Maingear Nomad 17 Ultimate

Gaming laptops may be pricey. They may be big, and heavy, and they may not be very portable. But the combination of powerful parts and flashy designs hold a special place in my heart, because the quest to make a competitive gaming machine translates into really powerful laptops that can be used for nearly anything. The Maingear Nomad 17 is no exception. It's equipped with a beefy quad-core Intel processor, Nvidia graphics, and a paint job that would make most muscle cars jealous.

Design
Despite the Nomad moniker, you won't be toting the laptop around with you every day. With the exception of the Razer Blade (2012), gaming laptops are far from portable, being loaded down with big cooling fans and larger power bricks. The Nomad 17 measures a beefy 2.6 by 16.8 by 11.5 inches (HWD) and weighs a hefty 8.1 pounds?10.25 pounds if you bring along the giant AC adapter. As a rule, gaming laptops are considered portable only when compared with their desktop counterparts.

Regardless, the Nomad 17 looks great, with a brightly colored lid and bold black racing stripes. Our review unit came in Rosso Scuderia Red, but Standard Black, Plum Crazy Purple, Alpine White, Vertigo Blue Mica, and Organic Green are also available options. And though it's a plastic lid, these are hand-painted, automotive-style paint jobs. And while the stripes may not make it go faster, they do make it look cool?an important addition to an otherwise unremarkable chassis.

The construction is largely plastic, with a wedge shape that opens up into two large cooling vents in the back. The chassis isn't quite as boxy as the Clevo-designed black box of the Origin Eon 17, but it's still pretty chunky. The Nomad 17 features a 17.6-inch display with 1,920-by-1,080 resolution, a matte-finish to prevent glare, and it looked great through all of our gaming and video tests. Joining the large LED-backlit 17-inch display are two Dynaudio stereo speakers and an integrated subwoofer, made all the better with THX TruStudio Pro sound.

The full-size chiclet keyboard and number pad get blue LED backlighting for gaming in the dark, and the 4-by-2.2-inch trackpad has a separate button bar to avoid the cursor drift and click-and-drag problems experienced with clickpads.

Features
The large frame of the Nomad 17 means there's ample room for features. You'll find two USB 2.0 ports, three USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port, card slot, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI and VGA output, and connectors for headphones, a mic and S/PDIF audio. The Nomad 17 has wired Gigabit Ethernet along with 802.11n Wi-Fi, and you also get Bluetooth 4.0 for connecting your favorite wireless headset.

The Nomad 17 is also equipped with two 128GB solid-state drives (SSD) in SuperRAID?MSI's own tweaked version of RAID0?showing up as a single speedy 256GB solid-state drive, with 233GB available out of the box. While an SSD will lend itself to speedy performance, the total capacity is a far cry from other high-end gaming systems, which often boast 1TB or more of storage space. You also get a tray-loading optical drive with DVD-RW support, but it can also be configured with Blu-ray for those who want it ($148 for the Blu-ray reader, $179 for the Blu-ray burner).

Because Maingear's systems are custom made to order, there is zero bloatware on the Nomad 17, only Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit operating system and the drivers needed for various components, along with installers should you want either Microsoft Essentials AV or Apache Open Office. Maingear covers the Nomad 17 with a one-year warranty, but bolsters it further with free phone support for the life of the system. For even more coverage, extended warranties are available (Two year for $179; three years for $259).

Performance
The Nomad 17 is outfitted with a powerful 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-3840QM quad-core processor that combines with 16GB of RAM and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M graphics processor (with 4GB of its own dedicated memory) to produce superb performance on and off the gaming grid.

It cranked through PCMark 7 with a score of 5,328 points, on par with the Editors' Choice Eurocom Scorpius (5,317 points) and ahead of top performers like the Alienware M17X R4 and the MSI GT70 One-276US. The only recent gaming rig with better performance is the Origin EON17-SLX, which scored 5,886 points with its own crazy fast overclocked processor and dual graphics. Similar results were seen in Cinebench, where the Nomad 17 scored 7.19 points, topped only by the Origin (7.44) and the Eurocom (7.31). For a better idea of what this raw power means for non-gaming tasks, the Nomad 17 tore through our Handbrake and Photoshop multimedia tests in 35 seconds and 5 minutes 57 seconds, respectively. The Nomad 17 may be made for play, but it will dominate at more mundane tasks just as well as any game.

