text: CMS Issues Guidance on Medical Loss Ratio Requirement Self-funded plans are exempt from new requirements By Ilyse Schuman © Littler Mendelson 5/4/2012 On April 20, 2012, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued further guidance on the medical loss ratio (MLR) requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The health care law mandates that health insurers, depending on the size of the insurance market, spend 80 to 85 percent of premium revenue on reimbursement for clinical services and activities that improve health care quality; those that are noncompliant must provide a rebate to their enrollees. The law imposes certain reporting requirements for insurers. Final regulations implementing the MLR requirement, including its application to so-called "mini-med" plans and distribution of rebates to enrollees in group health plans, were issued in December 2011. [See the SHRM Online article "HHS Issues Rules on Medical Loss Ratio Requirement."] [Update: A subsequent final rule on computation of the medical loss ratio was published in the Federal Register on Jan. 7, 2014.] The new technical guidance, which is in question-and-answer format, clarifies that the MLR reporting and rebate requirements are applicable for health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage only. These requirements are not applicable to self-funded plans. As for employer groups of one, the guidance explains that "where a sole proprietor and/or a spouse-employee are the only enrolled employees, the health plan would not be considered to be a group health plan." The guidance explains further, however, that if "a sole proprietor enrolls a nonspouse employee, the experience of that plan is part of the small group market for MLR purposes. Even if the only enrollee is an employee who is not an owner or spouse, the plan is part of the small group market for MLR purposes." Another question asks what method should be used in counting employees to be covered under a group policy that does not cover all employees. In response, the guidance states that "at the time of sale, issuers should make every attempt to accurately count the number of employees employed by the group policyholder so as to accurately categorize the group as belonging in the small or large group market." In certain circumstances, however—such as when a policyholder does not make the policy available in all states in which it does business—it is more difficult to ascertain market size. In such a situation, the guidance explains, "the issuer may determine the group size for MLR reporting purposes and the minimum MLR standard based on the information available to the issuer." In terms of reporting MLR data for individual or nongroup association policies, the Q&A explains that issuers should report such data "in the state where the individual resides at the time the certificate of coverage is issued." In response to a question about whether "premium holidays" are permissible in lieu of providing rebates if an issuer finds that its MLR is lower than the standard required, the guidance explains that this is a state regulatory issue not addressed by the federal MLR regulations. The guidance notes that insurance exchange user fees "should be included in the licensing and regulatory fees that are subtracted from premiums in the MLR calculations." Finally, the Q&A guidance lists the conditions that must be met before an issuer may provide MLR rebates in the form of a prepaid debit card. Ilyse Schuman is a shareholder in the Washington, D.C., office of Littler Mendelson. She provides strategic counsel and representation to clients on a broad array of workplace issues and developments in Congress and executive branch federal agencies. © 2012 Littler Mendelson. All rights reserved. Republished with permission. Related Articles: Employers Expected to Receive Millions in Health Insurance Rebates, SHRM Online Benefits Discipline, May 2012 HHS Issues Rules on Medical Loss Ratio Requirement, SHRM Online Benefits Discipline, December 2011 Is Self-Insurance for You?, HR Magazine, May 2011 Quick Links: SHRM Online Benefits DisciplineSHRM Online Health Care Reform Resource Page • Sign up for SHRM's free Compensation & Benefits e-newsletter Related Content Does ERISA Bar State's Collection of Health Care Data? 2015 Employee Benefits Supreme Court to Hear ERISA Reimbursement Case Complying with and Leveraging the Affordable Care Act FMLA: Benefits: Can an employer recover their portion of health benefit premiums when an employee fails to return from FMLA? TOP PICKS: LEGAL & REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS FLSA Essentials Manual Online compliance guide with update service. Webcast: Who and What Federal Contractors Must Count Cara Crotty on new rules for employers doing business with the government. Available on demand. Seminar: California HR Learn critical California workplace regulations. Oct. 26-27, L.A. Labor Law Posters State and federal labor law posters with one-year update service. U.S. Immigration Essentials SHRM Seminar - Oct. 2015 in Los Angeles; Nov. 2015 in Houston Workplace Compliance E-Newsletter Free weekly update, summarizing legal decisions, legislative news and regulatory news. Whistleblowing, Reporting, & Retaliation Online course from SHRM E-Learning Express Request: Same-Sex Marriage Learn implications of Supreme Court's recent ruling. Webcast: The ACA After the Supreme Court Sibyl Bogardus discusses what employers should do now. Available now on-demand. Swipe for more! ADVERTISING LINKS


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This is another one of our exclusive products that we're proud to call Private Reserve. With a number of farms throughout the world, this Wild Lettuce (Lactuca virosa) crop is another winner. Crafted with a special extraction method that captures the maximum amount of plant essences for powerful scents.
Wild Lettuce 15X Resin Incense is a delight as an admixture to your favorite smoking herbs or blend, or on its own, smoked from a pipe. The flavor is delicious by itself, but it is also one of the most common admixtures for herbal smoking blends that seem to be popping up everywhere these days.
Place in the incense burner alone or with your other favorite ritual herbs.
NOTICE: This product is not intended for human or animal consumption. It's sold for use as an incense, as an addition to smoking blends or for aromatherapy purposes only.

subset: commoncrawl


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Well hello there Student friend.
For many years students have been a key part of who we are as a Church, we have had the privilege of knowing and journeying with Students at Salford University, University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, The Royal Northern College of Music, Nazarene Theological College, Manchester Business School and loads more - and we wouldn't want it any other way!
We're a big family of people; and the long and the short of it is that we're all about Jesus. At our core is the mission to know that we are loved by God, to love him back and to love those around us. Whether you're in your first year of uni, or you're ready to leave forever, you are loved so much by God that he wants to use you to channel his love into your halls, your house, your course mates; your campus!
We're so super excited about this coming year for students who are a part of King's Church across Manchester and Salford. We've got many plans afoot including lots of opportunities to meet up and connect with other, a weekend away to somewhere beautiful; times to meet with God in a fresh way and a chance to get practical about mission and sharing Jesus with our campuses and friends. We are really passionate about community and family and there's lots of people with comfy sofas and cups of tea that you can hook up with.
It's gonna be a blast and we can't wait to meet you and hook up with more students across Manchester and Salford. So, are you up for an adventure with us?
The audito from our young adults weeken ...more
Rachel gives us some super helpful hints for new students ...more
We have some great things planned for you, here are some of the things coming up this term.
Student Café
Every Thursday from 7pm at King's House
We'll have teaching and focussed times at the Café every other week.
Come along on a Sunday or Call the church office for more details!
Live music nights, Bonfire Nights, After meeting pub trips, Walking trip, Bowling trip and much more.
For more dates or information pick up a flyer from us or head on over to Facebook .


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Windows 7
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,982
Re: Windows 7
Originally Posted by
We are not disagreeing as much as you seem to think. I never said anything that should have been construed as meaning that MS shouldn't have designed for the future, only that they should have been designed better for the state of technology at the time. I don't believe that future technology is all that much of a mystery to MS, and current technology of the time certainly wasn't.
I only entered the computer age during the W98 days, and while I'm certain that many of my problems then was due to my own ignorance, I'm equally certain that a very large percentage wasn't. I am of the mindset that when any product, cyberwise or not is defective, that the consumers shouldn't have to pay for entirely new product, which has as many defects as the previous one...just different ones.
Since W7 is reasonably good, it makes me wonder what the next Windows version will offer? Maybe the technology can finally set out on a road that will at least approximate something somewhat akin to what is envisioned in Sci-Fi...not that that would be desirable in all aspects.
lol- the problem with Win9x is the architecture it was built upon. For it's time it was decent, but also left much to be desired.
Maybe my view is skewed compared to yours because I first started on DOS 3.1, then progress through DOS 6.22, then Windows 3.1, then all version of 95, 98, ME, 2k, XP, Vista, and now 7. Windows 98 was a nice change from DOS + Windows 3.1 IMO. Heck, Windows95 was a welcome change. Things were so much easier to do, IMO of course. Granted, back then I wasn't doing any thing professional- mostly gaming. But still, much easier to just double-click the icon on your desktop instead of having to enter a string of commands at C:\. To eliminate that I remember creating batch files. So all I had to type was <app-name>.bat and it'd perform all the commands for me. Batch files were so awesome back then!
Anyhow, way off topic, my bad.
Even with all the headaches 98 created, it solved so many that was just an every-day part of DOS and Windows 3.1. As much as I miss the days of DOS, I'm also glad to be beyond them now.
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George Block
George Block currently serves as Chairman of the Board for both San Antonio Sports and Voices for Children – San Antonio. Prior to his retirement, he was an educator and coach in San Antonio for 36 years, and both COO and CEO of Haven for Hope of Bexar County, our community's new transformational homeless center, from 2009-2012.
Monthly Archive for January, 2014
Does Obama Really Want to Make Progress on Immigration?
I confess, I should lose 35 pounds. That would be ideal. Losing 10 would be progress. Losing 20 would be great. 25 would be a cause for celebration, but 35 is ideal. From what I can see in the President's approach to immigration – and the majority of political Democrats who follow him – his […] [Read More]
GOP Should Strengthen Unions by Shrinking Them
I spent a week with my brother in the frozen tundra of northern Illinois. He is renovating two old farm houses and turning them into rentals. What surprised me was that in the highly unionized state of Illinois, all of his skilled craftspeople were non-union. I asked him how this was possible and he told […] [Read More]
The Problem with the Minimum Wage
I'm getting tired of hearing about the problems with the minimum wage. The problems are all too easy to fix. If it will really prohibit high school kids from getting seasonal jobs, allow a seasonal exemption for kids 18 and under. If it blocks the entry-level pathway, allow for a time-limited training wage. Let's deal […] [Read More]
End Unemployment Insurance and Restart the WPA
There are uninteresting debates going on about unemployment insurance. What did seem interesting were the things on which both sides said the American People agreed. In many cases, the American People agreed with the data. First, the longer someone is unemployed, the harder it is for that person to get a job. Universal agreement. Some […] [Read More]
Why Republicans Should Raise Taxes
How about because paying your bills is the conservative thing to do? I'm one of those poor schmucks in the middle who can't find a political party. I generally agree with the espoused values of the Republicans, but then I run into politicians who are oposed to "tax and spend," but are OK with "borrow […] [Read More]
Let's NOT pay college athletes
It's bowl season, the final one for the BCS and they finally seem to have gotten it right. I've already seen more fun games that I had in all the previous seasons. Apparently, with the need for commentary 24/7, a lot of stuff gets said that doesn't even relate to the games. One of these […] [Read More]


