Here is the thing, there is more that adds to the satisfaction. Play at your leisure and there are numerous customization options for your fleet of ships to make them your own. Free too. The game includes Battle Academy where gamers can train on how to attack and strategize different battle scenarios. It isn’t mandatory but it does help give clues and you will run into similar scenarios while dueling other players. There is a thriving and competitive forum of users who even compete for spots in bi-weekly tournaments against each other. Strategy guides and tips are shared for the community to get progressively better and they welcome everyone from newbies to fast aging vets. Check out the cinematic gameplay below. It is especially nice when I play on Windows 8 machine and hook to big screen.

Video Source: Galactic Reign Massive Battle

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I think microSD cads are the most popular type of storage out there for mobile related products and their prices are coming down lower and lower. I don’t know about you, but I’m always on the lookout for deals and I never seem to have enough storage for my portable devices. Recently a company I never head of, Tmart, approached me asking to review some of their products and one of them they offered was a very inexpensive 16gb microSD card so that’s what I have for review today. The card is a no-name brand but it’s a class 6 card, and I was very curious to see how an off-branded and very inexpensive card might compare to name brand ones so I said sure I’ll review it. So read on for  a quick review…

Vendor: Tmart

Price: $10.99 with Free Shipping

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Specs/Features:

16GB High Capacity Micro SD Card +SD Adapter with Card Sleeve

As we know, the TF Memory Card has been widely used by the people because of its competitive price and high capacity. This kind of memory card is suitable for digital camera, mobile phone, MP3 and so on. It can be used to save the personal data, such as digital photograph, songs, and games or others. And this TF Memory Card comes with different capacities, choose it according to need. Then come to gain the TF Memory Card, you will gain the best after-sales services.

Features:
High quality Memory Card
It is is one of the smallest formats available in consumer electronics
This card expands memory capacity for mobile phones or any other devices of a TF card slot
Low battery consumption
Capacity: 16GB
Color: Black

Package Includes: 1 x 16GB High Capacity Micro SD Card +SD Adapter with Card Sleeve

What’s in the Box?

Tmart keeps prices down by not having any special packaging for their products, it’s just a zip style bag with a sticker on it.

Inside of the bag you’ll find a plastic case with the microSD card and an SD adapter.

It’s a mciroSD card, they all pretty much look the same. This one doesn’t really have any identifying marks on it. There’s a holographic style sticker on the back which I can’t make out at all, so I don’t know who actually manufactured this card.

Impressions / Review:

For testing I used my in-bay card 3.5” USB 2.0 reader, that’s how I test all of them.

For testing I used ATTO Disk Benchmark and Crystal DiskMark, here’s the raw test results from ATTO:

Then here’s a handy comparison chart of many microSD cards I’ve tested in the past. They’re all varying speed classes, but it gives you  a good idea of where they stand in terms of performance.

The Tmart Class 6 microSD card comes in at the lower end of the chart, but it’s about average really in terms of performance, it’s not super fast but it’s not horribly slow either.

Class 6 cards are supposed to hit at the minimum 6mb/s for write speeds and this card well exceeds that.

Here’s the Crystal DiskMark results:

They’re close to the ATTO scores. I run the second test to get an idea of the speeds for comparison and verification.

As far as price, right now Tmart is selling this card for $10.99 with free shipping. I checked Amazon and I thought I had found one for cheaper at $8, but then I looked at the shipping cost which was $6.54 putting the total up to $14.54 and the brand is INFONONLINE which is something I’ve never heard of. So right now, as it stands, this card is the cheapest on the market I think…

Conclusion:

For the price this card isn’t bad at all and the speeds are about average. The read speeds are more than good enough for HD Content as the write speeds are as well, so it’s good enough for most any use surely.

As far as longevity, who knows, it’s an off-brand or no-name brand actually, so you never know, it’s a gamble. I’ve bought name brand expensive products that have died before their time, and I’ve bought generic ones that have lasted forever. You never know what you’ll get really when it comes to anything, name brand or not.

So I say why not, it’s an inexpensive way to add more storage and it performs well overall.

Pros:
+Decent speeds overall
+Comes with adapter
+Inexpensive

Cons:
-Not the fastest
-No-name brand

Disclosure: This product was given to me for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review; I do not, never have, and never will, accept payment from companies to review their products.

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Ok I had the honor of testing out an app from one of our Windows Phone Family from France named José Torres. He has created a very useful app called TVACalc.

