text:
iOS 7 Wishlist
This is based on last year's equivalent, but much of that turned out not to be true, so I might as well repeat myself. Second time's a charm, and all.
Mostly the same as before:
Its sister OS, OS X. Smartly, the two share a lot of the underlying architecture. iOS happens to have received some more modern frameworks first since they had a chance at a clean slate, but other than that, iOS has more of a mobile/"console" focus, and OS X is more of a traditional desktop OS.
Other mobile OSes; in particular:
Android, of course. One feature that comes to mind is allowing multiple users on Android tablets; a cynic might argue that this would be against Apple's hardware business interests.
Windows Phone 8 / Windows 8 / Windows RT. Brief tangent: Phone 8, unless Phone 7, is NT-based, so while its UI looks much the same, its core is now much more similar to 'regular' Windows. Also, Windows RT is really just Windows 8 running on ARM instead of x86, with consequences like virtually zero Desktop apps being available.
Blackberry 10. Its one and only selling point: well-separated private/business spaces.
There's more, like SailfishOS, Firefox OS, and so forth, but I don't see much innovation coming from them.
iOS's own jailbreak community.
Now, keeping in mind that I have virtually no personal experience with other mobile OSes, I do have plenty with Windows 8 (in various settings, including on a tablet), as well as with some of what I deem to be more interesting jailbreak tweaks.
Let's start thusly: iOS 6 disappointed me. Part of it goes back to what I wrote last year:
With each successive release having been a little more mature than its predecessor, iOS 5 has perhaps reached roughly the point of satisfaction that 10.4 Tiger had: plenty of features, not all of which you'll use every day, and some you wish it had. But unlike Tiger, you're largely stuck with what the OS has to offer. Extensibility mechanisms are few and far between. Apple has shown no sign of willingness to change that, and each passing year proves them more right in their conviction that they won't have to.
And yet, 10.5 Leopard felt like a much bigger (if somewhat controversial — glass Dock, anyone?) leap than iOS 6 did. It's not that it made the experience worse (to me, Apple Maps worked okay from the start, though I've found Street View to be far more useful and far less glitchy than Flyover, which isn't really available here anyhow); it's that people are using iOS devices more and more, in the "post-PC" way Jobs predicted, and in various ways, the OS hasn't grown to accommodate for that. Hence, like I said, a bit of a repeat of last year.
Inter-app Sharing Workflows
Various design choices make carrying a bit of information from one app to another fairly cumbersome: typically, only one app will be actively running in a multitasking sense; only one app will be visible; mechanisms like Springboard, the app switching bar and the Notification Center are less about temporarily interacting with an app than they are about switching to it and fully bringing it frontmost; and each app lives in its own sandbox, including file management, so accessing a file you've created in another app isn't as easy you might expect either.
iOS does provide a means of opening applications with URL schemes, enabling several sharing workflows. 3.0 and 5.0, respectively, added APIs to show sheets for sending off e-mail messages or tweets, so you won't have to leave the app at all. And 3.2 introduced support for an Open With feature. The main limitation with these is that (the middle one excepted) they're "push"-type workflows: you're sent from one app to another, and then never back. Rather, what you frequently want is to "pull" information from another app, returning to where you had left off afterwards. The original app lacks a means of getting any result.
For some cases, app developers have become inventive to work around this:
Writing Kit, a word processor, advertises its built-in browser and Quick Research abilities.
Many apps rely on Dropbox for sharing files with each other, effectively eschewing the local system entirely in favor of one whose API affords them more flexibility.
Some apps now have a "Launch 1Password" button on their login screen specifically to make password look-up less awkward.
Techniques like x-callback-url or Audiobus (even adopted by Apple's own GarageBand) help.
But those aren't desirable hacks, and many cases simply cannot be handled well at all. Tools such as 1Password and TextExpander come off as more cumbersome than their Mac counterparts through no fault of their own. Moreover, when integration is available, it is often limited to hardcoded, specific apps; you'd have a hard time launching a TextExpander competitor now simply because so many third-party apps have already been integrated with TextExpander itself in particular. You cannot, as an app, offer your services to other apps.
So, wanted: a means where app A (e.g., a word processor) can ask the OS for available apps of a type of service X (e.g.: text expansion), where app B in turn can register itself to offer just that, and where A can launch B with the special "bring me back my info when you're done" parameter. Workflow-wise, it may make sense (and be less confusing to the user) to show the app's relevant bits in a sheet; in particular, no navigation in the app's UI should be possible.
The built-in apps are hardly bad (unless you count Reminders, the UI of which clearly only happened in some nightmare of mine), but Apple won't and shan't try to cover all situations — they've made a conscious choice to make their apps simple, leaving plenty of room to allow third parties (or themselves, as in iPhoto vs. Aperture) to offer something more advanced. Some may prefer using the GMail web interface as their mail client, iCab as their browser, or Calvetica as their calendar. There's APIs for accessing some or all of the same data, but there aren't ones to set defaults. Most jarringly, opening a web link in some app will still launch Safari, unless the app happens to provide its own means of choosing a different browser.
This doesn't affect me much, but one scenario where I recently saw this as a problem is wanting a locked-down browser for a kid without relying on Safari's own rather limited Parental Controls, but rather by using a third-party browser that's designed around kid use. Making that the default browser, and preventing app installation as well as launching of Safari itself through Parental Controls, ought to do the trick.
And if this capability were to arise, it would encourage third-party developers to build alternative apps we can't even dream of yet.
Plug-Ins / Bundles
I know plug-ins go against Apple's "everything is an app" grain that they're apparently carrying over to the Mac as well, but they've already violated that principle in a few ways:
Apps can provide their own preferences that show up in the Settings app. This is effectively just a hierarchy of data, rather than a means to run code, so it's limited (e.g., you wouldn't be able to provide a button), but it is nonetheless arguably a form of hooking into the system.
iOS 4.1 added a VPN API, which to my knowledge is sadly still undocumented, but (by necessity) has code of yours running system-wide.
In addition to wanting an OpenVPN plug-in (sigh), there's various obvious places where plug-ins would help:
You can already search for your app in Spotlight (and, to my knowledge it takes advantage of keywords developers can provide in the App Store, so searches don't have to be exact matches), but being able to search its data (and to tap on an item to launch the app straight to that very item) would be great.
5.0's Notification Center has two widgets for Weather and Stocks, which scream for extensibility, but alas, that currently requires a jailbreak. Here, too, the problem of default apps becomes clear: if you prefer a third-party weather or stocks app, tough.
A "Quick Look" of sorts — tapping an attachment in Mail works for some formats, but what if your app could provide viewers for additional ones?
Safari Extensions. Performance considerations aside, these should port just fine, so they can actually sync through iCloud.
The silo nature of "files belong to an app" isn't for everyone, but it's presumably here to stay. One thing that should alleviate the pain is system-wide search (see above). OS X has had this since 10.4 (though it really didn't start working well for me until much later); resource constraints (e.g., battery life) aside, this arriving in iOS is hopefully just a matter of time.
In a sense, this will be more useful than on the Mac, due to so many native apps being available: search for a name, and see phone calls with them, their Facebook, LinkedIn, whatever profiles, your e-mail exchanges, replies and direct messages via Twitter, games you're playing with them, and appointments you have with them. Search for a genre, and get the Wikipedia article as well as the iTunes songs or movies, or the books in iBooks or Kindle. Search for a subject, and get e-mails, articles, even news.
Text editing/selection
iOS gets this one so wrong, Apple's own Pages has additional gestures to make it far less painful. Various jailbreak tweaks work similarly, and the whole thing screams for a UX overhaul.
While the phone app got some nice improvements in iOS 6, such as being able to set a call-back reminder or send a predefined text message response, it's mostly the way it's been since 1.0. It feels, perhaps to evoke familiarity, too much like a 90s' era telephone brought to a touchscreen UI, ignoring technologies and capabilities like the Internet. It doesn't even integrate with VoIP (though third-party apps have some limited hook-in abilitiy, such as being able to run in the background).
Eevn without a long-needed overhaul, though, there are improvements one could wish for:
Better look-up of unknown numbers. Apparently, US versions of the iPhone can at least resolve the area code to give you a rough idea of who it might be; this doesn't seem to work in Germany. In addition to area code look-up, it could also try and perform a Google search. In the case of businesses, this may often be enough to provide a best guess approximation.
Blocking numbers. Perhaps carriers are pressuring Apple not to implement this, as they can now up-sell you on the amazing deal of being able to block up to 30 numbers for a mere additional 5 bucks a month. Anyway, one can wish.
There's various smaller stuff — Mail ought to have OS X Mail's better threading and junk filtering support; important toggles like Airplane Mode require far too many taps; Settings has gotten far too nested (maybe add a search field?).
You'll also note that I skipped the current prevalent discussion entirely; that of 7 supposedly featuring a Jony Ive-inspired flatter UI. There's not much for me to add to that discussion, really. Lastly, the discussion of whether Apple should add a Gatekeeper-like "allow me to run non-Store applications" switch is complex enough to warrant a separate post.
I think it's a terrific OS. Let's make it even better.
BrowserQuest
Well, there goes the rest of your day. (via @codinghorror)
Impressive stuff, and squarely in the shut-up-and-take-my-money category.
Updating the LG P925
(This is a slanderous, though brief, "haw-haw, those Android users!" piece, so skip if you love that OS.)
Via Gruber: LG P925 Driver Updates
I assume they really mean "firmware updates" or "OS updates" or something.
What is being updated? Is there new stuff? Fixed bugs? Security?
It took iOS far too long to get OTA updates, and it's high time Android gets them, too.
"Any data not saved on a micro SD card or PC may be erased; i.e. contacts, images, etc." Pre-iOS 5, updates were sort-of-reinstalls, too, but at least there was a built-in update facility. This reads like it doesn't even offer that.
One obvious, low-effort way to make the list of steps far less absurdly long is to merge the "United Mobile Driver" and "Mobile Support Tool" into one download (namely, the latter), and have it automatically "Ensure your Driver is Up to Date", rather than having the user check something far easier for the computer to figure out.
I'd love to see, one year in, statistics on how many people bothered to even attempt this. The process looks sufficiently intricate and technical that I wonder if the average user will even bother (will they even know about the option?).
