MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC Video Card Review

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Legit Video Card Reviews

When AMD first released the AMD Radeon HD 6950 GPU in 2012 the reference design had 2GB of GDDR5 memory. AMD allows their Add-In-Board (AIB) partners to alter the amount of memory on the card if they want and that is exactly what MSI did on the R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC graphics card that they sent us to review. By reducing the frame buffer on the card they are able to reduce the price and for those that don't need 2GB of memory it should be an interesting card to look at. The AMD Radeon HD 6950 GPU has 1408 stream processors, so you know it will be able to deliver the gaming performance that users demand. Since the AMD Radeon HD 6950 video card has been around for a year and a card we have reviewed multiple times in the past, we'll get right to it and take a look at the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC.

Looking at the front of the R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC graphics card you'll see a video card that looks nothing like the AMD Radeon HD 6950 reference design, but we know that is what the card is based on.  MSI engineers came up with their own PCB design and GPU cooling solution for this card, so it has been designed from the ground up to be more robust. MSI has included Military Class II components on it along with the Twin Frozr III dual-fan cooler and a fan speed switch that allows you to change between two fan profiles. On the custom PCB, MSI beefed up the power design to a 6+2 Phase PWM solution to offer more current output to the GPU. On top of that MSI allows for the voltage adjustment of the GPU, Memory and the PCIe slot with the MSI Afterburner utility. MSI has done a number of things to make this card stand out from the crowd!

The MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC graphics card sports a black and silver color scheme with a hint of red that helps give it an aggressive look. The PCB of the card measures ~9.5" in length and stands at ~4.0" in height. It should be noted that the metal fan shroud extends past the PCB, so the true length of the card is ~10.7" in length and  the height of the card up to ~4.3" in height.

One of the main features of the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC is the Twin Frozr III Heatsink. The cooler has two 80mm 'propeller blade' PWM fans to help keep the GPU and surrounding areas nice and cool. The fan blades have air channels located along the the edge of the fan blades that help increase the surface area. MSI says that this adjustment increased airflow by 20% compared to conventional fan. The GPU cooler also has a large nickel-plated copper heatsink base and five 8mm heat pipes to help to dissipate heat rapidly away from the GPU.

Here is a slide that MSI provided on the Twin Frozr III cooling solution.

Turning the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC video card over we don't find too many interesting things as the card doesn't have a back plate or any of the GDDR5 memory chips on the back of the PCB. The serial number sticker is the most important thing that is located on the back of the R6950.

The MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC has a pair of mini-DisplayPort 1.2 connectors, a full size HDMI 1.4a output for 3D video (Blu-ray 3D) support, a dual-link DVI-I and a single-link DVI-I outputs. This AMD Radeon HD 6800/6900 series supports up to six DisplayPort displays by "daisy chaining" them to two DisplayPort outputs.

The Radeon HD 6950 has two CrossFire interconnects and you can link up to four of these cards together for improved performance. The last thing we want to point out in the picture above is that a PCB stiffening bracket (the silver bar on top) is included to help stiffen up the card and keep the PCB from bending due to the weight of the GPU cooler.

The MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC has a fan profile switch along the top edge of the card that allows you to change between performance or silence fan profiles.  This is a nice touch and can easily be adjusted without having to install or mess with any software.  Our card came set to the performance fan profile and we left it that way.

The MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC video card has the same power requirements and connections as the AMD Radeon HD 6950 reference design. This means that the card has two 6-pin PCIe connectors located along the top of the PCB that need to be hooked up. AMD says that the Radeon HD 6950 requires a 500W or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCIe connectors.

Samsung 830 Series 256GB SATA III SSD Review

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Legit Storage Reviews

OK, so maybe the 'SSD of Ebony Excellence' title is a more of an artifact of us playing too much Skyrim than how most would refer to the new Samsung 830 Series but it has a nice ring to it and it is an alluring drive. Really, the exterior design is simple but it has an elegance to it when you hold it in your hand that may be due to the 7mm thickness which is a bit exotic in itself. But before we too far down the hands-on part, we should do proper introductions. We kicked off 2011 with a review of Samsung's 470 Series drive which we found to be an extremely capable drive and even followed that up with a long-term usage update report. Again, we found it to be working nearly good as new after months of use and abuse so Samsung did nice work. While that was a great drive, other SSD makers were already ousting their 6Gbps drives onto the market and 3Gbps drives were so 2010. Bring it on!

The 470 series got its name from the sum of the read and write maximum throughputs but we can't say the same about the 830 as the specs from Samsung say it can hit reads of 520MB/s and writes of up to 400MB/s. 920 anyone? So, no fancy story behind the name, at least that we were made aware of. The exterior features a brushed aluminum top cover in satin black and an orange accent in the corner highlighting the drive capacity. The design is not unlike some of their televisions where they have a big market share. Samsung isn't necessarily a big name in SSDs but they've done a good job so far and we'll let out a little spoiler now that they are making huge strides with this drive.

Having a look around back on the exterior, we have a black plastic shell containing the sticker with all of the drive info and legal information. Again, it's not fancy but it does stand out from the majority of generic drive designs.

The packaging is very nice and included to sweeten the pot is full copy of Norton Ghost and a coupon code for the new Batman: Arkham City. Sweet! All that for about $390 online for the 256GB version.

Solid State Drive with Notebook Upgrade Kit SATA – SATA III (6Gb/s)2.5" 7mm (Ultraslim) Form FactorWindows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit), Vista, XP, MAC OSX, LinuxDrive, USB to SATA Cable, Drive Spacer for 9.5mm drive bays, Norton Ghost 15, SSD Magician 3.0, Documentation

The drive is cradled nicely in a plastic tray and when removed, reveals a hole with a paper tab sticking up to pull out the tray and the underlying contents. Very much like you see on Apple iPods and iPhones.

Included are SATA data and power cables and a chrome-like (tough to see from the picture but very shiny) adapter plate with accompanying screws.

Aside from Norton Ghost, there is another disk that contains the manual and the SSD Magician 3.0 toolbox software that we'll talk a little bit about later.

Batman: Arkham City Performance After The DX11 Patch

Legit Video Card Reviews

Warner Bros. Interactive and Rocksteady Studios really dropped the ball when it came to the PC version of Batman: Arkham City as it had some serious issues from day one. This NVIDIA backed DirectX 11 game title was released on PC well after consoles and the DirectX 11 mode was so broken the developer said not to run the game in DX11.

This came as a huge shock to most gamers and it even caught us off guard as we were briefed by NVIDIA on November 8th about how well their graphics cards performed in the game title Batman: Arkham City. How the game went 'gold' and was shipped on November 22nd, 2011 in a broken state is still rather amazing as it appears to have been tested by NVIDIA weeks before it shipped. The day the game was launched PC users were told to run the game in DirectX 9 mode.  Despite the DirectX 11 issues the game has received universal critical acclaim, making it one of the highest rated video games released in 2011.
It took nearly two weeks, but on December 7th, 2011 a patch was released for Batman: Arkham City that 'fixed' DX11 performance, but only for those running 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows.  Those running 32-bit versions of the operating system will have to wait for another patch that will come at a future date.
Major Fixes in Dec. 7th Batman: Arkham City PC Patch:
Performance / hitching issues have been greatly improved for running in DX 11.
An issue with players running out of Video Memory or encountering a Rendering Thread Exceptions has been address. This was primarily affecting 32-bit Operating Systems.
A progression block after defeating Ra’s Al Ghul has been fixed. This was issue occurred primarily on lower end computer setups and described as Batman not readying his Reverse Batarang.
A crash that occurred when scrolling between the Character Bios and Arkham City Stories has been fixed.
A crash that occurred when selecting “Press Start” immediately when available at the Title Screen has been fixed. The issue was described as crashing/hard locking around the DLC (Downloadable Content) check.
We played the game on the patch with various card and while single GPU gaming in DX11 mode on Batman: Arkham City has greatly improved we did still find some issues. For example we had issues with NVIDIA 3D Vision and NVIDIA 3D Surround on the game title in DX11 mode. Something is still wrong there and it will need to be patched at a future date.
Enough of the small talk! Let's benchmark in DX11 mode with HBAO, MVSS and high tessellation enabled and see what the patch does in terms of performance!

EVGA Z68 FTW Motherboard Review

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Legit Motherboard Reviews

EVGA Z68 FTW Part # 160-SB-E689-K2

The EVGA Z68 FTW edition is the top Intel Z68 offering from EVGA. Before we get to far in, I just want to let you know FTW doesn't stand for what you think it does, it's meant to stand for; For The Win. With the performance that EVGA is know for, they could quite possibly do that! The Intel Z68 Express chipset has been around for some time now so we aren't going to dwell to much on it this time around.

