Plenty of events planned for families to party into 2013

Calgarians are invited to ring in the New Year with a number of family events planned around the city.

The city is hosting three all-ages parties Monday night.

The events include a free family dance party, Citytv?s New Year?s Bash concert at Olympic Plaza and a family pool party at Village Square Leisure Centre.

The downtown fun begins at 7 p.m. inside the municipal atrium at City Hall. The free family dance party features a kids? countdown at 9 p.m.

To brighten the show, Calgarians are encouraged to dress in white, neon or anything that glows. The indoor atrium will host activities including games, crafts, power bikes that create lighting effects, fire dancers, a photo booth and dancing.

From 9:30 p.m. to 12:15 a.m., Citytv?s New Year?s Bash at Olympic Plaza kicks off with a concert featuring performances by platinum-selling artist Johnny Reid, Serena Ryder, Victoria Duffield and Massari.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi will lead the crowd in the midnight countdown to welcome 2013. The event will be broadcast nationwide on Citytv, beginning at around 10 p.m.

There is no skating at the Olympic Plaza for the New Year?s events.

The evening celebration will culminate with fireworks at midnight from the Municipal Building.

Earlier Monday, the family pool party at Village Square Leisure Centre, at 2623 56th St. N.E., begins at 4:30 p.m. and goes until 6:30 p.m. Regular admission rates apply.

There will be a DJ playing while families enjoy the wave pool, inflatable toys, arts, crafts, treats and prizes.

Transit is free Monday night after 6 p.m.

The Calgary Zoo is also hosting a family party complete with fireworks.

This year?s event runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.,

Be sure to arrive by 8:30 p.m. to catch a 12-minute, animal-friendly fireworks display choreographed to music.

This year, the Calgary Zoo is using low-noise fireworks to avoid upsetting the animals. Pyrotechnics typically make two explosive noises, when being launched and when they explode above. The zoo is using fireworks that let off one bang only, officials say.

There are no animal buildings open during Zoo Year?s Eve.

Tickets are pre-purchase only at www.calgaryzoo.com or by calling the zoo at (403) 232-9300. Ticket prices are $12 for adults and $9 for children (ages 3-15 years). Children under 2 are admitted free.

Parking is free after 4:30 p.m.

Zoolights runs nightly until Jan. 5 or at the gate.

Source: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/calgary/Plenty+events+planned+families+party+into+2013/7758603/story.html

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Stocks struggle for direction as 'cliff' nears

NEW YORK (AP) ? With the "fiscal cliff" just hours away and politicians yet to reach a solution, the stock market struggled to decide which way to go.

The Dow Jones industrial average hopped between small gains and losses in morning trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq composite dipped into the red but spent most of the morning holding onto small gains.

Many investors are unsure of what to do with their money as long as the "fiscal cliff" remains unsolved. That refers to higher taxes and government spending cuts that will kick in Tuesday if Republicans and Democrats can't hammer out a budget compromise by midnight Monday. Both sides had been hoping for a deal over the weekend, but negotiations were stop and go. On Monday, the House and Senate met in rare New Year's Eve sessions to try to take another swing at compromising.

It's difficult to discern how a deal, or lack of a deal, might affect the stock market. From mid-November through roughly mid-December, the stock market rose more or less steadily, despite the "fiscal cliff" looming on the horizon. It wasn't until shortly before Christmas that the "cliff" finally scared investors enough to send the market down.

Some investors are unruffled by the approaching "cliff." Even on Monday, some investors were still expecting a deal to get done on time. After all, it's not unusual for high-profile budget negotiations to go down to the wire.

And even if Republicans and Democrats can't reach a deal, some investors think the effect of the higher taxes and lower government spending would be more like the anti-climactic Y2K scare than a true Armageddon. The impact would be felt only gradually ? for example, workers might get more taxes withheld from their first couple of paychecks in the new year ? but then Congress could always retroactively repeal those higher taxes, these investors reason.

Others are more concerned. The higher taxes and lower government spending could take more than $600 billion out of the U.S. economy and send it back into recession. Politically, the U.S. would send a message that its lawmakers can't cooperate. And without a deal, investors would have no good read on the country's long-term policy for taxes and spending, or how the government plans to eventually trim its deficit.