Bullshit Presents
I'm familiar with cars for graduation. Christmas, not so much.
Here's one to point out:
returning my kindle fire and getting an iphone…this is bullshit.
The English in most of the other posts is worse.
It's my favorite because it reminded me of Louis C.K.'s "Everything's Amazing & Nobody's Happy" interview with Conan:
I was on an airplane, and there was high-speed Internet on it. That's the newest thing that I know exists. And I'm sitting on the plan and they go "Open up your laptop; you can go on the Internet". It's fast, and I'm watching YouTube clips; I'm in an airplane! …and then it breaks down. And they apologize: "the Internet's not working".
The guy next to me goes: "Pfft, this is bullshit."
Like, how quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only ten seconds ago.
What may have seemed over the top in Louis's skit seems a lot more real now.
(via reddit)
Npackd
Regardless of how you feel about app stores, software repositories / package managers, stealth background updating, there's no question the process of discovering software, keeping it up-to-date, and disposing of it if need be leaves much to be desired on most platforms.
Dependency tracking, for example, is great when it works, but frustrating if not impossible to deal with for mere mortals when it doesn't. A central my-way-or-the-highway authority, as epitomized by Apple's App Store1, leads to high quality (except when it doesn't), but may also keep out programs you would have been interested in. Tools like Adobe ARM, Google Omaha and soon Mozilla's equivalent constantly take up resources, open potential security issues of their own, and may make decisions against your will (what if you preferred the old version?), yet possibly still in your interest (what if you would have overlooked that security patch?).
A whole book could be written about this mess. It's a situation where Desktop Linux feels, at least superficially, way ahead, and Windows dead last. To add insult to the injury of having to manually find and update software on Windows, it's also the most likely OS where you might wnid up downloading something malicious.
However, that's not the problem I had. I know, for the most part, which additional software on top of the OS itself and my own stuff I care about. However, I don't necessarily know (and I certainly don't care to keep track) whether each of those apps is installed and current on all machines I happen to be responsible for. That problem is irrelevant for most — why would you have more than one, or at most two (a desktop and a laptop), machines?
But perhaps you, like me, also take care of other machines — in my case, colleagues' workstations, in-house servers, and servers at a remote data center. Plus, of course, all those virtual machines. In that case, you may be quick to say "well, why don't you just use Active Directory, group policies and IntelliMirror to deploy the newest stuff". I could, and I do, but it's a pain, and it doesn't really help at all for the fourth category: machines that aren't local.
And did I mention it's a pain? It's not just Adobe who keep reinventing how Windows Installer is supposed to work; Microsoft themselves seem quite confused on the concept, too. Try deploying .NET Framework 4 via group policy, as a pure, single, simple .msi file (batch scripts are cheating). Or try keeping Adobe Flash Player up-to-date. Or, really, close your eyes, spin a giant wheel-o'-apps, point at one at random, and then figure out how to deploy it. This technology came 11 years ago with Windows 2000, and while it may save time in large organizations when granular control of who gets what matters, it simply doesn't work well on a smaller scale.
Let's scrap the idea of central deployment and instead get back to considering each machine individually.
What if we could have a Linux-style package manager in Windows? There are a few, actually. One, NuGet, has been generating some buzz lately, but is focused entirely on extending Visual Studio with libraries you want to use. Not what we're looking for. With Raktajino-Packagemanager, we're getting warmer; this one, however, is meant to be used for servers. I stumbled upon it because it was pre-installed on a machine from a hosting provider; perhaps it was written by an employee of theirs.
Npackd comes very close. By Linux standards, it's rather limited: you can set a path prefix for all installed packages, and add additional repository sources. Packages can depend on each other, but there's no customizing a package before installing it.
I've been using this for a week or so on my regular work VM, and have been 1) extending the somewhat limited selection using my own repository, and 2) pondering to what extend I could use this, at the very least, for that fourth category: servers. The default repository already comes with vital tools such as Process Explorer, for which I had previously used a batch file to keep it current; now, no more need for that.
A few issues are in the way:
This may be a question of lacking maturity, but I would have expected its otherwise conceptually sound repository format to handle standard cases like "here's a http URL pointing at a .msi file — figure out how to install/uninstall it automatically" well. Rather, most packages seems to have some odd wrapper code.
For some packages like CCleaner, the default install it uses is unacceptable. It installs some Bing Toolbar or whatever. It could come bundle with the world's best additional software, and I still wouldn't care because I didn't ask for it, it's from an untrusted third-party, and I never explicitly opted in to trust it to do that. Worse, with each update, those defaults are reset. So, for such packages, even though it offers them, Npackd is absolutely not an option. I suppose it's possible that modifying the package to remove the option by default would violate the license, which really wouldn't help CCleaner's case.2 On a related matter, I'm not sure how to handle an install like WinSSHD's. What if you have a commercial license with serial number? Would each upgrade remove this?
What is touted as "multiple program versions can be installed side-by-side" is really an anti-feature for my needs (your mileage may vary). It works by placing each version in its own directory. I'm really not sure how much of an advantage this is in practice, given that it's no real sandboxing — multiple versions presumably still share the same registry keys, and the same user application data. But in my case, it's a major detriment: I have scripts that access 7-zip from the command-line, hard-coded to find its path. AnkhSVN, a Subversion add-in for Visual Studio has various hard-coded paths to diff and merge tools, such as WinMerge. Both 7-zip and WinMerge are provided by Npackd's default repository, but even if I manually tell the scripts and AnkhSVN where to find them, I cannot rely on its update mechanism, because that will break paths each time. I can see the appeal, but in its current state, I wish the whole mechanism were optional. Better yet, it should allow for smooth "point to latest version" linking. With WinMerge, I've set up a junction point3, which makes AnkhSVN succeed to "discover" it once more, but this will break with the next upgrade. I can't even seem to write a tool that automatically generates junctions, though, because the directory structure is not consistent across packages. Setting a PATH is also not much of an option, it appears. This goes back to my point above about the wrapper code; Npackd ought to not let it up to package maintainers where individual files are placed.
Some minor issues mostly related to batch processing:
There's no option to install multiple packages at a time,
…nor to export a selection of packages and import that to another machine (much less synchronize such lists),
…nor to update everything that's out of date, rather than just individual packages,
…and lastly, aside from a pony, I'd also like a Windows Service to keep packages up-to-date without any user intervention (or admin privileges).
Ignoring the troubling side-by-side feature for a moment, I'd consider Npackd a net gain. There's a command-line tool I haven't played much with as of yet, and that may well be enough to let me accomplish the above four. Find a selection of packages, write a batch script, and push it to multiple servers.
But one can always dream of more, right?4
I reject the notion that you could possibly trademark this.↖
I get that Piriform has to make money. I just don't accept the method.↖
Sort of similar to Unix symlinks, though starting with Vista, NTFS also has symlinks.↖
And if it weren't written in C++/Qt, one could even contribute oneself to make the 'more' happen!↖
Stallman On Jobs
By now, you've probably read Stallman's piece on Steve Jobs :
Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died.
As Chicago Mayor Harold Washington said of the corrupt former Mayor Daley, "I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone." Nobody deserves to have to die - not Jobs, not Mr. Bill, not even people guilty of bigger evils than theirs. But we all deserve the end of Jobs' malign influence on people's computing.
Unfortunately, that influence continues despite his absence. We can only hope his successors, as they attempt to carry on his legacy, will be less effective.
Tristan opines:
Stallman is sober proof that idealism can be taken too far.
I agree, but there's more to it than that. Jobs was an idealist, too; it's just that the two have very different ideals. Design and freedom. They don't contrast, but they do conflict. Give someone free reign, and they may be more inclined to do what they want. Ask someone to design something, and restraint and limitation — antitheses of freedom — are likely part of the result.
Stallman's social interactions famously tend to be strange, if not distasteful, and there may or may not be medical explanations for that. At some point, however, you have to realize that putting differences aside and giving someone their final peace isn't just an expected gesture of society; it's a smart one.
Gates did it:
Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.
Colleagues, competitors and friends. No better, more honest way of putting it. And Microsoft had their flags at half-mast for two days.
Google's Vic Gundotra did it:
They have been a part of my life for decades. Even when I worked for 15 years for Bill Gates at Microsoft, I had a huge admiration for Steve and what Apple had produced.
But in the end, when I think about leadership, passion and attention to detail, I think back to the call I received from Steve Jobs on a Sunday morning in January. It was a lesson I'll never forget. CEOs should care about details. Even shades of yellow. On a Sunday.
To one of the greatest leaders I've ever met, my prayers and hopes are with you Steve.
Samsung did it:
Chairman Steve Jobs introduced numerous revolutionary changes to the information technology industry and was a great entrepreneur.
His innovative spirit and remarkable accomplishments will forever be remembered by people around the world.
…and proceeded to delay an Apple-competing product launch. Socially considerate and likely economically smart at the same time.
There simply is no acceptable explanation on why Stallman can't do it.
(Screen) Size Does Matter
Robo makes the point that Jobs'-return-era Apple starts off product lines in an experimental, prone-to-radical-changes manner, then eventually goes to refine it and iterate more subtly from there:
There's another Apple product pattern. It's been around longer, and it's longer-term. That pattern is this: Apple (and by "Apple" I mean "after-Jobs-came-back Apple") enters a new market, or makes an-after-Jobs-came-back model of an existing product for the first time, and we start counting there. The first few product generations tend to be more experimental, and very different from each other, but eventually Apple finds what works and they stick with it, and the design changes become much more subtle refinements.
The iBook and PowerBook G3 hit this point comparatively early — they both had curvy initial models, but with the PowerBook G4 and iBook they found what worked, and they spend the next decade refining their squared-off metal and plastic notebooks. Nowhere was the "early experimentation" phase more evident than with the iMac. The iMac G3 and G4 and G5 were wildly different from each other, but by the time we got to the G5 that phase has ended and the "where did the computer go" iMac stuck around for the next seven years and counting, getting nips and tucks more than ground-up rethinkings.
