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Sunday 31 March 2013
Two die in China from bird flu strain not previously seen in humans: Xinhua
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Two people in Shanghai, one of China's largest cities, died this month after contracting a strain of avian influenza that had never been passed to humans before, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.
The two men, aged 87 and 27, became sick late February and died in early March. Another woman in nearby Anhui province also contracted the virus in early March and is in a critical condition, Xinhua said, quoting the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC).
The strain of the bird flu virus found in all three people was identified as H7N9, which had not been transmitted to humans before, the commission said.
The three cases were confirmed to be human infection of the H7N9 strain by experts from the NHFPC, based on clinical observation, laboratory tests and epidemiological surveys, Xinhua said.
All three cases showed symptoms of fever and coughs that later developed into pneumonia.
Calls to the NHFPC on Sunday were not answered.
It is unclear how the three victims were infected. The virus does not seem highly contagious because no health abnormalities were detected among 88 of the victims' close contacts, Xinhua quoted the commission as saying.
There are no known vaccines against the H7N9 virus.
(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Paul Tait)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-die-china-bird-flu-strain-not-previously-080037903.html
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Judge: Ind. senators can't defend immigration law
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A federal judge on Friday rebuffed three Indiana lawmakers who asked to defend parts of the state's immigration law in court after the attorney general declined to do so.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker, who has barred the 2011 law from taking effect until she can rule on its constitutionality, said allowing the senators to intervene would violate the state Constitution's declaration that the attorney general's office is state government's sole legal representative.
"Allowing the three individual legislators to intervene here in their official capacities as State Senators not only would conflict with this well-settled state law, but would provide the legislators a trump card with respect to the Attorney General's statutorily derived discretion in this context," Barker wrote.
Republican Senators Mike Delph, Brent Steele and Phil Boots ? who authored the immigration law ? had asked Barker to let them defend parts of the law Attorney General Greg Zoeller would not.
Zoeller's office has said it would recommend Barker strike down most of the portions of Indiana's law that would allow police to make warrantless arrests based on certain common immigration documents. The office said last year's U .S. Supreme Court decision striking down similar sections of an Arizona law rendered those parts of Indiana's law invalid. However, the office said it would defend a provision allowing for local police to arrest immigrants for whom federal authorities have issued a 48-hour detention order.
The senators, who are represented by lawyers from the Immigration Reform Law Institute in Washington, had argued the warrantless arrest provisions in Indiana's and Arizona's laws are "vastly different," and that Indiana's law is consistent with the Supreme Court's decision. They also argued they have a right to intervene as defendants because the law won't be allowed to take effect if it isn't defended, which they say effectively robs them of the votes they made in the Legislature.
"I take my responsibility to defend the statutes the Legislature passes from legal challenge as an important role of the office I hold. The court recognized that the Office of the Attorney General has faithfully defended all provisions of this statute until the U.S. Supreme Court last June said that state-level warrantless arrest laws are preempted as unconstitutional," Zoeller said in a statement Friday. "We are pleased that Judge Barker's ruling has underscored and reiterated the responsibility of my office to defend state statutes as is our solemn obligation."
The three senators did not immediately return phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. A Reform Law Institute spokeswoman said the attorney who represented the senators was unavailable to comment.
Source: http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/judge-ind-senators-cant-defend-immigration-law
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Dozens indicted in Atlanta cheating scandal
>>> it's being called one of the worst public school cheating scandals in memory. for years teachers allegedly altered answers on standardized tests to improve results in atlanta . now dozens of educators have been indicted, including a former superintendent. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more tonight.
>> reporter: it's one of the largest cheating scandals ever in public education . former atlanta superintendent beverly hall and 34 other educators indicted friday on racket earring charges. investigators say they conspired to erase wrong answers on standardized tests , often for money.
>> dr. hall had a contract that was set up to pay her bonuses when she achieved certain results. those results were caused by cheating.
>> reporter: the district seemed to be performing well. earning hall half a million dollars in bonuses. she had been named national superintendent of the year in 2009 , the same year, prosecutors say, widespread cheating took place. hall has repeatedly denied the allegations. first brought to light by reporters from the atlanta journal -constitution and state investigators who persuaded one whistle blower to wear a wire. investigators say some teachers would gather in locked rooms to change answers. but one of the accused, angela williamson, says that never happened at her school. she's stunned, since the school panel cleared her of wrongdoing last year. did you ever help your students cheat?
>> i have a good heart. i always have. and i never, ever participated in any cheateding. i did what was right for my students. and that is to teach them.
>> reporter: at another school, ian collins claimed her daughter fell behind. while her test scores seemed to improve.
>> it's really hard. like i'm 15, and i'm reading on a 5th grade level. and it's not good.
>> it's heartbreaking that we have individuals that would stoop that low in a situation for something as simple as money.
>> reporter: cheateding is not just a problem in georgia, as pressure to do well on standardized tests has grown. in texas an el paso superintendent recently went to prison after removing students from classes to improve test scores . now the new superintendent in atlanta says, the focus is on the students.
>> we are moving forward, and we are executing for the good of the children of this city.
>> reporter: moving forward, after an education scandal that prosecutors say was brought on not by children, but the adults entrusted to teach them. the grand jury was apparently so outraged at the former superintendent, that it recommended a bond of $7.5 million. if convicted, she faces up to 45 years in prison.
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Cliff(y) Goes Dining: SIN: Box n Sticks
Tiramisu with Japanese whisky!
A friend of mine, a small eater, decided to order just a main course. We've heard people saying that the cream pasta with a poached egg, bacon bits and seaweed is good, but I felt that it wasn't truly creamy. I've ?had better elsewhere, for example in The Spaghetti House. Having said that, the egg was poached perfectly.
We often hear that the Japanese are nice people. Well, it seems that the owners of the restaurant strives to be like the Japanese haha... It's written on the window of the restaurant: "We are nice people. No GST. No service charge." Anyway, I went there for the weekday Lunch Promotion (11.30am - 4.00pm). By topping up S$3.80?with any order of a main course, you'll get two side dishes and a drink to complete your meal.
Hiyayakko?(Set Menu)
Taste:?7.5/10
The first side dish that came to the table was the cold, smooth tofu in soy sauce broth, topped with katsuoboshi (Japanese dried bonito flakes) and fried garlic bits. While it was refreshing and definitely a healthier choice, I found that the broth was a tad too salty for my liking.
Chawanmushi?(Set Menu)
In contrast to the cold tofu, the other side dish chosen was the piping hot egg custard with shiitake mushrooms, crab sticks. The egg was smooth and appetising, and the mushrooms were pretty juicy. Too bad there weren't any, say, chicken meat inside that would otherwise make it more savoury.
Curry Katsu Don?S$9.80
Taste:?7/10
For the main course, I chose the pork cutlet with curry and rice. The curry had a bit of carrots and potatoes in it, and I was quite surprised that it was much spicier than most Japanese style curry I've eaten in Singapore. It was a pity that the pork cutlet wasn't that crispy, and they didn't use short-grain rice. Besides that, the miso (Japanese fermented rice, barley and/or soybeans)?soup was so-so.Carbonara?S$10.80
A friend of mine, a small eater, decided to order just a main course. We've heard people saying that the cream pasta with a poached egg, bacon bits and seaweed is good, but I felt that it wasn't truly creamy. I've ?had better elsewhere, for example in The Spaghetti House. Having said that, the egg was poached perfectly.
Koohii Tiramisu?S$5.80
Taste:?8.5/10
A cup of tiramisu wouldn't harm, would it? Homemade with what's claimed to be Japanese whisky as written in the menu, I truly enjoyed the wet, coffee-infused cake with quite a strong alcoholic taste. I'd definitely love to give a higher score for this one if they were to use a much creamier mascarpone cheese.Taste:?7.5/10
Ambience:?7.5/10
Service:?7.5/10
Overall:?7.5/10
Anyway, the drink that I had was cold Japanese green tea which was a bit diluted, but I better not complain since I kept asking for refill haha...?Pika's advice: Just for fun! They have their own way of saying that the consumption of outside food and/or drinks isn't allowed in the restaurant. Do look for the sign when you happen to dine there!
