text:
High Bandwidth Memory
UPDATE: I have embedded an excerpt from our PC Perspective Podcast that discusses the HBM technology that you might want to check out in addition to the story below.
The chances are good that if you have been reading PC Perspective or almost any other website that focuses on GPU technologies for the past year, you have read the acronym HBM. You might have even seen its full name: high bandwidth memory. HBM is a new technology that aims to turn the ability for a processor (GPU, CPU, APU, etc.) to access memory upside down, almost literally. AMD has already publicly stated that its next generation flagship Radeon GPU will use HBM as part of its design, but it wasn't until today that we could talk about what HBM actually offers to a high performance processor like Fiji. At its core HBM drastically changes how the memory interface works, how much power is required for it and what metrics we will use to compare competing memory architectures. AMD and its partners started working on HBM with the industry more than 7 years ago, and with the first retail product nearly ready to ship, it's time to learn about HBM.
We got some time with AMD's Joe Macri, Corporate Vice President and Product CTO, to talk about AMD's move to HBM and how it will shift the direction of AMD products going forward.
The first step in understanding HBM is to understand why it's needed in the first place. Current GPUs, including the AMD Radeon R9 290X and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980, utilize a memory technology known as GDDR5. This architecture has scaled well over the past several GPU generations but we are starting to enter the world of diminishing returns. Balancing memory performance and power consumption is always a tough battle; just ask ARM about it. On the desktop component side we have much larger power envelopes to work inside but the power curve that GDDR5 is on will soon hit a wall, if you plot it far enough into the future. The result will be either drastically higher power consuming graphics cards or stalling performance improvements of the graphics market – something we have not really seen in its history.
While it's clearly possible that current and maybe even next generation GPU designs could still have depended on GDDR5 as the memory interface, the move to a different solution is needed for the future; AMD is just making the jump earlier than the rest of the industry.
Continue reading our look at high bandwidth memory (HBM) architecture!!
ASUS Announces QHD ZenBook UX305, 4K UX501 Notebook
Subject: Mobile | May 18, 2015 - 02:00 PM | Sebastian Peak
Tagged: zenbook pro, zenbook, UX501, UX305, QHD+, notebooks, ips, asus, 4k, 2560x1440
ASUS has annouced a new QHD+ version of the affordable ZenBook UX305 notebook as well as the new ZenBook Pro UX501.
The ZenBook UX305 was released as a disruptive notebook with specs far above its $699 price tag, and this new version goes far beyond the 1920x1080 screen resolution of the original. This new QHD+ (3200x1800) panel is IPS just like the original, but with this ultra-high resolution it boasts 276 PPI for either incredibly sharp, or incredibly tiny text depending on how well your application scales.
The new ZenBook Pro UX501 takes resolution a step further with a 4K/UHD 3820x2160 IPS panel and a powerful quad-core Intel Core i7-4720HQ processor with 16GB of RAM at its disposal. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M graphics power this 15.6-inch, 282 PPI UHD panel, and naturally 4x PCIe storage is available as well.
More information and specs are available in the full PR for both notebooks after the break.
ASUS Announces the ZenFone 2 Powered by Quad-Core Intel Atom
Subject: Mobile | May 18, 2015 - 02:00 PM | Sebastian Peak
Tagged: ZenFone 2, smartphones, intel atom, atom z3580, asus
ZenFone 2 is the new flagship smartphone from ASUS ZenFone, and features a new design powered by an Intel Atom Z3580 (Moorefield) processor with a massive 4GB of RAM.
The phone has a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS display with 403 PPI for crisp scaling, and the "Ergonomic Arc" design includes a volume-control key on the rear of the phone "within easy reach of the user's index finger", with a curved profile that tapers to a 0.15 inch at the edges.
The camera also features a 13 MP PixelMaster camera with a f/2.0 aperture and claimed "zero shutter-lag". The battery weighs in at 3000mAh and features "BoostMaster" fast-charge technology that sounds similar to Qualcomm's Quick Charge 2.0 standard.
But one of the most attractive features will be price, as ASUS will be selling these online through their retail channels as affordable unlocked smartphones:
- 2GB / 16GB storage / Atom 3560 - $199
- 4GB / 64GB storage / Atom 3580 / QuickCharger - $299
Here's look at the specifications:
- CPU: Intel Quad-Core 64-bit Atom Z3580 @ 2.3GHz (Min Clock 333MHz, Max Clock 2333MHz)
- GPU: PowerVR Series 6 G6430 with OpenGL 3.0 Support (Min Clock 457MHz, Max Clock 533MHz)
- Display: 5.5in IPS, 1920x1080 resolution (403 PPI), Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with Anti-Fingerprint Coating
- Memory: 4GB 800 MHz LPDDR3
- Storage: 64GB eMMC
- SIM: Support Dual active micro-SIM
- Micro-SD slot: SDXC support up to 128GB
- Modem: Intel XMM7260 LTE-Advanced
- Wireless: WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
- Rear Camera: 13MP, aperture f/2.0, sensor size 1/3.2 inch
- Front Camera: 5MP
- Maximum Video Resolution: 1080p/30
- Battery: 3000 mAh Lithium-Polymer (11.4 Wh), Boostmaster Fast-Charging
- Colors: Glacier Gray, Osmium Black, Glamour Red, Sheer Gold
- Dimensions: 152.5 mm x 77.2 mm x 10.9-3.9 mm (6 x 3.04 x 0.43-.15 inches)
- Weight: 170g
PR after the break.
Introduction and First Impressions
The ASUS ROG Gladius mouse features sleek styling and customizable lighting effects, but the biggest aspect is the underlying technology. With socketed Omron switches designed to be easily swapped and an adjustable 6400dpi optical sensor this gaming mouse offers a lot on paper. So how does it feel? Let's find out.
There are a few aspects to the way a mouse feels, including the shape, surface material, and overall weight. Beyond the physical properties there is the speed and accuracy of the sensor (which also affects hand movement) and of course the mouse buttons and scroll wheel. Really, there's a lot going on with a modern gaming mouse - a far cry from the "X-Y position indicator" that the inventors had nicknamed "mouse" in the 1960s.
One of the hallmarks of the ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers) lineup is the sheer amount of additional features the products tend to have. I use an ROG motherboard in my personal system, and even my micro-ATX board is stuffed with additional functionality (and the box is loaded with accessories). So it came as no surprise to me when I opened the Gladius mouse and began to look it over. Sure, the box contents aren't as numerous as one of the Maximus motherboards, but there's still quite a bit more than I've encountered with a mouse before.
Continue reading our review of the ASUS ROG Gladius Gaming Mouse!!
NVIDIA Under Attack Again for GameWorks in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Subject: Graphics Cards | May 17, 2015 - 12:04 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: The Witcher 3, nvidia, hairworks, gameworks, amd
I feel like every few months I get to write more stories focusing on the exact same subject. It's almost as if nothing in the enthusiast market is happening and thus the cycle continues, taking all of us with it on a wild ride of arguments and valuable debates. Late last week I started hearing from some of my Twitter followers that there were concerns surrounding the upcoming release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Then I found a link to this news post over at Overclock3d.net that put some of the information in perspective.
Essentially, The Witcher 3 uses parts of NVIDIA's GameWorks development tools and APIs, software written by NVIDIA to help game developers take advantage of new technologies and to quickly and easily implement them into games. The problem of course is that GameWorks is written and developed by NVIDIA. That means that optimizations for AMD Radeon hardware are difficult or impossible, depending on who you want to believe. Clearly it doesn't benefit NVIDIA to optimize its software for AMD GPUs financially, though many in the community would like NVIDIA to give a better effort - for the good of said community.
Specifically in regards to The Witcher 3, the game implements NVIDIA HairWorks technology to add realism on many of the creatures of the game world. (Actually, the game includes HairWorks, HBAO+, PhysX, Destruction and Clothing but our current discussion focuses on HairWorks.) All of the marketing and video surrounding The Witcher 3 has been awesome and the realistic animal fur simulation has definitely been a part of it. However, it appears that AMD Radeon GPU users are concerned that performance with HairWorks enabled will suffer.
An example of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with HairWorks
One of the game's developers has been quoted as such:
Many of you have asked us if AMD Radeon GPUs would be able to run NVIDIA's HairWorks technology – the answer is yes! However, unsatisfactory performance may be experienced as the code of this feature cannot be optimized for AMD products. Radeon users are encouraged to disable NVIDIA HairWorks if the performance is below expectations.
There are at least several interpretations of this statement floating around the web. First, and most enflaming, is that NVIDIA is not allowing CD Project Red to optimize it by not offering source code. Another is that CD Project is choosing to not optimize for AMD hardware due to time considerations. The last is that it simply isn't possible to optimize it because of hardware limitations of HairWorks.
I went to NVIDIA with these complaints about HairWorks and Brian Burke gave me this response:
We are not asking game developers do anything unethical.
GameWorks improves the visual quality of games running on GeForce for our customers. It does not impair performance on competing hardware.
Demanding source code access to all our cool technology is an attempt to deflect their performance issues. Giving away your IP, your source code, is uncommon for anyone in the industry, including middleware providers and game developers. Most of the time we optimize games based on binary builds, not source code.
GameWorks licenses follow standard industry practice. GameWorks source code is provided to developers that request it under license, but they can't redistribute our source code to anyone who does not have a license.
The bottom line is AMD's tessellation performance is not very good and there is not a lot NVIDIA can/should do about it. Using DX11 tessellation has sound technical reasoning behind it, it helps to keep the GPU memory footprint small so multiple characters can use hair and fur at the same time.
I believe it is a resource issue. NVIDIA spent a lot of artist and engineering resources to help make Witcher 3 better. I would assume that AMD could have done the same thing because our agreements with developers don't prevent them from working with other IHVs. (See also, Project Cars)
I think gamers want better hair, better fur, better lighting, better shadows and better effects in their games. GameWorks gives them that.
Interesting comments for sure. The essential take away from this is that HairWorks depends heavily on tessellation performance and we have known since the GTX 680 was released that NVIDIA's architecture performs better than AMD's GCN for tessellation - often by a significant amount. NVIDIA developed its middleware to utilize the strength of its own GPU technology and while it's clear that some disagree, not to negatively impact AMD. Did NVIDIA know that would be the case when it was developing the software? Of course it did. Should it have done something to help AMD GPUs more gracefully fall back? Maybe.
Next, I asked Burke directly if claims that NVIDIA was preventing AMD or the game developer from optimizing HairWorks for other GPUs and platforms were true? I was told that both AMD and CD Project had the ability to tune the game, but in different ways. The developer could change the tessellation density based on the specific GPU detected (lower for a Radeon GPU with less tessellation capability, for example) but that would require dedicated engineering from either CD Project or AMD to do. AMD, without access to the source code, should be able to make changes in the driver at the binary level, similar to how most other driver optimizations are built. Burke states that in these instances NVIDIA often sends engineers to work with game developers and that AMD "could have done the same had it chosen to." And again, NVIDIA reiterated that in no way do its agreements with game developers prohibit optimization for AMD GPUs.
It would also be possible for AMD to have pushed for the implementation of TressFX in addition to HairWorks; a similar scenario played out in Grand Theft Auto V where several vendor-specific technologies were included from both NVIDIA and AMD, customized through in-game settings.
NVIDIA has never been accused of being altruistic; it doesn't often create things and then share it with open arms to the rest of the hardware community. But it has to be understood that game developers know this as well - they are not oblivious. CD Project knew that HairWorks performance on AMD would be poor but decided to implement the technology into The Witcher 3 anyway. They were willing to sacrifice performance penalties for some users to improve the experience of others. You can argue that is not the best choice, but at the very least The Witcher 3 will let you disable the HairWorks feature completely, removing it from the performance debate all together.
In a perfect world for consumers, NVIDIA and AMD would walk hand-in-hand through the fields and develop hardware and software in tandem, making sure all users get the best possible experience with all games. But that style of work is only helpful (from a business perspective) for the organization attempting to gain market share, not the one with the lead. NVIDIA doesn't have to do it and chooses to not. If you don't want to support that style, vote with your wallet.
Another similar controversy surrounded the recent release of Project Cars. AMD GPU performance was significantly lower than comparable NVIDIA GPUs, even though this game does not implement any GameWorks technologies. In that case, the game's developer directly blamed AMD's drivers, saying that it was a lack of reaching out from AMD that caused the issues. AMD has since recanted its stance that the performance delta was "deliberate" and says a pending driver update will address gamers performance issues.
All arguing aside, this game looks amazing. Can we all agree on that?
The only conclusion I can come to from all of this is that if you don't like what NVIDIA is doing, that's your right - and you aren't necessarily wrong. There will be plenty of readers that see the comments made by NVIDIA above and continue to believe that they are being at best disingenuous and at worst, are straight up lying. As I mentioned above in my own comments NVIDIA is still a for-profit company that is responsible to shareholders for profit and growth. And in today's world that sometimes means working against other companies than with them, resulting in impressive new technologies for its customers and push back from competitor's customers. It's not fun, but that's how it works today.
Fans of AMD will point to G-Sync, GameWorks, CUDA, PhysX, FCAT and even SLI as indications of NVIDIA's negative impact on open PC gaming. I would argue that more users would look at that list and see improvements to PC gaming, progress that helps make gaming on a computer so much better than gaming on a console. The truth likely rests somewhere in the middle; there will always be those individuals that immediately side with one company or the other. But it's the much larger group in the middle, that shows no corporate allegiance and instead just wants to have as much fun as possible with gaming, that will impact NVIDIA and AMD the most.
So, since I know it will happen anyway, use the comments page below to vent your opinion. But, for the benefit of us all, try to keep it civil!
NVIDIA SHIELD and SHIELD Pro Show up on Amazon
Subject: Mobile | May 16, 2015 - 01:00 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: Tegra X1, tegra, shield pro, shield console, shield, nvidia
UPDATE: Whoops! It appears that Amazon took the listing down... No surprise there. I'm sure we'll be seeing them again VERY SOON. :)
Looks like the release of the new NVIDIA SHIELD console device, first revealed back at GDC in March, is nearly here. A listing for "NVIDIA SHIELD" as well as the new "NVIDIA SHIELD Pro" showed up on Amazon.com today.
Though we don't know what the difference between the SHIELD and SHIELD Pro are officially, according to Amazon at least, the difference appears to be the internal storage. The Pro model will ship with 500GB of internal storage, the non-Pro model will only have 16GB. You'll have to get an SD Card for more storage on the base model if you plan on doing anything other than streaming games through NVIDIA GRID it seems.
No pricing is listed yet and there is no release date on the Amazon pages either, but we have always been told this was to be a May or June on-sale date. Both models of the NVIDIA SHIELD will include an HDMI cable, a micro-USB cable and a SHIELD Controller. If you want the remote or stand, you're going to have to pay out a bit more.
For those of you that missed out on the original SHIELD announcement from March, here is a quick table detailing the specs, as we knew them at that time. NVIDIA's own Tegra X1 SoC featuring 256 Maxwell GPU cores powers this device using the Android TV operating system, promising 4K video playback, the best performing Android gaming experience and NVIDIA GRID streaming games.
|NVIDIA SHIELD Specifications
|NVIDIA® Tegra® X1 processor with 256-core Maxwell™ GPU with 3GB RAM
|Video Features
|4K Ultra-HD Ready with 4K playback and capture up to 60 fps (VP9, H265, H264)
|7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI
High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192kHz over HDMI and USB
High-resolution audio upsample to 24-bit/192hHz over USB
|802.11ac 2x2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 4.1/BLE
|Gigabit Ethernet
Two USB 3.0 (Type A)
Micro-USB 2.0
MicroSD slot (supports 128GB cards)
IR Receiver (compatible with Logitech Harmony)
|Gaming Features
|NVIDIA GRID™ streaming service
NVIDIA GameStream™
|SW Updates
|SHIELD software upgrades directly from NVIDIA
|40W power adapter
|Weight and Size
|Weight: 23oz / 654g
Height: 5.1in / 130mm
Width: 8.3in / 210mm
Depth: 1.0in / 25mm
|Android TV™, Google Cast™ Ready
|Bundled Apps
|In the box
NVIDIA SHIELD controller
HDMI cable (High Speed), USB cable (Micro-USB to USB)
Power adapter (Includes plugs for North America, Europe, UK)
|TV with HDMI input, Internet access
|SHIELD controller, SHIELD remove, SHIELD stand
Raptr's Top PC Games of April 2015
Subject: General Tech | May 15, 2015 - 11:56 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: raptr, pc gaming
The PC gaming utility, Raptr, is normally used to optimize in-game settings, chat and socialize, and record game footage. It also keeps track of game-hours and aggregates them into a list once per month, which makes it one of the few sources for this type of data on the PC. We were late on it last month, which means that another was posted just a week later.
April marks the release of Grand Theft Auto V for the PC. It went live on the 14th and, despite only counting for half of the month, ended up at 4th place. Next month's survey will tell us whether the post-release drop-off was countered by counting Grand Theft Auto for a full month, which is double what they have now. It was just 0.17% of global play time behind CS:GO. Despite an error on the graph, it knocked DOTA 2 down to fifth, and Diablo III down to sixth. In fact, just about everything below Grand Theft Auto V dropped at least one rank.
Only three games actually gained places this month: ArcheAge, Warframe, and Spider Solitaire. Yes, that game is now the 19th most played, as tracked by Raptr. You could sort-of say that Hearthstone gained a rank by not losing one, but you would be wrong. Why would you say that?
League of Legends dropped less than a percent of total play time, settling in at about 21%. This is just about on target for the game, which proves that not even Rockstar can keep people from having a Riot.
NVIDIA Releases 352.84 WHQL Drivers for Windows 10
Subject: Graphics Cards | May 15, 2015 - 11:36 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: windows 10, geforce, graphics drivers, nvidia, whql
The last time that NVIDIA has released a graphics driver for Windows 10, they added a download category to their website for the pre-release operating system. Since about January, graphics driver updates were pushed by Windows Update and, before that, you would need to use Windows 8.1 drivers. Receiving drivers from Windows Update also meant that add-ons, such as PhysX runtimes and the GeForce Experience, would not be bundled with it. I know that some have installed them separately, but I didn't.
The 352.84 release, which is their second Windows 10 driver to be released outside of Windows Update, is also certified by WHQL. NVIDIA has recently been touting Microsoft certification for many of their drivers. Historically, they released a large number of Beta drivers that were stable, but did not wait for Microsoft to vouch for them. For one reason or another, they have put a higher priority on that label, even for "Game Ready" drivers that launch alongside a popular title.
For some reason, the driver is only available via GeForce Experience and NVIDIA.com, but not GeForce.com. I assume NVIDIA will publish it there soon, too.
Oculus Rift "Full Rift Experience" Specifications Released
Subject: Graphics Cards, Processors, Displays, Systems | May 15, 2015 - 03:02 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Oculus, oculus vr, nvidia, amd, geforce, radeon, Intel, core i5
Today, Oculus has published a list of what they believe should drive their VR headset. The Oculus Rift will obviously run on lower hardware. Their minimum specifications, published last month and focused on the Development Kit 2, did not even list a specific CPU or GPU -- just a DVI-D or HDMI output. They then went on to say that you really should use a graphics card that can handle your game at 1080p with at least 75 fps.