The iPod (classic) took four generations. Apple went from a mechanical scroll wheel to a touch-sensitive scroll wheel to a model with the buttons all in a row under the screen, but by the time they got to the click wheel they had it. They added a color screen and video playback and a metal front, but the iPod classic is still largely the same concept seven years later (again, and counting). It's, well, classic.
I think, with the fifth model, the iPhone has (coincidentally, or not?) ended its G3-G4-G5 phase. The potential shapes of the iPhone are more limited than that of the iMac, so the experimentation phase wasn't as crazy as the iMac's, but I'd still consider the weirdly plastic 3G/3GS the oddball iMac G4 of the range. :D I think the iPhone 4's antennae design was a watershed moment, analogous to the PowerBook G4 Titanium, and I think Apple will stick with it, and refining it. They'll make it a tad thinner, or narrower. But I think the multi-piece, squared-off, antennas-on-the-outside design is here to stay for the foreseeable future. They're not going to suddenly switch to a two-piece, curved-at-the-edges, iPod/iPad-style design — except maybe as a new low-end, prepaid-targeting model that would take over for the (two-piece, curved-at-the-edges) iPhone *3GS*.
All very true.
The 3G/3GS design felt like a desperate attempt to massively improve reception over the metal cage issues with the original, far more attractive iPhone. The 4 (and now 4S), then, came up with a superior compromise between thinness, sturdiness, battery life and reception. I don't think anyone near Steve suggested "let's eschwer the classy aluminum back with a glossy plastic one, for that will be cheaper"1. It was about reception.
But there are several things with the iPhone that never did change. They got those right (or, rather, they saw the results they had been hoping for) on first attempt. The layout, for instance: with the exceptions of additions like a flash and front-side camera, and the replacement of the volume rocker with two distinct buttons, everything has remained virtually the same. Dock connector at the bottom, a speaker each to its sides, silent switch and volume buttons on the top left, headphones out (with bizarre limitations on the original iPhone) at the top left, lock button at the top right, camera at the back's top right, and, of course, earpiece (and front camera, where applicable), screen and Home button, in that order, on the front. It's iconic, and as far as Apple is concerned, is just right.
Not much experimentation going on there. They sure prepared well.
And not only has the placement remained virtually the same: so, too, have the dimensions. It's always been 4.5 inches tall. It's lost some width: originally at 2.4 inches, the 4 and 4S models went down to 2.31. And, par for the course with "thinnovating" Apple, it's lost depth as well; from 0.46 to 0.48 (3G and 3GS) to eventually 0.37 (4 and 4S) inches. These changes are relevant for case manufacturers2, but — having to pick a compatible case aside — hardly for the user.
What's changed even less is the screen. Its quality may have changed, but its size of 3.5 inches never did. Only its resolution has famously been doubled3 to enable the marketing term "Retina Display", going from 480x320 to 960x640. At 3.5 inches, that's 163ppi, or now 326ppi. That's a lot of density.
The resolution change worked because, in legacy apps, you simply treat each pixel as a 2x2 grid of pixels, and it'll look just as it would have on an older iPhone. In newer apps, you use higher-resolution pictures. For vector art and fonts, you get those changes for free. The frameworks pretty much do it all for you, perhaps at first often resulting in a mix of original-resolution and double-resolution. And developers were quick to supply higher-resolution artwork.
Consider a different resolution change: to show 720p movies while maintaining the 3:2 aspect ratio, they could bump the resolution further up to 1080x720. What would happen with existing graphics? If you scale them up, their pixels cannot be easily matched; a 2.25x2.25 grid could, at best, be interpolated with anti-aliasing. Jagged lines, or blurry overall image. Anything vector-based, including text, would once again be exempt, but it would still make for a terrible experience. And this time, developers likely wouldn't be as quick to adjust: for one, the iOS platform has reached more saturation, where updates just aren't as necessary any more, and also, Apple would leave the impression that they're going to keep changing the resolution whenever they feel like it.
What of a screen size change, though?
This has come up not because there's indication that Apple plans to change it. Nor has there been user feedback that I know of that says "I love my iPhone; if only its screen were bigger!".
It has become a topic because of the competition. Neither Windows Phone (which hasn't been shy to establish a high minimum requirements) nor Android appear to specific a minimum screen size, much less one that exceeds the iPhone's 3.5 inches. An increasing number do exceed it, however. If there is an explanation of "this size works better for the user, because:", I haven't seen it. Rather, my money is on Marco's speculation:
Android phones have been one-upping each other with screen size a lot recently. It's an interesting tactic that seems to be working, at least relative to other Android phones. When comparing phones side-by-side in a store, the larger screens really do look more appealing, and I bet a lot of people don't consider the practical downsides.
And, as a corrolary:
[People accustomed to large-screened Android phones] may view the [iPhone's] smaller screen as a downgrade.
When, as a manufacturer, you have two major operating systems to choose from, and the device becomes mostly a commodity, reducing your product to 'bigger is better' is almost inevitable. (Unless you're actually creative.) It happened with 90s'-era PCs and MHz numbers; it happened with 00s'-era cameras and Megapixel numbers; it's happening with 10s'-era smartphones and, apparently, screen size.4
An angle to consider here is that manufacturers may not even realize the weirdness of changing the screen size. Apple appears to treat it as a constant, rather than a number of a spec sheet (though, to be fair, it's exactly that on their Specs page). PCs surely kept increasing their typical screen sizes for quite a while. The Mac (1984) shipped with a 9-inch display. The LC, my first Mac (1992), had a 12-inch one. The first iMac (1998) had 15 inches. And just last week, we were discussing whether to get 22- or 24-inch displays. An iMac can now (since 2009) be had with a 27-inch display, and while that seems almost obscenely large to me, it's clearly appealing to some.
Screen resolutions, too, increased. 512x342. 512x384. 1024x768. 1920x1200. 2560x1440. And so, too, did the amount of space in our GUI. Mac OS's menu bar height has never changed much5, but what used to be 5.8% of your room to work with is now, on the biggest iMac, a mere 1.5%. Similarly, while icons have gone from 32x32 to 48x48 in some places (such as Windows Explorer's default icon view, starting with XP), the resolution has increased greatly; the area an icon takes up has changed from 0.6% to a tenth of that. And studies link such increased space with enhanced productivity.
But when Apple chose to ship the original iPhone with a 3.5-inch screen, did they do so because 3.6 inches would have been prohibitively expensive? I find that hard to believe. My explanation has always been one of practicality.
[I]t turns out that when you hold the iPhone in your left hand and articulate your thumb, you can reach almost exactly to the other side of the screen.
There's a lot of things I can't do with just one thumb on the iPhone: type several words of texts, do pinch-to-zoom or other multi-touch gestures, or precisely move objects around.
And yet, so much can be done just like that, in the tram, standing, the other hand gripping a pole: skipping to the next track in iPod, swiping through the list of unread e-mails, picking one, scrolling down and — if important — moving it to a different folder, and even simple search queries in Google. I bet the people mocking the Mac for shipping with a single-button mice didn't see single-thumb-operating a telephone to listen to music, read messages and look up stuff on Wikipedia coming.
A bigger screen would take away this possibility. As illustrated by Dustin Curtis, you can barely reach the center of a 4.21-inch screen. It eschews simple for forcedly immersive. It makes you deal with the device, all of a sudden.
For humor's sake, though, let's consider the two ways a screen size change can occur.
One way would be to keep the resolution as-is, and simply make elements bigger. This assumes preserving the unusual 3:2 aspect ratio, and square pixels6. According to Apple:
The comfortable minimum size of tappable UI elements is 44 x 44 points.
Below, you can play with a few different screen sizes (in Safari 5.1 and Chrome 14, anyway), and see the effect on pixel density and, consequentially, individual pixel size.
And now: your very own 960x640 screen!
Size of 44x44px button:
(I can't calculate, by the way. According to Apple, the pixel density should be 326ppi, not 330. And according to various sources, the physical size should be 6.9mm, not 9.6. While the former could be explained by the iPhone's screen not being exactly 3.5 inches diagonally, the latter discrepancy baffles me.)
This approach makes pixels larger again, somewhat negating the benefits of the Retina Display, although we'd have to go all the way to 7 inches to approach the original iPhone's 163ppi. Advantageously, it makes the display more accessible to those with poor eyesight, and makes controls easier to interact with to those with large hands. As far as detriments go, it's less likely to fit in your pocket, and a single hand of yours is less likely to, as explained above, reach controls edge-to-edge.
A case could be made, then, that Apple should offer this as an option. There's precedent: one revision after the 12.1-inch white iBook design was introduced in May 2001, they added, in January 2011, a 14.1-inch option at the top end with nearly identical specs, a bigger screen at the same resolution (1024x768), and a higher price tag. This carried on until May 2006, when both screen variants were replaced by the 13.3-inch, 1280x800 MacBook.
But I'll believe it when I see it.
Changing the resolution
Instead, let's discuss changing the resolution. John Gruber's latest seems to focus entirely and implicitly on maintaining the resolution, which strikes me as a Strawman:
If anything [bigger screens are] surely easier to make, as the pixels are less dense.
Changing the resolution opens up new possibilities. We've seen this first-hand with the iPad: it being 9.7 inches, and being 1024x768, has arguably led to entire new classes of programs. So far, though, all evidence points to in-between devices being unpopular: neither 5-inch ones such as the Dell Streak nor 7-inch ones such as the Galaxy Tab have enjoyed anywhere near the same success as the ~3-4-inch and 10-inch form factors. They're neither here nor there.
Perhaps a slight tweak in that direction would work, though? Let's keep the pixel density (and aspect ratio), rather than the resolution, the same this time.
This time: your very own 326ppi screen!
At around 4.5 inches, we can already display the equivalent of a typical 13-inch laptop screen. Slightly above that, at 4.7 inches, we can display the full 720p resolution of 1280x720.
For existing apps, changing the resolution presents us with challenges. Unlike with a desktop environment, the iOS UI is designed around a single-window/full-screen approach. At most, you have a status bar at the top; other than that, everything on the screen is controlled by the current app.
For games, this has long been common. Making a game full-screen is a common choice if only to provide an immersive experience. You can run Tetris and Sudoku in a window (I frequently do), and perhaps even a casual round of Portal, but for most games, it wouldn't work well. For other kinds of programs, however, the assumption used to be that, given a certain amount of screen estate, the benefits of seeing multiple stacked and/or tiled windows outweigh those of coherence.
