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Even though those new semi-circles are located where legal pakring spaces used to be, Hendersonville City Manager John Connet tells WHKP News they are NOT parking spaces.
Connet says this "streetscape" is something new to encourage pedestrians on Seventh Avenue East. He implies this is an "experiment", to see how it works, and he points out this is not permanent. Yet.
The sem-circles have been painted onto the asphalt in what used to be parking spaces, mainly between Maple Street at the railroad tracks and Grove Street to the west. The semi-circles are taking up former spaces for legal on-street parking, and are leaving only a handful of legal parking spaces on the street in front of businesses in those blocks.
Connet says this is an atrempt to make Seventh Avene East more "pedestrian friendly" like Main Street, but at this time, he says the city is not anticipating tearing the street up to make the structural changes that were made on Main Street in the recent downtown "make over". He points out that at least one of the sem-circles will be used for outdoor dining in the future at Underground Baking.
Historic Seventh Avenue East was for many years supported and promoted years as it's own "special tax disrict". That special district was merged with the city's promotion of "downtown Hendersonville" effectibe July 1 this year.
By WHKP News Director Larry Freeman
Updated 5pm 10/30/14
The City of Hendersonville will sponsor a secure, Shred Day for City residents on Tuesday November 4.
Shredding will b, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., in the parking lot of Patton Park, 59 E. Clairmont Drive. American Security Shredding, Inc, will have their shredding truck in the parking lot to allow residents to dispose of sensitive materials. Residents of Hendersonville are invited to bring up to two boxes (or 50 lbs.) of paper items to be shredded. Suggested items to shred are financial statements, cancelled checks, credit card statements, payroll stubs, insurance forms, old tax returns, forms from doctor's offices, etc. This is not for businesses. The public can simply drop their documents off or stay and watch their documents destroyed. The event will happen rain or shine. If the shredding truck fills up before 10:30, the event will be over.
To make this part of a community outreach effort, the City is asking that residents coming to the event to bring items to donate to IAM. Suggested items are canned fruits & vegetables, canned chili & beef stew, stuffing mix, and canned hams.
Western North Carolina's annual fall color display should draw more tourists this October than last year when a federal government shutdown stymied some travelers, according to a new study from Western Carolina University.
With the national parks open and fall colors forecast to be especially good this year, hotel occupancy rates should increase in 21 mountain counties, according to the second annual "October Tourism Forecast for Western North Carolina."
The report is developed by students in a senior-level "Tourism Strategies" class taught by Steve Morse, economist and director of the Hospitality and Tourism Program in WCU's College of Business.
"The federal government shutdown during the first 15 days of October in 2013 resulted in little growth in tourism last year because of the closure of campgrounds and visitor centers in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway," Morse said.
"Our analysis indicates those who did not travel to the mountains last October may have a stronger desire this year to feed their fall foliage yearning."
The students analyzed data supplied by Smith Travel Research, a leading source of information for the hospitality industry. The students' forecast also is based on declining gasoline prices, new tourism marketing campaigns by the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau and by Smoky Mountain Host promoting WNC as an outdoors destination, improving economic conditions and "pent-up travel demand," Morse said.
Another factor, Morse said, is the improving outlook for leaf-lookers in the mountains, as WCU fall foliage forecaster Kathy Mathews, associate professor of biology, says the chances are increasing for a brilliant fall color season this year. "Brighter colors should attract even more tourists this year," Morse said.
In the tourism study, the WCU students divided 21 WNC counties into five groups; examined the total number of hotel rooms sold and the overall occupancy rates for October 2013; compared weekday and weekend occupancy rates from last October; and determined the average change in the number of hotel nights sold for October during the previous three years. The students' predictions, by region:
Region 1 – Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Macon counties: A 2.7 percent increase in October 2014 tourism compared to last October.
Region 2 – Haywood, Jackson, Transylvania and Swain counties: A 3.3 percent increase in October 2014 tourism compared to last October.
Region 3 – Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Watauga and Wilkes counties: A 2 percent increase in October 2014 tourism compared to last October.
Region 4 – Burke, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell and Yancey counties: A 1.7 percent increase in October 2014 tourism compared to last October.
Region 5 – Buncombe and Henderson counties: A 3.7 percent increase in October 2014 tourism compared to last October.
Ty Marion, a senior from Hendersonville majoring in hospitality and tourism, said the project provided a new perspective on the annual fall color show. "Since the leaves start changing colors in early October and continue for the rest of the month, tourists travel from all over, which increases everything from the demand of hotel rooms to revenue," said Marion, a 2007 graduate of East Henderson High School.
The "October Tourism Forecast for Western North Carolina" is part of a series of reports about travel trends in the mountain region to be provided by Morse and his students.
For more information about WCU's Hospitality and Tourism Program, visit the website hospitalityandtourism.wcu.edu. For a copy of the tourism forecast report, call 828-227-3386.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals will hold a session of court in Hendersonville on Monday, October 20 at 1:00 p.m. The appeals court will sit in the former main courtroom (now used for meetings of the County Commissioners) of the Historic Courthouse in downtown Hendersonville, and will be open to the public.
The court session was scheduled by the Court of Appeals, which usually holds court in Raleigh, after an invitation by the Henderson County Bar Association, the local group for Henderson County lawyers. "We're very excited that the Court has accepted our invitation to visit Hendersonville," said Bar Association President Anderson Ellis. "This is a terrific opportunity for the residents and students of Hendersonville to experience first-hand one of the higher levels of our state judicial branch. We hope that everyone will take advantage of the visit to become familiar with how our appeals court works."
In North Carolina, civil and criminal cases first go to trial in the District and Superior Courts, which are conducted in each county in the state. If a case is appealed from these courts, unless it is a murder case in which the death penalty is given, it is heard by the Court of Appeals. The Court reviews cases for errors of law and legal procedure, and its fifteen judges are elected and serve eight-year terms.
The three-judge panel of Judges Linda McGee, Robert Hunter, and Sanford Steelman are set to hear two cases in Hendersonville. The first case, Bottom v. Bailey (COA 14-564), is an appeal from Buncombe County and addresses the mishandling of funds involved in a "check kiting" scheme. The second case, Town of Black Mountain v. Lexon Insurance Company (COA 14-740), is also an appeal from Buncombe County, and revolves around bonds issued for the construction of a subdivision that fell through due to the recession of 2008-2009. Each case has two parties, and each party is given 30 minutes to argue; each case will take approximately one hour, and the court session will run from 1:00 p.m. until approximately 4:00 p.m.
Henderson County Public Schools and Historic Johnson Farm announcethat Joy Owens of Hendersonville, NC is theFarm Director.
Owens was hired after a search and interview process, and began work at the beginning of school year 2014-15. (She succeeds Farm Director Ingrid McNair who retired August 31, 2014)
Owens is a resident of Henderson County, anda product of Henderson County Public Schools. She attended Mills River Elementary School, Rugby Middle School and West Henderson High School.
She attended Furman University in Greenville, SC, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a BS Degree in Sustainability Science. During her time at Furman, she served as year-long manager of Furman Farm, an organic farm on campus. She supervised a staff of eight students in a work study program, and managed other student volunteers as well as volunteers from the Greenville community.
She also worked as an Education Intern with the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. While there she participated in the Climate Friendly Parks project, gave house tours, cared for animals, and was exposed to all aspects of the park and its education programs.
Owens is currently accepting reservations for school field trips at the farm. Since coming to Historic Johnson Farm, she has been involved in studying what the teams of farmvolunteers have done in the past. She is involved in organizing andputting her personal stamp on all the planned educational activities offered at the farm.
Owens started a Facebook page for the farm, to compliment and add to the farm website at www.historicjohnsonfarm.org.
Everyone associated with Historic Johnson Farm is looking forward to a bright future under her direction.
Historic Johnson Farm is open Tuesday – Friday from 8 am to 4 pm. There is no charge to walk the grounds. Visitors may enjoy one of the guided tours of the brick farmhouse, boarding house and other buildings at 10: am and 1:30 pm at $5 for adults, and $3 for children. Preschoolers are admitted free. It is located at 3346 Haywood Road, Hendersonville, NC across from Rugby Middle School. Call 828-891-6585 for more information.
The Hendersonville Times-News reported Sunday morning...
Rick Wood, Democratic candidate for the N.C. Senate's 48th District, says his opponent, incumbent Sen. Tom Apodaca (R-Hendersonville), is avoiding engaging with him in a public discussion of the issues.
For his part, Apodaca said the two forums he's agreed to participate in with Wood should suffice.
"I think it's pretty clear-cut," Apodaca said Thursday. "I'm a conservative business guy and he's a liberal school union guy. There's not a lot to differentiate. I think people know where we stand. Either way, I don't think it's going to be like the Lincoln-Douglas debates."
Wood said he's particularly disappointed that Apodaca is "refusing to attend" a Henderson County League of Women Voters forum scheduled for Oct. 1 at the City Operations Center in Hendersonville, since League rules prevent Wood from answering questions without his opponent there.
"I understand that incumbents sometimes want to avoid challengers," Wood said. "I get that. But I just don't think that serves the voters well. The League forum has such a history. I can't remember a candidate refusing to attend one. My understanding is every other Republican candidate is going to be there."
Apodaca said he told League representatives he had an education oversight meeting and three other important appointments in Raleigh that day and couldn't be there.
"We're looking at preliminary enrollment and how many teachers are needed, so I think I need to be in Raleigh," he said. "I told them it wouldn't fit."
Sharon Burlingame, president of the Henderson County LWV, said she also asked Apodaca if he would be available to participate at a second forum the League is sponsoring Oct. 8, "and he said he'd be in committee meetings that day."Apodaca's campaign chair, City Councilman Jeff Miller, dismissed suggestions that the six-term senator and Senate rules committee chairman was avoiding debate with his Democratic rival, a former school teacher and basketball coach who serves on the Henderson County School Board.
"He is not afraid of any question that can be asked by Rick or anyone else," Miller said. He pointed out that Apodaca has consented to two other events with Wood: a live, in-studio candidates' forum at WHKP on Oct. 14 and a debate sponsored by the Council of Independent Business Owners in Asheville on Oct. 16.