The current list is a little different:
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290 (or higher)
- Intel Core i5-4590 (or higher)
- 8GB RAM (or higher)
- A compatible HDMI 1.3 output
- 2x USB 3.0 ports
- Windows 7 SP1 (or newer).
I am guessing that, unlike the previous list, Oculus has a more clear vision for a development target. They were a little unclear about whether this refers to the consumer version or the current needs of developers. In either case, it would likely serve as a guide for what they believe developers should target when the consumer version launches.
This post also coincides with the release of the Oculus PC SDK 0.6.0. This version pushes distortion rendering to the Oculus Server process, rather than the application. It also allows multiple canvases to be sent to the SDK, which means developers can render text and other noticeable content at full resolution, but scale back in places that the user is less likely to notice. They can also be updated at different frequencies, such as sleeping the HUD redraw unless a value changes.
The Oculus PC SDK (0.6.0) is now available at the Oculus Developer Center.
Budget headphones that are just good enough, Ozone Rage ST
Subject: General Tech | May 15, 2015 - 02:01 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: audio, ozone, Rage ST, gaming headset
With a pricetag of $40 many may be a bit leery of purchasing the Ozone Rage ST Headset as it is significantly lower in price than most gaming headsets which implies lower quality too. It does use the 40mm drivers common in most headsets with a response range of 20-20kHz but the microphone is omnidirectional as opposed to unidirectional which means you will send background noise. Modders-Inc tried it out and were pleasantly surprised; while it has none of the extra features that $100+ headsets do, the overall quality was worth the price of admission. If you are in need of a headset but are strapped for cash, these are a good choice for you.
"Despite the stereotype, gamers are social creatures too. Competitive games after all requires another person to play with, but as expressive as some gestures may be such as virtual teabagging, it is not nearly as effective in conveying what you really feel when you shout out expletives through a headset. It feels very natural in fact that one almost feels …"
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- AKG K553 Pro Studio Headphones Review @ Hardware Canucks
- Razer Seiren Review at HardwareHeaven
- Tesoro Kuven Pro @ HardwareHeaven
- Creative Sound Blaster ZxR @ HardwareHeaven
- Sound Blaster X7 @ HardwareHeaven
What Makes a Mobile GPU Tick? Interview with ARM's Jem Davies
Subject: Mobile | May 15, 2015 - 01:56 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: video, mali, jem davies, interview, arm
Have you ever wondered how a mobile GPU is born? Or how the architecture of a mobile GPU like ARM Mali differs from the technology in your discrete PC graphics card? Perhaps you just want to know if ideas like HBM (high bandwidth memory) are going to find their way into the mobile ecosystem any time soon?
Josh and I sat down (virtually) with ARM's VP of Technology and Fellow, Jem Davies, to answer these questions and quite a bit more. The resulting interview will shed light on the design process of a mobile GPU, how you get the most out of an SoC that measures power by the milliwatt, what the world of mobile benchmarking needs to do to clean up its act and quite a bit more.
You'd be hard pressed to find a better way to spend the next hour of your day as you will without a doubt walk away more informed about the world of smartphones, tablets and GPUs.
Another juicy rumour; Lenovo wants MSI's gaming laptops?
Subject: General Tech | May 15, 2015 - 01:02 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: rumours, msi, Lenovo
When you think of Lenovo laptops you tend to think of suits and office suites, not Cheetos and Red Bull but DigiTimes has heard tell that this could possibly change. With Acer, Asustek's ROG and Dell's Alienware lineups all seeing decent profits from the niche market of high end gaming laptops the rumour is that Lenovo would like in on some of that filthy lucre. DigiTimes' source posits that MSI's gaming laptop subdivision would be the obvious target for Lenovo. It is possible that this is all hot air but Lenovo is a huge company and could easily afford to buy a division of a competitor, if they were willing to sell.
"Micro-Star International (MSI) has been successful in selling gaming notebooks and Lenovo is interested in acquiring MSI's gaming notebook business unit, according to sources from supply chain makers. However, MSI has denied the reports."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Elementary OS Freya: Is This The Next Big Linux Distro? @ Linux.com
- The Internet of Things: a jumbled mess or a jumbled mess? @ The Register
- Candy Crush Saga preloaded on Windows 10 is the key to enterprise sales @ The Inquirer
- Hackaday Prize Entry: A $100 CT Scanner @ Hack a Day
- You cannot be cirrus: 51 percent of Americans think storms bork cloud computing @ The Inquirer
Introduction and Specifications
Displays have been a hot item as of late here at PC Perspective. Today we are looking at the new Acer XB270HU. In short, this is an IPS version of the ASUS ROG Swift. For the long version, it is a 1440P, 144Hz, G-Sync enabled 27 inch display. This is the first G-Sync display released with an IPS panel, which is what makes this release such a big deal. Acer has been pushing hard on the display front, with recent releases of the following variable refresh capable displays:
- XB270H 27in 1080P 144Hz G-Sync
- XB280HK 28in 4K 60Hz G-SYnc
- XG270HU 27in 1440P 40-144Hz FreeSync
- XB270HU 27in 1440P 144Hz G-Sync < you are here
The last entry in that list is the subject of todays review, and it should look familiar to those who have been tracking Acer's previous G-Sync display releases:
Here's our video overview of this new display. I encourage you to flip through the review as there are more comparison pictures and information to go along.
Continue reading our review of the Acer XB270HU 1440P 144Hz IPS G-Sync Monitor!!
Corsair's 128GB DDR4 Unbuffered Memory Kits - for the rich and famous
Subject: Memory | May 14, 2015 - 07:16 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Vengeance LPX, Dominator Platinum, ddr4, corsair, 128Gb
Corsair has just released the three largest unbuffered DDR4 kits available for enthusiasts who can afford the asking price. Two 128GB Dominator Platinum kits, one clocked at 2400MHz and one at 2666MHz along with a 2400MHz Vengeance LPX have just gone on sale. All three kits consist of eight 16GB modules which means that the number of motherboards that support these kits is extremely limited, the EVGA X99 Classified, ASRock's X99 Extreme4 and the Asus X99-E WS are among the few. As you can see below the investment is rather high but if you want bragging rights, or an amazingly large RAM drive then Corsair has a solution for you.
Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance PC components, today announced the availability of the world's first available 128GB DDR4 unbuffered memory kits. Available in Corsair's Vengeance LPX and Dominator Platinum Series lines, the new 128GB capacities give content creators an unprecedented amount of high-speed DDR4 SDRAM for memory-hungry applications.
The 128GB (8 x 16GB) DDR4 memory kits are designed for the latest Intel X99 series motherboards and support XMP 2.0 for the ultimate compatibility, reliability, and performance. The first available kits are rated at speeds of 2666MHz and 2400MHz and higher speeds will be announced soon. Like all Corsair memory, the new kits are backed by a lifetime warranty.
Dominator Platinum Series 128GB DDR4 Memory
The most advanced memory kits available, the Dominator Platinum series DDR4 modules feature a striking industrial design for good looks, patented DHX technology for cooler operation, and user-swappable colored "light pipes" for customizable LED lighting. Dominator Platinum memory is built with hand-screened ICs, undergoes rigorous performance testing, and incorporates patented DHX cooling technology for reliable performance in demanding environments.
Vengeance LPX Series 128GB DDR4 Memory
Vengeance LPX memory is designed for high-performance overclocking with aluminum heatspreaders for faster heat dissipation and eight-layer PCB for superior overclocking headroom. Each IC is individually screened for performance potential.
Pricing and Lifetime Warranty
Corsair Dominator Platinum and Vengeance LPX DDR4 memory kits are available from Corsair.com and Corsair's worldwide network of authorized distributors and resellers. All Corsair memory is backed with a limited lifetime warranty and Corsair customer service and technical support.
Podcast #349 - Death of Media Center, i7 NUC, Fractal Define S and more!
Subject: General Tech | May 14, 2015 - 02:46 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: podcast, video, supermicro, X99, Intel, amd, corsair, H100i GTX, H80i GT, fractal, define s, akracing, nvidia, shield, grid, epson, xeon e7 v3
PC Perspective Podcast #349 - 05/14/2015
Join us this week as we discuss the Death of Media Center, i7 NUC, Fractal Define S and more!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader
- MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath, and Allyn Malventano
Program length: 1:19:23
Week in Review:
News item of interest:
1:04:20 Epson's new 3D glasses
Hardware/Software Picks of the Week:
Jeremy: Skype Translator
Subscribe to the PC Perspective YouTube Channel for more videos, reviews and podcasts!!
Revisiting the Corsair AX1500i
Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 14, 2015 - 01:27 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Digital Power Supply, Corsair Link, AX1500i, 80 Plus Titanium
It has been almost a year since Lee reviewed the Corsair AX1500i, one of the best high wattage PSUs it has been his pleasure to test so it seems appropriate to remind you of it's quality with this review from [H]ard|OCP. While the PSU is not new and still costs more than the competition at $400 the 7 year warranty is better than most. The review is of two Corsair AX1500i PSUs, one provided by Corsair and one purchased from a retail outlet for reasons you can read about in the full review. In the end [H] gave this PSU a pass, they felt that the unchanged price was a strike against Corsair as are the claims of the marketing team but as far as performance this PSU provided solid power in even their torture tests.
"It is not every day that a company has the moxie to come out and say that it makes "the best" of anything, but that is exactly what Corsair is saying about its AX1500i computer power supply; "The best enthusiast power supply you can own." Of course that begs one question, "Is it, or isn't it the best enthusiast PSU you can own?" We answer that."
Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
- Super Flower Leadex Platinum 2000 W @ techPowerUp
- Corsair HX1200i '80 Plus Platinum' @ Kitguru
- be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W PSU @ Kitguru
- Antec VPF550 Strictly Power 550W Power Supply Unit Review @ NikKTech
- XFX TS Series 550 Watt PSU @ HardwareOverclock
You can teach a Wolfram Alpha new tricks
Subject: General Tech | May 14, 2015 - 12:35 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: wolfram alpha, stephen wolfram, image identify
You may have had the pleasure of using the Google Goggles image identification app, not so much for its successes as for its often hilarious misses. There is now a new image identification app from Wolfram Alpha which you can try out. The Register immediately tried a random picture of Stephen Wolfram who is apparently a podium in disguise but Image Identify seems very fond of capyberas. Head on over to amuse yourself and of course only use your pictures for proper training as we wouldn't want to reclassify the podium as Daddy, now would we?
"search your heart ..."
"WOLFRAM ALPHA has released a new site designed to help you identify any image that you throw at it."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- World's Rudest Robot Set To Simulate the Fury of Call Center Customers @ Slashdot
- Strange: There will be NINE KINDS of Windows 10 @ The Register
- Google Updates: Android tweaks, Chrome extension block and free Hangouts @ The Inquirer
- Heartbleed, eat your heart out: VENOM vuln poisons countless VMs @ The Register
- BONKERS apocalyptic WAR WAGONS circle Vulture South @ The Register
- The Launch Of The ASUS ZenFone 2 @ Tech ARP
Rumor: AMD Radeon R9 300-series Release Dates
Subject: Graphics Cards | May 14, 2015 - 07:00 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: tonga, radeon, R9, pitcairn, Fiji, bonaire, amd
Benchlife.info, via WCCFTech, believes that AMD's Radeon R9 300-series GPUs will launch in late June. Specifically, the R9 380, the R7 370, and the R7 360 will arrive on the 18th of June. These are listed as OEM parts, as we have mentioned on the podcast, which Ryan speculates could mean that the flagship Fiji XT might go by a different name. Benchlife.info seems to think that it will be called by the R9 390(X) though, and that it will be released on the 24th of June.
WCCFTech is a bit more timid, calling it simply "Fiji XT".
In relation to industry events, this has the OEM lineup launching on the last day of E3 and Fiji XT launching in the middle of the following week. This feels a little weird, especially because AMD's E3 event with PC Gamer is on the 16th. While it makes sense for AMD to announce the launch a few days before it happens, that doesn't make sense for OEM parts unless they were going to announce a line of pre-built PCs. The most likely candidate to launch gaming PCs is Valve, and they're one of the few companies that are absent from AMD's event.
And this is where I run out of ideas. Launching a line of OEM parts at E3 is weird unless it was to open the flood gates for OEMs to make their own announcements. Unless Valve is scheduled to make an announcement earlier in the day, or a surprise appearance at the event, that seems unlikely. Something seems up, though.
Or: How to fall asleep at work.
I will be the first to admit that just a couple of weeks ago I had zero need for a gaming chair. But when 4GamerGear.com offered to send us one of the AKracing AK-6014 ergonomic executive units, I agreed. I went out of town for a week and returned to find the chair assembled and already in use by Ken, our go to video editor and engineer. Of course I had to steal it from him to take part in the "review" process and the results were great! As I sit here now in my Ikea office chair, writing up this post, while Ken sits just feet away tapping away on some edits, I can't help but want to use my authority to take it back.
The price is steep, but the added comfort you get from a chair like the AKracing model we tested is substantial. Every part of the design, based on a racing seat for a car, is built to keep you in place. But instead of preventing lateral movements caused from taking corners, this is more to keep your butt in place and your back straight to encourage good posture. The arm rests are height adjustable (as is the seat itself of course) and the back reclines for different desk and resting positions. You can lay it PAST flat for naps if you're into that kind of thing.
You can find these chairs for sale on Amazon in different color combinations with a current price of $349. It's expensive, I can't deny that. But it looks and feels way cooler than what you are sitting in right now. And aren't you worth it?
Firefox 38 Launches with (and also without) DRM Support
Subject: General Tech | May 13, 2015 - 05:06 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: mozilla, firefox, DRM
Mozilla has just released Firefox 38. With it comes the controversial Adobe Primetime DRM implementation through the W3C's Encrypted Media Extensions (EME). Or, maybe not. If you upgrade the browser through one of the default channels, the Adobe Primetime Content Decryption Module will appear in the Plugins tab of your Add-ons manager on Windows Vista or later (but it might take a few minutes after the upgrade).
Alternatively, you can use Mozilla's EME-free installer for Firefox and avoid it altogether.
I have mentioned my concerns about DRM in the past. EME does not particularly bother me, because it is just a plugin architecture, but the fundamental concept does. Simply put, copy protection does very little good and a whole lot of bad. If your movie is leaked before it is legally available in consumer's hands, as it regularly does, then what do you expect to accomplish after the fact? It takes one instance to be copied infinitely, and that often comes from the film company's own supply chain, not their customers. Moreover, it is found to reduce sales and hurt customer experience (above and beyond the valid ideological concerns).
Beyond the DRM inclusion, several new features were added. One of the more interesting ones is BroadcastChannel API. This standard allows a web application to share data between "contexts" that have the same "user agent and origin". In other words, it must be on the same browser and using the same app (even secondary instances of it). This will allow sites to do multi-monitor split screen, which is useful for games and utilities.
WebRTC has also been upgraded with multistream and renegotiation. Even though the general public thinks of WebRTC as a webcam and voice chat standard, it actually allows arbitrary data channels. For example, "BananaBread" is a first person shooter that used WebRTC to synchronize multiplayer state. Character and projectile position is very much not webcam or audio data, but WebRTC doesn't care.
Firefox 38 launched on May 12th with an optional, DRM-incompatible build.
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This is a very time consuming pieces that was created for my late sister; Cheryl whom passed away in March 20, 2009 from her Battle with Breast Cancer after 7 years she passed at 53 years old. This is my Gift to her for all awarenesses to some day have a cure abd hope it is not to late for another loved one like my siter!!
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ODT Online
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A Hamilton man accused of murdering his infant son can now be
Charlie Lackner, 33, of Hamilton East, appeared in the High
Court at Hamilton this morning to face a charge of murdering
his 8-month-old son Cassius Takiari.
He has entered a not guilty plea.
Police initially charged Lackner with assaulting the child,
whom a neighbour said was his son, following an incident at
their house on June 15.
The baby boy, a twin, was admitted to Waikato Hospital that
day with head injuries but was later moved to Starship
Children's Hospital and died the following night.
Lackner will reappear in September for a bail application.
- James Ihaka of the New Zealand Herald
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HILLSVILLE — Attorneys for Carroll County and Hillsville continue to gird up for a three-day civil trial to finally settle a seven-year-old utilities billing disagreement.
After Hillsville sought payment for water and sewer services to the Interstate 77 area in 2003, Carroll County declined.
Hillsville appealed the matter to Carroll County Circuit Court, and Carroll County responded with a counterclaim, saying that the town had been over-billing the county for service for years.
HILLSVILLE — If life gives you extra broccoli, then why not use the Carroll County cannery to make broccoli soup, Judy Dalton asks.
All the ingredients to do more with the cannery already exist, notes the Laurel Fork resident and long-time user. Carroll County has a bounty of locally grown food and processing facilities, so the potential is there.
SALEM -- A little more than 10 years ago, Galax High School hosted a wrestling clinic, introducing to anyone interested in it the new sport that the school was offering.
SALEM -- Carroll County, Grayson County and Galax combined to send 14 wrestlers to the Group A and AA state tournaments, held concurrently on eight mats at the Salem Civic Center.
BUENA VISTA -- Hustle and defense never go through a shooting slump, and they don't have an off night. They are either there, or they're not. Both were there for Galax on Tuesday.
Galax entered the Region C Division 1 basketball tournament having lost four of its previous eight games. The Maroon Tide played its region opener like it realized .500 teams don't last very long at this point in the season. Dominating the second and fourth quarters, Galax rolled into tonight's region semifinals with a thorough 54-37 drubbing Wednesday of Covington.
Blue Ridge Parkway officials announced the temporary closing of most sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway on Tuesday due to heavy snowfall along the entire length of the parkway.
Travel is not advisable on the recreational road.
Although parkway staff is working to open sections of the road with available equipment, many sections have enough snowfall to cause delays in reopening.
The temporary closure is necessary for the safety of visitors and parkway staff and is in effect "during the current period of inclement weather," the parkway said.
WILMINGTON, N.C. ee* A senior official with AmerLink log home manufacturing pleaded guilty Feb. 1 to committing bankruptcy fraud, apparently in an effort to keep the company on track for reorganization instead of a liquidation, according to a press release from a U.S. District Attorney's Office.
HILLSVILLE — Financial analysts believe there's a way for Carroll schools to finish and pay for its facility improvement program without raising taxes, but time to take advantage of potential savings will run out by the end of the year.
Federal Recovery Act measures — like the government helping localities pay more than a third of the interest on Build America Bonds — will change in 2011, according to a presentation to the Carroll School Board Tuesday by Joe Niggel of Southwest Securities and Brent Jeffcoat of McGuire Woods.
RICHMOND — Legislation introduced by Del. Bill Carrico (R-Grayson County) to end Appalachian Power Co.'s ability to impose interim rates passed the House of Delegates on Tuesday.
House Bill 1308 passed without a single vote cast in opposition and Carrico noted how important it is to protect customer's bills.
"I am pleased to see the unanimous support from my House colleagues on this bill," Carrico said. "This legislation has always been about coming together to help the people of Southwest Virginia in a difficult time."
Copyright © 2015
The Galax Gazette is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Galax, Grayson, Carroll, and surrounding areas.