The iPad is unusual in that it provides what used to be a common resolution of laptops just half a decade ago, and of desktops half a decade before that, yet limit this to just one window. Palm webOS, BlackBerry PlayBook's Tablet OS, and soon Windows 8 follow this approach, whereas Android Honeycomb 3.0 disagrees with it, allowing multiple "fragments" to co-exist. But even if Apple were to increase the screen size and (proportionally) resolution, it wouldn't diverge sufficiently for such an environment to work well. And after all, they've already made this design choice, towards the other direction, with the iPad.
That leaves us with two other ways for an increased resolution to work: expanding the status bar, and giving the current application (which, in the context of iOS, might as well be synonymous with current window) more room to work with.
In fact, much like the Mac OS menu bar, the status bar would grow automatically. Even if the height were to remain the same, more width would allow for an increased amount of icons, or perhaps more text, such as the date in addition to the time. While jailbreaking tends to go overboard, it does provide some inspiration of what could be done: icons for new mail, the weather, or unread notifications. An iOS status bar icon takes up 16x16px, plus a few pixels for padding. Since each 0.1 inches of screen size nets us about 27.5 more pixels, that means even one such bump would give us an additional icon. Not bad. This is all assuming a portrait orientation; the landscape orientation already has far more space regardless.
You could also grow the status bar vertically, but I see neither the pressing need nor a practical approach. Increasing the icon size seems unnecessary. Adding a second row adds visual complexity. Right now, the information density and quantity seems close to just right, and growing it horizontally would help with the latter.
In-app layout
Lastly, the application itself. This appears easy in some cases: just give Safari a larger viewport, and perhaps a sixth toolbar icon. Just give Mail additional e-mail summaries, more text rows, and, too, a sixth toolbar icon. Embiggen iPod's album art, and take another of the toolbar buttons offered in "More".
Much as we'd like to believe technology is perfect7, Cocoa Touch does not in fact have anything approaching a flexible layout manager, where you tell it "have a navigation bar with a fixed height at the top, a table with just however many rows will fit underneath, and finally a fixed-height toolbar at the bottom" and have an iOS-typical navigation/table view/toolbar UI. Elements are largely positioned by the pixel (though, in the case of the Retina Display, a distinction of "device pixels" is made, so you generally don't have to worry about that), and entirely differently for the iPad. This can be tedious, but leads to a pixel-perfectly-designed result. There's a concept of "springs and struts", which allow for some flexibility, but by and large, positioning is fixed.
By contrast, some UI toolkits favor a more automated approach. They tend to deal in percentages and multipliers, not pixels; in relative, not absolute positioning; in an automatic flow, where whichever control comes next is positioned after the current one. This may not always lead to exactly what has been intended, but has lots of advantages, such as localization: a lot of software is written in English first, then translated to others. English words, however, tend to be relatively compared to other languages' equivalents. The layout may have fit exactly for the words 'tram stop', but 'Straßenbahnhaltestelle' doesn't just sound much wordier and take up more syllables; it also clearly takes up more space.
Apple hasn't ignored this problem, and in 10.7 Lion, has introduced Autolayout. (See where I stole that word example from?) However, its release notes call it "not finished yet", and it won't be available in iOS 5.0's SDK (yet).
It is quite likely that a future iOS SDK — perhaps 6.0's — will include this, and it will allow for more scalable UIs. In some cases, it may eliminate the need for iPhone/iPod touch and iPad UIs to differ at all, but I remain skeptical of this. Developing with each individual device in mind — custom-tailoring for it, if you will — should ultimately benefit the user more than having something rapidly available everywhere. It would still be leaps and bounds better than the almost pointless letterboxing / scaling ability of the iPad to run iPhone applications (there's a reason you almost never hear of it), though, and, perhaps, if cleverly combined with fixed elements, may lead to a richer and faster-to-develop experience for everyone.
Even then, however, many current applications would require significant changes to take advantage, and otherwise once more will suffer letterboxing or scaling. One makes for very awkward, sort-of-Fitts's Law-violating user interaction. The other, which unlike with the iPad cannot be done in a grid of two-by-two pixels8, would look and feel ugly.
One answer to "why do Android phones keep bumping up their screen size, when iOS doesn't?" may be, as posited by some, a contest to out-spec each other. Another may be: because they can. Right now, iOS can't, and as the library of apps grows, which it rapidly has, the longer they wait, the less likely such a change becomes.
Or if they did, they were probably looking for a different job afterwards.↖
Who I assume are currently scrambling to regain money lost on the alleged iPhone 5 design that never was.↖
Technically, quadrupled, depending on whether you count each dimension.↖
Luckily, we haven't entered megainches yet.↖
It apparently used to be 20 pixels, and is now 22 pixels.↖
Non-square, rectangular pixels do exist, such as in television.↖
Stop laughing.↖
Surely, nobody is suggesting increasing the resolution another 100%.↖
TextMate 2 Alpha
To computer afficionados at large, probably the greatest vaporware of the past decade (if not of all time1) was Duke Nukem Forever. There's an amusing list of things that happened between DNF's original announcement and what appeared to be its final nail in the coffin twelve years later, with items like:
Steve Jobs was still running NeXT when Duke Nukem Forever was announced.
Every movie, animation, and video game from The Matrix series was filmed, released in theatres, and has made it to DVD.
Britney Spears' entire musical career as a pop star has taken place during Duke Nukem Forever's development.
World War II and the entire Manhattan Project have taken less time than Duke Nukem Forever's Development. Yes, even the complete development of the atomic bomb took less time.
Now, as we all know, DNF did end up getting released, two further years later, and was critically panned. I haven't played it myself, but the consensus appears to be that it would have been a so-so game had it been released in a remotely sane cycle; all the build-up and hype, however, weren't remotely justified.
But it's not for lack of trying. If anything, Wired's article gives the impression that DNF's original producer Broussard was apparently trying to hard. That article, too, prematurely pronounced DNF dead. Perhaps everyone would have been better off?
To Mac users, or at least Mac developers, a less crass example of vaporware is TextMate 2. It is, as Marco Arment said, a textbook example of the second-system effect. It tries to fix too many perceived flaws — and perhaps perceived mainly by its developer, not by its users — of the original TextMate, and in doing so fails to see the light the day. Or at least has. Thus far.
Hard to believe as it may be, there's been a mailing list post that we're not supposed to link to (which may be moot now?), and, a few days later, a blog post without such a disclaimer.
There will be a public alpha release [of TextMate 2.0] this year, before Christmas, for registered users.
If it were me, I'd publish such a vague, yet limited deadline to force myself to actually have something to show at that point. An alpha doesn't have to be a whole lot; it doesn't need to be feature-complete, it certainly doesn't need to be stable, and even more so, it will probably come with no liability in terms of data loss whatsoever. And yet, it's something. Maybe just enough to get people excited again. Consider that, at some point, it was controversial that 2.0 will require Leopard. These days, almost half a decade later, I wonder how many even use TextMate on anything older than 10.6 Snow Leopard, let alone 10.5 Leopard.
It's not so much that TextMate 1 doesn't work. It does have its flaws, though. No split view, undo being per-character, and synchronous I/O easily locking up everything and making remote-editing of files not worth trying come to mind.
So, as far as I'm concerned, I'll go with the "cautious optimism" from another troubled software project. (I'll leave it up to others to argue how that turned out.)
Sorry, Kanye.↖
One Ben Cooksley, KDE System Settings Maintainer is not amused that GNOME now has an application called System Settings as well, and has launched a "formal complaint":
As you may or may not be aware, the name "System Settings" for an application is currently in use by KDE. A recent renaming by your GNOME control center developers to this name creates a naming conflict.
As KDE occupied this name first, it is ours as a result [..]
Someone explain to me how this is any better than Apple holding a trademark on "app store".
Someone from Ubuntu then goes into more detail about these alleged "severe problems for users"; "numerous problems for users on both sides":
To be more specific about the problem, installing kde-workspace to a GNOME installation results in 2 indistinguishable apps named System Settings and 2 named System Monitor. On Ubuntu at least, if I want the GNOME version, I have to remember to click the first System Monitor but the second System Setting which is awfully frustrating.
You're installing two desktop managers side-by-side, and your biggest problem is that two applications (with the same purpose1) bear the same name?
This thread also delivers on the predictable, usual debate over just what constitutes an operating system:
So far we are running the same OS (for most of us it is Linux, but it can be Solaris or *BSD). DE != OS.
Yes, I'm sure drawing that distinction (whatever it may be: Linux, contrary to this quote, is a kernel, not an OS) makes users feel right at home.
Luckily, some sanity from GNOME's side on the matter:
I very much doubt users will be any less confused when confronted with "System Settings" and "System Preferences". We should work on shared groundwork so that our settings are interoperable. If a user has to set his language in two different applications just because he happens to use applications written in two different toolkits, we have failed miserably.
You just can't expect to own generic names across desktops.
When two people quarrel, a third rejoices. And a fourth. And a fifth.
Granted: GNOME's "System Settings" and KDE's are each likely to focus on their own respective perspective, but from a user's point of view, these differences are entirely technical, and should neither exist nor matter.↖
Another One Joins the 27 Club
Amy Winehouse died, as did, apparently, many rock musicians at her age1.
It's rather tragic that I've only now decided to take a look at some of her songs, such as Back to Black.
Via: 1; 2
And, incidentally, mine.↖
How Would You Like Your Graphic Design?
Nothing new to the project triangle, I suppose (and applies to tons of areas, such as, hey, software development), but people never seem to learn.
(Via the between-brilliant-and-agonizing Clients From Hell)
Retaliate With More Democracy
G.W. Bush, 9/11: "We're gonna hunt you down."
Stoltenberg, 22/7: "We will retaliate with more democracy".
I'm proud to be Norwegian.
It's a shame more leading politicians of the world can't (or won't) think like this in light of tragedies like yesterday's attacks on Oslo.
(Via Twitter)
The Ennnnnd
In other programming language news, here's one proposal for Ruby:
I'd like to propose introducing a special keyword, en(n+)d. Using this keyword, we can rewrite the above example like this:
module MyModule
class MyClass
def my_method
10.times do
if rand < 0.5
p :small
ennnnnd
I.e., for each block1 to close, insert another n within end.
It's so crazy, it almost makes sense. Per Tay, perhaps the best argument again this:
