural for $2.99. I know you get what you pay for, but has anyone put in this floor. What would your concerns be for putting in this floor? |
Here is a link that might be useful: Maple Natural
Follow-Up Postings:
I worked for Bruce and the goods at HD were the same we sold to distributors. Like anything an installer should go thru the wood and pull out bad boards. I think its a good buy if its what you like |
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The Online Academy is accepting mid-year enrollments, but all enrollments must be approved first by an academic advisor. Please email for enrollment information.
The list of Summer 2015 Online Courses is available! Enrollment opening soon!
Homeschool enrollment is open year-round by going to this page.
"My husband and I don't think there is any curriculum on the market that can compare with Kolbe's"
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Tech Support


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The Best iPhone 6 Case (so far)
After surveying almost 1,000 Wirecutter readers and testing 60 iPhone 6 cases over a period of about 30 hours (so far), our current pick for the best all-around case is the NGP from Incipio (available in black, clear/frost, blue, teal, pink, and red.) The NGP has protected several generations of iPhones (and many other devices) and has a reputation for providing solid protection and a good fit. It's slim enough to not detract from the iPhone 6's svelte dimensions, while still offering comprehensive protection for the handset's body, including the buttons. Openings along the bottom allow for compatibility with a wide range of accessories.
One issue that might give you pause (and part of why it's no longer our top pick) is the fact that the back does not sit flush against a flat surface. This means that if you bump it, it will spin—kind of like a spinning top—which means it might be easier to knock off surfaces. This is more of a concern in theory than it is in reality (we've never had an issue with the phone sliding away as a result of this), but if it concerns you, then it's worth looking at a different option.
These are our preliminary picks after spending a week looking at all the cases we could get our hands on, but if you have a personal favorite that isn't mentioned here already, please let us know in the comments and we'll check it out for a future update.
(If you're looking for iPhone 6 Plus cases, most of our picks come in both sizes. See our note further down for more info.)
Table of Contents
Why you should trust me
I was the accessories editor at iLounge for a little over three years. During my tenure, I reviewed more than 1,000 products, most of which were cases. This number spans multiple generations of Apple products, from the iPhone 4 to the iPad Air and everything in between. I've probably handled more iPhone cases than almost anyone on the planet, giving me a particularly experienced perspective and depth of knowledge when it comes to cases.
Why use a case?
Depending on which configuration of iPhone you choose, the hardware is going to cost between $199 and $949. For most people—78 percent, according to 2012 testimony by Apple executives—that investment is worth protecting with a case.
Apple makes its handsets out of strong, yet bruisable material. The body is aluminum, which, if past iPhones are any indication, can easily ding and scratch, and the display is glass, not the stronger sapphire that had been rumored. Repairing the screen on an iPhone 6 costs $109—it's $20 more for the 6 Plus—and an out-of-warranty repair if something else is busted costs $299 for the smaller model and $329 for the larger one, according to Apple's support page.
Many early reviews found the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to be slippery, meaning they're more likely to fall out of your hand and hit the ground. For what it's worth, warranty provider SquareTrade gave the new iPhones the best scores yet in its "Breakability" tests, meaning they're tougher than other phones out there. The 6 earned the best score of any phone they've tested thus far and they concluded that "the iPhone 6 Plus is not only more durable than most large screen phones, but it also outscored last generation's iPhone 5S." Even with these positive findings, the devices certainly aren't indestructible. There are even reports of iPhone 6 bending when simply being carried in a pocket.
There are also some odd design choices that are best addressed by a case. For example the camera protrudes from the body of the iPhone 6, which makes it so that a naked iPhone can't quite sit level on a flat surface. And on the front side, unlike some Android phones, there are no protruding speakers or microphones to keep the screen from contacting whatever surface you lay it down on.
The other reason to use a case is personalization. While we're recommending cases that are generally attractive, fashion choices are a very personal thing that we can't decide for you. It's perfectly valid to pick a case based on how it looks, although we suggest you look for the best of both worlds: aesthetics and protection.
How we picked
We were monitoring the iPhone 6 case market months before the device was even announced by Apple, communicating with companies about their plans and actually checking out a few review samples hands-on. In the days surrounding the iPhone 6 announcement, we immediately began checking in with companies that we know have made great cases in the past, based on our past testing at Wirecutter and that of sites like iLounge. We also searched Amazon and carrier websites and took a look at the lists different Apple-focused sites put together based on press releases.
Truth is, there are plenty of good iPhone cases out there. A bad case is actually a pretty rare thing. But in looking for a few cases that work for most people, we sought out a case that can adequately protect your phone without adding too much bulk or unnecessary embellishments while doing so. These assumptions are backed by polling data from our reader survey in which 86 percent of respondents agreed that protection shouldn't come at the cost of the iPhone's feel and aesthetic.
Although Apple's guidelines are generally smart, they can sometimes limit real-world usability.
For example, any case that adheres to the company's standards will block compatibility with most docks, which about a third of our survey respondents said was important to them. To us, it's important that the Lightning port has enough room around it to be compatible with plugs larger than those found on the cables Apple ships. The same goes for the headphone port, where angled connectors can sometimes be a problem. If the speaker and microphone are protected with perforated material, that's a bonus.
