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Posts by Steve Parks
Speaker: Compulsory voting and election turnout, in reply to
Can't we just be pragmatic about this too?
That's precisely what I was trying to do.
No, I meant about some prisoners not being able to vote. Your challenge to me was "where do we draw the line?"
Well, why not at a certain length of sentence, or certain types of convictions , or some combination of both?
It's arbitrary, yes, but it has a rationale, and that rationale is pragmatism…
Speaker: Compulsory voting and election turnout, in reply to
Like what? Where do we draw the line?
Where do we draw the line in terms of voting age? Can't we just be pragmatic about this too?
Speaker: Compulsory voting and election turnout, in reply to
Chris, about go to bed (i.e. fall asleep at keyboard), but short answer for now - do you think Anders Breivik should be able to vote?
Speaker: Compulsory voting and election turnout, in reply to
"Why 16, and why only prisoners rather than all disqualified persons?"
The idea of lowering the voting age to 16 was in the news recentishly, and then there's the Scotland referendum on independence, in which 16-year-olds could vote.
I think we should lower the voting age – as I said above, this is their society too. And many 16 and 17 year olds are as capable of making informed decisions as many people older than that, and 16 seems like a reasonable goal.
However, if you think that the voting age should be lowered, you need to pick an age that has a hope of getting wide acceptance. So 16 seems pragmatic – let's try for 16 for now.
As to the second part of your question: again, prisoner voting rights (or lack of) have been in the news recently; I'm lazy.
So who are the people currently not allowed to vote that you think should be able to?
Speaker: Compulsory voting and election turnout, in reply to
"Well that, except for the (or most) bit, I certainly agree with."
I'm ambivalent about the most serious of criminal offenders being able to vote.
I absolutely think most people in prison should be able to vote because they're part of our society and will be affected by the policies (and will have been affected by the policies) of the people we as a society elect to govern. Essentially, it's their society too.
However, I'm not completely against the idea that a person could commit violations against other members of our society that are so bad that we not only remove them from the general public for most/all of their remaining life but we also say it would be perverse for that person to be able to vote while their victims cannot.
Speaker: Compulsory voting and election turnout, in reply to
People hate jury duty – compelling people to vote will only make them feel about it like they do about jury duty.
This is not a good comparison. Ben Wilson addressed this on page 2.
I don't have much further to add to what's been covered by Alex MacKenzie's blogpost and things covered by Haywood, Wilson and Moz and others since. I guess we should all stop referring to it as compulsory voting, since it is not that. 'Compulsory participation' maybe?
Digressing a bit: I also think that the voting age should be lowered to 16, and that all (or most) prisoners should be able to vote.
Hard News: The sole party of government, in reply to
"The absurdity of it is that the Greens are barely more left than Labour."
I would say they were to the right of Labour, in a traditional sense, because the power behind the Greens are the children of the comfortable middle classes that have the time to care about the subjective, whereas traditional Labour supporters are the struggling poor and the exploited workers. Its a Class thing.
Yeah that could be fair, in the sense that you mean. I was thinking of it more in terms of a lining each party's policies up against each other kind of way – tick box politics if you will.
(Not sure what you mean by "have the time to care about the subjective".)
Hard News: The sole party of government, in reply to
"Dad just died!"
"Oh dear, do you you need me to contact a funeral director?"
"No, a real estate agent, we only have ninety days to sell the house!"Ok, I know that it won't really be like that, as it would have to date from probate being granted at the earliest. And, unless the timeframe is really generous like 12-18 months, it makes whether or not you pay CGT at the whim of the property market in your time and location. Doer-uppers in Lumsden are probably slow to sell.
As I understand it it is two years in Australia. That would be fine. As I said, Cunliffe's comment about 90 days, or one month or whatever, was poor. He, they, really needed a more detailed understanding of their own tax policy given that it was a *new tax policy* and a key difference between National and Labour and bound to come under scrutiny. It's not like they don't have a lot of models around the world they can look to, and it's not like they weren't already planning a CGT in their previous campaign.
Building the case for "why I very strongly considered voting for Labour, but then didn't" is fairly easy. There's the problem, I guess.
*problems the left faced. Edit window ran out.
Hard News: The sole party of government, in reply to
What's your take on why they lost it Steve, or why they didn't win?
Well that's a big question, I think Jack got it about right back on page 7:
The tax cuts they did were financed on our nations credit card. The modest tax hikes suggested are needed to cover our needed spending and because the original tax cuts are a drain on our economy. Cutting taxes in a recession for your core base is good politics, but fucking disastrous for our national accounts.
I don't think this issue won them office in 2014. They won because they simplified the choice, socialist p.c nutters versus nice John. How they simplified it that way is a topic for much discussion.
There'll be variations on epithets for the Left: socialist p.c. nutters to some, disorganised rabble to others, and for others it will be that they just don't trust that smarmy guy who sometimes says some odd shit and many in his party don't like.
And Dotcom, of course.
And I say this one with hindsight: the timing of the release of Hager's book (should have been earlier).
All of that kind of thing was on one side. On the other: John Key. Perceived by many a centrist 'swing' voter as: nice, or competent, or down to earth, or moderate (he's kept National from becoming too right wing, I have been told by a traditional Labour voter, so he doesn't need to vote Labour at this stage and risk those Greens coming in and ruining the economy*).
So basically, many many people like or even love certain things about the left parties – certain policy ideas, or even a particular party. But the overall framing is that with the left you can't get the good without the bad. The left lot have no John Key to keep us all safe from the excesses. So they look back to the right and see actual John Key and a government who they perceive has run a country kinda-sorta-pretty okayish despite some bad luck (earthquakes, world economic downturn) and as Craig suggested earlier, they get all small c conservative and vote for consistency.
And all the hullabaloo around dirty politics and spying and whatnot so close to an election just reinforced that they should vote positive. And vote positive, for many many people, was a vote to the nice, moderate, down to earth relaxed guy who has it all under control.
I also thought this commentary by the International Socialist Organisation was very useful.
(Although apparently Danyl McLauchlan thinks that giving this consideration is part of the problem.)
And this from Nandor.
* That anecdote is just one example of the problems he left faced. Traditional Labour voter with utterly irrational fears that the Greens just aren't a credible governing party, because ... printing money, or socialism, or something. To him, the Green Party are a niche party that doesn't get to seriously share power. That's just one attack line that's been used against the Greens, and supported to a degree by the systematic bias of the media. The absurdity of it is that the Grens are barely more left than Labour.


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Weight may be on the RS4's side--and, yes, it does feel strange saying that in the context of a 3771-pound vehicle--but it takes a walloping when it comes to standing starts. All-wheel-drive traction on a dry surface isn't much of a benefit in these disciplines, and whichever way you approach the manufacturer-supplied figures, the RS4 just isn't as fast as the M5 and the worryingly cogent E63. Even so, 0 to 62 mph in 5.0 seconds means this is a very fast car. But the BMW's mark of 4.8 seconds belongs in an even more grown-up paddock. And the next time a Porsche 911 driver considers tangling with an E63, he would do well to remember that the driver of this particular family holdall has access to 4.6-second 0-to-62-mph runs at the stretch of a right leg. Simply shift into D, depress the accelerator, and go. The first time I floored the E63, I had to stop, get out, remind myself it really was a wagon presenting such potency, and then resume. Performance of this magnitude deployed in a humble wagon feels wonderfully irresponsible in a way 507 hp housed in something low and penile never could. Loading it with people and junk and then finding out what lurks in front of that gearbox is like discovering that your grandma is a crack addict.
Keep to the straightaways in the Benz, and it will make you question the other cars' claims to ultimate-wagon status. Being the similar pair in size, and archrival brands to boot, the E63 and the M5 have a grudge match to settle. And, for all the BMW's undoubted provenance, the E63's brutal simplicity exposes the M5 at first. The E63 is a devastating plug-and-go device, its engine sounds fantastic, its cabin is intuitive, its body is easily the most practical, and it looks plain dangerous.
Whereas the Merc's performance arrives virtually unannounced, you have to extract the big numbers from the M5. Its V-10 needs more working than the Mercedes V-8, but beyond 5000 rpm it summons an urgency that no other Labrador-lugger could hope to match. Each time I shifted from second to third at 8000 rpm and watched the head-up speedometer click into triple digits, I completely forgot that I was driving a large wagon, because the very nature of the experience, not to mention the thrust on offer, didn't tally with the car's body style.
Unsurprisingly, the M5 is very good at going fast. Its spring and damper rates are better tuned to the rigidity of its body shell than are the E63's--at road speeds, it feels the same as an M5 sedan, which is quite an achievement. Such composure sat well with Boz, who gave the car high marks for ride comfort but found the chrome load fasteners rather cold on his behind. Priceless feedback, as ever.
The Mercedes is noticeably oversprung and overdamped: the primary ride is as good as the BMW's, making it as comfortable at freeway speeds, but jagged edges harshly ping through the E63's cabin, while the M5 smooshes them under its Michelins. And this is with the softest of the three available damper settings. Boz was unimpressed with the general jiggle out back, but he enjoyed the spacious surroundings. The M5 also steers better with its faster, more direct rack.