You ask what is TVACalc?

Well this app helps compute VAT (Value Added Tax) for our European Windows Phone Family or Sales Tax for our American Windows Phone Family. When I was first shown this app, I though how could a user benefit from this app? Well believe it or not, I actually needed it for my business I run. I am a computer repair tech. If it involves a computer repair, network install, or purchasing computers that is me. Based on that info I actually need to compute sales tax on a computer for a customer. At the time I did not have a calculator, but remembered I was testing TVACalc. I whipped it out and adjusted the sales tax configuration to the sales tax in my area (see picture 1).

Picture 1

To adjust the sales tax select one of the pre-installed percentages, and at the bottom of the screen there is four boxes to adjust the percentage needed as in the case my sales tax is 10%. Once the tax amount is adjusted flip back a screen to the calculator (Picture 2).

Picture 2

On this screen there are three options I can use.

The first button called “EXC” I can type in the amount of the item before tax and the calculator will show (based on my sales tax rate) how much sales tax is and the total amount with sales tax. For the business professional this saves time trying to figure tax out.

The second button called “VAT” I can place how much sales tax is and the calculator will figure out the price of the item before and after sales tax is added. This can come in handy if the business professional needs to know the price of an item based on the sales tax amount a lone.

The third button called “INC” I can compute the item if it is already including tax to figure out how much tax was charged as well as how much the item is before tax was added. I have found this useful when I get gas from the gas station. Example gas in my area is $3.11 a gallon, if I plug in $3.11 on this line I will be paying $2.83 without sales tax and paying $.28 sales tax per gallon. This to me is a really neat feature to use.

Since I am using the trial version the calculator to add multiple items is not active unless the paid version is bought but I can compute the sales tax for each item (Picture 3). The app is only $.99 and well worth the price especially for the professional needing to add, subtract, multiply, and divide with sales tax involved.

Picture 3

My final thoughts: overall I have found this app very useful in my day to day business dealings with collecting sales tax. The only issues (and it is a small issues) is the name of the app across the top of the screen gets cut off on my Nokia 521 (400 x 800 screen size). I am not sure on other devices have the same issue but this is the only issues I had. Overall it is well thought out, and very simple for the new beginner to use. I give this app a very strong 4.5 out of 5 stars. Like I said the cut off name of the app across the top is distracting but can be over come.

If you find out this app is useful then by all means buy the full app ($.99) to support the developer and don not forget to rate the app as well.

To the developer – great job and I will be looking forward for updates as well as other apps you develop to test in the future.

If you would like your app reviewed and willing to grant permission to the full version of your app for testing, then please email me (herg62123) at herg62 (at) hotmail .com

Please make sure you put in the title “Please Review My App”.

If you do not put the title above your app will not get the attention needed for review.

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Way to go Google, I don’t give ya’ll props for much but you could impress me here.

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As you can see it has been a pretty laid back weekend at Bing for iPad owners. But at least now it looks like their de-design for iPhone has been fixed after their recent updates left the app severely neutered. All of the links for images, videos, maps, local, etc were removed. To check out what it looked like before, click here: http://mobilitydigest.com/i-dont-like-the-bing-updates-for-iphone/
So it is back to looking like it should.

Now as long as Bing can come back Monday after what is undoubtedly the weekend off I can get back to my regular content viewing.

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I have been itching for a Windows Phone 8 device since last November, but with a barely seven month old Nokia 900, I was not ready to shell the dollars for an out of contract upgrade. When the Lumia 520 became available for $199 Unlocked, I was ready to test the WP8 waters.

I always like to keep a backup phone around for one of those unexpected open toilet incidents. My HTC Surround has been standing guard since April 2011, reminding my L900 what would happen if it chose to falter. (Maybe that’s why I have never had to return a phone, or have one repaired. Some deep alternate dimension stuff there. Just sayin). It was easy to justify making the L520 my new backup phone. The Surround isn’t getting any younger, and it’s stuck at WP7.5. The L520 is running WP8 and I expect to replace my L900 this fall with a shiny new Nokia WP8 device.

Over the past few days playing with this little phone, I have been surprised at how good it feels in the hand and how well it performs despite what some would call, minimal specs. And all this for $199, unlocked and contract free. I realize as time marches on, things get better, generally smaller, and hopefully cheaper. So I decided to do a comparison with HTC Surround, released a mere 31 months ago, to see what you get today for less than half the price. I didn’t bother with specs like dimensions and weight, focusing more on features which are different on the two devices. Items in red are the category winners.

