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Windows Phone 8.1 Reviewby Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/14/2014 10:00 PM EST
- Posted in
- Microsoft
- Smartphones
- Mobile
- windows phone
- Windows Phone 8.1
111 Comments
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sonicmerlin - Monday, April 14, 2014 - linkWhy doesn't anyone add test reflow to their browsers? Only android browsers have it, and it makes reading on the web so much easier. Instead with IE 11 MS actually made the font smaller. The added "reader" mode doesn't work on forums or comment sections, and I actually like the layout amd colors of web pages.
I would totally buy a windows phone if the browser had text reflow. Reply
at80eighty - Monday, April 14, 2014 - linkios has had it a while now Reply
Myrandex - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - linkThe iPhone 4s that I had running iOS 5 didn't contain this feature. Reply
comomolo - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkActually both Chrome and Firefox for Android DO NOT reflow text. I think Opera for Android is still the best in that regards. Firefox DID it at some point, so there's hope it'll be re-enabled in the future. Reply
emn13 - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkReflow is a standard part of every webbrowser. What specific UI or use-case are you talking about? Reply
UpSpin - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkNo, I just tested it on the latest Opera Mobile and Chrome for Android.
Just open this website here. Of course, Chrome does arrange the website content to make the best of it on a mobile display, but if you want to further zoom in, the text doesn't get rearranged, only increased and you have to scroll to the sides to continue reading. That's different with Opera. As soon as you zoom in, the text gets rearranged so you don't have to scroll to the left or right. Reply
looncraz - Thursday, April 17, 2014 - linkGo to settings and turn it on. Reply
Omega215D - Monday, April 21, 2014 - linkThe standard Android web browser does this. I'm using it right now on the stock broswer in my HTC One. As for Chrome I think you have to enable it, though some sites may not play well with text reflow. Reply
girishp - Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - linkThe standard web browser for Android is Chrome, HTC doesn't use Chrome by default. HTC ships a tweaked version of the browser and enables Tex-Reflow on.
The problem with Text-Reflow is that it re-arranges the visual elements, typically with poor results. Text is readable, but the content looks bad. I used to disable this on HTC phones. Reply
KarenKLawler - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkCompared to images, text is *obviously* language dependent. I often think the white text on black background motif is overdone since it makes apps look rather monotonous. Screens have color for a reason, color communicates a LOT more densely that text ever will. http://s6x.it/l521 Reply
Hrel - Friday, April 18, 2014 - linkGet the dolphin browser. The other must have app for me, touchpal keyboard. Reply
vanster - Monday, April 21, 2014 - linkmaybe just for some site not all site, yeah iphone and IE not doing what you mean, but i never try it on android Reply
StormyParis - Monday, April 14, 2014 - linkI'm not sure text can be overused as a UI element. I'm a geek, and I'm sometimes baffled by icons or even worse gestures (which have 0 discoverability). Text is immediately obvious, visible... My non-geek relatives feel even more strongly about this:: it doesn't look good, but it is extremmely user-friendly, especially casual-user friendly.
An example: if I want to send a text, do I click on this envelope, or that one ? "Text" vs "email" is way clearer. Reply
StormyParis - Monday, April 14, 2014 - linkI didn't know only Android had that. Indeed, I use it all the time, whether with the basic browser or Opera. Reply
jeffkibuule - Monday, April 14, 2014 - linkMost people read words in their head before recognizing them, which makes them slower to process in the brain. Plus, compared to images, text is *obviously* language dependent. I often think the white text on black background motif is overdone since it makes apps look rather monotonous. Screens have color for a reason, color communicates a LOT more densely that text ever will. Reply
dorekk - Saturday, June 21, 2014 - link"Most people read words in their head before recognizing them"
That's not true. The way most people read is by recognizing whole-word shapes subconsciously. Reply
nafhan - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkThat sounds like it would be more of an issue for people changing devices all the time. I just tap the mail icon that's always the same and always in the same spot on my primary home screen. Reply
Kenazo - Monday, April 14, 2014 - linkNext thing we'll be seeing a review of BlackBerry 10.2.1 on the Z30 (actually I wouldn't mind reading that....) Reply
creed3020 - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkWould be nice to see some more coverage in that area but I'm doubtful that AT is going to even consider BB devices.
For example the BB browser is excellent, it's get a score of 491 out of 555. I'd love to see how a Z30 compares in some of these benchmarks as conducted by a trusted source like AT. Reply
cashkennedy - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkThe scores on the HTML5 benchmark are fairly useless because half of the score is for form elements and other silly coding that no one uses. Yes IE11 doesn't support a color input type that will come so handy. Reply
D1RTYD1Z619 - Monday, April 14, 2014 - linkOwning a Windows Phone, Windows Phone 8 to be exact, has been the worst purchase of my life. The OS is such a huge piece of crap with many features missing that are included in Android. I will never buy or recommend a Windows Phone ever again. Reply
Myrandex - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkSorry about your experience. My wife and I both own WP 8 devices and are quite satisfied with them. I have an Android tablet too and I don't really feel like I am missing out of too many features compared to it. I don't have a file explorer on my phone, but I haven't been itching for one frequently either (in either platform). I had an iPhone prior (it was my work phone) and I enjoy this much better. Plus the camera continues to amaze me. Reply
cditty - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkI have a Lumia Icon which was a replacement for the M8 version of HTC's One. The camera on a phone is a big deal to me (I take tons of pictures of my daughter). The M8 was a sleek phone, but that camera just doesn't cut it.
I took the plunge on the 8.1 developer update (since it's free and it's the RTM bits). I am extremely happy with this phone now. I would say at this stage, I prefer it to Android. The Nokia camera app is fantastic and I got to keep it with the developer update.
Microsoft is onto something with the cross device apps. Reply
mebby - Friday, April 18, 2014 - linkI replaced my iPhone 4S with a Lumia 1520. I was hesitant about getting a WP phone but once WP8 came out and there were phones with faster processors, I took the plunge. Have to say I really enjoy the 1520 and find it very useful. The area that WP8 (now WP8.1) is deficient is the internet-of-things apps. Using apps with devices like Roku, Sonos, etc. is problematic. Seems like you have to wait or deal with 3rd party apps from hobby programmers. The rest of the apps are not really an issue for me.
I like the interface on WP8 and the 8.1 update (once I installed the dev preview) is like having a new phone. And I love the large screen on the 1520 though during the hotter months it is a little troublesome carrying in my jeans/pants.
It is interesting - the 1st Android phones I looked at were a piece of crap. I vowed to never buy (or look at) again. Of course Android as an OS, and the hardware, have improved dramatically over the last 4 or so years. I would consider an Android (or iOS or WP) phone when I am looking for my next phone. Reply
LarsBars - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkI would sign up for the developer preview and give 8.1 a shot. Reply
StevoLincolnite - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkI have a Lumia 920 with Windows Phone 8 black and I absolutely love it.
Majority of features that *I* need are available and work great.
Windows Phone is more aligned to iOS in that it's simple and easy to use, whilst power users who love to tinker should really stick to Android where you can alter the OS far more. Reply
Romberry - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkYour comment tells me nothing. Really. "A huge piece of crap" is both utterly non-descriptive and a complete overstatement. WP8 (and now 8.1) may not be your cup O' tea, but it's far from "a huge pile of crap." I moved to WP8 after a short stint with a Lumia 520 that I picked up for 60 bucks, no contract. As soon as I had Lumia Black firmware on the thing, I made the decision to move up to a slightly higher spec'd model based on the very good experience from the 520, and now that I'm in and familar with WP8/8.1, no way would I go back to competing platforms. In the low and midrange especially, there's nothing that comes close. On the high end? Can't say because I don't have a high end phone. But WP8/8.1 works very well even on that Lumia 520. Contrast and compare that to the experience of iOS users with previous gen hardware, and Android users on more platforms than I can count that never will get an update.
Sorry that WP8 wasn't for you, but crap it is not. Reply
darkich - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkIt was an absolute crap for me too.
Used Lumia 800 as a backup for my Galaxy S3, for 3 months.
And even those short sessions with it, (while my S3 was charging over a half broken charger that i couldn't replace at a time) triggered an anxiety like sensation in me..a lifeless, horribly restricted UI, terrible browser and multitasking..not to mention the apps and..well, in my experience almost EVERYTHING about it was unbelievably inferior compared to the GS3..even the speed and stability of WP was revealed as nothing more than a myth.
Yeah it worked decently but not at all better than Android! Reply
tiupapa - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkDude, the Windows phone 7 era was an absolute crap! Believe me, but as I got a lumia 520, at first I thought it was gonna be lumia 800 over again. . But I was wrong, the lumia 520, works 5x better than the former flagship, it was a huge gain for me that i just used my s2, just for playing games. But as a phone, and as a browser, i feel more at home with a windows phone Reply
Sivar - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkIt's funny, I had the opposite experience. The only electronics device I've ever despised more than the Galaxy S 3 is the Galaxy S. Samsung's hardware quality, QA, and attention to detail never fails to amaze me. The GS didn't even have a working GPS!
Awkwardly placed options, random and extreme battery drain (sometimes 10+%/hr), and flakiness after a few days of power-on time that reminds me of Windows in the 90's (and this is Linux!).
Unusually delicate glass, random unexplained app deaths without error message, complete inability to disable the "low battery" warning even if it's 3AM, odd difficulty in using Gmail contacts as phone contacts. The entire thing feels like a beta.
My wife's Windows Phone, which cost quite a bit less, works absolutely flawlessly every time. Smooth animation, apps don't randomely die, battery life is excellent (though one can't reasonably compare dissimilar devices), and every app I looked for was in the store, even unusual ones like Chess By Post.
I am curious as to what, specifically, made you feel so constrained in Windows Phone. Reply
Max(IT) - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - linkLumia 800 is NOT windows phone 8 device dude .... Reply
Myrandex - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - linkYea...comparing a WP7 device to the GS3...what would you expect. Although I used a Lumia 900 for a bit which was really similar to the 800 you mentioned and it was rather fast and stable. My son likes it now too. Reply
LemmingOverlord - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkLet's make something very clear in the whole Windows Phone v. Android v. iOS debate - no-one in their right mind will say a good thing about Windows Phone 7.x or anything that predates 8.0. The problem for Microsoft is that it earned itself so many black marks trying to get it right, that they lost credibility. I have used iOS, Android (still do, in fact) and I am probably one of the biggest fans of Windows Phone 8, ever.
Because I was a true skeptic and when I finally got my hands on it, it did not fail me where iOS and Android failed. You actually feel you are getting your money's worth from these devices (in particular Nokia Lumia).
Here are a few of the highlights together with the most common misconceptions about WP 8+ and my view on them:
Low hardware specs?
Here I disagree with Anand. Sure, trailing its rivals Apple and the Google ecosystem isn't doing Microsoft/Nokia marketing any favours, but anyone who's used WP 8 sees (and feels) that it runs smooth and doesn't choke on its own swill (no matter if it's a lowly Ascend W1 or a Lumia Icon/925), not even after months of installing / removing Apps, like Android does. I have to regularly factory-reset my Transformer TF300T pad to get it to work properly. My various junk android phones? The same. iPhone not so much, but then again, I hardly install stuff on it, nowadays.
Choking on RAM.
Android, in particular, seems to choke a lot on limited RAM and swapping data around. I don't fault Android completely for it, but probably the handset and tablet makers simply went full-retard when releasing hundreds of different SKUs with limited margins. Choices were made. BOMs were cut to the bone, etc etc. WP 8 does a brilliant job at multitasking and switching active apps. You don't feel it's loading up an app, you just smoothly slide into one.
The "limited" App store?
Well, I don't care about 5 million Apps, I care about the handful that really are worth having - and so far I have them all on WP 8. I'd say WP users have the luck of getting the apps worth having, after they've matured on Android or iOS. Laugh all you want, but push comes to shove, I've had no "software maturity" issues on WP 8 (well, all but one!). On the other hand, again, this won't do MS/Nokia any favours, but to be brutally honest, I'm glad I don't have to wade through a cesspool of crappy "official-but-not-really" apps. The exception I make is to an inexistant native Youtube player. For reasons no-one really understands Google and Microsoft have been banging heads over this, and (considering I haven't updated to 8.1 yet) I'm not sure this is sorted in the new update (as the Youtube player is listed under the "browser" features!). Yes, crappy youtube is a definite downside. But that's not even the sticking point for 99,9% of naysayers.
The "blocky" design.
Well, it's the smoothest scrolling, quickest and baddest interface I've used to date. Yeah, the tiles look weird at first, but you have to use it to believe it. It's smooth flowing, fast and just a joy to use. You might not like tiles, but they just work better for me. Try it out, suspend disbelief for a couple of minutes.
Native Office support
Yes. This is a cliché, but I have no issues reading, rendering or editing documents from desktop versions in the WP 8 Office. It's brilliant, and only someone who is held to a very low standard or completely disregards the basic need for a word processor, a spreadsheet or a powerpoint, will snub this. My experience on iOS and Android (pre-Office for iPad, mind you) is, in one word, atrocious.
There are a few other things you get for "free" with Windows Phone 8, in particular the Nokias. The camera software is fool-proof not to mention the quality on Nokia handsets is sooooo more "reliable" than the competitors. Yes, you have tons of "filter" apps for iOS, and the hipsters love it. :)
It boils down to this: WP 8 is all about suspension of disbelief. Microsoft did come through with something that is actually very polished. 8.1 seems to build on that without compromising "old" hardware. You can upgrade a low-specced Lumia 520 as well as your Nokia Icon. This kind of full-range compatibility is mind-blowing, these days. Android, the "open-source" mobile OS is on so many types of hardware that it's really hard to get KitKat on any device (and to be honest, when I moved to jelly bean, my 1GB of RAM on the TF300T seemed woefully inadequate for the OS... ie: at boot, a factory-reset Jelly Bean is eating up 33% more RAM than Ice Cream Sandwich. Reply
dorekk - Saturday, June 21, 2014 - linkActually, I like 7.5. I'm still on 7.5 because I haven't bought a new phone yet, and I would DAMN sure rather be using this phone than any other phone this old. Reply
MarkWebb - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - linkI agree with your comments. Amazing how well the 520 works and how many times it is getting major updates. For a budget phone it can't be beat. What I can't understand, however, is why the new 630 will ship with the present low-rez screen. Well at least I might be able to dial a phone number on it without reading glasses. (2014 with resizeable screens, and designers still favor small fonts, small design elements.) Reply
usama_ah - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkTry out the update? I've recommended to a few who love WP8 though I myself use Android. The simplicity of WP8 is what they enjoy. Still if you download the developer preview maybe you'll be satisfied with some of the updates? Reply
Jumangi - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkLooks like the troll wasn't fed today... Reply
SoCalBoomer - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkThat's a shame, D1RTY - nearly all of the WP users I know (and, admittedly, there aren't too many of us) really enjoy our phones. My wife was really dubious but now she has her games and really enjoys her phone. To each his/her own. . . Reply
miahshodan - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkI just switched from a Lumia 920 to a Moto X. It was worth it to save the $ on republic wireless vs. ATT, but otherwise I really miss my windows phone. It was smoother, had a better camera, and worked with Microsoft services (what I mostly use) better. Reply
Max(IT) - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - linkI could say quite the contrary: long time android and iOS user, I'm very happy about my Lumia wp experience Reply
DanNeely - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkIn the second set of image tests the no and standard image compression images appear identical. Did MS really manage to squeeze 10% out with no visible impact at all; or did you load the same image twice? Reply
EnzoFX - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkSo they should be at the bleeding edge in hardware, while focusing on the entry-level? That sounds a bit counter productive to me, but what do I know.
I do agree it's great as entry-level, I have a 521, and love it for the basics and little I use it for. I don't want to do anything too complex, if I did I would use a tablet, in which case free tethering on Tmo is a god send. Reply
