Remember my earlier laptop angst? Well, I’m not exactly bowled over by the new Thinkpads just announced at CES, and the logic that we are unlikely to see a M11x R3 refresh this soon after the R2 refresh just a few months ago is pretty compelling (per this long thread at the NBReview forums). Plus, Sandy Bridge architecture is out now, and probably most importantly I’ve built myself a professional desktop rig (my long-standing advocacy for flex computing be darned).
And yet, Alienware has been teasing about something… “huge, exciting, skinny, [other superlatives], sexy” via email:
Could it be, an M13x?
Anyway, tomorrow morning we will find out. I hope it’s not just the M17x R3 which has already been leaked. Yawn… I’ll update the post accordingly… but I’m hoping for a 13-inch, sandy-bridge sibling to plug the hole in AW’s mobile line. Let’s see!
UPDATE: I agree mostly with this list of pros and cons of the M11x which hopefully will/won’t make it into an M11x R3 or a M13x.
UPDATE: Yup, just the M17x R3. On what planet does Alienware think “skinny” applies to this beast? I expect the M11x R3 sometime this summer, and maybe they will have an M13x by then as well, though if they give the M11x a better screen and Sandy Bridge, I’ll probably be sold on it.
My case is too large for my desk, so it went on the floor. A carpeted floor, that is, which means that my arm hairs are perpetually on edge as my arms rest on my desk (actually, a plastic table, which makes it worse. I’ll replace that soon with a proper metal and wood desk from upstairs). My initial assumption was that since the case is metal (steel), and the power supply has a grounding plug, that the PC was basically immune to static discharges. However, reflecting on this a bit more, I realized that if I build up a charge in myself (say, by walking across carpet, in winter, while the heater is on, thus in a very dry air environment, especially so in our basement), and i were to accidentally discharge by touching the PC, then that charge has to travel through the PC to get to ground. Granted, the current might well pass solely through the case, and I assume that the motherboard is at a higher potential. I don’t really know what to do about this, or whether it’s a serious concern.
I have put the PC on a piece of corkboard rather than directly on carpet, but that’s more to prevent carpet from impeding airflow entering via the bottom fan below the CPU. This does isolate the PC a bit more from static, though that would actually be a bad thing because if the PC were truly isolated then it could conceivably build up a charge itself (though, I still assume that the PSU connection to ground will dissipate this). I’m not connecting the PC to any stereo equipment, so there’s no issues with ground loops, at least. If anyone has any advice or can assuage my concerns about static further, I’d be grateful.
Next, I realized that I am running a lot of wattage to very sensitive electrical equipment. DUH! But in the past I;ve just used simple surge suppression strips and not worried much about it. Given the investment in hardware, and my intention to make this PC my main data storage home, I’m going to have to consider some sort of power protection beyond surges. To that end I found an absolutely stellar reference by ExtremeTech on Uninterruptible Power Supplies (or Systems) from which I took home the following points:
– the VA rating on my computer hardware is probably very close to the actual wattage, since my PSU (like most nowaddays) is a Power Factor Correction (PFC) type. Hence I just need to make sure that the VA rating is well above my watts rating – in this case, I have a 650W PSU, so I’d need a VA of at least 700. Caveat: most UPS systems quote a higher watts rating than the VA, so actually I probably should get at least a 700 W UPS, not just 700 VA. That will give me overhead, future growth, etc.
– I need a PFC-compatible, line-interactive UPS. It needs USB interactivity/compatibility with Windows 7 to permit graceful system shutdown in event of power loss (just like notebooks – a good UPS basically gives desktops the same capabilities for power management, which are built into the OS by default).
1350 VA, 810W PFC UPS from CyberPowerTom’s has already done a review of various UPS systems, taking into account the fact that enthusiast-level systems (and above) have more stringent protection needs than a typical office desktop, particularly in terms of drawing higher loads. As I noted in my epic hardware post earlier, I’m not running SLI or doing major overclocking, but even so my 650W PSU is pretty hefty compared to what you’ll find in an office cubicle Dell. My system is on par with the enthusiast build at Tom’s (minus SLI, but plus an i5 quad core), or the Editor’s Choice build at TechReport (minus SSDs/RAID). The bottom line is that they found Cyberpower’s “green” series to be the best value, quiet, and amazingly efficient. The prices for these are better at Amazon than at NewEgg – I’m just unsure whether I should buy the 810W version or the 900W version.
The bad news of course is that this is another $200 to bear. Can I get away with just a surge strip after all? Any thoughts on the matter would be most appreciated 🙂
Wonderduck started this by posting his Top Four – 1, 2, 3, 4 – of these, I tried watching Noir but got bored, though maybe I should give it another shot (though, my anime queue is very long and barely functional nowadays. Is this still an anime blog? There’s an existential question for you…). The other three I probably should add to my list as well.
Steven weighed in as well and defined favorite in a slightly different way, which is of course the entire point of the word “favorite”. I think I’d have to qualify my choices by different metrics:
Most rewatchable: Samurai Jack. It’s actually amerime, not anime, but it blew everything else away. The plot is nonlinear and the animation astounding. If I had to choose an anime equivalent, I’d have to go with Kino’s Journey.