subset: commoncrawl


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Nastassya Burnett Cheering Thread
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Jul 12th, 2013, 01:29 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 10,776
Re: Nastassya Burnett Cheering Thread
Originally Posted by
I don't understand what she's saying but she has a feminine air about her which is rather disarming.
Originally Posted by
she is a HUUUUUGE bitch, we are going to have fun if she is going to be a popular tennis player, in the 1st video she bitched during all the interview she was tired, it was late, she wanted to go to sleep, in fact the poor guy let her go after the 2nd question..
in the 2nd video she is soooo hot with her wet hair
But she's so charming when she says it...
She does look good with wet hair, but her hair is wet in both vids, one because of sweat, the other because she has had a shower.
I think that in English we would maybe say she's a bit of a moaner, likes to moan and complain about stuff, being a bitch would require her to be more mean, for instance Nastya Rodionova might qualify for that label, but Nastassya would not, I think. Not on what I've seen so far anyway. I suppose you could say she likes to bitch about stuff. Being a bitch is slightly different, means that she is nasty and mean, not just having a tendency to complain about things.
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Posted on July 26, 2013 – 2:49 pm | Author: Susan Lulgjuraj Beckett Updates, News Categories, Pop Culture News | Marvel Comics, Nick Fury, Rittenhouse Archives, SciFi Hobby, Sgt. Fury, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandoes | Comments (0)
Rittenhouse Archives is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original comic with a premium set.
Posted on July 20, 2011 – 2:32 pm | Author: tolentinotown Non-Sports | Avengers: Kree-Skrull War, Captain America, Comics, Iron Man, Kree-Skrull war, Marvel, Marvel Entertainment, Nick Fury, Sacrifice, Sean McKeever, The Avengers, The Scarlet Witch, THOR, Upper Deck, Vision | Comments (1)
Riding the wave of recently released (and soon to release) Marvel blockbusters, Upper Deck is causing a collision between comic books and trading cards.


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Fear not, you won't be bored: We've got you covered. Here's a gaming and app guide that offers all you need to pass the time. Light a fire in the fireplace (or put on that old Yule Log DVD with the sound down) and settle in for a couple of days of relaxation courtesy of Mother Nature. If you aren't on the east coast, call in sick, turn up your air conditioning, make some cocoa, and pretend you're snowed in.
[ What are the best videogames this year? Read Video Games Of 2015: 10 Hot Releases To Watch. ]
Before you lose power, don't do any mobile gaming. You'll use up your lives or get bored of the game. Stick to your PC or console with these games. Here are some good ones for the snowbound.
Hearthstone -- One of the most highly rated collectable card games ever online. Hearthstone is a tactical CCG set in the World of Warcraft universe. Unlike many online CCGs that rely on an automated set of rules, you can aim your cards at specific enemies (within a set of capabilities). It removes much of the luck and places a premium on skill. Here's a (long) demo of a game:
To be honest, I'm not a fan of the game. I was excited about it, and even joined the early beta testing. I found the game repetitive, and the sound effects (as you can tell from the video) annoying. But the repetition takes a few days to kick in, so if you are new to it, it is a totally great couple of days. Also, if you haven't caught the joke from the World of Warcraft reference, the people who make the game call themselves … wait for it … Blizzard.
Mario and Sonic at the Sochi Winter Games -- Why just look out the window at the snow? You could imagine skiing down a mountain or bobsledding at breakneck speeds. And why not do it with Mario, Princess Peach, and all of your favorite Nintendo characters? I mean, just the humor of watching Donkey Kong figure skating ought to get you through a few hours.
Tropico 5 -- When you're finished with shoveling your car out of a snowdrift, you probably want to dream of being on a warm tropical island. Why not run the warm tropical island? Tropico 5 allows you to be the dictator of a small Caribbean island. You can exploit the island's labor in sweatshops to get back at your boss for trying to make you work in this weather. Or, you can build a beautiful tourist industry so you can imagine lying on the warm beach far from the snow.
Survive coups, make your enemies "disappear," or run a benevolent dictatorship where you make everyone as happy as possible. Your choice. This is one of the best "builder" games ever made. And, if you need more or are on a budget, try Tropico 4. The graphics are less good, but the game play is probably even a little better.
No more electricity? You still have your smartphone. Hearthstone has a mobile app, and here are some mobile games to try.
Disney's Frozen Freefall -- Tired of Candy Crush Saga, but not tired of "Let It Go"? Try this Candy Crush clone and imagine the snow outside was made by a fairy tale princess. And, if you get tired of the ice, you can always imagine what happens "In Summer."
Spaceteam -- If you've got a friend over, Spaceteam is the way to find out if they are friends for life or you if should immediately unfollow them on Twitter. I'm serious. Marriages have probably broken up over Spaceteam. The game is fiendishly simple and impossible not to love. You connect devices over WiFi (or, in the case of a power outage, via Bluetooth). Each device is given a console with buttons, knobs, and switches on it. You will then be given a series of silly commands like "defrag the hard drive" or "set tachyon field to 4." Only one device has the ability to do each thing.
You will be inundated with commands, and the team must follow each one or the ship will be destroyed. The catch is that not all of the commands show up on all of the devices, so you have to shout them to each other. You have a limited time to follow the command or the ship takes damage. The fun starts when your friends start yelling at you to repolarize the warp drive and you get to yell back that they have the button to do it. Trust me, it is more fun than it sounds. They really should have called it "Chaos with Friends." Skip to the last minute of this video to see what I mean. [Warning: mild adult language.]
Goat Simulator -- If you haven't caught on to this phenomenon yet, you're in for a treat. Goat simulator is exactly what it says it is. You play a goat. You eat stuff. You ruin as much stuff as possible. The developers say it is like an old-school skating game. It reminds me more of the old Japanese classic Katamari Damacy. If you've never played Katamari Damacy, add that to your list of games to play before the power goes out. Want to have a sense of the attitude of the Goat Simulator developers? This is what they say about their own game in the app store: "Goat Simulator is a completely stupid game and, to be honest, you should probably spend your money on something else, such as a hula hoop, or a pile of bricks, or maybe pool your money together with friends and buy a real goat."
Board games are fun, especially by candlelight. Here are two you may not have heard of that are probably available if you run out really fast before the snow hits:
Machi Koro -- A quick, 30-minute game that is a little too reliant on dice, but is made beautifully with very nice art. You are the mayor of a city that only has a bakery and a field of grain. Your people want places to work, eat, and play. Build them amusement parks, radio stations, and convenience stores before someone else does, so you can keep your cushy job as mayor. A quick game to learn, and even non-gamers will like it.
Tzolk'in -- If you got more snow, Tzolk'in is the game for you. It is a three- to four-hour game (two hours if everyone knows how to play). It is one of those games where, when you play it the first time, and you get to the end, you realize all the stuff you did wrong. Then you want to play it again right away. Then you play it again and realize that you've overcompensated and need to play it a third time. Twelve hours later, you are ready to go to bed and dream about it. The coolest part about the game is the special gear system that moves your people around as if they were on a little carousel. They represent the calendar, and as the gears spin, your little people can get crushed on the gears of time if you aren't careful. Build farms, mines, and temples to please the gods. Watch the people go around, and don't anger the gods!
Of course, you can always go out and play in the snow. But if the idea of the cold makes you want to crawl under a quilt and sip some chicken soup, we recommend one of these options instead.
What do you do when you're stuck in the house? What are your favorite snowy-weather activities? Tell us in the comments section below.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>Cablevision Systems Corporation will begin offering a low-cost WiFi-based smartphone service next month that aims to take advantage of the popularity and ubiquity of WiFi hotspots.
Freewheel, announced Monday, will be available starting in February for $30 per month, or $10 per month for Cablevision Optimum Online customers. Cablevision claims that, for its existing customers, the pricing of its phone service is about 80% less than than the cost of a $60-per-month Single Line Plan with 2GB of data from Verizon Wireless, and 50% less for new customers.
The service, initially available exclusively on the Motorola Moto G smartphone, provides subscribers in the New York metropolitan area with unlimited data, talk, and text through Cablevision's network of 1.1 million Optimum WiFi Hotspots and other open network access points.
Freewheel customers outside this region will have to seek out accessible WiFi nodes to send or receive calls or messages; cellular coverage won't matter. Cablevision suggests the service is best for people who:
Cable providers have been losing video subscribers to phone companies and satellite TV providers. In November 2014, Cablevision reported that it lost 56,000 video customers, 23,000 broadband customers, and 33,000 voice customers, compared to its Q3 2013. In November, Leichtman Research Group said the top pay-TV providers lost about 150,000 video customers during Q3 2014, compared to 25,000 during the same period a year earlier.
For many cable companies, the hope is to gain more broadband customers, which they have been doing. Cablevision has been building up its network of WiFi hotspots as a way to win customers away from telecom providers. And other cable providers like Comcast appear likely to pursue a similar plan.
According to Cisco, in the Unites States, 93% of all traffic associated with mobile and portable devices in 2013 was Wi-Fi and 7% was cellular. Further, of the 93% of traffic that was Wi-Fi, 8.7% was due to offload from country's mobile/cellular networks.