Penti - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkTheir tie in with Qualcomm worked for Microsoft, it's one of the reasons Nokia's mobile business collapsed when they switched as they had been paying and cooperating with other semi-suppliers and much of what they did and their supply network went up in smoke thanks to it. They have already fired 30 000 employees and closed their manufacturing in Europe except for a few holding out in Hungary were most have been sacked. Uprooted how they design and manufacture and most of their supply network. What has survived is manufacturing in India and China, were they mostly has done Series 30/40 type of devices, the sub €50 market.
However it didn't look like this for Microsoft's market position for a long time, other SoC-suppliers were pretty prevalent and they did lag even on getting the latest Qualcomm-chips. As Qualcomm-chips come in both new high-end variants and low-end it does make sense to be supported early, regardless of when the mass release is done on the new chip. It also hindered stuff like other screen resolutions. Basically features Nokia's Symbian had in 2010 is what Nokia's WP-phones get now, and some of the limitations Symbian had like semi-fixed resolution got carried on and still applies in 2014. Great for Microsoft which get the only Windows Phone brand for nothing, but for the market as a whole? For NA? Well it's low end devices in Europe and Asia that sells and in the States they don't sell millions of units per year as they – the low-end – haven't caught on over there. High-end is mostly a marketing vehicle for Microsoft I would say. Most of the people that has been proponents early on knew nothing about it's limitations and so those people weren't good ambassadors. Most moved on as it's been about 4 years since Mix 2010. Others like Blackberry moved out of the spotlight but has been able to create whole new platforms within the same time that had most of the necessary features from the first few releases which were out some time ago. Until now, with 8.1 which hasn't made a final release yet, Windows Phone hasn't really been a choice in an enterprise as it's (mobile) management features were worse then BB10, Android and iOS, which all three also supported Exchange much better, had better third-party support for things like sharepoint and lync and so on. S/MIME mail weren't doable until 8.1 for example. They haven't drawn on their strength's that is the rest of the Microsoft family. While they have a mobile Office suit, it's features really isn't any better than third party packages for Android, BB10 or iOS by now and enterprise features or favorites like VBA Macros or really big spreadsheets are a now go. Thus it really doesn't offer any advantages. But now it is at least workable to a much larger extent. Reply
Sabresiberian - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkThanks for the review of 8.1 and the Icon. I've been wanting an Anandtech treatment because I believe this site is the best at detailing mobile phone hardware and software. You and Brian are also very good at moving prejudices or preferences to the side, expressing opinions as opinions and differentiating them from the facts. Well done. Reply
Penti - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkSadly Universal Apps are overblown, WinRT-framework still has it's limitations and while WinRT has been updated to the same as desktops it still is a two-projects in one solution, and if you don't do an mobile UI, or don't do a Store-UI (desktop metro) then it won't run there. Only part of the code is shared, the .NET version still requires portable class libraries and it's still built as one mobile app and one startscreen app from that project. WinRT (runtime) is sadly a limited abstraction of Win32 rather than anything else and it's still much weaker than iOS SDK or Android NDK/SDK, or Blackberry 10 Native SDK, or Jolla's Sailfish SDK. The phone still runs Win32 programs and the others don't need an API for internal apps such as browsers and a totally different one for developers of third party apps. On Android there pretty much only is Bionic-driven Native apps and apps on the Android framework through Dalvik/ART. WP still has two native frameworks and runtimes underneath it's system. The only thing it does anything better then at a technical level is probably the Bada-LiMo hybrid that is Tizen which is a mix of Bada C++ API's and EFL, which no one can relate to. It kinda is like if Nokia would bring back Symbian C++ API's, which they did replace with Qt the last few years it were around. Microsoft have to settle for the low-end market here, even if they actually can do corporate email now. Reply
Duraz0rz - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - link"it still is a two-projects in one solution, and if you don't do an mobile UI, or don't do a Store-UI (desktop metro) then it won't run there."
Is that a bad thing? There are many instance of iOS or Android apps being developed for the phone and not scaling well to the tablet. You have to make design decisions between the two, especially since the phone is designed to be used (for the most part) in portrait mode, while tablets are designed to be used in landscape.
"it's still much weaker than iOS SDK or Android NDK/SDK, or Blackberry 10 Native SDK, or Jolla's Sailfish SDK."
Why are the iOS or Android SDKs better than the WinRT SDK? Reply
LarsBars - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkWindows Phone lagged behind Android in getting LTE support, but the Lumia 900 launched 5 months before the iPhone 5, which was the first Apple phone to have LTE. Reply
UsernameAlreadyExists - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkThey even had a review of it. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5724/nokia-lumia-900... Of course, maybe Anand didn't read it :) Reply
wrkingclass_hero - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - link"It's no coincidence that the two players that do have that feature also derive revenue from selling advertising against user data."
Didn't Apple buy Admob? Admob doesn't collect user data? Reply
MikhailT - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkhttp://www.google.com/ads/admob/
Google owns Admob, so no, Apple didn't buy Admob. Were you thinking of a different company? Reply
agag - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkApple bought Quattro Wireless, an Admob competitor, which is now iAd:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/01/05/us-apple... Reply
ab_aditya - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkWith reference to the last statement, the Nokia Lumia 720 has one of the best cameras at the mainstream price point. It includes a Carl Zeiss lens, and has pretty much phased out the costlier Lumia 820 since its introduction. I have been using the 720 for the last 10 months & have been a lot more pleased with its image quality than my Galaxy S3. Reply
Gadgety - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - link"... I suspect the real chance to win is if Nokia can point its camera excellence at a more mainstream price point."
Yes, I agree. A Nokia/Microsoft phone with the 41mp camera brings lossless zooming, and with off line maps, plus transit info for both public transport and traffic in general, a mid range WP would almost be worth their price just for travelling world wide. I know a journalist that bought the 1020 as a camera first, and spent a lot of time mastering it before even starting to use it as a phone. Merging WP and RT is probably a step in the right direction, too. Reply
B3an - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkFinally some WP stuff on Anandtech. I would have liked this to go in to more detail though. It also doesn't really show just how big of an update this is, bigger than most updates Android or iOS has ever had, and certainly the biggest WP has had. Reply
PsychoPif - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkI agree. I'm the first to whine when they don't review WP new phones or when they act like they are not competitive in other OS reviews, but this time, they are both on time and give good treatment to the update.
I must say that I disagree with their conclusion though. Being an owner of a sufrace pro, I see the synergies between Windows and WP and that for me is worth more than being the first to receive overblown hardware feature or the next Flappy Bird. Reply
MikhailT - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - link@PsychoPif, the problem is, we're not seeing any synergies yet for those who don't own either one. I see what Microsoft wants to do but Microsoft had a lot of awesome ideas over the last decade that never went anywhere.
Windows 9 or Threshold is probably the moment that Microsoft can really reveal the purpose of their hard work over the past few years. I wish them all the luck. Reply
Zepid - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkJust so we are clear reviewer, Apple didn't do the "swipe up to quit" or "swipe away to quit" first. It was Palm. Reply
Taurothar - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkGlad to see someone else make this comment. I loved the card system on my Pre, and I'm happy it has come to the other OS since the webOS died out. Reply
apinkel - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkSo much to learn. Reply
beck2050 - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkI'm on a Note 3, having looked hard at Apple and Nokia Windows and both those fell far short for my purposes, IMHO. If Microsoft wants to break Android's and to a lesser extent IOS stranglehold on mobile space they need something spectacular, not bringing up the rear. Reply
rudder - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkI have the $59 Nokia 520. great phone with GPS, camera, SD slot. I have been using a windows phone for almost 2 years now. My wife has an android phone and the kids have iphones. I like the windows UI the best out of all of those.
The problem continues to be the app store. It takes forever for popular apps to show up. Or they never show up. I shop and Kroger and they have a nice app for android and iOS. Still no windows version. Just one example but this is the most frustrating aspect of having a windows phone. Reply
EddyKilowatt - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkFinally, the elephant in the room: Apps. No, Microsoft, NOT the latest Flappy Bird or whatever the flavor of the month is, that you will dutifully get ported for you. It's the thousands upon thousands of small specialized apps, like the above-mentioned retail store app, or the one for controlling my new smart TV, or the one that remote-starts my new Nissan. ALWAYS these apps are "now available for iOS and Android". SELDOM and I mean like <1% of the time (and shrinking) are they available for Win Phone. When was the last time you saw Windows mentioned in an app ad?
I know because I've had the original Lumia 900 for two years and am just in the process of deciding what to replace it with. I would love to another Nokia with a nice camera, but I'll just feel like "fooled me twice, shame on me" if I go Windows Phone again. Reply
hangfirew8 - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkOne such small "killer app" is a Data Sense replacement, since AT&T deletes this absolutely essential App from WP8. Reply
Jonahkirk - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkData Sense is built into 8.1 if you get the developer preview (even on my ATT Lumia 920) Reply
Romberry - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkYes, it's in the developer preview. I hope that when AT&T releases their OTA update that they don't take it out...but I'd almost bet that they do. Reply
Klimax - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkSome things to note:
1)What for is powerful hardware, when you kill it by software stack? (Android) Chase after hardware is mostly misguided thing if it doesn't have real effect. (And that is mostly true for WP, too optimized) Or rather forced to compensate for bad software.
2)Reminder html5 test is testing unfinished specs and thus its score is useless. (What is support now may turn up as obsolete unsupport) Or did everybody forgot lesson of IE6?
3)" It's no coincidence that the two players that do have that feature also derive revenue from selling advertising against user data."
That's Google, not Microsoft so it is mostly wrong. Reply
akdj - Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - link"
3)" It's no coincidence that the two players that do have that feature also derive revenue from selling advertising against user data."
That's Google, not Microsoft so it is mostly wrong."
Google AND Apple. IOW; in your quote 'the 2 players.' ;)
HTML 5...useless? LoL. Tell that to the 90% of real 'players' (YouTube? Facebook?) on the web while Flash goes the way of the DoDo, even Android has abandoned Flash support..Adobe isn't refining Flash for mobile any longer. HTML 5, while still being 'refined' is certainly FAR from 'unfinished specs' rendering Anand's measurements/'scores useless'. IE6? It's 2014. The ONLY one that needs to 'remember that lesson' is MS. Not you, not me, not 'us'. Just. Microsoft.
I'll agree whole heartedly with your first point although I'm not sure it gold water for Window's phones. They're still babies as is Win 8.1. As this is really the biggest and most significant update to the handset yet. Opening their A/SPK and providing an optimized platform for developers, IE XCode, they'll make in roads with developers. I've not spent real time with any Win phone but a colleague of mine at the radio station refuses to use anything but his year and a half old Nokia. He LOVES it and isn't interested in a different platform. As Anand mentions in the article, those in the camp seem content for the most part. Point being this is the FIRST round of Window's handsets using recent silicon. They've NOT chased fluency of the GUI with 'specs' and faster, more powerful silicon ala Samsung. TouchWiz is a HOG...And that added layer of peanut butter...I mean java script to eat through as well as the default apps installed by the carriers mandates hearty silicon JUST to achieve parity with iOS fluency. That said ...Apple isn't resting on their laurels when it comes to graphic and computational power. Look at the 5s/Air/rMini reviews. The A7 is a MONSTER. And 7.1, much like 8.1 on Windows slapped a lot of Mosquitos out of the way born from the virgin rewrite of iOS 7's rewrite for the ground up. Again, these are infants. The OS'es. We've been computing on our desks for 30 years give or take a decade pending your wealth in the 70s/80s. Mobile computing is really REALLY young. While we've had cell phones for decades, the 'smart' phone reimagined by blackberry....evolved/revolutionize by iOS in 2007 & Android '08---we're not even a decade into this serious computational paradigm. Many (excluding those of us geeks hanging and commenting on boards such as this) are finding iPad or Surface or the latest incarnation of Note/Nexus tablet computing to be ALL they need! Facebook, surfing and reading, music and media, email and gaming, social media and communication via FaceTime and iMessage...the list gets HUGE when you add the 2,000,000+ apps/software available in the Play and App Store. More software is available (and for significantly Less $) than any time in HISTORY! That's awesome. And faster, more powered I, and more efficient 'guts' IMHO is a welcome addition. Not for the sake of powering the basic, default UI but the option to access more data faster, play bleeding edge games, lower latency creative (audio, drawing, video manipulation, etc)... Faster radios and LTE infrastructure ...we're JUST getting a peak of the future. And Moore's Law seems to have jumped ship (desk and laptops) to the skiff...and the mobile platform. Intel is jumping HEAD FIRST...That should tell ya what the real 'players' are thinking. Did you see any of the reactions from Intel, Qualcomm, et al when the 64bit A7 dropped? If not, spoiler...so did ALL of their jaws. Snapdragon is aiming for their 64bit chips late this year, early next. Qualcomm ...maybe first or second quarter of '15. Intel is building out 64bit ULV chips as we speak and Haswell was a serious update efficiency-wise in comparison to ivy and sandy bridge...not to mention the phenomenal increase in iGPU performance. While you absolutely MIGHT be right on all accounts it would be sad if the barriers aren't continuously being pushed and more companies 'play'. Competition helps ALL OF US, as well as the companies doing the innovation from the polyurethane companies to the radio producers, SoC and silicon providers to the display and optic development for Gosh Sake...DON'T slow down! Keep it going!!!
J Reply
akdj - Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - linkMy apologies for the length and typos! Anand...is it mobile only or just the response 'system' that doesn't allow for editing? Seems like I remembered a small edit button post, posting;)...if that makes any sense. Anyway...hopefully you understand my points. All in fun and enjoyment of technology...I wasn't trying to come across as a 'dick'. If my initial response did, my apologies
J Reply
RollingCamel - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkNo T9? Reply
Da W - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkJust bought an HTC 8x on ebay, going back to WP8 baby!
Got an HTC ONE for SALE! Good bye android, you never did what i needed the way i needed it! Reply
BSMonitor - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkMicrosoft needs to throw serious $$ at marketing to developers. Looked at my brother's phone for a few simple apps, Comedy Central, Cosmos, Clash of Clans, etc... No go. It's not the small crappy game developers we are talking either. It is the big corporations. Corporations who are "competing" (aka throwing cash) by having their App presence out there.They aren't even creating Apps for Windows. I.e. Chase, Discover, Direct TV, etc etc
Apple has done to Microsoft what Microsoft did to them in the 80s/90s.. "See, all this software, it will run on ours, but not on yours".
For me to switch. I would need x86 Windows Phones. Reply
Duraz0rz - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkChase actually has a mobile app since the WP7 days. I think they even keep it up to date.
"For me to switch. I would need x86 Windows Phones."
For what? Reply
MikhailT - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkHe's probably trying to emphasize the important of the ecosystem behind the OS, not the actual x86 hardware. Think of Surface Pro, it's a great tablet with a big ecosystem because you can switch to the desktop to download x86 apps for any apps missing from the Windows App Store.
For him to consider switching to WP, it'd need to have a large amount of software comparable to having a Surface Pro shrunken to the phone model. Right now, it's just not there, it's missing too many apps. Reply
Duraz0rz - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkThat would make sense. More often than not, the sites he mentioned have a good mobile website (Discover and American Express have a good one, IIRC), but we are missing "cool" apps like Lyft and Uber. Reply