A respectable degree of shock absorption is important, as is a tight fit. The case should cover as much of the iPhone's body as possible, including a raised lip around the glass display to keep it from lying flat on a surface.
"Exposed glass on the Apple device must not come within 1 mm of a flat surface, such as a table or floor, in any orientation when the case is attached," state Apple's guidelines. This helps to prevent cracked screens, one of the biggest worries with any iPhone. It used to be that cases would sometimes overlap the bezel, but the document now says, "Cases that claim compatibility with iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus should not contact the cover glass." That likely has to do with a requirement found later in the document: "A case must allow the user to use edge swipe gestures that were introduced in iOS 7.0."
It's important that the case doesn't hinder normal use of the iPhone at all, meaning it shouldn't be any more difficult to use the handset fully when it's inside the case than when it's bare. Button protection helps in this regard. Cases that have simple cutouts to reveal the volume and Sleep/Wake buttons not only leave those pieces unprotected, but also make you press harder to reach through the material. The best cases offer button protection with great tactility, mimicking or in some instances even enhancing what you'd feel with a bare iPhone.
A pet peeve—but not an absolute deal breaker—is a circular opening exposing the Apple logo on the back of the phone. We get it, you have an iPhone. There's no reason to leave part of it unprotected just to show it off, and there are enough good cases without such openings that we only considered stand-out cases with such gaps.
Based on these criteria, plastic shells are automatically out of the picture. This cheap and very prolific style of case may come in a million different designs, but it's pretty much the least a company can do. They not only leave the buttons exposed, but the top and bottom edges of the phone as well. Oftentimes they're advertised based on their thinness, which may sound appealing but is ultimately just marketing. There's no good reason to pick a shell.
Sometimes a case will come with extras, such as screen film or a small stand, although those add-ins are becoming far less common these days. While these aren't the biggest factors by far, they do add a few extra points to the overall picture.
As soon as I picked up my iPhone 6 from the Apple Store, I set to work trying all the cases I could firsthand. After going through 38 cases, we found a few really great ones.
A note on pricing
In a reader poll, 83 percent of respondents were willing to spend $30 on a case, so our picks should cover most of you. But it's worth noting that the pricing of these things tends to drop off shortly after launch. For example, pricing data indicates that although the iPhone 5 version of the Speck CandyShell launched at $35 in late September 2012, it dropped down to about $20 after just a couple of weeks and never got higher than $30 in the time since then.
Our pick
The NGP is made out of a single piece of flexible polymer material that the company calls Flex2O. This sounds fancy, but it's really just a variant of standard thermoplastic polyurethane, which you may know as TPU. The American Chemistry Council says TPU "bridges the material gap between rubbers and plastics," and is known for its "resistance to impacts, abrasions, tears, weather." In other words, it's an ideal material for making protective cases. But there are a lot of TPU cases that can be had for half as much as the NGP, so why pay extra? It comes down to the little things, like fit, button feel, and quality control.
Fit is often an issue with TPU cases like the NGP, especially in the corners (indeed, we had to stop recommending our previous step down due to inconsistent fit issues reported by user reviews), but NGP fits snugly and the corners won't peel away unintentionally. Incipio has worked hard to fine-tune this case over the years and I've personally seen the quality of design and the fit improve to where it is today through various generations. At iLounge, I gave the iPhone 5c edition of the case a B+ rating, and the site just recently issued the same rating for the iPhone 6 Plus version.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
We've found only two minor flaws with the NGP, one of which could fairly be described as nitpicky. The first is the lip, as mentioned above. At 0.6mm tall, it falls below the 1mm threshold Apple recommends in its case developer guide. The raised edge is still more than what is found on some cases though—including Verus' Crystal Mixx with its 0.3mm lip, which we discuss later in this piece—and it's significant enough that we'd feel comfortable laying the iPhone 6 face-down on a table.
The other issue is a trifle. There's a black ring around the camera opening, which is meant to help prevent color issues when the flash is used. On our review unit, the paint is slightly uneven. It's not so bad that it'll have an effect on pictures, but perfectionists may notice the uneven paint job. And those with the black version won't even have to worry.
If you're trying to ditch your wallet
Without any cards in it, Q Card Case is only about a millimeter thicker than the standard CandyShell. The body is rubber, and it fits securely while protruding out to form a 0.8mm lip. All three exterior buttons click perfectly, and are easy to find without looking. On the bottom, there are three separate openings, the headphone and Lightning holes large enough to work with third-party cables.
The wallet component is a faux leather pocket with handsome stitching, attached to the back of the case. Up to three cards can fit between the layers of material, and you can shove some cash in there, too. With a credit card, debit card, and driver's licensed stuffed in there, plus three bills folded twice, we measured the case about about 13.4mm thick. CandyShell Card is at least a millimeter thicker than that at all times, even when it's not holding any cards.
On Amazon, Q Card Case is earning very positive reviews. It's currently sitting at 4.3 stars with 42 reviews, only six of which are below three stars. The complaints seem to refer more to the customers' preferences, rather than actual problems with the case. With Apple Pay looming, carrying so few cards is becoming even more viable for most people, making this case more practical than it would've been in the past.