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Hang tight!
Recipe by nyc cooking gal
"German dumplings jazzed up with a little non-traditional seasoning. After dough is cooked you can either serve with brown gravy or cook in 2 tablespoons of butter with thinly sliced onion."
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4 cups
all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons
dried basil
1 tablespoon
onion powder
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 3/4 cups
4 cups
2 tablespoons
This was fabulous! I have a go-to spaetzle recipe, but I thought I'd give this version a shot, and I now have a new favorite! It's so flavorful, not to mention much easier to work with, with my spaetzle maker. I omitted the salt, and added a dash of garlic powder. Thanks for the recipe!!
Batter turned out fine and was thick, but when I spooned them out of the boiling water they were very limp. When they cooled I touched one and it just smeared. What did I do wrong?
2 Ratings
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Herb Spaetzle
Serving Size: 1/6 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving
** Calories: 370
** Calories from Fat: 45
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Delicious, fresh garden herb marinated and grilled shrimp.
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Lake Michigan College's Certified Nurse Aide Program Description:Acquire the knowledge, skills and confidence to assist patients with health and daily living activities in healthcare facilities under the direction of a registered nurse. The Certified Nursing Aide program is a 98-hour program with a state approved curriculum which qualifies you to take the Michigan CNA Exam (exam not included). There is a maximum of 8 students per class. On-time, daily attendance is mandatory for the entire program. In order to be eligible to register for this class, students must complete the following prerequisites:
Books, scrub top, and name badge are included in the fee for the class.
Please refer to the Short Term Training schedule for class times, dates, and locations.
Step-by-Step Instructions to Register for CNA
Items you will need for the C N A class:
Items you will need for clinical (will be discussed in class):
1 (800) 252-1562 or (269) 927-1000


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NICEVILLE — The Republican Women of Okaloosa Federated will meet Jan. 2 at the Holiday Inn Resort on Okaloosa Island. Socializing will begin at 11:30 a.m. Lunch is at 12 p.m.
Cost is $16 for members and $18 for guests.
A "dine and dash" table will be available for women who plan to leave the meeting before it ends.
The program will comprise a brief history of the Republican Party and a humorous skit depicting philosophical differences between the Republican and Democrat parties.
Attendees should bring empty ink cartridges as part of the club's Americanism project. Cartridges will go to a recycling partner for cash benefiting the USO.
Contact Donna Pattison, 651-5416 or email@example.com, by noon Dec. 28 to make a reservation.


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All Images by Radosław Jacek Gryglas © 2012. All rights reserved.
An Article and photos by Karlos Zurutuza Original Source Deutsche Welle A visit to the two hospitals in the war-torn Helmand region of Afghanistan exposes the horrors that innocent civilians, so-called collateral damage caught in the crossfire, experience in modern wartime. "No weapons allowed beyond this point," reads a sign at the entrance of Boost(…)
An Article by Paulien Bakker Original Source Dutch weekly Vrij Nederland "Muslim terrorism is not motivated by faith, but by perceived injustice, as appears from the life story of nineteen year old suicide bomber Afif, one of thousands who went to Iraq after 2003 to fight against the American occupation. The call to noon prayer(…)
An Article and photos by Karlos Zurutuza Source Hidden Europe "The Georgians have built a funfair in the neighbouring village, I can see the ferris wheel from my balcony", says 20 year old Alik Gassiev. There are also rumours of a hotel, a fitness centre and a swimming pool being built on the nearby village.(…)
An Article by Gene Poteat Original Source: The Charleston Mercury On April 10, 2010, an airplane carrying the entire top echelon of the Polish government crashed in Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 Polish officials on board. Russia claimed the crash was due to pilot error attempting the landing in bad weather, along with the usual(…)
All Images by Błażej Mikuła © Pixtales 2012. All rights reserved.


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Alumni Profiles
Brandon Bickle
B.S., Social Science
Brandon Bickle, 28, is an associate at GableGotwals in Tulsa and earned his law degree from TU in 2008.
A focus on writing and critical reading was a hallmark of his RSU experience and skills which served him well in law school.
Bickle appreciated RSU's flexible class schedule because he worked nearly full-time while pursuing his degree.
He earned bachelor's degree in social science (history and political science option) from RSU in 2004.
"I was impressed by the faculty, and RSU classes made me feel very prepared for law school," he said. "I think you could go to Harvard and be less prepared than going to RSU."


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Posted at: 11/07/2012 3:17 PM
Updated at: 11/07/2012 5:24 PM
By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News
Photo: Tim Jennings
The biggest New Mexico casualty of the 2012 election was state Senate President Tim Jennings, a Roswell Democrat defeated in a swarm of TV attack ads.
Jennings, a 34 year veteran of the Senate, got bumped off by a 27 year old rookie - with a powerful assist from Gov. Susana Martinez, who wanted Jennings gone.
"We've had a hell of a run," said Jennings, looking back on a legislative career that started with the 1978 election.
In recent years he has presided over the Senate with the backing of a coalition of Republicans and moderate Democrats. But Gov. Martinez portrayed Jennings as weak on penalties for child-killers in her team's TV ads that went far beyond the boundaries of his Senate district.
"This is a little discouraging to me because this brings the politics of hate and destruction down to the state level," Jennings said.
From the young Republican farmer who beat the old Democrat - respect.
"I just hope that I can do as good a job as Tim Jennings has done," said Cliff Pirtle, who beat Jennings by about 500 votes. "He really worked hard for this district for 34 years."
The Governor's attack ads also targeted Senate majority leader Michael Sanchez, but the Belen Democrat survived the election.
"We have to move forward from here," said Jennings. "We have to always mean that New Mexico is our number one goal, not our parties - not the Governor's party, not my party. We don't have to have hate and destruction."
Someone will replace Jennings at the head of the Senate when the legislature convenes in January, but right now nobody is making a move. Some senior Republicans and Democrats tell KOB Eyewitness News 4 they would like to keep their coalition going - if they have enough votes.


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By John J. KruzelAmerican Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2009 Deployed troops watching the Super Bowl game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals yesterday were greeted with messages from their new commander in chief and top Defense Department officials.
Instead of commercials, part of the content carried between downs on the American Forces Network were public service announcements recorded by President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"As we all take this time to watch the big game, I wanted to be sure to send all of our military men and women a special greeting," the transcript of Obama's salutation reads. "You are tuning in from all over the world. But no matter where you are and no matter which team you're rooting for, this event is bringing you a little closer to home."
Obama, who recorded his video message last week during his first visit to the Pentagon as commander in chief, told troops that American events like the Super Bowl are possible only because of the sacrifice and duty paid by servicemembers and their families.
"I am honored to be your commander in chief, I thank you for your courage and sacrifice during these trying times, and I promise to do everything in my power to help you accomplish your mission," he said. "You make us proud each and every day."
Obama, who appeared clutching a football and without his suit jacket -- a "sign of solidarity" with Gates who was unable to wear a jacket due to bandaging on his injured left arm -- saw the message as "an incredible opportunity," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.
"I think the president recognized this is a great platform, an incredible opportunity, in his early days on the job, to send the message to hundreds of thousands of troops deployed around the world," he said. "This is everybody getting a rare break from work, huddled around a TV set watching the most popular program on television."
Gates injected history and humor into his message that aired during breaks in the gridiron action between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, which he noted, used to be one team.
"During World War II, because so many men were serving overseas, the Chicago Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers actually merged for a season," he said. "They were called the Card-Pitt Combine, and they went 0-10, earning a less-than-flattering nickname: 'the carpets' -- because everyone walked all over them.
"This game is a little more exciting. Wherever you are, I hope that you have a chance to kick back and relax for a few hours -- you have certainly earned it," Gates said. "As always, I thank you for your service, and for the sacrifice you make every day in defense of our nation. Enjoy the game."
Mullen thanked military men and women and their families for their service at this "critical time in our nation's history."
"I know many of you won't be able to watch tonight's game at home with your loved ones, but I also know you are proud of the work you are doing and the difference you are making," Mullen said. "Whatever team you're cheering for tonight, all of America is cheering for you."
The Steelers won the Super Bowl in a close 27-23 victory over the Cardinals.
Related Sites:Commander in Chief Video MessageDefense Secretary Video MessageChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Video Message
Related Articles:NFL, Military Continue Super Bowl TraditionsAir Force Fighters to Patrol Over Super Bowl