Yeah, I don't like this change. Mostly because that huge chain of ends is supposed to look ugly; it reminds me that my code is far too nested, and should be reworked and written properly.
I'd prefer bad code to look ugly.
Hiding bad code doesn't make it go away. (Huge try/catch blocks, anyone?)
But hey, this would work for XML, too!
<////////div>
(via @shadowofged)
Not in the sense of Ruby's blocks.↖
Deprecating PHP's MySQL extension… eventually
Don't panic!
Indeed; there are likely plenty of PHP developers who would panic if their precious MySQL extension were to be deprecated. But how many more would rejoice?
It doesn't even understand the notion of prepared statements1, so even if it weren't for the scores of my-first-database-bound website tutorials that inevitably lead you to SQL injection hell, you'd have little choice. You'd have the choice of mysql_real_escape_string and brethren, but that's a terrible idea.
A language may not always be able to enforce good practices, but it should at least advocate them. Leaving an API in that requires bad practices is irresponsible.
A.k.a. parameterized queries.↖
Fleet Commander
If it weren't for the inevitable hand fatigue and inpracticality of playing on the tram, this would be perfect:
Arthur Nishimoto is a graduate student in the University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic Visualization Laboratory, who developed a real-time strategy game to be played on a wall-size LCD screen.
(Via rands)
Sony's Captcha
There's making a CAPTCHA annoying, and there's making it too easy for computers to recognize. But apparently, there's missing the point, too.
Unfortunately Sony missed the entire point of a CAPTCHA. Instead of using an obfuscated image which is difficult for computers to recognize the characters, they include the CAPTCHA's unobfuscated characters in HTML and use CSS and JavaScript to make the characters appear slightly distorted.
(via Peter Hosey)
Growl Spam
Almost a miracle this hasn't happened sooner:
Wow, Spotify uses Growl to spam an advertisement.
Of course, if you want worse, there's always Airpush.
App Store FUD
I don't even know where to begin on this one.
It wouldn't even have been that hard to come up with compelling and honest argument for Web apps (e.g.: always up-to-date, run on multiple platforms, no installation required). Instead, they come up with ones that apply equally (loading times? "peak times"? If anything, those apply less to a locally installed app), and ones that are just downright bizarre, unlikely scare scenarios ("reload if device becomes unresponsive"? "may crash on first attempt"?). And that's ignoring the benefits of a native app, such as better integration, more comprehensive offline capabilities, and curation.
The real shame is that some will buy into it.
(via schwa)
And an extreme take at it, too. (via @nibroc)
I'm gonna Patent Patents
Looks like IBM has essentially patented patent trolling. (via @arepty)
Clearly, Google has a lot of catching up to do on this whole be-a-dick-about-patents business. Haven't they read the memo? No, seriously; they may have a problem of being too non-evil on this one.
Me, I'll go with Stallman on this one (bet you didn't see that one coming): limit copyright to five years, period. While we're at it, let's do the same for patents. It still gives creatives, inventors, businesses plenty of headstart, while at the same time allowing for the general public to benefit.
Apple & Pros
So, FCP X happened.
That is: Apple released a product called Final Cut Pro X, which they market as a major upgrade to version 7. But both technologically and spiritually, it's more of a new product than an evolution, and unfortunately, that's not universally regarded as a good thing. Accusations are made, refunds are demanded (and, in some cases, granted — despite a sales-are-final policy), petitions are signed (crickets), and everyone is suddenly an expert on video editing; particularly as it pertains to demands of high-end cutters.
The new version lacks a ton of features from distant-cousin predecessor; as I understand it, in some cases (like multicam editing), the latter was even good at it compared to the competition. To a point, it's history repeating itself. Over and over. The closest parallel in Apple's own line-up is iMovie; version '08 sported a radically different look-and-feel compared to version HD, and many were none too pleased about what was nowhere to be found any more. (A timeline, for example. A video editing program without a timeline seemed downright blasphemous.)
Or, looking further, there's products like the iPod nano: it replaced the hugely successful iPod mini, came with 50% less capacity and no more accessory port, and was far less sturdy. (Plus, no more colors.) The iMac came without serial ports or ADB, and didn't even have, gasp, a floppy drive. Mac OS X, as it initially shipped, had no CD burning or DVD reading (this was in March 2001), was unbearably slow and unstable, and broke with many of Mac OS Classic's conventions. (And while I personally didn't mind, a friend of mine wouldn't stop whining about the excessive pinstripes.)
Adobe InDesign 1.0, too, was not very popular among the existing base of Quark XPress users.
Here's what these examples have in common:
Years later, the newer choice is well-established, and virtually nobody still cries for a way back to more innocent days.
Some, if not most of the issues get resolved, one way or another.
New capabilities make up a little for it.
For its first two or three years, a sizable group of people wanted Mac OS Classic back. (Remember how Kuching discussion there used to be about the oh-so-flawed Dock? Now, look at Windows 7 and Ubuntu's Unity desktop.) Now, it's firmly entrenched as an excellent OS all around. The iPod nano eventually got far more capacity, as was inevitable, and colors came back, too. Nobody cares about floppy disks any more, and the iMac's reliance on USB was, we can safely say 13 years later, prescient. Quark did a great job destroying their huge market lead and handing it to Adobe on a silver platter; they, meanwhile, kept improving InDesign quite a bit. And as for iMovie? Features in versions '09 and '11 like precision editing make it quite popular. Now, it even runs on an iPhone, making for a unexpectedly powerful, versatile video editing capabilities on a phone.
So what of FCP? If you only skim the reports, I can't blame you for the impression that it's heavily dumbed down and entirely worthless for professionals. Its lead, however, is Randy Ubillos — who also created the first three versions of Adobe Premiere, and the Macromedia project "KeyGrip", which later became the original Final Cut Pro. In other words, it's probably not a case of having the wrong guy in charge. It may however be one of priorities. Says Gruber:
I think Apple plans for Final Cut Pro X to grow from where it is today to eventually meet the needs of high-end pros. What this release shows is not that Apple doesn't care about the pro market at all, but rather that they don't care enough to prevent Apple from releasing a version that pros can't yet use.
Agreed. I'm torn on the "care" phrasing, but given that Apple has idiotically even stopped offering the old version altogether, I may have to swallow it.
There's a bigger, more systematic story here, though. Apple doesn't really want a Pro distinction. People have been calling the new version "prosumer", also pointing to the fact that it replaces Final Cut Express's precious price point. And Apple doesn't want an Enterprise distinction either. Here, people point to the discontinuation of Xserve.
It's true: consumer products make for more volume. In that sense, bean counters in Cupertino may prefer them. But I think that's a minor concern. The big one is empowering the user. Rather than convincing, as Microsoft, IBM and HP may have been wont to do, corporations why iPhone deployment makes sense for them, Apple release a product which employees and bosses alike wanted, badly, no matter what the head of IT thinks. It's not so much "Pros" that Apple doesn't care about. It's interaction and compatibility with the existing world of workflows and policies. They'd much rather create the next big thing to wow you than worry about whether it works well with what you already have. That sucks if you rely on the present tense a lot, which chances are you do. But it rocks if you can spare 20% of your time living in the future, slowly yet boldly sarin to move away from the crufty conventions we keep on creating year after year.
The next time someone argues that Apple doesn't care about the Pros, consider this: they care about creating the next generation of Pros.
Two Sides of a Fight
The liberal fights with a fencer's foil. Mincing the opponent's argument, the liberal tries to score with quick, precise jabs using intellect, wit, and facts.
The conservative fights with a samurai sword. One heavy-handed hit and he cuts his opponent in half. No facts needed, just the adroit use of ignorance to persuade the masses. 'My opponent's gay!' Or 'Family values!' Little nothings that score a bigger hit with the masses than all of his or her opponent's jabs, which might sting, but aren't fatal.
Ah, anti-intellectualism. Source
So, I wrote my own nanoc filter to do simple footnotes1, roughly in the vain as the wp-footnotes plug-in I had used earlier. The code is relatively simple and generic, so here goes:
class FootnoteFilter < Nanoc3::Filter
identifier :footnote
type :text
def run(content, params={})
content_add = ""
newcontent = content
content.scan(/<footnote>(.*)<\/footnote>/) do |match|
id = "footnote-#{@item.identifier}-#{i+=1}"
newcontent =
newcontent.sub(/<footnote>.*<\/footnote>/,
"<a href=\"##{id}\" id=\"#{id}-back\"
class=\"footnote-link\">#{i}</a>")
content_add +=
"<li id=\"#{id}\""">#{match}
<a href=\"##{id}-back\"
class=\"footnote-backlink\">↖</a></li>"
if content_add != ""
content_add =
"<ol class=\"footnotes\">" +
content_add +
"</ol>"
newcontent + content_add
Put that somewhere in your lib/ folder as, say, FootnoteFilter.rb, and reference it in your Rules — for instance:
compile '*' do
filter :erb
filter :kramdown
filter :footnote
layout 'default'
Now, have a footnote2, simply by wrapping the text inside <footnote> tags.
Like this one!↖
Here's another!↖
Only two noteworthy things happened this week:
My long site-wide nightmare of a needlessly complex CMS is finally over (thanks nanoc), and
a particularly extreme of libertarianism (neoliberalism for the inclined European reader) has reared its ugly head.
Via @alahmnat comes a story of privatization of community services gone — if not 'wrong', then at least weird: Tennessee County's Subscription-Based Firefighters Watch As Family Home Burns Down
For what it's worth, I don't agree with the "Radical Right-Wing Agenda" heading. It's not so much that conservatives are becoming increasingly libertarian; it's that, alas, pretty much all mainstream politicians are. There's nothing inherently conservative about you're-on-your-own ideas, though they are, of course, further away from socialism than from paleoconservatism.
But, what's wrong with this picture anyway? If you ask the mayor, nothing!
[City Mayor Crocker] told them that, after all, "if an auto owner allowed their vehicle insurance to lapse, they would not expect an insurance company to pay for an unprotected vehicle after it was wrecked."
He has a point, though he probably doesn't know what it is. There's no logic behind emotion; no ratio behind compassion.
We may not think of insurance agents as among the more humane jobs, but Crocker's analogy is off — this would be akin to an agent driving to the wreck as it's happening, and still deciding not to help in any way, which has much more to do with their profession than with whom they're getting paid by.
But as a self-professed Christian (original page apparently deleted by now), one would assume the mayor does know a thing or two about such values. Perhaps it was the fact that homeowner Cranick was suddenly willing (and thus able) to pay "whatever it would take" that made him undeserving of compassion? Would the story have been different had Cranick in fact been too poor to pay the annual fee?
Or what if someone had been trapped in the house?
It shouldn't take stories like this one for people to stop treating human beings as components of a business transaction.
soeren says
for subtlety.
This is not
nor the place.