[ Check out what Google has planned for its new wireless service. Read Google's Wireless Service Taps WiFi and Cellular. ]
Adding further pressure on telecom companies, Google is reportedly preparing to launch a mobile service that utilizes the cellular networks of both T-Mobile and Sprint, as well as WiFi hotspots. Google already offers speedy fiber optic Internet service in a few markets and is experimenting with other forms of network access like Project Loon.
There's growing competition for customers willing to rely on WiFi as a route to affordable communications services. Republic Wireless, a mobile carrier, offers unlimited talk, text, and data over WiFi for only $5 per month. It also offers slightly more expensive plans with cellular network access. Then there's Scratch Wireless, where the primary cost is the phone ($99). Free voice, data, and texting over WiFi can be augmented with daily or monthly cellular network passes, for times when WiFi isn't available.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>Apple will likely announce a shift among its top iPhone markets during its earnings call on Jan. 27. Industry experts claim that iPhone sales have been higher in China than in the US, marking a historical turning point for the tech giant and the smartphone market.
UBS analysts estimate that during the most recent quarter, China seized 36% of iPhone shipments while the US accounted for 24%. It's a significant change from just one year ago, when the US purchased 29% of iPhones and China purchased 22% during the same time period, according to the Financial Times.
China became the dominant force in the smartphone market back in 2011, when shipments reached 23.9 million units, as reported by CNET. Now it boasts almost 520 million smartphone users. The playing field for smartphone vendors has been rocky in recent months, as Samsung profits have fallen and inexpensive competitor Xiaomi has gained market share.
China's iPhone sales escalated last year when Apple struck a deal with China Mobile, its largest network operator, which provided the opportunity to reach more than 800 million subscribers. Growth continued to expand after China's October release of the iPhone 6. Apple's Tim Cook predicted in 2013 that China would eventually surpass the US as the largest iPhone market. Now, it seems his prediction is becoming reality.
Ben Bajarin, analyst at Creative Strategies, estimates that China's iPhone sales exceeded those in the US by about 2 million during the most recent quarter. He spoke to even greater potential for iPhone growth in coming months, with customer loyalty fueled by the China launch of Apple's new watch.
"It's already been a good year, building up to the climax of this quarter," Bajarin said in an interview with the Financial Times. "It leads to a lot more optimism for China … Their potential headroom in China is higher than it is here [in the US]."
[Flashback: The first transcontinental phone call was 100 years ago.]
Despite its great potential, Apple is likely to face challenges as it seeks to capture more of the market. Obstacles will come in the form of new competition and conflict with the Chinese government. Before the latest iPhone was released in China, it was subject to a regulatory review process that took almost a month to complete.
While China may be the largest market for Apple, it should be noted that Apple is not the largest smartphone vendor in China. Low-cost products, most of which run Android software, continue to dominate the Chinese market.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
We're marking the 100th anniversary of the first transcontinental phone call this week. If you missed our celebration of the call itself, please check out InformationWeek's picture gallery highlighting the call and the history of the phone, one of the most fundamental business tools in the enterprise.
That got us thinking. What other technologies will survive and adapt as well as the phone has? What technologies are coming to the end of their life cycles? We're putting some major technologies to the test of surviving another hundred years.
The phone's survival and adaptation over 100 years from simple communication device to handheld computer is a tribute to the brilliance of the invention. It also indicates humanity's innate need to communicate, even across great distances, even if we're reducing that communication to increasingly shorter text messages.
Before we get to those other technologies, can I simply point out the irony of the text message? Bell invented the telephone so we could hear each other's real voices instead of sending short, clipped messaged via telegram. For over 75 years, we have long intimate conversations on this device. Now we take the smartphone, the most powerful communication device ever invented, and turn it into a glorified telegraph machine sending shorter messages than Western Union. Seriously?
Is usage like that threatening the life of the phone? Are other changes in society making other technology obsolete? In the 1970s would you have believed that the phonograph, a contemporary invention to the phone, would have all but disappeared? Would you have believed you'd be telling your kids what a record was?
Not all technology survives. Sometimes there is a paradigm shift that wipes an invention from common use. Take gunpowder reducing the bow and sword to things you see at the Renaissance Faire. Some have survived for centuries like the wheel or paper.
A century is a long time in the lifetime of an invention. Just think. Since Bell made that call from New York to San Francisco, his phone went from something requiring living operators to connect people to rotary and touch-tone phones, to wireless and cellular, up to our current smartphones, which are personal computers in our pockets that take pictures and everything. Some technologies adapt. Others die.
So I thought I'd go through some of the most fundamental technology, old and new, in the enterprise today and see if I think it will last another 100 years. Seeing a couple years into the future is hard enough. Trying to see to 2115 is impossible. Remember it was only a little over 60 years between the Wright Brothers and landing a man on the moon. But heck, I'll give it a shot.
Check out the slideshow to see what I think survives and what doesn't. Then comment on what you think I got right and wrong.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>Google has inked deals with Sprint and T-Mobile for its forthcoming wireless service, which may rely more heavily on WiFi than previously thought. The service will make use of both cellular and WiFi, connecting to whichever offers the stronger signal. Google's tactic may turn wireless network operators' business models upside down.
Google's wireless service will automatically hunt down the best connection, whether it be cellular or WiFi, according to the Wall Street Journal. Google, which already operates a significant number of hotspots around the country (think Starbucks), has fiber rolled out to a handful of metro areas across the country will probably ink WiFi roaming deals with aggregators to expand its reach.
Google's service will likely launch during the first half of the year and be available from coast to coast, according to the Journal. The idea isn't to cut prices, but rather to challenge consumers' reliance on the national wireless network operators. That could spell trouble for companies like AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
[Chinese smartphone makers are giving Samsung a run for its money. Read Samsung Smartphones Lose Ground In 2014.]
Cablevision preempted Google on Monday by announcing FreeWheel, its own WiFi-based wireless service. Cablevision is betting consumers will be willing to pay $30 per month for unlimited calling, messaging, and data through its network of 1.1 million WiFi hotspots in and around New York City. The service will be compatible with the Motorola Moto G smartphone, which Cablevision will sell for $99. Further, Cablevision's existing Optimum Online customers will be able to snag the service for $10 per month -- that's about as affordable as it gets for wireless service. Available beginning in February, Cablevision's FreeWheel won't fall back on cellular when WiFi isn't available, however; it is limited to WiFi only.
Google's angle is different from Cablevision's, but it isn't the first to try the WiFi-and-cellular model. Republic Wireless and FreedomPop have offered WiFi-centric services for a year or more. Both allow customers to make calls, send messages, and browse the Web via open WiFi hotspots for low monthly fees. Both fall back on cellular service when WiFi isn't available -- but cellular access can increase monthly fees. FreedomPop has plans costing as low as $5 per month. There's no word yet on what Google might charge, but it's safe to say it'll be less than what wireless network operators charge.
The big four national carriers offer a variety of plans, but the average postpaid plan costs $60 or more per month for unlimited calling, messaging, and a healthy amount of LTE 4G. Prepaid plans are available for less, though the selection of handsets isn't as good and data allotments aren't always as generous.
Google has long pushed for broader availability of speedy WiFi and recently petitioned the FCC to open huge swaths of spectrum for WiFi use. Several years ago, Google participated heavily to catalog "white space" spectrum (the open airwaves in between television channels) and has gear to help devices find and access those airwaves.
Carriers have spent tens of billions of dollars to create their cellular networks. Google is banking on the low cost of unlicensed access to deliver similar benefits without investing vast sums of money. Republic Wireless and FreedomPop, which face marketing challenges, have between them fewer than 2 million customers. If Google is able to offer a more seamless experience -- with cellular fallback -- it could win over far more subscribers. This will have a significant impact on how people connect their mobile devices to the Internet, which is exactly what Google wants to do.
Apps will make or break the tablet as a work device, but don't shortchange critical factors related to hardware, security, peripherals, and integration. Get the Tablets For Business issue of InformationWeek Tech Digest today. (Free registration required.)
]]>The project's champion, John Halamka, is one of the best-known figures in health information technology. He's the CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a full professor at Harvard Medical School, the chairman of the New England Health Electronic Data Interchange Network (NEHEN), co-chair of the HIT Standards Committee, and a practicing emergency physician. Under his leadership, in 2012 Beth Israel Deaconess was the No. 1 company in InformationWeek's innovation ranking. His Life as a Healthcare CIO blog is a "must read" for any serious follower of the health IT landscape. As if that weren't enough, he is also an active farmer who raises various species of animals and grows multiple crops at Unity Farm in rural Sherborn, Mass. (See photo below.)
Last month, Halamka announced the Argonaut Project, which essentially proposes to use an expansion of the rapidly emerging Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) data-exchange standard to replace the Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (CCDA) -- the complex (some would say overly complex) set of XML-formatted clinical documents worked out over a number of years by the HL7 standards body (FHIR is also part of HL7). I'm a strong proponent of FHIR, and I've seen just how challenging CDA is, even for my talented Georgia Tech graduate students, so I could hardly wait to talk to John about this exciting project.
MB: John, as an avid foodie I am as tempted to ask you about your farm as about The Argonaut Project, but this a health IT column, so let's start with where the idea for the Argonaut Project came about.