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Voorheesville envisions master plan for trail's end
Village officials eye state grants for Rail Trail enhancements, railroad museum
Voorheesville officials are looking to enhance its end of the Helderberg Hudson Rail Trail and possibly build a museum to honor local railroad history, which has fittingly characterized the community.
Albany County Rail Trail enters third phase
Public hears about $4.1M plan for Albany-Bethlehem pathway portion
The Albany County Department of Public works held an open house Thursday, Feb. 20, on the third phase of the Helderberg Hudson Rail Trail at Bethlehem Town Hall. The project as proposed is estimated to cost $4.18 million, with county officials needing to cut around $40,000 to stay within budget.
The nature of art
Thacher Nature Center to host annual environment-inspired art exhibit, offering art classes
Artistic inspiration comes from a variety of sources, but one local art show is rooted in Mother Nature's visual appeal.
Winging it at Albany airport
An uptick in snowy owl sightings thrills local bird enthusiasts
Snowy owls have landed at the airport and according to local bird club members, the creatures have been seen there for more than a month.
The wings of winter
Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center event highlights birds that don't fly south when the weather gets cold
While many people think most, if not all birds fly south for the winter, all you have to do is take a look out the window and see that quite a few feathered friends have hung around the Capital District through the snow and bitter cold.
Local projects win big in REDC awards
Rail Trail comes closer to being completed; arts venues receive grants
Nearly $83 million will flow to the Capital Region through the latest round of Regional Economic Development Council awards, and nearly 30 projects in Albany County nabbed funding. Most of them focused on highlighted projects, but several local priorities were also granted funding.
On the right path
Party set to celebrate Rail Trail portion opening; further improvements eyed for bicyclists
Friends of the Rail Trail will celebrate the official opening of a new three-mile section running through New Scotland as efforts continue toward expanding the trail's size and usage.
Thacher Park enhancements plan finalized
Rock climbing, caving, mountain biking and more trails pitched for park
A series of improvements are being planned for John Boyd Thacher State Park and Thompson's Lake Park. Capital improvements and operational enhancements will occur during the next 10 to 15 years.
Thanks comes naturally
Thacher Nature Center holds annual celebration connecting families to natural gifts
Fast approaching is the mad dash to retail stores for once-a-year deals on the hottest merchandise, but there's one event coming up that allows people to slow down and connect with nature before the big feast that kicks off the holiday season.
Rail Trail expansion underway
Three-mile section in New Scotland to open this fall, Albany portion eyed for 2015
Enhancements to two bridges along the Helderberg Hudson Rail Trail are progressing, and a three-mile section of the trail through New Scotland is expected to open next month.
Smokey the silent: Smokey Bear visits Pine Bush, but has lost his voice over government shutdown
Smokey Bear stopped by the Discovery Center at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve to educate children on forest fire prevention, but due to the government shutdown, he needed some help.
Passive park in Colonie now open for public use
Ribbon is cut on Mohawk Riverside Landing Park
Colonie's Mohawk Riverside Landing Park is officially open for public use, a milestone that was marked with a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Gap closed on Rail Trail repairs
New Scotland Town Board awards $4,500 to complete bridge work, open trail
The New Scotland Town Board on Wednesday, Sept. 11, approved donating $4,500 to the Friends of the Rail Trail to complete bridge renovations to open up a section of the Rail Trail from Upper Font Grove Road to the Route 155 bridge.
Out of school leads to out of doors
Pine Bush's after-school explorations fuel for minds, good for bodies
With 3,200 acres of a globally-rare ecosystem in the backyard of the Capital District, kids are putting down the iPad and discovering what the outdoors has to offer.
The apples are on
Growers say it's back to business after last year's poor apple crop
The New York State Apple Association is expecting the upcoming yield of the state's official fruit to be strong given "near-perfect" growing conditions bolstered production to typical levels.


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When Charleston Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser walked off the field at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando after the team's 3-2 loss to the Lions a little more than a week ago, it was hard not to think about what might have been for the club.
The Battery was just two wins away from capturing their third USL title in the last four years and their fifth overall. But the one-goal loss to Orlando City in the USL Pro semifinals ended any hopes to repeat as league champions. The Battery won the USL Pro title last year and captured the USL Second Division title in 2010.
"I think any time you don't win a championship it's disappointing," Anhaeuser said. "We really wanted a chance to defend our championship, so for it to end in the semifinals was difficult. We thought we had a good chance to repeat."
The Battery finished the regular season with a 13-7-6 (45 points) mark, which was good enough for third place in the USL Pro standings. Charleston made it to the fourth-round of the U.S. Open Cup, beating Major League Soccer's San Jose Earthquakes, 1-0, at Blackbaud Stadium in the third round.
"I thought it was a decent year," said Charleston captain Colin Falvey, who was named the USL Pro Defender of the Year. "I thought not making it to the championship game was disappointing because I felt like we had the players and the club to do it. When you've been to two cup finals in the last three years, it's kind of depressing to be at home during the finals."
Charleston was fifth in the league in scoring with 45 goals and had the third best scoring defense — allowing just 29 goals all season.
"I thought we were a very balanced team," Anhaeuser said. "We could score, but we really knew how to defend properly. We were not the kind of team that was going to sit back and play for a tie. We were going to push forward and create chances even when we were on the road."
The Battery was especially tough at home, going 9-1-4 and outscoring their opponents, 35-11.
"It was going to take a very good team to beat us at home," Falvey said. "We played with a lot of confidence on our pitch all season."
Charleston played seven matches over a 19-day stretch in late May and early June that included league games and matches in the U.S. Open Cup. The matches took their toll as the Battery was able to win just twice over that span. Two of the matches were played in Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City.
"We had a lot of games in the middle of the season and we did a lot of traveling," Anheauser said. "All the traveling and all the games eventually caught up with us."
The Battery finished strong, going 6-2-0 over the final five weeks of the season.
"We were playing our best soccer heading into the playoffs," Anhaeuser said. "We played well against Los Angeles in the quarterfinals and just ran into a very good Orlando team on the road in the semifinals."
Striker Dane Kelly had a breakout season, finishing with 11 goals in 22 games in the league. The third-year forward was tied for fourth in the league in goals scored.
"Dane had a fantastic season for us," Anhaeuser said. "He was very focused this year and when he got his chances, he put them in the back of the net."
Midfielder Nicki Paterson and Haviel Cordoves each finished with seven goals each. Midfielder Mike Azira, who had five goals and two assists, was named to the USL Pro Second Team after the season was over.
Rookie keeper Odisnel Cooper was fourth in the league with seven shutouts.
"I think we'll look back on it in a few weeks and realize it was a good season," Anhaeuser said. "But right now, we just wish we had made it to the finals."
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Strickland: Romney, Ryan offer poor plans for Medicare, Social SecurityWritten by Brigitta Burks | News Editor | firstname.lastname@example.com
Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland lambasted Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan's plans for Medicare and Social Security in front of a small crowd of mostly seniors on Aug. 28 outside the East Toledo Senior Center.
He spoke in front of a bus that read "Wrong for the Middle Class" with a picture of Romney on it, as part of a three-day tour of Ohio's major cities. Toledo City Council President Joe McNamara and Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates followed Strickland's talk with their own speeches.
"Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to take us back to the same failed economic policy that caused this recession," Strickland said, adding that as chair of the House budget committee, Ryan presided over a "devastating and extreme budget."
Ryan's plan to potentially make Medicare voucher-based would increase costs for seniors by more than $6,000 per year, he said.
"It would destroy Medicare as we know it," Strickland said. The plan also doesn't take inflation into account, he said.
There are 1.9 million seniors in Ohio who depend on Medicare, McNamara said, adding that the $6,000 increase "would be devastating."
Strickland also addressed Romney's tax cut plan, which would give $250,000 to millionaires and billionaires while raising taxes for middle class families by $2,000.
"These millionaires would probably not have a problem paying $10 per pill like my 90-year-old father does," Bates said.
The three also talked about Romney/Ryan's plan to partially privatize Social Security. The plan encourages those younger than 55 to divert half their Social Security payroll taxes into private accounts. This leaves their retirement funds vulnerable to the stock market, Strickland said.
"[Seniors have] spent years and years earning their benefits and worked too hard to see them cut," Bates said.
McNamara told the seniors, "We owe you a debt of gratitude. You worked your entire lives to make this country great."
Strickland briefly addressed possible cuts to Pell grants and the potential doubling of interest rates.
"It would hurt our students and their ability to afford an education," he said. At the end of Bates' and McNamara's talks, Strickland returned the podium to talk about a news segment he'd seen earlier that day, featuring two Romney supporters arguing in favor of upping the retirement age.
"I thought to myself, those fellows look pretty comfortable," Strickland said. "They are so cut off from the lives you and I and most of the people live."
After the speeches, Barbara Baumgartner of Perrysburg said she was worried for how these program cuts would affect her children, who are in their 40s.
"I'm not sure how it will affect me, but I know it will affect my children," she said. "I believe [Romney/Ryan] will get rid of social programs they don't like, like food stamps."
Sharon Belkofer of Perrysburg Township said she is also concerned for future generations if the GOP ticket wins the election. She said Ryan's budgetary plan would still increase the deficit by trillions.
"I don't see how they say this is a good economic plan," she said.
In response to Strickland's remarks, Christopher Maloney, the Ohio spokesperson for the Romney for America campaign said, "First off, you need to think who the messenger is."
"It goes back to that fact that Ted Strickland is having to throw mud to distract from the president's record," he added.
"There is only one person in this race who has cut $700 billion from Medicare to pay for a government takeover of our health care system: President Obama. President Obama's campaign has called these cuts an 'achievement,' " Maloney said a statement.
In regards to Social Security, Maloney said, "Mitt's proposals will not raise taxes and will not affect today's seniors or those nearing retirement. He proposes that Social Security should be adjusted in a couple of common sense ways that will put it on the path of solvency and ensure that it is preserved for future generations."
President Barack Obama has plans to visit Toledo on Labor Day, Sept. 3.
Tags: Barack Obama, Brigitta Burks, Christopher Maloney, Joe McNamara, Julia Bates, Medicare, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Pell grants, Social Security, Ted Strickland


