Alienware is renowned for its high-end gaming systems with an individual design. If you're familiar with previous iterations of Alienware's laptops then there will be a distinct sense of deja vu when it comes to this year's Ivy Bridge-wielding Alienware M14x. The exterior design is unchanged from the last batch.
It's not that we don't like the design which isn't ugly by any stretch of the imagination, but it was and still is a bit on the chunky side. We were hoping the Alienware M14x would come in a new and more slender chassis. We measured the laptop and found it is 38mm thick and weighs just under 3kg.
The Alienware M14x is the smallest and most portable of the range since Alienware decided not to update the M11x. Our review sample came in a matt black finish called 'cosmic black' but it's also available in an altogether more standout 'nebula red’ finish.
The laptop has the distinct Alienware design combination of sleek yet aggressive lines – a love it or hate it type of situation. The finish feels like a cross between plastic and rubber which feels nice to the touch and helps with grip in areas such as the wrist supports.
The keyboard and trackpad are both of a decent size and there is the usual set of customisable lights spread around the laptop including four sections underneath the keyboard and surrounding the trackpad.
Robust is the best word we can think of to describe the build quality of the Alienware M14x. The chassis feels solid in all aspects with the screen offering a small but not worrying amount of flexibility.
Our only worry is the long term durability of the coating particularly on the lid which we feel could get marked or damaged if care is not taken.
Alienware seems to have this into account and supplies the M14x with a plush suede bag for transportation and storage.
The Alienware M14x breezed through our basic FEAR test, as we expected it to, with an average framerate of 84fps – the lowest we saw it drop to was 41fps.
Stepping things up to the next level, we ran Crysis at 1024 x 768 resolution with Low detail and DirectX 9. Here the Alienware managed an average framerate of 107fps.
As you can guess from the name, the M14x comes with a 14.1in screen, LED-backlit. It has an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a relatively high resolution of 1600 x 900. This gives the laptop a good balance between a usable screen size and portability.
The screen offers crisp detail and has a glossy finish which making viewing the screen difficult at times. It reflects things like windows and lights all too easily; we would prefer a matt finish option here.
Connectivity is well rounded with VGA, HMDI, Mini Display Port, USB 2.0, microphone, headset and headphone ports plus a full-size SD slot and microSD slot, all on the left hand side of the body.
On the right is a Kensington lock slot, gigabit ethernet, two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports and a slot-loading optical drive.
The Washington will serve as the builder's furnished model home in Chiasso. The well-appointed model encompasses 2,788 air-conditioned square feet with many upgrades to showcase the level of options available in the Chiasso series. The lakefront home offers three bedrooms, a den and three-and-a-half baths with a courtyard style three-car garage. It will feature impact glass windows and Tuscan-style stained double front doors. The interior cabinetry is a warm auburn glazed maple with granite countertops, plantation shutters, solid wood doors and large porcelain tile floors on the diagonal with wood flooring in the study and bedrooms.
The Hawthorne encompasses 2,583 air-conditioned square feet and is being built as a move-in-ready home with an emphasis on southern style Florida living. Priced in the mid-600s, the Hawthorne has three bedrooms, a study, three-and-a-half baths, and a great room with a separate nook off of the kitchen area. The home also features an oversized lanai overlooking a pool and spa and a lakefront setting as well as a three-car garage. The interior is complimented with oil rubbed bronze faucets and hardware, painted hazelnut cream cabinetry, golden granite countertops, plantation shutters and walnut finish wood flooring. Arches and tray ceilings accent the rooms.
The Madison, also a move-in-ready home, offers 3,246 air-conditioned square feet and is priced in the upper 600s. It features three bedrooms, a den, four baths and a large grand foyer that leads to the formal living and dining rooms. The interior of the home is accented with contemporary finishes, including expresso maple cabinetry, stainless steel appliances and porcelain modular designed tile flooring. Other interior features include solid core doors with crown molding, granite countertops, and a pool and spa with LED lighting feature.