The key area of performance for any gaming rig, however, is graphics. In 3DMark 11, running at Extreme settings, the Nomad 17 scored 2,593 points. Though it was topped by systems running two graphics cards instead of one, it still held its own?even at 1080p resolution and crazy-high detail settings, it ran Aliens vs. Predator at 77 frames per second (fps) and Heaven at 61 fps. Bottom line, whatever your game of choice, this laptop can run it with every little eye-popping detail.

The only weak point in this assault is battery life, but that's the Achilles heel of any powerful gaming rig. Powerful components demand a lot of power, and a lot of cooling, which in turn demands a lot from the battery, even the 9-cell 87Wh Li-Poly battery found in the Nomad 17. In our battery rundown test the system lasted 1 hour 6 minutes, which means you'll rarely be lugging this thing away from a power outlet. It's a little short overall?similar systems like the Origin EON17-SLX (2:21) and the Asus G75VW-DH72 (2:32) lasted longer?but only the built-to-roam Razer Blade provides any significant amount of battery life (3:53).

The Maingear Nomad 17 Ultimate is not without its imperfections?like a smaller storage and short battery life?but for a mid-range gaming rig, there's a lot to love. From the racing-inspired paint-job to the quad-core processor and amped up graphics, this rig puts a lot of gaming horsepower at your fingertips, and does so for a fairly reasonable price. Costing $300 more than the Editors' Choice Alienware M17X R4 is balanced out by the fact that it's more powerful, with better graphics. The Alienware will keep its Editors' Choice crown for midrange gaming laptops, but the Maingear Nomad 17 is still one of the best we've seen in the category.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Maingear Nomad 17 Ultimate with several other laptops side by side.

More laptop reviews:
??? Maingear Nomad 17 Ultimate
??? Asus ZenBook UX51Vz-DH71
??? Origin EON17-SLX
??? Samsung Series 5 UltraTouch NP540U3C-A01UB
??? Dell Inspiron 15z-5523
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/p58vbQJpjAg/0,2817,2414970,00.asp

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The secret revealed: How to make science and ... - The Writers Clinic

African Dung Beetle, Flickr Image

Let?s say you?re a scientist or an IT professional who has to write something from time to time ? say an article or a speech. Or you?re a communications person in a scientific or IT organization who writes press releases and web copy.

Here?s a quiz: What?s the only reason to write anything, from a scientific paper to a press release to a fairy tale?

• a) to explain
• b) to entertain
• c) to motivate
• d) none of the above.

The answer is d), none of the above.

The only reason to write anything is to get someone to read it. No one has ever felt obliged to read anything, except a homework assignment.

Even if you?re the leading scientist in your field, your peers don?t have to read what you write. And when you speak, they don?t have to listen.

Which is why the best introduction ever written was, ?Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was ?.?? That one phrase makes us wonder, What?s going to happen? When was it? Where? Who did it happen to?

And Bam, we?re into the story.

Scientists accustomed to the conventions of academic papers often sniff at ?popular? science writing on the grounds that it?s incomplete or inaccurate. But the best science writing is not only accurate; it?s first-rate as storytelling. Even better, because it?s readable by ordinary mortals, it helps to spread scientific knowledge.

Ed Jong? is one of the best science writers in the game.

Take a look at his lead on how the humble dung beetle uses starlight to navigate:

From all across the galaxy, the light of billions of stars finds its way to Earth, passes through our atmosphere, and enters the eyes of a small South African beetle rolling a ball of dung. . . ?With two of its four eyes, it gazes into the guts of our galaxy, and uses starlight to find its way home.

Or listen to PhD dinosaur expert Brian Switek? on dinosaurs? hands:

For a long time, artists illustrated dinosaurs like Velociraptor with their palms down?what many paleontologists now call the curse of the ?bunny hands.? But as paleontologists re-examined and revised dinosaur skeletons, they found that dinosaurs like Velociraptor held their hands so that their palms faced each other in a more bird-like arrangement. Dinosaurs were clappers, not slappers.

In the same interview, Brian explains that squid have both ?arms? and ?tentacles? and they?re not the same.

Who knew?

How does he decide what to write about in his blog?