A more protective pick
The signature feature of the CandyShell is its dual-layer setup, a process Speck pioneered in-house. At the core is a layer of dimpled, shock-absorbing rubber that extends out to cover the buttons, ring the port openings, and form a lip around the screen. On top of that is a glossy plastic shell, adding structure and another level of protection. Other dual-layer designs we tested were all physically larger than CandyShell, had a hole exposing the Apple logo, or both.
So how protective is this dual layer design? According to Speck, the case is "Certified to meet or exceed MIL-STD-810G drop test standards," and it's one of the only cases we tested to make those claims—not even OtterBox does. Shannon O'Flaherty, who represents Speck at Mighty PR, told us the testing was done by a third party. During the testing, "an iPhone 6 was dropped onto a hard, unrelenting surface from 4 ft. 26 times and the iPhone retained full functionality, with no damage to the screen or buttons."
CandyShell fits snugly around the iPhone 6, so there's no concern that it might unintentionally slip off in a pocket or bag. Once in place, it feels totally solid; although it doesn't turn the handset into a tank, the case adds a sense of security we didn't find with most of the others.
Button protection is about as good as it gets. As opposed to mere cutouts or one-piece covers, you get rubber button covers, allowing for more movement. It's easy to find the controls by touch alone, and all three press with pleasant level of tactility.
Along the bottom there are three openings: one for the headphone port and microphone, another for the Lightning port, and the last for the six-hole speaker array. This seems to be the most common setup among iPhone 6 cases. Measuring 10.6 by 6 mm for the headphone port and 14.4 by 6 mm for the Lightning port, the openings are large enough to support all but the absolute largest headphone and Lightning plugs.
Speck's case adds 4 mm to the overall thickness of the iPhone, which may sound like a lot compared to the 6.9mm depth of the bare device, but it doesn't actually feel like that much. A big part of that is the 1.5mm raised lip, which is more significant than on any other case we tested. For those concerned with the safety of their screens, this is a good thing. Despite covering about half the bezel on either side of the iPhone's display, we had no issue with swiping gestures in either direction.
At iLounge, Editor-in-Chief Phil Dzikiy awarded the CandyShell with an A- rating.
There are a few issues with CandyShell that we'd be remiss not to mention. For those who want their case to remain pristine, this might not be the right case. The glossy back almost instantly attracts small scratches that generally aren't visible head-on but jump out when the iPhone is tilted to the right angle. This doesn't affect the protection the case offers though. Besides, we'd much rather see those scratches on the protector than the handset itself. That being said, it would be nice if they offered an option with a matte finish.
The other issues is the case's shape itself. Some of our own commenters and a contingent of Amazon reviewers took issue with the fact that it has a slightly convex bump on the back, which causes the case to rock if pressed along any of its four sides, or spin like a top if pushed. When we asked Speck for comment on this, they said they had "gotten a few reports of it happening, but it doesn't appear to be a widespread problem." Given the fact that all 4 of the CandyShells we have on hand (acquired through both Speck and Amazon) have this issue, it seems more likely that most people just don't care about the issue. But if you bought a CandyShell and do mind the spinning/rocking, Speck says to contact their customer support. If they can't help you, send us a note and we'll see what we can do.
The dock-compatible pick
The biggest advantage to the Harbour is its flip-open bottom. When closed, the case has one hole for the headphone port and microphone, and a second for the Lightning port. The speaker is protected better than on almost any other case we've tested, with the sound exposed through a pattern of 16 small holes. While the openings are large enough to work with many plugs, the bottom 1.25" of the case can flip up and away on a rubber hinge, allowing full access for docking or compatibility with larger accessories. It's a best of both worlds scenario: full protection during normal use, and proper access when you need it. We tested the strength of the hinge by bending it back and forth 250 times, and saw no wear.
For all its strengths, the Harbour isn't perfect. The buttons are harder to press than on the CandyShell, but not as unresponsive as some of the other cases we've tested. This is the first time STM has included button protection, so it's a step in the right direction from what the company has done in the past. Additionally, the lip around the screen is only about 0.5mm tall, less than we'd like to see. Those small issues aside, it's an impressive case.
Editor's choice: Apple leather case
It's also worth noting that due to the exposed bottom edge, it's fully dock-compatible and will work with any-sized headphone jack. So that's a nice bonus.
That said, we should note that the last version for the 5/5S did end up loosening up quite a bit after a year of continuous use. While it never got to the point where it would fall off, there was more wiggle room than was ideal. We anticipate that the 6 version will also loosen a bit over time, but the 6's rounded edges gives this case a surface area advantage that should keep it snugger for longer compared to the squared off edges of the old iPhone.
Hey, what about iPhone 6 Plus?
Apple's newest iPhone comes in two sizes: the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. We expect the smaller model to be the better seller, as it's simply a more practical size (not to mention it's our preference here at the Wirecutter).
That's why we focused on on iPhone 6 in this piece. Many companies are likely to release the same cases in two sizes, meaning our pick should have versions for both. Unfortunately, the standard CandyShell isn't one of them. A representative from Speck told us, "Since the iPhone 6 Plus is a larger phone and has had reports to be very slippery, we created cases that would give you extra grip on Apple's largest device yet. Even the CandyShell Card provides tactile support with the protruding slot for your cards. The one exception we made was with Inked, since this is quickly becoming one of our most popular cases, and because the iPhone 6 Plus provides the perfect canvas for larger-than-ever graphics." We hope the company will change its mind.
