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Expenditure on PC gaming hardware is expected to rocket as consumers ditch aging consoles in favour of high-performance computers.

A lack of ability to meet demands in cutting edge gaming is just one of the reasons why the PC gaming hardware market is booming, with expectations that it will hit $22 billion in sales across the globe, with a substantial jump of 27 percent forecast.

According to analysis from Jon Preddie Reseach the three main areas of mainstream, performance and particularly enthusiast are all expected to see a migration from console gamers seeking better performance in their hardware, boosting profits for PC firms.

Ted Pollack, Senior Gaming Analyst for JPR cites the systems demands of the modern first person shooters (FPSs) and real time strategy games as one of the reasons why PCs are becoming more attractive as a gaming platform.

The continued reduction in price of high resolution displays are also a contributing factor to the appeal of PC gaming, alongside the ease of access provided by digital distribution sites such as Steam and Direct2Drive.

Advancements made with Direct X11 will also contribute to inceased sales, while an appetite for accessories such as speaker systems, cases, cooling and peripherals such as headsets and mice will also boost revenue.

The desire among tech enthusiasts to use cutting edge photo and video hardware and software means that additional strains are being put on system processing power.

It is highlighted in the research that one of the areas that is expected to see impressive growth is in Asia, with China expected to account for $2.7 billion in expenditure as gaming continues to take hold – meaning that internet cafes are forced to upgrade systems to accommodate for power-hungry customers.

Russia is also expected to see significant increases, particularly in the enthusiast and mainstream class, with the latter supposedly seeing 22 percent compound annual growth rate up until 2014.

Jon Peddie points to the gathering interest in 3D capabilities in machine and displays as a driving factor in the demand for monitors with higher resolutions, with those in the enthusiast category looking towards displays with resolutions in excess of the HD maximum of 1080p that game consoles are capable of utilising.

Low end systems are also expected to do well this year, with games offered through social networks expected to continue thrill the casual gamer masses, leading to more interest in price ranges around the $500 mark.

While the desktop PC market facing stiff competition as mobile computing becomes more fashionable, it appears that, according to JPR at least, the superior potential for PC gaming could provide some, ahem, consolation.

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HORN LAKE – The City of Horn Lake has yet to reach the minimum goal of 250 participants to begin its new recycling program by March 1 but Alderman Amy Lay said March is not a hard deadline and she is hopeful that the program will start by April.

I was out in the community this weekend at basketball games trying to get the word out and I realized that word just hasnt gotten around, Lay said. Ive had some people say, I absolutely planned on doing it but I didnt know it was time yet.

The recycling program is being done through Waste Connections who set a minimum of 250 participants in order to start the curbside pick-up.

Spencer Shields, director of the Horn Lake Utility Department, said they will put out door hangers this week to advertise the program.

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Casino operator Penn National Gaming Inc. is considering selling its stake in the Maryland Jockey Club and urging its partners to drop a legal challenge to the bidding process that awarded a slot machine license for Anne Arundel County to a competitor.

The moves by Penn National might signal the company is shifting its focus to Rosecroft Raceway, the Prince Georges County harness-racing track it is buying for $11 million. Penn had set its sights on slots at Laurel Park, which is operated by the Jockey Club, and company officials have indicated that they also plan to push for the legalization of slots at Rosecroft.

Penn opened the states first casino in Perryville in September. The Hollywood Casino Perryville generated $7.7 million in slots revenue in January after reporting a loss from operations of $1.1 million for last year, including pre-opening expenses.

Rosecroft has suffered financially and stopped live racing to save money. The facility had been operating as an off-track betting site for two years before closing in July. Penn sees slots as a way to bring revenue to the ailing tracks.

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Riverhead, New York – An egregious case centering around a New York woman torturing dogs and cats in front of her children, and spurring the creation of an animal abuse registry in Suffolk County, pleaded guilty today. Sharon McDonough, 45 pleaded guilty to a 13 count indictment which included animal abuse and child endangerment.