Not bad for $199, or $129 from Walmart / HSN, but locked to T-Mobile, with some restrictions. Some though may claim the Surround is not a fair comparison with its slide out speaker, and superior build. So I decided to do the same comparison with a similarly constructed Samsung Focus, a best seller in it’s day, being the same 0.39in. thick and 0.3oz, lighter.

Again, for 40% of the cost, a superior device by comparison. That’s impressive. Sure, the L520 is missing a camera flash, but not really much else. Ideal for tweens and teens, anyone on a month to month plan, or for those who may be missing their beloved Focus. While it’s always nice to salivate over the biggest and best phone out there, let’s not forget the other end of the spectrum, where the majority of smartphone owners dwell. Apparently Nokia hasn’t. Well done. Or Hyvin tehty if your reading this in Finland.

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I may upset a lot of people about this post but I need to be heard. Then again it may stir enough people to help the cause.

I do not make a lot of money but wanted a Windows Phone. I have found out that Nokia was coming out with the Nokia Lumia 521 and it is limited to T-Mobile USA. I thought that this would be the phone for me. It is a low budget device but it is a Windows Phone. That is all I cared about….A WINDOWS PHONE. Well through hard work I got the money and went to Wal-Mart to buy The Nokia 521 (T-Mobile Branded) at full retail price of $129.99 (before sales tax). So I legally paid FULL PRICE and T-Mobile should (key word “SHOULD”) give me the unlock code. Thinking on this I bought the phone.

A few days went by, I finally had the day off so I could talk to T-Mobile on to getting the unlock code. I first looked at T-Mobile’s Website to find the conditions to get the unlock code.

Once I pulled up the site and found the conditions to unlock my phone, I see the “IF STATEMENT” that I have circled in red. I thought GREAT, since I have paid full price and the “IF STATEMENT” says I can get the code without any issues.

Well I was wrong and here is why……

I have first contacted T-Mobile through online chat three times. The first time I did not print out the chat but the last two times I did.

I did receive an email from the Sim Unlock Team and this was their response to me:

As you can read above that they are not honoring their conditions from the “IF STATEMENT”. Keep in mind nowhere in the picture of T-Mobile’s Website above does it say all of these conditions must apply. It only says if like if one is true then…..

From the above chat with Michael S (look at the BRACKET PART OF THE PICTURE), I have to use T-Mobile service AND pay in full before I can get the unlock code. From Michael S, he talks about certain Guidelines, well the CERTAIN GUIDELINES posted on their site is in a picture above. Nowhere on it says I have to have service active to get the unlock code. I paid in full and posted a copy of my transaction from Wal-Mart showing this.

Well I am determined to unlock my Nokia 521, so I went into A T-Mobile Store in my city and waited, and waited, and waited for a rep to assist me. The customer in front of me was talking to a rep about unlocking her AT&T iPhone to be used on T-Mobile, so I listened in on the conversation. The rep said T-Mobile uses an unlock service called, http://www.releasemycode.com.

As the rep finished with that customer, another rep started working with me. I informed the second rep that I was over listening to the first rep and want to unlock my T-Mobile branded Nokia 521. My rep said we cannot do that. I informed my rep that I had paid for my Nokia 521 at Wal_mart at full price and here is my receipt to prove it. Puzzled, I informed my rep that you will unlock an AT&T iPhone without informing AT&T but T-Mobile will not unlock my Nokia 521 to use on AT&T. I asked about releasemycode website that was mentioned, could they do it. I was told NO but I could try. I did just that.

This is a picture that T-Mobile even used in some of the commercials that shows an unlocked iPhone in it.

I came home jumped on the computer and went to releasemycode website to find out. I looked all over the site but no luck. I found a chat online link and jumped on it. Releasemycode Rep informed me that they could not unlock my Nokia 521. I am now getting pissed.

I have paid full retail price and according to T-Mobile Website I can get my unlock code but every corner I get blocked. My next step is to find someone who will unlock my device. I did find one and got the unlock code as of today 6/13/2013 but I do not want to get this website in trouble I will not mention the site name even though I would be honored to promote their business. So basically I bought the phone over a month ago and now I have finally unlocked my device on which T-Mobile should have done to begin with.