The EVGA Z68 FTW (160-SB-E689-K2) is a very feature rich motherboard. One of the first features that is almost painfully obvious is the expansion slots. The Z68 FTW has six PCIe X16 slots and one PCIe X1 slot. EVGA has done away with the nearly out of date PCI slot that we are still seeing on some of the motherboards we have looked at recently. If you're looking to run multiple overclocked graphics cards you could potentially run into a voltage shortage in the PCIe slots, EVGA has equipped the Z68 FTW with a four pin molex plug on the board to supply additional power. The Intel Z68 Express chipset doesn't supply enough PCIe X16 lanes to truly run NVIDIA Tri-SLI technology. To remedy this situation EVGA has implemented a NVIDIA NF200 chip to supply additional PCIe lanes. The NVIDIA NF200 adds an additional 16 lanes to the PCIe architecture.

The EVGA Z68 FTW has a very solid CPU power delivery system, it uses a 12 Phase PWM (Pulse Width Modulator). Using a 12 Phase PWM will supply your Intel Core i5/i7 with very clean variable power switching. EVGA has also implemented their EVGA Vdroop Control. Within the EVGA UEFI BIOS you can choose with Vdroop or without Vdroop. When you set the UEFI BIOS to without Vdroop, what you set your Vcore to inside the BIOS is what you will get inside the operating system. If there is a question about your voltages EVGA has tossed in a few EZ Voltage Read points that you can check your voltages with a multimeter.

Every company that makes an 'enthusiast' motherboard has a utility to go along with it. EVGA uses their ELEET software utility. When you first open the ELEET utility, you see a very CPUz like screen. Here we can see the details on the processor being used, in our test system case an Intel Core i7 2600K. Unlike CPUz though, we are able to overclock the system using the ELEET utility. We are able to tweak the multiplier, Bclk, and voltages. We're able to monitor the various fan speeds, temperatures, and voltages throughout the system. It's quite a nice little utility to play with.

PerformanceBased on Intel Z68 chipsetSupports Intel Socket 1155 ProcessorsMemory4 x 240-pin DIMM socketsDual Channel DDR3Maximum of 16GB of DDR3 2133MHz+Expansion Slot3 x PCIe x16/x8, 2 x PCIe x8, 2 x PCIe x1Storage I/O8 x Serial ATA 300MB/sec (6x Internal + 2x E-SATA) with support for RAID 0, RAID1, RAID 0+1, RAID5, RAID10 and JBOD2 x Serial ATA 600MB/sec (2 Internal) with support for RAID 0 and RAID1Integrated Peripherals8 Channel High Definition2 x 10/100/1000Multi I/O10 x USB2.0 ports (6 external + 4 internal headers)4 x USB3.0 ports (2 external + 2 internal headers)Audio connector (Line-in, Line-out, MIC)FireWire 1394A (1 external)Form FactorEATX Form FactorLength: 12in - 304.8mmWidth: 10.375in - 263.5mm

The EVGA Z68 FTW looks like it's going to be a great board, at least on paper. As we take the tour of the EVGA Z68 FTW we will take a look at a few more of the feature on the board. For now let's take a look at the retail packaging and bundle that comes with the EVGA Z68 FTW (160-SB-E689-K2).

Temporarily embarrassed millionaires

If the occupy traffic continues to evolve, The Mark caught up with esteemed writer, historian and essayist Ronald Wright – author ofA short history of progressto discuss the changes afoot in American society.

In what is America?your book 2008, you argued that the American Empire – or whatever you call it "Columbian Age" – is to an end. The last three years have changed your mind?

Well, I must say that the past few years have convinced me that I was on the right track. I think the Colombian age – which of course began with Europeans and was brought to its peak by the Americans – certainly seems to be turning out room. It also runs out of credibility. The land of opportunity has become a place with the greatest inequality between rich and poor in the developed world today.

In the United States, there is a recoil of right with the Tea Party movement, and now the links with the emerging Occupy movement. What makes you of these movements, and what they tell us about the State of the American Empire?

The Tea Party is, to some extent, a crafted traffic. It is heavily financed by the very rich people like the Koch brothers, and others. It remains the neo-law confidence trick (which I think we can say really took off with Ronald Reagan) which the arms are convinced that their interests lie in the votes for the Party of the rich. Due to poor public education and a very strong religious element, many Americans no longer approach politics in a spirit of enlightened, rational self-interest, that is the way democracies should be if they go to work.

What makes you the Occupy movement? Is yet another evidence of the declining Empire?

I think it is still too early to tell where they're going to go-or a Flash in the pan, or whether it will produce real change. I think it's an encouraging sign that finally people pushing back against the extreme right agenda that the risk of turning into something close to fascism.

Fascism is not a word I light around objects, but when I see the combination of militarism, nationalism and the typical American ingredient of fundamentalist Christianity, I see something that concern reminiscent of the 1930s. Extreme movements thrive in times of economic crisis. But think that tax cuts for the rich, heavy expenditure, and starting Foreign Wars weapons is going to solve the problem is completely the wrong answer.

---

Related how the changes left the nation :

---

The American writer John Steinbeck hit the nail on the head when he said that the reason socialism never took hold in the US is that the poor exploited proletariat, but if not himself as a temporarily embarrassed millionaires. In other words, she would prefer a lottery ticket than a social safety net. Within the United States, who made a certain amount of sense – when there is a strong growing grew when everything was economy and new country opening. Of course, let's not forget that the country was opening at the expense of the indigenous people of whom it was taken. After the white Americans ready to conquer the native Americans, many of the economic growth than of client States and de facto colonies of the United States.

But now things have stopped growing, and are unlikely to grow on anything like the kind of pace we have seen in the past 200 years.

This will probably lead to serious instability. The thing that concerns me about the tea party on the right and the protests on the left is that these things could easily descend into extremism and violence of the kind we saw in Germany in the 1920s and 30s, and that led to authoritarianism. That is the big risk if people realize that there will not be enough to go around, when an element of desperation comes in because people are out of work and is expropriated. It is a part of human nature to find the Savior – the strong man who comes to everything right again – and that, I think, is the big risk for us in these times. The risk of fascism is very real.

Your life and career spanned almost the entire Western Geography of the Anglo-American Empire. So I wonder: How do you, personally, to it? Are you a hopeful participant, a disinterested observer or something else?

Well, for us all in jeopardy-we are all on this treadmill. Even just to the luxury of being a writer can depending on the continuation of this civilization. So I have a vested interest in seeing civilization succeed. But I remember that there are different ways of doing quite recently. Just to give you an example, at the end of the 1970s, the ratio was in salary between a workplace employee and a CEO at a large American company under 40: 1. By the end of the 20th century, only 20 years later, it had grown to more than 1000: 1 contrast ratio, and the gap is still bigger.

---

: Related : thinking locally, acting globally occupy?

---

Companies are unable to find the larger public good and the long-term future. This is the role of the Government. One way or another, by means of neo-conservative hysteria and propaganda, the whole idea of Government has been demonized. But we have nothing else. The only body that represents the people, in the democracies, is their Government. By the end of the Second World War, almost everyone agreed that the business of Government is to manage capitalism, even from the boom-and-bust cycle and recycle part of the wealth which otherwise would concentrate in a few hands so everyone a decent life.

If you are looking at all the social markers, the countries that this great widening of the gap between rich and poor have resisted those where quality of life is better, and where extreme political activity is much rarer.

We must not forget what we learned – on such a terrible cost in the first half of the 20th century: that rampant inequality leads to chaos, war and revolution.

Photo courtesy of Reuters.

Approach of the jobs deficit

The Mark has achieved in the run-up to the NDP leadership Convention scheduled for March next year, to the different candidates of leadership, asking them to offer their visions for their party and for the country. Article last week, we featured a from MP Nathan Cullen. This week, we welcome Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar.

The last few weeks, I travel the country and talking to Canadians about hope.

What I love about Canadians, even when it comes to hope, is that we are practical.

When we speak about hope, we're talking about a few very concrete things: We talk about building a better future and the people who we want to build a better future. We talk about our children, our loved ones, and the types of life that we want to help them build. And we talk about new opportunities, on education, employment, and about what is possible if we work together, hard.

It is these conversations, and these Canadians who are looking for practical reasons to hope, that the core of my jobs plan.

It is a plan that is about working hard, take over each other to help a step in the life, and on responsible steps that create good jobs and a better future for all Canadian families.

I have traveled across Canada of families – some in regions where the downturn in the economy has hit the hardest to hear.

Across Canada, families brands less quality jobs, and they are not wrong. There is a shortage jobs in Canada. It's real and it is affecting families like never before.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper just seem not to get this. Harper is focused on tax breaks for the wealthiest banks and companies, and protection of offshore tax havens – instead of the things that matter most to protect Canadians.

Today there are more than 1.3 million unemployed Canadians-267, 700 more than when Stephen Harper first took office. On an average industrial wage of $ 48,000 per year this deficit more than $ 12 billion in lost wages for families.

Canadians deserve better.