Larry Freeman, WHKP's news director, said the station's Tuesday morning program "is not really a debate. It's a typical candidates' forum. We spend an hour with both candidates in the studio, just passing questions around and talking about the issues."
Freeman said the first half-hour will consist of introducing the candidates to the station's audience, beginning with questions posed by station staff.
"Then the last half-hour, we usually open it up to questions from listeners," he said.
Freeman said if there is sufficient interest, phone calls and questions, the Wood and Apodaca forum on October 14th may be expanded to two hours from 9 to 11am. He also said that due to the interest in the campaign, the forum will be recorded and re-aired at a yet-to-be-determined date and time before the election.
Wood said he welcomes "any opportunity to be involved," but complained that Apodaca has chosen two environments favorable to him — radio and a "friendly business crowd" — rather than entering into an open public debate with him.
On the contrary, Miller said, "radio gives it the best chance for people to hear it. And No. 2, everything is recorded, so if you step in it, it's like a tar baby — you can't get it off. Every race I've ever been in, there's been a radio debate. You can certainly get a lot of people listening that way."
As for the CIBO event, Miller said he participated in the group's debates while running against former Congressman Heath Shuler in 2010. "I found the questions to be business-oriented, but I didn't think I got treated any better than Mr. Shuler did," he said.
CIBO Executive Assistant Patty Beaver said the public is allowed at the group's debate on a limited basis, but a $10 admission is required to cover the cost of the event and lunch.
Similar to the Apodaca-Wood event, WHKP plans to broadcast a forum with Republican Sheriff Charlie McDonald and Democrat challenger Marty Katz from 9:05 to 10am on Tuesday October 28th. The format will be the same as in the Wood-Apodaca forum, and the sheriff's forum may also be expanded in there is sufficient interest and questions. The sheriff's forum will also be re-aired before the election.
Pardee Hospital Foundation announced today that its annual Women Helping Women dinner and luncheon, sponsored exclusively by Sue and Tom Fazio, will be held on October 23 and 24 at Kenmure Country Club. Each year, the Foundation hosts these two events to honor women of hope, celebrate caregivers, and to raise funds that provide financial assistance for treatment and preventive services for women's cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis, and breast cancer and breast health.
The October 23 dinner event will celebrate caregivers and feature guest speaker Karyn Stitzenberg, MD, MPH, FACS, Division of Surgical Oncology at the UNC Department of Surgery who will speak about advances in cancer research, care and treatment. The evening will also honor the caregivers present in the room that evening including Dr. Bill Medina.
Steve Ford, actor and son of President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford will be the featured speaker for the luncheon on October 24. Ford will share his story and inspirational message about his mother's courage to talk frankly about her breast cancer, a subject only whispered about in the 1970s. This year's Woman of Hope will be announced at both the dinner and the luncheon, an honor received last year by Marcia Caserio.
"Think of Women Helping Women as a first responder to women in financial distress," says Kim Hinkelman, Executive Director of Pardee Hospital Foundation. "What we want women to hear this year, more than ever, is that Women Helping Women can – and does- provide assistance for a multitude of diseases and preventive services that women in our community so desperately need. The support of our community allows Pardee Hospital to continue to provide advanced, coordinated, compassionate care for these women." Women Helping Women started in 1998 primarily to assist women who needed preventive services like a mammogram, or treatment for breast cancer. The program and its parameters for assistance have expanded over the years to include all women's cancers, as well as heart disease, osteoporosis, and other diseases. If you know someone in need today, have them call 698-7334.
The cost for the dinner or luncheon is $125. Each ticket sold allows one uninsured or under-insured woman to receive a mammogram or another important screening that can prevent and treat cancers and other serious medical conditions. For more information about Women Helping Women or to register for the luncheon or dinner, visit www.pardeehospital.org/foundation or call 696.4666.
This is your chance to see Bridal Veil Falls without hiking 4.4 miles roundtrip!
A 12 mile tour by shuttle bus to four spectacular sites in DuPont State Recreational Forest: Triple Falls, High Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and Lake Julia.
This is a family friendly event that takes place Saturday, October 18 and Sunday, October 19.
Buses will leave the event parking area approximately every 30 minutes from 9am until 2:30 pm. By getting off the bus at each stop visitor will be able to get great views of the falls, take photos and explore the forest. The tour takes 3 hours or longer, depending on how much time
is spent at each stop.
The event parking area is located near 89 Buck Forest Road, Cedar Mountain, NC 28718(GPS 35.191111, -82.622778) a short distance from the High Falls access and parking area. Look for the Tour De Falls directional signs as you near the event area.
Volunteers will be on each bus and at each stop to provide information about the history of the area and our efforts to protect the historical and natural resources within this 10,400-acre forest.
A donation of $6 for ages 6 to 17 and $12 for ages 18 and up is requested. We accept donations by cash or check, but cannot process credit cards. Buses are not handicap-accessible. Pets are not allowed on the buses. Reservations are not accepted.
Visitors should bring snacks and water, as there are no food concessions. Triple Falls and High Falls have covered shelters with picnic tables.
Light refreshments will be available in the lodge overlooking Lake Julia, which is the last stop on the tour.
DuPont State Recreational Forest is located in Henderson and Transylvania counties in the mountains of western North Carolina.
Tour de Falls is an event sponsored by the Friends of DuPont Forest (FODF). Friends of DuPont Forest is a non-profit organization that works with the North Carolina Forest Service and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to enhance the recreational experience and preserve the natural resources in DuPont State Recreational Forest. Donations to Friends of DuPont Forest are used to finance construction projects such as shelters, access steps at the waterfalls, to maintain 80+ miles of trails, and to support research and educational projects that protect historical and natural resources within DuPont State Recreational Forest. You are invited to become a member of this vital organization. For membership applications, directions, and additional DuPont State Recreational Forest info visit our web site at www.dupontforest.com or call 828-877-6527.
September 23 - The progress of fall colors in the Great Smoky Mountains may be about to shift from neutral and into gear. The last two weeks have been unusually warm and damp, and colors have not progressed much. But with nighttime lows now hitting the lower 40s and upper 30s, that should rapidly change.
Lower down, several species of trees have just started to change. Sycamore, sassafras, witch hazel, buckeye, tuliptree, black gum, sourwood, Virginia creeper, sumacs and black walnut are all showing hints of color. Migrating birds are flocking to the dogwoods' red berries. Fall wildflowers are also conspicuous, including jewelweed, asters, goldenrod and white snakeroot.
Good places for a drive include Clingmans Dome Road and the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's a great time to hike Mt. Le Conte! Upper Deep Creek Trail is also gorgeous this time of year.
The peak of fall colors at the higher elevations is likely to be at least 10 days away. At the lower and mid elevations, colors traditionally peak in late October or early November. At this time, we predict colors will be on the later side.
Park officials are happy to see a bumper crop of oak acorns, which should help black bears gain the weight they nel With sunny days and cool nights in the forecast, the march of fall colors should be picking up the pace very shortly. Reports from New England portend that the timing of this year's colors may be normal to a tad late across the Appalachians.
Sourwood trees on the drier slopes are showing nice reds now. Witch-hobble leaves at the higher elevations are burgundy. A smattering of dogwood trees have begun the change. Blackgum trees will soon be blushing red. Fruits, such as the fuchsia seedpods of magnolia trees and oak acorns are now conspicuous.
By late September look for more color at the higher elevations as American beech and yellow birch trees transition to gold. Early changers at the lower elevations like sourwood, blackgum, dogwood, yellow buckeye, Virginia creeper, sumacs, and tuliptree should then be near peak. Parkwide, the peak of fall colors generally occurs between late October and early November.
The elk rut is now in full swing in both Cataloochee Valley and at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center area; and bears are busy gobbling acorns in Cades Cove.
The Town of Laurel Park has been selected by the Board of Trustees of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF) to receive a grant for $63,550 for Phase II of Rhododendron Lake Park. The grant provides the Town with the necessary funds to help protect water quality by eliminating sections of a subsurface culvert pipe into and out of the lake, and create a sedimentation pond to allow sediment to be captured, monitored, and removed before it reaches the lake. Restoration of the lake's shoreline creates a buffer area and filter for the lake while providing a habitat for native plant and bird species. Removal of lake debris and the renovation to a bottom outflow device will improve oxygen levels and stabilize water temperatures within the aquatic system, and should enhance water quality to a level that would support native trout populations.
In 2009, the Town acquired the property, nowknown as Rhododendron Lake Park, and developed a three-phase plan to create a 10-acre nature park encompassing the old lakebed property and recently purchased adjacent parcels. Built in 1909, the lake was created by the building of an earthen dam on an unnamed headwaters stream for Wash Creek. The dam was removed in the early 1980's but an approximately 1 acre lake remains. Many Henderson County residents have fond memories of swimming and sunbathing at Laurel Park Lake.
In 2013, contractors and volunteers began the first phase of a three-phase multi-year project to create Rhododendron Lake Park from the old lakebed. The primary goal of Phase I was to realign the channeled stream, which was causing erosion under Lake Drive. Starting at the south end of Lake Drive near the Villas, the stream now flows on a northerly path through the park, cascading over newly created falls at the north end before continuing to Wash Creek at Laurel Green Park. The Army Corps of Engineers recently completed its first year inspection of the project, including an evaluation of the stream banks for any signs of erosion as well as the overall health of the stream in terms of invertebrate development. They also gauged how well the plant growth is progressing along the stream and inside the buffer area. The Corps found no significant issues with the stream project; rather the assessment found that the project is in great shape and moving ahead as required. The Corps will monitor the project for another four years, at which time the Town will assume maintenance and Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy will take over the monitoring.
With the generous assistance of the CWMTF, Phase II will allow the Town to remove the silt from the lake, create riparian buffers adjacent to the stream and lake, acquire a key parcel adjacent to the existing park, and establish educational programs. Construction on the two-year project is expected to begin in 2015. In addition to the grant from CWMTF, the past and planned Rhododendron Lake Park improvements have been possible only with the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Henderson County's Legislative Delegation, and the Laurel Park Parks & Greenway Board.