Now before I go any further, this is the double edge sword (from the title comes in) I will be talking about. I understand that starting this year (2013) that unlocking smart phones is illegal and punishable by law. Well I guess I am a criminal now. According to theatlantic.com:

This is now the law of the land:

ADVISORY

BY DECREE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

IT SHALL HENCEFORCE BE ORDERED THAT AMERICANS SHALL NOT UNLOCK THEIR OWN SMARTPHONES.

PENALTY: In some situations, first time offenders may be fined up to $500,000, imprisoned for five years, or both. For repeat offenders, the maximum penalty increases to a fine of $1,000,000, imprisonment for up to ten years, or both.*

So let me get this straight, if I the user unlock my device without permission I will be fined $500,000 and/or prison time or both, but T-Mobile can advertise an unlocking service on their site to unlock any GSM device without telling the carrier (in this case AT&T) and get away with it. How is this fair? It is not in my opinion.

Now let’s get back to T-Mobile now. I thought T-Mobile is the UN-BRANDED CARRIER NOW. No contracts, no hidden charges, no hidden fees, always thinking of the consumer’s interest. Watch this video below, while watching remember what I said above in mind.

Access the video titled: John Legere, CEO – Tremendous Momentum for T-Mobile US

My final thoughts:

A good friend of mine has pointed out that on several sites there are several people asking for someone to unlock their cell phone and willing to pay money for it. Go figure people willing to pay money to unlock their phone. Who thought that?

If I can be punished for unlocking my device then what can be done to a retail business promoting unlocking service?

If T-Mobile is the UN-CARRIER then why are they acting like the other carriers?

If T-Mobile is advertising they are acting in the consumers’ interest then where is my free unlock code instead of having to pay someone else to get it for me?

Post a comment below and let me hear your stories. I know they are out there cause I have found others with similar stories like mine.

At the time of this post I have sent a copy of this to T-Mobile for comment but have not heard anything yet. If they do comment I will update this post.

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It’s somewhat pathetic that every time there’s a headline about this that everyone flocks to it and encourages sites to go further down the rabbit hole. And when it doesn’t get announced that doesn’t change the noise – it just pushes back the fictitious date of when it will be released.

We need more stories about vaporware apparently…

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Snowden just surfaced with statements to the South China Morning Post, claiming Snowden has documents implicating the US government in a cyber warfare offensive against both Hong Kong and mainland China, among other nations, including private citizens, universities, their government officials, pretty much everyone there and in the world due to our “hacking network backbones – like huge Internet routers that give us access to the communications of thousands of computers without having to hack every single one.” Snowden clarified his intentions of picking China as his vacation spot: “I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality.” “I have had many opportunities to flee Hong Kong, but I would rather stay and fight the United States government in the courts, because I have faith in [China and] Hong Kong’s rule of law.”

So, Snowden is apparently not in Ecuador or Iceland but because he is a Chinese sympathizer, a nation with whom he has unfinished business, he’s turning himself into a pop icon in China and is gaining support, he sees his interests as congruent to those of the Chinese, and is acting in a manner one would in his shoes to curry favor with the Chinese and at the expense of the US, bit by bit to the media, fast enough to keep the world’s attention but slow enough to make the moment last, like Wikileaks. He claims to the Chinese that he has documents supporting allegations. Maybe he has a couple more documents. He is not done releasing damaging information to the people who just stole our top secret weapons blueprints and gave more money, food and oil to that nation that looks forward to nuking us. Snowden is escalating, he’s like a firehose someone dropped that’s spitting out information and flapping wildly and dangerously everywhere. So let’s put a kink in that hose, if you know what I mean.

I get that most of you like the notion of him revealing to the world what he has revealed, you want everything’s he got left and admire him for doing it at such great expense. I know that some of you would like, in light of his revelations, everyone in high office cleared out and replaced, or perhaps the tough-minded among you (if I’m indeed the one who is weak-minded here) would like our government overthrown altogether with Snowden appointed as our Truth Czar. Yes? That said, do you still want our government to do nothing while Snowden buddies up with the Chinese and releases more secrets? Do you not only trust him to reveal what you regard as benign secrets that just show us as hypocritical as we’d deserve to be shown, but do you also trust your own assessment of this sort of risk to our nation? C’mon.