Six charges were Class A misdemeanors for endangering the welfare of a child, two felony charges for aggravated cruelty to two animals and five misdemeanor animal cruelty charges were announced. Suffolk County Court Judge C.Randall Hinrichs will sentence McDonough on March 28, 2011. McDonough has been in custody since December 2009 in lieu of $100,000 bail. Her jail time will count toward her jail sentence.

In 2009, investigators discovered 42 dogs buried in McDonoughs backyard in Selden, Long Island. She admitted to torturing and killing the dogs and cats she allegedly rescued from local humane centers in front of her children; her youngest child only one-year-old at the time. Prosecutors called McDonoughs home a concentration camp for the animals.

McDonoughs oldest son, Douglas turned his mother into authorities. The other children are under the care and protection of family court.

District Attorney Thomas Spota will recommend to the court that McDonough serve consecutive time for the two counts of aggravated animal cruelty. The maximum sentence for each count is two years in prison.

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Grammy-winning singer Miranda Lambert is holding another charity fundraiser in Texas. Called Cause for the Paws, it will be the fourth one she has hosted. Donations for the event will go to abused and abandoned animals living at the Humane Society of East Texas. Last year the charity gathering raised almost $100,000.

Miranda will perform at a venue in downtown Tyler, with guests such as Stoney Larue, Josh Kelley and Nan Kelley. Tickets are $25 to $65 and go on sale February 25th for the April event. Ms. Lambert has also started a foundation to raise money for animal shelters called the Mutt Nation Foundation. The website features rescued animals, and images of pets uploaded by fans. Here is a video with some shots of her at one of the previous charity performances:

Lambert was won one Grammy Award, for Best Female Country Vocal Performance — The House That Built Me, (see below) and has been nominated for three others. Two of her recent shows with nearly 6,000 seats sold out in 30 minutes.

The Humane Society of East Texas is a no-kill, selective admission animal shelter.

Image Credit: Chris Barber

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A controversy is brewing in Brown County as word spreads about euthanizing nearly 40 dogs. There was nothing illegal about putting the animals down, but animal rights groups are upset that other options werent explored before the dog warden killed the animals.

Local 12s Rich Jaffe has more.

In Brown County, like many rural communities, the dog warden has a tough job… too many animals, not enough space, and minimal funding. About two weeks ago, all those issues came crashing down on 37 dogs. The 37 dogs were confiscated from outside Ripley, on Scofield Road, February 10.

Animal welfare authorities have been here before. Dog Warden Andrew Dunn says they were underweight, and he believed many of the animals had a contagious skin condition called mange. When the dog warden got the animals to the Brown County shelter he used his legal discretion and decided to euthanize all of them in this homemade gas chamber, using carbon monoxide, rather than risk exposing the other animals in the shelter to the disease. Using carbon monoxide is not uncommon and if done correctly, perfectly legal in Ohio. Jack Scott ran the Brown County Humane Society for ten years.

Its a matter of money and you just dont have the money to take care of 37 dogs. You said they thought they had mange. Thats impossible because its a threat to the people working with them constantly because the humans will get the mange, its a constant struggle, and the money to treat mange, for that many dogs would be in the thousands of dollars.

Members of the Ohio SPCA and the local Humane Society are upset that the dog warden didnt try to find an alternative other than the gas chamber.

Jan Staubach, Humane Society Volunteer: There are resources to take care of them. For example, the Ohio SPCA has a van they can mobilize, come down and pick them up and make a judgement whether or not these dogs really are treatable, mange is not a death sentence…and that concerned me that we had made the offer and so had the Ohio SPCA.

I talked extensively with the dog warden, Andrew Dunn. He has spent the day driving to West Virginia to pick up a donated load of dog food. He told me that his decision came down to the fact that he didnt have space or budget to take care of 37 dogs, and he believed them to possibly be contagious. Hes also in the process of getting two people trained to use lethal injection rather than gas some time in the future.

The Brown County Commissioners tell us they thought the dog warden had quit using the gas chamber months ago. They were surprised to find it in use again and say theyve instructed Andrew Dunn not to use it in the future. They hope to contract out for a vet or trained technician to euthanize the animals in the future.