My priority is to grow our economy and to address the employment deficit.

Practical, proven plan with the I announced earlier this month, we will create good jobs and more opportunities for Canadians.

Under my leadership, will new Democrats make smart investments in our key public assets that productivity, economic efficiency, and increase global competitiveness. And along the way, we make life better in our communities.

We will build stronger communities with a permanent national infrastructure program and a renewed national training program. That means that we can train and hire more skilled workers and put them to the build of the better quality motorways, bridges, universities and colleges Canadians want to work and earn.

We help small-and medium-sized enterprises to encourage them to grow by investing locally. Good jobs overseas are sent so does nothing to help Canadian families. So instead of encouraging companies to ship jobs overseas, my plan is urged to reward companies that here, at home, jobs for Canadians.

We will take bold steps to save energy and the promotion of renewable energy. This includes EcoEnergy Renewable Power program recovery and the construction of a national East-west power grid, which both families keep more money in their pockets will help, new skilled jobs in the green-energy economy and build a stronger, safer, national grid.

We will also say "no" to enlargement of the HST and "no" to raising taxes on the sale. Sales taxes are regressive, with a low income Canadians disproportionately target and life more expensive for families.

We will say "No" against tax havens that encourage tax evasion, and "No" against drastic cuts in public services and the firing of the dedicated people who them.

Today, the new Democrats for the alternative does not represent a Conservative Government – and has never represented-the majority of Canadians.

Last may, made the NDP an electoral breakthrough that just about everyone's expectations of what we as a party in State (d. NDP leader Jack Layton was not surprised, mind you) were shattered.

Layton took us to new heights. He showed us what is possible if we work hard, if we stay focused, and if we care about each other.

Today, there is no doubt that the bar is raised.

But our party is up to the challenge.

By continuing to connect with the Canadians, from coast to coast to coast, and by continuing to build on the positive vision for change that inspired in Canadians, we can better Layton Canada build together.

As a country, I believe that we can better care for each other. And better care for our environment.

As new Democrats, I believe that we can show all Canadians a better future.

As leader of the NDP, I think I can bring together all the regions of our country and our party, the Party finally lead to Canada for the well-being of everyone.

Together, with a new generation of leadership, the NDP Canada change.

I request you to be a part of it.

Let's bring people together to build a country that really reflects the hopes and aspirations of all Canadians.

Www.pauldewar.ca visit for more information about Paul Dewar's plan to create jobs.

OCZ Octane 512GB Indilinx SSD Review

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Legit Storage Reviews

Today we start with a little history lesson so indulge us if you will. In the not so distant past when consumer SSDs were in their relative infancy, there were only a handful of controllers on the market. While JMicron, Intel, Samsung and Marvell were pretty much the main players at the time, the Intel controllers arguably garnered the most praise and attention from the reviewer community. As Nate was the first to discover, many of these had performance issues over time and TRIM wasn't even in the consumer vocabulary. It wasn't too long before an upstart named Indilinx came along and quickly became the darling of the SSD world although the Intel drives were still widely held to be the gold standard, so to speak. Ever the pioneers, OCZ was the first to partner with Indilinx and launched their extremely popular Vertex line powered by their Barefoot controller. OCZ sold a ton of these drives and it really was the impetus that helped propel them into the forefront of the consumer SSD market. It wasn't long before others joined in and there were a slew of Indilinx based drives on the market. Along came SandForce (of which OCZ was an early adopter) and Indilinx seemed to fade away with little fanfare.

Fast forward a bit to March of 2011, when it was announced that OCZ would be acquiring Indilinx. At the time, rumors had circulated about OCZ's interest in SandForce so it wasn't completely unexpected but was still a bit surprising. At the time, there was much speculation on would would come of this but OCZ kept much under their hat, so everyone took a wait and see approach. Finally, this month OCZ announced the newest Indilinx controller known as Everest which is featured in their new Octane drives. They sent us over a 512GB beast to bang around on and frankly we were chomping at the bit to see what they cooked up although this article comes out much later than we would have liked due to unforeseen circumstances, so we apologize for keeping our readers waiting.

The Octane drives actually come in two flavors. The Octane with a SATA 6Gbps interface and the Octane S2 with a SATA 3Gpbs interface. The former features orange graphics and 25nm synchronous (faster) NAND and the latter having blue themed graphics with 25nm asynchronous (slower) NAND. This is probably a wise move since many still have older 3Gbps motherboards and care not to fork out extra bills for performance they can't even take advantage of. Each can be purchased in capacities from 128GB up to a monstrous 1TB which is the first such SSD in the 2.5" form factor that we are aware of! The pricing for the 512GB is expected to be around $879.99 MSRP for the 512GB version and the 1TB version pricing has yet to be announced.

Available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacitiesInterface: SATA 6Gbps / Backwards Compatible 3Gbps512MB Onboard CacheIndilinx Infused™TRIM SupportBackground Garbage Collection SupportBoot Time Reduction OpimizationAES and Automatic Encryption SMART SupportProprietary Indilinx nDurance™ TechnologyLow-Latency Seek Time: 0.06ms Read; 0.09ms WriteSlim 2.5" Design99.8 (L) x 69.63 (W) x 9.3 mm (H)Lightweight: 83gOperating Temp: 0°C ~ 70°CAmbient Temp: 0°C ~ 55°CStorage Temp: -45°C ~ +85°CLow Power Consumption: 1.98W active,1.15W standbyShock Resistant up to 1500GRAID SupportMTBF: 1,250,000 hours3-Year WarrantyCompatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, Linux, OSX128GB Max Performance Max Read: up to 535MB/sMax Write: up to 170MB/sRandom Write 4KB: 7,700 IOPSRandom Read 4KB: 37,000 IOPS256GB Max Performance Max Read: up to 535MB/sMax Write: up to 270MB/sRandom Write 4KB: 12,000 IOPSRandom Read 4KB: 37,000 IOPS512GB Max Performance Max Read: up to 535MB/sMax Write: up to 400MB/sRandom Write 4KB: 16,000 IOPSRandom Read 4KB: 37,000 IOPS1TB Max Performance Max Read: up to 560MB/sMax Write: up to 400MB/sRandom Write 4KB: 19,500 IOPSRandom Read 4KB: 45,000 IOPSPart Numbers OCT1-25SAT3-128GOCT1-25SAT3-256GOCT1-25SAT3-512GOCT1-25SAT3-1T

OCZ touts the Octane drives as having up to a two times increase in the rated NAND program/ease cycles as a result of their nDurance technology. It employs proprietary algorithms to mitigate wear and maintain performance over the long haul. In contrast to the SandForce controllers, no compression is employed during the write cycle so performance should be consistent regardless of the type of data being written. OCZ also points out that the drive is designed to provide better overall performance on all file sizes rather than a small spectrum.

Gone are the traditional cardboard boxed packaging in favor of plastic blister packs. Thankfully, these are the easy to open ones with locking tabs at the top. No knives or hassle. Included is a warranty and instructions brochure and the familiar 'My SSD is faster than your HDD' sticker. Absent is a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter plate which is no big deal since many cases support 2.5" drives now and they are relatively cheap to purchase. The overall external design of the drive is not unlike that of the other drives OCZ offers with bold graphics, a black plastic shell and brushed aluminum back plate. Let's see what they did differently on the inside.

GeForce GTX 580 Showdown: ASUS Matrix vs.EVGA Classified

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Legit Video Card Reviews

Not too many people have over $500 to spend on a video card, but for those fortunate to be able to there are there are a fair number of options to pick from. When it comes to spending that much money on a video card there are two companies you'll want to take a closer look at: ASUS and EVGA. These two companies have been developing high-end enthusiast graphics cards for years that usually feature custom designs that will blow your mind. When you are spending over $500 on a single graphics card you usually want more than the AMD or NVIDIA reference design! The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 is the flagship single-GPU solution from NVIDIA and it is pretty darn fast in standard form. The engineers at ASUS and EVGA took that GPU and came up with two totally custom designs that they felt were better solutions for gamers and enthusiasts.

The cards sent to Legit Reviews for review were the ASUS MATRIX GTX580 1536MB (P/2DIS/1536MD5) and EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Classified 3072MB (3G-P3-1588-AR). These cards represent the fastest air cooled NVIDIA GeForce GTX580 video card from each respective company. The ASUS MATRIX GTX580 comes with clock frequencies of 816MHz core and 4008MHz memory for $529.99 plus shipping.  The EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Classified comes with clock frequencies of 855Mhz core and 4212MHz memory for $599.99 plus shipping. The question that we hope to answer for you today is which of these two cards is the best.

Let's take a look at the features of these cards compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 reference design.