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Tea Party Organizers Plan to Crash Obama's "100th Day" Speech at Fox High School
|Seriously. I'm dying for some tea.
And just like ghosts, it seems these days you just can't keep conservative malcontents down.
The St. Louis Tea Party Coalition, the group that organized a rally earlier this month in downtown's Kiener Plaza, now says it will take its party to Fox High School in Arnold Wednesday morning where President Barack Obama will be holding a town hall meeting discussing his first 100 days in office.
The group is trying to get at least 100 people to protest Obama's federal spending at the event. But the Tea Party Coalition notes that Wednesday is a work day and "most fiscal conservatives have jobs to pay taxes" so they don't know how many protesters will actually show.
BTW: Anyone else out there see the irony of Obama making this speech at a high school named Fox?
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A moddb download will be up tomorrow (on the 10th GMT +2) as requested by nick.
Portal: Prelude, as its name states it, is an unofficial prequel to the game Portal. Its story revolves around the pre-GlaDOS epoch, even before she was plugged in. At this time, test subjects were monitored by real Aperture Science employees, whose work was tedious, lengthy and repetitive. This is why they decided to build a great artificial intelligence that could both replace them in these difficult tasks, and also take responsibility for many other tasks within the complex and compete with Black Mesa's superiority. All employees of the Aperture Science complex are now eagerly awaiting GlaDOS. Maybe even a little too eagerly, as the upcoming events will tell... This game is totally free. It offers a bit more gameplay hours than the original Portal, with 8 chapters, 19 test chambers, 48 challenges, 6 advanced maps, a brand new storyline and more than 400 lines of english speech with dozens of subtitles translations.
That's it! Portal: Prelude is released! Thanks to FilePlanet and Planet Half-Life, you can now download the game one day before the official release date!
Posted by NykO18 on Oct 8th, 2008
That's it! Portal: Prelude is released! Thanks to FilePlanet and Planet Half-Life, you can now download the game one day before the official release date!
You will find their review here (it's worth the reading, we love their style) and you can read the ModDB preview here and you can download the game from our download page right now!
Head up to the Download Page, and enjoy!
And there's a little misunderstanding regarding this 24h exclusivity. We're not earning any money of this. It's just one more step to world domination! =)
[ED: moddb Download available: Moddb.com ]
A moddb download will be up tomorrow (on the 10th GMT +2) as requested by nick.
congratulations guys! everyone download!
Does it include maniac murderous machine voice commenting your every step?
No, but it does include maniac murderous humans voice commenting every step ^^
Yeah! It's always great to see released mods! I congratulate you folks immensely. Break out the bottle!
I'm not a big fan of fileplanet exclusivity. It can be useful for multi player mods as they need the additional attention to get more players but for a single player mod it's not really advantageous in my opinion. I'll be getting it tomorrow of Moddb.
Aww, not going through all the hassle to register at Fileplanet. :(
(Mostly because I find them to be corporate bastards and shove up so much ads in your face. :P )
Why do so many mod allow Fileplanet to be first in line for new mods?
Some kind of teleportation device that lists the files for download the day before they're uploaded? :P
grats on release. props to you guys.
Though the fun has been taken out of it all somewhat with exclusive release on fileplanet a day early :-( (as if there aren't enough sites to register to)
No registering or waiting here: Gameupdates.org
Thank you!
Played the first level, so far so brilliant.
I was really waiting for that. :P
gonna download it right away. ;)
Wupdee God Damn Doo. Why Are We All Buzzing Over IT Being Released. even though it aint released yet. file planet are bas**rds i must agree, robbing people of there money JUST to join a god damn site. its so stupid, only very unintelligant (cant spell it properlly sorry) would join fileplanet lol.
Greate ! :D
Year i finished it in one day...
waht ever...
awesome story
epic ending
nice mapping and look to orginal game
And and ...im out of words i cant speak im to.....
your mod is so awesome...
and alot better then portal oringal
valve have to pick up u in ther team
i want achivements in the next update
Not downloading until it's released on a proper file download site like FileFront or Mod DB.
So this: Gameupdates.org isn't proper enough for you?
This mod rocks as hard as it is possible! The story... the gameplay... the effects... the sound... the creativity! 100/10, if it was possible!
One of the few reasons to start steam once up for a while :D ... Waiting for non-file-planet download ( as it sucks there ) ;)
Here: Gameupdates.org
There is a moddb download link now. Moddb.com
Just finished it) Great. Not that good in the beginning, but getting better and better to the end. Voices are very good, although for some reason subs don't work for me - turned them on for second walkthrough - with commentaries. Didn't work. And because comments are in french I cant understand a thing :(
Other than that - awsome mod - best for Portal and one of the best source mods in general.
(I wrote this without reading carefully.) If you go to the audio menu and turn on subtitles, you can read the developer commentaries in English.
(Oh frak, you already tried to turn on subtitles. Now I can't delete my comment -_-)
I need HL2 or Portal (or both) to install game?


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Jason Aldean played a 60 minute set last night, September 5, that was simulcasted LIVE on CBS.com. The Georgia native was in New York City taping an appearance on the David Letterman Show that will air 9/6/12. It was announced yesterday that Jason Aldean had been nominated for 3 CMA Awards…Entertainer of The Year, Male Vocalist of The Year, and Single of The Year.
Aldean and his band took to the stage and played twelve songs to the packed Ed Sullivan Theater crowd. Of the songs played, Jason debuted a couple tracks on his upcoming album, Night Train. The current single out at country radio, "Take A Little Ride" along with the title track, "Night Train" and "Wheels Rollin' " were played to an enthusiastic review. The album will be released October 16th.
The show featured most of Jason's big hits over the last couple years of his career. Aldean told the story of the filming of his first music video for "Hicktown", and how they all had serious thoughts that they were only ever going to shoot one music video. The result was the band trying to get as much face time as possible. Little did they know that years down the road, they would be a power player in the country music world. It just goes to show that hard work does indeed pay off in the end.
With the ever changing media landscape, artists and music labels are reaching out to fans like never before. With the addition of the internet as a viable player in ways to connect to fans, sites like StageIt.com have become the new go to place to play shows whenever artists feel like it. Streaming concerts, like the Jason Aldean show tonight, only prove the point that technology is not only bringing us closer to our favorite artists, but allowing us to connect with them in ways never before thought. I watched the show from a cafe outside of Portland, Oregon, some 2,500 miles away.
After hearing the new songs off of Night Train, I have no doubt that the upcoming album will be another very successful record. Aldean set the bar high with My Kinda Party and I fully expect him to not only meet those standards, but blow past them.
Pre-order your copy of Night Train now by clicking HERE.
*Review by Bobby C. ~ CMR Contributor
One Response to "Jason Aldean Live On Letterman Concert Review"
I have to say I was so excited to get to go to this!!! Thank you Fan Club for the opportunity, my daughter and myself had an amazing time in NYC with Jason and the band.
We arrived in NYC about 4:30 and were driving down Broadway to park when we saw the Paparazzi and pulled over, it ws Gwen Stefani and we knew right away we were in for a great time :) We parked about a block from the Letterman Show ($16 with coupon) and walked to CBS to get our tickets. We then hit Broadway for some NYC Pizza and a delicious cannoli :) We got in line in front of the Ed Sullivan Theater about 6:40 and waited for what seemed to be forever. We were a little bummed that we weren't going to see David Letterman but Jason was who we really came to see anyway so we got over it quick. We saw an old man with his shirt off carrying a melon and a alum. tray with fruit salad walking past the line. He stopped and asked my daughter if she would like some ewww! NO Way, only in NY right?
We were turned off by the other line that was beginning to form, they said it was the VIP line (Hey I thought the Aldean Army was VIP????) they did indeed allow them to enter the theater first and seated them in the center front rows while we were pushed to the outside sections. It was the "Pretty People" that got on camera but oh well, guess we were suppose to feel lucky to have been there at all, which I was!!!
When Jason entered the theater from the rear he came right down our side and we were able to reach out and touch him which made my daughter extremely happy. Jason was amazing, singing tons of great songs and 2 new ones that we all loved. His microphone whet out and it was great how he handled it, love how cool and collected he is on stage.
After the show we went down and got his set list and 2 guitar picks, we ran out the door and around the corner to the stage doors just in time to have Jason sign my NJ meet and greet photo and my daughter's Live On Letter advertisement. I was able to speak to him quick, welcomed him to NY and said "Go Bulldogs" he loved that!! The band came out one by one and we got lots of pictures and the set list signed by them all. Rich remembered me and said he couldn't believe we came down from Albany for the show, I was shocked and super excited about that! I told them to party hardy and that tequila was on me when they got in the SUV which made them all laugh :)
I wish I had gotten a picture of my daughter with Jason, kicking myself for not having been quicker on my toes but hey it was Jason and he does have a way of getting you flustered LOL We made it home about 1:15am and I would do it all over again and again, best trip ever!:D


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The perfect sidekick for playing gigs, recording in studios and practicing at home.
The ENGL GigMaster 30 tube guitar combo amp is a compact tube-driven combo that delivers to-die-for tone in a phenomenally portable package! It comes loaded with sound-sculpting features designed to make playing more rewarding, including a built-in spring reverb, Gain Boost and Master Volume Boost. This M.V.B. lets you access two different master volume levels on the fly via footswitch, for example, one for rhythm and the other for leads.
Four EL84 pentode power tubes serve up the amp's sweet fundamental sound, while the preamp's ECC83 double triode unleashes loads of overdrive and distortion. What's more, the GigMaster 30 sports two channels, Clean and Lead, so you get a wider variety of tonal flavors. The Gig Master 30's Mid Boost switch accentuates those middle frequencies. Sound-shaping can be controlled remotely via footswitch, which gives you lots of tonal flexibility paired with utmost handling ease! This ingenious little amp is sure to delight with its warm, bluesy tone and assertive mids. But don't take our word for it - plug in, play, and enjoy!