If there's a particularly great iPhone 6 Plus case without an iPhone 6 correlate, we'll be sure to note it.
What to look forward to
As the weeks pass, there are going to be more and more new iPhone cases released from established companies as well as upstarts. New generations of existing designs will be unveiled and original concepts shipped. Most will probably be fine to good, but some may wow us. We'll keep track of what's out there and update this piece when new cases are available. We'll also be keeping an eye on the reviews from other experts.
One thing to keep in mind is that cases shouldn't block the NFC radio needed to use Apple Pay with an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. Although we don't expect it to be a problem with our picks, we'll test for that when Apple Pay goes live in October and update this piece with observations.
If you think there's a case we missed, leave a comment below.
An important thing to remember with the cases we dismiss below is, unlike other categories of products we cover, they're not necessarily "bad." While we've noted any issues we saw with these cases, some of these are fine—they just can't quite match up to the high quality of our picks.
While we initially recommended Spigen's Capsule as a good choice if you want to spend around $10, or if you just want a clear case to show off the iPhone's design, Amazon reviews panning the fit have made us drawback our praise. It stands out from other TPU cases—those flexible, rubbery plastic skins—with a special coating that's supposed to prevent yellowing and small air pockets in all four corners for extra shock absorption. You don't get the advantage of extra protection from multiple layers of material, though, and the protective lip isn't as pronounced. Compared to the NGP, the clear version of the case is is more likely to show scuffs, and the corners aren't as tight. We found the black version to be especially slippery.
A number of customers are reporting issues in their reviews. Anh Tran called it "pretty darn loose," while lauren said, "It is so loose around the phone that it feel like it's going to fall of just holding it in your hand," and "it looks extremely yellow." With so many 1- and 2-star reviews, we're withdrawing this as a pick for the time being. We'll monitor the situation and if reports improve, we'll consider recommending it again.
Combining a rubber skin with a plastic frame, Spigen's Neo Hybrid ($16+) is a slim, attractive case. Its fatal flaw comes from its button protection. The silver plastic pill over the Sleep/Wake button doesn't depress properly, meaning it may not hit the control underneath and there's a good chance you won't feel it if it does. Former Sweethome editor Joel Johnson confirmed this issue with the iPhone 6 Plus version. Because this case was shipped to us so early, it's possible later editions will be revised to address this.
Also from Spigen is Ultra Hybrid ($12+). This one is a single piece, fusing a rubber frame with a clear plastic back. It's a nice-looking case, but once again, there are issues with the buttons. Rather than raised material over them, the left and right edges are flat from top to bottom with small indentations. For the Sleep/Wake button, it's "PWR," and for volume, plus and minus signs. Without a more pronounced physical distinction, it's easier to miss the buttons and the frame moves inward when you press.
Twelve South is upfront about just how protective the SurfacePad ($40) is. In the FAQ section of the case's website, the company says, "SurfacePad for iPhone is not designed to protect iPhone from falls, drops, being run over by a car or dropped in the loo. SurfacePad is meant to guard your iPhone from scratches and scrapes from things like car keys, nail files or concrete park benches." It's actually less of a case and more of a leather sticker with a cover. The SurfacePad adheres to the back of the iPhone and can be removed and reapplied as necessary (though it's not as easy as the company would have you believe). We like the materials, but it's difficult to recommend unless your primary concern is fashion.
The Vault Slim Wallet ($15) from Silk is a much-less-expensive alternative to sister company CM4's Q Card Case. It's essentially the same design, except instead of a faux-leather back, the whole thing is made of TPU. Like the Q Card, the Slim Wallet can hold three cards, but a raised arch in that card slot causes the cards to curve to a noticeable degree, which may result in damage to the cards over time. The Q Card Case's positive attributes otherwise carry over, but because of this card bending, I'm a bit wary of this one.
Silk also offers the Stealth Armor Tough Case ($18) and PureView Clear Case ($12). The former is a rubber case with interchangeable, polycarbonate-plastic backplates. It's a good case at an affordable price, but it's thicker than than our top pick, the NGP. The PureView Clear Case, on the other hand, is a nice pick in the very full category of cases with rubber edges and clear backs, and it's at an aggressive price. But we're not terribly fond of this style because of dust's propensity to get underneath the transparent back and the ease with which the plastic can scratch. Still, compared to others we've tested, the Clear Case has pleasant-feeling buttons and well-sized port openings.
Incipio's Rival sells for about $20. Unlike with the NGP, only the border of the Rival is TPU; the rest of the case is hard plastic—about 0.3 millimeters thicker than the NGP. Everything else about the case is essentially the same as the NGP, including the cutouts for the ports and the quality of the button protection. While the Rival is very smooth, much like the NGP, horizontal lines across the lower two thirds of its back add a more distinct texture. It's not as neutral as the NGP, but if you like the style, it's a good option.
The Evo Mesh ($35) features the second generation of Tech21's shock-absorbing lining and is an Apple Store exclusive. Much like the Classic Shell, it's a rubber case with a colored band running around the perimeter. The dimensions are pretty much identical between the two. There's something about this one we like more than the Classic Shell, but it's hard to put a finger on it. Perhaps it's that the somewhat-obnoxious orange band has been replaced by colors matching the various body shades of the case itself. Overall though, it's too pricy for what you get.