You might be thinking right now that this review is going to end with us praising both cards, but that isn't what will be happening. Both EVGA and ASUS were okay with these cards going against each other with a winner being declared at the end. Both graphics cards are without a doubt winners, but today there will be only one.
We will be looking in-depth at each card showing you their features and then will be looking at the following areas to declare a winner:

Accessory BundleGaming PerformanceOverclockPower ConsumptionTemperatures
Noise Level

This should be interesting, so let's get to it!

Case Labs MAGNUM M8 Case Review

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Legit Case Reviews

Every time we think the market is fully saturated with every possible computer component anyone could possibly need, a new manufacturer comes on the scene to surprise us.   Case Labs has a fast growing underground following on several of the extreme enthusiast forums so we asked if we could see what all the buzz was about.  They sent us over what is currently their most popular model, the Case Labs MAGNUM M8. Case Labs, based in Canoga Park California, was started about a year ago by Jim Keating after frustration with the quality and features available from cases on the market.  Jim's father, an aerospace engineer during the space program, started a custom enclosure making  business back in 1971 for electronic, military, medical, and industrial applications.  So when they needed to build a new workstation for engineering design and image rendering, finding an appropriate case proved to be the most challenging part of the project. The overwhelming majority of cases on the market impose strict design constraints; the choices for mounting hardware and cooling systems are very limited and they wanted a design where the user was able to have almost unlimited modularity and flexibility.   While they had the facility to make custom parts on the fly they realized most PC enthusiast do not and figured they could put their talents to use making the ultimate PC case.  The goal was to make probably the last case you would ever need to buy. Building on the success with the M8, Case Labs added to their line up based on user feedback from the enthusiast community.  The M10 has the same dimensions as the M8 on the outside but supports a larger mATX - XL-ATX (13.60" x 10.75”) (346mm x 273mm) motherboards where the Magnum M8 supports the more common mATX - ATX/EATX (12.0" x 10.75”) size.  The MH10 is deeper than the M8 by 6" where the T10 is taller by 6".  Finally the TH10 is both taller and deeper by 6" in each direction.  All of these cases are available in powder coated black matte or white gloss inside and out.  For more color options Case Labs has teamed up with FTW PC  to offer custom powder coated colors for an additional fee of $274.00 for an M8 Case. Currently you can only purchase the Case Labs MAGNUM cases directly from Case Labs (www.caselabs.net) or from FTW PC.

There are a few other cases that are in the prototype phase including a more traditional 9" wide single bay case and the "Godzilla" dual motherboard four PSU TX10. 

All aluminum construction - .090" (2.3mm) chassis .063"(1.6mm) doors/coversChoice of ventilated or solid doors and covers (on a panel by panel basis).Slide out MB tray.Choice of one HDD cage assembly (4 drive capacity): either standard or Flex-Bay mount. Note that the flex-bay mount deletes one of the 3U bay covers.Choice of hex mesh or 40mm fan holes on MB back plate.Dual PSU mounts (Support bracket available: MAC-123)Integrated radiator/fan mountFour single bay filler plates and two triple bay cover plates.
Filler plates for top and bottom radiator openings, 40mm fan openings on MB tray (if selected), PCI slots, and one PSU.Four sets of mounting brackets for 5.25” devices (MAC-125)Lamptron anti-vandal style switches (power & reset) and wiring harnesses: blue ring for power and red dot for HDD activity. They are standard switches that can be easily swapped out for custom color combinations.Four rubber feet with screws (casters are available: MAC-107).Misc. hardware: Thumbscrews, MB standoffs, Tie-wraps, etc.Available in black matte or white glossWarranty: 1 year on electronics, 5 Years on the case itself

Case Configuration Options:

ATX Layout: Standard (N/C), Reverse ($20.00)MB Door: Ventilated (N/C), Solid (N/C), Std. Window ($15.00), XL Window ($20.00)PSU Door: Ventilated (N/C), Solid (N/C), Std. Window ($15.00), XL Window ($20.00)Top Cover: Ventilated (N/C), Solid (N/C), Tall Ventilated 64mm ($25.00), Tall Solid 64mm ($25.00), Tall Ventilated 85mm ($35.00), Tall Solid 85mm ($35.00)MB Back Plate: Fan Holes (N/C), Hex Mesh (N/C)HDD Cage Assy: Standard (N/C), Flex-Bay (N/C)

Specifications:

Size: 15"W x 19.06"H x 20.06"D (381mm x 484mm x 510mm)PCI Slots: 8Form Factor: mATX - ATX/EATX (12.0" x 10.75”)  (305mm x 273mm)Max Radiator Size: 120.3Radiator Clearance Above the MB Tray: 100mmRadiator Clearance Below the MB Tray: 52mmCooling Tower Clearance: 180mmFlex-Bays (5.25” Bays): 10HDD Capacity: 12 (24 using Flex-Bays)Weight: 19 lbs.

Note: Sizes shown are for the case only. Rubber feet add .75" (19mm) to height, optional casters add 2.63" (67mm).

Noctua Focus Flow 120mm NF-F12 PWM Fan Review

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Legit Cooling Reviews

Noctua Focus Flow NF-F12 PWM 120mm Fan

Legit Reviews is no Stranger to Noctua and their unique color scheme. The first time we looked at a Noctua fan was back in 2009 when we had a look at the S12B-FLX fan from Noctua's FLX (Flex) series of fans, designed to operate in multiple configurations from Standard to "Ultra Low Noise." More recently, we had a look at the Noctua NH-C14 Top-Down CPU Cooler which featured a pair of NF-P14 FLX Fans, which were Noctua's last entry into the fan market.

Today we have the honor to look at their brand new Focus Flow 120mm fan, the NF-F12 PWM. The Focus Flow 120mm (NF-F12 PWM) is a brand new Pulse Width Modulation fan which has vastly improved on Noctua's old designs with the brand new Focus Flow technology to improve airflow & static pressure. Likewise, Noctua did not stop there, and also implemented its brand new NE-FD1 PWM IC as well as the brand new SSO2 bearing.

Before we get into the technical side of things, we might as well have a look at the specifications of Noctua's NF-F12 PWM fan.  *Rotational Speed with **L.N.A.
 Min. Rotational Speed (PWM Mode)
*Acoustical Noise with **L.N.A.
*Static Pressure with **L.N.A.

*All Values are given as a ±10% Figure
**L.N.A. stands for "Low Noise Adapter" which is a resistor cable designed to reduce voltage to the fan by 3v.
***Values converted from Noctua's measurements in m³/h to CFM.

Overall, you're looking at a fairly impressive fan, to say the least. Noctua has gone out of their way to beat the 2:1 Airflow to Noise ratio that's most common on 120mm fans, as well as have a fairly astute pressure rating with this fan as well. By all respects, this is definitely looking to be a performance part from Noctua's factories.

Cooler Master Storm Trooper Full Tower Case Review

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Legit Case Reviews

Back in 2009 Cooler Master released the CM Storm line of cases with gamers on the go in mind. The cases had a rugged look that had form and function as well as security features for peripherals with the StormGuard system. Today we are looking at the next addition to the Storm series, the Cooler Master Storm Trooper. Sorry Star Wars fan, this case is not what you think it is.

The Storm Trooper is a full tower chassis with gamers and enthusiasts in mind. For the gamer on the go the Storm Trooper has a carry handle on the top of the case. Unlike some handles I have seen in the past the Storm Trooper handle is part of the chassis frame, and it can support up to 95lbs or 43kg. Take out the 30lbs for the case itself you are left with 65lbs for your system.

The exterior of the Storm Trooper is not what most are thinking of when they hear the name. It’s all black and has rugged looks like all the Storm series cases. What is different from Storm cases thus far is the plastic portions of the case have a rubberized coating on them. To me, this is similar to the coating that is on BitFenix cases. The coating looks nice, and does protect the plastic somewhat.

To keep things cool the Storm Trooper comes with two front intake 120mm red LED fans, a top mounted 200mm fan and a rear 140mm fan. It still has room for two side 120mm fans and two bottom 120mm fans. Out of the box the front, top, and rear can be controlled by the integrated fan controller. The front 120mm LED fans can have the LEDs turned on or off via light controls on the front panel as well.

The Storm Trooper also has reconfigurable drive cages. The drive cage area is split into two groups of 4 and can be turned independently of one another to either be oriented side to side, front to back, or removed all together to make room for more 5.25” bay devices. The drive cages all have drive trays that are tool-less for 3.5” drives, but can have 2.5” drives mounted to them. There is also a secondary remote cage for just 2.5” drives on the bottom of the case that has room for 4 drives. If that wasn’t enough there is an external drive dock at the top of the case for 2.5” drives.

For the enthusiast, there is the ability to have two internally mounted 240mm radiators in the Storm Trooper with NO loss in main 3.5” drive bays. If you’re rocking air cooling you’re covered there, as well. The Storm Trooper can support CPU coolers up to 7.3” or 186mm and video cards up to 12.7” or 322mm. Now, I have yet to see a cooler that is 7” tall; it makes me wonder what Cooler Master has cooking.