Switek says, ?I look for ideas or studies that either make me go, ?Really? That?s awesome!? or, alternatively, ?WTF???

Pretty good criteria.

While it?s harder to find scintillating copy about IT than about science, here?s a blog post by Lisa Caas in a blog from Naked Security that starts:

What?s essentially illegible, fuses characters together into melted blobs of unrecognizable goo, and occasionally tells you to go f**k yourself?

I don?t know, Lisa, tell us. Of course, it?s the CAPTCHA. Who? invented that devilish thing, anyway? (And by the way, we?re not talking about ?technical writing? here; that?s a different animal altogether.)

Finally, a little-known scientific factoid about Groundhog Day, which is tomorrow, February 2.

We all know Groundhog Day is when Pennsylvania?s Punxatawny Phil either does or doesn?t see his shadow.

But it remained for EarthSky to tell us why February 2 was chosen as the day.? Give up?? Because it?s halfway between the Winter and Spring Solstices.

Really? Awesome!

Source: http://www.thewritersclinic.com/3293/secret-revealed-one-only-reason-write-anything/

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White House says expects Hagel to be confirmed by Senate despite rocky hearing (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/282010806?client_source=feed&format=rss

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will he every stop lying? - Talk About Marriage

This is going to be long so be ready.

My husband and I have been married for a few months now and right after the wedding moved across the country for his job. Things just all came crashing down on me over the past week. I have no one to talk to because I don't want either of us to be judged. Any advice or comfort would help.

Before marriage:
We met a few years ago and began dating. We fell quickly for each other. I moved in rather quickly. Things were going great! He told me anything I wanted to know. He explained he had some law suits open against his ex fiance. He was very open about everything. He showed me a print out of his account and how much money he had. He had been moving up at his job, and was very successful. He had good credit. Not to mention he was the sweetest man I've ever met. My family loved him. He made me feel like I was his world. He was just the total package!
About 6 months in I had to get a restraining order on someone and quit my job. 8 days after I quit my job I was looking at my online profile and deleting it. (i met him online) I found the thread where we first started talking and was rereading it. I noticed the information he gave about past relationships was different from what he had been telling me. I caught a lie!! (I had suspicions of him lying just never caught any.)
I sent a HUGE email calling him out on it. I was so upset. He then sent a reply and confessed everything. There were no law suits open. His credit was **** and he was falling behind on rent fast. (Living beyond his means.) Even the "bank account" printout I saw was a fake. (He is VERY tech savvy.) Everything he had told me thus far was a lie.
I pretty much had a meltdown. Not only did I just quit my job so I couldn't leave, I had helped him lie (not knowingly) to my family and friends. I was so angry and wanted to leave. But at the same time I still loved him so much. I called and told my mom. (3am) She told me to pray. She also told me she thought he as a nice guy and that I should give him another chance. Everyone makes mistakes. She said he didn't have to apologize to her or Dad. As long as he made it right with me thats all that mattered.
So we worked it out. I forgave him and he swore never to lie again. He said he hated hurting me and just wanted to make me happy. Things were going great after that. He showed me everything. His credit score. His actual bank account. (Even added me to the account.) He was earning my trust back and being just wonderful.
On our one year he proposed. (Even asked my Dad for permission first.) A year later we got married. The night before we got married I asked if he was POSITIVE there were no more lies. I did not want to start a marriage on a lie. He assured me he was nothing but truthful. The wedding was everything I always wanted!

After Marriage:

We moved a week after the wedding for his job. We are now across the country. I am away from all my family and friends and quite lonely. We seemed to be getting stronger for it though since all we had was each other. Things were going great!
Then last friday we were going to get me a car. He was going to be on the loan since I don't have a job yet in this state. We were sitting in the car office waiting for approval. It took forever! I walked out and said I was done waiting. He came out to the car and said we were not approved because his credit says he has a bankruptcy. He was pissed off saying he has to rush home and call credit agencies and report it as a false thing on the report. He seemed really angry.
I looked at him and said I need you to tell me if you are lying. Please tell me. If you filed for bankruptcy I need to know. He started crying. He told me everything. (Again.) How a MONTH after we started DATING he filed. (chapter 13) He had a few more years on payments. He racked up all the debt buying his ex fiance fancy clothes and jewelry. He was lying to her about money too. He had thousands in credit card debt. He also included the car he was driving on it. (Which both his family and I think is payed off.)
So the ENTiRE relationship was based on lies. I was devastated! I felt like the wedding was a lie. I couldn't look at pictures or anything. I feel like the person I said I would spend the rest of my life with was a fictional character. I felt lost. I still do. We have been fighting the last week. I love him with all my heart and at the same time I hate him. I feel like he is a stranger. He told me he was done lying this time and that he couldn't stand how emotionally distraught I've been.