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EVENT The Chennai Runners' annual programme is back, with a few changes…
C hennai Runners' annual run has shifted from East Cost Road to the tree-lined roads on the IIT-Madras campus. What the unpredictable Madras weather has to offer on the morning of November 6 —scorching heat or splashing rain —is anybody's guess. Whatever prevails on the day —rain or shine —the canopy of trees will shield the runners from it.
Trimming the run to just two categories —a half marathon and a 10-km run — is another significant change. Lopping off the popular five-km run is aimed at encouraging a section of runners within the group to push themselves to the next level and at avoiding a severe strain on resources.
Long preparation
Organising a run of such magnitude within a campus is a difficult proposition. Aware of the challenge, the group dedicated two months to working on the route.
The team that attended to this job included Preeti Aghlayam, a professor at the Institute who is conversant with the features of the campus. "After much effort, we succeeded in identifying a 10-km loop," says founder-member Ram Viswanathan. Ram points out that the run has been organised on a par with international standards, with special attention paid to safety and rejuvenation aids.
Among what makes the 'Marg Chennai Runners Half Marathon 2011' — as the event is called — exciting is the participation of a huge number of IIT students. Says Ram: "We expect around 1,000 runners, and half of them will be these students. The IITians run for free."
They have been encouraged by Preeti and another IIT professor, Sankar Subramaniam, to go for the run. The two professors have been taking 'running classes' for these youngsters during the weekends. Everything appears bright, except for the skies. Ram admits it has been overcast for sometime now and adds: "Rain or shine, we will run!"
Soundarya, another key member of Chennai Runners, says: "Wet weather has never dampened our spirits. There was a sudden burst of rain during the 2010 run on ECR. The runners enjoyed the spell."
Registrations for the run — on IITs-M campus on November 6 (Sunday): half marathon starts at 6 a.m., and the 10-km run at 6.30 a.m. — close on October 31. To register, visit www.chennairunners.com