Box n Sticks
14 Aliwal Street
Singapore
(Mon-Thu: 11.30am - 11.00pm; Fri: 11.30am - 12.30am; Sat: 6.00pm - 12.30am)
*Prices quoted are nett prices.
Have a nice meal,
Cliff(y)Source: http://cliffy-goes-dining.blogspot.com/2013/03/sin-box-n-sticks.html
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Saturday 30 March 2013
GE Talked With Dell About Buying Finance Unit - Deal Journal - WSJ
By Sharon Terlep and Kate Linebaugh
General Electric Co?s financial services arm talked with Dell Inc. recently about buying the computer maker?s financing unit, though the talks didn?t lead to a deal, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.
The talks were separate from talks GE has been having with Blackstone Group LP, the private-equity firm that is proposing to take control of Dell, the people said. As part of that plan, Blackstone is considering selling all or part of Dell?s finance business. People familiar with those talks have said GE would be the most likely buyer.
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Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2013/03/29/ge-talked-with-dell-about-buying-finance-unit/
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Bank of Cyprus big savers to lose up to 60 percent
Personas hacen fila mientras un guardia de seguridad abre la puerta de una sucursal del banco Laiki en Nicosia, el viernes 29 de marzo de 2013. Los bancos abrieron normalmente por segundo d?a pero contin?an los l?mites a los retiros de dinero ante la crisis financiera. (AP Foto/Petros Giannakouris)
Personas hacen fila mientras un guardia de seguridad abre la puerta de una sucursal del banco Laiki en Nicosia, el viernes 29 de marzo de 2013. Los bancos abrieron normalmente por segundo d?a pero contin?an los l?mites a los retiros de dinero ante la crisis financiera. (AP Foto/Petros Giannakouris)
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Big depositors at Cyprus' largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy, officials said Saturday.
Deposits of more than 100,000 euros ($128,000) at the Bank of Cyprus will lose 37.5 percent in money that will be converted into bank shares, according to a central bank statement. In a second raid on these accounts, depositors also could lose up to 22.5 percent more, depending on what experts determine is needed to prop up the bank's reserves. The experts will have 90 days to figure that out.
The remaining 40 percent of big deposits at the Bank of Cyprus will be "temporarily frozen" until further notice, but continue to accrue existing levels of interest plus another 10 percent.
The savings converted to bank shares would theoretically allow depositors to eventually recover their losses. But the shares now hold little value and it's uncertain when ? if ever ? the shares will regain a value equal to the depositors' losses.
Emergency laws passed last week empower Cypriot authorities to take these actions.
Europe has demanded that big depositors in the country's two largest banks ? Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank ? accept across-the-board losses in order to pay for Cyprus' 16 billion euro ($20.5 billion) bailout. All deposits of up to 100,000 are safe, meaning that a saver with 500,000 euros in the bank will only suffer losses on the remaining 400,000 euros.
Cypriot officials had previously said that large savers at Laiki ? which would be absorbed in to the Bank of Cyprus ? could lose as much as 80 percent. But they had said large accounts at the Bank of Cyprus would lose only 30 to 40 percent.
Analysts said Saturday that imposing bigger losses on Bank of Cyprus customers could further squeeze already crippled businesses as Cyprus tries to rebuild its banking sector in exchange for the international rescue package.
"Most of the damage will be done to businesses which had their money in the bank" to pay suppliers and employees, said University of Cyprus economics Professor Sofronis Clerides. "There's quite a difference between a 30 percent loss and a 60 percent loss."
With businesses shrinking, the country could be dragged down into an even deeper recession, he said.
There's also concern that large depositors ? including many wealthy Russians ? will take their money and run once capital restrictions that Cypriot authorities have imposed on bank transactions to prevent such a possibility are lifted in about a month.
Cyprus agreed on Monday to make bank depositors with accounts over 100,000 euros contribute to the financial rescue in order to secure 10 billion euros ($12.9 billion) in loans from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund. Cyprus needed to scrounge up 5.8 billion euros ($7.4 billion) on its own in order to clinch the larger package, and banks had remained shut for nearly two weeks until politicians hammered out a deal, opening again on Thursday.
But fearing that savers would rush to pull their money out in mass once banks reopened, Cypriot authorities imposed a raft of restrictions, including daily withdrawal limits of 300 euros ($384) for individuals and 5,000 euros for businesses ? the first so-called capital controls that any country has applied in the eurozone's 14-year history.
Under the terms of the bailout deal, the country' second largest bank, Laiki ? which sustained the most damaged from bad Greek debt and loans ? is to be split up, with its nonperforming loans and toxic assets going into a "bad bank." The healthy side will be absorbed into the Bank of Cyprus.
On Saturday, economist Stelios Platis dismissed the rescue plan as "completely mistaken" and criticized Cyprus' euro area partners for insisting on foisting Laiki's troubles on the Bank of Cyprus.
Clerides said it appears that some euro area countries such as Germany and Finland wanted to see the end of Cyprus as an international financial services center, while others, such as eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, wanted to use the country as an "guinea pig" to send the message that European taxpayers would no longer shoulder the burden of bailing out problem banks.
But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble challenged that notion, insisting in an interview with the Bild daily published Saturday that "Cyprus is and remains a special, isolated case" and doesn't point the way for future European rescue programs.
____
AP business correspondent Geir Moulson contributed from Berlin.
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Gay marriage opinion shift: conservative lawmakers, pundits left scrambling
As public opinion moves in favor of gay marriage, members of Congress find they have to adjust their stance. Conservative pundits are beginning to acknowledge the inevitable as well.
Gabriela Fore, 6, of Upper Darby Pa., holds a sign with her moms in front of the Supreme Court as the court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Carolyn Kaster/AP
EnlargeThis being the Easter/Passover Spring break for Congress, you?d think lawmakers back in their home districts would be eager to talk about the past week?s major news story ? the latest developments on same-sex marriage, which has seen one of the most pronounced and rapid shifts in public opinion and political action in recent US history.
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But no, they?re trying to figure it out too, and so are most of their constituents. Meanwhile, one-by-one (or so it seems) political figures are coming out for gay marriage.
Most recently, that?s US Rep. Justin Amash, (R) of Michigan, a conservative who used to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was argued before the US Supreme Court this past week.
?Real threat to traditional marriage & religious liberty is government, not gay couples who love each other & want to spend lives together,? Rep. Amash wrote in a Twitter exchange with The Huffington Post. ?I support repealing federal definition of marriage portion of DOMA. Always have.?
Asked if gay couples should have the option to marry, Amash tweeted: ?Of course. How can anyone stop a couple from getting married in their own way? I just want government out.? (Read the full exchange here.)
That?s essentially the position Sen. Rand Paul voiced recently, although the Kentucky Republican focused on the US tax code, which (as now enforced) prohibits the survivors in same-sex marriages allowed in nine states and the District of Columbia from receiving certain financial benefits when their spouses die.
It?s hard for many Republican lawmakers to make the leap Amash did for fear of being challenged from the right by a social conservative in a party primary.
But that hasn?t kept other Republicans from speaking out.
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What matters (and what doesn't) when buying a gaming desktop ...
Want to game on a PC? Buy a desktop. While notebooks have come a long way over the last decade, they are, to this day, an inherently compromised solution. Fast processors and video cards consume gobs of power and produce tons of heat, so mobile systems have to cut back on performance while packing on the pounds.
That leaves desktops to bear the weight of PC gaming. Even a modest system can put current consoles to shame and run today?s most demanding games at 1080p. Want more? You can have it. The most powerful gaming rigs are several times faster than the least powerful, and every gradation of performance between those extremes is available.