That brings us to last night. I was asking him about everything he has ever told me. I was asking if there were any other lies and that I needed to know everything. Then he confessed AGAIN. All the things he said about the job offers he had in our early relationship were lies. (raises and things that he didn't get.) He told me he lied about his first gf. They never had sex. He didn't lose his virginity till he met his ex fiance. (The girl right before me.)

*****

I don't know what to do anymore. I don't feel like I can tell anyone because I feel like they will be biased and say I have to leave him. That is not what I want. That is a VERY LAST resort. I had a Catholic wedding and my marriage is forever. I am just so depressed. I sit here all day and cry. I am a thousand miles away from anyone I know and the one person I should be able to find comfort in is the one hurting me. I feel like he is a stranger. I have no idea if the lies will ever stop. Can a compulsive liar ever get help? I don't know where to turn or how to fix this.
He really does seem to want to get help. He is in the process of finding a therapist through his insurance. He says he knows he needs IC before we could ever do MC. I have not forced him. He is doing it all on his own. He begs me not to leave and is admitting he may have an addicting to lying. I feel like he is trying harder this time to prove he is sorry. I am just scared. I have been hurt so deeply and don't know how to start the healing.
Other than the lies we really are perfect together. We go to church together. We agree on having children someday and how to parent them. His family loves me and mine love him. He doesn't have spending problems anymore. He actually saves money now and bargain shops! He is honestly perfect in every way except for lying about money. I could understand in the beginning trying to impress me but we are married now!

I will stop rambling. Just venting since I can't to anyone else. Like I said please give me any advice you can. Try to be understanding. These wounds are fresh and I need compassion. Thank you for your time!!

Source: http://talkaboutmarriage.com/relationships-addiction/66673-will-he-every-stop-lying.html

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Deadly storms move East after pummling the South

ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. (AP) ? Kandi Cash trudged in rain through the splintered debris of her grandparents' home, hoping to salvage photos and other keepsakes after violent storms raked the Southeast, leaving two people dead before the vast storm front moved on to pummel the East Coast.

The demolished home was one of many in the Georgia city of Adairsville splintered by a massive storm front that punched across the Southeast on Wednesday and then began heading over the densely populated Eastern seaboard early Thursday.

Along a path pocked by shattered homes and businesses, the storm unleashed tornadoes and dangerous winds, easily flipping cars and trucks in Georgia. The heavy rains moving across the East Coast also raised flash flood fears and forced water rescues in Virginia and Maryland near the nation's capital.

In the Northeast, utilities reported power outages affecting about 74,000 in Connecticut and feared more outages elsewhere as the potent storm races out over the Atlantic. Forecasters said snowfall was possible in varying amounts from the Great Lakes region through the Northeast.

A flash flood warning was issued for areas around the nation's capital as emergency responders in Virginia's Loudoun County said they conducted water rescues early Thursday after flooding in some areas. One Virginia motorist was plucked from a van's rooftop after the vehicle veered into a water-filled ravine, WTOP radio reported. Water rescues also were reported in the Washington suburb of Montgomery County, Md.

Some flooding also was reported in North Carolina, where 13,000 utility customers were reported without power Thursday after high winds and heavy rains swept toward the coast. West Virginia authorities reported about 9,000 without power and some secondary roads blocked by high water early Thursday.

On the same Adairsville lot where Cash's grandparents had their house there also was a mobile home where her aunt lived and another small house her cousin was fixing up to move into after a planned May wedding. All three homes were demolished: Christmas ornaments, children's toys clothing, household items and just about everything else that makes up a home were strewn about.

"I'm just picking up pictures," the 28-year-old Cash said. "I've found the most important ones, like when my cousin was born and her late daddy, the ones that matter most."