Plastic and rubber with a clear back, Itskins' Venum Reloaded ($40) drops the ball when it comes to the buttons. Similar to the setup of Ultra Hybrid, there's almost no physical distinction between the button coverage and the rest of the case. It's also relatively expensive, and the plastic border frame feels fragile.
Really more of a fashion case, Nitro Forged from Itskins costs a pretty penny at $70. Instead of rubber and plastic, it's a rubber skin with machined aluminum caps that attach at the top and bottom. Thankfully, it's an improvement over previous versions that required you to use an included screwdriver to install and remove the caps. Instead, it uses small plastic clips that can be put in and and by hand.
Next up from Itskins is Evolution ($40). A rubber core with a plastic frame, the case has some some curves that help make it feel slightly more organic. The big problem is that the screen actually rises above the edge of the case instead of the other way around. This means if you drop it, there's far more potential for damage to the display than with other cases.
Incipio makes so many cases that we can't expect great things out of every one. EDGE ($30) is a plastic slider, a style that's relatively rare these days. The smooth, matte-finish plastic splits into two pieces for both installation and docking purposes. While there's proper button coverage and a nice protective lip, we found the case to be too tight. It's a struggle to pull it off, especially the bottom cap.
A few grams heavier than the average of all the cases we tested, DualPro SHINE ($25+) is a solid contender from Incipio. It incorporates both plastic and rubber layers, although instead of being molded together, they're two distinct pieces. The rubber is rather thick, although it doesn't dampen the tactility of the buttons at all, and still provides acceptable access to the ports. The port openings are exactly the same as NGP's. We also checked out the standard DualPro ($18+), which has a matte finish. It's quite nice, but thicker than the NGP and without the mil-spec rating of the CandyShell.
The plastic layer fits into grooves in the rubber, helping it feel like a cohesive unit. We think the most polarizing thing about this case is its texture. Designed to look like brushed aluminum, it certainly doesn't feel it, and at least in our tests, that causes a certain level of cognitive dissonance. It's not a bad thing by any means, but overall, it just doesn't feel quite as nice as it looks.
Available from $15, Verus' Damda is actually a fine case, if card storage is important to you. The body is made of black rubber, with nice button protection and properly centered openings for the headphone port and microphone, Lightning port, and speaker. Attached to the back is a plastic compartment that adds both mass and depth. A plastic door slides open to reveal space for two, maybe three, credit cards. We initially found it a little hard to open, but with some cards in there it's easier while still being secure. This is more of a niche case than our pick.
Verus' Crystal Mixx ($8+) offers the same kind of transparent window as Spigen's Capsule, only with a different material and a rubber frame. The back on this one is plastic, which is one of the two downsides. In our experience with iPhone cases, clear plastic scuffs very easily and will show those scratches within a matter of days. This might not be so bad if the frame provided a better lip. Unfortunately, at 0.3 mm, it's one of the shortest we saw and could lead to problems if you drop your iPhone.
PureGear's Slim Shell Case ($25) is available in seven color combinations, including clear-on-clear. This one is hard plastic with a rubberized, but still rigid, frame. Metal button covers are a really nice addition, helping the case feel more premium. It's not going to offer as much protection as CandyShell, so it isn't a top pick, but this one's not a bad option at all.
One of the very first iPhone 6 cases to be publicly sold—we saw it as early as May 2014—Minisuit's Frost ($7) is an inexpensive TPU skin. While it does fit, there's almost no lip, and the holes along the bottom are uneven to the point of looking warped.
For the budget conscious, Monoprice has a handful of cases that offer respectable protection, but look and feel a bit cheaper than others on our list. TPU Case is a single piece of flexible plastic, and it only costs $6. The back of the case has a matte finish while the front lip is glossy, and in between, there are textured grips along the edge. All the ports and buttons line up properly. Our case arrived with a few small dings and scrapes on it, but nothing that's inexcusable for the price. Small differences in tolerances can have an effect on the fit of TPU cases. Whereas Incipio has proven itself over the years with NGP, because we don't know Monoprice's track record here, we're a bit reticent to recommend it. It's also lacking the air pockets in the corners that Spigen's Capsule has.
We checked out the TPU case from Insignia, a Best Buy brand, and it seems to be from the same OEM as Monoprice's TPU Case, but at a higher price of $15.
We don't like PC+TPU Protector Case ($7) quite as much, even though it does offer arguably more protection. This one splits into two pieces, with an inner skin of TPU and a polycarbonate shell that snaps into place over it. The case is fairly easy to assemble, but once it's together, it just feels big. It's both wider and thicker than CandyShell, without any obvious advantage other than price.
Rokform has long focused on ruggedized cases that can connect to an ecosystem of mounting accessories. Its Sport v3 ($39) is no exception. The plastic and rubber case comes with swappable magnetic backplates, allowing it to connect to various mounting brackets the company sells. Unfortunately, there's a dealbreaker listed in the instruction insert: "Magnet will disable NFC on phone." We'll test to see just what happens when Apple Pay launches in October.
OtterBox's Defender Series ($50+) is the bulkiest of the cases we've tested so far. This is the company's flagship case, the one most people associate with the brand. It's made up of a plastic frame that snaps around the handset and a thick rubber skin that covers the whole thing. Unlike most other cases, this includes flaps over the vibration control switch, cases, headphone port, and Lightning port—all good things for an extra level of protection. Button coverage is also included, but we found more force is required to depress the volume and power controls than with other cases.