The Emerson is the largest home design in Chiasso with 3,522 air-conditioned square feet. This move-in-ready home features a classic Mediterranean style with three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and a second-story bonus/loft area which can also be used for a home theater. The courtyard style home also offers a three-car garage and glass/wrought iron front doors that lead to the formal living and dining rooms. Priced in the low 700s, the Emerson includes numerous upgrades and extras such as a lakefront setting with pool and spa, morning bar off the loft, modular patterned porcelain tile flooring with wood flooring in the master bedroom and study, oil rubbed bronze faucets and hardware, hazelnut cream cabinetry and deep tropical brown granite countertops.
Each residence within Chiasso will be built of structurally engineered reinforced concrete block wall construction with high profile concrete roof tiles. Each home will feature brick-paver driveways and walkways. Interior design features will include a luxury kitchen with granite counter tops and cabinets with decorative finishes; designer bath fixtures and cultured marble countertops; ceramic tile flooring; and a number of energy-saving features.
"Chiasso is the second distinctive neighborhood to be started by D.R. Horton at Fiddler's Creek," said Aubrey J. Ferrao, president and CEO of Fiddler's Creek, LLC. "We are excited to add another unique village to our community. The choice of homes at Fiddler's Creek continues to expand, offering buyers opportunities in a variety of distinctive neighborhoods."
When it comes to finding a suitable venue in which to put on this play, Something Witty Productions made an inspired choice in the Albert Room of the Grand Hotel. It’s high ceiling and amazing chandelier lighting, together with the violins playing background music, takes the audience back to the atmosphere of the 30s as soon as they enter. The strawberry or lime cocktails, which are offered on arrival, manage to take the experience up another notch and it is great to see that so many people have dressed up to suit the decade as well.
The performance takes place in the round, well, in the rectangle really, as the cabaret style tabled seating is placed against the walls with the action of the piece mainly taking place in the centre of the room but, more so in the second act, also at either end. The story is of a divorced couple who, having just married new partners, find themselves in adjoining rooms in the same hotel. The action begins on the balconies of those rooms and the outdoor furniture, together with some plants and a small dividing fence, serve well to represent this.
Elyot Daniel Lane and Sibyl Rebecca Cooper are the first couple we meet. He is confident and self-assured, almost cocky, with occasional flashes of a temper that gives an indication of the explosive drama to come. She is somewhat needy, and so very desperate to be in love, but her incessant questions about his first wife create tension. Lane and Cooper are incredibly good in these roles, managing to keep that sophisticated stiff upper lip despite the stresses of their newlywed status.
In the next room is Victor Jason Blackwater a bearded giant of a man who seems, on the surface, every bit the match for his incredibly feisty new wife Amanda Heather Rayment. Blackwater goes all out, in Act One, to show off exactly how pompous and blustering his character is, with a much more withdrawn and reflective side exposed in Act Two.
Rayment is, without question, the strongest actor in the piece. Her tall slender figure suits perfectly the character of Amanda, and the images of the era, with her costumes, including a wonderful green ball gown, serving well to emphasise this. She is, at the same time, energetic, strong willed, sensual and quick tempered, a heady mixture and one that, upon discovering her on the very next balcony, Elyot realises he cannot resist.
Noel Coward’s story is witty, intelligent and, above all, totally predictable but this actually serves as a good thing. With the outcome of the piece so obvious full attention is given to the superb script, the amazing performances, one of the best (and messiest) fight scenes ever to be witnessed and the total enjoyment of a, quite simply, stunning production.
"It was going to go right next to the Art Barn, which they now called the Media Center," he laughed, adding that the project failed to materialize at the time.
More than three decades later, Rice has finally gotten its Turrell. The artist noted that he's designed at least 70 large-scale installations since the unrealized Menil plan, including pieces at the Live Oak Meeting House in the Heights and at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Since the 1970s, Turrell has dedicated the bulk of his creative output to the "skyspace" — an enclosed environment dedicated to observing the sky, usually through an opening or aperture in the roof. Early skyspaces tended to be inside buildings or underground.