Tim Speiss, partner in charge of the personal wealth advisers practice at EisnerAmper in New York, followed the "cliff" negotiations on Monday and wondered if the U.S. would get its debt rating cut again. The Standard & Poor's ratings agency cut its rating of the U.S. amid similar negotiations, when lawmakers were arguing over the government's borrowing limit in August 2011. S&P said at the time that "America's governance and policymaking (is) becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable." Its rating cut sent the stock market into a tailspin.

The other major ratings agencies, Moody's and Fitch, have suggested that they might lower their ratings of the U.S. if the country goes over the "fiscal cliff."

"That is, unfortunately, the big story," Speiss said.

There's also been little other news to trade on during the holiday season. No major companies are scheduled to report earnings this week, and the major economic indicator this week, the government's monthly jobs report, won't be released until Friday.

Trading volume has also been light, with many investors still on vacation. That also makes the market more susceptible to getting yanked around: With fewer shares trading hands, the market can be moved by relatively small trades.

Last week, about 2.2 billion shares traded hands each day on average. Throughout the year, the average has been closer to 3.6 billion.

By midday, the Dow was down four points to 12,934. The S&P 500 was up four points to 1,407. The Nasdaq composite index was up 20 to 2,981.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.73 percent from 1.70 percent late Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average is set to close about 6 percent higher for the year, slightly better than last year's gain of 5.5 percent. That's less than the 11 percent gain of 2010 and the 19 percent gain of 2009, though those big increases were possible largely because the Dow plunged 34 percent in 2008.

Some of the best-performing stocks for the year were those that had been hammered in 2011. Homebuilder PulteGroup, appliance maker Whirlpool and Bank of America all more than doubled over the year, after falling by double-digit percentages in 2011.

Some of the worst performers of the year were Best Buy, Hewlett-Packard and J.C. Penney. All are struggling to keep up with competitors who have adapted more quickly to changing technologies and changing customer tastes. They were all up Monday, but were each down at least 45 percent for the year.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-struggle-direction-cliff-nears-150527466--finance.html

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iMore show tonight. 6pm PT. 9pm ET. 2013 preview. Be here!

2012 is just about over, and that means a new year, and all sorts of incredible new stuff, is almost here. Join me and Georgia tonight on the iMore show for our official 2013 preview show. We'll be talking Apple watches and Apple televisions, iOS 7, a Retina iPad mini, a skinny iPad 5, the iPhone 5S, and a whole lot more.

6pm PT. 9pm ET. Be here!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/OGAASybmwms/story01.htm

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Foursquare Privacy Policy Change - Business Insider

Foursquare has notified its users that privacy policy changes will swing into effect next month, making more user data more public.

Foursquare checkins used to show a user's first name and last initial, but beginning January 28, 2013, checkins will publicly display a user's full name.

Additionally, venue owners wanting to take a closer look at checkins will have access to "more of those recent check-ins, instead of just three hours worth." There's no specification on how far back they'll be able to look.

Showing people's full names is bound to stir up some grumbling among the user base, but FourSquare points out that there's an easy fix if you don't like it ? you can change your name in your account settings.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/foursquare-privacy-policy-change-2012-12

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Gun Magazines & Gun Owner Psychology (OliverWillisLikeKryptoniteToStupid)

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93% The Sessions

All Critics (151) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (141) | Rotten (10)

Achieves its sunny disposition by pulling punches.

A funny, tender and mostly unsentimentalized movie about physical and emotional triumph.

Forced to do all his acting with his face, Hawkes displays the kind of camera-arresting capability that has earned others Oscar nominations.

This is a crowd-pleaser of the finest sort.

Using only his tilted head, his eyes, nose, and mouth and that quizzical voice, Hawkes brings O'Brien to life.

This is one of the best, and certainly one of the best-acted, films of the year. I can't think of another film that mixed compassion and carnality in such an eloquent way.

The laughs are always gentle, which is descriptive of the film as a whole, as it strives to reconnect cinematic sex with shared humanity.

Vera is something of a missed opportunity here.