Doug Simmons

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As much as people who live there prefer not to admit it, Hong Kong is indeed China, especially in matters of national security and diplomacy. China has discretion over how much to involve itself in the affairs of Hong Kong. They generally keep their distance (with exception to some PRC military bases scattered across Hong Kong), but this situation is exotic, and Snowden surely does concern military and diplomatic interests of the Chinese. He may as well be in Beijing, hiking the Great Wall or checking out the Terracotta Warriors. Put yourself in the shoes of the Chinese government and think about it.

We’ve been having a rather difficult time getting along with the Chinese. We believe their government exercises massive coordinated cyber warfare against us, including stealing blueprints to our weapons systems, even our fancy fighters. They did something similar to the Australians. The Chinese, friends with our enemies, enjoy stealing digital secrets from us and other countries, and now they have this man in their lap, a treasure chest of secrets. Maybe I watched Homeland too much, but even if he is a patriot, looking at his Youtube clip, does he strike you like the guy who could resist a few sessions of Chinese water torture to keep quiet? Of course not.

I suspect the only thing protecting him, and therefore us, from being milked of useful classified information and hacking tips by the Chinese for interests that really do threaten us is that he’s very high-profile at the moment. Perhaps the Chinese see more value in diplomatic points to score for not capturing him, maybe being cooperative with us in an extradition, than shaking out more information from him. Or perhaps they’re just waiting, considering their options. Perhaps they’re handling him, perhaps they’ve tapped his phone and computer, perhaps they’ve subscribed to his Youtube channel, perhaps they already took him.

Maybe the Chinese believe Snowden is still doing a good job without their coercion damaging the US and furthering their own interests. How about that?

Even if he makes a dash to Iceland or Ecuador, maybe he made some friends in Hong Kong, maybe the Chinese turned him into a cooperative asset. Maybe he’s not a patriot at all. Maybe he’s impressionable, maybe his allegiance to a country interested in prosecuting him for treason is a bit pliable now. Maybe he packed a few NSA USB sticks with him before skipping town, insurance policies – why wouldn’t he. Maybe he’s unstable mentally. Maybe he created himself some sort of digital back door and continues to have access to the NSA. We really don’t know what he is, knows, intends or has – but he is most certainly a liability in the wind, especially conspicuously making Youtube videos in the Mandarin Oriental while getting high fives from Julian Assange. How can we risk not snatching him or otherwise mitigating the threat he poses immediately?

That more people are calling him a hero rather than a traitor on Twitter isn’t a good enough answer.

Doug Simmons

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Free Version Download : http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=03679e6f-faf2-4274-bade-b5dcf749599a

AD Free Version Download (PAID VERSION) : http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=5b5aa4cf-12b0-457b-b60a-33bf0249901d

Have you ever get tired of always switching between search engines to find what you are looking for on the internet?

Always wanting to type in a search name once while searching several engines without typing again?

Well now you can with SERCH ALL. (Yes I know I sound like one of those Infomercials.)

Ok but for real now, this app is a web searchers companion. I have found that I can type my search phrase once ( say Mobilitydigest.com ) and search severeal search engines without any further typing ( see pictures 1 through 5 ). All I had to do was click the little icon to the left of the search box and it opened a list of search engines most commonly used. The list includes bing, google, yahoo, facebook, twitter, youtube, and many others used in everyday searches.

Pictures 1 though 5

One of the great little tricks I have discovered is a quick link bar that sits under the search box (see pictures 6 and 7). In this quick link the user can program the most used search engines the user uses the most. For example I like to use google, and bing a lot. With the quick links all I have to do is touch the search engine I want and (cloud smoke) POOF (cloud smoke) the search engine that was chosen is now being used.

Picture 6 and 7

Oh and one more thing…….if you want to open the program in the full Windows Phone Internet Browser than all you have to do is click on the “OPEN IN IE” icon at the bottom of the screen (see picture 6 above).

Another feature to mention is the developer has also included a way to search your phone of contacts like phone numbers, emails, and names in your contact list.  With this feature it truly makes this app a SEARCH ALL App you must have.  Everything a user could need all in one app.  This feature is a nice feature to have for the person always on the go.

My final thought of SEARCH ALL app by Idea Mars is a strong 4 out of 5. Overall the app is very simply to use. The search engies included (several might I say again) is well planned out, the only issue I found to be a small issue is when the app opens the keyboard is automatically opened. Where yes it needed to be used for the searches, but it takes away from the well thought out app and the app screen the developer made.

I would give this app 5 out of 5 if the developer would not let the keyboard open when first opened. Instead have the keyboard open when the user touches inside the search box when the user is ready to do a search.