This is also the only case we've tested with built-in screen protection in the form of a clear film integrated into the frame. Because there's a bit of space between the protector and the screen, very light presses and swipes might not register, which is a drawback. Below the display, the Touch ID/Home button is covered by a thin sheet of plastic that didn't hinder the experience in our testing. While the Apple logo is exposed, it's at least covered by clear film that prevents it from getting scratched. As an added bonus, Defender Series comes with a belt holster.
Commuter Series ($40+) is the next step down in terms of overall protection in the OtterBox family. Instead of plastic on the inside and rubber on the outside, the layers are reversed. There's still port coverage, but the switch on the iPhone's left side remains exposed. Thankfully, the buttons click much more easily. Rather than a permanent screen protector, OtterBox includes an optional film with the case. The Apple logo is once again exposed, with no plastic covering it. Other than the port protection, there are no obvious benefits to this case over CandyShell, and the size is a drawback that keeps this one from earning a high pick.
Symmetry Series ($40+) is a relatively recent addition to the OtterBox lineup and the slimmest of them all. It feels like a direct answer to CandyShell with its dual-layer design. This case offers the same level of protection as our top choice and a substantial lip. It's taller and wider though, at a higher price. The biggest benefit is that with a matte plastic back it won't show the scratches that CandyShell does.
Candy Clip Series, from Hard Candy Cases, is a pretty crazy proposition. For $30, you get a hard plastic X-shaped piece that snaps onto the back of the iPhone, covering its corners and some of the edges but leaving the buttons and most of the sides exposed. No thanks.
Besides CandyShell, Urban Armor Gear's Case ($30+) is the only other case we've tested to meet military drop test standards and it's excellent as a protective case, but its industrial aesthetic lacks the broad appeal of simpler designs like the Speck and Incipio. UAG also combines plastic and rubber, but instead of a glossy finish, it's matte, with an industrial aesthetic that appropriately matches the brand's name. With ridges and fake screws, it looks like something that would not be out of place on a construction site. We do take issues with the two small, rectangular holes on the back of the case. About a quarter of the way from the top or bottom, respectively, they expose part of the logo and the top half of "Phone" in iPhone. It's a strange design decision on an otherwise impressive case. On the other hand, it does come with a screen film, which most iPhone cases don't these days.
Tech21's entire product lineup is based around D3O, a licensed material the company uses in every one of its cases. Mostly used in the borders of its cases, the bright orange material is supposed to be soft when at rest, but automatically harden upon impact, dissipating the force, and ultimately preventing damage to your phone. The company really likes to show off the stuff; each of its cases is at least translucent, if not transparent, around the edges.
From Tech21, we tested Classic Shell ($35), Classic Shell with Cover ($40), and Classic Shell Flip. The first is the most basic, a glossy TPU skin that's wider than CandyShell, thanks to the layer of D3O. We'd like to see a bigger lip than this case offers, and the buttons are a bit squishier than we generally prefer. Classic Shell with Cover keeps the same frame, but replaces the TPU on the back with a hard plastic plate, attached to a cover to protect the iPhone's display. Everything else works the same as with the standard model, and the lid has a cutout over the earpiece so you can speak on the phone with it closed. Classic Shell Flip is essentially the same, only instead of plastic, there's leather (it appears to be the fake stuff) and the lid comes around from the bottom, not the side. We find lids to get in the way more than help, so neither of these models excite us, and the soft buttons and wider body of Classic Shell prevent it from getting a recommendation.
From iLuv, we received two cases for evaluation: Aurora Wave ($9) and Gelato ($15). The first is a simple silicone skin with a grid on the back that glows in the dark. In terms of body coverage, the case lives up to what we're looking for, but this design is a low degree of difficulty. As we've often found with cases of this style in the past, the vertical edges can pull away from the body of the phone more readily than with other cases, allowing dust and other particulates to get underneath. Gelato, on the other hand, is TPU with an attractive checkerboard pattern on the back. It looks and feels pretty good, but the .33mm lip is too short.
Poetic's Atmosphere ($13) is a thin case made of dual-molded polycarbonate plastic and TPU. The softer material rings the front edge, creating a small lip, and also runs over the antenna breaks on the back of the phone. While the transparent case initially seems like a nice option for those who want a slim protector but still want to show off their device, it falls short due to button protectors that require too much force to press.
Macally shipped us a handful of different cases, but two of them are styles we simply can't recommend. Both Metallic Snap-On Case ($9) and Flexible Protective Frame ($11) come in a variety of colors, but the former is a shell, and the latter is a bumper that protects the edges but leaves the scratchable back exposed. Durable Protective Case ($13), on the other hand, does offer more thorough protection, but unfortunately it's not an original design. A combination TPU skin and hard plastic frame, the case kind of looks like an armadillo from the back. We've already seen at least one other company offering the same case and we weren't impressed with that case's aggressive looks either.