Most warm and fuzzy: Totoro. This also counts partially under most-rewatchable, though only partially because half of my repeat viewings are under duress. I’d put Someday’s Dreamers in close second place.
Most dramatic: Death Note. This is probably the most intense anime, or even television series in general, I’ve ever seen. It stands head and shoulders above everything else.
Most exciting: Cowboy Bebop. I was just hooked on this. intensity and energy of this series blew me away. The only thing that came close is the “sequel”, Samurai Champloo, which I haven’t adequately blogged about yet but definitely had a better ending.
Most philosophical: In a wierd way, I’d have to go with Dennou Coil. The modern mobile revolution is pushing us down that path to Augmented Reality much more quickly than I imagined back when I first saw it only a couple of years ago. The implications are astounding.
Unfortunately, if I were to measure my favorite by tallying the raw number of episodes watched, Ranma probably counts as my favorite. Curse you, Steven!
BBC America, of course. I am not sure if I can watch BBC America at home because we dont have an HDTV (though we do have digital cable). Will have to try it out. Otherwise, I’ll just torrent it.
If you’re following my PC build saga, you’ll know that I was torn between trying to exploit old hardware for cheaper or splurge on new components. I think I’ve decided the latter route and focused on what my major uses are going to be: scientific computing (so, need lots of ram), and WoW Cataclysm (so, need decent graphics performance but not top of line). However, beyond those broad outlines, the specifics of what CPU, graphics card and motherboard to choose were pretty daunting. Luckily, I found the perfect guide to help me make some decisions: an article in Tom’s Hardware about performance in Cata.
Reading this superb and in-depth article, I am concluding:
– AMD chips seems to be bottlenecked in Cataclysm, whereas Intel chips hit their stride. Intel chips need only 2 cores to really shine whereas the AMD chips don’t utilize fewer cores efficiently. So, Intel is the way to go, and given my need for scientific computing I’ll go middle of the road with Core i5 rather than entry-level i3 or maxed-out i7.
– Hyperthreading doesn’t help performance, and chip frequency isn’t as important as cores and cache. So, I’m leaning towards an i5-655k dual/HT or an i5-750 quad. Both are the same price ($200) – but will probably the latter, since more cores will also help my scientific work. The Core i5-750 gets a lot of love from Anandtech.
– It looks like Nvidia’s series 4xx is the way to go for video card, as they support DX11. Of course ATI is always an option but the GeForce GT 460 seems to be a great value card with no equivalent value on the Radeon side. There are lots of manufacturers making these, I’m leaning towards Asus’s version even though it’s $20 more expensive than MSI’s.
– I am an Asus partisan when it comes to motherboards, though that’s really just a pragmatic choice to narrow down the choice. The real issue seems to be, do I need to run a dual-GPU setup (SLI, in this case, given that I’m leaning towards the nvidia rather than ATI video cards) ? According to Anandtech, If I were leaning towards SLI then an X58 board like the Rampage or Sabretooth would be better – most likely the Sabretooth since it’s got less gamer/lanparty bling I don’t need. However, multi-GPU doesn’t seem to be important in cata, according to the Tom’s article, and I’m not sure why I’d need multi-GPU in my scientific computing either. So I think I’m going to go with a P55-based board, which are designed to be compatible with Lynnfield chips like the i5-750 quad I mentioned above. I’m leaning towards the ASUS P7P55D-E, which comes in an LX and a Pro version. The Pro is about $50 USD more expensive but permits SLI also, but I’d rather save the money since otherwise the boards look pretty much identical.
Though I haven’t picked out memory yet, I know I want 8GB for about $100. Should be easy enough to find, but need to figure out what speed (this looks helpful…). The result looks a lot like the Editor’s Choice system at Tech Report. The key is balance – not to get any one component out of whack with the others. A fantastic video card but low end processor will handicap the GPU (and vice versa). The Core i5 coupled with the GT 460 seems like a good pairing here (though I request more saavy readers to critique me on this).
Amusingly, Tom’s sneers at the “Low” quality setting, saying it’s ugly but acknowledging that’s what you are stuck with if you’re playing on a netbook. But frankly I am really impressed that WoW is playable on a netbook at all. Regular commentor Anachronda has told me he played WoW on a Asus EEE 701; right now my only WoW-capable machine is a Dell Mini 10. You know, it may be ugly, but if you need an Azeroth fix, it suffices. That said, the rig above will be about $600 ($200 each for CP and video, $129 for mobo, and $100 for 8GB ram) and I’ll be playing at Ultra in addition to actually getting work done.
So, it’s in my cart at Newegg. I’ll look it all over again and choose some memory to go along with it. Also, I need to verify that my existing power supply will handle this stuff (not too worried about this). I think this is the way to go…
As a follow-up, here’s a thoughtful post about what comes next for Stargate: Universe. The key point is that SyFy doesn’t own the franchise, MGM does, and there is precedent for a series to jump channels. I’m not holding my breath, but there’s more passion for SGU than any series out there since Firefly. Who knows?