Yet, there?s more to the equation than raw horsepower. Upgradability, storage, and add-on cards also deserve thought. This guide will help you cut through the confusion and buy an amazing gaming desktop computer at a surprisingly low price.?
One size doesn?t fit all
Most gamers start with the hardware inside a computer. We?ll cover that soon enough, but, before we get there, let?s talk about the exterior.
Gaming computers now come in many shapes and sizes. There are small systems like the?Falcon Northwest Tiki, mid-size towers like the?Acer Predator,?and monoliths like the?Origin Genesis.
Small systems are, well, small. They are unobtrusive and fit where larger systems simply can?t. They?re ideal for gamers who lack a large desks or want to use the desktop in a home theater. Going small can limit future upgrade options, however, and some pint-sized PCs?make a lot of noise.
Mid towers are a good compromise and are ideal for most people. They?re small enough to fit under, on, or in a typical desk, yet large enough to offer upgradability and acceptable cooling. Flair, or lack thereof, is the only flaw. Most mid towers look like any other ho-hum desktop.
Finally, we come to the monoliths known as full towers. These are often so large that they won?t fit on top of a desk without hanging off the front or rear, and a few full towers are so tall they won?t even fit under a desk. A full tower system can also carry a slightly higher premium over a mid tower. However, full towers are easy to upgrade and can handle hardware that won?t fit in smaller PCs.
Some custom manufacturers, like Origin and CyberPower, offer a selection of cases during customization. We recommend the full tower if you can find room for it, but make sure you understand the size before buying. Otherwise, a mid tower is best. Smaller systems can be great, but are also a niche solution. You should only buy one if space is at a premium or you?re dead set on a small system for aesthetic reasons.
Start with the heart: The processor
When you buy a gaming desktop, be it a customized model from a boutique or a pre-made model from Dell or HP, the processor will be the first specification you see ? and for good reason. The processor determines how a system will perform in most software.
Your first choice will be between dual- or quad-core processors. We recommend a quad unless your budget is extremely low ($1,500 or less). A dual-core processor is often fine, but some modern games make use of additional cores and can be crippled by a dual-core CPU.
Gamers with a lot of money may be lured in by Intel?s six-core processors. These are priced at a premium and not worthwhile for gaming. We only recommend them to buyers who have absolutely no concern about a rig?s final price. The same can be said of Intel?s Extreme Edition processors.
Also, we suggest you avoid AMD. Though potentially competitive at a few price points, and boasting up to eight cores, all of the company?s processors fail to offer solid single-thread performance. That?s a problem for games because most place their heaviest load on just one or two cores.
A great GPU makes a great gaming PC
The video cards sit side-by-side with the processor in importance. This one component is entirely responsible for drawing the beautiful graphics you see onscreen. Faster video cards allow better, smoother graphics and a more immersive experience.
As a gamer, you?ll want to stay away from low-end cards. In Nvidia?s stable, this means you want to stay away from products that have a 20, 30, or 40 in their model number (like the GT 630). In AMD?s product line, you want to stay away from cards that have a 4, 5, or 6 as the second digit in the model number (like the Radeon 6670).
The price-performance sweet spot usually sits with mid-range cards like the Nvidia GTX 660 and AMD Radeon HD 7850. These can handle almost any game in 1080p with full detail. If you want to make sure that games run well, or you want to play at an even higher resolution, like 2560 x 1600, you should move up to an even more powerful card.
While shopping, you may sometimes find yourself with a choice between two cards that are similar but offer different memory. More memory does not have a significant impact on overall performance by itself, but more memory does allow a video card to handle more data before choking. We recommend at least 1GB of memory if you have a display below 1080p resolution, and at least 2GB of memory if your display is 1080p or above.
We don?t recommend multiple video cards. Though potentially quick, multi-card configurations often run into driver or game support issues that prevent them from unlocking their full potential. They?re also louder and hotter than a single card.
Don?t waste money on too much RAM
Our recent review of the?Acer Predator?provided the perfect example of how marketing is sometimes placed before performance. That system, which is relatively affordable, came to us with 32GB of RAM. Thirty-two! As in 30, and then two more.
That?s insane, yet not uncommon. Why? RAM is currently inexpensive, so adding more makes a system seem powerful to uneducated consumers at minimal cost. But, don?t fall for it. The majority of games sold today will run well on a computer with only 4GB of RAM (as we proved in our?Steam Box build). For a serious gaming rig, however, 8GB is our recommendation. Anything on top of that is effectively useless.
Additional memory doesn?t make a game run more quickly; it merely sits unused. Any money that might be spent on RAM beyond 8GB should instead be put towards a component that matters.
Solid-state drives are expensive, but useful
Most computers sold today come with at least a 500GB mechanical hard drive and, in most cases, a 750GB or 1TB model. More space is better, but unused space isn?t needed, so our recommendation is simple: buy as much space as you need.
Whether or not you should buy a computer with a solid-state drive is a more difficult question. SSDs are many times more expensive than mechanical drives when measured by gigabyte-per-dollar. They also have no impact on in-game performance. Still, we recommend that you buy an SSD if you can afford one that offers over 200GB of storage. Why?: load times.
A solid-state drive is many times quicker than a mechanical drive. For games, this means a level that could take 30 seconds to load on a normal drive instead loads in 5 to 10 seconds. Games with short load times may sometimes load almost instantly.
If you do choose a solid-state drive, make sure it?s also the drive that contains the operating system. You?ll gain the benefit of quick boot times and fast operation in day-to-day use. This is also why we don?t recommend an SSD with less than 200GB of space. With Windows installed, a small drive can only contain a handful of games.?
Don?t lose money on the kitchen sink
?
After you?ve nailed down the processor, video card, RAM and hard drive you?ll start to browse through a wide selection of extras including sound cards, Ethernet adapters, additional USB ports, and more.
These extras aren?t required. Today?s motherboards ship with a built-in sound card, Ethernet adapter, and gobs of connectivity. Some even come with standard Wi-Fi. These have made peripheral cards far less of a necessity.
That doesn?t mean they?re useless, but skip it if you don?t already?know?that you need a certain add-on card for a specific reason.
Conclusion
As you browse computers and choose custom hardware, you should always return to one question: ?Does this make games look and play better??
A gaming desktop is a balancing act. No one component should dominate without bringing the others up to par, and unnecessary hardware should be axed to keep the price down. For example, a system with 32GB of RAM and a dual-core processor doesn?t make sense. The money spent on memory could be far better spent on a fast quad-core.
Restraint is required to perfect the balance. When you buy a gaming desktop, you?ll be bombarded by ads, both on manufacturer websites and elsewhere, that insist what you?really?want is a fancy Ethernet card that allegedly improves multiplayer games, or a triple-GPU rig, or a computer the size of a cat.
As you browse computers and choose custom hardware, you should always return to one question: ?Does this make games look and play better?? The information in this guide will help you answer that question, and if the answer is no, you don?t need it.?
Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-buy-a-gaming-desktop/
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The Workers Compensation Survival Guide : MA Contractors ...
We?ll be providing information on the current state of the workers comp marketplace, both in Massachusetts, and nationally.? As part of this, we?ll be hitting on many topics, including:?
- Experience Rating
- Alternate Financing Mechanisms ? like Group Captives, and Retro?s.
- Various Credits (QLMP, Deductibles, Construction Credits, etc)
- Assigned Risk Pool
- Rates
- WC Claim Cost Containment
- WC Fraud
Many employers feel there really isn?t much to do to affect the cost of their WC insurance.? In fact, WC is a line of coverage where the employer has a significant impact on what they will ultimately pay in premiums.? This discussion will give you valuable insight on how best to control your costs.?
I hope you can join us on 4/10/13.?
http://asm.affiniscape.com/associations/8185/files/WorkersComp2013.pdf
This information brought to you by Chris Sheppard of Smith Buckley & Hunt Insurance Agency, your Massachusetts contractors insurance agent and Massachusetts business insurance resource.