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The creative and often humorous mid-century modern aesthetic of George Kovacs (1926-2007) made a lasting impression on contemporary lighting. The extraordinary George Kovacs lighting collection, which also includes pieces by Alecia Wesner, Karim Rashid and other mid-century modern lighting designers, is now part of the Minka Group.
The Saber Wall Sconce (Restoration Bronze) - OPEN BOX RETURN is available with the following:
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Social Enterprise & Nonprofit: Nonprofit Management
32 Results
- 03 Sep 2013
- Working Papers
How the Zebra Got Its Stripes: Imprinting of Individuals and Hybrid Social Ventures
Creating hybrid organizations that combine existing organizational forms is a complex process. Given the legitimacy challenges facing hybrid organizations, why are they created in the first place? The authors focus on the role of "environmental imprinting" on individuals: this means the persistent effects that individuals' environments during sensitive periods have on their subsequent behaviors. After constructing and analyzing a novel dataset of over 700 founders of social ventures, all guided by a social welfare logic, the authors suggest that individual imprinting helps to explain why an entrepreneur founding a social venture might create a hybrid by incorporating a secondary, commercial logic. Overall, the paper contributes to the understanding of hybrid organizations by providing the first large-scale, empirical examination of the antecedents of the widely-discussed type of hybrids that combine social welfare and commercial logics. Read More
- 27 Nov 2012
- Working Papers
No Margin, No Mission? A Field Experiment on Incentives for Pro-Social Tasks
Organizations from large corporations to NGOs use a range of nonfinancial performance rewards to motivate their employees, and these rewards are highly valued. While theory has suggested mechanisms through which nonfinancial incentives can elicit employee effort, evidence on the mechanisms, and on their effectiveness relative to financial incentives, remains scarce. This paper helps to fill this gap by providing evidence from a collaboration with a public health organization based in Lusaka, Zambia, that recruits and trains hairdressers and barbers to sell condoms in their shops. This setting is representative of many health delivery programs in developing countries where embedded community agents are called upon to deliver services and products, but finding an effective way to motivate them remains a significant challenge. Findings show the effectiveness of financial and nonfinancial rewards for increasing sales of condoms. Agents who are offered nonfinancial rewards ("stars" in this setting) exert more effort than either those offered financial margins or those offered volunteer contracts. Read More
- 09 Jul 2010
- Working Papers
The Limits of Nonprofit Impact: A Contingency Framework for Measuring Social Performance
The social sector is in the midst of a search for metrics of impact. Over the past 20 years, there has been an explosion in methodologies and tools for assessing social performance and impact, but with little systematic analysis and comparison across these approaches. In this paper, HBS professors Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan provide a synthesis of the current debates and, in so doing, offer a typology and contingency framework for measuring social performance. Their contingency approach suggests that—given the varied work, aims, and capacities of social sector organizations—some organizations should be measuring long-term impacts, while others should stick to measuring shorter-term results. The researchers provide a logic for determining which kinds of measures are appropriate, as driven by the goals of the organization and its operating model. Read More
- 12 Apr 2010
- Research & Ideas
One Report: Better Strategy through Integrated Reporting
Stakeholders expect it. And smart companies are doing it: integrating their reporting of financial and nonfinancial performance in order to improve sustainable strategy. HBS senior lecturer Robert G. Eccles and coauthor Michael P. Krzus explain the benefits and value of the One Report method. Plus: book excerpt from One Report: Integrated Reporting for a Sustainable Strategy. Read More
- 11 Mar 2010
- Working Papers
The Many Faces of Nonprofit Accountability
Nonprofit leaders face multiple, and sometimes competing, accountability demands: from numerous actors (upward, downward, internal), for varying purposes (financial, governance, performance, mission), and requiring differing levels of organizational response (compliance and strategic). Yet is it feasible, or even desirable, for nonprofit organizations to be accountable to everyone for everything? The challenge for leadership and management is to prioritize among competing accountability demands. This involves deciding both to whom and for what they owe accountability. HBS professor Alnoor Ebrahim provides an overview of the current debates on nonprofit accountability, while also examining the tradeoffs inherent in a range of accountability mechanisms. Read More
- 10 Feb 2010
- Working Papers
Investing in Improvement: Strategy and Resource Allocation in Public School Districts
The operating environments of public school districts are largely void of the market forces that reward a company's success with more capital and exert pressure on it to eventually abandon unproductive activities. Stacey Childress describes the strategic resource decisions in 3 of the 20 public school districts that she and colleagues have studied through the Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard. The stories in San Francisco, New York City, and Maryland's Montgomery County occurred largely before the districts faced dramatic decreases in revenues, though they show the superintendents facing budget concerns near the end of the narratives. Even so, the situations share common principles that superintendents and their leadership teams can use to make differentiated resource decisions—reducing spending in some areas and increasing it in others with a clear rationale for why these decisions will produce results for students. Read More
- 08 Jul 2009
- Working Papers
Truth in Giving: Experimental Evidence on the Welfare Effects of Informed Giving to the Poor
It is often difficult for donors to predict the value of charitable giving because they know little about the persons who receive their help. While there is substantial evidence that individuals use information about recipients to decide how generous a donation to make, we know surprisingly little about how much donors care to help their preferred types. To start closing this gap, HBS professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Carnegie Mellon University coauthor Christina Fong study transfers of income to real-world poor people in the context of experimental games. Their findings have implications for governments and nongovernmental organizations that seek to increase the financial and political support for wealth transfer programs. Read More
- 27 Oct 2008
- Executive Education
Achieving Excellence in Nonprofits
Nonprofit boards and executives are confronted by a confusing landscape of conflicting demands, rapidly evolving rules, and changing opportunities for finding resources. How can organizations stay focused? Harvard Business School professor Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard discusses today's challenges and his Executive Education program on Governing for Nonprofit Excellence. Read More
- 15 Sep 2008
- Research & Ideas
The Coming Transformation of Social Enterprise
A new generation of business leaders and philanthropists is experimenting with hybrid forms of social enterprises while demanding more transparency and accountability from the organizations they are funding. Harvard Business School professor Kash Rangan discusses what he sees as a sector on the brink of transformation. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Read More
- 25 Jan 2008
- Working Papers
What Do Non-Governmental Organizations Do?
Non-governmental organizations play an increasingly important role in international development. They serve as a funnel for development funds both from individual donors in wealthy countries and from bilateral aid agencies. At the same time, NGOs are frequently idealized as organizations committed to "doing good" while setting aside profit or politics—a romantic view that is too starry-eyed. Development-oriented NGOs, which have existed for centuries, have played a growing role in development since the end of World War II; there are currently 20,000 international NGOs. This paper argues that the strengths of NGOs and their weaknesses easily fit into economists' conceptualization of not-for-profit contractors. Read More
- 19 Dec 2005
- Research & Ideas
Public Education Goes to School
Harvard's schools of Business and Education are bringing management skills to nine school districts across the country—and positive results are starting to show. Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Papers
Promoting a Management Revolution in Public Education
Public school districts are difficult to lead and manage, and the idea of applying business principles to school reform is popular. But is it practical? This paper describes the work of Harvard's Public Education Leadership Program as it helps school districts grapple with performance challenges, including student achievement that compares unfavorably with other countries, and a significant performance gap between white and minority students. Complicating the picture: The concept of managing for accountability is new in education. The authors studied the effects of improved management on public school student performance by comparing fifteen large urban school districts with similar peer districts. Read More
- 06 Oct 2003
- Research & Ideas
The Growth of the Social Enterprise
To branch or affiliate? Different organizational structures have different strategic implications for nonprofit expansion, say HBS's Jane Wei-Skillern and Duke-based colleague Beth Battle Anderson. Read More
- 07 Jul 2003
- Research & Ideas
The Organizational Model for Open Source
A surprising entity has emerged to protect the interests of open source software developers: the non-profit foundation. HBS professor Siobhán O'Mahony discusses this emerging organizational model. Read More
- 19 May 2003
- Lessons from the Classroom
Business Plan Winner Targets India Dropouts
Gyaana means "knowledge" in Sanskrit—a fitting name for a business that aims to fight the 50 percent dropout rate in India by offering microfinance loans to families. Read More