Arbie - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkI have a Nokia 520 Win8 phone and like it very much, especially at the $150 total price for an unlocked international version.
My main gripe is lack of a WHITELIST feature. Why can't a smartphone check incoming calls against a list and only put my friends through? I get dozens of idiot spam texts and voicemails.
--> Whitelist should be a no-brainer fundamental built-in capability of every modern phone and certainly of every smartphone.
Oh, and never mind trying to suggest such an amazing idea to MS - their feedback website has evidently been hacked (for a year or so) and is submerged in tens of thousands of bogus requests. Eventually they may figure this out... they are a fairly large company after all, with some tech knowledge. Reply
Duraz0rz - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkNot sure where you live where you get dozens of spam texts and voicemails. I don't get that here in the US, but I'm sure the telco blocks a lot of that here.
If you were in the US (or wanted to set up your phone so you can use Cortana), you can use Cortana as a whitelist of sorts. Have Quiet Hours on all the time, set up your Inner Circle with the people you want to get through, and have their calls and texts always break through quiet hours. Reply
Tewt - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkGet Magikmail for your whitelist feature. I first used it when I had a Samsung Focus and continued to use it on my Galaxy S3 and will get it again when I purchase a WP8 phone. I may have missed it but I did not see that Android had this feature built in either. Reply
dazaein - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkA whitelist feature is included in 8.1. "Quiet Hours + Inner Circle." But it sounds like you just need a clean sim number.. Reply
erple2 - Sunday, April 27, 2014 - linkWhen my wife finally entered the smartphone era (2012), I gave her my old phone sgs2 on at). I had to get her a new number, as she didn't want her other number from a couple of states away. The first two numbers she got received spam texts from hourly (first number) to every 4-6 hours. The third number I got for her worked
Like a charm. Either way my experience with the provider (att) taught me two things: they don't block ANY text messages at all (for me, it was 20 cents per text message so they have a vested interest in NOT blocking junkspam, and their blocking services, which are a blacklist only, costs money per month), and its easy to get a recycled phone number that used to subscribe to text ads.
In other countries, text spamming is illegal. Reply
SpartanJet - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkReally looking forward to purchasing a Windows 8;1 phone. It has everything I want in a phone OS and I can finally completely remove myself from any gogle service once I get rid of my ADroid phone. I just hope Tmobile gets a high end Windows phone similar to the 1520 or else I'm going to have to switch carriers. Reply
Imaginer - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkIt is gravy that the start tiles can have a user defined background that shows instead of a flat color, and thus when stepping back and looking at the Start screen, it indeed looks like looking through a window.
(I see what you did there Microsoft).
But... having a background instead of a flat color, makes things very busy for me when I need to quickly spot my touch areas for pressing (because I am for sure do not have that tactile feeling to zero my fingers in on). I rather stick with the single color and white text and logo contrasts. Reply
Snipeye - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - linkWould like more details about the changes with the Music+Video. A major pain I'm dealing with is my old Zune120 died so I picked up a prepaid 520 as a replacement (with a 64GB microSD). To sync DRM songs from the Zune software, I have to install the Window Phone App on my computer (Win7) and enable Wi-Fi. The DRM doesn't transfer over when you sync music. Instead, the DRM is re-downloaded via WiFi by the phone when you have Wi-Fi or data service enabled. A very convoluted and hassling process; not clean compared to how my Zune120 synced to the Zune software. Reply
stimudent - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkOnly one person at work has a Windows phone. He's the only person I know with a Windows phone. It seems nice enough, but it doesn't seem that anyone is interested in it. Everyone else is way more interested in the other choices out there. It doesn't look like Microsoft Windows is being taken seriously in the smartphone market. Reply
BMNify - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkDecent review for a person who was using windows phone after 3 years for just 2 weeks but you missed many things Anand, please refer Daniel Rubino's review for a more detailed review: http://www.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-81-review
Hopefully we will get much more detailed reviews in future for windows phones like Lumia Icon/930/1520. Reply
BMNify - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkMicrosoft has already started accepting universal apps and they have even launched universal apps in windows phone store with apps like shazam and xbox games like:
MS Solitaire Collection
MS Mahjong
MS Minesweeper
Halo: Spartan Assult
Skulls of the Shogun
So, just need to purchase once and then can play the game on Desktop, Laptop, Tablet and Phone :) Reply
SirPerro - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkSo, summing up, Windows 8.1 is finally close (but not equal) to what Android and iOS offered last year, and both are going to be updated within a month or two? Well done Microsoft. Playing catch-up forever.
Combine that with the fact that most apps (Apart from the ubiquitous whatsapp, instagram etc...) are not in windows phone, and most devs don't even care about it and you have a nice OS I'll never use in the short term.
Not to say that loads of chinese android phones are rushing to flood the market with entry level devices with kitkat in the following months, and that should be a much better option than an entry level lumia, so how about that for the main advantage of WP being entry level devices?
And I don't even want to comment about Nokia releasing entry level android devices now. That shows the power of WP as entry level OS at its best.
Lets be frank. WP is alive because microsoft is spending zillions on it, and most of the buyers are just unaware of the real options they have (I don't know a single person owning a WP which knew what he/she was buying) Reply
hangfirew8 - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkYes, Microsoft is buying marketshare and playing catch-up, but that doesn't mean they are doomed to failure. The market has seen superior technology fail time and again against the mediocre. Existence of just one killer feature- like the amazing Lumia cameras- along with general competence in everything else, combined with good pricing (even if it is MS-subsidized), could see major market share falling to MS. The current Android/Apple duopoly is especially vulnerable in the low-end where currently free or near-free feature phones still rule. Once data plans come down more in price we may see feature phones basically disappear in favor of low-end smart phones, and this is their chance to grab up a big chunk of that market. As many of those buyers mature or grow wealthier, consumers may continue buying the same type of phone in the up-market. Reply
Max(IT) - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - linkAre you really comparing crappy cheap droids with any Lumia ? You clearly don't have a clue about what are you speaking about .... Reply
hangfirew8 - Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - linkNo, I am not. My post was about price points and buying marketshare. Perhaps you meant to reply to someone else's post? Reply
HardwareDufus - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkAnand,
you missed two of the bigger features 8.1 offers.
VPN support and DUAL SIM. For those of us that use our phones for work, these are welcome additions (of course, Nokia needs to reléase a high end device (not 635) that supports DSDA).
Downloading the 8.1 DevPrev now... and will test VPN support immediately. Reply
HardwareDufus - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkRunning Win Phone 8.1 now on my Nokia 920. Decent improvements. Overall I'm satisifed.
Echo everyone's sentiments on the Music App... can't believe I preferred the Built-In Music App on my BlackBerry Torch 9800. Anyway, the music App is not a deal breaker for me, but I am surprised that it feels so unpolished. How do you close a song? Once I play a song. If I stop it... well it's still there... so, I work the Volume controls several hours later... and up pops the song in a Little slider window (not really a pop-up.. but you know what I mean). I've even done the hold the back button... hit the X or SLide down the window gesture.... Yup... 'In My Place' by ColdPlay is still waiting to resume play (hey.... I'm old... I still like Coldplay). Reply
BMNify - Thursday, April 17, 2014 - linkthe Xbox music app is now delinked from phone and will received direct updates from store, the next update should come out by next week which should take care of some of the complaints and after than they have promised biweekly updates, so should solve most of the user complaints within few weeks. Reply
nicktina - Friday, April 18, 2014 - linkI was going crazy trying to figure out how to get the paused music app off my volume keys. The 1st thing I figured out was if I opened Pandora I could stop the playback from Pandora and that would take care of it. But today I found an app that's free this weekend called "stop the music". I pinned it to my start screen. I opened Nokia mix radio, backed out to start screen, tapped the stop the music app and it was gone. Silly it takes a 3rd party app to remove music but whatever, it works. Reply
Arbie - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkThanks for the tips re Cortana and MagikMail. But these are approximately infinitely more complicated than I want to get into, even to obtain a whitelist surrogate. I don't use my phone on-line, for mail, data, or anything like that. It's primarily a small media player with phone capability when I need it. And it's great for that, at the price.
I just... want... whitelist..... Reply
Arbie - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkThanks for the info. I am looking forward to using that feature. BTW I did try cleaning my SIM card but that didn't help. Reply
ctodd - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - linkI really want to like WP! Its very tempting, but after being abandoned on an 8 month old 7.1 device, I'm leery to take the plunge again. It is exciting to see them finally catch up on the features but I'm still a little put off with the overly flat look. I like the idea of tiles, but everything else is just too flat and boring. I was hoping they would optimize the look by adding a little more depth and color but I guess they just want to be different. Reply
BMNify - Thursday, April 17, 2014 - linkDude, the latest WP 8.1 update has great depth and colour to tiles along with some paralax like effect, you should just check out some 8.1 phone for that, i am enjoying changing background of the tiles now after 8.1 update, just check out some examples and how to do it here: http://www.wpcentral.com/how-get-beautiful-start-b... Reply
gamoniac - Thursday, April 17, 2014 - linkMy 1.5 years old, 2-core Lumia 920 (WP 8.1) scores 968 on html5test.com. So it looks like perhaps WP8.1 limits the max core an app can use to conserve resources or to guarantee responsiveness. Or perhaps IE 11 is not optimized for 4 cores, IDK. Regardless, I love the upgrade and my old phone is as snappy as it was the first day I got it. Kudos to Microsoft. Reply
gamoniac - Thursday, April 17, 2014 - link@Anand, I have had bad experiences with Android updates in both the phone and tablet spaces. Besides Google's own Nexus line of phones, do major phone manufacturers give their consumers fair and prompt Android patches? Reply
Hrel - Friday, April 18, 2014 - link"All devices capable of running Windows Phone 8 will be getting the 8.1 update for free over the next couple of months" - This is probably Android's biggest shortcoming. I can buy a brand new phone, with a 6 month old OS that will NEVER get an update. It's pretty infuriating. Now yes, I am techie enough root the phone, but that's not an elegant solution, to say the least.
I don't know if it would require locking in a certain number of SOC configurations or what, but I really think Google needs to guarantee OS updates for at LEAST 2 years from the phones release.
IF things go on the way they are, I can see myself switching away from Android and over to Windows Phone. Probably be up OS9 by then, so hopefully this stupid "tile" bullshit is gone and we can have actual windows and icons again. Seriously $soft, the functionality of these "tiles" is infuriating. Reply
rgba32bit - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - linkReally like my 8X can't wait for my contract to be up to get the Icon or similar. All the reviews pose the question can windows phone beat android, ios... what os is better or inferior. Like it needs to be black and white. I think it can now be said WP isn't going away and is firmly number 3. Personally android annoys me and just seems counter intuitive and the form factor of the iPhone was a nonstarter for me. I think it can be said at this point all three are good platforms and it will be better for everyone if it's a three horse race. When I got my 8x I almost never saw another wp but now I see many on the train. The only thing that really annoys me are when people make crazy blanket assertions like wp has no apps because it doesn't have this or that and that it doesn't go the other way at all. Some of my favorite apps aren't on android or ios and work much better for ME then their counterparts. In a world of coke and pepsi I think there's room sprite as well. Reply
mean_streets - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - linkI installed the 8.1 dev preview on my Lumia 810, and one of the first things that I noticed when looking at the action center was a "project" to external screen quick action. This seems like a great feature, but I haven't been able to find a word about it in any of the preview articles. I tried plugging in to the USB media connection on two Samsung TV's that we have, but got nothing. Reply
BMNify - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - linkHere are the detailed instructions for using "project to screen" feature on WP 8.1:
http://www.wpcentral.com/project-your-windows-phon... Reply
lmcd - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - linkI *liked* having games tucked away into the Game Hub -- any way to bring that back with a setting? Reply
YoshoMasaki - Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - linkNot currently. But WP8.1 is far from final and especially the decoupled hub apps are expected to see quick updates over the next few weeks until the RTM. Reply
rburnham - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - linkI have 8.1 on my Lumia 920, and it's a mostly good update.
I have some complaints though. The ability to use an image as wallpaper is neat, but the fact that some apps do not have transparent tiles interrupts the uniformity of the OS. Oddly enough, it is mostly Microsoft apps (One Note, Podcasts, Music) that lack transparent tiles.
I like that Microsoft replaced Music+Videos with apps for each type of media. The new Podcast app is a big step up from the limited functionality of Music+Video. I like not having to rely on the Store to get podcasts, and that you can add custom feed URLs. I love that you have the option to stream or download shows. It also seems that the download file size limit has increased, because I am seeing shows being downloaded over cellular that previously required WIFi.
However, the Podcast app is buggy. It crashes regularly, audio cuts out, it forgets that podcasts have already been played and downloads them again, and it doesn't automatically delete files. Once these bugs are ironed out, it will be an excellent podcast app. I have to admit that I was initially sour about the way WP8 handles podcasts when compared WP7, but I have completely changed my opinion with this new app.
Lastly, audio options seem to have changed. Before the update, my phone remembered different volume settings for different Bluetooth devices. In my case, it kept the audio level for my car stereo Bluetooth connection at maximum volume (30), and my Bluetooth headset at half volume (15). Now both devices share the same volume level. I would like to see them go back to how it was before.
Also Bluetooth will occasionally cut out completely when I pause a podcast, requiring me to use the Bluetooth settings to manually reconnect, or I have to reset the phone. To be fair, this was a problem before 8.1, so it just means they have not address the issue yet.
If they can iron out these bugs, that would be great. As is, it's still a really good mobile OS that I have enjoyed since WP7. Reply
Fgne - Saturday, April 26, 2014 - linkI think that the force of WP8 is that it runs still extremely well and fast on a hundred dollars device, something that on android devices is simply fantasy, no comment for ios. Reply
whatsa - Sunday, April 27, 2014 - linkNice to see a fair review from this site...
The brightness issue? I have found the auto to be excellent on the 1520
I was outside the other day comparing some offline mapping with some people who were camping
and all three of us could see my screen and map clearly but the Iphone was impossible to read and only if it was 4" from you nose and sheilded from the sun. So we all just discussed it looking at my phone from different angles in the sun.
Is it perfect ...no but there are a lot of basic things it just does better.
But thanks again its good to see anandtech willing to look at WP stuff in a more serious way. Reply
bloonsfreak2 - Monday, May 12, 2014 - linkBeing a Windows Phone user since the beginning (Lumia 800, 900, 920), I have to admit that one of my favorite features was the integration with Facebook and Skype in the messaging hubs. However, for some odd reason, MSFT decided to remove that feature in Windows Phone 8.1 and now messaging is only for texting, even thought the social integration was probably the best part about it and set it apart from its iOS and Android counterparts. Does anyone know why they did this? Is there any particular reason that make me feel better? All of the other features are amazing, but the messaging hub just isn't really a hub anymore. Reply
hangfirew8 - Thursday, May 15, 2014 - linkThe Lumia 800 was hardly the beginning of Windows Phone, the 800 debuted at 7.5. There was a lot of wasteland before that. We had a Dash (5/6) years ago, and even that wasn't the beginning. Reply
dorekk - Saturday, June 21, 2014 - linkThat's annoying. They've dropped so many useful features from 7.5 in 8.1 that I basically just never want to get a new phone. I hate Android and iOS and I really like and rely on a lot of things in 7.5 that aren't in 8.1. Reply