During Phase I of the project, the generous donation of over $12,500 from residents and visitors, enabled the Town to plant approximately 400 established specimens of shrubs and trees in the conservation easement area. Laurel Park is seeking additional public donations that will help fund walking trails and other park amenities to be located around the lake. Interested in learning more, or donating to future plantings, trail construction, or park amenities? Contact Town Hall at 693-4840.


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When a consumer electronics category confuses the masses, it's usually because the technology is hard to understand on a fundamental level. Have you ever tried to explain texture fill rates to your GPU-ignorant brother-in-law? Or RAID levels to your mom—who shouldn't even be asking about RAID in the first place?
Videocards and storage devices can confuse the lay consumer, but at least the prospective hardware buyer usually knows he or she needs a videocard or storage device in the first place. Your game won't play at a high resolution? A new videocard is probably the answer. Your hard drive is full? It's time for more storage.
But tablets are different. From a raw technology standpoint, they're not particularly hard to understand. They're closed-box systems, and the specs of competing devices generally fall within a narrow range.
The bigger question concerns whether anyone even needs a tablet. TV commercials, tech pundits, and even the struggling magazine and book industries would have you believe that tablets are essential 21st‑century gear. But note-book replacements they are not, and this has to be reconciled before any tablet purchase.
Some Maximum PC staffers couldn't live without their tablets, but others show no interest in them whatsoever. It all comes down to individual use cases. No one really "needs" a tablet, but many people are discovering that a tablet is a wonderful supplement to their core hardware arsenals. In fact, Maximum‑caliber tech enthusiasts are often the folks best served by tablets. But you need to know what they do well, what they do poorly, and which hardware and software features really matter at the end of the day.
In the following pages, we'll explain all of that, plus review the eight most-talked-about models currently available. Six of the contenders run Google's tablet OS, Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb) . Another, the iPad 2 , runs the latest version of Apple's iOS. The final entrant is RIM's oddball PlayBook, which is tied to a software ecosystem so funky, the PlayBook can't really be included in any serious tablet conversation. The most oddball tablet of all—HP's WebOS-based TouchPad—was left out entirely because it was discontinued a few weeks before we started working on this article.
Excited? Anxious? Maybe a little scared? Simmer down, amigo. Tablets are a confusing proposition, but they need not be feared.
We'll get into specific use cases in a moment, but let's first provide an overview of how tablets trump notebooks, their closest hardware cousins.
First, they're imminently more wieldy. By eschewing a hinged clamshell design and mechanical hard drive, a tablet is lighter and less delicate. It's easier to tote in a book bag, and you'll feel more comfortable tossing it on your couch or mattress.
Second, a tablet is the perfect device for "kick-back computing." When you're chilling on your couch, supine and relaxed, you'll probably find it easier to hold and manipulate a tablet than a note-book. And thanks to their virtual keyboards, data entry on a tablet is easier, too—assuming you don't have much to enter (more about that soon). All in all, if you want to perform computer-like tasks while lying on your back, tablets are a goshsend.
Third, apps. Even in the Android Market (whose offering compare in neither volume nor quality to those of Apple's App Store), there are hundreds of awesome apps that don't have desktop counterparts. Indeed, some of the most interesting software development of the last two years has been focused in the tablet space. These apps make unique use of touch navigation, accelerometers, and location awareness, and will probably never find a home in your Windows computer.
Now let's dig a little deeper into what tablets do—and don't do—well.
Touch controls suck for first-person shooters and action sports games, but you won't find a better platform for card games, casino sims, virtual pool, trivia challenges, and digital versions of Scrabble, Yahtzee, and other "family game night" fare. Tablets are also tailor-made for physics-based games like Angry Birds , Cut the Rope, and Doodle Jump—all use touch control and accelerometers to fantastic (and addictive) effect. EA just released an iPad version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 (tablets are perfect for golf games), and Gameprom's pinball sims are probably the best tablet games of all. There are currently three tables available for Android tablets, and seven for the iPad. All boast excellent ball physics, and are chock-full of the ramps, targets, and table toys you'd find in a late-model Williams pinball machine.
According to a March 2011 survey conducted by Google's AdMob subsidiary, gaming ranks highest among all tablet use cases. Given the survey's timing, the vast majority of the 1,400-plus queried must have been iPad owners, as Honeycomb-based tablets (the first real Android tablets) weren't yet available. In today's climate, where Android devices reportedly account for one out of every five tablets sold, we might expect games usage to slip just a little—if only because Honeycomb supports fewer killer games, and the platform is decidedly more utilitarian than iOS. All of which leads us to…
In the March AdMob survey, participants were asked to name all the ways in which they use their tablets. "Playing games" took the lead with 84 percent, but this was followed closely by "searching for information" (78 percent) and "emailing" (74 percent). What's more, 82 percent said they primarily use their tablets at home. The upshot? Tablets are ideal for web-surfing and emailing from the comfort of one's couch, bed, or chaise lounge! And this is really how most people—even power users—use their tablets. To wit: A February 2011 In-Stat survey ranked emailing and web-browsing as the top two tablet uses.
Web surfing and email already top the charts of desktop use, and tablets simply deliver those services without the inconvenience of ambulatory visits to a stationary device. So, if you check email about 100 times a day, and are unable to survive without constant fact-checking on Wikipedia, IMDB, and the like, then a tablet might perfectly suit your lifestyle needs. Even better, many notable news, reference, and cooking sites offer slick app wrappers for their web content, providing navigational experiences that better their own web offerings.
Social media is all about quick check-ins and look-ups wherever and whenever you want, and tablets suit this activity perfectly. Twitter's eponymous app offers a UI that's vastly more feature-rich and user-friendly than the service's website interface, and it's available for both Honeycomb and iPad.
Facebook makes smartphone apps for both platforms, but hasn't released any versions optimized for the more generous screen dimensions of tablets. The company expects you to use its web interface when posting and liking on tablets, and that's fine by us, as the site renders well in the neighborhood of 10 diagonal inches. And because Facebook activity rarely involves extended data input, virtual keyboards are suitable for anything you may need to post.
You're not going to gather the whole family around a tablet for a night of movies and popcorn, but both Honeycomb tablets and iPads have the rendering power and screen dimensions for satisfying single-person video viewing. Both platforms render onscreen video at 720p, and Honeycomb tablets can output 1080p via HDMI, if you absolutely must assemble the clan around the big screen.
Both tablets have slick YouTube apps, but Team iPad pulls ahead of Honeycomb when it comes to streaming Hollywood movies and TV shows. For example: Netflix subscribers can stream "Watch Instantly" content on their iPads, but the Lenovo IdeaPad K1 is the only Honeycomb tablet to support Netflix streaming without a hack. And then there's HBO, ABC, and Xfinity On Demand. All offer video streaming via iOS apps, but Honeycomb support is nowhere to be found. Both tablet platforms let you rent and download content from their online stores, but the offerings in Apple's App Store are vastly better than what you'll find in Android Market.
All that said, Honeycomb tablets do support a wide variety of video codecs, and because they don't interface with the clusterfrack that is iTunes, it's much easier to rip DVDs and quickly place video files in your Android video folder. The end result is a very effective platform for video playback—at home, on an airplane, wherever.
Apple's "There's an app for that" campaign positions the iPad as a platform for sundry lifestyle activities one can only imagine. That's an optimistic promise. If you buy a tablet, you'll find almost all your activity in the realm of gaming, email, and web browsing. Having said that, certain eclectic souls may stumble upon a niche, highly focused tablet app that dovetails just perfectly with their own business or enthusiast needs.
For example, OmniGraffle (iOS only) is perfect for creating flowcharts, diagrams, and other quasi-freehand drawing during business meetings. Or let's say you're a hardcore astronomy nerd. With Star Walk (iOS only), you can point your iPad 2 at the skies for augmented reality overlays of constellation and satellite information. Google Sky Map performs a similar function for Honeycomb, but without augmented reality features. Other apps specialize in music and art creation, medical services, and even credit card processing, so you can use your tablet to collect payments on the road. These are all very niche-use cases—but for the people who use tablets in these ways, the benefits are profound.
Are you sufficiently stoked to buy a tablet? Not so fast, laddie. We'll now describe what tablets don't do well.
There's an undeniable convenience in loading hundreds of e-books into a single hardware device that's already shaped like a book. But, sorry, we're not fans of reading long-form content on tablets. Projected-light displays (like the LCDs found in all tablets) often cause discomfort and eyestrain during long periods of extended, continuous use. So, while we're happy to use tablets to catch up on the latest news headlines, we'll not so happily partake in an all-day George R.R. Martin marathon.
If you really want to get your e-book on, invest in a dedicated e-reader like the Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook . Both use E Ink, which displays grayscale text and images with soothing, eyeball-friendly reflected light. Relative to tablets, dedicated e-readers also perform much better in direct sunlight, and are imminently more portable than even the thinnest, lightest tablets, such as the iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 .
The best smartphone cameras trump the best tablet cameras. In fact, the camera on the iPhone 4 is one of the best phone cameras available, while the camera on the iPad 2 is one of the worst cameras you'll find on any tablet. That should tell you what the market-leading tablet vendor thinks of cameras on its larger mobile devices.
Tablet cameras are generally crappy, suffering from compression artifacting, color shifts, and other image-quality problems. And once you consider the truism that the best camera is the one you have with you, then we have to ask why anyone would ever carry around a big-honking tablet for photo-acquisition purposes. Use your phone instead. It's in your pocket.
Having said that, we'll reserve just a wee bit of respect for the video creation capabilities of any Android device that comes with Google's Movie Studio app. Chasing the action with a 10-inch tablet in your hands may not be easy, but the app lets you quickly grab all the video clips already sitting in your device, edit them with titles, still photos, transition effects, and audio tracks, and then output everything to a single new video in one fell swoop. It's plenty adequate—and quite convenient—for YouTube vlogging and similarly low-level video projects.
Tapping out sentences on the virtual keyboard of a tablet beats smartphone data input any day, but we don't know anyone who can touch-type on either iPad or Honeycomb tablets. Besides lacking tactile feedback, the auto-correction features of both iOS and Android lead to vexing spelling mistakes. Even worse: Turning off auto-correction leads to text that looks like something Latka Gravas might utter in his native tongue.