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PS4, Xbox One power consumption analysis points to Sony advantage and future efficiency gains
- By Joel Hruska on December 18, 2013 at 4:08 pm
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A new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council put the PS4 and Xbox One under the power efficiency microscope and came back with less than glowing things to say about the new devices. According to the organization, both consoles draw more power than they should despite heavy investment in power-saving technologies.
The long-term impact? "Over five years, the Xbox One's 250 kilowatt hours per year usage represents roughly $150 in electricity costs, enough to buy two or three new games!"
True. But the tone of the original blog piece is a bit overdramatic — particularly given that these are figures we could generate for virtually any non-critical appliance that runs on a daily basis.
First, the NRDC does have a point: The Xbox One and PS4 use significantly more power than their predecessors. Data from various sources, including NRDC, suggests that power consumption is far higher than it ought to be, at 80W for Blu-ray playback for the Xbox One and 90W for the PS4. Blu-ray players from 2009 (Samsung's BD-P3600) was tested by CNET and found to consume 22W against the PS3 Slim's 81W. Not much improvement there.
The PS4 consumes more power than the Xbox One in every mode except Connected Standby, where the Xbox One chews threw 18W compared to Sony's 8.8W. Since both consoles are expected to spend much of their time in this mode, the Xbox One ends up actually using more electricity than Sony's system. In other words, the PS4's higher performance and power consumption in gaming is more than offset.
Improving energy efficiency
Where I think the NRDC goes wrong, however, is to assume that this generation's console power consumption will only improve by 25%. The report also makes some rather questionable assertions about charging power on the PS4.
For starters, let's talk about that 80-90W Blu-ray decode consumption on both consoles — that's ridiculous. It made sense for the PS3 to draw that much power because Nvidia's video decode block doesn't appear to have been capable of full video offload, which meant the Cell processor was likely handling some of the task as well. AMD's video decoder, in contrast, can handle the entire process with relatively little effort and for a fraction the power.
Here's what this suggests: All of the optimization work that went into the Xbox One and PS4 went into making them run properly, with comparatively little tuning for low-power operation when playing video. If you think about it, this makes sense. Load balancing and figuring out which parts of the SoC can be deactivated without impacting the user experience takes a great deal of testing compared to flipping a switch and running full out. Future updates should be capable of improving this by more than the 25% the NRDC estimates. I'd hope for something more along the lines of 40-50W.
The report goes a bit off base when it suggests that Sony must improve battery charge efficiency, noting that "Sony's PS4 uses 8 watts of power in connected standby when USB charging is enabled… laptops perform this function for only 1 watt." Presumably this is when a device is actually plugged in and charging. Unless there's an enormous low-level software issue, this has more to do with charge speed than charge time. You cannot draw 1W from the wall and charge a device as quickly as you can drawing 8W from the wall unless Sony deliberately used a charger with miserable efficiency. Even if it did, fixing it would take a hardware swap.
Finally, there's the cost figure. The NRDC expects that running your Xbox for five years will cost $150. "Enough to buy two or three new games!" We are further told that consoles could use as much as 500MW of power, or the entire power consumption of Houston.
Total generating capacity of the United States? Approximately 1TW. What percentage of 1TW is 500MW? That's just 0.05%.
So, to put this in perspective, yes, consoles draw power, and yes, consumers should be aware of that. But while consumer use of resources is an important part of the US total, it's only a modest amount. In 2011, residential use accounted for 22% of total power, compared to 28% for transportation, 31% industrial, and 19% commercial. Furthermore, since many console buyers will be previous owners of other consoles who will presumably retire those devices, the net impact on US energy consumption due to console production will be negligible.
We still want to see Sony and Microsoft improve the power consumption of their products, but don't buy the fear-mongering. If you retire a PS3 or Xbox 360 and replace it with the modern version, the impact on your power bill is going to be a few dollars per month, at most.
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I don't think people should put too much though into it, after all a lot of people tend to have a lot worse habits that cost more money. I know for a fact some friends spend around $20 a week on cigarettes. I'm not sure if the article is trying to inform or to create controversy or both.
Joel Hruska
Try reading the last paragraph again.
https://www.youtube.com/ButtonBros TheRedButterfly
"We still want to see Sony and Microsoft improve the power consumption of their products, but don't buy the fear-mongering. If you retire a PS3 or Xbox 360 and replace it with the modern version, the impact on your power bill is going to be a few dollars per month, at most."
So what's your point exactly?
http://www.hypertiz/deviantart.com Matthew James Gargan
that logic when people want high graphics
and 60fps
while the major companies are trying to be energy efficient.
ofcourse thenps4 will be more expensive
it is after all 16x more powerful and heaps of cores (8?)
I just feel the article is giving the reader the middle finger over nothing. I mean you make it sound like it's a big deal only to have a paragraph in the end saying "but don't buy the fear-mongering" the impact on your power bill is going to be a few dollars per month at most. And so we go back to the post below with the question "your point exactly"?
So if you switch the Xbox One off when not in use the Xbox is far more economical than the PS4, Maybe you should headline that….
Joel Hruska
No, because that's an uneven comparison. Let's review.
1). If you leave both consoles on and running software, the PS4 is more power efficient.
2). If you let both consoles idle but don't turn them off completely, the PS4 is more power efficient.
3). If you shut both consoles off at the wall, the PS4 is more power efficient.
I'm not going to say "Well, if you do different things, one console beats the other."
Well that and while I will never purchase an xbox one I have to say that I think the power consumption in stand by is high because of Microsft's insistence to allow you to turn the thing on with your voice while in standby….
That doesn't make sense because I can turn my pc on through voice and it takes no extra power for this. The power must be going to something else. Its not internet services or the kinect as another commenter stated they checked the usage with and without and there was no difference. I have a kill-a-watt tool also I'll go to my nieghbors house and verify that myself tomorrow and report back if I see any difference using my tests.
yeah that's showing them..
the ps4 and xbone both have an coprocessor to do the download process instead of the main processor. so they will save a lot of power whit just firmware updates. But i don't know if its already sold in europe. because europe has laws that in ready standby a device may only use 1 or 2 watts of energy.
Joel Hruska
Connected Standby isn't the same as standard standby. And you can shut it off.
Jacob S
I like being able to walk into the room and say "xbox on" and all my stuff turns on . I will pay the 150.00 over 5yrs- I will pay more than that for gas in 2weeks.
Xbox can't turn on all your stuff it doesn't even turn the xbox on. The xbox is in standbys therefore its already on. Your just waking it up. If you want something that can turn on anything in your house through voice check out voxcommando I love this program it does everything!
David Perales
Actually when I say xbox on it turns on my tv and turns on my cable box pretty nicely. It works for me almost 100 of the time. The one time it didn't work is after the last update. Then after that it worked great
Voice control is sick I love it personally. When I wake up in the morning and go to my theater I say "good morning Jarvis" and he responds back in British accent "good morning to you as well, sir" then the pc wakes up,lights slowly brighten, TV turns on, fan turns on, ac thermostat turns to auto, weather/news feeds/email are all brought up on screen, receiver turns on and goes to default volume. Then Jarvis asks what I would like to do next. From there I can say launch game/TV/movie/music but not just that I can literally say something like "play american dad season 5 episode 8 and INSTANTLY it begins playing.
Voice control is the shit! To bad xbox limited it to only a couple of small commands. They should have made an editor so that users could enter there own phrases. For example with voxcommando it has an editor that allows me to use hundreds of different phrases and make certain words optional. This allows me to walk into the theater and not be limited to 1 phrase. I could say good morning Jarvis, turn everything on Jarvis, Jarvis turn on the fan,TV,receiver,etc.
I can literally do millions of things through natural voice comms with vox. You can also give it over 100 responses back for each command so if I say TV on, Jarvis will randomly choose from 100 different responses. I just recently hooked vox in with the OK Google command so I can do voice searches as well all through open mics throughout my home.
All of this is fairly easy to smack together pretty much its all just plug n play. But I do like that ms at least tried. They are starting to catch up I guess.
Russell Gorall
Stop putting ads in your posts.
Stop putting cocks in your mouth! I'm not advertising and I have no affiliation with any companies, so take your asshole comments elsewhere. All I did was tell the person who was talking about voice control the setup that I use and what I have achieved using it.
18w for standby seem more than excessive … anybody check what processes are running in standby mode?
Joel Hruska
That's Kinect, listening. But again, it wouldn't surprise me if updates bring it down.
Right now, the focus had to be on getting the system out the door. So "get it working" was the goal. There's no reason on Earth for 80W Blu-ray decode. Even if the decode was 100% software, that eight-core Kabini shouldn't draw more than 40W
Ishan Wankavala
Its probably cuz xbox 1 is always listening for ur voice to turn it on
I'd be happy with an increase in standby consumption if xbox heard me say "xbox on" every time. Voice controls seem to have gotten notably worse lately. Also Extreme Tech, please do an article about how Xbox One logs in the gold member when it see them, even when someone else is in control. It's unbearably annoying. I walk in the house while my kids are on and it logs into my profile. WTF!!!!!
Could all that extra consumption be from the kinect streaming audio/video from the kinect while you think its not paying attention to you? My desktop uses less than 10 watts while in standby and I can still use voice to wake up my system.
Joel Hruska
No. Power use is consistent whether the system is attached to the 'Net or not.
Ahh OK just a thought. Thanks for clearing that up. What did you use to monitor the power consumption?
Joel Hruska
Well, I'm not the one who did the test — fellow I know did. But he used a standard Kill-A-Watt meter between the system and the wall jack.
Note that the blog talks about PS4 drawing 8.8 W to have USB charging *enabled*, not actually charging. The issue is not about charging efficiency, it's about drawing an extra 5.8 W just to have the USB subsystem on. My laptop in sleep mode draws less than 1 W and the USB ports are live (not charging). While it's great to have live USB ports in standby, so you can charge accessories without leaving the console on, 5.8 W 18 hours a day represents 38 kWh per year, a lot more than necessary. Full disclosure, I am with NRDC and have worked on this project.
Joel Hruska
Glad to have you stop by, and thank you for the input.
The original blog post never mentions the 5.8W figure. It only says: "Sony's PS4 uses 8 watts of power in connected standby when USB charging is enabled. While this is a good feature as users can charge their controller and headset without leaving the console on and fully powered, laptops perform this function for only 1 watt "