text:
Josip Pivarić (ur. 30 stycznia 1989 w Zagrzebiu) – chorwacki piłkarz grający na pozycji obrońcy w Dynama Kijów.

Kariera klubowa
Karierę rozpoczął w 2004 w Dinamie. W 2008 został włączony do pierwszego składu tego klubu, ale szybko został wypożyczony do Lokomotivy Zagrzeb. W 2012 wrócił do Dinama. 8 sierpnia 2017 przeszedł do Dynama Kijów. 1 października 2020 kontrakt za obopólną zgodą został rozwiązany i piłkarz wrócił do Lokomotivy Zagrzeb.

Kariera reprezentacyjna
W reprezentacji Chorwacji zadebiutował 14 sierpnia 2013 w meczu z Liechtensteinem.

Życie prywatne
Ma żonę Božicę.

Przypisy

Bibliografia

Reprezentanci Chorwacji w piłce nożnej
Piłkarze Dinama Zagrzeb
Piłkarze NK Lokomotiva
Piłkarze Dynama Kijów
Uczestnicy Mistrzostw Świata w Piłce Nożnej 2018
Ludzie urodzeni w Zagrzebiu
Urodzeni w 1989

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Carr * make_filter(double left, double center, double right,
                               double initFreq, double delta);

MelFilter * new_mel_filter(int srate, int nfft, int nfilt, int lowerf, int upperf) {
  MelFilter *mf = malloc(sizeof(MelFilter));
  Cmat *params = make_bank_parameters(srate, nfft, nfilt, lowerf, upperf);
  mf->len = params->rows;
  mf->indices = malloc(params->rows * sizeof(int));
  mf->weights = malloc(params->rows * sizeof(double*));
  mf->weightlens = malloc(params->rows * sizeof(int));
  int i;
  for (i=0; i<params->rows;++i) {
      Carr * temp = make_filter(params->data[i][0], params->data[i][1],
                                    params->data[i][2], params->data[i][3],
                                    params->data[i][4]);
      mf->indices[i] = round(temp->data[0]);
      int weightlen = temp->rows-1;
      mf->weights[i] = malloc(sizeof(double) * weightlen);
      mf->weightlens[i] = weightlen;
      int j;
      for (j=0; j<weightlen; ++j) {
          double foo = temp->data[j+1];
          mf->weights[i][j] = foo;
      }
      carr_free(temp);
  }
  cmat_free(params);
  return mf;
}

Cmat * mel_filter_apply(MelFilter* self, Cmat * power_spectrum) {
    Cmat *melbanks = cmat_new(power_spectrum->rows, self->len);
    int i;
    for (i=0;i<power_spectrum->rows; ++i) {
        double * spectrum = power_spectrum->data[i];
        int j;
        for (j=0;j<self->len; ++j) {
            int initialIndex = self->indices[j];
            int lenw = self->weightlens[j];
            double * w = self->weights[j];
            double output = 0.0;
            int k;
            for (k=0;k<lenw;++k) {
                int index = initialIndex + k;
                if (index < power_spectrum->cols) {
                    output += spectrum[index] * w[k];
                }
            }
            melbanks->data[i][j] = output;
        }
    }
    return melbanks;
}

void mel_filter_free(MelFilter* mf) {
  int i;
  for (i=0;i<mf->len;++i) {
    free(mf->weights[i]);
  }
  free(mf->weights);
  free(mf->weightlens);
  free(mf->indices);
}

double mel(double f) {
    return 2595.0 * log10(1.0 + f/700.0);
}

static double determine_bin(double inFreq,double stepFreq) {
    return stepFreq * round(inFreq / stepFreq);
}

double melinv(double m) {
    return 700.0 * (pow(10, m/2595.0) - 1.0);
}

//static double[] melinv_array(double[] m) {
//    double[] result = new double[m.length];
//    for (int i=0;i<m.length;++i) {
//        result[i] = melinv(m[i]);
//    }
//    return result;
//}

Cmat *make_bank_parameters(double srate, int nfft, int nfilt,
                                      double lowerf, double upperf) {
  double * leftEdge = alloca(nfilt*sizeof(double));
  double * rightEdge = alloca(nfilt*sizeof(double));
  double * centerFreq = alloca(nfilt*sizeof(double));
  double melmax = mel(upperf);
  double melmin = mel(lowerf);
  double deltaFreqMel = (melmax - melmin) / (nfilt + 1.0);
  double deltaFreq = srate/nfft;
  leftEdge[0] = determine_bin(lowerf, deltaFreq);
  double nextEdgeMel = melmin;
  int i;
  for (i=0;i<nfilt;++i) {
      nextEdgeMel += deltaFreqMel;
      double nextEdge = melinv(nextEdgeMel);
      centerFreq[i] = determine_bin(nextEdge, deltaFreq);
      if (i > 0) {
          rightEdge[i-1] = centerFreq[i];
      } if (i < nfilt -1) {
          leftEdge[i+1] = centerFreq[i];
      }
  }

  nextEdgeMel += deltaFreqMel;
  double nextEdge = melinv(nextEdgeMel);
  rightEdge[nfilt-1] = determine_bin(nextEdge, deltaFreq);
  Cmat *fparams = cmat_new(nfilt, 5);
  for (i=0;i<nfilt;++i) {
      double initialFreqBin = determine_bin(leftEdge[i], deltaFreq);
      if (initialFreqBin < leftEdge[i]) {
          initialFreqBin += deltaFreq;
      }
      fparams->data[i][0] = leftEdge[i];
      fparams->data[i][1] = centerFreq[i];
      fparams->data[i][2] = rightEdge[i];
      fparams->data[i][3] = initialFreqBin;
      fparams->data[i][4] = deltaFreq;
  }
  return fparams;
}

// Returns an array of weights with one additional element at the zero
// location containing the starting index.
Carr * make_filter(double left, double center, double right,
                               double initFreq, double delta) {
    int nElements = round((right - left)/ delta + 1);
    Carr * filter = carr_new(nElements + 1);
    double height=1.0;
    double leftSlope = height / (center - left);
    double rightSlope = height / (center - right);
    int indexFW =1;
    filter->data[0] = round(initFreq/delta);
    double current;
    for (current=initFreq; current<=right; current+= delta) {
        if (current < center) {
            filter->data[indexFW] = leftSlope * (current - left);
        } else {
            filter->data[indexFW] = height + rightSlope * (current - center);
        }
        indexFW += 1;
    }

    return filter;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Gaza Weddings
Ibrahim Nasrallah
Translated by Nancy Roberts
Try Gaza Weddings
Read an extract Buy Gaza Weddings
Buy Gaza Weddings
Twin sisters Randa and Lamis live in the besieged Gaza Strip. Inseparable to the point that even their mother cannot tell them apart, they grow up surrounded by the random carnage that characterizes life under occupation.
Randa, who wants to be a journalist, writes to record the devastation around her, taking pictures of martyred children. Meanwhile, their beloved neighbor Amna quietly converses with all those she has lost, as she plans the wedding of Lamis and her son Saleh.
With their menfolk almost entirely absent, it is the women who take center stage in this poignant novel of resilience, determination, and living against the odds.
"Intensely eloquent."
"A novel I can't recommend enough."
—Susan Abulhawa
A vivid portrait. . . . Robert's translation is excellent."
"Written in a shimmering and sensitive style, it has a captivating grip on the reader."
—Salma Khadra Yayyusi
Add your review on Goodreads
Ibrahim Nasrallah was born to Palestinian parents in Jordan in 1954, and grew up in a refugee camp there. He has written fourteen collections of poetry and fourteen novels as well as works of literary criticism. He is also a painter and photographer. He is the author of Inside the Night (AUC Press, 2007), Time of White Horses (Hoopoe, 2016), and The Lanterns of the King of Galilee (AUC Press, 2015).
Nancy Roberts is the translator of a number of Arabic novels including Salwa Bakr's The Man from Bashmour (AUC Press, 2007), for which she received a commendation in the SaifGhobash–Banipal Prize for Translation, and Ibrahim Nasrallah's Time of White Horses (Hoopoe, 2016).
$14.95 / £8.99 / LE160
"Every emotion contributes to writing: love, grief, anger…"
Last year Ibrahim Nasrallah won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his novel The Second War of the Dog, described by the jury as "a masterful vision of a dystopian future in a nameless cou…
Hoopoe translator Nancy Roberts wins 2018 Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation prize
Veteran translator of Arabic fiction Nancy Roberts shared first prize of the 2018 Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding, in the category of translation from Arabic into En…
Ibrahim Nasrallah wins 2018 International Prize for Arabic Fiction
The Jordanian-Palestinian writer Ibrahim Nasrallah, author of the two Hoopoe novels, Gaza Weddings and Time of White Horses, and The Lanterns of the King of Galilee (AUC Press) won this year's Interna…
Cigarette Number Seven
Donia Kamal
As a child, Nadia was left with her grandparents in Egypt, while her mother sought work in the Gulf. Decades later, she looks back on her fragmented childhood from an uncertain present: it is 2011 and … continued
Bled Dry
Abdelilah Hamdouchi
When an ill-fated, young prostitute and her lover are killed in a gruesome double murder, seasoned investigator Detective Hanash is called in. The case draws him and his team into the poverty of Casab … continued
Time of White Horses
Spanning the collapse of Ottoman rule and the British Mandate in Palestine, this is the story of three generations of a defiant family from the Palestinian village of Hadiya before 1948. Through the l … continued