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Book Search
1-1 of 1 results for Author: tim sprod (sorted by Publication Date, showing all)
Philosophical Discussion in Moral Education
The Community of Ethical Inquiry
Series: Routledge International Studies in the Philosophy of Education
In recent years there has been an increase in the number of calls for moral education to receive greater public attention. In our pluralist society, however, it is difficult to find agreement on what exactly moral education requires. Philosophical Discussion in Moral Education develops a detailed...
Published April 28th 2014 by Routledge


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Staff Reports
TROY — Troy Police Department was dispatched to Fricker's at 1187 Experiment Farm Road in reference to an assist agency to assisted the Ohio Investigative Unit for an underage sale of alcohol last Saturday evening.
The Ohio Investigative Unit agent stated that he had sent in a 19-year-old female to purchase alcohol. The agent stated that the undercover 19-year-old was able to purchase alcohol. The agent stated that they were going to pursue civil charges against Fricker's for the sale and asked Troy Police Department to press criminal charges against the bartender. The Ohio Investigative United agent pointed out the bartender who sold the undercover female alcohol. She was identified as Hayley Davis, 24, of Troy.
Davis stated that it was her mistake in not checking the undercover female's age.
She was apologetic and cooperative.
Davis was issued a misdemeanor citation for selling alcohol to a person under 21.