JH: Well, interestingly, there is a food connection there, too. A group of us were at the October meeting of the joint standards and policy committee, and at dinner over Greek food we discussed how to move forward with industry in implementing the recommendations of the JASON Task Force that had been so ably chaired by David McCallie and Micky Tripathi. The name of this effort was fairly obvious given Greek mythology. All agreed that we needed a broad group of stakeholders from both healthcare and the HIT industry.
[What are the top health IT challenges ahead? See Health IT In 2015.]
MB: What is the basic goal of the Argonaut Project?
JH: There are really two key goals. We propose to replace healthcare-specific document and messaging standards with the more universal and essentially free equivalents taken from the Internet.
As you've implied, the first goal is to provide a more facile, easier to implement means of sharing key groups of clinical data (e.g. documents) that are required in common clinical scenarios. CDA is a healthcare-specific approach to creating electronic documents. FHIR has already taken advantage of JSON (or XML) objects as a means of packaging what are essentially sections of documents. Why not go all the way and use sets of FHIR JSON objects in place of complex CDA documents?
The initial use case is transitions of care -- when a patient is referred from one institution or provider to another, such as a hospital discharge to the care of a private physician or to a subacute or long-term care facility. At present, the XML-formatted Continuity of Care Document (CCD) is the standard specified under Meaningful Use in such situations. It is also widely used to meet the Meaningful Use "view, download, transmit" (VDT) requirement giving patients access to their medical records.
The problem with the CCD, as your students [at Georgia Tech] have learned, is that it is actually an extremely complex document. Moreover, it is rather loosely specified, so CCDs can vary substantially based on the EHR that produced them.
We propose to extend the FHIR to encompass the entire Meaningful Use common dataset. This would be done within the FHIR framework, which seeks to prevent individual resources from becoming overly complicated, so any needed new data would be spread out to appropriate existing resources and some new resources might be defined. FHIR is an emerging standard that encourages extensions, so this, too, is in keeping with the spirit of the standard.
Second, to replace healthcare-specific messaging standards, we would develop a new FHIR REST GET API that could be used by organizations to request the equivalent of the CCD. The result would be a set of FHIRs that, in total, provide the same information that is in the current CCD specification.
MB: One of these healthcare-specific messaging standards is Direct -- a simple, inexpensive means of sharing CDA documents as well as other formats for conveying health information among providers. Do you see Argonaut replacing that in time?
JH: Yes, over time, I believe Direct will prove to have been a transitional technology, but one that first introduced the notion that, while healthcare has its own unique vocabulary, and these data standards are a part of FHIR, just as they were a part of CDA, it need not develop its own messaging standards. Nothing could be simpler and less expensive than using the same messaging standards that are commonplace on the Internet. Everyone else is sharing information this way, why shouldn't healthcare?
MB: I was struck when Argonaut was announced that you had three of the major enterprise healthcare vendors -- McKesson, Cerner, and Meditech -- as collaborators. Was this hard to do?
JH: Surprisingly to many, I imagine, no. The vendor community has struggled with Meaningful Use and Stage 2 in particular. There is real concern about what Stage 3 might be like and whether there might be a government interoperability mandate in it as proposed by JASON. I find the vendor community in favor of an approach in which industry collaborates with other stakeholders. It is entirely possible that long before 2017, when Stage 3 is due, the matter of interoperability will be settled. At least I hope that's the case.
MB: Should that happen, what would the impact be?
JH: I think it will be a springboard for innovation. Developers will have the "universal app platform" envisioned by JASON and will be able to concentrate on functionality rather than complex integration challenges around the various EHR platforms. Moreover, as I know you already know, JSON and REST are familiar and popular technologies. Replacing complex healthcare-specific document and messaging standards with them will make the field more attractive to developers who will bring an outside perspective and new ideas, things we need in health informatics.
Surprisingly to some, I think this will benefit the existing vendors who will have new and important functionality to offer their customers without necessarily having had to invent and develop it. In the end the bar will be raised. EHRs will become more user-friendly and more supportive of the physician's workflow and mental processes. This has the real potential to be good for all stakeholders. That's certainly our goal.
MB: John, one final question. One limitation of Direct is that it only supports "push" -- for example, the sending of a CCD by a referring physician to the specialist who will be seeing the patient. There are numerous use-cases, such as a patient wanting their personal health record to be automatically updated whenever they see a physician, that require "pull" -- initiating the transfer of data from the receiving end. Will FHIR potentially impact that?
JH: As you've said, attaching a CCDA document such as a CCD to a secure Direct email supports only push use cases. Direct will continue to be used until FHIR-based APIs are more common. Since FHIR APIs are read/write, there's no limitation on their use for push as well as pull. So, in time, this is one of the specific reasons why FHIR APIs may well supplant Direct as the means of health information exchange for many, if not most, use-cases.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>CEO Ben Golub said in an interview that he expects a continued debate over the future role of Linux containers, rapid expansion of Docker's container technology platform, and a 10X growth in Docker Inc. revenues. Containers are being adopted for use in deploying composite or distributed applications, where one application is composed of many micro-services and deployed in multiple but linked containers.
One example is Gilt, the clearinghouse for discounted luxury goods, which pre-Docker was built on seven large, monolithic applications. As it reorganized the business, it adopted Docker and broke those applications down into 300 micro-services, said CTO Michael Bryzek during a session at DockerCon in San Francisco last June, captured in this video.
Docker allowed the company to organize around small engineering teams, each with a service for which it was responsible, he explained. Because the services were each running in a Docker container, they could be modified and updated independently, leading to rapid business evolution as 100 code changes were made a day. If one of those changes went awry, it didn't affect the other services, because they are protected from any impact in their own discrete containers. "That application isolation is a really good feature of Docker." The errant code can be deleted and the service rolled back to a version that's known to work.
[Want to learn more about how Docker will encourage the uptake of containers in 2015? See Docker, CoreOS Push Containers To Center Stage.]
"That approach unleashes a lot of productivity and creativity," said Golub. He sees more enterprises moving quickly into containerization of their applications in 2015. Societe Generale and ING, large banking firms in France and the Netherlands, respectively, are also implementers of distributed applications using Docker, along with Gilt, he said.
In some cases, they will stack multiple micro-services on a host, with the containers replacing a virtual machine that used to run a monolithic application. Not every scenario becomes one in which containers replace virtual machines, but in distributed applications they do, he said.
To aid app containerization, in December Docker launched Docker Hub Enterprise, a place where both developers and system administrators can go to find Linux containers that have already been formatted for specific business purposes. Microsoft, IBM and Amazon are key partners in its launch, and IBM is making Docker Hub Enterprise available to customers for use both on-premises and in the cloud. IBM and Microsoft each have middleware needed by applications. By pre-formatting and loading it in a Docker container, developers can install the container in their own data center and invoke the service through a link, speeding their application deployment process.
More information on Docker Hub Enterprise is available in a Docker website blog. It is now available in beta. Within a few months, it will be generally available with fees announced for use of its services.
Docker Inc. closed out the year by moving out of San Francisco's financial district, where it was renting 5,000 square feet of space, and into the city's South of Market district, heavily populated with technology startups. Docker will lease 15,000 square feet there. Docker expanded from 20 employees in January 2014 to 85 by end of the year. Even so, Golub added, "we'll have a lot of room for growth." He expects employees to double in 2015.
Docker's hiring is mainly in the realm of software engineers. Sixty-five percent of employees are engineers, a percentage that will remain steady in 2015, he said. At the same time, Docker is building its own sales force. Last year it hired Red Hat's Roger Egan, director of North American Channels Alliance, to head up its own sales and channel development. Docker engine sales are made by channel partners, such as Red Hat, Ubuntu, or VMware, who are helping enterprises build up Docker use with their product lines. Fewer than five employees work as a full time, outside sales force; a larger number conduct inside sales and cultivate the channel, said Golub.
He addressed the flap over the creation of another Linux container open source project, Rocket, by acknowledging that CoreOS, the company producing a version of Linux for running container hosts, could do so if it chose. But he was reluctant to say that such a project was really necessary.
The expansion of the Docker project has been unfairly characterized as a bound-together whole, "a binary, monolithic platform," when developers have the option of adopting only the formatting engine, if they choose, Golub said. Docker already supports multiple container image formats, including Lib container, LXC, Solaris Zones, and FreeBSD Jails. It will support a Rocket format, if demand for it materializes, he said.
"I don't know that there's still a remaining need for an alternative container format," he said. "We are open to making Docker better and continuing to address any concerns in the community."
In addition, he cited an increasing number of contributors and code commits within the Docker project itself. At this point, Docker has 730 contributors, and the project's committers pay as much attention to and act as quickly on contributions coming from the outside world as they do Docker's own developers, he claimed.
He was clearly buoyed by the support of major vendors, such as IBM, Intel, Microsoft, and Amazon, as well as a continued high rate of Docker system downloads. In the first six months of 2014, there were three million; by December 2014, there had been 100 million. Any container project that expects to catch up with Docker's momentum will have its work cut out for it, he said.
"There's a huge amount of inbound interest from the largest companies … We're very optimistic about our commercial growth. Revenues are projected to increase close to 1,000%," Golub said.