New Trent's Alixo 6S ($22) isn't necessarily the prettiest case around, but it is one of the more original designs we've seen in the pile. It's a two-piece case comprised of a front frame (black- and white-rimmed versions are included in the package) and a silicone rubber and plastic back. Snap the phone into your choice of frame, and then insert it into the back piece, which includes flip-open port protectors. The amount of protection this one offers for the price is impressive, including a built-in screen film and Touch ID coverage–which turns out to be the biggest downside. Although the fingerprint sensor does work with the thin material over it, we found it to be less reliable, requiring more attempts to unlock the device.
Marblue's ToughTek ($25) is a thick silicone rubber case that comes with a screen protector. While we don't doubt this thing is going to be be able to deal with some significant drops, the case is huge — 3 inches wide, 5.8 inches tall, and 0.6 inches deep — and particularly tough to get in and out of tight pockets due to the grippy material. It may not be a bad option if you're handing your iPhone 6 to the kids.
Elite ($30), also from Marblue, takes its inspiration from CandyShell, while incorporating an Aztec-like pattern. The plastic and rubber layers intersect in a pattern of horizontal and vertical lines, with the latter material sticking up above the hard plastic. The most intriguing part of this case is the pair of inch-long ridges, one on either side. They're made to work with a realm of accessories, including a belt-clip. We'll be keeping an eye out for these accessories, and see if they boost the value of the case.
We had high hopes for Spigen's Capella. With most of the colors costing about $16, it's setup is very similar to CandyShell's, with rubber on the inside and plastic on the outside. The big difference, and the reason we were excited, is it's much slimmer, measuring about 2mm thinner from front to back. Part of this comes from the smaller, half-millimeter lip around the screen. One of our editors loves the slight the way the case's slight curve feels, comparing it to the iPhone 3G. Based on the feedback we've seen from readers and Amazon reviewers, many people don't like that shape as much as we do.
Although the Capella isn't as deep as the Candyshell, it is a bit taller, and about 3mm wider. This ends up being problematic for two reasons, one on either edge. The switch on the iPhone's left side is much harder to toggle, as it's deeply recessed inside the rubber border. If you don't have nails, it's going to be tough to move it back and forth. On the other side, the Sleep/Wake button requires a surprising amount of pressure to activate. For those willing to deal with those drawbacks, Capella is otherwise worth considering as a CandyShell alternative.
With its $15 Revolution, Poetic is looking to compete with companies such as OtterBox at a much lower price point. The case starts with a plastic frame that snaps onto the front onto the iPhones face; a clear sheet of plastic protects the screen while leaving the sensors at the top and the Touch ID button at the bottom exposed. A rubber and plastic body fits around to back, snapping into place with the front piece. It feels quite sturdy, the buttons click well, and the a flap over the Lightning port is a nice bit of extra protection.
For $23 to $25, Supcase's Unicorn Beetle Pro Holster is a very similar proposition. The biggest difference is that it comes with a plastic belt holster. Roughly the same dimensions as Revolution, the installation is pretty much the same. This one adds a few flaps for coverage, namely over the side switch and headphone port in addition to the Lightning port. While it's a really solid feeling case, the company's claim of it being dust proof are immediately called into questions, as there openings for dust to get in, including the fully-exposed speaker. Amazon users are generally fond of it, with 127 reviews and a 4.1 star rating, but there are quite a few four- and three-star reviews.
Relative newcomer Supcase has a number of iPhone 6 cases, most of which are part of the "Unicorn Beetle" family. Slim Armored Protective Case ($15+) is a lot like Urban Armor Gear's case, in that it's protective, but the design is rather specific, meaning it likely won't appeal to the same wide swath of people as something a bit more generic. The plastic and rubber case feels sturdy, and has some of the clickiest buttons of any we tested. As for the lip, it's only about 0.5mm, so smaller than we'd otherwise like, and there are no mil-spec claims. If you like the look, it's not a bad choice otherwise.
Supcase also has Hybird Clear Bumper Case ($15+), combining a clear plastic backplate with a TPU bumper. That polycarbonate back isn't going to absorb as much shock as the thick rubber border, but it's a good way to show off Apple's design.
SwitchEasy has a very mixed history, one which makes it difficult to tell the full story based on its cases alone. Its Numbers case was our original pick for the iPhone 5/5s, before a wave of reader complaints about quality and customer service. The answers we got from SwitchEasy weren't thorough. Mostly, it blamed the problems on third-parties selling knockoffs of its products. At iLounge, I found the protectors to generally be impressive — Numbers earned a rare A rating — but readers there contacted me about similar issues. Ultimately, we pulled our recommendation.
With that in mind, we took a look at two SwitchEasy iPhone 6 cases, plus a third that we can't fully evaluate yet, as it arrived with a note informing us it's "not the final production product."
The first is Odyssey ($20). Like some of the better cases we've evaluated, it's a combination of plastic and rubber. Instead of being layered, the materials run side by side, with the hardened rubber making up the majority of the case. It's not the prettiest case, in our opinion, but it is protective. The buttons are covered without losing much of their clickiness, and six holes along the bottom line up precisely with the speaker vents. Our favorite part of the case is the port protection. Rubber protectors fit into the headphone and Lightning ports, respectively, when they're not in use, keeping dust and other debris out.
SwitchEasy's Tones ($20) includes the same port protection, and uses the same materials. The body is mostly plastic though, with the rubber running around the edges as a border, and across the back of the case, matching the iPhone's antenna lines. We'd prefer a layer of rubber between the handset and the plastic back of the case, and the Sleep/Wake button requires a bit too much pressure on the handful of units we tested.