text:
Dana Blankenhorn
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist since 1978, and a tech reporter since 1982. He has a B.A. from Rice University and an MS in Journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School.
His specialty has been getting to the future ahead of the crowd. He began covering the Internet in 1985, e-commerce in 1994, the Internet of Things in 2005, open source in 2005 and renewable energy in 2010. He has written for every medium from newspapers and magazines to Web sites, from books to blogs. He still seeks tomorrow from his Craftsman home in Atlanta.
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Amazon is still leading in the cloud and doubling down on profitable content as it puts the Fire Phone mistake behind it.
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IBM's earnings miss shows big technology vendors still haven't gotten their arms around the threat posed by the cloud technologies used by Amazon and Google.
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Recent breaches mean you'll have to learn a new way to use credit and debit cards soon. The good news is they're safer.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Crap We Missed – Friday 6.20.14
Welcome to Friday's The Crap We Missed where Kevin Hart actually fell for the old "Hey bro, can we get a selfie?" before being arrested for obstructing the sidewalk, having drugs planted on him, and being tossed in jail because NYC is so clean and family friendly everybody, bring the kids! And speaking of kids, meet Apollo Rossdale, my new personal hero for his valiant effort to try to show me Gwen Stefani's boob. Almost kid, almost. When you can perfectly edit farts into my favorite terrible action movies, you'll have my vote for President, I promise.
You and the boobie paint girl. Ok, you might have to be her VP, you understand,
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text:
How to jQuery show img 5 secs after page load? Using some code I found at stackoverflow I'm trying to use the following but its not working. What am I missing? Thanks!
$(document).ready(function () { $('#paint').show(10000); // 10 seconds});