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Do you remember the day when a calculator was a separate tool from your cellular phone? Man, I can still remember the days when pocket calculators were expensive. They were really big back in the late seventies when the tech got small and cheap, but I highly doubt there is a big market for them now.

This particular calculator is known as the X-Cool, and it is a very obvious attempt to make math look cool by turning this calculator into a mod of a video game controller. The fact that the calculator has X in its title is a definite indicator of the X-box 360 controller that it is similar to, but it has the color of a PS3 one.

I like how the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division signs are on the left, where a movement joystick would be. Then all the other keys are where the firing would be. I have no idea what the bumpers do, but I like where the CE and equals keys are placed. As for the numbers, thats probably where they belong.

So, whether you are a math nerd or a gaming nerd, this would be the calculator for you. You should be able to get it for about $13.99.

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Members of the Financial and Advisory Committees (FINCOM) of Hamilton and Wenham met to hear budget presentations from the shared departments: Recreation, Library, ECO, and Senior Van Program.

Each committee will review the reports and vote separately on acceptable budgets. Each towns Finance Director will also reconcile payments to support the shared programs.

Recreation

Deborah Nippes-Mena, Finance Director for Hamilton, presented the past and proposed budgets for the Recreation Department.

Currently, the department is seeking a new director to replace Melissa Roy, who left in January. The Recreation Department has two benefits-eligible employees, the full-time director and the part-time assistant. The remaining employees are programmatic instructors paid by stipend from the departments revolving fund.

The recreation evolving fund is funded by program revenues to pay for program implementation. Nippes-Mena discussed a few line items on the budget. The fiscal year 11 actual budget costs show an increase in water payments, indicating a possible leak in the building. The department printing costs are down as administrators have been using email rather than direct mail.

Costs for the Patton Park Summer Program are higher in anticipation of a return of the 100-person increase in enrollment in 2010. The cost for the pool is up in response to increased hours open to the public, which were well-received last summer. Hamilton Town Manager Michael Lombardo commented that the pool needs work, possibly a complete replacement. However, CPA funds were not approved for this kind of project last year.

Both FINCOMs asked for further information on the revolving fund and department revenue. Although the fund occasionally has a positive balance at the end of the season, Nippes-Mena explained that the fund is restricted in nature, so the money is not available for any use other than recreation. The proposed budget covers everything else that is not programmatically related.

Library

Jan Dempsey, Director of the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library, presented the librarys current and proposed budgets. Her main concern was that both Hamilton and Wenham maintain the state-mandated appropriations for library materials; otherwise, the state can close the library. She presented a level-funded budget proposal and also identified categories where she made changes in the allocations.

Since salaries for library personnel are mostly below state average, Dempsey shifted her budget around to allow a three percent increase for staff other than the director and the technical service librarian.

Dempsey has elected to use a cleaning service instead of a custodian; costs for cleaning and maintenance were moved out of support staff to a grounds and maintenance category. She made cuts to office supplies, conference and travel expenses, utilities, and programming to cover higher allocations to salaries. Dempsey said she could make programmatic cuts because of the Friends of the Library, which donates about $10,000 for programming needs annually, including all museum passes and funds for the aquarium in the Childrens Room. The aquarium has a trust fund that no longer sustains its costs.

Dempsey identified the areas of volatility in her budget: the building itself, the grounds, and the computers. In regard to the building issues, she is happy to have joint Facilities Technician Mark Gates and the two towns DPW departments to respond, even while parts of the building are still under warranty and funds still left in the building account. The DPWs are assisting with assessment of the cracked asphalt in the parking lot.

The library will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, and Dempsey is planning events already.

Finally, Dempsey explained that the Librarys computers have a schedule for maintenance and replacement; however, this would be a capital expense separate from the submitted budget. Last years computer upgrades were handled with state grant funds.

ECO

Ann Marie Cullen, Directory of the Hamilton-Wenham Emergency Center, presented the ECO budget. The facility has five benefits-eligible full-time staff and one part-time person to cover shift absences. Some staff receives additional stipends for advanced training, such as emergency medical technician (EMT). She applies for state money for equipment upgrades and training.