Like I have said I did find overall this app very useful specially when I needed to search several engines and only wanted to type one time.

To the developer keep up the good work and look forward to future upgrades to this app.

If you would like your app reviewed and willing to grant permission to the full version of your app for testing, then please email me (herg62123) at herg62 (at) hotmail .com

Please make sure you put in the title “Please Review My App”.

If you do not put the title above your app will not get the attention needed for review.

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Every time I talk to friends who game heavily they are talking about online multiplayer and how much value that adds to the experience. The reality is that very few people like to game alone. So the same hardcore gamers who are raging against Microsoft are the same gamers who will be logging in online to get their game on daily.It is like people are complaining for the sake of complaining.

I have news for you. If you’re buying a several hundred dollar gaming machine and yet don’t feel the need to pay for a broadband connection your priorities are screwed up. The internet is a place I go to and grow my knowledge base, I research topics that interest me and it helps my kids discover the much broader world that they live in. So please save me the cries that Microsoft is being unfair and are blowing it by having their console dial-home once a day to make sure things are as they should be. Citing obscure case uses to justify your complaints aren’t good enough.

Image Source: Playstation Online

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We live in a competitive, adversarial world. Transparency is a nice happy thing for Google to tout but our government absolutely must have the capacity to keep certain things secret, they are proving to be remarkably ineffective at that lately, and that needs to be corrected for our sake and that of our allies who by now must get pretty iced up when attempting to have candid conversations with our diplomats given our sieve-like reputation. That our government does things most of us would disdain does not outweigh the need for it to be able to keep things secret, not by a longshot.

Sure, it’s tricky to keep a thing a lot of people are involved with, a thing that rubs some of those people the wrong way like this PRISM mess, secret forever, but we cannot cultivate an environment that leads citizens to believe that if they expose the government with its pants down engaging in something unpopular or even reprehensible that they will be given a pass. Would another way to deter the practice be to avoid engaging in things like PRISM? Maybe, and if that’s your concern, it’s on you to correct that with your votes as this flew smoothly through Congress, your elected officials now making a bipartisan effort to defend the NSA.

In the interest of deterring further breaches and not making it more difficult for our government to protect us from its enemies, however much political capital it would cost to fine, imprison or hang Edward Snowden high, treason and espionage are in the books for a good reason (treason is actually the only crime defined by the Constitution) and he should be dealt with accordingly. Especially if the man in question is or was ever a member of our military, the NSA, the CIA and our defense contractors, like this guy – who by the way had EFF and Tor stickers on his laptop! He’s got those stickers on his laptop and top secret clearance? What the hell is that? EFF and Tor stickers, that’s more of a red flag than stickers of actual red flags! Man..

So, word is he’s currently hiding in Hong Kong, might make a run to Iceland. Eddie seems uninterested in answering for what his “good conscience” told him to do. So, mount up, either reel him in or find and take care of him in a manner that gives the next guy some pause before breaking out his trusty USB stick, starting Tor and uploading spicy state secrets to the whole world. Opting not to do that for political considerations is wrong and it does not correct anything, rather it compounds a problem.

Doug Simmons

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Being a Christian, Caucasian, American male, I have not dealt directly with discrimination in most any facet of my life. But it is a big issue that deservedly garners lots of attention, especially in North America and Western Europe. Diversity is the buzz word with most every ethnicity being represented in television and print advertising, multi lingual packaging and voting ballots, etc. Everything to make everyone feel welcome, and equal.

So why is that the corporate world has no problem limiting (discriminating against) those that can benefit from their mobile services. Macs have always been included in PC discussions despite their consistently insignificant market share. Why not Smartphones, which have virtually become an extension of millions of users hands (or voice, or face, depending on how you use your device). Seriously, porting over an existing mobile app from another platform to Windows Phone is not brain surgery. And certainty does not require shareholder approval to launch the initiative.

While I don’t want to accuse the corporate world of intentionally discriminating against Windows Phone, I would suggest that neglecting the platform shows some insensitivity to a good number of their customers. And that they are out of touch with the mobile landscape. So here is a suggestion. The next time you send a snailmail letter or email to a corporate entity asking why they don’t offer a Windows Phone app, make sure you drop in the “D” words, discrimination and diversity. More than once if possibly. Most likely, the emails will be flagged to go to the Director of Diversity Services, and who knows what may happen. My bet is a few dozen of these messages would have more clout than all the wining and dining Microsoft and Nokia may pour over these corporate types. Hey, it certainly can’t hurt.