Comments
Source: http://www.macontractorsinsurance.com/2013/03/the-workers-compensation-survival-guide/
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FOR KIDS: Out-of-this-world atmospheres
FOR KIDS: Out-of-this-world atmospheres
Light from a distant, giant world offers clues to the gases in its atmosphere
Web edition: March 29, 2013
Light from a distant, giant world offers clues to the gases in its atmosphere
By Stephen Ornes
Web edition: March 29, 2013
Enlarge This drawing depicts the planet HR 8799c (foreground) orbiting its star. Two other planets can also be seen.
Credit: Image courtesy of Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics; Mediafarm
The study of planets outside the solar system just took a big jump forward. Scientists have for the first time identified atmospheres on some of these exoplanets; all four?circle the same star. The new information was calculated from light emitted by the distant worlds. It offers clues to what types of gases make up the planets' atmospheres. They're different?gas recipes than occur in atmospheres blanketing planets in our solar system.
Visit the new?Science News for Kids?website?and read the full story:?Out-of-this-world atmospheres
Citations
E. Wayman. Distant planets? atmospheres revealed. Science News. April 6, 2013.Available online: [Go to]
Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/349273/title/FOR_KIDS_Out-of-this-world_atmospheres
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Opposites attract: How cells and cell fragments move in electric fields
Mar. 28, 2013 ? Like tiny, crawling compass needles, whole living cells and cell fragments orient and move in response to electric fields -- but in opposite directions, scientists at the University of California, Davis, have found. Their results, published April 8 in the journal Current Biology, could ultimately lead to new ways to heal wounds and deliver stem cell therapies.
When cells crawl into wounded flesh to heal it, they follow an electric field. In healthy tissue there's a flux of charged particles between layers. Damage to tissue sets up a "short circuit," changing the flux direction and creating an electrical field that leads cells into the wound. But exactly how and why does this happen? That's unclear.
"We know that cells can respond to a weak electrical field, but we don't know how they sense it," said Min Zhao, professor of dermatology and ophthalmology and a researcher at UC Davis' stem cell center, the Institute for Regenerative Cures. "If we can understand the process better, we can make wound healing and tissue regeneration more effective."
The researchers worked with cells that form fish scales, called keratocytes. These fish cells are commonly used to study cell motion, and they also readily shed cell fragments, wrapped in a cell membrane but lacking a nucleus, major organelles, DNA or much else in the way of other structures.
In a surprise discovery, whole cells and cell fragments moved in opposite directions in the same electric field, said Alex Mogilner, professor of mathematics and of neurobiology, physiology and behavior at UC Davis and co-senior author of the paper.
It's the first time that such basic cell fragments have been shown to orient and move in an electric field, Mogilner said. That allowed the researchers to discover that the cells and cell fragments are oriented by a "tug of war" between two competing processes.
Think of a cell as a blob of fluid and protein gel wrapped in a membrane. Cells crawl along surfaces by sliding and ratcheting protein fibers inside the cell past each other, advancing the leading edge of the cell while withdrawing the trailing edge.
Assistant project scientist Yaohui Sun found that when whole cells were exposed to an electric field, actin protein fibers collected and grew on the side of the cell facing the negative electrode (cathode), while a mix of contracting actin and myosin fibers formed toward the positive electrode (anode). Both actin alone, and actin with myosin, can create motors that drive the cell forward.
The polarizing effect set up a tug-of-war between the two mechanisms. In whole cells, the actin mechanism won, and the cell crawled toward the cathode. But in cell fragments, the actin/myosin motor came out on top, got the rear of the cell oriented toward the cathode, and the cell fragment crawled in the opposite direction.
The results show that there are at least two distinct pathways through which cells respond to electric fields, Mogilner said. At least one of the pathways -- leading to organized actin/myosin fibers -- can work without a cell nucleus or any of the other organelles found in cells, beyond the cell membrane and proteins that make up the cytoskeleton.
Upstream of those two pathways is some kind of sensor that detects the electric field. In a separate paper to be published in the same journal issue, Mogilner and Stanford University researchers Greg Allen and Julie Theriot narrow down the possible mechanisms. The most likely explanation, they conclude, is that the electric field causes certain electrically charged proteins in the cell membrane to concentrate at the membrane edge, triggering a response.
The team also included Hao Do, Jing Gao and Ren Zhao, all at the Institute for Regenerative Cures and the UC Davis departments of Ophthalmology and Dermatology. Sun is co-advised by Mogilner and Zhao; Gao is now working at Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China, and Ren Zhao is at the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the National Science Foundation.
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Davis.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Yaohui Sun, Hao Do, Jing Gao, Ren Zhao, Min Zhao, Alex Mogilner. Keratocyte Fragments and Cells Utilize Competing Pathways to Move in Opposite Directions in an Electric Field. Current Biology, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.026
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/lasFFKFuUus/130328125100.htm
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Stem cell fate depends on 'grip'
Mar. 28, 2013 ? The field of regenerative medicine holds great promise, propelled by greater understanding of how stem cells differentiate themselves into many of the body's different cell types. But clinical applications in the field have been slow to materialize, partially owing to difficulties in replicating the conditions these cells naturally experience.
A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania has generated new insight on how a stem cell's environment influences what type of cell a stem cell will become. They have shown that whether human mesenchymal stem cells turn into fat or bone cells depends partially on how well they can "grip" the material they are growing in.
The research was conducted by graduate student Sudhir Khetan and associate professor Jason Burdick, along with professor Christopher Chen, all of the School of Engineering and Applied Science's Department of Bioengineering. Others involved in the study include Murat Guvendiren, Wesley Legant and Daniel Cohen.
Their study was published in the journal Nature Materials.
Much research has been done on how stem cells grow on two-dimensional substrates, but comparatively little work has been done in three dimensions. Three-dimensional environments, or matrices, for stems cells have mostly been treated as simple scaffolding, rather than as a signal that influences the cells' development.
Burdick and his colleagues were interested in how these three-dimensional matrices impact mechanotransduction, which is how the cell takes information about its physical environment and translates that to chemical signaling.
"We're trying to understand how material signals can dictate stem cell response," Burdick said. "Rather than considering the material as an inert structure, it's really guiding stem cell fate and differentiation -- what kind of cells they will turn into."
The mesenchymal stem cells the researchers studied are found in bone marrow and can develop into several cell types: osteoblasts, which are found in bone; chondrocytes, which are found in cartilage; and adipocytes, which are found in fat.
The researchers cultured them in water-swollen polymer networks known as hydrogels, which share some similarities with the environments stem cells naturally grow in. These materials are generally soft and flexible -- contact lenses, for example, are a type of hydrogel -- but can vary in density and stiffness depending on the type and quantity of the bonds between the polymers. In this case, the researchers used covalently cross-linked gels, which contain irreversible chemical bonds.
When seeded on top of two-dimensional covalently cross-linked gels, mesenchymal stem cells spread and pulled on the material differently depending on how stiff it was. Critically, the mechanics guide cell fate, or the type of cells they differentiate it into. A softer environment would produce more fat-like cells and a stiffer environment, where the cells can pull on the gel harder, would produce more bone-like cells.
However, when the researchers put mesenchymal stem cells inside three-dimensional hydrogels of varying stiffness, they didn't see these kinds of changes.
"In most covalently cross-linked gels, the cells can't spread into the matrix because they can't degrade the bonds -- they all become fat cells," Burdick said. "That tells us that in 3D covalent gels the cells don't translate the mechanical information the same way they do in a 2D system."
To test this, the researchers changed the chemistry of their hydrogels so that the polymer chains were connected by a peptide that the cells could naturally degrade. They hypothesized that, as the cells spread, they would be able to get a better grip on their surrounding environment and thus be more likely to turn into bone-like cells.