Docker remains privately held and doesn't disclose its revenues. But Docker has been building a wide developer following that it now is in a position to capitalize on with its products. The Docker formatting engine, the Docker Platform for managing multiple container deployments, and the Docker Hub Enterprise are all likely to bear fruit for the young company in 2015. Golub, despite the Rocket controversy, has sufficient reason to be optimistic.
]]>In the wake of Microsoft's recent Windows 10 announcements, consumers and businesses are eager to try the mobile and desktop versions of the new OS. While the new features are exciting, they're only a small indication of what the tech world will see later this year.
"Microsoft had a very intriguing announcement around Windows 10," says Brian Blau, research director of consumer technology and markets at Gartner. "They've sort of leapfrogged mobile and are focusing on the core user experience."
Microsoft has acknowledged that its approach to developing Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 wasn't very effective. The announcements surrounding Windows 10 reflect a modernized strategy and narrowed focus on enabling Microsoft's customers to better interact with its devices and apps throughout the entire product line.
This universal app strategy, which encompasses all platforms supporting Windows 10, will set Microsoft apart. "Having that cross-platform is, I think, really interesting for Microsoft," says Blau, noting that no other tech vendor offers such tight integration among devices.
Blau, who attended the press event held Wednesday at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., headquarters, speaks to the effectiveness of Microsoft's interconnected strategy after seeing the demos held after the show. The presentations were compelling, he says, and the device experience easily translated among tablets, PCs, and smartphones. Although he describes a complete change in Microsoft's user experience based on witnessing the demos, Blau was not allowed to test the features himself.
"It's not ready yet," he says of the desktop and mobile upgrades. Because Microsoft is revealing few new details on Windows 10 over the course of development, it's hard to know exactly what will be included in the mobile OS until the tech giant releases its preview code in February. The desktop preview, fortunately, will arrive sooner.
Blau notes that Microsoft's strategy for developing Windows 10 is drastically different from its approach to previous operating systems, specifically in regard to users' opinions. "Individually, product managers and employees said the feedback program is really different for them," he says of his conversations at the event. "They're understanding more about what people want."
Those who buy into the Microsoft ecosystem will benefit from familiarity across devices. The universal apps and device integration could make a difference in boosting the popularity of Windows Phone, which currently lags far behind iPhone and Android in terms of marketshare.
[Windows 10: 9 Killer Features]
Blau describes Apple's long history, its loyal following, and the great ecosystem that is not completely unfamiliar across devices. It seems that Microsoft is attempting to emulate this for Windows, he says, and the company is on the right track. Its strategy of consulting Windows Insiders for feedback is a sign that it's catering to loyal Windows users. If Microsoft can create a compelling ecosystem, Blau predicts it will be attractive to Apple users.
Those watching Microsoft's progress, including Blau, won't be watching PCs or smartphones. They'll be looking to see how the entire device ecosystem proliferates over time. When will we learn more? After the next Insider preview releases, he anticipates that Microsoft will continue to build upon its most recent announcements at its Build 2015 conference in April.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>If you think you've got trouble connecting on a conference call today, imagine doing it 100 years ago. The first transcontinental phone call was made on Jan. 25, 1915, and has been a communication tool for businesses ever since.
The historical moment occurred with a four-way call between Alexander Graham Bell in New York; his assistant Thomas Watson in San Francisco; President Woodrow Wilson in Washington; and Theodore Vail, president of American Telephone and Telegraph company (AT&T) in Jekyll Island, Ga. Fittingly, the first words spoken were, "Ahoy! Ahoy! Mr. Watson, are you there? Do you hear me?" And, except for the "Ahoy!" bit, that's pretty much what we all still say at the start of every conference call today.
The first transcontinental telephone call was really quite an achievement. Over 3,400 miles of wire on only three circuits were used to connect New York to San Francisco. There were 130,000 telephone poles and 2,500 tons of copper wire stretched from Bell's ear to Watson's. And this was in 1915, which means few roads and very little in the way of trucks or construction equipment was available to set up the infrastructure for this call. A lot of the work was done with horses and wagons, across sweltering desert, and through freezing winters.
The whole thing was greeted with a little less fanfare than the transcontinental railroad, but it might have actually meant more to the US. There were few things as transformative to society and businesses as the telephone.
[ So you say you're not a phone addict? Read We Literally Can't Live Without Our iPhones. ]
With smartphones and wireless networks, our devices and infrastructure may have changed dramatically, but the telephone's role in society keeps growing. You want more proof? This is what happened at the California Historical Society when the phones used for the call were unpacked for display:
Why didn't Bell think of that?
We're celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first transcontinental call with images of phones through the years -- some of which you may even remember using (though you probably won't want to admit it).
Once you've scrolled through all the photos in this gallery, tell us which were your favorite and why. And if you're feeling nostalgic for a favorite phone design, we want to know about it. Because, let's face it, by now we're all addicted to these things.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>Ford has opened a new research center in Silicon Valley, a move that underscores the growing role of communication and computation technology in cars.
Ford Motor Company president and CEO Mark Fields said in a statement Ford views itself "as both a mobility and an auto company." Ford's Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto, he said, demonstrates the company's commitment to participate in the technical innovation driven by Silicon Valley companies.
Ford's Palo Alto research center aims to accelerate the development of systems that enable connectivity, mobility, and autonomous vehicles. Dragos Maciuca, formerly with Apple and Lockheed Martin, will serve as the research center's technical leader.
Other automakers already have research centers in Silicon Valley. Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America set up shop in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1995 to participate in the area's technical and academic community. BMW, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen have a presence as well. General Motors set up a Silicon Valley venture capital group in 2010. And locally grown Tesla has increased the area's gravity for automakers.
Ford opened a small Palo Alto research office in 2012. The company expects its new lab, located in Stanford Research Park, to become one of the largest in the area devoted to automotive research. It anticipates a staff of around 125 researchers and engineers by the end of 2015.
Ford has two other major research centers: One in Dearborn, Mich., focuses on electronics, human-machine interaction, materials science, and data analytics. Another in Aachen, Germany, focuses on power-train research, driver-assist systems, and safety.
Ford is in the midst of exploring how it will define its business in light of rapidly developing mobile technology, market trends that limit demand for personal vehicles, and social changes that invite business models focused on sharing rather than individual ownership. At CES 2015 in early January, Fields discussed Ford Smart Mobility, a set of experiments the company has undertaken to figure out how emerging technology can both enhance its business and services and improve mobility for people.
[ Curious about how Ford is repositioning itself as a mobile company? Read Ford Mobility Plans Searches For Growth Beyond Cars. ]
Ford's Palo Alto team is working on projects such as Nest integration, so that drivers of Ford cars can set a Nest thermostat to respond to their proximity to home, lowering the temperature upon departure or raising it on return, if desired. The Nest API integration will also allow the Nest Protect smoke detector to send alerts to the Ford SYNC dashboard.
Ford's Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto will also continue to contribute to Ford's global effort to develop autonomous vehicles, an area of interest for most automakers and also companies such as Google. Ford plans to give a Fusion Autonomous Research Vehicle to Stanford's engineering program to test path algorithms. And the Palo Alto team has developed virtual environment test software called aDRIVE (Autonomous Driving Refined in Virtual Environments) for testing autonomous vehicle systems like traffic sign recognition.
In an interview at CES 2015, James A. Buczkowski, Henry Ford technical fellow and director of electrical and electronic systems research and advanced engineering, told InformationWeek that the social challenges of autonomous vehicles were more daunting than the technical ones.
"We're confident that with the maturing of the technology, we can make vehicles that are safer than most human drivers," said Buczkowski. "However when there is that one unforeseen situation, who's responsible? When the vehicle has to make a decision and there is no choice, to drive into a ditch or a tree, or hit a pedestrian, today you leave it up to the human being and nobody questions it. It's just a judgment in time. But when we program it to do that, it's a different story."
Buczkowski expect autonomous vehicles will show up first in controlled environments, where risks can be managed. "But there's still a lot of work to do in the broader unrestricted space," he said.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>Microsoft had a busy week. On Tuesday, it announced it had bought Equivio, a text analytics software provider that specializes in machine learning for electronic discovery and information governance. It looks like Equivio's technology will be used to enhance the offerings in Office 365 and help improve the data management capabilities of businesses and government organizations.
Wednesday brought a wave of announcements, as Microsoft debuted a slew of new features in the upcoming Windows 10 at a press conference held at the company's headquarters. The software giant is prioritizing user feedback as it develops the newest version of its operating system, which is intended to address the shortcomings that users found in Windows 8 and 8.1. Those running Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 will receive free upgrades to Windows 10 for the first year that it's available.
Key announcements from the event included a new mobile OS, which has been designed for smartphones and tablets to include a new Action Center, messaging features, customizable background image, and a redesigned Settings menu, among other additions. The technical preview of Windows 10 for mobile will be available in February.
The mobile OS will also have a Windows 10 version of Office suite for smartphones and tablets. Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint have been optimized for Windows 10 as part of Microsoft's new universal apps feature. Apps can now be easily deployed across devices, which is critical for attracting Windows 10 developers.