Yes, you can connect to a Bluetooth keyboard (rarely a satisfying or even reliable solution), and some tablets—notably the Asus EeePad Transformer —can be teamed with physical keyboard dock accessories. But to what end? You might be approximating a computer workstation, but iOS and Honeycomb don't support any office, productivity, or serious content creation apps that would make you want to ditch your desktop or even notebook (and don't even mention Polaris on Office, which comes on the EeePad—it's quite vexing in and of itself). The upshot is that neither tablet platform makes sense for extended typing projects, and a tablet just can't serve as your only computing device when you're working out of hotel rooms on the road.
There's no iOS or Honeycomb version of Steam , and you'll find no Dead Island, Portal, or WoW. Get our drift? 'Nuff said.
Don't worry, we're not going to make you read this whole section just to find out if you should align yourself with iOS or Honeycomb. It basically comes down to this: As a platform, Honeycomb offers greater UI flexibility and user controls than iOS. It also bests iOS in web browsing (perhaps the most important tablet service) and has superior hooks into all Google products, apps, and features. Honeycomb isn't a refined OS, per se, and it does suffer some vexing user experience issues. But it's the OS we recommend for hardcore PC types who value a more Windows-like experience in terms of multitasking, file transfers, and UI tweakage.
The iPad 2, meanwhile, can't be beat for its app support: By huge leaps and bounds, the offerings in Apple's App Store crush what you'll find in Android Market. Apple's iOS is also more intuitive and easier to use than Honeycomb. All in all, if you're a Mac user—or just the type who subscribes to that "let's sacrifice power and flexibility for simplicity" ethos—then get yourself an iPad 2.
With that as a preamble, let's compare iPad 2 with the Honeycomb cartel in five key areas, and we'll also explain why Windows and BlackBerry tablets can't even be considered.
The number of apps designed for iPad and iPad 2 so rudely dominates the number of apps designed for Honeycomb, we're almost tempted to say, "Oh, flunk it—just run down to your local Apple Store and throw down." According to a running list on Androidcentral.com, there are currently 292 apps optimized for Honeycomb. The Apple Store, meanwhile, reported 121,807 iPad apps as of 2:15 PST on Sept. 12, 2011.
Honeycomb's most painful app shortcoming is a dearth of killer games. Nvidia is trying to support Honeycomb as a gaming platform via its Tegra Zone shopping center, but with a current inventory of just 19 games, this gateway to fun isn't really hopping. Adding insult to injury, various Honeycomb apps aren't as polished or complete as their iPad counterparts. For example, there's noticeable ball lag in the Honeycomb version of Pinball HD, and Honeycomb's Xfinity app supports "play now" streaming for only a single device.
Words of wiz: Check Android Central's Honeycomb app list and also look carefully at the apps that come preinstalled on the Honeycomb tablet you're thinking of buying. If your brain can't resolve the limited offerings of what you find, then buy an iPad 2 instead.
Despite rumors that RIM is planning to discontinue its much-less-than-celebrated tablet offering, the BlackBerry PlayBook continues to putter along. This gives RIM's QNX-based OS platform a little bit of breathing room before the inevitable axe falls and provides shoppers in BlackBerry App World with a 7-inch tablet on which to download software.
Yep, 7 inches. That's the size of the current PlayBook, and all indicators suggest a 10-inch version will never be offered. Instead, BlackBerry is working on a dual-core uber-phone that would be running the QNX-based OS (a different OS than the one powering current BlackBerry smartphones). So, as a tablet platform, the PlayBook doesn't have legs. And as a current tablet option, the PlayBook really can't be considered. It's too small, its app universe can't compete with iOS or Android, and (worst of all) to access email and calendar, you have to use a wireless tether to your damn BlackBerry phone!
For those people who intend to use their tablets only for email and information searches, Honeycomb might be the better platform. Honeycomb's built-in Browser app is a dead ringer for Chrome, and supports tabbed windows, direct hooks into Google voice search, and (most importantly) Adobe Flash. These three features are missing from the iOS browser.
If you're an iPad user, you can download a third-party iOS browser that supports tabs, but none are very fast or even satisfying. But it's the lack of Adobe Flash that really hurts iOS. Web developers have instituted Flash workarounds in anticipation of all the iOS devices that will access their sites, but we still find web content that won't load on our iPads.
Both tablet platforms have a Google Maps app, but the Honeycomb version comes with extra features—like the Places tool, which helps you quickly find food, drink, and other sorts of merriment.
The iPad has a fine email app, but like all iOS apps, you have to exit the app and enter an OS-level Settings app to manipulate fine controls (e.g., font size). In Honeycomb apps, all settings are quickly available in the app itself. We also appreciate that Google voice input is immediately accessible in so many Honeycomb apps. Besides using it to dictate browser searches, you'll also find it surfaced in Maps (a much richer Google Maps experience than you'll find on iPad); Talk (an instant messaging client); Navigation (a turn-by-turn directions app); and on the virtual keyboard itself. Voice control is surprisingly adept at identifying common words, and it takes all the auto-correction pain out of text chat in the Talk app.
The more we use Honeycomb, the more we appreciate the freedom it affords Maximum-caliber power users. As stated above, settings menus are located in-app; no trips to a central Settings app are required. Honeycomb also supports true multitasking, whereas iOS does not. For example, let's say you're rendering a time-consuming video project in Movie Studio. An alert for an important email pops up in your Honeycomb system tray (the system tray is another feature not yet available in iOS), and you can jet on over to your Gmail app to read it—all without suspending the video rendering in progress. In iOS and iMovie, you would never get the alert in the first place, and if you decided to jump over to your Mail app on a lark, your iMovie rendering would suspend until you returned.
And then there are desktop Widgets. Apple doesn't like a cluttered desktop. You can have icons on it or dead space, and that's it. But Honeycomb supports a thriving ecosystem for desktop widgets that show everything from your latest incoming email and tweets, to snazzy graphical representations of the current time, weather, news headlines, and more. It all puts a vibrant, real-time spin on your desktop, and it's a key reason to buy a Honeycomb tablet over an iPad.
In Honeycomb, you can fill up to five desktop panels with interactive widgets that update in real time. It's like viewing an app without loading an app.
But for true power users, the rebels among us, simply being able to avoid iTunes for file management may be the best reason of all to join Team Honeycomb. Sure, if you've spent your whole life playing in the walled garden of iTunes, you might be OK with the draconian limits and convoluted operating procedures that Apple imposes on music and video transfers. But Honeycomb tablets ain't having none of that—you can simply drag and drop music and video files from your PC to tablet. It's a revelation. Traveling to Asia? Just rip 18 hours of movies to a compatible codec, drop it on your Honeycomb tablet, and you're good to go.
We sometimes forget there's a tablet version of Windows 7—probably because it's a big, bloated mess when running on the underpowered tablet hardware that suffers the indignity of running it. We've been playing with it on the Viewsonic ViewPad 10 , which dual-boots between Android 2.2 and Win7, and the Win7 side of the experience is vexing to no end.
It's difficult to say whether the tablet's 1.66GHz Intel Pine Trail processor is woefully underpowered for the OS, or if touch navigation in Win7 is a rushed-out, kludge job. But the bottom line is that the OS doesn't offer any of the multitouch gestures available in iOS or Honeycomb. Instead, you use your finger to move a cursor, and this operation is both slow and imprecise. And when the tablet is churning away in apps, it just plain chugs.
Forget about Win7. If Microsoft has any future in tablets, it will be tied to Win8.
The size, resolution, and aspect ratio of your tablet's display affect your entire user experience. Right now, we feel that Honeycomb devices have the upper hand in this area. As far as total diagonal inches, they're just a tad larger than the iPad (10.1 inches to the iPad's 9.7). But Honeycomb tablets offer a 1280x800 resolution where the iPads clock in at 1024x768. The extra resolution is appreciated for greater pixel density in visual content (132ppi for the iPads; 160ppi for Honeycomb tablets), as is Honeycomb's 16:10 aspect ratio. When you're watching wide-format HD content, Honeycomb tablets don't letterbox nearly as badly as the iPads.
Rumors say the next-gen iPad 3 will have an ultra-high definition 2048x1536 "retina display." That's peachy, but this pixel grid would appear in the current 9.7-inch screen size. With more than 100,000 apps coded for a 4:3 aspect ratio, it would be madness for Apple to switch to a widescreen format at this late a date, and a display larger than 10 inches would make for an unwieldy beast.
As we've said before, it's easier to just jab your power button and begin, um, "doing stuff" on an iPad relative to a Honeycomb device. Apple's desktop is cleaner and doesn't suffer much "What am I supposed to do now?" ambiguity. Because it exposes nothing more than app icons, operation is a simple matter of hitting an icon and working within the simple GUI of whatever IOS app you've launched.
Honeycomb, meanwhile isn't "difficult," per se (and certainly not to Maximum-echelon users), but its interface is more complex, and Android apps tend to be more clumsily designed in general. You're given more user-controlled options across the OS, and this can lead to confusion among newbs. And while it's true that using iTunes for the file-management of your personal media is a PITA, the entire discovery and downloading process of store content is easier in iOS than in Android.
But Honeycomb's biggest user-experience problem is "system fragmentation." Not all Honeycomb updates are available for all Honeycomb tablets at the same time. As a result, the current field of Honeycomb devices is fragmented between OS versions 3.1 and 3.2. Even worse, device support for Honeycomb apps can also be staggered. A glaring example: At press time, only the Asus EeePad Transformer and Lenovo IdeaPad K1 were approved to run streaming video content in the Netflix app.
Bottomline: If you're buying a tablet for a tech-challenged loved one , get an iPad 2.
Ok, so you're sold on buying a tablet, and you've even chosen between the iPad 2 and a Honeycomb variant. Now it's time to arm yourself with specs knowledge for comparison shopping. Most tablets are markedly similar, but here's what matters most.