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To my best lobster friends!Hi,Well a little over 2 months ago I did a special "treat" for some friends
and everyone is still talking about it. I live in Arlington VA, I
ordered a large lobster meal for 4 and had it sent to Los Angeles.... more
All-Natural Atlantic Smoked Salmon. Our handcrafted Salmon is packaged on 1/4 pound gold boards and is a wonderful appetizer or special treat for two people.


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All you need is a brush, bobby pins, and 1 pack of Kanekalon braiding hair, and 2 minutes to create my favorite chic, simple protective style updo.
If you are trying to cut back, then these brands will help you along your journey to minimalism.
Another powder to help exfoliate your scalp and stimulate growth.
Changing your drying routine from air to blow-drying can already get you a lot more volume! This is how I get mine to be voluminous but still frizz-free.
Playing with your locs helps to dispel the myth that they are not versatile.
"The Curly Tee Towel is now a staple. Absolutely brilliant. Can't live without it." - Amanda
School's out, your hair is cute, and you probably want to keep it in a style that will last you throughout the duration of your vacation... it's possible.
Minoxidil prolongs the growth phase of hair follicles by widening them and prolonging the anagen stage of hair growth.
"I find that in my area women are just starting to discover that they DO have waves and curls hiding under their flat ironed, dry, and brushed out hair!"
Less is more--low hair manipulation simply means taking a simpler approach to your hairstyling routine. All I use is my fingers for these protective styles.
For less frizz, more definition, and long lasting hold--5 gels every wavy girl should have stashed in her beauty arsenal.
Want to replace your shampoo with apple cider vinegar, baking soda, and Dr. Bronner's? Here's what trichologist Dr. Kari Williams has to say.


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ADIDAS warranty anyone?
has anyone actually send in their pair of adidas shoes for warranty?
i've always worn out shoes before 6 months and i never sent in a pair. so im wondering how service is.
how long does it take to come back?
what do i need to ship the shoes?
Can i exchange it for a different pair of shoes or color of the same one?
Will i be getting the exact same pair (as in new but same color/model) i send in?
thanks for any help!
how long does it take to come back? About a month
what do i need to ship the shoes?
Can i exchange it for a different pair of shoes or color of the same one? From experience they just give you what you send in (send in barricades, get barricades back of same size)
Will i be getting the exact same pair (as in new but same color/model) i send in? New/Same model yes, color just depends on what they have in stock. But say you send in the IV's and they have been discontinued, you'll receive the V's.
yea it takes around 2-4 weeks to get them back. The only thing that is not certain when you get your shoes back is the color...i sent in my white, black, and the red on the tongue barricade IVs and got back the one with the lime green tongue..
OH cool. i have the white, black, red tongue ones and i really don't like those. i hope i get the SILVER ONES! cuz i just bought the shanghi's yesterday!
ALSO i was wondering if u need like
ORIGINAL BOX, receipt, the little warranty card??
or can i just ship the shoes w/ receipt and 8 dollars in a box
I never did the Adidas return but the lady at the tennis store told me that u need to keep the receipt so you can prove you had the shoes for 6 months or less so you can get the replacement
I always take my receipt, staple it to the warranty card, put them in the box and store the box. That way its easy to return a pair. Have returned Nikes, Filas and Adidas products with no problems.
I just sent in a pair of Barricade Vs the first week of December and got back a new pair in 2 weeks. Mine were the all black with lime green highlights. I included a note saying I would take another all black pair or ones with white and black, whichever they had in stock. They sent me the white/black and red ones.
I have not heard of the Fake Barricade on bay...
How do you spot those?
adidas customer service is top notch - they'll take very good care of you.
But I don't have the "original" invoice...
Another question:
Lets say I purchased my shoes in September, my friend purchased his in January (3 months later). He is not interested in the 6-month warranty since he's not playing much. We purchased the same size and same color of the B5's.
I kill my shoes in June, outside of my warranty, but my friend gives me his receipt with the date of January...
How would Adidas know that this happened?
Never mind, i should read properly first.
Does adidas warranty work in the UK???
wat r the requirements like do u hav to completely go thru the sole or do u hav to go thru tread
just have to go through the sole that you start seeing grey that wasn't part of the outsole.
Also, I haven't worn through the bottom of the shoe, but there is a large hole below the toe.. Does that qualify for warranty? (it's only been a month and a bit really, and I've only played a couple times a week.. weather isn't that nice)
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We Love This Game: 10 Things Men and Women Really Dig About The NBA- By Bossip Staff Categories: Athletes & Hoes, Ballers, Bangers
Just a lil' reminder as to why we need basketball back ASAP!!
Both men and women are fans of the National Basketball Association, and we all collectively have been in anguish at the idea that there may not be a season this year. So we at Bossip decided to take this opportunity to remind folks why we love this game and why we want it back so desperately.
Flip through the pages to see why we need the players and owners to get their lives together and play ball!


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[IMAGE: apply for housing]
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Central Housing Office
Campus Box 1056
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phone - (618) 650-3931
fax - (618) 650-3864
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University Housing has numerous leadership opportunities. From Area Council to NRHH, our staff takes the opportunity to get to know and understand the strengths of each resident.
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Sperry Assoc. Fed. Credit Union v. US Bank Nat'l Ass'n (In re White), 514 B.R. 365 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. 2014) –
A junior mortgagee sought to subordinate the senior mortgage loan based on an argument that modification of...more
7 steps distressed homeowners can take to avoid the foreclosure of their home. Options include:
1. Loan modification
2. Refinancing
3. Litigation
4. Chapter 13 bankruptcy
5. Chapter 7 bankruptcy
6. Short sale,...more
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Mon-Fri: 7am-1am EST / Sat-Sun: 7am-11pm EST
ApplianceKenmore Refrigerator
Level of DifficultyReally easy
Time to do repairLess than 15 mins
Age of Appliance1 - 4 years
Screw drivers
0 out of 1 people found this instruction helpful
One screw to remove the old part, and screwed in the new one. Easy as pie. Keep the screw from the old part as the new one did not have one.
Help other customers find the most helpful instructions.
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Part Number: PS430126
All brand logos are trademarks of their respective owners.
The PartSelect logo is a Registered Trademark of Atlantic Laundry Centres, Ltd.
Copyright © 1999-2015 , Eldis Group Partnership. All rights reserved.