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
About Everspin
Sales Login
Toggle MRAM
Toggle MRAM Technology
Parallel Products
Serial Products
FRAM-nvSRAM-SRAM Cross Reference Guide
Spin-transfer Torque MRAM
Spin-transfer Torque MRAM Technology
ST-DDR Products
Everspin Patents
Everspin Intellectual Property
Applications & Case Studies
Quality Program
EICC / GeSI and Other Docs
Product Discontinuance Policy
Reliability Reports
IPC1752 Documents
QC Flow Documents
Submit Document Request
Technical Papers Published by Everspin
Browse Technical Papers
Buy or Sample
United States, Canada & Mexico
Buy Now from Worldwide Distributors
DigiKey
Die Sales
Request a Sample or More Information
Representatives and Distributors Worldwide
Documentation Search
Contact Everspin
Everspin Reports First Quarter 2021 Financial Results
Everspin Press Releases
View printer-friendly version << Back
Third Consecutive Quarter with Positive Cash Flow From Operations
CHANDLER, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2021-- Everspin Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRAM), the market leader in MRAM, today announced financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2021.
First Quarter 2021 Highlights
Q1'21 revenue increased 1.7% year-over-year to $10.3 million
Q1'21 GAAP net loss per share of ($0.02) was a significant improvement over both the prior quarter and year-ago periods
Generated $1.6 million cash flow from operations in Q1'21, the third consecutive quarter with positive cash flow from operations
Ended Q1'21 with cash and equivalents of $15.5 million
"We are happy to report that in Q1'21 we continued our progress towards driving sustainable cash flow from operations. We continue to drive our critical R&D programs and key business initiatives, that we believe position us for profitable growth," stated Darin Billerbeck, Everspin's Executive Chairman and Interim CEO. "Our emphasis on cash management, product cost, and operational excellence have been fundamental to our continued progress.
"We are also pleased to report that, in Q1'21, we signed contracts related to a U.S. Government RAD-Hard program and received a $3 million up-front payment. The total value of this STT-MRAM development project, including licenses, royalty, and Non-Recurring Engineering, is greater than $6 million, which we anticipate recognizing as revenue over the course of the next 36 months. We also anticipate additional manufacturing revenue from this program in 2023 and beyond."
First Quarter 2021 Results
Total revenue for the first quarter of 2021 was $10.3 million, compared to $10.0 million in the prior quarter and $10.1 million in the first quarter of 2020.
GAAP gross margin for the first quarter of 2021 was 58.2%, compared to 52.3% in the prior quarter and 52.9% in the first quarter of 2020.
GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter of 2021 were $6.3 million, compared to $6.4 million in the prior quarter and $6.9 million in the first quarter of 2020. GAAP operating expenses in the first quarter of 2021 included $0.7 million of stock-based compensation, compared to $1.3 million last quarter and $0.8 million in the year-ago quarter. Stock-based compensation for the fourth quarter of 2020 included a $0.3 million reclassification of bonus expense to stock-based compensation from prior quarters in 2020 related to bonus settlement in equity awards rather than cash.
GAAP net loss for the first quarter of 2021 was $0.5 million, or ($0.02) per share, based on 19.1 million weighted-average shares outstanding. This compares to a GAAP net loss of $1.6 million, or ($0.08) per share, in the prior quarter, and a GAAP net loss of $1.7 million, or ($0.10) per share, in the first quarter of 2020.
Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2021 was $0.8 million, compared to $0.3 million last quarter and negative ($0.3) million in the prior year period.
Cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2021 increased to $15.5 million compared to $14.6 million at the end of 2020.
For the second quarter of 2021, Everspin expects total revenue in a range between $11 million and $12 million. GAAP net loss per share is expected to range between ($0.11) and ($0.07) per share, which reflects expected stock-based compensation expense of approximately $0.8 million.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We supplement the reporting of our financial information determined under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP) with Adjusted EBIDTA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) adjusted for interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation expense, and restructuring costs if any.
Our management and board of directors use Adjusted EBIDTA to understand and evaluate our operating performance and trends, to prepare and approve our annual budget and to develop short-term and long-term operating and financing plans. Accordingly, our management believes that this non-GAAP measure provide useful information for investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and our board of directors, as well as facilitating comparisons of our operating performance on a period-to-period basis.
Non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBIDTA, should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Moreover, other companies may define non-GAAP measures differently, which limits the usefulness of these measures for comparisons with such other companies. We encourage investors to review our financial statements and publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.
Everspin will host a conference call for analysts and investors today at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Interested participants can access the call by dialing 1-844-889-7788 and providing passcode 9408948. International callers may join the call by dialing +1-661-378-9932, using the same code. The call will also be available as a live and archived webcast in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at investor.everspin.com.
A telephone replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the call through May 13, 2021. The replay can be accessed by dialing 1-855-859-2056 and using the passcode 9408948. International callers should dial +1-404-537-3406 and enter the same passcode at the prompt.
About Everspin Technologies
Everspin Technologies, Inc. is the world's leading provider of Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM). Everspin MRAM delivers the industry's most robust, highest performance non-volatile memory for Industrial IoT, Data Center, and other mission-critical applications where data persistence is paramount. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Everspin provides commercially available MRAM solutions to a large and diverse customer base. For more information, visit www.everspin.com. NASDAQ: MRAM.
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future results that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to the statements made under the caption "Business Outlook." Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as "believe", "will", "may", "estimate", "continue", "anticipate", "intend", "should", "plan", "expect", "predict", "could", "potentially" or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. These include, but are not limited to our future plans, strategies, objectives, expectations, intentions and financial performance and the assumptions that underlie these statements. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the risks set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in Everspin's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the SEC on March 4, 2021 and Everspin's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 to be filed with the SEC, as well as in our subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements made by Everspin in this press release speak only as of the date on which they are made and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Everspin disclaims any obligations to update or alter these forward-looking statements in the future, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
EVERSPIN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Condensed Balance Sheets
Accounts receivable, net
Right-of-use assets
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Accrued liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt
Operating lease liabilities
Long-term debt, net of current portion
Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion
Long-term income tax liability
Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value per share; 5,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020
Common stock, $0.0001 par value per share; 100,000,000 shares authorized; 19,222,342 and 19,031,556 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020
Total stockholders' equity
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity
Condensed Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss
Three Months Ended March 31,
Licensing, royalty, and other revenue
Operating expenses:1
Other (expense) income, net
Net loss before income taxes
Income tax expense
Net loss and comprehensive loss
Net loss per common share, basic and diluted
Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per common share, basic and diluted
1Operating expenses include stock-based compensation as follows:
Total stock-based compensation
Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA reconciliation:
Stock-based compensation expense
Adjusted EBITDA
Condensed Statement of Cash Flows
Cash flows from operating activities
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
Non-cash gain (loss) on warrant revaluation
Non-cash interest expense
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Lease liabilities
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchases of property and equipment
Cash flows from financing activities
Payments on debt
Payments on finance lease obligation
Proceeds from exercise of stock options and purchase of shares in employee stock purchase plan
Proceeds from issuance of common stock in at-the-market offering, net of issuance costs
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
Supplementary cash flow information:
Operating cash flows paid for operating leases
Financing cash flows paid for finance leases
Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Bonus settled in shares of common stock
Darin Billerbeck, Interim CEO
E: darin.billerbeck@everspin.com
Source: Everspin Technologies, Inc.
Sign Up for Product Announcements
Sign up to receive product updates and other information
Please let us know what we can improve
Information for current and prospective investors
Copyright © 2022 Everspin Technologies Inc.


Founded in 1708, Lucton School is set on a stunning 45 acre site among beautiful Herefordshire countryside. The location is safe and certainly healthy with the freshest of air. The wonderful rural location, coupled with small class sizes, committed teachers and a friendly atmosphere, all work together to ensure a perfect all-round educational experience. A mix of day pupils, weekly boarders and full boarders gives the School a distinct atmosphere.
Admission can take place at any time of year by interview and assessment.
With a broad range of GCSE and A-level subjects on offer, Lucton has an enviable academic record, with tradition ensuring all pupils get the best possible examination results. A-level results tend to average around 80% for A-C grades. This is exceptional, considering that Lucton accepts mixed ability students.
Overseas students stand to benefit from the School's 'Access to A-level' course, which provides them with a thorough grounding in a range of subjects as well as accelerating the learning of English. Ultimately, students feel prepared for entry to their first-choice universities.
Facilities include science laboratories, junior and senior libraries, ICT rooms, a design and technology workshop, sports hall, tennis courts, indoor swimming pool, games fields and Equestrian Centre.
Senior students benefit from own sixth-form centre, including library, IT suite, comfortable common room and quiet study area.
Boarders enjoy a range of weekend activities – sporting, cultural, social and just good fun. A large number of team and individual sports are offered.