Hey there EricWatson,
Your element has an opacity of 0, but it's display property isn't set, which is what the .show() method changes by default, when a time is passed in it affects the width/height/opacity/display properties.
If you'd want to show something 5 seconds after page load try doing something like this:
$(document).ready(function () {
}, 5000);
And change your CSS slightly to not use opacity but rather the display property
#paint {
display: none;
Thank you so much. You wouldn't happen to know how it should look would you if I wanted jquery to hide the image first then show it 5 seconds after page load? That way I can get rid of the CSS display none and degrade well. Thanks!
And will jquery hide before the image loads? So no flash of unstyled content.
The way I often take care of that is by placing a class on the  element called "no-js", then in the  you can add some JS that adds a "js" class. This way you can target JS dependant things in your CSS.
e.g. something like this:

$("html.no-js").attr("class", "js");
Then in your CSS:
#paint {
/* normal CSS styles */
.js #paint { /* JS dependant styles */
cool cool. getting somewhere! Ok whats better? And whats the dif between setTimeout and .delay?
then the html.no-js bit
$(document).ready(function () { setTimeout(function(){ $('#paint').fadeIn(200); }, 3000);});
$(document).ready(function() {
// Hide the div
// Show the div in 5s
$(document).ready(function(){ var hiddenDiv = $("#hideMe"); var show = function() { hiddenDiv.fadeIn(); };
hiddenDiv.hide(); setTimeout(show, 5000);
all three work.
Yup, they all more or less do the same thing
In this case, it doesn't matter too much which you use, as you already found out, there are multiple ways to accomplish this.
The main difference between setTimeout() and .delay() is that setTimeout is a build in JavaScript function and .delay() is a jQuery method that delays a queue.
Reading the jQuery.delay() documentation might help clear it up a little too. As a general rule, you should probably only use .delay() with jQuery animations and other queue-able things.
setTimeout is JavaScript's built in method to execute a piece of code after a specific time, which offers more versatility and importantly, you can cancel a setTimeout (which you can not do with jQuery.delay()).
So your saying you prefer the settimeout here?
I'd probably prefer the setTimeout in this use case as it clearly indicates what the code is going to do. So when someone else reads this code is it very clear that it says "execute this code here after a delay of xxx milliseconds".
Thank you very much for the assistance. I went with the adding a class to the html for display none. I found the all in one way showed the image for a split second first. Not good. And I use this html methos. Unless I'm misssing something its the same but without the premeditated added the class js-off in the html.
// Add .js to html tag if js ON$('html').addClass('js');