A movie about sex that shows a whole lot of sex, but isn't sex-obsessed. The Sessions grabs you in the heart rather than the loins.

An inspiring tale that celebrates the human spirit, underscores the value of connections, and laughs at the beautifully embarrassing urges that make us what we are.

Deeply moving. The Oscar-worthy (John) Hawkes invests his character with a sense of grace and humor that nullifies any potential pity. This is a great movie for adults and even for older adolescents.

It is rare to watch a movie where sex is treated with maturity, religion is treated with respect and characters are so heart-warmingly written and portrayed.

Raw, unrestrained and sympathetic without giving in to melodrama, 'The Sessions' is about a man facing a physical challenge who decides he wants to become intimate with a woman.

An intelligent, funny, insightful film that offers a frank examination of sex. It's not prurient or titillating, just truthful.

A remarkable actor, John Hawkes, gives a remarkable performance as a remarkable character.

Surprisingly funny and touching.

Presents the sensitive O'Brien as a brave, funny, unselfish and unlikely romantic-fantasy dream hero for disappointed, weary or jaded older female moviegoers.

The uplifting struggle for living a life of dignity for paralyzed from the neck down polio victim Mark O'Brien.

The sex scenes are frank and explicit, but never cheap and exploitative. (Yes, they get naked. Grow up.) The nudity isn't airbrushed pin-up perfection, but raw and real - and all the more lovely and moving because of it.

Taking the good with the bad, this isn't a terrible movie, though it is being rather overhyped. I found myself laughing a lot and enjoying the transformations the actors go through, but an unengaging story only serves to drag it down.

A film, inspired by the life of the late poet-journalist Mark O'Brien, that celebrates the relationship between physical and emotional intimacy.

Not just another weepy drama of overcoming odds, a My Left Foot with a different appendage. The Sessions is often brazenly funny, not from shocking dialogue but characters reacting the way people do, especially with such a flustering subject as sex.

an unusually frank and frequently humorous meditation on the transformative power of connection

Take away the nudity and the frank sex talk and you'd pretty much be left with a high-minded TV movie -- with unusually good actors.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_sessions/

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Review: Hauppauge HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition - Destructoid

It used to cost?ridiculous?amounts of money to record video from other sources, especially in HD. But these past few years companies like Hauppague, Pinnacle, AVerMedia and others have released affordable boxes that let you capture footage directly to your computer for editing and saving. Taking the price down from?thousands?to hundreds for these boxes came right in time for the explosion of streaming and sharing video on the internet.

One of the most popular of these devices was Hauppague's HD PVR video recorder, released about five or six years ago. For less than $200 users could capture 1080i video easily.

Now they've released an update with the HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition, which steps it up with HDMI connectivity, 1080p capture, and other handy features, perfect for grabbing game footage from consoles. We've given one a full test run over the past couple of weeks.

[Watch our test video in 1080p on YouTube]

We've used Hauppauge's HD PVR video recorder boxes here at Destructoid to capture game footage for the past couple of years. They worked fine for what they are -- a reliable but inexpensive way to capture HD video to computer. While nothing fancy, the on-board video encoder and USB 2.0 connectivity made the job easy.?

But we've been missing HDMI connectivity lately. And while suitable, the video quality was always a bit lacking when compared to higher-end?equipment. The biggest issue with the HD PVR was that the component video passthrough feature had a delay, making the device unsuitable for capturing gameplay footage without looking like a terrible player. If you've seen us fail a lot in our game footage, blame this box.

Hauppague's newest, the HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition,?solves?all of the issues we had with its predecessor. For about $160 (street price) you get HDMI and component inputs, perfect HDMI passthrough, on-board encoding with decent video quality, and some high-quality cabling to boot. The HD PVR records at rates up to 1080p from HDMI sources directly to your computer via USB 2.0 without breaking a sweat.

But! HDCP copy protection rears its ugly head when recording video output from the PlayStation 3. Simply put, the HD PVR 2 cannot record HDMI 1080p video from HDCP-protected devices like the PS3 and some Blu-ray players. You'll have to settle for component-connected video, which caps out at 1080i.?