The phrase "perform this function" appears to the actual act of charging the battery, not simply making that state available to the system. Can you clarify the actual power draw of charging versus simply leaving the capability enabled?
If, as you say, the system is drawing 8.8W of power just to turn charging on without actually providing any charging, that is rather high — though we're talking about $5.70 worth of electricity per year. Still, could be better.
PS4 draws 3 W in standby with USB disabled, and 8.8 W with USB enabled, hence the 5.8 W. When charging a peripheral it draws up to 5 W more depending on the state of charge of the peripheral, but only for a short time. Charging energy is typically only a small fraction of the console energy consumption, where as keeping the USB live without anything charging is roughly 20% of the console annual energy use.
3 W in standby while remaining connected to the network is not bad, enabling USB for another watt or so would be even better!
Joel Hruska
I suspect at least some of these figures will improve, but the bottom line is this: power is cheap.
I've run the numbers on 80 Plus vs 80 Plus Platinum PSUs before. If you draw 500-600W 24/7, you make back the cost of that high efficiency PSU in a year or two. But if you draw 150W at the wall, the difference between 80% and 92% efficiency never pays for itself considering such units typically carry a 2x price premium.
It's one thing to say: "The Xbox costs $150 over five years." It's another thing to say: "The Xbox costs $150 over five years, and the super-efficient version costs $120."
I think in the long term MS and Sony can push that to $100, and I think they should, but we're talking about cost savings equal tothe price of dinner and a movie over half a decade.
Most plug-in devices in the home don't add much to your electricity bill individually, but with 25 consumer electronic devices on average in U.S. homes, it adds up. And in aggregate at the country and global levels, it adds up to lots of power plants which generate pollution and contribute to climate change. Our issue here is not the energy consumed to play games, it's the energy wasted when not using the device, at night and when no one is home. It's also the much higher energy used to play video on these consoles compared to more efficient devices.
Joel Hruska
Hey, I'm all for charging a carbon tax on power plants to offset the significant externallities of fossil fuel usage. But I think the focus on consumer behavior is a mistake. In fact, I think framing this debate in individual use terms was one of the great PR snow jobs of the entire 20th century.
We obsess over lightbulbs and low-flow toilets when in reality, consumers account for a modest slice of total electricity use. Even if we add transportation, commercial and industrial applications are typically much larger than consumer applications, since so much of our commerce moves by semi. I don't say that to belittle the work you and your organization do, because changing consumer behavior is *also* important, but the focus on the individual while leaving out the systemic costs are precisely why we're arguing over carbon taxes and fair cost accounting rather than viewing these as expenses that should have been built into the plant from the beginning.
Daniel Sousa
I'm the one that turns the console on the light, when will get several hours without playing?
So Xbox is that it saves more energy, because I turn off the light when I get it without playing a good time
One word: AMD
Joel Hruska
And this is relevant … How?
Abba Okoro
There chips use up more power compared to competitors
Fyou CCtimes
No, it's just bad programming on the part of sony/microsoft.
Abba Okoro
What does programming have to due with the way the hardware is manufactured and made?
Fyou CCtimes
This power consumption issue is a software issue not a hardware issue. What's likely happening is that certain pieces of software aren't shutting down the CPU into a low power mode like it should.
For example if you put the XBOXone into a power save mode which in the European Union, they're required to present, the XBOX will use .5 watts vs the 15 watts in the "instant on mode". However it takes 45 seconds to boot up if you utilize that mode. Meanwhile a laptop computer or desktop computer put into "standby mode" will also use .5 watts but when you wake it up, it's fully ready in about 3-6 seconds.
So even though they use the same hardware as a desktop/laptop computer, they're not taking advantage of power saving features like it should where it would provide the readiness users desire with the power savings it should have.
Abba Okoro
_"This power consumption issue is a software issue not a hardware issue."_
No, well guess you never went into computer engineering.
It's 100% hardware. You can't make the machine do what it can't do with software
Fyou CCtimes
You obviously don't understand the nexus of the problem. Like I said, this isn't a hardware issue but a software issue. The machine is fully capable of going into a lower power/standby mode as it uses PC hardware and actually will do so if you go through the menus and choose the lower power option. With that option the system uses 0.5watts. However what they didn't program or provide as an option is a lower power mode like an S3 Standby mode where the system state is retained in system memory, constantly powered, minimally refreshed (uses minimal power) so that it's ready for quick startup. As I've and others have tested, this power state also uses the same amount of power as when the system is fully shut off but not disconnected (S5, System Bios Clock is still operating).
These units are basically laptops/desktop computers with some dedicated security circuits and whatnot but otherwise Microsoft is fully capable of re-programming the unit to either use an ACPI S3 power state or to have the system idle in a very low power state and take advantage of C1-C4 CPU idling, etc.
In basic terms, if a laptop computer using the same hardware as this Xbox can idle in Windows (meaning fully coherent, S0) at less than 5 watts, than so can this XBOX.
Abba Okoro
No, no the xbox one is a customized mini-computer again this is a hardware thing.
Fyou CCtimes
This isn't "a hardware thing" because they mostly used off the shelf parts. You honestly believe that they purposefully requested AMD remove a hand full of transistors just to purposefully not be able to utilize a function that is normally built into AMD's processors? That they don't have a fully reprogrammable BIOS? Get real, you sound stupid so unless you can prove otherwise, I'd just learn to accept that you're wrong.
Abba Okoro
I just told you that you can't use software to make hardware do something it can't do.
Again, read what I said above.
Fyou CCtimes
That's true, you can't tell software to do what hardware can't do but that's not what we're talking about here. What we're talking about here is programming software to utilize certain hardware features that would result in power savings.
Abba Okoro
And why hasn't Microsoft, a software company done that?
Fyou CCtimes
Because much like Tesla, they're more concerned with other things than optimizing the console for power savings. To give you an example, the Tesla Model S has issues with idle power consumption in that it would lose about 8 miles of range per day. That's a lot of electricity, so Tesla came out with some power saving features which helped considerably. However because the software was kinda/sort of rushed, it lead to all sorts of bugs and issues like door handles not popping out or staying out, moon roof staying open, center console screen crashing, etc.etc. So they sent an update disabling the power saving feature. Then about 9 months later, they released a software update with a power saving feature again but this time it was pretty mild improvement. A few months after that, they released another update which helped considerably with the power savings but still doesn't provide the power savings like the original software update provided.
Anyway so my point is, Microsoft doesn't care about power savings because of that Kinect Garbage is always running, possibly isn't optimized/is very buggy since it already has trouble with voice recognition so putting a CPU speed limiter when in "Instant On mode" could make the Kinect run even worse or not at all. Also having the console go into S3 mode when in the "Power Save Mode" could lead to console instability and crash the console upon restart as even on the PC it isn't 100% reliable all the time. So instead, Microsoft chose the easy route of not giving a shit while providing the EU mandated Power Save Mode which cannot consume more than 0.5 watts which in Microsoft's case results in basically just turning off the damn console completely.
Will Microsoft provide a more in between optimal solution that saves power while providing console readiness? Maybe, but probably not unless consumers complain enough to get some software engineers on the issue.
Abba Okoro
Isn't Tesla subjected to laws and regulations holding them back?
And do you own an Xbox one? I mean your comments lead to believe otherwise
Fyou CCtimes
I don't own one but my neighbor does, I'm fairly familiar with the unit. Also as for Tesla being subjected to laws and regulations, every company and everybody is, so what? There is no law on parasitic draw on a car, the car has no tailpipe so the only rules it's subjected to are things like DOT compliance, crash safety, seatbelts, etc.
Abba Okoro
No I mean Tesla is being screwed heavily by the US government.
But yes nice conversation with you.
Fyou CCtimes
Well I wouldn't say the Federal Govt. is screwing Tesla, that's mostly a states issue and it's because of crony capitalism/lobbying that is hurting Tesla by not allowing them to directly sell their vehicles to consumers. But soon as these states see Tesla wanting to create a # of jobs in their state, all of a sudden they get weak in the knees and want to pass legislation making their state appealing to Tesla both for manufacturing and selling of their vehicles.
Abba Okoro
Jobs? lol come on the best they can do is provide an alternative fuel solution but even then the expanding Oil industry is keeping that from happening
Do these numbers factor in the fact that the xbox uses the cable input causing it to be on any time the tv is on? The ps4 would only be use during netflix ect and gameplay… i watch alot of cable and the features on the xbox are awesome but its going to cost more and use more power to run the xbox in the long run if your using it to watch cable, netflix ect and gameplay. If the systems are compared for the same period of time the ps4 loses but i don't believe it would in the long run
What's the Wii U use?
Nothing because no one owns it!! Bdum bum!!! (Jk I own one!)
Wii U only needs a 75W power brick, so that says a lot on its own. In tests, it runs at 32W under load with only a spike to 33W and 34W occasionally. 0.5W in standby. Netflix streaming uses only about 29W.
That's fairly efficient. But it's about what I'd expect from the visuals we've seen from it so far. If the Zelda game looks like that E3 tech demo though I'll be pretty impressed.
It's won't look like the tech demo from an art perspective. They won't want to use that same artstyle. However, I don't know if you have seen Mario Kart 8 or not, but there is an awful lot of detail going on in that game.
You cannot compare the power usage of a PS4 with a standalone bluray player. The bluray player only has one function in life. PS4 is a multifunction device with a more complex OS dealing with stuff in the background. It's more akin to a gaming PC if you want to compare power usage. In such a comparison the PS4 would be very low power usage. The reports conclusion is unfair when devs have marvelled how such powerful graphics can be delivered by such a small box generating low noise and heat (low power).
Ofcourse charging controllers in standby uses more than a laptop recharging, we need controllers recharging fast so more juice is push at them. No mention if the power drops when fully charged? If it does then the total used is the same.
I wonder how many extra games we could buy if we viewed them on a 32″ 720p screen instead of a 40″ 1080p screen over 5 years. Less features for more games is a stupid assessment. If you want awesome game graphics, you're going to have to pay for the electricity to run it. Living in this world creates a footprint, like it or not, unless we slit our throats and get out.
PS4 is very economic on power. You can even turn it completely off to save the planet, unlike XB1 which wants to be on all the time in standby spying on you over the internet.
Fyou CCtimes