text: Elsa, Getty Images [ Woman Tries Out for NFL – Epic Fail or Epic Win? By Laurie Cataldo March 4, 2013 Lauren Silberman has made history. Read More Category: Articles, Sports, Videos Tags: Awesome Things, controversy, first woman to try out for NFL, Lauren Silberman, woman tries out for NFL, women, women in sports Send to a friend! Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pin it! Reddit This! Share on Tumblr!


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Disney Cinderella watch [limited edition]
New associates joined the Disney watches!
Crown 12: on the side, no wrist
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■ model number :MK1173C
■ case diameter, width 38 mm
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text:
The Timberwolves came into the 2013/14 season with high expectations, or at the very least, expectations of being a playoff team in a loaded Western Conference. After a hot start, the team has cooled down some and is floating around what I like to call the Mason-Dixon Line, i.e. playing around .500 ball. The schedule has done the team no favors, but that is completely out of the team's control. What we do know from the first third of the season is that the team is lacking in the depth department. Coach Adelman is relying too heavily on his starters and a seven/eight man rotation is going to pay unkind dividends come March and April.
With that train of thought in mind, I took a look around the league and played with the NBA Trade Machine to find a few potential deals that might make sense for the Wolves and its trade partner. I am considering the following players untouchable: Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin, Kevin Love, and Nikola Pekovic. While I don't think Corey Brewer is a chip that would be dangled out there, I also wouldn't consider him untouchable. These trades are largely built with the thought of improving our depth and are not blockbuster deals. [Read more…]


text:
Hundreds of older people showed off their dance steps as they took part in a traditional tea dance.
Care provider Quantum Care held the event for 200 of its residents from all over Hertfordshire, including Borehamwood and Potters Bar.
Guests enjoyed tea and cake and live music at the event at Allum Hall in Elstree, which formed part of a week to raise awareness of the importance of eating and drinking enough as an essential element of care.
Debbie Gilard, who helped organise the event, said: "The aim was to create awareness and ensure good nutrition and hydration for older people, while having fun at the same time.
"It was a fantastic day and everyone really enjoyed themselves. One 95-year-old gentleman said he'd had the best day of his life."


text:
STOURBRIDGE professional dirt bike racer Steven Clarke goes into round three of the 2014 Garmin Arenacross Tour at Birmingham's LG Arena this Saturday just one point adrift of the series lead.
Clarke is hoping to put local advantage to good use as he chases £100,000 in prize money.
The Garmin Arena cross Tour is Europe's biggest indoor motorcycle race series which is contested by an international field of 24 pro riders representing 10 different countries.
Riders compete in a series of intense heats and finals over a spectacular jump-filled track constructed from 10,000 tons of dirt.
The opening two events of the series were staged at Belfast's Odyssey Arena last weekend, where 23 year old Clarke claimed victory on the opening night, followed up a bruising second place just 24 hours later.
It could have been even better for Clarke who was leading with two laps remaining but then suffered a crash which allowed Frenchman Fabien Izoird through to snatch victory and the championship lead for good measure.
Clarke claimed: "I went down hard, but I pretty much bounced straight back on my feet and only Fabien got past. Nevertheless, I was a bit disappointed – but just one point down going into round three is nothing and being my home round, there should be lots of family and friends there to support me".
The Garmin Arenacross Tour not only provides racing but also includes all the thrills and spills of Freestyle Motocross, where some of the world's top talent whip and backflip their machines some 40 feet over the arena floor.
TICKETS for the LG Arena start from £11-80 for children and £21-70 for adults and can be obtained from www.theticketfactory.com or by calling 08443388000.


text:
2 CCS White
Polishing Foam 4" x 1.25" Pads - This pad features high absorption foam
for the application of waxes, polishes and sealants. This pad has very
little cutting power and works well for application purposes. It's made of
soft, porous foam so it's gentle on your paint. They're also perfect for
polishing metal wheels, bumpers, and mirror covers.
1 CCS Blue
All Purpose Foam 4" x 1.25" Pad – This is a multi-purpose pad used for
applying glazes, polishes, and waxes. It's made of closed-cell foam that
will distribute a thin, even layer. The foam has no cut and is dense enough
to spread paste waxes.
1 Hook & Loop 2 ľ" Backing Plate – This backing plate is required for Spot Buffs. Designed just like larger backing plates, this plate has Hook & Loop firmly adhered to one side so you can change pads with ease. At only 2 ľ", this plate leaves a generous edge on the 4" pads to avoid accidental contact with the paint. This backing plate attaches directly to a circular polisher. It requires a DA adapter for use with a dual action polisher and a drill adapter to be used with your electric drill.
1 DA Adapter
– This adapter is required to attach your 2 ľ" backing plate to your dual
action polisher. Tighten adapter into polisher with a wrench
1 Drill
Adapter– This adapter allows you to use Spot Buffs with your
variable speed electric drill. Tighten adapter into backing plate with a
2 Microfiber Towels (16 x 16 inches) –
The Microfiber Towel is spun from an 80/20 polyester/polyamide blend, producing a highly refined microfiber. The microscopic polyester/polyamide fibers are split with a unique process that creates a "feathered weave on one side for buffing and looped fibers on the other side, which are excellent for cleaning. This superior "feather" weave results in far greater absorption properties in a virtually lint free network of fibers.
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text:
1986 Merry Miler Prices, Values and Specs
Centered on the production of Class B motorhomes, Merry Miler operated through the 1980s as a provider of an easy to drive recreational vehicle. Ranging from 18 to 21 feet in length, Merry Miler conversion vans with attached to Dodge products. Merry Miler production ended after the 1991 model year.Read more Read less
Select a 1986 Merry Miler Series
(1991 - 1986)