A primary focus for Microsoft is making Windows easier to use across devices. Microsoft is simplifying processes for hybrid device owners with the Continuum feature, which will allow users to switch from tablet to PC interface by adding a keyboard to their device.
Desktop owners will be pleased to hear that in addition to a modernized Start menu, their Windows 10 machines will now come equipped with Microsoft's digital assistant, Cortana. PCs and smartphones running Windows 10 will also come equipped with a new browser, codenamed Project Spartan, which will have a new look in addition to features designed to boost productivity.
[Want to try out the new operating system? Read Windows 10 January Build Ready for Insiders.]
Microsoft also talked about social gaming at its event and debuted a new Xbox app. Gamers can chat via voice and text on Xbox Live, save game-play clips, and stream games on Windows PCs or other tablets.
Although Microsoft's Wednesday event was mainly for a consumer audience, it gave enterprises something to look forward to. The Microsoft Surface Hub is an 84-inch 4K screen designed to enable collaboration among employees around the world.
The Redmond event closed with the unveiling of Windows Holographic, a personal computer accessible with Microsoft's HoloLens headgear. Users can see and interact with 3D images located in midair or projected on physical objects. Microsoft's foray into virtual reality was, by far, its most exciting surprise.
The week ended with another acquisition: Microsoft making a bigger push into data analysis with its purchase of Revolution Analytics, an R-language-focused advanced analytics company. Its goal is to help more companies use analytics to maximize insights from their data.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>Our weekly video wrap-up gets into Microsoft's foray into holographic technology. Warning: head-gear will be necessary. We also share four lessons CIOs can learn from the Deflategate scandal that's taking some of the air out of pre-Superbowl hype.
We also look at the 25 worst passwords of 2014. Let's hope yours isn't on this list.
You can find links to the full stories below. And don't forget to answer our question of the week: What features of Windows 10 are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments section.
Windows 10: Free Upgrades, Spartan Browser & Holographics
]]>Microsoft has released the latest desktop build for Windows 10, which many observers expected to launch shortly after the company's recent announcements of the new OS features. Starting Friday, those who are members of the Windows Insiders program can test the new system but will not see all the features that were unveiled during the Redmond press conference.
Those who haven't signed up for the Insider program can still do so. The Insiders are users who are reviewing Windows 10 over the course of its development and providing Microsoft with feedback.
The newest preview, also known as Build 9926, is available to both "Fast" and "Slow" rings, as well as on ISOs. In a blog post on the updates, Microsoft notes that the wait time between builds will be shorter from here on out.
Here are a few of the features Insiders can expect to see in the build:
Microsoft's personal digital assistant is now available on the desktop and can assist with queries for apps, files, and settings, as well as Internet searches. Users can test Cortana with voice by clicking the microphone icon, or they can enter Cortana Settings and opt for hands-free access. Cortana's Notebook can be used to store interests such as sports, news, and finance so the assistant can provide recommendations for future searches and learn users over time. For this build, Cortana is only available in English but the search function will work in all languages.
New Start Menu and Settings
The revamped Start menu can be shown in full screen and in a variety of colors. Future builds will have the Start menu in XAML, a type of code used by Windows 10 app developers. The Settings app has been redesigned to resemble the icon-based Control Panel. Settings will be consistent across all Windows devices.
Wireless audio and video connection
Build 9926 makes it easier to connect wireless audio and video gadgets that support tech such as Miracast and Bluetooth. Users can access this feature via the Connect button in the new Action Center, or use the Windows + P shortcut. Their PC will detect Bluetooth speakers and Miracast devices for simple connection.
[Windows 10 is coming to mobile in February.]
Windows Store beta
Visible as a gray tile in the Start menu (the current Windows store is in green), the new Windows Store has a redesigned interface that will appear the same across phones, tablets, PCs, and the Web. Users will have basic functionality in this build but can browse, search, and download apps. They cannot access in-app purchases through apps downloaded in Store Beta, nor can they purchase additional in-app content.
New Photos and Maps apps
The new Photos app will display and enhance photos locally stored on the PC and OneDrive. Users can also edit photos but some features, such as the ability to create albums, aren't ready yet.
Xbox app
Those excited about the Xbox app can give it a try in this build.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>Microsoft announced Friday that is will close a gap in its data-analysis portfolio by acquiring Revolution Analytics, an eight-year-old vendor that has developed a commercially supported enterprise platform around the open-source R statistical- and predictive-analysis language.
"We're making this acquisition to help more companies use the power of R and data science to unlock big data insights with advanced analytics," wrote Microsoft's Joseph Sirosh, corporate vice president, machine learning, in a blog post on Jan. 23.
[ Want more on growing big data capabilities? Read Microsoft Azure Adds NoSQL, Search & HBase Services. ]
SAS is the marketshare leader in advanced analytics, followed by IBM, which acquired SPSS in 2009 in order catch up in that arena. Revolution Analytics was founded in 2007 (as Revolution Computing) to take advantage of the fast-growing open-source R movement. CEO Dave Rich and CTO Greg Todd are veterans of Accenture Analytics, while other leaders joined from SPSS, MathSoft (now part of Tibco), and Netezza (now part of IBM).
Microsoft has deep analytics expertise in its labs and in its cloud and search businesses. There are bits and pieces of advanced analytics capabilities built into Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Analysis Services, and SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW). Microsoft also has the Azure Machine Learning Service (Azure ML), introduced last year, but it lacks an advanced analytics workbench product. The acquisition of Revolution Analytics will give Microsoft on-premises tools for data scientists, data miners, and predictive analysts.
"Revolution Analytics provides an enterprise-class platform for the development and deployment of R-based analytic solutions that can scale across large data warehouses and Hadoop systems, and can integrate with enterprise systems," wrote Sirosh.
In a Revolution Analytics blog on the deal, the company's chief community officer, David Smith, defended Microsoft's credibility and support of open-source movements. He also took pains to explain the company's stake in supporting R, listing Xbox online gaming, Bing, Azure, Office, and Azure ML as products and services that make use of the language.
"Our combined teams will be able to help more users use advanced analytics within Microsoft data platform solutions, both on-premises and in the cloud with Microsoft Azure," wrote Smith, a veteran of S-Plus. "And just as importantly, the big-company resources of Microsoft will allow us to invest even more in the R Project and the Revolution R products."
The companies provided no details on the expected timing of the acquisition, but Microsoft promised more details regarding the ways the company's technology will fit within its portfolio when the transaction closes.
Just 30% of respondents to our new Big Data and Analytics Survey say their companies are very or extremely effective at identifying critical data and analyzing it to make decisions, down from 42% in 2013. What gives? Get the The Trouble With Big Data issue of InformationWeek Tech Digest today. (Free registration required.)
]]>One reason IT departments get a bad reputation is that the tech vendors they rely on often overpromise and under-deliver on a product or service's capability, performance, cost, and time to value. It's easy to see why the business gets frustrated with IT when promises of earth-shattering outcomes are never realized.
Why is there a gap between what technology companies say and what their products and services deliver? From my own experience as a corporate marketer and exaggerator for technology companies, I break the issue into five categories.
1. Marketers make far-reaching theoretical possibilities the norm. Sure, amazing, seamless, business-transformative outcomes are possible -- in a perfect world with perfect conditions. But marketers use such idealistic scenarios as bases from which to extrapolate.
2. The marketing lexicon has become grandiose and fundamentally unmoored from data and real-life experience.
3. Vendors sell largely identical products (identical with regard to outcome, not cosmetics). That compels them to find ways to distinguish themselves and leads to outlandish claims.
4. The move towards proving the business value of technology has connected technology purchases to "competitive advantage." The problem, of course, is that if a vendor is selling you and all your competitors the same solution, competitive advantage negates itself.
5. Vendors and IT buyers share the same mindset about technology. That is to say, both are "technology positivists" who want to believe that technology per se can transform companies.
Technology certainly has transformative power, but that power will be influenced, and perhaps limited, by implementation, operation, existing business practices, and company culture.
[Windows 10: 9 Killer Features]
If we want to close the gap between promise and reality, we need a "Truth in IT" pledge. Simply put, vendors need to stop the hyperbole. But this pledge should not be limited to vendors. IT must be more realistic in what it promises to the business. IT buyers must understand that the implementation of technology and the methods by which they fit technology into the culture of the organization are the really hard parts of value creation.
It's up to IT professionals to analyze the real problems that prevent technology from helping our organizations reach their true potential (be it culture, economics, the race against time, or other challenges) and to better manage expectations around technology purchases and value realization.
The vendor and buyer communities have to approach this problem with seriousness and an unprecedented level of honesty. In the long run this will help everyone, though it will no doubt be awkward and painful in the short run.
Are we ready for Truth in IT?
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>Apple has already told us how long the Apple Watch battery will last. CEO Tim Cook implied it will need to be charged daily. A new report this week says Apple is targeting 2.5 to 4 hours of active use and about 19 hours of mixed use -- more or less confirming Cook's claims. Considering what other smartwatches in the market deliver with respect to battery life, the Apple Watch is nothing to worry about.