Well, Syfy doesn’t actually own Stargate Universe, MGM does. From my admittedly limited understanding of TV legalese, what this means is that MGM takes care of producing the actually show and has some sort of broadcasting deal with Syfy whereby the channel gets to air the first run of the show. While this may at first seem trivial consider two facts; One, the Stargate initially aired on the premium channel Showtime before it was “canceled†and then saved by Syfy (then the Sci-Fi Channel) and Two, MGM itself has issued no statement regarding the future (or not) of the series. I think this is significant because there are many more broadcast options available for the series in today’s market and there are perhaps other channels that would be interested in a series that already has standing sets and a built-in audience.
Below, I’ve included address for some of these channels to write to in order to express interest in watching Stargate Universe on their channel. I’ve also included the address for Syfy. I honestly don’t think there is any chance that they would reverse their decision, but there is the small possibility they could be persuaded to commission a mini-series or movie to wrap up the storyline. This happened when the network canceled the series Farscape, so there is precedence. Obviously, a full season of 13 or 20 episodes would be ideal, but I think it would be worth expressing the desire to have a wrap-up to the show in whatever form we can get it.
[…]
The remaining ten episodes of Stargate Universe season two will air on Syfy sometime in 2011 and this would be a great opportunity to increase the ratings to show Syfy and/or any other potential suitors how popular the show is. Pop Culture Zoo will continue our usual coverage of those remaining episodes so please stay tuned for that.
I’m reprinting the contact information for the various execs as well:
SYFY CONTACTS
Mr. Mark Stern
Executive VP Original Programming, NBC Universal – Syfy
100 Universal City Plaza
Bldg. 1400, 14th Floor
Universal City, CA 91608
Dave Howe
President, NBC Universal – Syfy
30 Rockefeller Plaza, 21st Floor
New York, NY 10112
Thomas P. Vitale
Senior Vice President, Programming and Original Movies, NBC Universal – Syfy
30 Rockefeller Plaza, 21st Floor
New York NY, 10112
SHOW MGM YOUR SUPPORT FOR STARGATE UNIVERSE
Charles E. Cohen
Senior Executive Vice President, MGM Finance and Corporate Development
MGM Television Entertainment
10250 Constellation Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA, 90067
In the Beginning, the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. — The Hitchhiker’ Guide to the Galaxy
This is pretty depressing news – Stargate: Universe seems to have been canceled. They are midway through their second season run and the final ten episodes will air in the spring, they will also modify the plot to wrap up the storyline early (since it was originally scripted for a five year run).
That shows like ST:Voyager get dragged out for years but the great shows like Firefly and SGU get dropped before they’ve had a chance to build a wider following is massively frustrating to me. It’s amazing to me that Galactica was permitted to survive long enough to finish. Sadly, most science fiction (and SGU was no exception) have tried to imitate Galactica’s formula of oversexed characters to try and draw in the mainstream male demographics. I expect the lesson of SGU’s demise, as far as TV producers go, is that there was too much plot and not enough skin. SGU was one of the few shows out there that could credibly be called a successor to Galactica; even Caprica Galactica’s own designated heir already got the axe. The future of American science fiction is dim.
We still have the British franchises, namely Doctor Who, and if the stars align more of Sherlock. And Warehouse 13 seems to have survived the chopping block, though for how long?
Meanwhile, the SyFy rebranding is revealed to have indeed been appropriate. SyFy doesn’t have the patience that Sci-Fi channel did for good science fiction. They just want shows that look like science fiction. It’s just “siffy” now. I’m disgusted, and if I had the option to choose cable channels a-la-carte I’d drop Siffy entirely.
Incidentally, this is an example of why cable should indeed be a-la-carte. Niche channels will regress towards the mean of television norms instead of staying faithful to their niche as long as they are subsidized by general cable premiums. If these niche channels must justify their existence, however, to the niche audience, they will take more risks – and the niche audience will be more willing to pay. Right now I pay about $40 for hundreds of channels; I’d happily pay $50 for just a handful, and Siffy could get a much larger share of my money.
I hope at some point that we can skip able distribution entirely and see a future where TV shows are marketed directly to Netflix and Hulu plus.
At any rate, the long drought of American science fiction has begun.
This is a fascinating academic study of gold farming networks in EverQuest2. I am sure someone is doing something similar for WoW. I love this kind of stuff. These virtual worlds are not just fantasy worlds, the fact that humans are the primary characters makes them into fascinating real-world models for various behaviors.
Recall that MMORPGs have also been used to model disease epidemiology – for example, the “Corrupted Blood” in World of Warcraft which got published in Lancet!
I’m not that familiar with Craig Ferguson’s body of work, but the man deserves infinite kudos for this.
The funny thing is, this was leaked over YouTube, but actually never aired – he was stopped five minutes before broadcast, because they technically didn’t have the rights to use the theme music. Here’s the segment which broadcast instead.