I'll admit to not reading the manual, but I thought the box was broken at first, while trying to capture footage of Ni no Kuni gameplay a few weeks back. Scrambled or blank screens had me flustered. But trying out an Xbox 360 gave me a crisp, clear image on passthrough, and a really nice recording, even on default settings. And then I read the manual.

I wondered what that included high-quality PS3 component cable was for!?

The rear of the unit features obvious ports for HDMI in and out, but the component (or other optional video cabling) connections connect through a very small proprietary port. An included breakout cable fans from this tiny and fiddly little connector to five female RCA cable ends for component connection. I get that they were trying to keep the device small and sharp looking, but I worry about how durable this port will be after several connections and unpluggings.?

As mentioned above, they've tweaked the looks of this device. It's small (smaller than a Wii), black, and sleek looking, with a big record button on its top and a glowing blue/green recording light on its edges. It's predecessor felt hollow and looked cheap, so I appreciate the redesign.?

Hauppague includes a copy of ArcSoft Showbiz for Windows PCs for recording video. It does the job, though it's a bit clunky in use, and slow to respond when changing video settings. Options are given to change video and audio inputs as well as video format and encoding settings. There's nothing in the way of delay-free monitoring of incoming video in the software, but that's the HDMI passthrough is for.?

As Mac is not officially supported, you'll have to buy recording software from a third party. I can easily recommend HDPVRCapture, as we used it for the previous model, and it never gave us any issues. A new version (pictured below) of this $29.95 download has been released for the HD PVR 2, and it works wonderfully, with full options to take advantage of all of the device's features. A free demo is available on the product site. Hats off to this one-man show, headed up by a nice gent named Steven Toth.

The HD PVR 2 does a fine job of capturing anything you throw at it. As mentioned above, Xbox 360 and PC content coming in via HDMI works beautifully, with what seems to be a totally transparent passthrough coming through to my television and monitors. Cranking the recording settings to a max bitrate of around 14 Mbps gave much nicer files than we ever saw with the previous model. Files are clean, with little hit to color. Of course, compression?artifacts?pop up now and then, but nothing serious. The framerate is capped at 30fps, which might bum out some videophiles, but probably makes no difference for video to be used on the web.

With the PS3, the passthrough isn't exactly transparent, but that does not affect the quality of capture. What does affect the quality of capture is that you're stuck using component. 1080i captures suffered from motion blur sometimes. I found that things looked much better running the PS3 at 720p. While not quite at the quality of Xbox 360 capture, the HD PVR 2 still does a nice job with the PS3. And to be fair, you're not going to notice much of a difference in web video.

You can find several examples of game capture using the HD PVR 2 from both the Xbox 360 and PS3 in the video above. YouTube is a better choice as you can watch it in 1080p.

If you're looking to capture game footage or any other type of video, the HD PVR 2 is worth considering. You're getting a really solid H.264 capture solution for under $200, though you'll have to go in knowing that PS3 capture (and system output) won't be optimal. Its passthrough feature lets it become a fully integrated piece of your gaming setup, meaning that you won't have to mess with unplugging and reconnecting each time you want to capture something.?

In the end, the HD PVR 2 comes with all the cables you'll need (two HDMI cables, one PS3 component cable, USB cable, and component breakout), is easy to use, and captures really nice video. Recommended.

---

Source: http://www.destructoid.com/review-hauppauge-hd-pvr-2-gaming-edition-241400.phtml

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Wade suspended game for action against Sessions

NEW YORK (AP) ? Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for flailing his leg and making contact with the groin of Charlotte Bobcats' Ramon Sessions.

The suspension was announced Thursday by Stu Jackson, the NBA's executive vice president for basketball operations.

The incident happened with 8:12 left in the fourth quarter of the Heat's 105-92 victory over the Bobcats on Wednesday night. Sessions was called for a foul on the play.

Wade will serve the suspension Friday night when the Heat visit the Detroit Pistons.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wade-suspended-game-action-against-sessions-015259966--spt.html

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Top 25 Best Wii U Games of 2012 - Video Games Blogger

The Top 25 best Wii U games of 2012 have been revealed! Is your favorite Wii U game part of the list of the greatest the Nintendo Wii U console had to offer in 2012? The year is almost over, so we?ve compiled this list of the top-quality AAA must-own titles of the year!