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As most of you know, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes debuted with a muscular $73 million over its debut weekend, displacing Transformers: Age of Extinction from the top slot. It's no secret that this summer has been relatively franchise-heavy, with many of said franchise entries being just one cog in a vast interconnected story. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 wasn't just another Spider-Man adventure, but rather a world-building tale that set the stage for the next several sequels and/or spin-offs. X-Men: Days of Future Past played off of continuity from at least four of the previous six X-Men films and had an ending that only had any real value for those who had seen fourteen years worth of X-Men films. While interconnected universes are the order of the day, it is worth noting that Transformers: Age of Extinction and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes almost feel like a throwback to the sequels of old. You don't have to have seen the prior installments to jump right in.
Not only do you not have to have seen the prior Transformers trilogy to "enjoy" Paramount's (a division of Viacom Viacom, Inc.) $752 million-and-counting Transformers: Age of Extinction, you really don't have to have seen any given Transformers movie to watch any other one. Ditto Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which begins in a world so vastly different from where it was at the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes that 20th Century Fox Fox (a division of 21st Century Fox, Inc.) has been releasing online viral video clips to fill in some of the ten-year gap between installments. The film's opening news montage establishes the new status quo and audiences are off to the races with little need to look back. Walt Disney's Walt Disney's Iron Man 3 not only requires you to have seen Iron Man and Iron Man 2, but also The Avengers. Captain America: The Winter Soldier's second act plot twist is meaningless for those who didn't see the previous Captain America.
What we're seeing with the Marvel Universe and those which would follow in their footsteps is a kind of long-running franchise that absolutely demands viewer knowledge of the whole affair. Transformers 4 and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes amount to "adventure of the week" type sagas more reminiscent of the 007 series. Now the Marvel Universe arguably didn't invent the "make sure you catch up in time" film franchise. Putting aside episodic television like Lost, the Saw franchise (just try and show a friend Saw IV without showing them the previous films) and the Fast and Furious films (which counts on viewers having seen the previous installments for much of each sequel's emotional impact) did it first. But what we are seeing is a clear delineation about franchise building, one which creates next chapters of an ongoing story and another that lets you jump in at any time.
One variation is not inherently superior to another and a franchise can jump in and out of both categories on a whim (Guardians of the Galaxy will be stand-alone until Marvel says it's not while the next Apes movie may require you to have seen Dawn). But it is worth noting, as every studio seemingly attempts their variation on the Marvel Universe (we'll see soon enough what Warner Bros., a division of Time Warner Time Warner, Inc., has planned for their DC Comics films), that there still remains a real value in the kind of stand-alone franchise sequel that can be enjoyed and mostly appreciated without requiring viewers to be sufficiently caught up. While the die-hard fans will still show up on opening weekend, the appeal of a big-budget blockbuster sequel that doesn't require homework is apparent both in terms of legs (it's easier to be the "consensus choice" in week three four if you don't require everyone in the group to have seen the prior installments) and in terms of potentially limiting eventual franchise fatigue.
The Saw franchise eventually became so convoluted that it was absolutely impossible for new viewers to jump on-board. The various young-adult fantasy franchise properties that have flourished over the last ten years have of course demanded full audience participation every step of the way, which quickly creates something of a ceiling. Now when your ceiling is over/under $295 million domestic (Harry Potter and the Twilight Saga) and/or has a narrative end-game (the Star Wars trilogies or the Lord of the Rings films), I doubt anyone is complaining. But for franchises that studios would theoretically prefer be immortal, the stand-alone styling of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (which famously cut a major sequence that called back to The Terminator) may be just as valuable as the interconnected, soap opera-styled melodrama that makes up a comic book saga like the X-Men franchise.
It's not a matter of one being better than the other, but rather perhaps acknowledging that (as I've said before under different circumstances) not everyone can be the Marvel Universe. As the Marvel Universe expands in the next several years and the rest of the industry tries in their various ways to emulate its success, it will be interesting to watch and see if there is any correlation, for good or ill, regarding sequels that require a certain amount of prior knowledge of what came beforehand as opposed to sequels that just allow anyone and everyone to jump right into the next adventure. There is financial value both in Batman Forever and The Dark Knight Rises. And there is a box office value both in X-Men: Days of Future Past and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.


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Search Results for: bronx documentary center
Bronx Documentary Center opens
The Bronx Documentary Center, a new space for photography and film on Courtlandt Ave in Mott Haven, is open to the public, with free film screenings. This Thursday, Sept. 1, the documentary "Fernando Nation" by director Cruz Angeles from LA will be shown, tracing the career of Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who hailed from the […]
Documentary Center exhibition shines spotlight on Mexico
A new exhibition opened at the Bronx Documentary Center on Nov. 15, featuring photographs taken by Mexican photographers of joys and hardships south of the border.
Exhibit shows diversity of Bronx artists
The Bronx Artist Documentary Project will be on display at the Andrew Freedman Home until Oct. 8.
New photo exhibition planned at Doc Center
An exhibition featuring documentary photography and photojournalism by contemporary Bronx photographers will open at the Bronx Documentary Center on Friday, Sept. 5. The show is scheduled to run through October 12. The gallery at the documentary center is open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays from 3-7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 -5 p.m. at […]
Fundraiser for slain journalist at Documentary Center
Documentary will be shown at Bronx Documentary Center in Melrose to raise funds for James Foley, the freelance journalist who was killed in Syria, and who once attended a course in reporter safety at the center.


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FIR against Kumar Mangalam Birla unfortunate: Anand Sharma
New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma Wednesday appeared to share industry's concerns over naming Kumar Mangalam Birla in an FIR in coal scam case saying it was unfortunate and could raise questions over investor confidence in the country.
In a veiled criticism of CBI, he said authorities should not "play to the gallery and create an environment of sensation and shock".
"So, the larger question which comes up is that whether we have an environment which is conducive to decision making and also which gives confidence to the investors and to the corporate world," Sharma told a private news channel.
Describing the development as "unfortunate", he said: "because we have a system which is transparent, open and we have a due process which are followed in decision making".
"...First the institutions or the various authorities who have some constitutional duties to discharge should not go for overreach or play to the gallery and create an environment of sensation and shock," Sharma said.
Reminding the contribution of corporate leaders in India's growth, he said, "Irrespective of what the specific issues are, there is no denial of the fact that the corporate leaders, including Kumar Mangalam Birla, are held in very high esteem in India and abroad and they have made their own notable contribution."


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Awesome guy. Without him we wouldn't be where we are in gaming today and further he actually created some Mask toys I used to have too.Really sad too that his wife never saw him honoured for his work,...
I could watch the part from 43:03 onwards, over and over again.Vidya games! Ai + Their reactions.
This is fucking excellent guys!Dan's face at 8:40 is priceless! Mixture of anger, regret and tenacity with a hint of hangover showing through.Super entertaining to watch!(oh and well edited Drew :] )
Not sure Dan's for real... does he really think that soap etc. disinfects and that the bathroom is the cleanest place in the house?!? Joke? I really can't tell.I dunno, but Dan has displayed some fai...
That field of dreams T-shirt is badass. I need one. Also the knife breaking was awesome timing.
Bar that Stone Cold fella... they all seem like they're on drugs.Also, Dan's quip to Stardust about the "idle animation" was genuinely funny.
Must say... I'm pretty amazed at Dan's lack of knowledge of anything outside of the US.One of the first videos I saw with him had him asking whether or not there was Pool in Europe for example.I thou...
F**king hell man. I swear in the Future every game you buy will want a subscription of some kind... I hate all that stuff. I never got in to MMO's, basically because I detest subscription and most MM...
So... no official versions of Dishonored, Quake, Fallout and Wolfenstein on Oculus, I take it? xD
Only 5 mins in to this video and already Jeff and Vinny are playing off each other so well. It's pretty damn funny/entertaining.Oh - and I thought the production values on that intro were pretty damn...
@sub_o said: Can't wait for Jeff to QL this game.My thoughts too!Just DO it Jeff! (or should I say: **** ** ** Jeff!)
Great talk. A joy to watch.Cements the fact that Jeff is really knowledgeable on this subject matter.Good stuff.


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Style Boutique Answers for Nintendo DSHome / Nintendo DS /
Game Questions & Answers (Q&A) service lets you ask questions about video games for game consoles or PC games. So ask your Style Boutique question for Nintendo DS and get answers from real gamers or answer questions and share your insights and experience with the rest of the gaming community.
- Developer: Syn Sophia
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Genre: Simulation
- Release: Nov 2, 2009
- ESRB: Everyone
Game Question & Answers
Answer from: bubblegumpie
You keep assisting customers and you win all of the contest.
Answer from: ZI*
It takes more time then the other stars ive been working for 2 hours and im only half way!
Answer from: Lissie
I've been playing for over 3hours i'm on my 201th customer and 3 stars so just keep on playing.
Answer from: Saskia
Just keep on serving customers, getting more stock and winning competitions! thats all i did and im 5 star, past my 1000th customer and i've won all the competitions. i still haven't got on a date with dominic though!
Answer from: Hello
I think you have to serve a certain amount of customers
Answer from: Gummibears
Just do what you've been doing. Yes, It does take longer than the other stars. I know that and I'm on the 4th star. I'm only quarter way trhough.
Style Boutique - Gameplay 1: Working With Grace
- Aug 24, 2014, Views: 733
Style Boutique - Gameplay Part 1
- Aug 24, 2014, Views: 305
Style Boutique - Gameplay B-roll
- Aug 24, 2014, Views: 318
Style Boutique - Review
- Aug 24, 2014, Views: 323
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- Germany's Next Topmodel 2011, (DS)
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- Ys Strategy - Intro, (DS)
- Yoshi's Island DS - Commercial Trailer, (DS)


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DEARBORN, Mich., April 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
- Ford announces new fuel-efficient 1.5-liter EcoBoost ® engine, extends successful EcoBoost lineup to meet global demand for four-cylinder EcoBoost engines
- Ford now has capacity to build 1.6 million EcoBoost engines annually, triples number of plants that produce EcoBoost engines in Europe, Asia and North America from 2010 to 2013
- 1.5-liter EcoBoost offers trademark EcoBoost turbocharging, direct fuel injection and variable valve timing; delivers power of a larger engine with smaller unit economy
- Fifth Ford EcoBoost engine delivers new innovations, and significant consumer benefits in global markets offering tax reductions for vehicles equipped with engines of 1.5-liter capacity or less
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) today announces a new 1.5-liter EcoBoost ® engine will join its lineup of fuel-efficient, innovative powertrains. The 1.5-liter engine is a key strategic entry for Ford, as the company works to meet strong global demand for its four-cylinder EcoBoost engines.
With the launch of this newest fuel-efficient engine, Ford now has capacity to build 1.6 million EcoBoost engines annually. By the end of 2013, six plants across Europe, Asia and North America will be producing EcoBoost engines, triple the number that were doing so in 2010.
Production of the four-cylinder 1.5-liter EcoBoost – the fifth member of the EcoBoost family – will commence initially at Ford's world-class facility in Craiova, Romania, later this month. Other manufacturing locations will be announced in the future. The new engine will be first introduced in China in the all-new Ford Mondeo, making its public debut later this month at Auto Shanghai 2013, with applications following in the Fusion sedan in North America this year, and later the new Mondeo in Europe.As a key contributor to Ford's aggressive fuel economy and emissions strategy, EcoBoost technologies enable improvements to both fuel efficiency of 20 percent and emissions of up to 15 percent. The 1.5-liter engine benefits from signature EcoBoost turbocharging, direct fuel injection and variable valve timing, and has been designed to be even more fuel efficient and offer high levels of refinement, quietness and performance.