Features of the Cooler Master Storm Trooper

The first full tower chassis with two 90 degree rotatable 4-in-3 HDD modulesThe first with an easy-to-carry handle, and hidden tool box for storing private goodsRemovable dust filters on bottom and top intakesA built in fan controller for cool and quiet operationSupports up to 13hard-drives for future upgradesConvenient external 2.5” HDD/SSD X-dockSupports high-end hardware, XL-ATX Mainboards and Quad SLI/CF with dual slot VGAs

Specifications of the Cooler Master Storm Trooper

Model: SGC-5000-KKN1Available Color: All BlackMaterial: Steel body, Front Mesh / Plastic bezelDimension: 250 x 605.6 x 578.5 mm (9.8 x 23.8 x 22.8 in)Weight: 14.4 KG / 31.7 lbsM/B Type: Micro-ATX, ATX, XL-ATX 5.25"Drive Bay: 93.5"Drive Bay: 8 (converted from 5.25” bay by two 4-in 3 HDD modules)2.5" Drive Bay: 13 (converted from 5.25” bay by two 4-in 3 HDD modules)Cooling System:Front: 120 mm LED fan x2 (1200 RPM, 17dBA)Top: 200 mm fan x 1 (1000 RPM, 23 dBA)Rear: 140 mm fan x1 (1200 RPM, 19 dBA) (converted to 120 mm fan)Bottom: 120 mm fan x 2 (optional)Side: 120 mm fan x 2 (optional)Expansion Slots: 9+1I/O Panel: USB 3.0 x 2 (internal), USB 2.0 x 2, e-SATA x 1, Audio In and Out ( Supports HD audio)Power Supply: Standard ATX PS2 / EPS 12V (optional)Maximum CompatibilityCPU cooler height: 186 mm / 7.3 inGPU card length: 322 mm / 12.7 inWarranty: 2 years

Pay for the World We want

This is the first in a series of Jeffrey Sachsexclusive videos with famous economist. Stay tuned for its discussion of the Obama administration and the Keystone Occupy, pipeline.

In his new book, The price of civilization, comments Jeffrey Sachs that the u.s. economy is "not faced with a recession in the short term business cycle, but the working out of a long term social, political and economic trend." Here, explains Sachs Paul Krugmanwhy his colleague, Economist, is wrong to ask more Government incentive to the ailing U.s. economy, and outlines what is needed to tackle America's deep-seeded political and economic crises.

---

Related Links:

On free markets and social struggles

The strange persistence of free market ideology

---

Photo courtesy of Reuters

Want transparency in elections Canada

Fair elections are a cornerstone of democracy. But here we are, 144 years after Canada became a democratic country, and nobody can tell or elections Canada is enforcement of the law of the federal elections fair and correct.

Democracy Watch recently analyzed elections Canada's enforcement of the electoral law Canada since 2004. Analysis our during this time,  , shows that elections Canada has received complaints about violations of the law 2,284 (during, and between, elections), who did not report on. Details of how it has examined and ruled on these issues has not been released.

In fact, the more than 2,300 complaints that elections Canada has received since 2004, has the only 53resolution details revealed. Besides, it has not received the number of complaints each year between elections, published 1,874 complaints and there are an additional only ever about a vague summary is published.

---

: Related to think twice about online election?

---

Last week, Crown prosecutors (acting on behalf of elections Canada) cut a deal with the lawsuit Federal conservatives finally against conservative senators, party officials, and the Conservative Party about the party advertising-spending regime in the 2006election. That case after all public charges were filed. The party pleaded guilty in the deal and paid the maximum fine, while the accusations against the senators and officials were dropped. Officers of Justice the case against the senators and officials would evidence must have pursued: having regard to the Government that officials knew what they were doing, and knew that there were serious questions about whether the legal can be done, there was a likelihood of conviction.

In this case, at least the public his own opinion about the situation, since the actions that elections Canada has taken in the investigation and pursuit of the case has been made public. With the 2,284 other complaints nobody knows what elections Canada has done.

Unfortunately, this lack of transparency is not uncommon. For example, former Federal integrity Commissioner Christiane Ouimet was able to enforcement to hide her negligently weak from 2007 to 2010, and Karen Shepherd former Federal Commissioner of lobbying did for year 2011same from 2007. (Shepherd's predecessor, Michael Nelson, was no exception). Moreover, Federal conflict of interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson hide enforcementof details about her dangerously weak. All this is made possible by the fact that MPs fail to important questions, and by the failures of the heads of the various federal "good" watchdog public institutions.

Letter In a (from 16 February 2011) sent to the chairs of six House committees and other important Senate, Privy Council, and Cabinet officials, seven officers of the Parliament (including elections Canada's Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand, but not including Ethics Commissioner Dawson) urged House and Senate committees to look at the Chief Electoral Commissioner, ethics and Commissioner of lobbying more closely to ensure that they do their job properly. Unfortunately, they can't seem to get the message, such as they are still not important questions House Committee meetings.

---

Some accountability, please related:

---

Claims that it has solved Canada elections many of the complaints cited election 2,284. This can be, but the public has a right to know the details of when, how and why each complaint was resolved. These details can reveal that elections Canada investigates and ruling on every complaint fairly and effectively, and in a timely manner-or can reveal that Canada elections occurs on a biased, unfair way that negative impact on the outcome of elections and/or the reputation of certain politicians and officials of the party.

It is important that the public should have access to this information. The same goes with the other major democratic, "good governance" watchdog agencies – if we do not know the details about how they are ruling on every complaint, we cannot know if they are free.

MPs must demand that elections Canada's actual enforcement in the past seven years will be available for public scrutiny, and must begin hold regular hearings to ensure that public authorities watchdog work effectively.

A more ambitious – but no less necessary solution is changing the laws that "good governance" watchdog agencies, so they required for this kind of information – information that the public has the right to know.

Photo courtesy of Reuters.

Zynga goes all-in with Google TV, brings Texas HoldEm Poker app

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Zynga is bringing popular its very popular poker app, Texas HoldEm Poker, to Google TV. Google TV will be the first set-top box platform to support the game, and with 30 million active monthly users across all platforms (Yahoo, Google+, Facebook, iOS and others), you can see why.

Google TV has been capable of supporting the app, as they support Flash-based websites which means you can already play Zynga games such as Texas HoldEm Poker already, but Zynga have said that the Google TV version announced today is "especially optimized for playing poker from the comfort of your own couch."

I think it's a great move. Imagine the future, playing poker from your own living room - with real money. I can see it now, motion controller based gaming, with Poker... using hand gestures for check, raise, all-in.

Many Loose Ends in Canada-EU Trade Deal

AppId is over the quota Translate Request has too much data Parameter name: request type="html">

Formal negotiations on a proposed Canada-EU free-trade agreement are now over. With the end of a ninth round of talks in Ottawa this past October, provincial, territorial, and EU member-state governments have been cut out of the picture (temporarily) so federal and European Commission officials can tie up loose ends in trouble areas. The Harper government claims an agreement with the EU is still possible for early 2012, but European legislators have been told the summer is more likely. There are technical and political reasons for the delay. The eurozone crisis is likely not one of them, however, and may actually increase the resolve of otherwise blasé EU member states to seal this deal with Canada.

---

Related: Stakes Are High in the EU-Canada Trade Deal

---

A growing list of Canadian and European labour and environmental groups, emboldened by the anti-austerity and Occupy movements, want the trade talks halted immediately. They see CETA as a corporate rights deal for the one per cent. As long as trade and investment flows are the priority, climate change, jobs, and equality are not. Finally, there is the deal itself, which may stall on its own in key areas such as supply management, intellectual property, rules of origin, investment protection, and even the definition of public services.

CETA STATUS UPDATE

We can only know as much as our government tells us about CETA. Civil-society groups, including non-governmental organizations and academics, are briefed after each negotiating round. Occasionally, we receive a leaked text from one side or the other, but officials pretend these don’t exist. During the past two negotiating rounds, Conservative Trade Minister Ed Fast has made public announcements about their progress. But during his October press conference, journalists were told that many details were for “deep background” only, and therefore unprintable.

Canada says the negotiations are progressing well, while the EU says there are still lots of problems. One of them, according to the commission, is the issue of supply-management boards for poultry, eggs, and dairy. Another on the EU side is pork and beef access for Canadian producers, who are insistent that CETA is not worth signing without significant gains for grains or animal products kept out of Europe for regulatory reasons (i.e. because they contain hormones or genetically modified content).

Of the problem areas, intellectual property will be handled last, as the EU continues to push Canada on copyright and patent terms on pharmaceuticals. EU negotiators are watching the passage of Canada’s copyright bill and resisting Canadian requests for broad cultural exemption (as exists in NAFTA and all other Canadian free-trade agreements). They want automatic patent term restoration if more than five years have passed between patenting and market authorization, as well as other extended monopoly rights for Big Pharma that will restrain Canada’s productive, jobs- and research-heavy generics sector.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is fighting both artists and internet-freedom constituencies on his copyright bill. He won’t want a double battle on pharmaceutical policy, but he’s going to get it in CETA and it will expend political capital.