Index of Top 25 Best Games of 2012 Lists:

Is there a game that didn?t make the list, that you think deserves a spot? Leave a comment and let us know your own list!

#25 ? Transformers Prime: The Game
#24 ? Chasing Aurora
#23 ? Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
#22 ? Just Dance 4
#21 ? FIFA Soccer 13
#20 ? Nano Assault Neo
#19 ? Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor?s Edge
#18 ? Scribblenauts Unlimited
#17 ? Madden NFL 13
#16 ? ZombiU
#15 ? Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
#14 ? Little Inferno
#13 ? Nintendo Land
#12 ? Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
#11 ? Skylanders Giants

#10 ? Call of Duty: Black Ops II

#9 ? Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition

#8 ? New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U Exclusive)

#7 ? Trine 2: Director?s Cut (Wii U Version)

#6 ? Batman: Arkham City ? Armored Edition (Wii U Version)

Find out which Wii U game is #1 in 2012 as our countdown continues on the next page?

Continue Reading on: Page 1 Page 2

About the author

By Ferry Groenendijk: He is the founder and editor of Video Games Blogger. He loved gaming from the moment he got a Nintendo with Super Mario Bros. on his 8th birthday. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and at Google+.

Source: http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2012/12/27/top-25-best-wii-u-games-of-2012.htm

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Spendaholics Anonymous Meets In D.C. (Powerlineblog)

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Toshiba Satellite P845-S4200

In an age of increasingly svelte laptops, the Toshiba Satellite P845-S4200 ($671.50 direct) stands out for what it is and what it isn't: simply put, it's a laptop, and not one that concerns itself with donning the coveted "ultrabook" title. For users who value affordability but don't want a bare-bones system stripped entirely of features, it's a solid Windows 7-equipped budget laptop whose shortcomings?a so-so keyboard and buckets of bloatware, mainly?are tempered by its low price tag.

Design and Features
Although it's not an ultrabook, at 13.7 inches wide and 9.2 inches deep and a thickness ranging from 0.95 ? 1.14 inches, the Satellite P845-S4200 is nonetheless a fairly compact system. With a weight of 4.26 pounds, it's lighter than the Editors' Choice Acer Aspire V5-571-6869 (5.07 pounds) and only slightly heavier than the similarly-priced ultraportable Dell Inspiron 13z (3.81 pounds). At any rate, users won't have any reason to fear a hernia when slipping the P845-S4200 into their backpacks or laptop bags.

The P845-S4200's sturdy aluminum chassis looks more expensive than actually is. Far from being the drab plastic chassis that one would expect in this price range, the Satellite P845-S4200 is decked out in a handsome silver finish that's elegantly complemented by an etched aluminum texture adorning the surface.

With a maximum resolution of 1,366 by 768, the P845-S4200's glossy 14-inch screen does a fine job displaying text and images alike, giving the user plenty of eye candy in the form of bright colors and crisp detail. With a resolution capable of supporting 720P content, users can pop their DVDs into the P845-S4200's internal DVD?RW drive and enjoy their movies in high definition. Two Harmon Kardon speakers are housed in symmetrical grilles beneath the display; I tested them out with the Knife's "Silent Shout," and they pumped out sound loud enough to fill a small room without sounding tinny. Although the bass level hardly qualifies as room-shaking, it's nevertheless decent for a laptop.

The P845-S4200's raised tile keyboard sports black keys and, despite its lack of a backlight, is relatively easy on the eyes. Alas, its shallow keystrokes are not as nearly as easy on the hands, and ultimately it makes for a fairly frustrating typing experience. The touch pad, on the other hand, is smooth and responsive, so while typing on the P845-S4200 may induce its share of grimacing, two-finger scrolling and pinch-zooming can be performed fluidly.