text:
Home / India / Mayawati likens Congress to BJP
Mayawati likens Congress to BJP
Her attack is being seen as a bid to keep the Muslim vote from drifting away from the alliance
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati
Picture by Prem Singh
Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati on Thursday opened a front against the Congress by likening it to the BJP, revealing the churn within her outfit over the Grand Old Party's bid to regain some of the space it once occupied in Uttar Pradesh.
"Congress govt in MP like BJP slapped atrocious NSA (National Security Act) against Muslims for cow slaughter. Now the UP BJP govt booked 14 AMU students under notorious sedition charges. Both are example of state terror & condemnable. People should decide what is difference between the cong & BJP govt?'' Mayawati tweeted.
Mayawati's attack on the Congress is being seen as a bid to keep the Muslim vote from drifting away from the alliance the BSP has firmed up with one-time rival Samajwadi Party to a seemingly energised Congress.
While the BSP-SP caste coalition is something the two parties are certain about, there is apprehension that the Muslim vote may shift in places where the Congress is seen as a viable option.
The Opposition camp also sees Mayawati's tweet as a sign of anxiety within the BSP after the arrival of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Uttar Pradesh.
Telegraph file picture
Mayawati in her tweet linked two incidents separated by time and space. The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh had invoked the NSA against cattle smugglers last week.
In BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, 14 Aligarh Muslim University students were booked under sedition charges after a complaint of assault amid pro-Pakistan chants, officials had said on Wednesday.
The tweet comes at a time various parties in the Opposition have decided to work on a common agenda for the upcoming parliamentary elections and explore possibilities of a pre-poll alliance wherever feasible.
The Opposition camp is clearly apprehensive that the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo would move heaven and earth to retain power even if they do not have the necessary numbers. So, one opinion among these parties is that all boxes should be checked to ensure an invite from the President to try and form the government if the numbers add up.
In this, the Opposition seems to be borrowing a leaf from the BJP's playbook in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya where instead of inviting the single largest party, the respective governors invited coalitions headed by the BJP.
Also, there is a view that a pre-poll alliance on a common agenda would somewhat address the spectre of confusion and instability that the BJP is trying to project if a coalition is voted in, although the ruling party itself heads one and is in search of allies.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday stressed the need for a pre-poll tie-up. "We must go for a pre-poll alliance so that after elections we can claim to form the government," the Trinamul leader told mediapersons at an informal interaction at the Press Club of India.
Mamata said that parties would have their separate strategies at the local level, with a general understanding of working together against the BJP at the Centre.
About the Left in this scenario, she said the CPM was not at the meeting of Opposition leaders at NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence on Wednesday night. Besides Trinamul and the NCP, the parties present were the Congress, National Conference, Telugu Desam Party and the Aam Aadmi Party.
"The RJD and the DMK already have an alliance at the state level with the Congress. Those parties that cannot be part of the pre-poll alliance because of state-level political compulsions can always join later. We respect their political compulsions," Mamata said. None of the other party leaders who were present at Pawar's residence has said anything about a pre-election tie-up so openly.
Earlier in the day, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Congress had "almost said no" to any form of understanding in the state, where a three-cornered fight could help the BJP. "Arvind wants an alliance with the Congress," Mamata said. "The Congress has to decide now."
Mayawati Priyanka Gandhi Aligarh Muslim University Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)


What does Station Of Abraham mean in dream?
The conductor might be a symbol for our better- informed self. Is the train coming, are we on the right train, where and to which train are we changing, the waiting room: all these symbols can easily be a reflection of our own emotional situation.
(Rank; Status) In a dream, rising in station means falling in people's esteem. Love to preside over others in a dream means the reversal of one's conditions for the worst.
(Maqam Ibraliim, arb.) One who stands at the Station of Abraham at the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and offers his prayers in a dream is a pious person who observes the divine laws and who may be invited to perform a pilgrimage.
1. If one owns a station wagon, it symbolizes the family, and what is going on inside the station wagon is going on inside the family.
Symbol: A train station is always a symbol of changes to come in your life or in interpersonal relationships.
Vision: Arriving at a train station: a decision made previously was correct.
If you want to go to the train station but the road is blocked: a few hurdles have to be overcome l>efore change is possible. Leaving a train station: try to determine if you have postponed an important decision for too long; it is time to make that decision now! If you are looking at a train station: a change in your life is imminent. Missing your train: you have also missed an opportunity in your life.
Depth Psychology: Train stations are important dream images. They show us a starting point for examining different goals we have set ourselves in life. Usually a train station means a new phase in your lite is about to start.


Fine Arts majors can combine their love of art with a love of teaching. Art is an essential and required part of public education. As an Art Education major you can foster creativity in future generations through artistic expression. Since art is a universal form of visual communication, art teachers promote the appreciation of cultural diversity.
The Art Education concentration prepares students for Pennsylvania State Certification, ranging from pre-school through twelfth grade. Courses such as Methodology and Curriculum Development for Elementary and Secondary School promotes practical teaching methodologies and practices in order to prepare students for field-work experiences. Students take part in a semester-long capstone course that places students within urban, rural and suburban school settings that are supervised by certified educational professionals and mandated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Additionally, Studio Art and Art History courses are a large portion of an Art Education major's curriculum. In their final year, students produce professional portfolios and participate in the senior group show.
For more information about an Art Education major in Pennsylvania, visit the Course Catalog and see our course listings and requirements.
Maria Anderson, Art Education, 2018, has a passion for teaching art. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts with a Pennsylvania PK-12 teaching certification in May 2018. Three days after graduation, she obtained a position teaching K-6 Art in Penn Manor School District. As a Fine Arts major, Maria was able to combine her love of art with her interests in science and athletics. She incorporated anatomical imagery in her paintings and conducted interdisciplinary research in Biology. Throughout her four years at Elizabethtown College, she was a member of the Cross Country and Track and Field team. Maria's distinguished career included many awards, scholarships and medals. She demonstrates the value of a liberal arts education at Elizabethtown College that develops the potential of the whole person.
Sarah Romagnoli, Art Education, 2016, began her career after E-town with Frederick (MD) County Public Schools and is currently in her third year of teaching at Myersville Elementary School. Dedicated to growing the arts in schools, Romagnoli used her E-town experience of "Educate for Service" to participate in various fundraisers to support local art programs. Romagnoli also serves on the leadership team for the visual and performing arts in Frederick County, writing curriculum and presenting at profesionnal development days for other art teachers in the area. She is continuing her education with a Master's in Instructional Design.


Sotunki is a place in the region of Uusimaa in Finland. Find all facts and information about Sotunki.
Sotunki is located in the region of Uusimaa. Uusimaa's capital Helsinki (Helsinki) is approximately 17 km / 11 mi away from Sotunki (as the crow flies). The distance from Sotunki to Finland's capital Helsinki (Helsinki) is approximately 17 km / 11 mi (as the crow flies).
Maybe also interesting: Distances from Sotunki to the largest places in Finland.
Find your hotel in Sotunki now. Book a hotel for your stay in Sotunki.


Read my periodic posts at my Blog.
Fernwoodsy My blog and twitterfeed about life in the woods of Indianola, WA. My dreamy iPhone photography: Fernwoodsy Instagram feed.
Inspired imagery applied to apparel and gift items. Modern and whimsical T-shirts, baby gear, totebags, mugs, and much more. Take a look.
Highly recommended Web host BuzzBuzzNet.net is artist-friendly, affordable and reliable. They offer one-click installs of WordPress, the C-panel is easy to use. I love having control over my account.
My husband, Tim Celeski, furnituremaker, designer and builder of beautiful outdoor furniture. Multi-talented, he also does 360 photography.
He's green, but in a good way. Check out our friend and client Tim Colman's business, Good Nature Publishing Company.
Jennifer Carrasco creates fantastic murals for commercial and residential applications. She's a real joy — great writer and art instructor too!
Super talented Iskra Johnson, see her beautiful lettering design and caligraphic illustration and Iskra's exquisite fine art Web site. More work and writing is featured on her thoughtful Alphabet Roadtrip blog.
Check out illustrator Obadinah Heavner's charming work in paint and clay.
Karen Johnson's top-notch graphic design and beautiful photo art.
Fresh and breezy illustration by Sandy Haight.
Paula Gill creates unique handcrafted terra cotta tiles for the home and garden in her Red Step Studio.
Jere Smith, neocompostmodern artist and witty wise man.
Barbara Fugate expressive figure drawing and painting master, she's a fantastic art instructor. I've participated in many of her workshops — it's always an inspiring art experience.
Wide-eyed, kid-friendly illustration by Holli Conger.


Walk Among The Herbs, an event in September - Leicestershire.
for Walk Among The Herbs as your favourite British event.
We spend much of our modern lives too busy to appreciate the natural beauty and bounty around us, we eat from boxes and packets and forget the true source of our nourishment - nature's garden. Join us to re-connect with the natural world and find out a little more about common plants, how we can use them to enhance and promote health.
We'll meet at Belgrave Hall and take a walk around their beautiful gardens looking at what herbs grow there. The walk will be from 1 to 2 pm, you're welcome to stay for a cup of tea afterwards in the Stable room - herbal tea of course!
The event is free and booking is essential.


Majestic SEO announced a new set of link metrics they came up with that should give Google's PageRank metric and SEOmoz's MozRank a run for their money.
Majestic SEO's new metrics are named Flow Metrics and are grouped into two categories; trust flow and citation flow.
What Do Flow Metrics Look Like?
Keep in mind, the values for citation and trust flow are between 0 and 100, where Google is a 99 on both, Search Engine Land has a citation flow of 75 and trust flow of 64 and Search Engine Roundtable has a citation flow of 69 and trust flow of 43.
Let's visualize how this looks on a chart. Majestic SEO explains that links with high Citation flow end up more to the right and links with more Trust flow end up higher on the chart.
For more details, see Majestic SEO's blog.


World food shortages and rising commodity prices are attracting a wider range of investors in farmland. The credit crunch is affecting the sub £2 million price bracket but applicant numbers are up in the over £5 million bracket both in London and the country house market.
While the rate of average growth slowed during the second quarter of the year to 10% compared with 17% recorded during the first three months, growth for the first six months of this year is not far behind the 30% achieved for the whole of last year.
Values rose most acutely in the South-West and South-East regions around 15%, compared to single digit growth in the East suggesting that these regions have been catching up with their eastern counterpart where up until recently values had risen most dramatically. Supply continues to decline; down 17% in England compared to the same time last year at 69,346 acres whilst in Scotland it has fallen by 39% during the same period of comparison to 13,945 acres.
According to Savills, the profile of vendors and purchasers is broadly similar to last year although there has been more purchasing activity from private individuals citing investment rather than lifestyle as their primary motive. Most of the sellers have been non-farmers either selling up or relocating with the number of farmer sellers falling with just 6% citing debt as the main reason for sale.


Currently, the Benefit Company legislation doesn't exist in Australia or New Zealand yet. B Lab has designed and is currently advocating for an 'opt-in' legal form, which we want the Australian Government to adopt in to recognise and enable purpose driven companies in Australian law. When passed by the Australian Government, it will involve a minor amendment to the current Australian Corporations Act 2001 to recognise and enable purpose-driven businesses to scale and prosper.


The top banana as far as Eclipse-related promotions, goes to Chiquita with its "banana sun" campaign. Why?
the teaming of agency Wieden & Kennedy with the folks at Funny or Die, to create the "Banana Sun" concept was brilliant.
Dossie gives them a thumbs up! You can read about it here or just watch for it online.
AdAge has pointed out more food related campaigns with good visuals.
That's a wrap! Enjoy your Eclipse Monday and experience it safely!