DEFINING PUBLIC SERVICES

It was difficult to decipher, in the October briefing, what Canada will cover in areas related to water. We were assured that, in general, there is a common interest in protecting public services – but clarity in the language will be important.

Neither Canada nor the EU simply excludes all public services from trade agreements. In CETA, Canadian negotiators have proposed broad so-called horizontal carve-outs commensurable with their NAFTA and GATS reservations, according to EU sources. These protections are not perfect, and apply only to those services provided by a public body on a non-commercial basis. The EU carve-out is similar, but refers to “services of general economic interest.” CETA may use the EU language.

In either case, since CETA will likely include strong investor protections that exist in NAFTA and many EU member state bilateral investment treaties, the lack of a clear definition for public services is very worrying. It creates ripe conditions for compensatory claims by private service providers in the event that local or regional governments reverse privatizations, or when newly created public services hurt the profits of existing private providers.

---

Related: Why "Buy Canadian" Makes Sense

---

The problem this raises was the topic of a day-long conference in Brussels last week (“Canada-EU Trade Agreement: A Trojan Horse Against Public Services”), which was co-organized by the European Federation of Public Service Unions, the Austrian Trade Union Federation office in Brussels, and the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour. Following academic presentations on the issue from European and Canadian presenters, parliamentarian Jörg Leichtfried of the International Trade Committee and EU-Canada delegation said, “some of us in the European Parliament are very concerned about the lack of transparency of these [CETA] negotiations and we do not believe that the European Commission should keep pushing this neoliberal agenda.” Leichtfried told the audience he would not support a deal with Canada if it in any way endangered public services. It may not be enough on its own to stop CETA, but lack of clarity on the definition of public services will be an important debate internally for a Parliament that is seeing its will ignored in other areas, notably investment.

DEFENDING INVESTOR RIGHTS

Since the Treaty of Lisbon of 2009, the European Commission has had sole competence over investment policy, including the negotiation of investor protections and dispute processes in trade agreements. But EU member states have signed hundreds of bilateral investment treaties with each other and third-party countries. Despite attempts to sort out this contradiction, a uniform EU-wide investment-protection regime that can satisfy all players has yet to be developed.

In the end, the commission ignored calls for moderation, transparency, and an end to the right of investors to directly challenge government policy in front of secretive arbitration panels at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the International Chamber of Commerce, and elsewhere. It ignored its own better judgement in an earlier position calling for greater transparency, some room for appealing the decisions of these pseudo-courts, the involvement of third-party testimony, and a pre-set roster of arbitrators to try to weed out possible corruption.

---

Related: The Price of Business as Usual

---

The commission opted, instead, to satisfy Germany, Holland, and other member states offering some of the greatest protections in the world to private companies against government rules, regulations, or legislation that might hurt profits now or in the future.

This leaves CETA in an interesting position. Effectively, the European Commission won’t be able to stray from its mandate, which calls for unqualified Most Favoured Nation and National Treatment protections for EU firms in Canada, and vice versa. Canada’s negotiators, on the other hand, have told us they’ve been trying to develop a new model investment protection pact with the EU that would try to “weed out the frivolous cases,” which would be impossible under the EU mandate.

It would be nice to think that, with Canada’s overwhelmingly negative experience under investor-state disputes – we’ve spent over $150 million in lost cases or settlements, and who knows how many more millions of dollars in legal fees – the Conservatives would not accept the EU position. But that is probably just wishful thinking. Harper wants this deal, and will pay a hefty price for it. The EU Parliament, on the other hand, may still cause some trouble for the negotiators, with investment becoming a surprise sleeper issue in CETA.

ONGOING ISSUES AND RESISTANCE

The friction when it comes to investment, agriculture, intellectual property, and how to cover public services, water, and power utilities is not debilitating. On their own, none of these issues would be enough to defeat CETA in the EU Parliament. But combined with ongoing irritants such as Canada’s incensed lobbying against EU climate policy, its World Trade Organization challenge to Europe’s ban on seal products, the visas Harper imposed on Czech travellers, and Quebec’s continued support for its vilified asbestos sector, there’s enough to delay the negotiations well into 2012.

That’s not good enough for the more than 80 European and Canadian organizations that signed a declaration in October demanding an immediate end to the negotiations. They know that at the end of the day, in Canada at least, what goes and stays in CETA comes down to a political decision by an ideological, pro-market Conservative majority government. Minister Fast has said Harper won’t sign a deal that’s not in Canada’s interests, but Harper’s record says otherwise. Debate has been cut short or dispensed with altogether on some issues. For wheat farmers, debate and a plebiscite were ignored so that the Conservatives could fulfill a useless (for farmers, not Cargill) election promise to dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board.

For its part, the Council of Canadians continues to call for the EU and Canadian offers to be made public and then debated publicly at whatever level of government will be affected, including municipalities. We’re encouraging local governments to demand to be excluded from CETA’s procurement chapter, and almost weekly another one does. Our chapters, along with other Trade Justice Network member organizations, are joining Occupy movements across Canada to denounce what we all see as a deal to put more limits on democratic options at home rather than open trade doors abroad.

It’s not up to Harper to decide whether a deal with Europe is in Canada’s interests or not. We must all have that discussion, based on all the facts, and make up our own minds.

Photo courtesy of Reuters.

Zalman to enter the GPU market

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

This is a bit unexpected, but a good move for Zalman. They have just announced their entry into the GPU market with the shipping of Zalman-branded GPUs to start shipping on December 13.

Zalman's first entry will be AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series GPUs, in three different models: Zalman HD6870-H , H-Zalman HD6850 and HD6770 Zalman-H. As you can tell from the model numbers, they are HD 6870, HD 6850 and HD 6770 GPUs. Nothing high-end yet, but I'm sure Zalman are just putting their toes into the water, for now.

All cards will feature two DVI outputs, one HDMI output and one DisplayPort output. All cards are dual-slot with the fan located in the center of the card. The PCB is a wicked blue color.

What I'm looking forward to, is some new GPU cooling technology with their own Zalman-branded cards. Zalman have made some truly great coolers over the years, many of which I've personally owned. I'm quite excited to see what Zalman will do now that they're in the GPU market.

HP to have another sale of Touchpad's

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Did you miss out on the original HP Touchpad sale? Well, don't dwell, it's your lucky day. HP have sent out a release to employees this week, letting them know that the sale will start on December 11 at 6PM, on HP's eBay store.

Well, isn't that a coincidence. Former eBay CEO, Meg Whitman is now the HP CEO. Nice work. You'll be able to grab refurbished 16 and 32GB models for $99 and $149, respectively. There's also an added bonus, the chance to grab a case, charging dock and wireless keyboard bundle for $79.

Each buyer is limited to two Touchpads, but that's better than nothing, right?

Put a price on nature of services

In early ran November, 70 Harvard University students of their introductory economics class. She wrote to professor Gregory Mankiw that the biased nature of its course "perpetuates problematic and inefficient systems of economic inequality in our society." Mankiw is the author of Principles of Economics, the a textbook used by almost every student general economy in the Western world.

The strike was part of a larger event organized by Boston's Occupy protest, and echoed a key element for the worldwide Occupy movement. As these students and demonstrators, I've been thinking about our dysfunctional economic paradigm. I share the concern that we sacrifice too much to a system driven by three fallacies: that well-being can only be measured in money, that distribution doesn't matter, and that the economy can grow forever. And so a lot of people today, I wonder if our economic system at the service of the goals that are important for the society. After all, is an economy a means to prosperity, not the end.

---

Related Series on free markets and social struggles :

---

This economic system is relatively new. World leaders had in the 1930s and 1940s, to tackle unemployment and features summary. Many of our current economic measures were when natural capital (the benefits provided by nature) was abundant but built capital (buildings, machinery, infrastructure) was not developed. In providing more manufactured goods and services, we developed a blind spot on the economic importance of natural systems. Labour, built, and financial capital are generally considered to be the primary factors of production for economic development. Country and natural systems are rarely recorded.

With increasing human populations and profit-driven, consumer-based economy, more land is eaten by development, habitat is destroyed and degraded, and resources on non-sustainable exploitation levels. Natural capital is disappearing.

---

Related a new view of wealth :

---

For example, salmon were abundant on B.C. the west coast in 1900. Built more capital, such as nets and boats, was needed to harvest them for food. By 2000, there were no shortages of nets and boats, but the fish and the habitat they need to survive had become scarce. If natural capital and the goods and services have declined, increased interest in this area of the economy.

Starting to recognize economists are also that human welfare depending more than having manufactured products. A large amount of research shows that things such as free time, equality and healthy relationships are important to people's happiness than larger consumption. This starts to change our economic models.