text:
Older Block Constructed Formats tournament Deck lists
These Older Block Constructed Formats Magic: the Gathering Deck lists of the Sunday, May 31 Alara Block Constructed #mag Master were updated by derflippi.
Go back to our Magic: the Gathering Decks Index
See all Magic: the Gathering Decks from this tournament
by derflippi on 2009-05-31 22:07 CET
tin_cup did not play the top8 (dropped before the Booster draft) there you see 9 decks here.
by MikeL123 on 2009-05-31 22:23 CET
What the hell is Passed Abundance?
by FlyingFreak on 2009-05-31 22:31 CET
I missed the entries because I wanted to make a last minute change to my deck .... sigh ... xD
by giov on 2009-05-31 22:34 CET
I guess it's Trace of Abundance...
by FlyingFreak on 2009-05-31 22:47 CET
who won the draft btw ?
by wilier on 2009-05-31 22:56 CET
In my sb the 1xMadrush Cyclops should be a 3 off hemorrage, was a distraction.
by TugaChampion on 2009-05-31 23:07 CET
I missed because I woke up at 2.30pm in here and the master started at 1pm.
by derflippi on 2009-05-31 23:17 CET
next time, wake up at 12:30 pm when a master starts at 1 pm then ;)
by DS_McWerp on 2009-05-31 23:18 CET
by TugaChampion on 2009-05-31 14:07 PDT
by Eldariel on 2009-05-31 23:39 CET
Congrats to the best player in presence, Ronnan, for the victory.
by gmoney on 2009-05-31 23:42 CET
Protection Bears should be:
by CalebD on 2009-05-31 23:49 CET
Shouldn't Ronnan be PTing with PV by now? Is he? His number of ML wins is somewhat staggering.
by wilier on 2009-05-31 23:53 CET
I lost to Ronnan in top 8 :(
by tin_cup on 2009-06-01 00:49 CET
it's nice to play again in m-l (i don't usually have the time). Too bad i couldn't draft (though I suck when comes to drafting this format).
by TugaChampion on 2009-06-01 01:30 CET
by DS_McWerp on 2009-05-31 22:18 GMT
by HolieCows on 2009-06-01 02:07 CET
No the 10 pointer won, but one of the top 8 dropped, I think i missed 9th on tie breaks because one of his opps won the last round and one of mine lost evening up our first tie break.
by tin_cup on 2009-06-01 02:48 CET
Tuga you forgot that for him to top8 you had to lose the master.If you hadn't not only He wouldn't top8, NONE would! they would just give you the prise money for being the only true god of magic on this site and the other top7 players would humbly bow and wash your feet chanting.
by on 2009-06-01 03:51 CET
so what was the last MU?
by DS_McWerp on 2009-06-01 13:21 CET
top 8 was draft.
by TugaChampion on 2009-06-01 17:37 CET
tin_cup I may not be great but I'm better than most here including that ds moron.
by DS_McWerp on 2009-06-01 19:46 CET
by ZW on 2009-06-01 23:01 CET
You pillaged his farm and raped his women.
by HolieCows on 2009-06-01 23:52 CET
Probly that we both IDed when we shouldnt have =P
by DS_McWerp on 2009-06-02 01:23 CET
Heh, yeah, well, me being lazy shouldnt piss him off that much.
by Super_Prep on 2009-06-06 11:31 CET
TagaChumpion you are worthless, your no better than the slum in my local sewer system and THAT is better than you. GO GO Ronnan.
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text:
A common refrain among software users is that the documentation or Help that comes with software is not useful. What's more it's boring. As a technical writer, when I receive this feedback, my typical reaction is emotional and, sometimes, kneejerk. That's not the best way to deal with feedback we all know. So I wanted to step aside and take an objective look at why official documentation sometimes fails to meet user expectations.
In a recent article in Mashable, Mike Puterbaug, VP Marketing at MindTouch, argues why organizations should continue to invest in documentation. He says "documentation has become marketing's secret weapon. Documentation is the language that accompanies a product, often outlining its development, design, technical language and marketing strategy in clear, definitive terms. Ultimately, good documentation won't comprise a cost, but rather, a profit."
What makes documentation or Help qualify as good?
Make sure that Help is findable
First and foremost, users should be able to find Help when they have a need. From a technical writer's standpoint, promising findability is easier said than done. If the Help is hosted on the web, we must make sure that we continually revise and update the Help. A flat structure, an intelligent use of keywords and tags, and dense linking of Help topics and external content are must-have attributes for Google-friendly Help.
Serve content for both learning and troubleshooting
When creating and serving content, it helps to remember that users typically look for Help in two scenarios: when they want to learn and when they want to solve a problem. The mood and expectation of the users in one scenario is vastly different from the mood and expectation in the other. When users want to learn, they are patient and playful. When they want to solve a problem, they are time-constrained and ready-to-snap. The format of Help that works in the Learn scenario does not always work in the Quick Help scenario. For example, videos might not work as well as FAQs in the Quick Help scenario. The perception of Help as good or bad depends a lot on users in the Quick Help scenario. The trick is to track user feedback with rigor and optimize Help for these users who are looking for specific answers in Help.
Delight users with engaging strategies
It's important to ensure that users find the format and presentation refreshing. Today's users interact with a diverse range of applications. Because of the variety of devices that they use and the different purposes for which they use software, the software experience of most users today is rich. In this scenario, the over-templatized clinical Help needs to make way for something that has the power to delight. We need to relook at traditional learning theories, gather data on how users are consuming the content, and break the form intelligently. While our traditional Help formats serve as a robust backend, we need to devise and deliver new front-ends to serve Help. Visuals and multimedia play an important role here. Equally important is structuring and writing style, which as user feedback suggests, needs to be efficient and engaging at the same time.
Allow users to collaborate
Today's Help must be social and collaborative. Today's technical writer needs to engage with the user community and play a larger role of a community editor. Whether it is on the forums or on social media, interacting with the community helps us identify the top issues in the software that we are documenting and gather real-world examples. Instead of trying to document all that the software does or document every piece of content ourselves, we need to work with a content strategy that takes into account usage patterns and user feedback and includes content contributions from internal and external communities. Allowing users to evaluate the content (through social features, such as rating and commenting) facilitates a seamless churning that's required to keep the most relevant content findable.
Act on usage data and feedback
Diverse user preferences are a reality. "Some users want to know the concepts behind a product before they use the product. Other users want to use the software without any preamble. You cannot please everyone, but if you know your audience, you can produce documentation that is useful and acceptable to most people." The good news is that today we have access to a vast amount of usage data and feedback to know our audience. Page views, search data, context paths, ratings, and comments – all of these data points can help us understand what our users want.
In summary, making Help popular and useful requires a sea change in the way we create Help. The document development cycle can no longer end abruptly with a software release. Instead, it needs to continue well beyond a release and the phase that follows a release is an exciting phase for technical writers. In this phase, we need to engage with internal and external user communities and track usage data and feedback to enhance the core we delivered with input from different internal stakeholders. Our approach should be that of a web designer trying to make a qualitative improvement in the user experience.
Examples of new ways to deliver Help
Great visuals on a web 2.0 page – Inkscape tutorial
Content curated for learning and quick help – Digital Publishing Suite hub page
Community-powered support – Photoshop family feedback page
*The two quotes used in this article are from these references.
This article first appeared in the printed volume published for the tekom 2011 (tcworld 2011) conference.


text:
Sorry, but …
1. Saying "I'll be greedy when others are fearful" is much easier than actually doing it.
2. The gulf between a great company and a great investment can be extraordinary.
3. Markets go through at least one big pullback every year, and one massive one every decade. Get used to it. It's just what they do.
4. As Erik Falkenstein says: "In expert tennis, 80 per cent of the points are won, while in amateur tennis, 80 per cent are lost. The same is true for wrestling, chess, and investing: Beginners should focus on avoiding mistakes, experts on making great moves."
5. Time-saving tip: Instead of trading penny stocks, just light your money on fire. Same for leveraged ETFs.
6. Not a single person in the world knows what the market will do in the short run. End of story.
7. The analyst who talks about his mistakes is the guy you want to listen to. Avoid the guy who doesn't – his are much bigger.
8. You don't understand a big bank's balance sheet. The people running the place and their accountants don't, either.
9. There will be seven to 10 recessions over the next 50 years. Don't act surprised when they come.
10. Most of what is taught about investing in school is theoretical nonsense. There are very few rich professors.
11. The market doesn't care how much you paid for a stock. Or your house. Or what you think is a "fair" price.
12. The majority of market news is not only useless, but also harmful to your financial health.
13. Professional investors have better information and faster computers than you do. You will never beat them short-term trading. Don't even try.
14. The decline of trading costs is one of the worst things to happen to investors, as it made frequent trading possible. High transaction costs used to cause people to think hard before they acted.
15. Most IPOs will burn you. People with more information than you have want to sell. Think about that.
16. When someone mentions charts, moving averages, head-and-shoulders patterns, or resistance levels, walk away. Or run.
17. The book "Where Are the Customers' Yachts?" was written in 1940, and most still haven't figured out that financial advisors don't have their best interest at heart.
18. The low-cost index fund is one of the most useful financial inventions in history. Boring but beautiful.
19. The best investors in the world have more of an edge in psychology than in finance.
20. What markets do day to day is overwhelmingly driven by random chance. Ascribing explanations to short-term moves is like trying to explain lottery numbers.
21. For most, finding ways to save more money is more important than finding great investments.
22. If you have credit card debt and are thinking about investing in anything, stop. You will never beat 20% annual interest.
23. A large portion of share buybacks are just offsetting shares issued to management as compensation. Managers still tout the buybacks as "returning money to shareholders."
24. The odds that at least one well-known company is insolvent and hiding behind fraudulent accounting are high.
25. Twenty years from now the ASX 200 will look nothing like it does today. Companies die and new ones emerge.
26. The government has much less influence over the economy than people think.
27. However much money you think you'll need for retirement, double it. Now you're closer to reality.
28. The next recession is never like the last one.
29. Remember what Mark Twain says about truth: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while truth is putting on its shoes."
30. Investments that offer little upside and big downside outnumber those with the opposite characteristics at least 10-to-1.
Foolish takeaway
The best investors are cleverer than they think – the worst think they are cleverer than they are. The same applies to their temperaments and behaviour.
Investing Foolishly (with a capital F!) is all about getting rich slowly. As the saying goes, there's no shortcut to any place worth going. Trying to take shortcuts is much more likely to end up in pain. And no, you're very unlikely to be the exception to that rule.
The Motley Fool has just released a brand NEW special free report. BusinessDay readers can click here to receive a copy of The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012-13.
Morgan Housel is a Motley Fool contributor. You can follow The Motley Fool on Twitter @TheMotleyFoolAu. The Motley Fool's purpose is to educate, amuse and enrich investors. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.


text:
Body shop
The application: clamping metal sheets in the welding equipment
Your objective: precise, repetition accurate positioning for a perfect fit
Our solution: individual clamping systems with intelligent control
Integrated safety: valve terminal VTSA Profisafe
- High data transmission rate, e.g. for real-time critical IO data
- Comprehensive options for diagnostics, parameterisation or configuration
- Safety functions according to ISO13849-1
- Two-channel electrical and pneumatic shutdown
- Safety functions: venting system components, reversing, protection against restart
Sturdy and attractively priced: clamping cylinder DW
New cylinders of the DW series - specially for applications in harsh environments, e.g. for the welding process in the car body shop:
- Hinged joint on bearing cap and piston rod for difficult applications
- Reliable and durable due to integrated end-position cushioning and restrictors at both ends
Ready-to-install solutions tailored to your requirements
Completely assembled, all tubing and wiring fitted, fully tested and documented:
- Control cabinets and mounting plates
- Modules
- Handling systems
- Hall and robot installation plates (HIP/RIP)
Compact, sturdy and exact: pin pulling cylinder DF/DFM
Ideal for perfect positioning in metal sheet processing:
- Position sensing with LED display
- Welding splash-proof
- Protection against rotation: square piston rod or two guide rods
- Optionally with recirculating ball bearing guide or plain-bearing guide
- Various installation variants due to several supply ports and variable mounting options
- Standardised pin mounting for different centring spigots


text:
Studies of hospitalized patients — who often have lower than normal vitamin C levels — have found that they experienced an improvement in mood after they received vitamin C.
The link between vitamin C and mood may seem surprising, but it's not so far-fetched. People who have vitamin C deficiency often feel fatigued or depressed. Plus, some studies show that vitamin C can have mood-elevating effects. So it makes sense that vitamin C levels could affect mood — but more research is needed.
In the meantime, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C. If you also take a supplement, try not to exceed the upper limit of 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C a day. As always, talk to your doctor first before taking any supplement.
Brent A. Bauer, M.D.
Original article: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/benefits-vitamin-c/faq-20058271
Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below.
Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit organization and proceeds from Web advertising help support our mission. Mayo Clinic does not endorse any of the third party products and services advertised.
A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.org," "Mayo Clinic Healthy Living," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.