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If you’ve just got a website and want to keep certain countries off your site, and you don’t administer the actual server, but you just don’t like the Portuguese and want nothing to do with them, here’s a site that spits out a list of the CIDR ranges you want to paste into your .htaccess file in the web root of your site and you’re good to go. It also can give you a flat list, allow directives and iptables-friendly rules. These lists are probably not very complete and the Chinese often use proxy servers and VPNs, so, not that foolproof.

I’m by no means a security expert, so if this sort of thing, messing with your firewall, is something you don’t want to risk screwing up, you might want to ignore this and get such help from a pro. And only run scripts, especially as root, that you have read through and understand fully, whether on a server, your computer, glasses or phone. That script for example relies on some other site’s database of IP ranges, so theoretically someone could compromise that other site and end up getting your server to block everything including you, then you’re screwed. But I’d wager your more likely to get screwed by the Chinese directly. What’s up with those people, you know?

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Kudos, Nokia. Wonder why Google couldn’t figure that out first. So, then scoop in Waze’s more aggressive and liberal traffic routing and subsequent rerouting decision making which from my experience, I think, outperforms Google Maps. Also more under-the-hood options to tweak, crowdsourced-data like road hazards and police. Then mix in Trapster’s database of known traps and willingness to offer its users warnings of speed and red light cameras, speed limit info, by how much you’re exceeding it and other tools to evade tickets and incarceration. I heard Apple Maps has contact integration, Siri, some sort of 3D flyover thing, great, scoop that in too.

This app is getting pretty awesome, right? Did I miss anything? Now imagine how much better other things we use could be if competitors could cooperate like this. Won’t happen of course (well, maybe), but it’s Sunday, slow news, so let’s imagine a little.

Doug Simmons

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Despite people cries for Windows Phone to copy Android’s swipe down from the top to access a notification shade it appears Microsoft will instead employ the notification center as a separate app and that users will be able to pin to the start screen. I think having the notification center be a live tile is absolutely the right way to go. Here is why:

Live Tiles Are The Face Of Windows Phone

When you unlock your phone you see a screen of tiles first. Everyone would pin their notification center to the start screen in prime view so that you wouldn’t miss anything. Doing this way means that no immediate action is required to alert the user that they have missed notifications because the live tile will do it. Next you have the granular control that allows the user to control the size of the tile. If you’re just the type that wants to know that there are notifications are waiting and will get to them at your leisure than the smallest tile works. If you need a little more info the medium size works and if you’re the type that just has to know what the last notification is the Large tile will present that information without the user needing to take any action unless you want to dive down into all the notifications. In any case accessing the notification center is just one tap away from the start screen. The Live Tile method is true to Windows Phone’s identity. Users would instantly get the benefits of using such a method. Whining about not being like Android/iOS forget that the lock screen notifications will be available to the Notification center so you can have detailed information on your lock screen and also granular control over that information.

Here’s hoping that Microsoft employs this method and moves on to spend the rest of their valuable time fixing issues like the Xbox Music app and other pressing matters.

Other Promising Signs

Closing Apps-The ability to close apps while in the multitask card window. Efficient and clean way of closing apps that has already been implemented by other mobile platforms.

Calendar Week View-Now users will have the ability to view their Windows Phone calendar by the week. It also looks like Microsoft did a good job in having additional information for each day of the week and includes a month view in the corner for reference.

Sorting Apps By Usage-Some users would find it really useful to have apps sorted by most used to least used. Currently apps are sorted only by alphabet. This would also provide an additional benefit of seeing how much/little each app is actually being used. Knowing this when deciding what apps/games to delete to free up room would make the task a lot easier.

Source: The Verge

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I don’t like what he did. But I don’t like what he did not primarily because of a political position that differs from his, though that’s part of it, rather because this kid had an agreement with his school, that he could get up on a podium and represent his class, his school’s administration and its financial supporters and speak in a manner that would not hurt the school. He had a deal. Just like I have a deal with this site’s owner about not getting into religion and politics, and I intend to seek his approval before hitting the button on this bit. Perhaps he’ll give it to me without a fight if I note that he has nothing to do with this and would probably prefer I hadn’t posted it.

I made such a deal with my own high school, a conservative one in New Hampshire. I was the keynote speaker. There were two students who spoke, the one with the good grades and the one who the school voted to speak because everybody knew he’d be irreverent and entertaining to hedge the boring valedictorian’s speech with something less soporific, the wildcard – I was the one who didn’t get the good grades.