Every Honeycomb tablet released thus far contains the same 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 chip and 1GB of RAM. This dual-core Nvidia silicon is based on the ARM Cortex A9 architecture. The iPad 2 also contains a 1GHz dual-core chip—the Apple A5—and it is also of the A9 persuasion. The iPad 2, however, comes with just 512MB of RAM. Smartphones are already shipping with 1.2GHz dual-core chips, so expect next-gen tablets to scale accordingly.
All Honeycomb tablets ship with a 10.1-inch, 1280x800 display—per the Android 3.1 spec. What differs, however is screen quality. The display of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is bright, vibrant, and relatively true. The screen of the Motorola Xoom , meanwhile, is so dim and dull (and fraught with bad off-axis viewing), some critics suspect Motorola is using inferior twisted-nematic (TN) display technology. Bottom line: All Honeycomb tablets bear the same screen dimensions and resolution, so make sure the one you purchase looks great on a pixel-by-pixel basis.
As for the iPad 2 , it uses the same 9.7-inch, 1024x768 display found in the original iPad. Its brightness and color accuracy are laudable, but we prefer the greater resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio of the Honeycomb models.
Today's tablets typically offer 8, 16, 32, or 64 gigs of solid-state storage. Want more storage? Then buy a more expensive model. And if you suspect that you'll be wanting a lot of storage space—and storage flexibility—look for a Honeycomb tablet that supports SD cards (giving a second life to all those random memory cards sitting in the bottom of your camera bag). The Toshiba Thrive even supports a full-size SD card, good for 128GB of extra storage.
Every tablet includes Wi-Fi support. Some include 3G support as an option, and some (like the Asus Transformer) currently don't offer a 3G version at all. This is our take on tablet 3G service: It's expensive. It can't be rolled up into our existing smartphone data plans. And we already have 3G service built into our smartphones. If we need to check email or look up a piece of information in an area without free Wi-Fi, we'll use our phones. There's no reason to avoid a tablet with 3G support, and it's nice to have that support in a pinch. But if you're pinching pennies, it's probably not worth the investment.
As we stated before, there are very few reasons to care much about camera quality. Still, all modern tablets come with both front- and rear-facing cameras, so you might as well get the best cameras possible. Front cameras are only appropriate for (grainy) video chat, and usually range between 1.2MP and 2MP. Rear cameras typically fall right at 5MP, but we say to focus on image quality instead of cold, hard megapixel numbers. And if you really must give a damn about your tablet's camera, you may as well get one with LED flash.
Android tablets are relatively cookie-cutter—except when it comes to ports, car slots, and power cables. What kind of USB ports does your tablet include—micro, mini, full, or none at all? What about HDMI—micro, mini, full, or none at all? Full-port support for both USB and HDMI are most welcome. SD card support is also a plus. And get this: The Toshiba Thrive has a user-swappable battery.
Unfortunately, all of the tablets we discuss in this article depend on different proprietary power connectors, and none of the tablets with USB ports can charge via these ports. The downside is that you may find yourself powerless and SOL when the inevitable cable misplacement occurs.
We know we'll catch heat for saying this, but we don't think a tablet's weight is that important. Just how weak do you have to be to quibble over the 1.65 pounds of the Lenovo K1 relative to the 1.33 pounds of the iPad 2? We're much more interested in tablet's thinness (the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 rule this roost), and its backing material. In fact, we rather like the grippy, rubberized back panels of the Toshiba and Lenovo tablets.
5,300 Years Old and Trendier Than Ever!
With simmering iPad 2 rumors and dazzling Honeycomb previews at CES, it was clear within the first week of 2011 that this would be the year of the tablet. But before you settle down to compose a self-congratulatory tweet on your shiny new slate, consider that this year's models are really the culmination of some 5,300 years' worth of tablet ingenuity . That's right: Our current tablet fever can be traced all the way back to the first people to record history on a slab of hardware—really hard hardware. OMG, indeed.
Sumerian Cuneiform Tablets
The Sumerians built one of the first urban societies more than 5,000 years ago in Southern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). And, consistent with urban culture, they had their minds on their money, and their money on their minds. Sumerians first developed their glyph-based writing system with a stylus on a clay tablet in order to document financial transactions. Their system of characters and symbols constantly evolved, and was used as late as the year 100 CE, long after the culture's spoken language died out.
The Ten Commandments
The details of Moses's life are, let's just say, highly disputed. Nonetheless, as the story goes, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God at the top of Mount Sinai and transcribed them on stone tablets. Upon descending the mountain and witnessing his people worshiping false idols, he destroyed the tablets in a rage, thus voiding their warranty. Moses returned to the mountain and inscribed two fresh tablets, which to this day continue to arouse mixed feelings.
Greek Wax Tablet
Developing all that democracy and fighting all those Persians required much note-taking. The ancient Greeks' solution? Wooden tablets covered with a layer of wax. Writing into the wax with a stylus took much more pressure than writing with ink on parchment, but wax was all they had, and they used a straight-edge, spatula-like tool to erase.
Erasable Writing Tablet
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, written 1599-1601, the tragic protagonist muses, "From the table of my memory I'll wipe away all trivial fond records…" Metaphorical? Perhaps. Yet also literal. Small, portable writing tablets with erasable pages existed in those times. A mixture of gesso and glue covered the pages to make them erasable when written on with a metal stylus. Very convenient when you want to erase "By Christopher Marlowe" from the title page.
Etch A Sketch
A French electrician in the late 1950s hatched a plan to make a drawing toy with a joystick, glass, and aluminum powder. Several degrees of separation later, the concept ended up in Bryan, Ohio where the Ohio Art Company redesigned and manufactured it. Five decades later, the often used (but rarely mastered) Etch A Sketch continues to thrive.
Star Trek Electronic Clipboard
While we're still impatiently awaiting teleportation, the original Star Trek series predicted a number of technologies with varying degrees of accuracy. While it was ultimately a crudely made prop, the electronic clipboard's depiction of a multitouch computer input device was truly fantastical for the time. And if you were paying more attention to the device (later named the PADD) than to Uhuru, you're a true nerd.
Apple Graphics Tablet
Made for the Apple II desktop computer and Utopia Graphics System software, the Apple Graphics Tablet with wired stylus cost a down-to-earth $650. But it didn't sell well, and Apple discontinued it after the FCC discovered it caused radio frequency interference. D'oh!
Star Trek PADD
Beginning with Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, the PADD (Personal Access Display Device) imagined the potential of tablet computing before real-world technology could manifest it. Throughout that series, as well as in Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise, the PADDs continues to evolve, as citizens of the United Federation of Planets demanded better push notifications and unlimited data plans.
Grid Systems GridPad
This portable tablet PC (one of the first) had a 10-inch monochrome screen, tethered pen, 1MB RAM, and a price tag of about $3,000, including software. Its 4.5-pound weight was considered svelte, and it sold pretty well while collecting good reviews. But business happens, after AST took over ownership and tanked in the mid-'90s, the GridPad went down with the ship.
Compaq Concerto
One of the early models to run Windows for Pen Computing (Microsoft's first attempt at a tablet OS), the Concerto cost an intimidating $2,500. Even a $1,000 price drop didn't do the trick, and Concerto fizzled out in 1994. The computer itself is hidden behind the display, so the keyboard can be fully detached, allowing users to pen-compute themselves into an altered state somewhere between blithe indifference and total apathy.
Newton MessagePad 100
Who could forget the Newton OS, Apple's first tablet platform? Its popularity was somewhere between the current Apple iOS and voluntary castration. Although widely considered a failure, the Newton OS hung around for five years after the initial MessagePad 100. After Apple discontinued Newton in 1998, Steve Jobs reabsorbed the technology, and two ex-Newton developers created the OS for the original iPod.
USRobotics (Palm) Pilot 5000
Anyone of a certain age remembers when the Palm Pilot had the lockdown on the PDA market and a future filled with nothing but sunny skies. The Pilot 5000 launched in March 1996 (when Palm was a subsidiary of USRobotics). It made waves with its Graffiti handwriting recognition, and adoption of apps before apps were even, err, apps. The four main apps—date book, address book, to-do list, and memo pad—seem pedestrian now, but they were a revelation 15 years ago.
Tablet PC
COMDEX, Fall 2001: Bill Gates delivers his annual keynote speech, unveils a slew of tablet prototypes, and decrees that "Tablet PCs" will rule the landscape in five years. In short order, the industry releases devices like the HP TC-1100 pictured here, and tech geeks discover that Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, which requires stylus-driven text input, isn't really easy to use. Tablets suffer a bad name for approximately seven more years—proving Bill is quite the optimistic soothsayer vis-à-vis when things will rule.
Microsoft Ultra-Mobile PC
Some five years after Bill Gates promised Tablet PC dominance, Microsoft's tablet OS was updated to Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, and slotted for smaller, stylus-dependent touch-screen devices called Ultra-Mobile PCs, or UMPCs. The Samsung Q1 was one of the first, and initially cost $1,100. Sadly, Windows wasn't very well adapted to the tiny screens, and UMPC hardware lacked the juice to power the OS very well.
Axiotron Modbook
It's the touch-screen Mac (yes, Mac) that Apple never made, and probably never will. Axiotron, sick of seeing Windows users have all the Tablet PC fun, created the Modbook, which is basically the guts and OS of a MacBook converted into a touch-screen tablet computer. Axiotron charged $800 in 2007 (and $900 now) to modify a customer's Apple laptop into a tablet. Even today, Mac users who want to get touchy-feely with "real" software rather than just apps have no other options.
The Avatar Tablet
All kinds of anguished teens and other goofs reported being clinically bummed out after seeing Avatar because they had to live on Earth rather than Pandora. But the true torment came when tech geeks realized they couldn't have access to RDA Corporation's slick transparent tablet computer. That thing was seriously badass. Full multitouch and brilliant color emanated from a seemingly ordinary piece of Plexiglas powered wirelessly by the pain and suffering of giant blue humanoids.
Apple iPad
Perhaps you've heard of the iPad. Apple has sold 15 million units of the world's first "post-PC" tablet. As the first runaway tablet success in what we'll call the post-PDA world, the iPad set a high bar for the myriad tablet competitors that have come since—or have yet to surface. The iPad's intuitive interface and huge library of third-party apps has endeared it to a huge population of non-computer enthusiasts.