Port selection on the P845-S4200 is decent. An SD card reader can be found at the front of the system while, in addition to the system's DVD?RW drive, the right side houses two USB 3.0 ports alongside an Ethernet port. The left side, meanwhile, features headphone and mic jacks, a third USB 3.0 port, a VGA port, and a full-size HDMI output. The latter is a nice touch, as it eliminates the need to mess around with dongles and adapters when connecting the laptop to a larger display. Even better, the P845-S4200 features Intel's Wireless Display, letting users who outfit their televisions with an aftermarket adapter along the lines of the Netgear Push2TV, ditch their HDMI cable altogether, and beam their content wirelessly.

The P845-S4200's 750GB 5,400rpm hard drive comes with a healthy serving of preloaded software. As is often the case, these programs vary in utility from useful (Microsoft Office Starter 2010) to pure bloatware (Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer, Microsoft Live Essentials) with some trialware (thirty days of Norton Internet Security) sprinkled in between. There's also an unusually large amount of proprietary software too numerous to list that includes Toshiba App Place, Toshiba Bulletin Board, Toshiba Disc Creator, Toshiba Video Player, and so on. If you like prefer to start using your system with a clean, unsullied slate, be warned: the sheer avalanche of proprietary software means that it will take a good amount of time to remove all of this software from your system. It comes bundled with Windows 7 Home Premium, so users looking for the newer Windows 8 operating system will need to spring extra for an upgrade. Toshiba covers the P845-S4200 is covered by a one-year warranty on parts and labor.

Performance
Armed with a 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor and 6GB RAM, the P845-S4200 performed relatively well when stacked against its peers. While it was unable to complete our PCMark 7 benchmark test, its performance on our 3DMark 06 tests (5,848 points in standard resolution, 3,220 in native resolution) gave us some idea of its processing ability. Accordingly, the Satellite P845-S4200 outperformed the rest of its class, edging past both the Acer V5-571-6869 (5,772 points and 3,168 points, respectively) and the Dell Inspiron 13z (5,721 points and 3,164 points, respectively) and only falling short of the Dell Inspiron 15r-5520 (6,308 points and 5,229 points, respectively), which doesn't come as a surprise given the latter's faster 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-3210 CPU.

The P845-S4200 displayed similar finesse in multimedia-related tasks. It completed our Handbrake video-encoding test in 1 minute 57 seconds, finishing quicker than the Inspiron 13z (1:59) and, by a much larger extent, the AMD A6-4455M-equipped HP Envy 6z-1000 Sleekbook (4:05) while once again coming short of the Dell 15r-5520 (1:41). Similar results were seen with the Satellite P845-S4200's Cinebench R11.5 score of 2.41 points, which fell short of the Inspiron 15r-5520 (2.85 points) while surpassing the rest, like the Acer V5-571-6869 (2.37 points) and the Dell Inspiron 13z (2.39 points). However, the P845-S4200 faltered slightly on our Photoshop CS5 test (4 minutes 37 seconds), finishing a few seconds behind both the Inspiron 13z (4:35) and the (Acer V5-571-6869 (4:34) but coming nowhere near the Dell 15r-5520 (3:53). All said, the P845-S4200 has the chops to deftly handle media consumption with moderate media creation to boot. Like the rest of its class, save for the AMD Radeon 7500G-equipped HP Envy 6z-1000, the P845-S4200 sports an integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU, so cracking the 30 frames per second (fps) playability barrier in visually demanding games isn't to be expected. This was the case with its performance in our Crysis benchmark test (21fps in medium-quality settings at 1,024-by-768 resolution), which was roughly on par with the Dell Inspiron 13z (20fps) and the Dell 15r-5520 (24fps). The same applies with the P845-S4200's performance in our Lost Planet 2 benchmark test (21fps in medium-quality settings at 1,024-by-768 resolution, 7fps in high-quality settings at native resolution), as it closely aligned with what we saw in the case of the Acer V5-571-6869 (21fps and 10fps, respectively) and the HP Envy 6z-1000 (21fps and 12fps, respectively).

The P845-S4200's removable 48Whr battery lasted an impressive 7 hours 24 minutes on our MobileMark 2007 battery rundown test, putting it ahead of its class. By contrast, the Acer V5-571-6869 (4:51) and the HP Envy 6z-1000 (5:35) failed to reach the six-hour mark. It's safe to say that the P845-S4200 will get you through most, if not all, of your day regardless of whether a power outlet happens to be nearby.