Apple picked a fairly powerful processor and a high-quality screen for the Apple Watch, reports 9to5mac, which lead to significant power consumption. The S1 chip inside the Apple Watch mirrors the performance of its A5 processor. The LCD is pixel-rich and refreshes at 60 frames per second.
In addition to the 2.5 to 4 hours of active use, Apple was shooting for about three days of standby time and four days in sleeping mode. Sources with direct knowledge of the matter told 9to5mac that Apple will probably only be able to deliver two or three days of standby or low-power time. Moreover, the first-generation device may not reach the hoped-for 19 hours of mixed use.
[Take a look at Wearables In 2015: 4 Predictions.]
The company is testing the device's battery life heavily. It has seeded about 3,000 units to people who've been directed to use a mix of stock and third-party apps to stress the battery as much as possible. 9to5mac claims battery life concerns are what led Apple to push the watch's debut from late 2014 to early 2015.
Last fall CEO Tim Cook said, "We think people are going to use it so much, you'll end up charging it daily." Most Android Wear devices I've used need to be charged daily. I've tested the Sony Smart Watch 3, the Motorola Moto 360, and the LG G Watch R. All three devices provide about one day (7 a.m. to 11 p.m.) of mixed use. Only the Sony Smart Watch 3 delivered better than one day of battery life. Android Wear devices can count steps, track your heart rate, offer notifications for incoming calls/messages, push calendar alerts, and even play music. The Apple Watch will be able to do all these things and more.
Apple's battery-life targets sound about right. It's hard to imagine spending 2.5 to 4 hours a day staring at your wrist. This is why we have smartphones. The Apple Watch is an accessory for the iPhone. Sure, it does plenty of things on its own, but most of its power comes from a nearby smartphone. The biggest concern may be the suggestion that first-generation devices may not reach 19 hours of mixed use. Apple will have to get it to at least 16 or 17 hours. Even then, it will be about on par with competing smartwatches.
The Apple Watch is expected by the end of March. Prices start at $349 and go up depending on which variant of the device you choose.
Get the latest information to migrate your systems, services, and applications to the next level at Enterprise Connect. Cisco, Microsoft, Avaya, and Oracle will lead the keynote lineup, and thought leaders from enterprises and vendors will cover the full range of platforms, services, and applications that will simplify your migration to next-gen communications and collaboration systems. Register for Enterprise Connect with code DIWKWEB to save $100 off the early-bird rate. It happens in Orlando, Fla., March 16 to 19.
]]>Six years ago, InformationWeek predicted in a cover story, "Why Windows Must Go Open Source," that Microsoft would loosen its grip on the Windows source code, a foray that was greeted with hoots, Bronx cheers, and a fortunately unrecorded response from then-CEO Steve Ballmer.
Now Windows 10 has been unveiled as another major step in the Windows saga, and it's worth going back and revisiting that Jan. 29, 2009, forecast. As the erstwhile author of the piece, I will concede, despite the speculation preceding the Windows 10 announcement, it's clear that Windows 10 is not now, nor any time in the near future, going to become open source code.
But in rereading my dog-eared copy of that magazine, I recognize how wisely I backed off a step and said Windows will never exactly resemble Linux open source code. Rather, Microsoft would fight to protect its all-important developers and application base. To do so, Windows was going to have to take on more open source-like characteristics, such as being incredibly inexpensive to use for development. It was also going to need a near-free version that could run on mobile devices to compete with the then-budding iPhone iOS, Google Android, and Symbian smartphone operating systems.
So how bad a prediction was that?
[What's new in Windows 10? Read Windows 10: 9 Killer Features.]
Microsoft indeed has since been under siege by successful smartphone operating systems, and it has made Windows Phone a near-free operating system for mobile device builders. Given their limited numbers, you have to wonder whether Microsoft has not only given Windows Phone away but also subsidized its use. That suspicion is based on the fact that Nokia was a leader in Windows Phone device manufacture, and rather than let Nokia decline in full public view, Microsoft acquired it. If Microsoft has to acquire every mobile device maker that adopts Windows Phone, it too may decide that the mobile version of Windows open source code might not be such a bad alternative. But I digress.
It's clear I erred in saying Windows must go open source, if I meant the desktop and server operating system was about to go open source in 2009, 2010, or some date soon after (or even if I meant it was going to go open source in the next six years). It hasn't happened. But in fact, I also wisely didn't predict a time frame for when such an event had to occur. Like the best crystal-ball gazers in the Tashkent bazaar, my bold prediction was accompanied by a loophole through which I could wiggle if someone tried to pin me down. I avoided saying when.
In fact, I'd like to reassert my prediction and say Windows will certainly go open source -- or perhaps just become freely downloadable like open source -- without the trappings of community development and support, at which Microsoft hasn't proven very good anyway.
If you check in, not only with Wednesday's Windows 10 announcement, where Windows remained decidedly proprietary, but also with Microsoft's Nov. 12 announcement, you'll see that if I had added one word to my prediction, it would have already come true. The Windows environment has become open source code because Microsoft is trying to protect its existing application and developer base. It has to re-engage with a new generation of mobile device and Web developers, who are open source oriented.
The Windows environment is a rich development environment in which it is possible to do all the things developers want to do to capture end-users with their applications. The .Net Common Language Infrastructure is capable of running 32 different languages, all made by Microsoft and encompassing such things as C#, C++, Ada, and Eiffel. And how many of these languages do you think went into the systems of WhatsApp, the mobile platform startup purchased by Facebook for $21.8 billion last October? I'm guessing zero. The server side of WhatsApp was written in Erlang. You might find some Ruby or Go in it as well, and probably PHP, Python, and a little JavaScript. But C# and .Net's IronRuby? I doubt it. WhatsApp is based on open source languages.
Because Windows developers face a shrinking universe, Microsoft is taking steps to defend its franchise by seeking to bind a core constituency closer to it. It's giving away a basic version of the developer toolset, Visual Studio, and also the .Net compiler -- the full .Net stack. They're open source code now.
I'm willing to wait another six years to revisit the question of whether Windows has finally gone open source. I'd still like to see my prediction come true, if only to reinforce a sense of how much the world is changing as new technologies infiltrate our surroundings. And I wouldn't mind if Steve Ballmer had to eat a few of those ill-chosen words he once had about open source code and its "cancerous" nature.
As my colleague Andrew Binstock wrote back in November:
Microsoft ports .NET to Linux and Mac OS ... The headlines read like the imaginative claims of an April Fool's story or a satirical sortie from The Onion: Microsoft open-sources full .NET stack; Microsoft ports .NET to Linux and Mac OS; Microsoft boosts free tools versions to compete evenly with its paid editions. And yet ... it's all true.
Windows 20 (we may get there sooner than you think, if we skip a few numbers) or other future versions of Windows, without a doubt, will be issued as open source. My error was in not recognizing that "the Windows environment" would go open source first. Next up, Windows itself.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>It's hard to pick just 10 games to name as the most anticipated of 2015.
This is the year of the next-gen console game. A lot of ambition is finally going to pay off.
The games of 2014 were great, but a little over one year into the lives of a next generation of consoles, you barely start to scratch the surface of their capabilities. Game development cycles are long and so many of the games that came out in 2014 started life as a plain-old console games. That's true of this year, too, but the more time developers have with the consoles, the better. 2015 is going to be the year we really start seeing some limits stretched on these beautiful new babies we got for Christmas 2013 or '14.
Developers are also going to stretch the limits of what we think of as gaming. Persistent, massive universes and gigantic creatures to battle on a scale we've never seen before are going to light up our 4K monitors and TVs. But that doesn't mean we're stuck with the same old game play in a prettier setting.
We're going to see new and inventive gameplay as well. This crop of games has me more excited to be a gamer than I've been in years. To make coming up with a list of 10 games easier, I made some rules. No sequels and go easy on the reboots. It isn't that Halo 5 isn't highly anticipated. I'm really looking forward to it. It is that those games have firmly established fan bases already. At this point, there are few gamers who haven't run the Master Chief through a few of his paces.
The same goes for other sequels. You aren't going to see the new Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider, or Galactic Civilizations here, either. The Arkham series and Mario Party are missing, too. Don't think that means they are off my radar. I just know they are already on yours.
What I wanted to capture are the games that are bringing something new (or especially retro) to the table. Game sequels drive the industry just as movie sequels drive theirs, but you've got to start a franchise somewhere. These games are most likely to start a franchise or lift an indie studio to new heights. These are the ones that might change gaming. Sit back, grab a caffeinated beverage, grab your wallet, and get your pre-ordering finger ready. You're going to fall in love with these games.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.
]]>When a school serving a community so poor that 100% of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches invests in technology, they expect results. When those results are dramatic -- and impressive -- the lessons learned go far beyond the classroom.
At FETC 2015 in Orlando, Fla., I sat down with Kirsten Wright, an educational specialist with the Desert Sands, Calif., Unified School District. Wright told me about the district's experience of adding inexpensive laptop computers -- Chromebooks -- to its classrooms and the impact those computers have had on the faculty, students, and parents that make up the school communities.
The first way that computers came into the classroom in the Desert Sands USD was through the use of responders (or "clickers") that students used to answer objective (true/false, multiple choice, etc.) test questions. This rollout was in 2007. When the Chromebooks began to be introduced, in 2010, their initial use was as a responder replacement. They allowed for more complex questions and tighter integration into the school's administrative systems. It was at this point, Wright said, that the big improvements began to be seen.