Because of the combined population of Hamilton and Wenham serviced by the regional ECO, she received approximately $148,000 last year in grant money. This amount will be drastically reduced when Wenham leaves the ECO for the regional dispatch program in Middleton, she said. Her proposed budget is level-funded; however, she may need to apply any fiscal year 2012 grant money to operating costs to maintain the ECO as state of the art.

Senior Van

Wenham Town Administrator Jeffrey Chelgren reported on the Senior Van program, another level-funded proposed budget. One person serves as the program supervisor, doing the accounting and tracking numbers, and also the dispatcher, making the reservations for van trips. Those roles have become part of the job of the new shared COA Director, Susan Carp. Town allocation to fund the van is by usage, which is currently about 50-50. Additionally, riders donate small sums, which go into a gift fund for the program.

Each FINCOM will meet separately to discuss and vote on the presented budgets. They will also maintain lists of capital needs in conjunction with the Capital Management Committee.

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SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – This weekend’s snow keeps us all in the winter sport mood, but if you’re watching the calendar you know spring’s almost here. So it’s time to get a extra great deals on this year’s winter goods. In this week’s Good Buy Friday – we take you to Utah’s own Recreation Outlet.

Recreation Outlet specializes in both closeout and in-line products promising to get you ready for your outdoor adventure with a good gear at a great price.

Matthew Coleman helps manage the store. He said, Why wouldnt you shop here? You’ll save money for sure.

That’s the goal for Recreation Outlet. They get you out enjoying Utah, outfitted at a good price. Right now there are extra deals.

Coleman said, “Its definitely time to reduce, we already have the lowest price guaranteed but you know – you take an additional 20% off tops and youve got sweet deals to be had.

Sweet deals because of the time of season. Right now winter’s coming to an end, so they are liquidating product to make room for the spring lines.

For an even better deal – start talking.

Coleman said, Sometimes we are willing to negotiate a better price on our already low prices – thats kind of what sets us apart we can go off a little bit lower.

They can go lower because they buy product at a discount price.

Coleman said, “We go in a lot of times and ask if theyve got closeouts available and if they do – depending on the price obviously – theyll go down real low for us.

There are always deals and you can get the heads up, by joining their Underground Pricing System. To do that, just visit the store. And always check their WEBSITE – they list weekly bargains there as well.

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TheDaily and MySpace (NSDQ: NWS) may get all the attention in News Corp.s digital division, but keep an eye on the companys growing interest in social gaming. To wit: The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that the company acquired Making Fun, though the actual purchase occurred last November.

News Corp. digital chief Jon Miller has been quietly building up a presence in this fast-growing space. Though News Corp. is better known for shedding assetsMySpace, BeliefNet, Bitbop just to name a fewone of the few acquisitions Miller has made in his time at the company was another social-gaming outfit, Irata Labs.

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Call it the Zynga Effect: Even old-media companies have seen the stratospheric rise of the category and want in on the action and out of the expensive, declining console-gaming world. Last July, Viacom (NYSE: VIA) picked up Social Express and more recently unloaded Harmonix, the force behind former juggernaut franchise Rock Band.

Could it be long before an arms race develops in social gaming? Disney (NYSE: DIS), which already snapped up Playdom for a whopping $763 million last year and made its chief executive, John Pleasants, a co-president of its entire Disney Interactive Media Group, will be worth watching here as well. At last weeks investors conference, Pleasants noted that social gaming, which he estimated made up $5 billion of the overall $56 billion gaming business, would grow to $9 billion by 2015, with a compound annual growth rate of 16%.

Thats in comparison to the CAGR of console gaming registering at 4%. Of social, mobile and online gaming, Pleasants told analysts, Those are the engines and pistons we need to focus on.

As News Corp. is showing, Disney isnt the only conglomerate ready to go into second gear.

Related Stories

• News Corp. Buys Social Gamer Irata Labs
• Sean Ryan Leaves News Corp. To Take A Gaming Job At Facebook
• MTV Networks Buys Gaming Developer Social Express

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