But we still have to go far. The services of the nature and the qualities that contribute to human well-being are still invisible in the market. Because we have exalted above all, is this dangerous economy. When you a society largely quality of life with economic indicators such as gross domestic product comes down, and that indicators are not tracking the health of its fundamental inputs, eventually you on shaky ground.

---

Put a price on Carbon related:

---

How we tackle this? A tool is natural capital appreciation. Put a price on nature of services is a complicated topic. Although nature is worth the full non-quantifiable, her unmistakably ecosystems services provide society that have real, tangible economic weight. For example, wetlands filtering water and reducing natural disasters, such as floods, and forests manage runoff and habitat provide pollinators.

By the value of the visible nature, decision-makers take into account the real benefits and costs of conservation and restoration. These economic benefits even have the attention of the world bank plans to help countries , tracking of natural capital assets and including them in development plans, in the same way that we track other wealth with the GDP index. And, more recently, the advocates former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has natural capital in national accounts including.

These measures will not completely change our current economic paradigms, but they could at least delay the rampant environmental devastation and the resulting effects on human health and well-being, that symptoms of our profit-driven corporate economies. They can also help us think about what we really need to be healthy and happy as people, and to see the trade-offs inherent in our activities. Until we do this, we cannot hope to address inequalities, the students and protesters Occupy his rally against.

Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation environmental economist and policy analyst Michelle Molnar.

Photo courtesy of Compfight.

Thursday Morning Roundup

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

The latest happenings from around the web - December 8th, 2011

Systems

- TR's Christmas 2011 system guide @ Tech Report

- Viako Mini Letter ML55 H61 WIFI PC @ Madshrimps

Motherboard

- Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard @ eTeknix

- ASUS Rampage IV Formula @ Ocaholic

- ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe Z68 LGA 1155 Motherboard @ Bigbruin

- ASUS Rampage IV Formula (BF 3 Edition) @ tbreak

Memory

- GeIL Enhance CORSA 1600MHz CL9 8GB DDR3 @ Vortez

- Crucial Ballistix 6GB DDR3 2133 MHz RAM Triple Channel Kit @ Techwarelabs

Video/Monitor

- eVGA Is The GPU King? @ eTeknix

- The Current State Of Radeon Power Management @ Phoronix

- MSI GTX560 Ti 448 'Power Edition' @ Vortez

- Sapphire Vapor-X HD 6850 1GB GDDR5 Graphics Card @ ixbtlabs

- MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC Video Card @ Legit Reviews

Audio/Media

- V-Moda True Blood REVAMP In-Ear Noise Isolating Headphones with 1-Button Mic @ Testfreaks

- Arctic Sound E461-BM Earphones @ HiTechLegion

- Shure SRH550DJ Headphones @ TechReviewSource

- Corsair Vengeance 1500 Gaming Headset @ EverythingUSB

- SteelSeries Gaming Headsets Overview Dec 2011 @ Hardware Heaven

Cases/Modding/PSU

- Cooler Master Storm Trooper Full Tower Case @ Legit Reviews

- Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra Case @ Hardware Secrets

- Thermaltake Commander MS-I USB 3.0 @ Techpowerup

- The Best Cases of 2011 @ ThinkComputers

- Huntkey X7 900 W Power Supply @ Hardware Secrets

- Streacom FC5 OD & Streacom ST-150WP @ Techpowerup

- Thermaltake Spacecraft VF-I PC Case @ RWLabs

- BitFenix Outlaw Mid-Tower ATX Case @ Futurelooks

- Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W PSU @ Vortez

Cooling

- NZXT Havik vs Noctua NH-D14 @ Overclock3D

- Cooler Master Hyper 412S Tower Cooler @ Ocaholic

- Thermal Compound Roundup - December 2011 @ Hardware Secrets

Storage

- Silicon Power Diamond D05 750GB USB 3.0 @ Techpowerup

- Kingston Earth Angel USB Drive @ Hardware Bistro

- ADATA S510 120GB Solid State Drive @ Kitguru

- OCZ Octane 512GB Indilinx SSD @ Legit Reviews

- Samsung 830 SATA III 6Gbps 128GB SSD @ XSReviews

- Patriot LX Series SDXC 64GB Flash Memory @ Aphnetworks

- Synology DS212 NAS @ Tech-Reviews

- SilverStone RVS02 SATA Enclosure @ Phoronix

Other

- Logitech Gaming Keyboard G510 @ LANOC

- The Five Stages of Griefing: Death of the Consoles @ PC Perspective

- Ozone Strike Mechanical Gaming Keyboard @ Overclockers Club

- SteelSeries Desmo Digital Eyewear @ Benchmark Reviews

- Steelseries Diablo III Gaming Mouse @ Funkykit

- Lenovo's ThinkPad Tablet: An Android Business Slate @ Hot Hardware

- Razer Deathadder Transformers Edition @ LANOC

- Choiix Wake Up Folio Protective iPad2 Smart Cover and Back Case @ eTeknix

- Cyberlink Power2Go @ HiTechLegion

- Roccat Kova[+] Optical USB Gaming Mouse @ Benchmark Reviews

Canada and the Quest to kill Kyoto

On 28 november, international climate-change negotiations will begin in Durban, South Africa, such as the gang 17th Annual Conference of the parties the (COP17) at the of the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change gets . This is the first of a series of blog posts of Amara Possian, who Canadian youth delegation the Coordinator of the Conference. Amara will write for The Mark in the whole month, keeping us up to date, such as discussions unfold.

These days, even scoffing foreign diplomats on Canada's climate policy. A recent interview In The Globe and Mail, with Mohau Pheko, the South African High Commissioner to Canada, asked, "are you going to follow the United States, you are also going to be a serial non-ratifier of all agreements? ... Why take a moral high ground before, on the question of the environment, and suddenly a u-turn do now? "

Pheko was referring to the Harper Government unwillingness to take a second commitment period for emission reductions to the Kyoto Protocol, and she is not the only one who is stunned by Canada's international and domestic climate policy backwards.

The legally binding Kyoto Protocol, which Canada ratified in 2002, is set to expire in 2012. This means that the discussion around to accept a second commitment period for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) can no longer be postponed if the international community is serious about stopping dangerous climate changes. The Canadian Government, is opposed to committing a second reduction period because many countries, such as large emitters of greenhouse gases such as China and India, need not to make any reductions under the agreement.

---

Put a price on Carbon related:

---

In her opposition to the agreement appears to have Canada turned his back on the common but differentiated responsibilityidea. The paths of the carbon-intensive and industrial development of rich countries such as Canada are what led to the current high levels of GHG emissions that have led to such unprecedented warming. "Common but differentiated responsibility," an important principle of the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change, refers to the responsibility of these rich countries to act first and foremost when it comes to addressing climate change.

Sure, India and China should also reduce their emissions if we want to avoid catastrophic climate change. But, as a fellow activist once said, "if my grass is overgrown, I should not be yelling at my neighbor mowing his lawn."

Why did Canada's climate policy taken such a dramatic turn away from the proactive and constructive international engagement that we in the past years were known for?

The answer is simple: Canada's priorities are negotiations is influenced by our powerful oil and gas industry.

There is a very thin line separating our oil industry of our Government. For example, in July 2011, Alykhan Velshi, Director of the former Communications Minister for EthicalOil.orgof immigration Jason Kenney, launched, a website to promote Canada's tar sands as "ethical" energy source. A few days ago, Velshi stepped down from his "grassroots" position to a job in the Prime Minister.

The Canadian Government $ 1.4 billion also offers subsidies to the oil and gas industry each year, quadruple production and there are plans to of the tar sands in 2015. If, if the Harper Government hope, the Keystone XL or Northern Gateway pipelines are approved, we will be trapped in expanding our export of the carbon-intensive oil for decades.

---

Related: the face of climate corruption in Canada

---

But Canada's actions in support of its oil interests do not stop at home: in the past two years 110 meetings held , the Canadian Government officials abroad with the aim of derailing European fuel legislation that are in danger can bring oil markets.

At the same time, we have already sabotaging our domestic ability to assess and monitor the impact of environmental policies and projects. Strip in July 2011, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency lost 43.1% of its federal funding, its ability to evaluate proposed projects. Less than a month later, the Government cut 11 percent of Environment Canada's workforce – 776 meteorologists, scientists, chemists and engineers at their job if the Department grants, and operational decreased by 31 percentexpenditure capital lost. And, in mid-October, after 34 years of the Canadian Environmental Network inform environmental policy by not away -partisan consultation, the Government of its entire $ 536,000 in funding.

In the not-so-distant past would Canadians proud of our international reputation. In fact, was the first high-level international Summit on climate change held in Toronto in closed 1988, where participants-that the threat of climate change was change "second only to a global nuclear war." These days, on climate negotiations, happiness you that if international members you speak when they find out that you are from Canada.