The first speech I wrote and submitted was rejected by the headmaster. I showed it to some other faculty members, asked why they thought it didn’t cut it, and they told me frankly that it was simply not that great a speech, too tangential, no coherent message. So I wrote a better speech, it was funny, irreverent, standing ovation, Grandma was proud of me, parents saved the VHS tape, the next speaker complimented me, I was proud too. I didn’t feel like I was neutered by the administration. I sort of borrowed a line or two from George Carlin, but he’s dead now, so no big deal. I made a deal with my school and it did not include tearing up my speech and complaining about politics, which by the way is the most cliché thing a speaker can do, it’s really nauseating, tearing up your speech. If you’re going to go off-script, just do it, no theatrics please, especially involving one you’ll mindlessly leave for the janitor to clean up.

So I don’t like what this guy did because (to get the religion and politics out of the way) I don’t think white Christians are by any means a traditionally-discriminated-group in the US, also [not] known as a suspect class, in need of a guy like this to champion their cause (well, our cause, I am indeed white and Christian). If you want to make some religious or political point like this, do it on behalf of some minority group at least. I do not approve of the message or its forum. And consider the possibility that while at the age of acne you just might not know enough to fully appreciate whether or not the strict separation of religion and government is indeed a bad thing. And if you have to watch Fox News, you can still see the women’s legs without getting brainwashed if you put it on mute.

Secondly, he had a deal with his school, the school has its reasons for being uptight, they are not that way for the hell of it, rather they put some thought into it for the protection of the school, they trusted him to speak, now it’s hard for them to trust the next kid, now they might get sued, now they’re all over the news, and who knows maybe this will go up to Washington, it’s a circus he did not earn the right to throw on the school’s dime recklessly. You make a deal, you honor that deal; you don’t like the school’s conditions, find another forum. Refuse to speak and instead heckle the substitute speaker, do whatever you have to do, but don’t cheat the school. Going on about God like that – how about including honesty in the delivery of your divine message? Deception of his school (and arguably everyone involved with his school) as a foundation of a religious point?

Thirdly, if you’re going to pull a stunt like this, there are more important Constitutional issues to consider raising. Granted, they won’t get you on Fox News, but, for example, how about a speech blasting the Supreme Court for grossly abusing the Commerce Clause in its judicial activism? States’ rights baby! What, too boring? How about explaining – while appearing not to take a stance on either side of abortion – why Roe v Wade is an unconstitutional advisory opinion (not to mention not a federal matter). That will get you at least some attention and satisfy your right wing urges. And maybe you believe in it too – I do. But yes, it’s a bit academic.

So here’s a great one, timeless, that might even contribute literally incendiary yet less uselessly abstract ideology onto one’s classmates: Do a bit on Clarence Thomas, who is black, being the dissenter in Virginia v Black, in which he went out on a limb to defend the Klan’s right to burn crosses on people’s lawns with intent to intimidate:

In my view, whatever expressive value cross burning has, the legislature simply wrote it out by banning only intimidating conduct undertaken by a particular means. A conclusion that the statute prohibiting cross burning with intent to intimidate sweeps beyond a prohibition on certain conduct into the zone of expression overlooks not only the words of the statute but also reality.

Actually I’m not sure what he meant with that; perhaps technically Thomas was using the First Amendment against the Virginia statute, whatever, you can roll with that anyway and I promise you no one will notice or look it up on Wikipedia, caught up in the irony, and you can enjoy some controversy down the line if someone calls you out on it. For instance, I noted the irony of “Live Free or Die” being on New Hampshire license plates that are all stamped out in prisons. I have no idea where those license plates are stamped out, but who cares, it’s funny and it worked.

Back to the cross burning and Clarence Thomas, be sure to chase it with one of the more progressive justices, a real friend to Constitutional literalists and nonwhites, Justice Hugo Black, whose last name, for even more irony, was Black, being a former Klansman (emphasis on former). Bam, there you go, a great speech, irreverent, controversial, intellectual, not boring, but if you spin a positive rainbow-colored racial message into it you could slip it by a school’s administration rather than some daft recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, bragging to cheap journalists about how you pulled a fast one in the name of God. Please…

Now had he recited it in Latin, then he’d have my respect. That would be impressive.

Doug Simmons

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