In order to determine how well the cells were pulling on their environment, the researchers used a technique developed by Chen's lab called 3D traction force microscopy. This technique involves seeding the gel with microscopic beads, then tracking their location before and after a cell is removed.
"Because the gel is elastic and will relax back into its original position when you remove the cells," Chen said, "you can quantify how much the cells are pulling on the gel based on how much and which way it springs back after the cell is removed."
The results showed that the stem cells' differentiation into bone-like cells was aided by their ability to better anchor themselves into the growth environment.
"With our original experiment, we observed that the cells essentially didn't pull on the gel. They adhered to it and were viable, but we did not see bead displacement. They couldn't get a grip," Burdick said. "When we put the cells into a gel where they could degrade the bonds, we saw them spread into the matrix and deform it, displacing the beads."
As an additional test, the researchers synthesized another hydrogel. This one had the same covalent bonds that the stem cells could naturally degrade and spread through but also another type of bond that could form when exposed to light. They let the stem cells spread as before, but at the point the cells would begin to differentiate -- about a week after they were first encapsulated -- the researchers further "set" the gel by exposing it to light, forming new bonds the cells couldn't degrade.
"When we introduced these cross-links so they could no longer degrade the matrix, we saw an increase toward fat-like cells, even after letting them spread," Burdick said. "This further supports the idea that continuous degradation is needed for the cells to sense the material properties of their environment and transduce that into differentiation signals."
Burdick and his colleagues see these results as helping develop a better fundamental understanding of how to engineer tissues using stem cells.
"This is a model system for showing how the microenvironment can influence the fate of the cells," Burdick said.
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Sudhir Khetan, Murat Guvendiren, Wesley R. Legant, Daniel M. Cohen, Christopher S. Chen, Jason A. Burdick. Degradation-mediated cellular traction directs stem cell fate in covalently crosslinked three-dimensional hydrogels. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3586
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Sony KDL-32R400A
The Sony 32R400A is an LED-backlit 720p set that doesn't try to be anything other than a simple 32-inch HDTV. It doesn't have Web apps, it doesn't have 3D, and it doesn't have any other functions that make it useable without plugging in a cable, antenna, or Blu-ray player. Still, this $399.99 (direct) HDTV is worth considering if you're looking for a smaller screen for a guest bedroom, office, or kitchen, and are on a strict budget. Even so, you won't get as good picture quality as with our Editors' Choice budget set, the 42-inch RCA LED42C45RQ.?
Design
Very plain looking, visually, the 32R400A is little more than a 32-inch monitor with HDMI ports. Its bezel is flat and black, only punctuated by a Sony logo and a power light. Its 3-inch-thick frame is a bit chunky compared with larger budget HDTVs like the Westinghouse UW40T2BW, despite its LED backlighting. It sits on a rectangular plastic base that keeps the screen relatively low and very stable, but doesn't allow any pivoting adjustment.
A few basic control buttons are tucked behind the right edge of the screen, while an MHL-equipped HDMI port and a USB port sit opposite behind the left side of the screen. An additional HDMI port, along with component and composite hybrid video inputs, a 3.5mm audio output, a digital audio output, and a coaxial connector for cable or antenna can be found on the back of the screen. They're slightly awkwardly placed if you want to mount the set on a wall.
The 6.2-inch remote is small, flat, and simple. The buttons aren't backlit, and are clustered together fairly closely, so entering numbers blindly takes some practice. On the other hand, the direction pad and Volume and Channel buttons are large and distinct enough to find easily with your thumb.
Performance
We evaluate HDTVs using a Klein K10-A Colorimeter, DisplayMate test patterns, and SpectraCal's CalMAN 5 diagnostic software. According to our tests, the 32R400A produces a respectable picture, albeit one that doesn't excel at brightness, black level, or color. After basic calibration with power saving features disabled, the 32R400A produced a peak brightness of 192.83 cd/m2 and a black level of 0.1 cd/m2 for an underwhelming contrast ratio of 1,923:1. As far as color accuracy, greens lean more towards blue than they should, and reds appear darker than ideal, as the CIE color comparison chart below shows. (The boxes represent the ideal values for the colors, while the dots indicate the measured values.) To compare, the $360, 40-inch TCL LE40FHDE3000 boasts a higher contrast ratio and black level of 4,821:1 and 0.06 cd/m2 respectively, and the Toshiba 32L2200U puts out a peak brightness of 303.81 cd/m2, but has a black level of 0.14 cd/m2. Color skewing is worse on the TCL set, however.
This is only a 720p screen, so you're not getting full 1080p HD resolution, but for its small size that's not a major flaw. Washed out shadow and highlight details and muddled greens are the biggest problems from which the 32R400A suffers. Black Swan on Blu-ray looked a bit faded and cloudy, with the deep and textured darks not showing clearly on the screen. In Piranha on Blu-ray, the very sunny party scenes looked blown out, and the greens of plants and blue-green of the water looked undersaturated. Nothing is skewed horribly to the point of yellow or green skin, but they colors don't have any sense of "pop," and the mediocre contrast ratio makes both shadows and highlights feel flat. Viewing angles are excellent, though, with the picture becoming only slightly pale when viewed from the far sides, matching Sony's claim of an 178-degree range.
As a 32-inch LED-backlit screen, the 32R400A is a modest energy user. It consumes 38 watts under normal use with power saving features turned off, and 33 watts with power saving set to low. Higher power saving features made the screen too dark to watch comfortably. The same-size Toshiba 32L2200U hits the middle ground between the two settings by consuming 35 watts, and the larger TCL 40-inch LE40FHDE3000 uses 50 watts.
The Sony 32R400A is a capable low-priced set that comes with the same flaws you get with many other budget TVs: a lack of features and middling picture quality. The colors, despite looking undersaturated, are relatively accurate compared with some other budget models. However, you can get an overall better (and larger) picture for less with the $360 40-inch TCL LE40FHDE3000. And the 42-inch RCA LED42C45RQ serves up superior picture quality for the price, so it's our Editors' Choice for under-$500 HDTVs.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/nveAsRg1qCE/0,2817,2417048,00.asp
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Sugamo Shinkin Bank, Ekoda Branch / Emmanuelle Moureaux ...
Architects: Emmanuelle Moureaux Architecture + Design
Location: Nerima-ku, Tokyo
Architect In Charge: Emmanuelle Moureaux
Interior Design: Emmanuelle Moureaux
General Contractor: Shiraishi Construction Corporation
Area: 57,408 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: Daisuke Shima
Sugamo Shinkin Bank is a credit union that strives to provide first-rate hospitality to its customers in accordance with its motto: ?we take pleasure in serving happy customers.? Ekoda is the fourth branch (third for designing the entire building) Emmanuelle Moureaux designs, responding to the client?s expectation: ?creating a bank the customers feel happy to visit?.
The site is located in a commercial district with many stores. The site?s closeness to the town?s activities ? also the heavy traffic and narrow sidewalk ? inspired the architect to express this proximity in the building by merging the exterior and interior.
The building is offset approximately 2 meters from the property line, and the timber-decked peripheral space is filled with colorful 9 meter-tall sticks. These 29 exterior sticks, reflected on the transparent glazed fa?ade, mix naturally with the 19 interior sticks placed randomly inside the building. This rainbow shower returns colors and some room for playfulness back to the town.
Entering the building, the visitors would notice that they are still in an exterior courtyard leading to the bank?s interior. Here also, the inside and outside are integrated. Walking around the glazed courtyard inside, there is a cafe-like open space filled with natural light. The bamboos in the courtyard extend skyward in concert with the colorful sticks.
The exterior deck space, interior open space, exterior courtyard, and the interior teller counters compose four layers of spaces. The layers are reflected on the glazing, and, combined with complex shadows, they create depth in the space.
Source: http://www.archdaily.com/351515/sugamo-shinkin-bank-emmanuelle-moureaux-architecture-design-2/
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Friday 29 March 2013
Charlie Daniels has successful pacemaker surgery
NEW YORK (AP) ? A representative for Charlie Daniels says the 76-year-old country singer is recovering after having a pacemaker implanted Thursday.