Samsung Galaxy Tab
While it wasn't the first "serious iPad competitor," the Galaxy Tab was the best of 2010's crop of iPad opponents. It ran Android 2.2, had front and rear cameras, a beautiful 7-inch screen, and a zippy 1GHz Samsung processor. Although the screen still didn't offer enough real estate to make the iPad tremble in its dock and pee a little, it suggested good things to come.
Motorola Xoom
The first tablet to really challenge the iPad, the Motorola Xoom launched a few weeks before the iPad 2 with a 10.1-inch screen and Android 3.0 (Honeycomb). While it has impressive hardware, including much better cameras than the iPad 2, the battle for tablet supremacy may come down to the quality and quantity of available apps. Honeycomb-optimized apps are still extremely sparse, while the iPad counts more than 65,000 native apps.
Apple iPad 2
The second-gen iPad adds front and rear cameras, a dual-core processor, and some new software extras. It's also thinner and lighter. While not an earth-shattering update, the iPad 2 sold out in a day and waiting lists were still up to three weeks long a month after its release. The runaway iPad freight train now simply thrives off momentum. With such a following and a huge, established developer base, it will take a true tablet superhero to derail this baby.
In the following eight reviews, some of which appeared in previous issues, we do our best to differentiate among eight popular (or at least talked-about) tablets shipping today. The Honeycomb entries bear exceedingly similar specs, so we did our best to tease out differentiating factors. Please note that at Maximum PC we don't update our official review scores, even when revisiting products in more technologically advanced times. You will find, however, that we provide insight on how scores might change.
iPad Part Deux is the slickest, most idiot-proof, most aesthetically striking tablet around. It hooks directly into the greatest App Store in the world, and software developer support from both big-name studios and indies isn't showing any signs of fatigue. This second iPad version includes a 1GHz dual-core CPU, and comes in a wide variety of storage and data connectivity configurations (16GB, 32GB, or 64GB, with or without 3G support). Hardware-wise, though, all iterations are hobbled by just 512MB of RAM and a rear-facing camera that we find to be craptacular.
The 9.7-inch display is bright and accurate, but its pixel density isn't world-class, and the 4:3 aspect ratio seems oh-so-déclassé. Still, the iPad 2 is one of the thinnest, lightest tablets available (0.34 inches, 1.33 pounds), but you'll pay a premium for its fancy-pants design. You may be better served by waiting for the iPad 3, which could hit retail by November.
When we reviewed the world's first Honeycomb tablet in March, we gave it a 9 verdict for all the great things that Honeycomb does well. Some five tablets later, however, the Xoom doesn't quite zoom the way it used to. It's been updated to Android 3.1, and there's now a 3G version available, but the base hardware doesn't match up to specs you'll find in newer competitors.
USB is limited to a Micro USB port, the 5MP rear camera isn't as good as those found on competing models, and industrial design is thick and heavy (0.5 inches, 1.6 pounds) compared to tablets that offer more hardware doodads. Most glaringly, the Xoom display is the worst among all Honeycomb devices. It's demonstrably dim compared to the rest of the pack, text rendering is grainy, and off-axis viewing is poor. The Xoom would likely receive a 6 or 7 verdict if reviewed in today's environment.
Hands down, the Tab 10.1 boasts the most impressive industrial design of any Honeycomb tablet, and its depth and weight (0.34 inches, 1.24 pounds) actually beat the iPad 2—at least in the weight department, which we don't care about much, but still. More importantly, the Tab 10.1 offers the best display in this entire tablet hoedown. Samsung doesn't promote it as one of its extra-fancy "Super TFT" displays, but it's noticeably brighter, more vibrant, and just plain more exciting than any other tablet display we've seen.
If reviewed today, this device (currently running Android 3.1) would still receive the 9 verdict that we awarded it in late June. The industrial design and LCD still garner high accolades. We will note, however, that the Tab 10.1 lacks a few features that make other Honeycomb tablets intriguing. Its rear camera is only 3MP (though image quality doesn't suffer for it), and you won't find built-in USB and SD card ports of any kind.
For folks who really think a Honeycomb tablet can replace a notebook, Asus delivers the EeePad Transformer. Paired with an optional keyboard dock ($150 MSRP), this Android 3.2 tablet delivers the tactile response of real-world chiclets, and provides extra battery life, some quick-launch keys, and two USB ports, to boot. After many months of use, we concede that the included Polaris Office suite isn't a viable long-term substitute for MS Office on a Windows notebook, but it's better than nothing in a pinch.
At 0.51 inches thick and 1.5 pounds, the Transformer is thicker and heavier than the iPad 2 and Tab 10.1. And thanks to speakers lodged at opposing ends, it's also longer by about an inch. But have you seen the price? The Transformer is priced to move. Reviewed today, this tablet wouldn't earn a verdict less than an 8, and still may even deserve a 9.
It may not be the slimmest or prettiest Honeycomb device, but the K1 is packed with useful features. Specs-wise, you get a nice (but not world-class) screen, Android 3.1, a 5MP camera, and microSD and Mini HDMI ports. Weight and width are portly at 1.65 pounds and 0.52 inches, and 3G isn't enabled in the U.S., but we dig the back panel, which is warm and grippy.
The Lenovo is newbie-friendly and comes packed with apps. The home screen is preconfigured with quick-launch buttons for the browser, as well as for email, e-books, and music and video playback. But the pièce de résistance is the preinstalled Netflix app—and this version plays streaming video! That's such a win. The K1 doesn't have full-size ports, and its screen can't beat Samsung's. But we love the software build and can forgive the chub. It only gets a verdict of 8, because Netflix streaming isn't worth a full verdict point.
What we love: the grippy back panel, a user-replaceable battery (buy a second at $90 for double the juice!) and full-size USB, SD, and HDMI ports. That's right: full ports. Now you can drag-and-drop data from USB keys, add up to 128GB of extra flash storage, and hook the Thrive into your living room TV with no adapters. These are fantastic—albeit heft-enhancing—features.
What we dislike: The chassis is chubby (1.6 pounds, 0.63 inches) and screen quality is just so-so. It's also hard to locate and operate the on/off button and volume rocker without looking straight at them, and the front panel is adorned with annoying LEDs reporting on power, battery, and wireless status. 3G isn't available, and you won't find any interesting apps installed, à la the Lenovo. But port and juice junkies looking for an inexpensive, solid Android 3.1 tablet must consider the Thrive. You can even buy an 8GB version!
At this point in the arc of the Honeycomb tablet story, there really isn't any reason to consider the Iconia Tab A500, except maybe its bargain-basement street prices. The tablet is pudgy at 0.5 inches deep and 1.6 pounds. It doesn't have full-size HDMI or SD slots. There's no user-swappable battery. There aren't any special app packages or Netflix streaming support. You get a so-so 5MP rear camera, a pretty standard display, and microSD and Micro HDMI ports. Really, the most "exciting" thing of all about the A500 is its full-size USB port (along with a second Micro USB). And that alone generates about as much excitement as a box of raisins on Halloween.
Industrial design? Meh. Even if you can forgive the porkiness of the chassis, we're left uninspired by the brushed-aluminum strips flanking the top and bottom of the display. The A500 gets points just for playing, but we don't know why anyone would buy one.
Can you consider a 7-inch tablet viable in a fight where everyone else is wielding 10-inch devices? And when email is such an essential mobility feature, can you accept a tablet that depends on phone tethering for this service? And can you support an app store that makes even the Android Market look like the Mall of America in terms of inventory volume and variety?
In the case of the PlayBook, we have to answer no to each question. Pixel for pixel, this tablet has a perfectly fine 1024x600 screen, and we even appreciate the speedy, fluid OS (though having to swipe the screen perimeter to return home is an unnecessary affectation). But we still can't find a single reason to recommend this tablet outlier—unless you don't care about apps (especially games) or are some kind of BlackBerry fanboy with a nihilistic urge to support a tablet platform without a future. Revisionist history says the PlayBook deserves a 5 verdict.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Pizza is my favorite food. But I wouldn't, under any circumstances, consider myself a sauce fan - I'm definitely more into the cheese. This pizza, however, has the greatest (zesty) pizza sauce I've ever had. The crust was great too - crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. But the cheese needs... read more


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This job posting is no longer available on Indeed.
Find similar jobs:Chemistry Lecturer jobs
Looking for someone to teach foundation level/premed chemistry. Preferably both the typical "first year" general chemistry and the organic chemistry that follows it. Teaching would be done online through the Blackboard interface. Computer and powerpoint familiarity essential. Teaching experience preferred. Usual teaching credentials required to have a faculty appointment, ie PhD. If MSc. then could be hired to work with a supervising faculty member.


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Dance Tech Studios MiamiRead MoreCome and see the theatrical offerings at Dance Tech Studios Miami in Hialeah. Make the trip to this theater even more savory with a visit to their fine restaurant. Youngsters don't need to sit out a trip to this theater — it's super family-friendly and perfect for little customers and their folks. Dance Tech Studios Miami offers so many different dance classes, it will be hard to choose just one. Parking is plentiful, so guests can feel free to bring their vehicles.3418 West 84th StreetHialeah, FL US
Miami Dancity StudiosRead MoreFor the love of spectacle, you'll want to get to Miami Dance City Studios, Hialeah's premiere theater. Pick up a tasty meal at their restaurant, located conveniently within the theater. Parking is plentiful, so visitors can feel free to bring their vehicles.14022 Northwest 82nd AvenueMiami Lakes, FL US
B's Dance StudioRead MoreDancing is a healthy way to express yourself. Let your body be taken up by the music at B's Dance Studio in Hialeah. Parking is plentiful, so visitors can feel free to bring their vehicles.4858 Northwest 167th StreetMiami Gardens, FL US
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Latin Groove Dance StudiosRead MoreWith more than 15 years of experience under their belts, the expert instructors at Latin Groove Dance Studios lead students of all levels through the elegant art of Latin dance. During classes, instructors focus on the details of technique and offer hands-on corrections in an encouraging, laid-back atmosphere.12721 Southwest 42nd StreetMiami, FL US


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Two-Sided Network Effects: A Theory of Information Product Design
How can firms profitably give away free products? This paper provides a novel answer and articulates trade-offs in a space of information product design. We introduce a formal model of two-sided network externalities based in textbook economics---a mix of Katz and Shapiro network effects, price discrimination, and product differentiation. Externality-based complements, however, exploit a different mechanism than either tying or lock-in even as they help to explain many recent strategies such as those of firms selling operating systems, Internet browsers, games, music, and video. The model presented here argues for three simple but useful results. First, even in the absence of competition, a firm can rationally invest in a product it intends to give away into perpetuity. Second, we identify distinct markets for content providers and end consumers and show that either can be a candidate for a free good. Third, product coupling across markets can increase consumer welfare even as it increases firm profits. The model also generates testable hypotheses on the size and direction of network effects while offering insights to regulators seeking to apply antitrust law to network markets.