Cash, who lives in nearby Cartersville, rode out the violent weather in a neighbor's basement. Once the worst had passed, she called her family in Adairsville and was relieved to hear they'd all made it to a cinderblock storm shelter under her grandparents' home.

"I just told them that the Lord was watching after them," she said. "The houses can be rebuilt. The most important thing was that they were safe."

WSB-TV in Atlanta aired footage of an enormous funnel cloud bearing down on Adairsville. Winds flattened homes and wiped out parts of a big manufacturing plant in the city about 60 miles northwest of Atlanta. Pieces of insulation dangled from trees and power poles. A bank lost a big chunk of its roof.

Anthony Raines, 51, was killed when a tree crashed down on his mobile home, crushing him on his bed, Bartow County Coroner Joel Guyton said. Nine other people were hospitalized for minor injuries, authorities said.

Elsewhere, one other death was reported in Tennessee when an uprooted tree fell onto a storage shed where a man had taken shelter.

Near Adairsville, the storms tossed vehicles on Interstate 75 onto their roofs, forcing the route to close for a time.

"The sky was swirling," said Theresa Chitwood, who owns the Adairsville Travel Plaza.

The storm decimated a building behind the plaza. Gusting winds knocked several tractor-trailers on their sides in a parking lot.

A shelter was set up at a recreation center as temperatures plummeted to the 30s and 40s overnight and people had no heat or power. Georgia Power said some 9,600 cusottmers were still without power Thursday morning, 2,500 of them in the state's hard-hit northwest corner. That was down from about 14,000 without power in Georgia a day earlier.

Around the Southeast, meanwhile, authorities were investigating several reports of twisters from the system that had raked Missouri and Arkansas on Tuesday before heading eastward. Some tornado watches remained in effect early Thursday along Virginia's coast as the storm headed off.

In Tennessee, officials confirmed that a tornado with peak winds of 115 mph touched down in Mount Juliet. No serious injuries were reported even though the path of damage was about 150 yards wide. At least six other tornadoes were reported statewide. At a shopping center in Mount Juliet, large sheets of metal littered the parking lot and light poles were knocked down. One wall of a Dollar General store collapsed, and the roof was torn off.

Deaths from the latest storm ended the nation's longest break between tornado fatalities since detailed records began being kept in 1950, according to the Storm Prediction Center and National Climatic Data Center. The last one was June 24 in Florida. That was 220 days ago as of Tuesday.

The last day with multiple fatalities was June 4, when three people were killed in Missouri.

___

Associated Press writers Kristin M. Hall in Mount Juliet, Tenn., and Phillip Lucas in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-dead-storms-rake-south-aim-east-121814451.html

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Pelco's Camera Guide for Android

Pelco's Camera Guide allows you to quickly and efficiently find the camera you need. With the ability to filter based on common characteristics, as well the ability to compare different cameras, you are sure to find the camera that meets your specific needs.

Have questions concerning the camera(s) you have selected? No need to fill out long forms, just simply email Pelco sales support directly through the application.

The application allows you to quickly compare two cameras to ensure you have selected the camera that most accurately suits your needs. Only concerned with the differences between the cameras? No problem, differences are highlighted and with just the touch of a button you can narrow down the attribute list to simply show how the cameras differ.

Additional Features: Save cameras to your favorite list for easy access. Email the Spec Sheet to yourself or a colleague.

Source: http://www.appszoom.com/android_applications/business/pelcos-camera-guide_fieqj.html?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Free++Applications+for+Android

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Japan canceling $3.58 billion in Myanmar debt

YANGON, Myanmar -- Japan says it is canceling 326.3 billion yen ($3.58 billion) in debt owed by Myanmar to encourage reforms.

A Japanese Embassy statement Wednesday says the move is intended to help Myanmar's efforts in democratization, national reconciliation and economic and social reform.

Myanmar accumulated $8.4 billion in foreign debt during the socialist regime of the late Gen. Ne Win from 1962 to 1988, and $2.61 billion under the military junta that took over in 1988. An elected government took power in 2011.

The World Bank announced Sunday that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Japan's overseas development bank, will provide a bridge loan to Myanmar to cover outstanding debt to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank totaling about $900 million. That will allow them to provide new development loans.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/30/3208108/japan-canceling-358-billion-in.html

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