Daniels was diagnosed Monday with "a mild case of pneumonia." Tests at a Nashville, Tenn.-area hospital revealed that he needed a pacemaker to regulate his heart rate. He's scheduled to be released Friday.
Daniels said in a statement that he's feeling better and looking forward to spending Easter with his family.
His Saturday and Sunday performances at Middle Tennessee State University have been canceled. Concerts with his band on April 5 in Englewood, N.J., and April 6 in Newark, Ohio, have been canceled and will be rescheduled. His tour will resume April 11 in Lynchburg, Va.
Daniels has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry for five years. His hits include "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."
____
Online:
http://charliedaniels.com/
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/charlie-daniels-successful-pacemaker-surgery-190802474.html
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The Writer's Gathering: Writing Among 'The Living Stones'
What better place for a story teller to come than the scene of the Greatest Story Ever Told ? Israel. That's why Gary and Cindy Bayer have been doing for years, bringing the best storytellers of our generation to the land of the Bible to see for themselves this land called "holy."
Writers come to experience for themselves not only the sights and sounds of the land but also to meet the people - "the living stones" - that make this land come alive. They call it the "Writer's Gathering."
Living in what the Bible views as the "center of the world," Gary and Cindy Bayer have a front row seat for events unfolding in this very strategic crossroads of the Middle East. Both were drawn to Israel for different reasons. But having met and married there, they now share a common purpose which has opened doors to relationships with local people and has given them the opportunity to share their journey of faith.
Here's our Gary and Cindy describe it on their website, The Place of Stories is Israel
After marrying in Jerusalem on Easter Sunday 2005, Gary and Cindy created The Writers' Gathering Jerusalem which sponsors established screenwriters, TV writers, playwrights, and novelists for a two-week experience in Israel. The news media often paints a negative portrait of life in this ancient contested crossroads, but Gary and Cindy believe that exposing writers to the history and the uniqueness of the various peoples that call this tiny land "home" could give the world a more positive view of this Land of the Bible.
They are also very involved in sharing their table with others at both their Sea of Galilee home (The Place of Stories) and their little rooftop apartment on the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. In the States they enjoy speaking engagements, meeting writers, and seeing their five children and five grandchildren.
With the Sea of Galilee as a backdrop, we sat down with Gary and talked about his desire to share the joy of story in the land of the Bible.
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Razer Edge Pro review: can a tablet double as a gaming PC?
Portable gaming isn't what it once was. Sure, you can still snag a handheld device from Sony or Nintendo, but today's video game industry is far more diverse. Gamers on the go have no shortage of hardware to pick from: tablets, smartphones, gaming laptops and purpose-built handhelds are redefining what a mobile gaming platform is. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan must have felt the winds of change blowing his way when he cooked up Project Fiona, now known as the Razer Edge. The company's marketing material frames the curious device as an all-in-one gaming arsenal; it's a tablet, says the product page, as well as a PC and console. Above all, it's modular, a souped-up tablet with a small collection of docks and cradles designed to scratch your gaming itch from all angles. All told, Razer calls it the most powerful tablet in the world. Kitted out with the specs of a mid-range gaming laptop, it may very well be that -- but we couldn't let the proclamation pass without giving it the once-over ourselves.
Hardware
At first glance, the Edge looks strikingly familiar, with its 10.1-inch screen and thick, generic bezel. With the exception of two indentations centered on the device's north and south edges, Razer took almost no liberties with the dull standard of tablet design. The result is boring, but functional. Thankfully, the Edge's aluminum backside shows a little more personality, borrowing a subtly ridged design profile from the Razer Blade laptop. A pair of tiny humps line the port and starboard sides of the backplate's horizontal expanse, endowing the system with a tactile anchor point and some much-needed visual flare. Decorated with a backlit Razer logo, the plate gently curves into the device's outer frame, smoothly fitting the user's palm without digging in.
The Edge chassis' forgiving shape may leave your hands unmarred, but fatigue is a real issue -- there are limits to how long one can hold a 2.1-pound tablet aloft. Shoppers pitting Razer's slate against the Surface Pro should note that it's larger all around, at 10.9 x 7 x 0.8 inches. Heavy, to be sure, but at least its specs match or best the Surface at every turn: 4GB to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 256GB of solid-stage storage, an Intel Core i5 or i7 CPU and discrete NVIDIA graphics. The only area where Microsoft still reigns supreme is in display quality: the Edge maxes out at 1,366 x 768, while the Pro comes stocked with a 1,920 x 1,080 panel. More on that shortly, but for now, let's finish our hardware tour.
The tablet's bottom edge features a 40-pin connector flanked by stereo speakers and two peg holes, used to lock the Edge into its dock and controller accessories. These pegs are mirrored by a pair of divots on the device's top edge, accompanied by a Razer-green USB 3.0 port, a 3.5mm audio jack, volume controls and an LED-equipped power button. There's also a pair of keys to lock automatic screen rotation and activate Windows 8's software keyboard. The latter came in extremely handy, as we found that that some games routinely activate the Windows 8 virtual keyboard by mistake. The Edge's backplate features two large vents north of the company logo, while the front is decorated with only a Windows button, a pair of array microphones and a 2MP camera. All in all, a very well-built piece of hardware, if a bit on the heavy side.
Etc.
Unfortunately, this review is missing a major component to the Edge's family of products: the keyboard dock. It's odd to think that the Edge is launching without the kind of accessory sold with every other Windows 8 tablet, but here we are. Razer says the keyboard is due out sometime in Q3, for an undetermined price. We can't say how it will fare when it arrives, or guess at how much it might cost, but we can say we sorely miss it now. All other things considered, the Razer Edge is very much a PC, and installing games, managing data and working from the device without a proper keyboard was a troublesome, uncomfortable affair. Without this missing accessory, the Edge felt incomplete. We look forward to revisiting the device once it's fully equipped.
Display, sound and camera
Earlier, we pinned the Edge's 1,366 x 768 IPS display as one of its technical shortcomings, particularly compared to the Surface Pro. As dazzling as the Surface Pro's 1,920 x 1,080 display may have looked, though, its resolution outpaced its panel size, forcing us to bounce between two different text-scaling configurations depending on how we were using the tablet. The Edge's smaller panel offers no such frustrations, retaining a 1:1 pixel ratio in its default configuration. No scaling, no tweaking, no trouble. It's also possible that the lower-fidelity display was selected to limit the demand on the GPU and improve game performance. Either way, the smaller panel seems to be working in the device's favor, and it looks quite good, with strong colors, pure whites and deep blacks. Not amazing, but good. We'd go as far as to say that it's Razer's best display, though, outperforming the Razer Blade's higher-resolution panel in both contrast and color quality. At worst, the screen's viewing angles are spoiled a little by the screen's glossy finish -- it doesn't matter how crisp an image is if it's surrounded by unwanted reflections.
We don't expect a lot out of tablet speakers -- just loud, clear and undistorted noise of our choosing. Luckily, the Edge sounds just about right. The tablet's stereo speakers may reside on its bottom ridge, but the sound they produce resonates throughout the entire device, pouring out of its air vents as if by design. It may not be the highest-fidelity sound, but it's balanced with very little distortion. The Edge's speakers are well-suited to a single user, or even a small group crowding around the screen. Gamers craving a more robust audio experience will have to find a suitable headset, or else pipe audio out through the tablet's docking station, which supports Dolby Home Theater 7.1.
The pinhole, 2MP webcam is good enough for Skype, but little else. It produces grainy, muddled images, and video captured using Windows 8's camera app stutters and lags, regardless of resolution (from 320 x 240 to 1,920 x 1,200). Third-party programs fared better, but still failed to capture smooth video at higher resolutions. Anything above 640 x 480 was a jittery mess.