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Volume (Year): 51 (2005)
Issue (Month): 10 (October)
Pages: 1494-1504
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Fax: 443-757-3515
Web page: http://www.informs.org/
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We have the Esse Chaise too but we keep this handy for adventures outside the bedroom. It works well on the floor, furniture and the bed. It fits under the bed so it stores easily. It is perfect for a variety of positions and oral too!
After we received the Hipster we couldn't wait to try it, didn't know what position we wanted first but believe me we tried various. It benefits both partners and we can't wait to use it again.
Bought the hipster yesterday and it is great, well worth it, especially for those where the men are so much taller than the wife/ girlfriend, want the chair next, lol
It is all I expected and a lot more I'm 83, my wife is 75 and the hipster has taken having sex to an unbelievable level. Sincerely Dale Crafts
Lot of fun to use, great on bed or floor, will be taking it on road trips for sure. Confertable for both of us
Items 1 to 10 of 16 total


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Happy Dragon HostelBeijing, China
Blue Mountain Bund Youth HostelShanghai, China
Trip and FriendsMarrakech, Morocco
Our stay was from the first night negativly influenced by the staff, who didn't accept the smell of cat pee in our room. After a long discussion we slept on the roof, because we couldn't stand the smell. Unfortunately the staff in total is not able to help you proberly, because the most are too young and are just focused about their ipads, iphones and whatever, but definately not the customers/ guest.
Hostal CatedralSeville, Spain
The "Hostel" is in reality no hostel. It has neither a atmosphere nor staff, who speaks english. So either you are good in body language or in spanish, otherwise it's going to be hard to communicate. Furthermore you can't print anything, because they are not authorized to do anything. The place in general is in an average location as well as the cleanness is nothing special. To sum up, we would definitely never go to this hostel again, if we stay one more time in Seville.
Algarve HostelFaro, Portugal
Awesome hostel atmosphere with great hospitality and nice hostel owners, who run the hostel. We spend 5 nights there and had nothing to worry about. To sum up: Best place to be in Faro.
LxCorner HostelLisbon, Portugal
The location was quite good, but wether the atmosphere nor the staff was than expected. Sometimes we had to ring 5 times on the door until someone opened. People where all the time pretty noisy eventhough it was 3 a.m. in the morning. Showers where dirty and didn't work all the time.
Oporto City HostelPorto, Portugal
Great hostel with great staff. We stayed there for three nights and had a good time.
Arsenal Tavern BackpackersLondon, England
We stayed there for the first night in London and had to change the accomodation, due to the very dirty facilities. The common room where not as cosy as the pictures. Sleeping on the very thin mattress was more pain than recovery. I dont recommend this hostel.
Green Tulip HouseChiang Mai, Thailand
Sehr gute Empfehlung von Elefantentouren und anderen Aktivitäten. Hätten eine sehr gute Zeit im Green Tulip.
- Avid Traveller
- Germany
- Couple, 18-24
- (10 reviews)
the Sparkling Turtle Backpackers HostelKathmandu, Nepal
The time I had at the sparkling turtle will never be forgotten. The great staff - from the chef up to the great canadian managers - makes it hard to leave this place. In addition I've never seen such luxury facilities then in this hostel - you feel like in a palast. You can get a lot support from the hostel if you don't know what to do in Nepal or where to stay next. They are very well connected to a lot of people and if you are as cool as me you might get even a job offer ;)
- Avid Traveller
- Germany
- Male, 18-24
- (10 reviews)


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वन्दे गुरूणां चरणारविन्देvande gurūṇāṁ caraṇāravindeसंदर्शितस्वात्मसुखावबोधे |saṁdarśita-svātma-sukha-avabodhe |निःश्रेयसे जाङ्गलिकायमानेniḥśreyase jāṅgali-kāyamāneसंसारहालाहलमोहशान्त्यै ‖saṁsāra-hālāhala-moha-śāntyai ‖
Gist: Because I want more peace of mind and stability in my life, I am now going to practice yoga as I have learned it from my teacher.
Interpretive: For the peaceful resolution of the deluding nature of repetitive existence, I bow at the Gurus' lotus feet, and behold the awakened joy of my own Soul; this is the ultimate refuge acting as a shaman for my spiritual enrichment.
आबाहुपुरुषाकारंābāhu-puruṣa-ākāraṁशङ्खचक्रासिधारिणम् |śaṅkha-cakra-asi-dhāriṇam |सहस्रशिरसं श्वेतंsahasra-śirasaṁ śvetaṁप्रणमामि पतञ्जलिम् ‖praṇamāmi patañjalim ‖
Literal: I respectfully honor Patañjali - a principle proponent of yoga - who has assumed the form of a brilliantly luminous man with thousands of [snake] heads, and who bears a conch, a discus and a sword.
swasti-prajābhyaḥ paripāla-yantāṁnyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṁ mahīśāḥ |go-brāhmaṇebhyaḥ śubha-mastu nityaṁlokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu ‖
oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ‖
स्वस्तिप्रजाभ्यः परिपालयन्तांन्यायेन मार्गेण महीं महीशाः |गोब्राह्मणेभ्यः शुभमस्तु नित्यंलोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ‖
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ‖
Gist: May the merits of my yoga practice [or other such action] benefit the entire world.
Literal: May the leaders of this earth
Protect the welfare of all generations
By keeping to the path of virtue.
May the religious, and all peoples be forever blessed,
May the whole of all the worlds be happy.
Om peace, peace, peace…


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- Oak Park Outdoor Chain-Hung Lantern
- Features Solid Brass Construction with Smooth Light Honey Glass Panels
- Includes 6' of wire and 5' of chain
- 3-40w Candelabra Base (Bulbs Not Included)
Additional Hinkley Lighting Links
- View the Manufacturer Warranty
- Browse All Hinkley Lighting Products
- Hinkley Lighting Oak Park Collection
This Hinkley Lighting item can also be referenced by the following color/finish specific model #:
- Hinkley Lighting 2392CB*
Copper Bronze
*Discontinued model or finish
More Than Just a Store - Your Reasons to Shop
Discover the best online deals for the H2392 and everything else for your home from the leading online home improvement store.
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Installation Resource Center
Whether you are installing the product yourself or hiring a professional, our installation Resource Center has everything you need to get your project done. Visit the Installation Resource Center to get started.


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- Home
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Shop By Category
- Bags & Wallets
- Pittsburgh Pirates Embossed Leather Trifold Wallet
This genuine leather (interior and exterior) trifold wallet has six credit card holders, ID protector, and billfold pocket. Features embossed team logo and beautiful gift tin.
Manufacturer: Rico
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HOUSTON (AP) -- Wade Miller got the first shutout of his career
and extended his winning streak to an NL-best 11 straight decisions.
It's going to take a lot more for the Houston Astros to win the NL Central.
Miller (14-3) pitched a three-hitter, and Lance Berkman drove in four
runs as Houston beat Matt Morris and the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0 on Sunday.
The victory cut St. Louis' lead in the NL Central to 6½ games
and gave the Astros a split in the four-game series.
"We obviously need a little miracle right here for it to
happen,'' Miller said. "Things aren't like, St. Louis is going out
there and lose the rest of their games. They're a good team and
they'll win some games. Hopefully, we can win a lot and they can
lose a lot.''
Miller's 11-game winning streak, which includes three
no-decisions, is the longest in the NL this season. He hasn't lost
since June 26 against Arizona. It was Miller's fourth complete
The right-hander took charge early, retiring his first 11
batters before Jim Edmonds' two-out triple in the fourth. He struck
out nine and didn't walk a batter.
Scott Rolen and Kerry Robinson got the other hits for St. Louis.
"It's the best stuff I've had all year and the best stuff for
my whole career probably,'' Miller said. "I made a couple of
mistakes today, one to Edmonds, but I was able to keep the ball
down and keep it on the corners.''
Jeff Bagwell isn't expecting miracles, just luck.
"I wouldn't say miracle,'' Bagwell said. "Miracle is a pretty
strong word, but we're going to have to be very lucky. In reality
it's not over, but we're looking for a ton of help.''
Berkman went 4-for-5 with a solo homer in the fourth inning, his
41st of the season. Berkman also had a two-run single in the eighth
inning and an RBI double in the first. He leads the NL with 123
"He did just about everything but take tickets today,'' Astros
manager Jimy Williams said. "He did an awful lot of things out
there. Driving in runs, hit a home run, threw out a guy at the
plate. He really had a stellar day.''
Berkman preserved the 5-0 lead in the sixth inning when he
caught Eli Marrero's fly and threw out Robinson at home with
catcher Brad Ausmus blocking the plate.
Berkman made a diving catch in right field in the seventh on a
flyball by Albert Pujols.
"A split in this series is not good,'' Berkman said. "The
Cardinals go to Colorado now and we have to hope for some help.''
Brian Hunter also drove in a run in the eighth.
Morris (16-8) couldn't match Miller's early proficiency. Craig
Biggio singled in the first and scored from there on Berkman's
double over right fielder Marrero's head for a 1-0 lead.
"I just didn't pitch well,'' Morris said. "We could have
pulled away. I'm upset. I just didn't make pitches. I wasn't sharp
today and that's it.''