All said, the Toshiba Satellite P845-S4200 is a solid choice for users looking to save a buck without having to settle for a bare-bones system. That said, the Acer Aspire V5-571-6869 offers similar performance for a significantly lower price, and for that reason it continues to reign as our Editors' Choice for budget laptops. Still, the Satellite P854-S4200 remains a good choice, and its handsomely designed chassis, solid battery life, and low price all go a long way toward disproving the notion that systems in this price range must necessarily compromise performance or design.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Toshiba Satellite P845-S4200 with several other laptops side by side.

More laptop reviews:
??? Toshiba Satellite P845-S4200
??? Asus VivoBook S400CA-UH51
??? Asus G75VW-DH72
??? Toshiba Satellite U845W-S430
??? Panasonic Toughbook CF-53
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/x-d_LPvb3y8/0,2817,2413608,00.asp

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Its a Boy and Its a Girl Online Baby Shower and Gift Ideas! | 3 Boys ...

The New Year is right around the corner and I am thinking about my Editorial Calendar!? Since my Sister-in-Law is expecting a new Baby Boy and several of my friends are expecting new babies, it got me to doing a bit of research!

Did you know that more babies are conceived during the summer than any other time of the year? Yeah, I didn?t know that either but it makes sense!? So, what happens when babies are conceived in the Summer?? Babies are born in the Spring!? So, what better time to have an Online Baby Shower?? yeah, none!

Through the first couple weeks of February, I will be covering new baby tips, tricks, products, etc as well as fun Baby Shower ideas!

If you are a blogger, writer, chef, or graphic designer please fill out the form below to submit your guest post idea, fun Baby Shower recipe, or Neat Baby Shower or new baby printables!

If you are a PR rep or company, please fill out the form below to submit your new Baby product for consideration.

Source: http://3boysandadog.com/2012/12/its-a-boy-and-its-a-girl-online-baby-shower-and-gift-ideas/

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No One Uses Smart TV Internet Because It Sucks

People aren’t using their internet-connected smart TVs for anything beyond, well, watching TV. It turns out, nobody wants to tweet from their TV. Or read books. Or do whatever it is people do on LinkedIn. Worse, more than 40 percent ...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/KJ4r8loiPbA/

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Fiscal Cliff: Obama Returning to DC

HONOLULU, Hawaii - With the country barreling towards the "fiscal cliff," President Obama is interrupting his Hawaiian holiday vacation to return to the gridlock in Washington.

The president will depart Hawaii for Washington late Wednesday, the White House announced today. The first lady and daughters, Malia and Sasha, will remain on their vacation.

Obama told reporters last week that he is a "hopeless optimist" and continues to believe a budget deal can be reached before broad tax increases and steep spending cuts kick in on Jan. 1, threatening to plunge the nation back into a recession. House Speaker John Boehner has admitted "God only knows" the solution to the standoff.

With the deadline less than a week away, lawmakers are also due to be back in Washington on Thursday. Obama's return was expected. He told reporters at the White House Friday that he would "see you next week."

The president spent Christmas with friends and family at his vacation house in Kailua, a cozy beach town on the east coast of Oahu.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-returning-washington-fiscal-cliff-looms-044204192--abc-news-politics.html

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The Year in Space (talking-points-memo)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/273191234?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Video: Snow for the holiday

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50294306/

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TuneIn Radio Pro, Radiant HD and more now free on Amazon Appstore

Amazon is running a promotion that has many popular apps for free through its Appstore today. It has always run a free app of the day promotion, but Amazon is feeling a bit more generous today by dropping several different apps -- from TuneIn Radio Pro to OfficeSuite Pro -- to the nice price of $0.00. Some of these are regularly upwards of $15, so this is a pretty nice post-Christmas deal. This will surely help Amazon grab the eyes of users that are getting their first Android phone or tablet over the holidays.

Use the Appstore and interested in picking up some good apps? Hit the source link below for a search listing of the apps on sale.

Source: Amazon

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/QZMMe4lzCEc/story01.htm

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