Gamepad
We typically judge gaming machines by their performance -- framerates, benchmarks and the like. Razer's Edge sidesteps our usual approach, as it eschews traditional input methods. No keyboard, no trackpad and no easy way to save the proverbial princess -- at least not with the Edge alone. Most PC games demand more input than mere touch, although there are exceptions. Civilization V, for instance, offers a control scheme built specifically for touchscreens, and point-and-click adventure titles like Back to the Future: The Game flawlessly bend to the will of a well-placed finger. Unfortunately, not all cursor-controlled games are equal: The Sims 3 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown can both be managed with the Edge's touchscreen, but the experience is awkward, frustrating and generally not worth the effort. As a standalone tablet, the Edge is powerful -- but it's not a capable gaming device.
To be fair, the Edge was never meant to stand on its own -- the product's first public prototype, Project Fiona, featured two handlebar controllers grafted directly onto its frame. Cost concerns and customer demand eventually pried the gnarly gamepad from the tablet's chassis, creating a modular powerhouse with the option of becoming a gaming rig. Gamers who take that road will find it tough on the wallet: Razer's gamepad attachment costs a staggering $250, a full one-fourth of the base tablet's purchase price. Shocked? You shouldn't be. Razer's made a habit of offering expensive toys. It promises its customers an excellent experience, not fantastic savings. If your bank balance can take the hit, you'll find the Edge's controller accessory does at least live up to such claims.
The Edge fits snugly into the gamepad's milled-aluminum frame, secured by a spring-loaded mechanism on the accessory's bottom ridge. A pass-through data port sits below the spring and the two flanking release tabs. On the top, two plastic portals grant access to the device's USB and audio ports. The tablet's native power, volume, keyboard and lock toggles are replicated here too, ensuring that no manner of control is lost by switching the slate into "game mode." Behind the tablet, two rubberized springs push off of the cradle's backplate, providing a cushion for the Edge's aluminum back and presumably preventing installation scuffs, too. So it's expensive, yes, but clearly well-thought-out.
The attention to detail carries over to the game controls, too. Shooting off the tablet's sides like a pair of PlayStation Move wands, the gamepad's handlebars tout the standard array of console toggles: a d-pad on the left and X, Y, A and B buttons on the right. Each button channels Razer's experience building Xbox 360 controllers; firm, but with enough spring to respond with a satisfying pop. The directional buttons are top-notch as well, aping the design aesthetics of Razer's Sabertooth gamepad while giving the PS3's island-style d-pad a run for its money. Each grip also has a thumbstick, two shoulder buttons, a start / select toggle and a trigger, which bests the standard gamepad layout by two buttons overall. Finally, the controller is home to the Edge's extended battery pack, which promises users an extra eight hours of casual use and up to two hours of gameplay.
The oversized cradle aims to lend the Edge the countenance of a mobile game console, and once the setup is finally put together and a game is running, it does a passable job. The tablet feels like it belongs in the accessory, which in turn feels right in the user's hand. The quality of the hardware sells the experience, and it's a good experience. Like everything though, the gamepad has its faults. Weighing in at almost two pounds, it nearly doubles the heft of the device, adding to our earlier fatigue concerns. It's fairly large, too, making it unwieldy when not in use. We pity the fool who elects to take all this on a cross-country flight -- carry-on space is limited as is.
Docking station
Despite PC gamers' tendency to lord their rigs' graphical superiority over console users, it's hard to deny the simple joy of slouching lazily in front of a massive HDTV. Sadly, dragging PC rigs out to the living room is no easy proposition -- even if you manage to rustle up the right cables and find an unobtrusive place in your entertainment center for a PC tower, the couch is no place for a keyboard and mouse. The solution? The Edge -- or at least that's what Razer would have you believe. The tablet's docking station is the cornerstone of what the company refers to as "home console mode," which boils down to the combined efforts of an HDMI-equipped cradle and the Edge's Razer Launcher software. Physically, the $100 dock is pretty simple: a groove for the tablet on the front, and a line of connectivity options in the back. Three USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI-out plug, audio out, audio in and a power connector race across the cradle's rear, running left to right. Simply add power, TV out and your favorite Xinput compatible gamepad, and you're ready to go.
Dropping the tablet into the dock is one of the easiest PC-to-TV setups we've ever used. The cradle automatically configures the new display as the Edge's primary, avoiding the fuss of manually tweaking the display settings in Windows. Activating the Razer Launcher software completes the experience, replacing the tablet's regular desktop with a gamepad-friendly user interface.
It's from here that Razer hopes you'll launch your PC games, potentially sidestepping the typical headache of playing computer games on the TV. It puts forth a valiant effort, offering to automatically launch when Windows boots, and giving the users the option to immediately return to the launcher after closing a game. Give it the ideal conditions, and you're in pseudo-console heaven: DRM-free games with excellent gamepad support launch with nary a complaint, and immediately drop the user right back into Razer's fake ecosystem after termination. Unfortunately, pop-up dialogs, game-specific launchers, Steam notifications and Origin's browser-based matchmaking system (Battlefield 3) left us reaching for our mouse far more often than we would have liked. Worse still, the launcher would occasionally butt heads with other programs, kicking us back into the Razer Launcher before our game of choice finished booting. Sometimes, the launcher dropped us on the Windows desktop, waiting endlessly for a game that would never start.
Frustrated, we turned our attention to Steam's Big Picture mode, which we had configured to be launchable via Razer's setup. Here, we fared a little better -- Valve's 10-foot UI faced less adversity launching games from its own well-policed ecosystem. The experience benefits from Valve's history as a content provider and a game developer, enjoying an attention to detail that goes deeper than the Big Picture front-end. Team Fortress 2, for instance, took notice of the situation, prompting us for preferences. "I noticed you are running under Big Picture," it says. "Would you like to enable game controller support?" Yes, absolutely. Sadly, not even the polished potential of Valve's Steambox interface could overcome the invasive nature of Windows errors, DRM and game-specific launchers. "GSGameExe.exe has stopped working," protested one gamepad-arresting dialog. Sigh. Where's that mouse again?
The limited input you'll get on a traditional console gamepad simply fails to meet the needs of a PC, no matter how hard it tries to emulate a console. In the Edge's pseudo-portable mode, the odd game launcher or errant virtual keyboard could be dismissed with a quick tap of the touchscreen, but managing these missteps in "console mode," is a less trivial matter. The ease with which the Edge connects to the home theater is a huge step in the right direction, but it won't free you from the necessity of a mouse and keyboard. That said, there's plenty of room on the dock's backside for the essentials. A wireless keyboard, a couch mouse and our gamepad left us well prepared to handle the occasional stutter.
Performance and battery life
So you've picked your accessories, tussled with Razer's launcher and convinced yourself you're too tough to suffer from tablet-arm fatigue. That leaves just one question: what can you actually play? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Razer's top-of-the line Edge Pro (the model we tested) features a 1.9GHz (2.0GHz with Turbo boost) Intel Core i7-2517U processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM and an NVIDIA GT640M LE GPU. In game, that translated to playable framerates at medium to high settings, at least for most titles. The two exceptions weren't at all surprising: both Crysis 3 and the The Witcher 2 have reputations for pushing hardware to its limits, and neither ran particularly well on the Edge.