"Test scores were available to teachers almost instantly and to parents within half an hour of test completion," Wright said. This rapid turn-around meant that teachers could see which students needed additional help and which topics had been least understood while the class was still in progress. Correction or additional instruction could begin almost immediately. The results for students have been dramatic.
California uses an API (Academic Performance Index) to measure the performance of a school's overall population. Out of 1,000 possible points on the API, the pilot school began the technology rollout with a score in the mid-300s. In the 2013/2014 assessment, the same school scored over 860. Wright said that this represents a level of improvement that's not possible if technology is simply dumped into the hands of students. Wright trains the teachers and says that teacher involvement and enthusiasm is critical for real classroom improvement from laptop deployment.
Getting teachers involved in new technology can be difficult -- teachers work long hours before any new technology is introduced -- but one factor in the rollout gave Desert Sands teachers the "lightbulb" moment that radically boosted their enthusiasm.
"When teachers realized that they didn't have to spend time grading tests and transferring grades into the gradebook it was huge," Wright said. "I had teachers coming up to me saying that they could finally go out to see a movie on Friday night!"
A number of teachers have eagerly embraced the laptops in their classrooms.
[What's new in education IT? Read 4 Education Technology Trends To Watch.]
Having gone from 300 Chromebooks to more than 20,000 in three years, the district has now begun a pilot project to put tablet devices into classrooms. In one of the early classes, an early elementary classroom, the teacher has used NFC (near-field communication) tags, in order to help students log into academic Web sites without typing long addresses and credentials, and QR codes as part of word-search scavenger games that result in student-written entries in their on-line school journals.
Desert Sands USD has used Samsung as its primary hardware partner for Chromebooks and tablets. Jennifer Langan, director of mobile computing marketing for the Enterprise Business Division of Samsung Electronics America, said that one of the features most appealing to Desert Sands and other school districts is the consistent interface and unified ecosystem for tablets and Chromebook laptops. With one interface to learn and a single backend management system to synchronize, update, back up, and manage all the devices, schools feel they can deploy the systems without overloading support staff.
Wright agreed, pointing out that Desert Sands USD has limited purchases to a handful of models for the express purpose of minimizing complexity for teachers and support staff. The savings from that simplicity mean that the district has been able to use the $52 million in grants received over the last decade to pay for support staff (including Wright), laptops, tablets, a 10-gigabit Ethernet backbone connecting the district's schools, and much more.
Kirsten Wright said that the experimentation isn't over. In addition to deploying tablets in more classrooms, she said that the district is looking into the logistics and legalities of allowing students to "check out" Chromebooks to take home. In a school district where computer ownership is far from a given, she sees such lending as the next step toward bringing impoverished students into the rarified world of the academically excellent.
Attend Interop Las Vegas, the leading independent technology conference and expo series designed to inspire, inform, and connect the world's IT community. In 2015, look for all new programs, networking opportunities, and classes that will help you set your organization's IT action plan. It happens April 27 to May 1. Register with Discount Code MPOIWK for $200 off Total Access & Conference Passes.


text: See Photos Sportmax Fall 2014. Photo by Giovanni Giannoni/WWD. tweet share on facebook Share pin it share on google+ Sportmax Fall 2014 February 21, 2014 4:14 PM | by Karla Martinez de Salas This Sportmax color-blocked, cape-like coat was inspired by the Rothko Chapel in Houston. TX. See More Fall 2014 Milan Fashion Week Fall 2014. Rothko Related Stories Around The Web Previous Moschino Fall 2014 Next Céline Spring 2014: Inspiration Equation


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Sleeps | 4 |
Bedrooms | 1 |
Bathrooms | 1 |
Property type | condo |
Minimum Stay | 2 nights |
From sunrise to sundown and beyond, Sundial Lodge is Canyons at its best. Inspired by Utah's grand mountain lodges and its unmistakable landscape, Sundial Lodge defines the essence of the Resort Village. Located just steps from the Red Pine Gondola,
If you are one of those who thinks getting there is half the fun, you'll find that the Sundial Lodge will change the equation. Once you've experienced the fresh new room product, rooftop hot tub, the cozy outdoor heated pool, the boutique health club and intimate lobby overlooking the Resort Village, you'll agree getting here wasn't even a small fraction of the fun. Think rugged elegance that envelopes you in comfort.
Located a quick 30 minutes by car from the Salt Lake City airport. Either you can rent a car what there's convenient shuttle service.
Sundial Lodge is just as magnificent on the inside. From the intimate lobby to the roof-top hot tub and plunge pool, it reflects the best in mountain lodge design. All rooms, from the studios to the family-size, multi-bedroom condominiums, are luxuriously appointed and furnished. I just recently upgrade my unit. Sundial's minimum standards include five GE Profile kitchen appliances including washer and dryer, dishware, coffee maker, dual phone lines with fax/modem capability, video player, cable television, and much more. My Unit has fireplace and balcony and a whirlpool bath and magical village views. Easy access outdoor Jacuzzi and heated swimming pool when year round.
At Sundial Lodge, every detail of a memorable mountain vacation has been considered:
* All village and mountain activities are accessible on foot
* Daycare for children
* Ski lockers are conveniently located next to the lobby
* All parking is underground
* And, the staff has been thoroughly trained to help
Amenities: Fireplace, Phone, Air Conditioning, Cable Flatscreen TVs VCR, Stereo, Full Kitchen, Microwave, Dishwasher, Refrigerator, Ice Maker, Cooking Utensils provided, Linens provided, Washer, Jetted Tub in Bath, Hot Tub (shared), Pool (shared), Garage, Covered Parking, No Smoking
I'm from Los Angeles California. I'm involved in real estate. Mostly commercial real estate.
I am currently living in Bangkok Thailand.
Steven Fazekas purchased this condo in 1995
I love this condo. I lived in it briefly. The location is fantastic?
My unit Sundial Lodge is located at the base of the canyons ski resort. It is ski and ski out. There are many amenities, including restaurants, shopping and spa. It is a first-class resort.
Ski: The condo is located at sundial lodge at the Canyon ski resort. It is ski in ski out.
Rate Period | Nightly | Weekend Night | Weekly | Monthly | Event | ||||
Ski Season
Nov 21 2014 -
Apr 12 2015
2 night minimum stay
Property Damage Protection | $69 |
Pet Fee | $200 |
Cleaning Fee | $100 |
Tax Rate | 11.0% |
Notes | If you stay seven nights. The last night is free! |
Payment is usually accepted in the quoted currency (USD) unless the currency and the amount is specifically agreed in advance with the owner / advertiser.


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Hi! I'm a painting newbie but I love it. I really shouldn't be spending time painting as I have a crazy household to run but I can't resist (in fact my husband strongly encouraged me to hire it out due to constraints on my time).
I painted our breakfast nook with Aura after copious amounts of reading and searching on this forum about a year and a half ago and, after following all the steps, it turned out GREAT. I loved working with Aura. I didn't have to fuss with it and it self-leveled beautifully. I'm tackling our basement next from soup to nuts. I am choosing Ralph Lauren colors but really like Aura paint. I am afraid to get the RL colors mixed into the Aura base for color matching purposes (is this a valid fear?) and the idea of spending less $ per gallon on paint appeals to me.
Follow-Up Postings:
- Posted by christophern (My Page) on Sun, May 1, 11 at 7:23
is this a valid fear?) No Stick to the Aura, RL paint is inferior. |
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You can create a comfortable, stylish bedroom even if you are not a professional interior decorator. There are a few tips and tools that can help you get professional results without spending a lot or doing a lot of work. It all starts with your bedding.
Your bed is usually the focal point in your room, so it's a good idea to start there when decorating your space. A beautiful bed sets the tone for the rest of the room. If you're unsure of your color scheme or style, try finding bedding you love. Bed in bag sets give you everything you need to create a beautiful bed all in one place: a comforter, pillow shams and a bed skirt. Some will even include coordinating throw pillows.
Once you've chosen the bedding, the real fun begins. Use the colors in your new bedding to pull the rest of the room together. Pick a major color and two accent colors. If you're painting, use the major color on the walls and the accents in accessories, sheets and other items in the room. You can use several different shades of each color to add some interest.
Be sure to consider the style of your furniture when choosing your bedding. If you have a low, modern-style bed, traditional bedding will look out of place and throw off your whole decorating scheme. Harmonize furniture and comforters, sheets and pillows for the best look. Beyond that, don't be afraid to express yourself; this is your space.
Latest posts by Administrator (see all)
- Pollen Season is the Reason: Hypoallergenic Bedding Relief - May 27, 2014
- How to Select the Right Dining Décorum for Mealtime - May 22, 2014


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+ Download |
rename your iso to original.iso and place it in a folder with the contents of this rar. double click the bat file and you will have your finished ripped iso. only works with an untouched iso of 1.48 GB (1,596,391,424 bytes).
Relinked some stuff, removed some stuff, you can cso it if you want to...
enjoy..apcarrSponsored Links
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