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The relationship between social support and self-reported health status in immigrants: an adjusted analysis in the Madrid Cross Sectional Study
1 Fundación de Investigación Biomédica, Hospital Carlos III, (C/Sinesio Delgado, 10), Madrid (28029), Spain
2 Servicio de Medicina Preventiva, Hospital Universitario Insular-Materno Infantil, (Avda. Marítima del Sur, s/n), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (35016), Spain
3 Unidad de Docencia e Investigación, Dirección Técnica de Docencia e Investigación, (C/Espronceda, 24), Madrid (28003), Spain
4 Unidad de Epidemiología Clínica, Hospital Carlos III, (C/Sinesio Delgado, 10), Madrid (28029), Spain
5 Unidad de Medicina Interna, Hospital Central de la Defensa Gómez Ulla, (Glorieta del Ejército, s/n.), Madrid (28047), Spain
6 Departamento de Medicina Preventiva. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, (Avda. de Atenas, s/n.), Alcorcón, Madrid (28922), Spain
BMC Family Practice 2011, 12:46 doi:10.1186/1471-2296-12-46Published: 8 June 2011
Social support is an important factor in the adaptation process of immigrants, helping for their integration in a new environment. The lack of social support may influence on well-being and health status. The aim of this study is to describe the social support of immigrant and native population and study the possible association between immigration and lack social support after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, income, stress and self-reported health status.
Cross-sectional population based study of immigrants and national patients without mental disorders of 15 urban primary health centers in the north-eastern area of Madrid. Participants provided information on social support, stress level, perceived health status and socio-economic characteristics. Descriptive and multiple logistic regression were conducted.
The proportion of the global perception of social support among immigrants and natives was 79.2% and 94.2%, respectively. The lack of global social support adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) of immigrant was 2.72 (95% Confidence Interval = 1.81-4.09), showing a significant association with being male (PR = 2.26), having monthly income below 500 euros (PR = 3.81) and suffering stress (PR = 1.94). For the dimensions of lack of social support the higher association was being an immigrant and suffering stress.
We conclude that with regardless of the level of monthly income, stress level, self-reported health status, and gender, immigrant status is directly associated with lack social support. The variable most strongly associated with lack social support has been monthly income below 500 euros.


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The Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) represents registered nurses at the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC). The current collective bargaining agreement between UW and WSNA expires on June 30, 2015. The parties began negotiations for a successor agreement on May 12, 2015.
This recap details the first session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement between the UW and WSNA.
The parties agreed to several expectations for bargaining, including that all initial proposals will be delivered by the third session.
Release Time for Bargaining — The parties agreed that UW will provide up to eight hours of paid release time for WSNA's bargaining team for the first eight sessions. WSNA circulated a sign-in sheet in order to help facilitate payment of release time to employees.
Mandatory Union Membership — WSNA proposed a union shop provision, whereby all UWMC nurses would be required to join the union as dues-paying members within 31 days of hire or changing from per diem to classified staff.
General Wage Increases — WSNA proposed a 7 percent general wage increase effective July 1, 2015, and a 6 percent general wage increase effective July 1, 2016.
New Pay Steps — WSNA proposed adding new steps 30, 31, and 32 to the top of the pay range. Step 30 would provide for a 3 percent increase from step 29, step 31 would have no increase over 30, and step 32 would provide for a 3 percent increase from step 31.
Pay Premiums — WSNA proposed expansions to several pay premiums and differentials, including:
Parking — WSNA proposed that UW provide nurses with free parking in remote parking lots with free shuttle service to UWMC.
Staffing — WSNA proposed language memorializing the parties' commitment to safe staffing levels, safe patient care, and the health and safety of nurses. WSNA proposed allowing union representatives to be present at all staffing committee meetings, and proposed a prohibition on changes to staffing matrices or minimums without union agreement.
Orientation — WSNA proposed increasing the time guaranteed for the union's new-hire orientation from 15 minutes to 30, and that nurses transferring into the bargaining unit receive the same orientation and materials as provided for new-hires.
Probationary Period — WSNA proposed that nurses receive an oral and written evaluation halfway through their six month probationary period.
Rest Breaks — WSNA proposed the consolidation of several contractual and settlement documents between the parties relating to rest breaks into new contract language.
Tuition Exemption — WSNA voiced its intent to open the contract's tuition exemption section.
Leave Accruals — WSNA proposed that nurse vacation and sick leave accrual be determined by actual hours worked rather than a nurse's scheduled FTE (full-time equivalent), up to a 1.0 FTE.
Vacation Leave — WSNA proposed that UW make a good faith effort to grant vacation requests totaling at least 90 percent of the aggregate accrued annual leave of the bargaining unit for that calendar year.
The union also proposed that nurses receive a payout for all accrued vacation hours in excess of 240 on their anniversary date, rather than losing such accruals.
Duration — WSNA proposed a two year contract term, to expire on June 30, 2017.
Pam Palagi Assistant Administrator for UWMC Finance delivered a presentation reviewing UWMC's financial situation and summarizing national and regional healthcare industry, including trends and policy impacts.
Work Period — UW proposed limiting the work period options (for purposes of overtime eligibility) to either 40 hours in a seven day period or 80 hours in a 14 day period. UW explained that scheduling work periods over 160 hours can contribute to excessive stretches of work and contribute to nurse fatigue. UW clarified that it is not proposing to eliminate self-scheduling.
Overtime — Consistent with current practice since Kronos implementation, UW proposed that overtime go into effect if eight minutes or more are worked after the end of the scheduled shift (currently 15 minutes), and be calculated to the nearest quarter of an hour (currently 30 minutes).
Time Paid but not Worked — UW proposed language whereby an employee would not earn overtime for hours worked over their scheduled shift if on the day immediately before or after they took sick leave for a period of time equal to or greater than the extra time worked.
Rest Between Shifts — UW proposed standardizing the rest between shifts requirement, such that regardless of shift length, nurses not receiving unbroken rest 10- and one-half hours before the start of their next regularly scheduled shift would trigger the rest between shift premium.
Low Census — UW proposed enabling UWMC to implement reduced staffing during temporary periods of low patient census. Provisions included:
On Call — UW proposed mandatory on-call language based on other WSNA contracts, including:
Float Premium — UW proposed that newly hired nurses become eligible for float premium upon successful completion of orientation rather than upon hire, to provide improved equity until fully trained to float.
ECLS Nurse Premium — UW proposed that nurses receive $4 per hour for time designated as Extra-Corporeal Life Support ("ECLS") nurses.
Vacation Leave — UW proposed language establishing that vacation requests would be responded to within two weeks of that request, or as soon as reasonably practical.
Faith/Conscience Day — UW proposed language to codify WAC 82-56, whereby leave without pay would be granted for up to two workdays per calendar year for reason of faith or conscience. Such requests may only be denied if the employee's absence would create undue hardship (per WAC 82-56) or the employee is necessary to maintain public safety.
Leaves of Absence — UW proposed reordering certain provisions of this article to better align with how it is utilized.
Leave Due to Child Care Emergencies — UW proposed adding language to clarify that a child's illness is not covered by this section, and proposed that the use of vacation, sick and leave without pay under this provision be limited to three days total per calendar year.
Sick Leave — UW proposed language memorializing the parties' do not condone abuse of sick leave or unauthorized leave without pay, and clarifying that patterns of misuse or abuse of sick leave will result in corrective action, up to and including dismissal.
The next UW-WSNA bargaining session is scheduled for May 15.