At the tablet's native 1,366 x 768 resolution, these games eked out a middling 25 fps, failing to maintain an average above 30 until they were scaled down to 1,280 x 600. Crysis 3 bore the resolution hit well enough, but the loss of fidelity turned The Witcher 2 into a muddled mess. The rest of our library fared better: Skyrim and Black Ops II each bounced between 30 and 60 fps on high settings, depending on how much action was on screen, and both Battlefield 3 and Far Cry 3 managed respectable framerates on medium settings. Some games didn't require tweaking at all. Dishonored scored a firm 60 fps on high, and Team Fortress 2 averaged 65, regularly pushing 100 fps in enclosed spaces, Then again, TF2 runs well on everything. The Edge struggled with a few high-end games, but there wasn't a single title we threw at it that wouldn't play smoothly with reasonable adjustment.
| PCMark7 | PCMark Vantage | 3DMark06 | 3DMark11 | ATTO (top disk speeds) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Razer Edge Pro (1.9GHz Core i7-3517U, NVIDIA GT640M LE 2GB) | 4,949 | 13,536 | 10,260 | E2507 / P1576 | 409 MB/s (reads); 496 MB/s (writes) |
| Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 (1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U, NVIDIA GeForce GT640M LE 1GB) | N/A | 7,395 | 9,821 | N/A | N/A |
| Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 (1.7GHz Intel Core i7 2637M, NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 1GB) | N/A | 11,545 | 2,763 | N/A | N/A |
| Dell XPS 12 (1.7GHz Core i5-3317U, Intel HD 4000) | 4,673 | N/A | 4,520 | N/A | 516 MB/s (reads); 263 MB/s (writes) |
| Acer Iconia W700 (1.7GHz Core i5-3317U, Intel HD 4000) | 4,580 | N/A | 3,548 | E518 / P506 | 542 MB/s (reads); 524 MB/s (writes) |
| Microsoft Surface Pro (1.7GHz Core i5-3317U, Intel HD 4000) | 4,673 | N/A | 3,811 | E1,019 / P552 | 526 MB/s (reads); 201 MB/s (writes) |
The Edge doesn't slouch as a standard Windows 8 tablet, either. We flicked our way through Microsoft's collection of Modern UI apps at breakneck speeds, enjoying every bit of processing power that Intel's Ivy Bridge chipset affords. The Windows desktop shrugged off our attempts to make it stutter as well, though managing the traditional computing environment was a bit off-putting without the benefit of a companion keyboard dock.
A slew of synthetic tests confirmed our first impressions: the Edge handily beat its contemporaries by several hundred points in PCMark 7, and crushed the competition in various 3D benchmarks, thanks in no small part to that dedicated GPU. Its 3DMark 06 and 11 scores fall more in line with a gaming laptop than a typical Windows tablet, but it won't outgun a proper gaming rig. The original Razer Blade still has it beat by about 1,200 points. The only component outclassed by other Windows 8 tablets appears to be the Edge's 256GB SSD, which fell short of the Acer Iconia W700's ATTO benchmarks. In practice, it seemed more than speedy enough to us, booting up in five to seven seconds, and waking from sleep in less than four. The Edge was never too hot to hold when using regular applications, but did heat up when playing high-end games. Still, we didn't get burned, and the gamepad accessory kept this heat an an arm's length.
| Battery Life | |
|---|---|
| Razer Edge Pro | 3:40 / 6:30 (extended battery) |
| Acer Iconia W700 | 7:13 |
| Samsung Series 9 (13-inch, 2012) | 7:02 |
| MacBook Air (13-inch, 2012) | 6:34 (OS X) / 4:28 (Windows) |
| Dell XPS 14 | 6:18 |
| Sony VAIO T13 | 5:39 |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 | 5:32 |
| Dell XPS 12 | 5:30 |
| Samsung Series 5 UltraTouch | 5:23 |
| ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A Touch | 5:15 |
| ASUS Zenbook Prime UX51Vz | 5:15 |
| Toshiba Satellite U845W | 5:13 |
| Toshiba Satellite U845 | 5:12 |
| Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 | 5:11 |
| Toshiba Satellite U925t | 5:10 |
| Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro | 5:07 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon | 5:07 |
| Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 | 5:05 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch | 5:00 |
| Sony VAIO Duo 11 | 4:47 |
| Acer Aspire S5 | 4:35 |
| ASUS Zenbook Prime UX21A | 4:19 |
| Acer Aspire S7 (13-inch) | 4:18 |
| Acer Aspire S3 | 4:11 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad Twist | 4:09 |
| HP Spectre XT TouchSmart | 4:00 |
| Vizio Thin + Light (14-inch, 2012) | 3:57 |
| ASUS TAICHI 21 | 3:54 |
| Microsoft Surface Pro | 3:46 |
Ever since Razer announced the Fiona project, battery life has been a subject of avoidance. We can see why. Engadget's standard battery test ran the Edge to exhaustion in three hours and 40 minutes. This roughly matches the Surface Pro, but it still ranks far behind the Iconia W700, which houses a similar processor and a smaller battery. Worse still, the self-proclaimed gaming tablet only survived one hour and seven minutes of untethered gameplay before calling it quits. We gave the device another chance at our benchmarks after installing an extended battery pack (sold separately for $69), and indeed, it lasted through six and a half hours of video playback. Still, we found only limited improvement on the gaming front: it managed just one hour and 46 minutes of high-performance gameplay.
Software
Although Razer's still new to the PC business, it knows better than to install any bloatware. Razer PCs come with no pre-installed software, no anti-virus trials and no unnecessary garbage to slow the system down. Really, it's a thing of beauty, and we couldn't be more pleased to see the Edge continue the trend. That said, there is one new piece of code lurking on the tablet's solid-state drive: the aforementioned Razer Launcher. Although the program's primary purpose is to uphold the Edge's console facade, it also offers a small selection of capture tools, allowing users to record video, snap screenshots and view in-game framerates with the tap of a hotkey. It also features a "game boost" processes manger, which promises to disable select (and unnecessary) Windows processes to bolster game performance. As we mentioned above, it has its hiccups and quirks, but with a few updates, it could prove to be a very useful launcher indeed.
Configuration options and the competition
If you're truly looking for a Windows 8 tablet that also happens to be a capable gaming machine, your journey starts and ends with the Edge.The Razer Edge is offered with two base configurations, the 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U Razer Edge and the 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U Razer Edge Pro. Buyers interested in the lower-end model are looking at a single build: 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 64GB SSD priced at a cool $999. No fuss, no muss, no options. The Razer Pro, on the other hand, comes with either 128 or 256GB of storage, which ring up at $1,300 and $1,450, respectively. The rest of the tablet's specifications are nearly identical: the same screen, the same 5,600mAh battery and the same terrible webcam. Look carefully, however, and you might find a small, but notable difference: while both units boast NVIDIA's GT 640M LE as their graphical powerhouse, the Pro model's GPU packs twice as much video RAM. Performance-minded gamers should consider their investments carefully.
Sizing up the competition is a little more challenging. If you're truly looking for a Windows 8 tablet that also happens to be a capable gaming machine, your journey starts and ends with the Edge, at least for now. If you're in the market for a top-of-the-line slab with a powerful processor, however, you've got options. Power junkies dead set on that Core i7 CPU can find the same chip in the Dell XPS 12 and Sony VAIO Duo 11, though we wouldn't recommend the latter. You'd likely be better off targeting the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro or Microsoft's own Surface, both handily matching the i5 Edge in specification (save GPU) while offering a leg up for the productivity-minded. We're also intrigued by Lenovo's ThinkPad Helix, which promises i7 internals and quite a bit more longevity than Razer's kit -- up to 10 hours. Of course, if you've already taken Razer's gaming bait, these hooks simply won't hold.
Wrap-up
All told, Razer can get away with calling the Edge the world's most powerful tablet, at least for now. The company's claim to a mobile and home gaming console, however, falls flat. With only two hours of usable battery life in a best-case scenario, the Edge fails to meet the needs of a mobile gaming device, and the inherent problems of using Windows 8 on a television screen keep it from stealing the console crown. Gamers looking for the perfect Steambox will likely want to wait for something a bit smoother, but PC enthusiasts looking for a well-built and intriguing toy will find the Edge an enjoyable, if expensive, distraction. As for us? We're hoping Razer takes the tablet down the same road as its Blade line of laptops: regular updates with significant price and spec improvements. Here's to the next generation of Windows 8 gaming tablets.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/28/razer-edge-review/
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