Photo courtesy of Reuters.

Reading between the lines

***** The Visit OpenCanada.Org. new CIC website at Canada's hub for International Affairs.

---

Sometimes, the most interesting part of a political speech what is not said. On Thursday the President Barack Obama has a speech in Australia's Parliament in which he the rationale and the priorities of the U.S. policy shift towards the Asia-Pacific region. The speech was largely about China, but Mr. Obama hardly dared to say of the Dutch name out loud. The complexity and sensitivity of the US-China relationship were on full display, for those to read between the lines.

Much of the speech wanted China's neighbors about America's involvement in regional security in the face of Chinese reassure rising power. The United States, said Mr. Obama, "will deter threats to the peace" and keep her obligations to allies including Japan, South Korea and Australia. It will fix a "more flexible" military attitude, including basing Marines in Northern Australia by and by training of the Marine and land forces of regional partners. It will also "new capabilities," an oblique phrase may refer to ship-based drone aircraft, which have the potential to significantly expand the range of U.S. air and naval forces deploy.

---

More from the CIC: How Canada will navigate the rise of China?

---

The rest of the speech addressed several other hot-button issues in the US-China relations. For example, the President stressed the need to ensure that "trade and freedom of navigation are not bothered" and that "countries with large surpluses take action to promote the demand at home." He called for a "level playing field" for cases where "each nation plays by the rules" and "intellectual property and new technologies that fuel innovation be protected; and where currency market driven so no nation has an unfair advantage. " In addition, he spoke strongly about enforcement and human rights workers ' rights, in particular. These messages were clearly intended mainly for China.

Amazing, however Obama barely mentioned China in the speech. The text of his speech was 50 members long, but he referred to China in only one of these paragraphs.

---

More of the Club that matters CIC:

---

This omission served a diplomatic goal. China is extremely sensitive for American criticism – and even more so to what it sees as American interference in the region. By speak indirectly, could President Obama of China nervous neighbors, while communicating his pleas to China, along with implicit warnings – without unnecessarily insulting or provoking reassure Beijing.

Nevertheless, isn't it striking that this messages so cant, and that the relations between the two main countries remain fragile so that a speech which is essentially about China must be communicated disguised as something else?

The silences in Mr. Obama the speech were so eloquently as his words.

This article was originally published Canadian International Council dispatchthe.

Photo courtesy of Reuters.

The future mortgage

Around the world are the pension schemes for employees of the public sector – such as those of workers in the private sector – under attack.

Most of the public sector "defined benefit" pensions plans (DB), which means that the payouts are based on the income and the years of service of a member. To pay off the promised benefit, sponsor of the plan member and employer contributions invest successfully on a long term. In recent years have turbulent investment markets, creating a technical deficit for some single-employer plans eroded. Critics say that as a result, all such plans untenable. And, they ask, why should officials get a better plan than the rest of us?

What they don't seem to realize is that "the rest of us", meaning private workers, don't ever equipped with pensions altogether. Such as Moshe Yarmolenko and Alexandra Macqueen in Pensionize your Nest eggs out their book, Statistics Canada figures of 2008 shows that 72 percent of the private sector workers have no registered pension scheme coverage.

---

Related: Why better pension arrangements saves the day

---

And despite the fact that collective DB plans can operate successfully without running into financial problems – healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan the (HOOPP), which I lead, is a textbook example of that-the single-payer DB pension plan begins to disappear from the pension landscape. That is because private companies want to spend less on pensions for their employees, and critics of the public sector compensation feel that their retirement benefits with the private sector to be aligned.

Where DB plans have eradicated, are alternatives, such as defined contribution (DC) savings plans, introduced in their place. But DC is a viable alternative? It provides a sufficient retirement income? With a DC plan, everything that "defined" is the money that is put in – what comes out, in the form of a retirement income, depends on how well the money is invested, and how much the annual investment fees.

Australia offers a cautionary tale of what can happen when pension reform focuses on employer costs than on advantage results. Only a few DB plans still exist Down Under, with most of the population depending on DC plans. A study of 50 percent the Melbourne Institute shows that of all seniors live below the poverty line.  Australian Investment Institute The points out that the average Australian male has only $ 130,000 in his plan DC "super" on pension, and that the average female only 45,000 dollars. Using the industry rule of thumb that you $ 20 savings for every $ 1 of retirement income, must, of course, that this "super" totals are not super-our former Australian man lives on $ 6,500 per year, while our former Australian woman just $ 2,250 per year will receive.

It is worth noting that when DC supers were introduced in Australia, employers contributed three percent. This amount was later increased to a nine-per-cent contribution and has recently introduced legislation to increase it to 12 percent. Australia has realized that in order for DC to work, employers must put much more money.

The DB model is the most efficient pension-paying machine that exists. In 2010 the average insured pension FINANCE HOOPP starter was something more than $ 18,400 per year – and while not HOOPP pensioners with rich pension will, they can rest that they will be paid for their monthly income as long as they are in retirement life.

Members and employers contributions in this system, money, which then invests HOOPP of professional team. Since the ORTEC FINANCE HOOPP, 80 cents of each Fund in house manages dollar pension we pay from investments – the rest of contributions. Costs are minimal-cost SOLUTION FROM ORTEC FINANCE HOOPP to invest the money is only 26 basis points, that is a fraction of the 150 to 250 basis points that most mutual funds charge retail. And with an investment strategy that is aligned to the needs of the income of members, DB plans can succeed in the long term. As of the end financed HOOPP was 101 percent of 2010, which means that there is enough money to pay our members the pensions that they are owed.

---

Pension plans worth striking for related:

---

Is a deficit, if DB plans – unlike their poorer DC cousins – have the time to make adjustments in contributions and benefits in order to get things around. DC has no that wiggle room: ask anyone who withdrew in early 2009 with a DC pension, or using their RRSPs, if the markets had no influence on the benefits they receive. Will surely the answer is Yes. In comparison, not a penny of ORTEC FINANCE HOOPP retired was short the pensions in the same period.

A DC plan is no real plan all-just download retirement responsibility on the shoulders of the employee. And if tomorrow's seniors have insufficient income, our next generations of workers will have to bear the increased cost of financing tax-assisted support of old-day programs.

35% of only the Australians have no money left in their DC honey rooms by the time they are 75 – a frightening prospect, having regard to the fact that more and more Australians in their 80s live. If we race to the bottom by reducing pensions for Canadian workers continue, we invite the same problems here in the not too distant future.

With the Canadian federal and provincial elections, now we need our governments questions where they stand on the workplace pensions. They are interested in working together to ensure that pensioners sufficient income in retirement? Or are they in favour of the responsibility for retirement on the shoulders of individual employees download?

We need to start telling politicians of all stripes who the national pensions debate should not just about coverage, but also about suitability, and on the preservation and extension of the workplace pensions. To cut costs on the pensions for short term savings, long-term negative consequences for all of us will bring-we will replace an effective and efficient system that offers coverage and creates dependency standaardadressectie inadequate on Government social programs.

Photo courtesy of Compfight.

Apple's appeal rejected! Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be on sale before Christmas

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

It's over! The dust has settled and Apple have walked away with their tail between their legs, with Samsung walking out victorious. The High Court just now rejected Apple's leave to appeal.

This means Samsung can have their Galaxy Tab 10.1 on Australian retailer shelves before Christmas. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 16GB Wi-Fi only model will start at $579, and the 32GB model with 3G built-in will go for $729.

Below is a statement from Samsung:

As the High Court has today rejected Apple's leave to appeal, Samsung Electronics Australia is pleased to announce the highly anticipated Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 will be available in stores in time for the Christmas shopping period from a RRP of $579 (16GB WiFi variant) and a RRP of $729 (16GB 3G variant).

Samsung Electronics Australia is pleased with today's judgment by the High Court of Australia to deny Apple's request to appeal the decision of the Full Court.

The Full Court of Australia decision on November 30 clearly affirmed our view that Apple's claims lack merit and that an injunction should not have been imposed on the GALAXY Tab 10.1.

castle ville cheat crown exp coins energi and etc

We know that those who were able to download our previous cheats are now enjoying  unreleased items on the game with thousands of energies in exchange for a few crowns. To all who haven’t downloaded it yet, get them here: Castleville Item and Energy cheat & Castleville unreleased items cheat.

Now we will show you how you can get the maximum coins in the game which is 5 Million in just a minute or two. Yes, this Castleville cheat is 100% working. A lot of gamers have used this and we too have benefited from this hack.

So there you have it ladies and gents. You can see on the video that our demo account has nearly 5 million coins. You too can have the same coins on your account using a hack that we used. It will only take a minute or two to complete the task and you can then enjoy expanding your kingdom and buying all the expensive stuff on the market. So how to download this Castleville cheats?

if u want castleville engine hack pro .. just request here .. no surver , no pay , it's FREE for ALL and WORK !!