In the past decade, however, Turrell said his installations have remained largely outdoors and above ground.
In line with this recent work, Twilight Epiphany features a viewing area that rests atop a campus quad. Encased in a sloping berm, the outdoor observation room is topped with a elevated flat roof containing a large square oculus.
"I'm a mound builder really," Turrell smiled about his recent string of earthwork projects in Mexico, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates. "This mastaba [half pyramid] shape is something that's long locked into our genes . . .
"There were ancient mound builders in the Americas who traveled up and down the Mississippi making these huge mounds like this. That's always been interesting to me."
But the similarity to thousand-year-old burial mounds ends there, as Turrell talks about the technical aspects of the project, which features programmable arrays of high-end speakers and LED lights for use by students at the university's highly-regarded Shepherd School of Music.
"We've been directly involved with the music department, which is very interested in creating compositions written specifically for the space," he said.
Inside the space itself, observers will see the Houston sky with new eyes when they peer through the ceiling as an interior lighting display changes colors for an otherworldly optical effect. CultureMap asked Turrell what he hoped visitors would get out of the experience.
"The big thing about this work is that it's self-reflective," he explained. "You realize the colors that you're seeing in the opening aren't there and some people are astonished that the sky can look like this.
"It's clear, of course, that I haven't changed the color of the sky — only our context of vision. In a way, this piece allows us to see ourselves seeing."
Turrell cites a number of influences ranging from the unique soft quality of light in the Houston sky to the neurological condition of synesthesia to the color-based instruments created by modernist composer Alexander Scriabin.
Multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning artist Lady Gaga kicked off her 2012-2013 Born This Way Ball World Tour last Friday in Seoul, South Korea, to nearly 60,000 adoring fans (Photo attached, credit Robin Kim). The 100+ stop tour will take the Ball throughout Asia, Australia, and Europe, with more dates to be announced. Today, Gaga also released new highly anticipated details about the tour, including wardrobe collaborations, info about the stage setup and design, and more.
Throngs of Little Monsters have been anticipating Gaga’s costumes for the tour, and they weren’t disappointed. “It’s been my life’s dream to be dressed in Italian designers,” said Gaga, and as such she has collaborated on costumes with today’s biggest Italian designers including Versace, Armani, and Moschino. Lady Gaga also sought designs from other major designers like Calvin Klein Jeans, while also continuing to work with young, up-and-coming designers, like Void of Course, Kerin Rose, Tex Saveiro and Fred Butler.
“Lady Gaga is the present and the future,” said Donatella Versace. “She is the most revolutionary and inspirational artist. She is fearless and daring. I can’t wait for everyone to be surprised by what we’ve cooked up together!”
The Born This Way Ball Tour has been described by Gaga as “the tale of the Beginning, the genesis of the Kingdom of Fame,” and the stage reflects this kingdom. In early 2012 Gaga tweeted out a sketch of the set design, revealing a giant castle with a center pit within the stage dubbed “The Monster Pit.” The record breaking stage was designed by Mark Fisher and built by renowned production firm Tait Towers, who have previously built stages for the likes of U2, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones.
“The stage set for the Born This Way Ball is the largest scenic structure that’s ever been built to tour.” says James “Winky” Fairorth, CEO of Tait Towers “The precise architectural detail was not compromised at all due to the global touring schedule, and the structure can be built using no tools or loose fasteners during assembly.”
The stage and set have many capabilities and functions including 30 active windows and doors, each with a custom scenic painted roll drop which will reveal different scenes within the various rooms of the Castle, two swing walls which open to reveal the 50 foot tall castle behind it, 620 feet of custom LED lights and two sets of automated castle gates that open and close to a full 180 degrees.
Moving this massive set-up from place to place has also proved to be quite the undertaking. It takes fifteen 53 foot long tractor trailers to move the castle and the main stage and there are approximately 200 set carts that all of the elements travel in. To put that in perspective, if all of the set carts were lined up end to end, they would span approximately 1600 feet in length, the equivalent of over 5 football fields.