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text:
Well, I had to clean Homer's cage today, and he was out of pellets. So while I'm out I decide to buy him a new rope "comfy" perch, a really neat millet holder/dish with this cool seed guard to protect my floor from his millet shells, and a lovely little seed dish that looks like a shallow birds nest. So I fix the cage all up, and bring him over...he takes one look and freaks. He glides down under my kitchen table (it has 2 pedastal bases) and it takes me 20 minutes to get him out from under there. I didn't know cockatiels could run so fast. Of course it didn't help matters that I was almost hysterical laughing at him. So now he's locked in with the new "killer" things. I'll give him a bit. He's calmer now. If he doesn't adjust, I'll remove the perch.
Has anyone else had this problem?!?!?


text: Show Hide image 6 July 2012 Peugeot Citroën's half-yearly sales tumble 13 per cent The steepest drop was seen in the Italian market, which shrank by 21.5 per cent. Sign up for our weekly email * Sales declined by 13 per cent in the first half of 2012 for PSA Peugeot Citroën. The French car maker sold 1,619,000 units of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles worldwide, compared to 1,860,000 units for the same period last year. The company's European market was down by 10 per cent, largely due to the unfavourable country mix. Demand for cars and light commercial vehicles declined over the period by a steep 7.2 per cent in Europe. The Italian market declined by 21.5 per cent; the French by 13.3 per cent; the Spanish by 10.2 per cent and the central and eastern European markets by 1.6 per cent. The company's German and the UK market, however, improved by 0.6 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively. Frédéric Saint-Geours, executive vice-president of brands at PSA Peugeot Citroën, said: In a very tight automotive market environment in Europe, our strategy of moving upmarket and globalising our operations is proving to be more relevant than ever. With our recent model introductions – the Peugeot 208, the Citroën DS5 and the diesel hybrid versions of the Peugeot 3008 and 508 and the Citroën DS5 – and the launches scheduled over the rest of the year – the Peugeot 301, the Citroën C-Elysée and C4L, as well as the new C3 in Latin America – we have the vehicles to defend our positions in Europe and to pursue our expansion in emerging markets. As well as launching new models, the group vehicles emitted less than 110g CO2/km during the first half of the year. Subscribe from just £1 per issue More


text:
B.C. NDP candidate Marji Basso resigns in Boundary-Similkameen
The B.C. NDP has lost its candidate in Boundary-Similkameen due to "personal reasons".
New Democrat provincial secretary Jan O'Brien announced today (January 21) that Marji Basso has informed the party she is stepping down.
"We accept Ms. Basso's resignation," O'Brien said in a news release. "We will be working with the local NDP constituency association to begin the candidate nomination process as quickly as possible."
Basso's resignation follows the B.C. Liberals' decision to prevent Boundary-Similkameen MLA John Slater from running for reelection under that party's banner due to "personal issues".
On January 14, Slater announced he was leaving the B.C. Liberal caucus to sit as an independent.
Today, Slater confirmed he won't run in the upcoming election and blamed the "politics of personal destruction".
"We have reached a profoundly disturbing point in our politics in British Columbia. Instead of a campaign about positive ideas, good policy, and what is best for British Columbians, we are instead witnessing a campaign based on fear and smear. B.C. deserves better," Slater said in a statement.
"I cannot put my family or myself through the continual barrage of innuendos and smear which have been launched against me, and which will continue until I withdraw as a candidate in the upcoming provincial election. So I say, 'Enough.'"
The next B.C. election is scheduled for May 14.
7 Comments
Ian Fromme-Nelson
Jan 21, 2013 at 3:15pm
There, do you see how fair the NDP are?
Jan 22, 2013 at 7:35am
Qoute; B.C. Liberal president Sharon White said that Slater's candidacy was rejected due to "personal issues that, in our view, impact his ability to represent the Party"
Personally, I don't care if John Slater can represent 'the Party'. John Slater was elected to represent his constituents not the party executive.
Jan 22, 2013 at 11:30am
Funny how an article about an NDP candidate stepping down morphs into a story that's 2/3 about a BC Liberal candidate stepping down. Great job in staying unbiased!
Jan 22, 2013 at 11:57am
Something's fishy here. Both these ex-candidates were in favor of the huge maximum security prison currently proposed for their little town of Oliver.
Why an NDP candidate would favor a toxic project put forward by the BC Liberals is beyond me, especially given that no cost benefit analysis was ever presented on that issue. Just promises of untold economic benefits. There would be "no risks whatsoever", and hapless South Okanagan politicians were sucked in, imaginary dollar signs reflecting in their eyeballs.
Surrey and Kamloops mayors have stated in the media that BC provincial prisons have brought social and economic negatives to their large cities. How will wee Oliver, not to mention other small communities in the area, survive those impacts? Do their social service agencies and police forces need even more caseloads?
Oliver has panache and promise as a wine capital, a place with far more economic potential from agriculture, tourism, and recreation. It could become a prosperous "edge town" like Canmore, Alberta, if a National Park happens. But then, the politicians who are worried about the park are, in some cases, the ones who are excited about the jail. Bizarre, isn't it?
At the project proposal's public meeting in Penticton, BC Corrections officials admitted that this facility is being built to federal maximum security standards, and that it could be turned into a federal prison at any time. Is that what's planned for Slater and Basso's Oliver area?
Hopefully the NDP and BC Liberals will find new candidates who have the intellect and courage to tell their leaders that this region is not the place for a gigantic prison. Sure, we should deal with our fair share of inmates, but not 21% of all inmates in BC for Pete's sake. This regional district has only 1.4% of BC's residents.
The BC Liberals' poorly thought out decision for a prison location is a sack of snakes for the South Okanagan, and the NDP should take a stand on this that reflects its party's perceived aims of social justice and a sustainable economy.
The BC Liberals give Vancouver a free Convention Center and half a billion bucks for a Stadium upgrade. Their elected reps here think a prison that nobody else wants is a BC Liberal "gift" to us. Hopefully the NDP does not agree. There is still time for them to question this as no construction contract has been signed.
Carolyn Jerome
Jan 22, 2013 at 12:07pm
is there a para missing from this story?
Martin Dunphy
Jan 22, 2013 at 12:26pm
Please be more specific.
Jan 25, 2013 at 9:54am
There is no doubt the prison will be a large economic benefit to the area, the park on the other hand will be questionable at best.


text:
I am a beginner in python and I have some difficulties with this language.
I have not been able to solve an exercise. That's what I do:
- Code: Select all
23: 00
15: 10 01
12: 100
11: 001 000 11
10: 010
8: 0100
7: 1001 0010
6: 0000 111
5: 1000 110 011
4: 1100 0011 0001
I have to detect, in a sequence of data bits, the patterns having a length between A and B (included) that are repeated more often.
The tool needed to get the highest frequency patterns N (number of occurrences) appearing in different sequence.
I have to count the number of occurrence of each pattern contained in a sequence of bits.
A is the minimum length of the pattern
B is the maximum length of pattern
N is the number of distinct frequency patterns for search
As a result, the Python script to display a list of N groups of motifs found. every line should be in the format: frequency: pattern ... pattern, where the frequency is the
number of occurrences of patterns. The lines should appear in descending order depending on the frequency patterns, and or within the same line, the patterns must appear in
the descending order of length. Patterns of the same length must be entered in order decreasing their numeric value. If there are less than N distinct frequencies, the output list can be less than N lines.
I can only use conditional statements, loops, functions, strings, tuples and lists.
Sorry for my english (google translate)


text:
Man seriously injured in single-vehicle crash
Published: Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 8:31 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 8:31 a.m.
A Maine man was seriously injured in Columbia County Tuesday when he drove off the road and hit a tree, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Michael J. Burns, 46, of Bridgewater, was flown by helicopter to Shands at the University of Florida following the accident that happened about 2:30 p.m. at 5783 U.S. 441, FHP stated in a press release.
Burns was driving a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis south when he drove into the northbound lane and then onto the east unpaved shoulder, FHP reported.
He hit an AT&T phone box, drove into an adjacent yard and hit a tree.
Burns was taken to Shands with injuries classified as serious. A passenger, Christopher Michael Richards, 22, of Lake City, was taken to Shands Lake Shore with injuries classified as minor.
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Reviewed By Fred S (TUCSON, AZ) Reviewed for a 2006 Toyota Tacoma —12/11/2014 3:08 PM
Have not had to use them yet but and any use will be limited. I did put them on as a test and it was quite easy. Found a good video on line that showed a complete installation. I would recommend viewing. I'm a bit concerned that there is plastic clips that the tightening chain runs through. We'll see. Chain quality looks very good for the price.


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This Ford Racing Neon Clock looks great hanging on your Garage, Service Shop, Workshop, Recroom, Bar Room, Wall. Makes a great gift! It is 15" in diameter and comes with the 120vac adapter and cord which plugs into any standard wall outlet. 1 "AA" size battery is needed to power the clock mechanism.
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I'm making a cross platform application which does it's storage in SQLite files. These files are quite big, 10,000,000 in a table.
When I open the file I run a query to count the amount of rows in the table.
My code, using the sqlite3 module:
- Code: Select all
def runquery(con):
# con is a sqlite3 connection object
with con:
cur = con.cursor()
cur.execute("SELECT COUNT(rowid) FROM snp",[])
return cur.fetchall()[0][0]
Execute time for a table with 10,000,000 rows:
- Kubuntu, 4 gb ram, dualcore: 8s
- Windows XP-32, 2 GB Ram, dualcore: 15m32s
- Win7-64, 4 GB RAM, I5: 13m15s
During execution, hardly any memory or cpu power is used, so no bottleneck there.
When I run the query through the sqlite3.exe shell it is as fast as the Linux implementation. I think this means that the python code is to blame for the bad performance.
It's the cur.execute line that takes so long to execute.
Anyone knows why the big difference betwene Windows and Linux? And more important, how can I imporve the performance, so it will work as fast as the Linux machine. It's unusable right now.
I'm using Python 2.7.5, fresh installed today on the machines.