Berkman singled and Bagwell walked to start the third, and
Daryle Ward's double to the left-field corner scored both runners.
Ward took third on left fielder Pujols' fielding error.
Mark Loretta hit an RBI double to left field for a 4-0 lead.
After yielding Berkman's homer and walking Bagwell in the
fourth, Morris was replaced by Gabe Molina. Morris pitched 3 2-3
innings, his shortest outing of the season. He gave up five runs
and nine hits.
"We had three really tight games,'' Cardinals manager Tony La
Russa said. "Today, it was all Wade Miller. If I had my cap on, I
would tip it to him.''
Game notes
The Cardinals lead the season series 11-4, including a 6-3
record at Houston. The teams play again next weekend in St. Louis.
... Pujols has a nine-game hitting streak. ... Loretta is hitting
.404 since joining the Astros on Aug. 31 in a trade with Milwaukee.


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The German Colony (HaMoshava HaGermanit) situated in the downtown is a neighborhood built in 19th century by the German Christians, who called themselves Templers. This district distinguishes with beautiful stone houses with tiled roofs in accordance with the typical city planning of that time. Today you can find here a wide choice of original cafés and good restaurants and enjoy magic and uncommon atmosphere of this Haifa neighborhood.Visiting Haifa you can see many museums: the Maritime Museum, the Clandestine Immigration and Naval museum, the Museum of Science, the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, the Haifa Museum of Arts, and many others. All of them are open for visiting all year round and give the guests of the city an opportunity to spend their time interestingly and intensively. The museums fill one's recreation with entertaining and educating events that suit children and grown-ups.
Haifa ParksHaifa MuseumsCinema and moviesCity MallsSPASports centers
All rights reserved by EL AL LTD. Contents may not be used without prior written permission from EL ALטיסות אל על – ELAL Airlines - Израильские авиалинии Эль Аль


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Archive for the 'Burda' Category
An apology to Burda 117-11-2014
This is a project that didn't quite work. The fabric isn't quite right. It's a stretch denim that is too lightweight for the style and an odd shade of black. The fit isn't quite right either. I don't think it's the fault of the original pattern, which is Burda 117-11-2014, described as 'skinny pants with […]
Filed under: black, Burda, Dressmaking, Finished, Sewing, trousers | 13 Comments
Tags: black, Burda, Dressmaking, Sewing, trousers
Burda 109-10-2015
Burda's having a good streak lately and the October 2015 issue was a case in point. It normally takes me months to get around to sewing up patterns that catch my eye, but Burda 109-10-2015 was traced, cut and completed within a few weeks of the issue arriving. This is a loose-fitting top pattern designed […]
Filed under: Burda, Dressmaking, Finished, Sewing, Silver | 10 Comments
Tags: Burda, Dressmaking, Sewing, silver
I don't often make a pattern twice, despite my best intentions; and fabric that lasts more than a few months in my stash rarely gets made up. So this make is doubly unusual in that it's a repeat of a pattern I made earlier in the year and fabric from deep, deep stash. So deep […]
Filed under: Burda, Dressmaking, Finished, Sewing, trousers | 28 Comments
Tags: Burda, Dressmaking, Sewing, trousers
Black Burda jumpsuit
This jumpsuit was inspired, although in the loosest possible sense, by a visit to the Alexander McQueen exhibition at the V&A earlier this year. One of the models on display was a beautiful black evening jumpsuit with an asymmetric draped lapel detail. While I couldn't come anywhere near reproducing the inspiration, seeing it did remind […]
Filed under: black, Burda, Dressmaking, Finished, Jumpsuits, Sewing | 46 Comments
Tags: black, Burda, Dressmaking, jumpsuit, Sewing
Burda 115-12-2009
I'll admit I'm mildly obsessed with making shiny trousers. Up until now my experiments have all been skinny jeans made from Burda 103-07-2010. This however is Burda 115-12-2009, a pattern for wide legged trousers with interesting curved seams. Sadly I can't find it in the Burda online pattern store or I'd link to it. The […]
Filed under: Burda, Dressmaking, Finished, Sewing, Silver, trousers | 3 Comments
Tags: Burda, Dressmaking, Sewing, silver, silver trousers, trousers
Disclaimer: the only tiger in this post is the ceramic one in the picture below. Burda's June 2014 issue had a great story on Japanese-inspired styles. This is model 104, a very simple jersey dress with a twist detail on the body and sleeves. I can't see anything particularly Japanese about it, but suspect the […]
Filed under: Burda, Dressmaking, Finished, Sewing | 23 Comments
Tags: blue, Burda, dress, Dressmaking, japanese, Sewing, tiger
I've always loved colour blocking. And yet I haven't made a great many colour blocked garments. It's difficult to find suitable fabric combinations and even harder to place the colours in a pleasing way. I've been thinking about this a bit lately because the October issue of Burda provided an excellent example of the pitfalls. […]
Filed under: Burda, Dressmaking, Planning, Sewing, Vogue | 11 Comments
Tags: Burda, colour-block, colour-blocking, Dressmaking, Sewing, Vogue


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Uw winkelwagen is leeg.
Security is a key element in the development of any non-trivial application. The Spring Security Framework provides a comprehensive set of functionalities to implement industry-standard authentication and authorization mechanisms for Java applications.
Pro Spring Security will be a reference and advanced tutorial that will do the following:


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A Newfound Bed & Breakfast
The Cardigan
The Hemlock
The Birches & The Hemlock are in a separate section of the B&B. Combined, they create THE TREE TOPS, a deluxe family suite.
Rate: $375 per night/four-person occupancy
The Newfound Suite
The Birches
Spend New Hampshire vacations in The Birches at A Newfound Bed & Breakfast. This room is decorated in birch tree colors and tones and has a queen-size, pillowtop bed with the added versatility of an unbelievably comfortable antique Murphy bed for children.
Quality bedding with 500-thread-count, combed-cotton sateen sheets & plenty of pillows add to the room's amenities to rival those of luxury hotels. The Birches has a carpeted bedroom and tiled bathroom floor. Lavish in the oversized oval tub/shower unit in the private bath with 100% Turkish towels, Unique Amenities', "Natural" personal care products, and hair dryer. Enjoy the use of our own plush robes while lounging in your room.
Watch TV on a flat-screen with DVD player, cable, and HBO. Wi-Fi is available throughout the bed & breakfast. We have added a mini-frig & AM/FM/CD clock radio for your convenience. There is an ice bucket, ceiling fan, and individually zoned heat.
Rate: $199 per night/double occupancy
The Birches and The Hemlock are in a separate section of the B&B. Combined, they create THE TREE TOPS, a deluxe family suite.
Rate: $375 per night/four-person occupancy
Following are the policies of A Newfound Bed & breakfast, our pet-friendly lodging in New Hampshire with a view of The White Mountains and Newfound Lake. Our B&B is a great destination for a family vacation.
- Rates are applicable to single & double occupancy, family deluxe suite 4-person occupancy.
- Each night includes a full breakfast daily.
- In some rooms, we can accommodate an additional person at a rate of $35/night regardless of age, when available.
- Credit card required for deposit & reservation confirmation.
- We accept Master Card, Visa, & American Express.
- 9% NH State Room & Meals Tax additional.
- There may be a minimum-night stay required depending on the season or holiday.
DEPOSITS: To guarantee your reservation, full payment is required for all one-night stays.A 50% deposit is required for two nights or more. Remaining balance of your reservation is due upon arrival. In the event of late arrivals or early departures, you are responsible for your entire reservation balance.
CANCELLATIONS & CHANGES: A $30.00 processing fee will be charged on each cancellation.Deposits are non-refundable on cancellations made less than 14 days prior to arrival. If you must cancel in less than 2 weeks (up until 48 hours before check-in), we will refund the deposit less the $30.00 processing fee if we can refill your entire reservation period. No refunds after 48 hours.
- Rates are applicable to single or double occupancy & subject to change without notice.
- CHECK-IN: between 4 and 6 p.m. If you plan to arrive after 6 p.m., please call to make arrangements for late check-in.
- CHECK-OUT: 11 am, please feel free to enjoy the property after check-out.
- Breakfast is served 7:30 am to 9:30 am in the dining room (outdoors when weather permits). For in-room breakfast, a minimum 24-hour notice is necessary.
- The B&B is appropriate for children that are supervised & well behaved.
- Children over 14 are welcome to stay in their own room.
- Must be 21 years or older to book a room.
- Kitchen appliances & outdoor grill can be respectfully used at guest's convenience. Additional refrigeration available besides mini-frig in room.
- SMOKING: A Newfound Bed & Breakfast is a non-smoking inn. Smoking is allowed outdoors, please dispose in smoke receptacles provided on the property. Please be sensitive to our natural environment & woodlands as well as other guests on the property.
- PETS: Allowed w/approved damages agreement.
- There is a $300.00 fee if our smoking & pet policies are disregarded.


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Home ⋅ Unique Baby Shower Invitations ⋅ Girl Baby Shower Invitations ⋅ Floral & Botanical ⋅ Pink ⋅ Orange
"Very happy with how this turned out -- I didn't add any pictures, but the text is clear, bright, and easy to read. I chose expedited shipping and it arrived about when I expected it to. Would totally recommend this to anyone!"
"I received these invitations so quickly and I could not be happier. They are just as they are pictured on the website. I also ordered the matching return address labels and they are lovely. I will definitely purchase from Tiny Prints again as their customer service was excellent when I called with a question after submitting my order."
"I absolutely loved this invitation. I was able to customize all of the information to fit my needs. The paper it was printed on was beautiful. I am disappointed in the envelopes that were sent with them. I ordered square envelopes, which is a must for this invitation, and got rectangular envelopes. Beautiful invitations!!"
"The cards came, very beautiful and well made. My order came short a few cards, but after a brief conversation with Sarta W. I was set with the difference of cards sent to me. Even though an error was made this company's employees were very courteous and helpful."
"First I want to thank you guys for my cards they are gorgeous the color and the quality are incredible for the price, I will without a doubt order from you again if I need , fast incredible shipping... Awesome products..."
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