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Oregon Turnout as of 11/2
Since at least last Monday, the Oregon Secretary of State's website has published turnout numbers for the upcoming midterm. For whatever reason, however, they did not publish any data over the weekend, leaving me (and potentially many campaign managers) frustrated by the lack of information. Turnout is, probably, the most important issue in midterm elections, and leaving so many in the dark during such a crucial moment in the election is really unfortunate.
Thankfully, however, the office once again published their data earlier today. As in an earlier post, I've rank ordered the counties by overall turnout, democratic turnout, and republican turnout:
The black vote in NC: Should Democrats Worry?
On Wednesday, the NYTimes wrote about the democratic party's most recent attempt to get out the black vote this midterm. In North Carolina, the party has pushed an aggressive and racially charged ad campaign to remind their constituents why voting this election matters so much. While some may view this as a risky move, the NC democrats may need it. The article notes that, for democrats to have any chance this election, the black share of the electorate must increase from 19% (the share in 2010) to 21%.
Is their plan working? The below figure shows the percent early in-person black and nonblack turnout relative to all NC registrants in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
Turnout in OR: Ranking the Counties
Oregon ballots are being returned in droves. As the Oregonian reported earlier today, one in five voters have already returned their ballots. The piece briefly mentions that return raters are higher in smaller counties, but doesn't go any further. So, I quickly rank ordered the counties with respect to return rates for democrats, republicans, and all voters:
Unexpected Early Voting Results: Good tides for Hagan in NC
There were two structural–as opposed to political–reasons to worry about Senator Kay Hagan's (D.) chances of winning reelection this midterm. The first? It's a midterm election! This means lower turnout due to less educated voters foregoing the election. The quasi-technical term "less educated voters" usually means young voters and minority voters–the people who just so happen to vote for democrats.
The second? New election legislation in North Carolina has dramatically changed the voting landscape. One consequence is that the first week of early voting was cut off, which means that there are fewer days to use North Carolina's very popular one-stop voting mode (in 2012, over 40% of voters returned their ballots before Election Day). It seemed unlikely, given this change, that early turnout would be as high as it could be, which would, in yet another way, hurt Hagan's chances.
So: Bad tidings for Hagan, who also faces a tough challenge from her republican opponent Thom Tillis. 538's forecast for this race has Hagan winning, but only by a hair, and the vote share is well within the margin of error.
Bad tides, maybe. But the first few days of early voting may tell a very different story. Check out figure 1, which presents the proportion of democrats, republicans, and unaffiliated voters who turned out in both 2010 and 2014. Two points stand out. First, voters in NC are turning out early at a much faster rate this year than in 2010. So much faster, in fact, that, with eight days until Election Day, the proportion of democrats to vote early this year is already the same as the proportion to vote eight days out in 2010. Again, that's with five fewer days to vote (I made the same point in my previous post).
Now, republicans and unaffiliated voters aren't too far behind, so clearly voters, in general, aren't too perturbed by the change in the number of early voting days. But let's consider what it means that (a) democrats are turning out at a fast rate this year, and (b) that their fast turnout rate is faster than the rate republicans and unaffiliated voters are turning out.
Early Voting in NC: First Impressions
Early voting in North Carolina began on Thursday (October 23rd), and continues until Saturday, November 1st. One of this year's most competitive Senate elections, between Senator Kay Hagan (D) and her opponent Thom Tillis, may come down to the state's early returns (early voting in NC being incredibly popular). On top of that, the legality of major (and controversial) new election legislation in North Carolina–legislation that, among other changes, cut the first week off of early voting–may come down to a decision by the Supreme Court. Both reasons make knowing how the early returns look this election especially important.
After only two days of early voting, there isn't much to say about the results. I want to show two quick graphs, however, that may augur next week's results. The first graph shows the proportion of democrats, republicans, and unaffiliated voters that have already returned their ballots.
Anticipating North Carolina's Early Vote
In North Carolina, voters must decide whether to replace democratic senator Kay Hagan with her republican opponent, Thom Tillis. Hagan, who was elected in 2008 with 53% of the vote, once again faces a difficult challenge. Per an October 11th SurveyUSA poll, Hagan leads by just three points, and 538 reports that only one poll has ever had her ahead of Tillis by more than six points. Some consider this one of the most competitive races in 2014, and it's in one of the nation's most purple states. In such a close race, every vote counts.
On top of that, the state's legislature has made significant (and restrictive) changes to North Carolina's election law, and we'll want to know how these changes (which it now appears will remain in effect for the current election) affect turnout as we anticipate a possible Supreme Court hearing and decision.
We can better understand both the current Senate race and the new election legislation if we look at early and by-mail absentee voting in North Carolina. Not only does the state have an active "one-stop" (early) and by-mail voting electorate, the new legislation affects (among many other changes) early voting (by cutting a week off the early voting period and codifying early voting hours) and the ability for traditionally democratic voters (young and minority voters) to turnout (by, to name just two examples, eliminating same day voter registration and paid voter registration drives).
These facts about the NC election landscape mean that if we compare early and absentee voting numbers from the past to the 2014 numbers as they become available, we can anticipate in real-time whether Hagan should be worried about her chances of success, and whether the consequences of the new legislation are as restrictive as some suspect. Early voting in NC begins on October 23rd, and while absentee by-mail began on September 5th, there are still too few returned ballots to draw conclusions from the returns.
Over the next few days, I'll point out a few trends that we should keep our eyes on. Unless otherwise noted, my data comes from the North Carolina State Board of Elections' website. Continue reading →
EVIC's 2014 Early Voting Calendar and Spreadsheet
If you follow EVIC you already know that early and absentee voting laws and policies are complex and vary widely across the fifty states. That's why EVIC publishes an early and absentee voting calendar and spreadsheet for every general election.
This year, we've updated our products and hope the additional information encourages further dialogue about how these rules affect voters. So, make sure to try out all the new bells and whistles. Below, we explain what our information means and provide some basic context. If you're worried that we misrepresent any state's election law or policy, do not hesitate to let us know and post below.
Finally, EVIC wants to thank Jonathan Harvey and Tony Moreno, from Reed College CIS, who helped program and design the new calendar. I also want to thank Alex Arpaia, who helped gather the early and absentee voting data.
More information below the split.
New Voter Information App
The Voting Information Project just released a new app that should make life easier for voters in all states. New technology already helps voters, poll workers, election administrators deal with the mayhem of elections, and it seems inevitable that the role of handheld devices will only increase in the coming years.
The app works only on Apple products now, but should be ready for Android devices by Election Day. Check out a post about the app from PEW's news page here. If you happen to use the device, let us know in the comments how it works!
Early Voting Reforms Continue Apace in Florida
On May 21st, Gov. Rick Scott of Florida signed into law CS/HB 7103. The bill includes changes to absentee voting laws, to requirements for the quality of voting technology, to the word limits of constitutional amendments, and to many other areas of election administration that are both visible and invisible to the voting public.
At EVIC, we are following the changes made to early voting. Some view HB 7103 as a victory for early voting advocates and a defeat for Republicans (try this article, or this one, or this one), because HB 7103 is considered a redaction of HB 1355, a controversial piece of legislation that some argue caused over 200,000 to not vote in 2012 and created 6-9 hour lines for those who stuck around. Michael C. Herron and Daniel A. Smith claim that Democratic, African American, Hispanic, young, and first-time voters were disproportionally impacted by the HB 1355. Other survey results don't speak directly to the impact on minority groups, but do show that lines in Florida were longer than anywhere else in the country.
Will HB 7103 make things better? Why did 13 Democrats in the Florida State Senate oppose the bill? The devil is in the details, and these details may derail the hopes of early voting advocates (here is a PDF of the HB 7103).
Let's start with section 13 (pg. 24-26 of the PDF)–where we find the most significant changes to early voting:
"The supervisor [of elections] may also designate any city hall, permanent public library facility, fairground, civic center, courthouse, county commission building, stadium, convention center, government-owned senior center, or government-owned community center as early voting sites" (lines 681-686)
"a supervisor may designate one early voting site per election in an area of the county that does not have any of the eligible early voting locations" (689-691)
"Each county shall, at a minimum, operate the same total number of early voting sites for a general election which the county operated for the 2012 general election" (694-697)
"Early voting shall begin on the 10th day before an election that contains state or federal races and end on the 3rd day before the election, and shall be provided for no less than 8 hours and no more than 12 hours per day at each site during the applicable period" (700-704)
"In addition, early voting may be offered at the discretion of the supervisor of elections on the 15th, 14th, 13th, 12th, 11th, or 2nd day before an election that contains state or federal races for at least 8 hours per day, but not more than 12 hours per day" (704-708)
The first provision means that there will may be greater use of satellite early voting locations, and as Bob Stein has shown, this would increase the use of early voting and voter turnout overall. An increase in the minimum number of early voting hours per day could make it easier to vote early for some citizens. Discretionary authority to offer early voting on additional days returns the state to the situation prior to HB1355.
However, discretionary authority is not mandated requirements. Only time will tell if county supervisors will take advantage of the ability to offer early voting for more days and at more places. The bill contains no additional funding for local officials, so how likely is it that counties will pay for early voting out of their own budgets? It's possible that early voting could be very accessible in wealthy counties and relatively inaccessible in poorer counties, creating the same kind of racial and ethnic disparities Herron and Smith point to in 2012.
Is this the only change to early voting in Florida? There is one more provision that caught our eye. From section 19 of 7103:
"The supervisor of elections shall upload into the county's election management system by 7 p.m. on the day before the election the results of all early voting and absentee ballots that have been canvassed and tabulated by the end of the early voting period. Pursuant to ss. 101.5614(9), 101.657, and 101.68(2), the tabulation of votes cast or the results of such uploads may not be made public before the close of the polls on election day" (1100-1107)
If we are reading this correctly, this is a major change in Florida election law, and early in-person and absentee ballot returns are not going to be made available for public scrutiny until after the election. If this is an accurate reading, vote mobilization efforts in Florida will be substantially harmed, since campaigns will no longer be able to track who has already returned their ballots. It may be that we are misreading the intent of the term "tabulation" which refers to actual candidate totals and not information on voter turnout. We look forward to hearing that we have misinterpreted this provision.
CORRECTION: We are very pleased to learn that Section 19 of 7103 does not impact election reporting. A state election official from Florida has let us know that the provision instead requires supervisors of elections to internally upload early voting decisions prior to Election Day. Glad to hear about the correction!
NY Times Article: Absentee Voting and Its Discontents
A front-page piece in the NY Times by Adam Liptak focuses on one of the more serious consequences of the rise in absentee voting.
First, absentee votes are more likely to fall prey to innocuous mistakes that lead to rejections. The article notes that "election officials reject almost 2 percent of ballots cast by mail, double the rate for in-person voting".
Second, fraud is both theoretically easier to commit through absentee voting, and there have been more documented instances of absentee voting fraud in the last several years than in person voting fraud. Several of the most notable instances of absentee voting fraud are included in the article.
The article does not withhold the irony that those who focus on making voting more efficient and fraud less likely for in person voting may be missing the point. The reality on the ground is that absentee voting is a growing phenomenon and is much more fertile ground for potential fraud and ballot mistakes
The article is a fine read. It touches for a moment upon the essential tension between the "elemental promises of democracy" that are questioned when voting can no longer be trusted, and the democratizing effects of a balloting system that makes voting available to so many more people. Since absentee voting appears to be a permanent fixture in US elections for the time being, this is a tension we need to continue dealing with