Our initial impressions of Numbers ($20) are very positive, but because we don't have final, review-ready cases in hand, we can't offer a complete evaluation. Rather than recommending any of these SwitchEasy cases yet, we're going to continue to test them, and monitor user reviews. If the company's earlier problems seem to have been cleared up, our opinion may change. In the meantime, if you do decide to purchase a SwitchEasy case, we recommend purchasing directly through the company's website. This will eliminate any potential issues with third-party sellers, real or not. However, we can report that after just one night in a jean pocket, the yellow version accumulated unremovable stains, which doesn't bode well.
No other case we tested is set up the same way as Maxboost's $10 DuraShield Series. Like many, it uses both rubber and plastic components. On this one, the rubber is a bumper that wraps around the iPhone's border, and the plastic snaps in place over it while covering the back of the handset. Despite the unusual design — or perhaps because of it — the case offers superior protection compared to many we've seen. There's a 1mm lip, plus speaker and Lightning port protection. The audio ports are redirected forward, meaning the sound comes at you, instead of down. There's no impact on audio quality, thankfully. As for the Lightning port, it's protected by a rubber tab that flips out when you need access.
Very few case manufacturers actively warn that their product doesn't offer drop protection, but just such a message is displayed in red letters on the Amazon listing for Maxboost's Liquid Skin ($9). Extremely thin, the case is made of transparent TPU, adding almost no bulk to the handset, not even a protective lip. It's better than a shell because there's button protection and cutouts for the ports, even if they are quite tight. But with such a warning from the case-maker itself, we can't recommend the Liquid Skin for most people. If you're going to use a case, it's worth using something that'll stand up to a drop.
Maxboost's Crystal Cushion ($11) and i-Blason's Halo Series ($15) are almost identical to one another, and actually may be small tweaks on the same reference design. Both have rubber frames — the Halo Series offers six colors, plus clear — with transparent plastic backplates. The Maxboost case's edges are more squared-off, while the i-Blason's are rounder. They both offer good body coverage and responsive buttons, but the lip around the screen is almost nonexistent, especially on the Halo Series case. Combine that with the tendency for clear plastic cases to easily scratch and expose trapped dust underneath, and these aren't top picks.
Maxboost's HyperPro Series is, for all intents and purposes, a thicker version of the NGP. Available only in black, it uses two layers of TPU to protect the iPhone, and measures 10.2mm thick; it's also wider and taller than our pick. The buttons press well and there's a protective lip, but there's no real benefit to this case over the NGP, other than savings of just a few dollars.
One of just a few slider-style cases out there, Maxboost's $15 Vibrance Series offers a different build than most of the cases we tested. A hard plastic case, it splits into two pieces, both lined with a soft fabric along the back. This is to prevent damage during installation and removal. Instead of pushing the phone into the case, you pull off the bottom cap, and slide the phone into the top, then push the pieces back together. Much like the Harbour, this kind of design allows you to keep the iPhone thoroughly protected most of the time, and plug into docks when necessary. The lip is somewhat short though, and it's harder to pull off the bottom cap than it is to flip up Harbour's bottom. There's also only one color choice, salmon with a gold cap, which may not appeal to as many people as more basic colors would.
Those who find the CandyShell to be too large won't be impressed with Speck's MightyShell ($50), which is available in black, orange, purple, pink, and clear variations. There are a few key differences with this one. First is the extra layer of TPU material that helps absorb shocks to a greater degree. It adds 2mm in both width and height, as well as 0.5mm to the thickness of the case. Speck claims the new setup "double MIL-STD-810G drop test standards," although it's not clear if that means the case is tested to survive drops from twice as high, or can stand up to the the standard four-foot drops twice as many times. One aspect of the case we really appreciate is the hard plastic exterior, which is matte instead of glossy. It's not going to show scratches nearly as readily as the standard CandyShell. For the high price, we expect more than just claims of better drop protection; the circumstances in which this case will survive but a CandyShell wouldn't are too ambiguous to justify the price.
We dismissed a number of cases that were sent to us right off the bat. Spigen's Slim Armor ($16+), Slim Armor S ($16+), Tough Armor ($17+), and Tough Armor S ($20+), along with Verus' Thor ($13+), Iron Shield ($16+), and Dandy Diary ($16), and PureGear's DualTek ($32+) were all cut because of Apple logo-exposing holes on the back. They do a decent job of protecting your phone otherwise, but there's no reason to recommend them for most people when hole-free options exist that are as good or better.
We also dismissed a number of shell cases because, as mentioned above, they provide a minimal amount of coverage for the device's body. Among these were Aluminum Fit ($13+), Thin Fit ($7+), and Thin Fit A ($10+) from Spigen. The same goes for Neo Hybrid EX ($18+), Spigen's bumper case, which offers even less protection.
Wrapping it up
There are a lot of good choices when it comes to the early batch of iPhone 6 cases, but the best pick is the NGP. Protective without sacrificing aesthetics or thinness, it's going to be the case to beat going forward. We'll continue to test it over the long term and see how it fares as newer cases are released.
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Originally published: September 25, 2014


text:
Galician photojournalist based O Carballiño, Ourense. Galicia.
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