You're an idiot! Plain and simple! You're actually with a straight face saying that 90w is efficient to play back a blu-ray movie? Are you stupid? The reason the PS4 and Xbox are horridly inefficient at playing back video is because they're not utilizing the built in hardware decode functions of the AMD processor. If they actually used the built in hardware the console has, it wouldn't be wasting so much electricity. You compare your laptop to the PS4 and you'll see that the PS4/Xbox are energy pigs! Guess which has more performance in it while doing many more functions?
http://www.nostrotech.com/ Hassan Gulzar
The article title worried me a little but after looking at the numbers, the PC win in the department as well!
Say what?! Are you on drugs or something? A PC consumes like a washing machine.
http://www.nostrotech.com/ Hassan Gulzar
Ummm… when I say "win" i'm being sarcastic. Of course a PC take a lot more then Xbox 360 + PS3 + Xbox 1 + PS4 combined while gaming
Now see these constant bullshit lies from people are what gets me riled up. Please show us evidence of your claims. Until then its just more fanboyism chiming into topics where they know nothing of which they speak.
http://www.nostrotech.com/ Hassan Gulzar
Now see these constant bullshit lack-of-understanding-a-basic-soft-jokes from people are what gets me riled up…
And for education sake,
Annual power consumption cost – Apple iMac (24-inch, 2.66GHz): $16.20
Annual power consumption cost – Sony Vaio LV250B: $29.40
Annual power consumption cost – Digital Storm 950Si: $118.27
Annual power consumption cost – Digital Storm 950Si (2.4 gaming hours/day): $134.77
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10280974-1.html
That's $134 yearly for a PC. Where as in this article above: "… The long-term impact? Over five years, the Xbox One's 250 kilowatt hours per year usage represents roughly $150 in electricity costs, enough to buy two or three new games!…"
5 years = $150
Joel Hruska
Nope. Really doesn't.
http://www.nostrotech.com/ Hassan Gulzar
I didn't mean literally. I was exaggerating as PC does produce bigger bill then consoles. I'm thinking more of a Quad GTXXX something.
http://www.nostrotech.com/ Hassan Gulzar
Not to mention that a console cannot mine Bitcoins LOL… Unless Minecraft is really a Trojan that actually mines crypto-currency for the developers.
it's $2.50 a month extra in electricity. Thats breaking the bank?
Fyou CCtimes
It's cumulative and it's wasteful. It's an unnecessary expense and the solution wouldn't detract from the console's utility in any way.
@joelhruska:disqus this article is misleading in stating that the ps4 uses more energy than it's predecessors. when the ps3 came out it used nearly 200w for playing games, it took nearly 6 years to bring that down to about 70w… also the gpu is about 8-10x more powerful. any midrange and higher gpu in a computer (desktop) uses quite a bit more…
Joel Hruska
We aren't comparing against the 2005 PS3. That's like saying a Mustang doesn't burn more fuel than a Prius because the 2013 Mustang gets better mileage than a 1981 Mustang.
the playstation 3 wasn't released in 2005, it was 2006 (11/11/2006). it's not like comparing a car separated by nearly 3.5 decades seeing as how the power draw did not become significantly lower til march of 2010. the whole energy report is ridiculous in general.
Joel Hruska
Any comparison against the PS3 is going to be against the current shipping version.
When Intel and AMD ship new processors, we compare them to the old processors. We don't say: "Well, the new Core i7 draws less power than the 2006 P4."
The fact that the PS4 will draw less power over time is the point.
"The fact that the PS4 will draw less power over time is the point."
If you had taken a sentence or two to explain the history of the PS3 power draw I never would have commented. The fact is the way it is written, you've made it seem as though the Playstation 4 was built poorly in comparison (while I agree the bluray playing feature is drawing way too much energy it does quite well for games). When it comes to green energy, there are many more things to become righteous about. Also, no other device (read computer, tablet ect) is pumping out these type of visuals at this type of power draw. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
This article is moot. The whole thing with being green in gaming machines, is what cripples their performance. These things should be running the full 100-150 watts on the CPU, with clock rates at around 2.75 ghz CPU and 1ghz on the GPU. The movement to stay green is the only reason why these components aren't running their standard clock rates. Green devices should be everything outside of graphics processing equipment.
Joel Hruska
Um. No. Clock speeds and power consumption on these parts is standard for their desktop counterparts. The GPUs are clocked lower because packing that much silicon into one core risks heat problems not because of green tech design.
power consumption and clock speed is pretty much equal to heat. and they are not equal to the their desktop counterparts because surprise!!! they don't have desktop counterparts. the cpu is a tablet cpu, and the gpu is much more closely related to the 7970m for laptops (which is like the 7870 for desktops) but has an even lower clock. You know nothing Joel Hruska, and ur defensive to boot.
Kind of pointless article. PS3 is one of the most popular blu ray & 3D players in the world and it used 81W VS PS4's 90W.
We are going to continue to use our consoles. The whole reason why a console uses more power than a stand alone blu ray player is because there is a whole lot more going on. It's not just a player hooked up to 1 optical drive. It's an entire gaming PC with tons of features.
Fyou CCtimes
That's not why. It's because of bad programming. There is dedicated hardware inside of the game consoles capable of offloading the computation of decoding video. I.e. these consoles should be using 1/8 of the power they're currently using when playing back video. Your laptop computer uses less power playing a video game than these game consoles and it has a lot more functions and performance than these consoles.
Nick Jones
This is kind of funny because the Wii U uses 32 watts of power running a game and is more power efficient and powerful than the PS3 and Xbox 360. When it comes to electrical usage television screen size should also factor in for power conscientious consumers. I'll kick back and play virtual console titles or even Splinter Cell Blacklist on the Gamepad to save power on not running the television. Still I currently have a Wii U, PS4 and even more powerful (and power draining) gaming computer. The barely sub 200 watt console systems aren't necessarily a bad thing. $150 over five years can be spent on a lot less enjoyable things.
Nick Jones
Complaining about the relatively low power consumption cost of your new game console is really like complaining about having to pay to put gas in your car. It just comes with the territory, deal with it or stop gaming I suppose.
Nick Jones
This is kind of funny because the Wii U uses 32 watts of power running a game and is more power efficient and powerful than the PS3 and Xbox 360. When it comes to electrical usage television screen size should also factor in for power conscientious consumers. I'll kick back and play virtual console titles or even Splinter Cell Blacklist on the Gamepad to save power on not running the television. Still I currently have a Wii U, PS4 and even more powerful (and power draining) gaming computer. The barely sub 200 watt console systems aren't necessarily a bad thing. $150 over five years can be spent on a lot less enjoyable things.
Can the editors of this website please institute a site-wide policy of attribution?
You should be plainly citing your sources I see no links Natural Resources Defense Council, but you have plenty of links that link back to your website and one to CNet (must be a sister company or something).
if you are going to cover another entities news, please cite your sources via links. Preferably ones that aren't buried in the copy and are easy to identify below the content.
silence troll
My PC required a 700 watt power supply. At the rate things were going, it was on the road to outdo my refrigerator. Having a spaz over 137 watt is just silly.
Joel Hruska
"required" is probably incorrect. Your PC was recommended for a PSU that powerful because it can draw that much energy until certain, specific circumstances. This does not mean your system regularly draws 700W (in fact, I'd be stunned if it drew anything close).
The most power-expensive system I ever had was a Tyan K8WE (S2895) motherboard with a pair of dual-core AMD Opterons in it (four cores total). It had two independent chipsets, dual x16 PCIe slots (when that was a big deal, and the power saving mode was broken. It drew 350W in idle and 500W full load.
The highest-end systems I've ever *tested* drew 1200W at peak load and idled at about 150W.
Your PSU is designed to handle peak power output, not idle or even load.
I should note that PSU recommendations are always worst-case scenarios. Companies give themselves huge ranges because the quality of PSU can vary enormously. Iv'e seen cheap generics blow out at 50% of rated load. Since NV or AMD or Intel don't know if you're using SuperAwesomeMegaPSU or a generic POS, they leave huge margins in place.
The subtle and not so subtle bias towards Playstation 4 and against Xbox One comes through in this article. For example the article focuses on the additional cost of the electrical use of the Xbox but doesn't mention the electrical costs of the Playstation. The article talks about how the $150 it takes to run the Xbox could buy you two to three games. If the electrical costs are proportional the Playstation costs ~$109 per year to run. There is no mention of that in this article, and it goes to show a general bias that I have noticed by many writers on Extremetech over the last few weeks.
The Xbox uses 15W less power to stream a movie through Netflix but the chart from NRDC shows Xbox uses roughly double the power usage for "Media". Do Xbox owners watch twice as many Netflix movies as PS4 owners?
Who cares? I still use my PS3 chrome fatty that has a 384 watt psu in it, and have ever since PS3 came out on day one, and have never noticed it on my power bill at all. My PS4 hardly pulls anything, people need to stop worrying how much power a console uses, when their t.v. pulls a lot more, of course, that's nothing new, and nothing to be concerned about either.
Joel Janiuk
I think a lot of people are missing the point of this discussion. The post talks of monthly and yearly costs, without a comparison to other household electrical appliances. So, it's probably not about the money too much (or the cost for the consumer) but more about using more power than it has to, we've come a long way with technology, we all know the components are a lot more powerful and capable of doing a much better job at rendering our virtual worlds, but, they haven't put a lot of thought into being efficient. Even in this day and age, when government's hesitate it investing money into free energy and we're still stuck relying on fossil fuels, just because they want to make money.
I think if they really had power consumption in mind (or as a higher priority) they could have done a much better job. I can see Sony (no surprise here) has put some thought into it, as Japan likes to reduce pollution and save money. I'm afraid Microsoft probably couldn't care less.
Are their guidelines for wattage use on household electronics?
Zack Wooten
NRDC is a radical group already and anyone who isn't a low information voter should know to blow off their opinions on the console, and use common sense to realize that it's just the way it is. I want my PS4, and NRDC can suck it.
Shawn M Smith
a bit overdramatic , NO a lot overdramatic standard light bulb 60w, cfl 13w, hair dryer 1000w, microwave 1200w ,toaster 1500w , 55″ led tv around 400w,a laptop charger 65w ,desk top 300w i would say they are doing dam good in comparison
Fyou CCtimes
You're an idiot. The standby power consumption of these devices is MORE than any of those devices you mentioned because of the number of hours (24) the console is in this vampire mode. These consoles use as much electricity as a chest freezer! Which do you think has to do more work/has less room for an efficiency upgrade!?
http://www.facebook.com/anthony.carl.caudill Anthony Caudill
Fools… it's not about breaking the bank. It's about the actual ability of the grid to supply that power! Between the next gen PCs and these consoles and their LCD TVs… power usage is going out of sight…
The question is is this with "instant on" enabled or the other option?
hi im new to xbox one and I want to ask how many wattage does xbox one take