M4T4 - Day 002 - Front-Bezel
Posted by Ernest Kwan | Filed under Xtrkyr's Forge
Today, we continue with working on the front-bezel of the CM Storm Scout by reinforcing it with 1 layer of fiberglass. This is most likely the only layer of fiberglass we’ll need prior to the next several layers of Bondo. You will notice that where the fan intake vent and the missing drive cover is located there will only be one layer of fiber in these areas because I intend on drilling through this later on, so there’s no real need to reinforce it too much.
Yesterday’s layering of the bondo was very rough, so I decided to sand down certain areas just so that its level. This was followed by a quick rinse with soap and warm water, dried, then I began applying the fiberglass. I will let this cure for the next 6 hours.
As you can see, there is a lot of excess on the edges, I plan on shaving this off once it hardens.
This is what the fiberglass looks like when it hardens.
I trimmed off the excess and loose fiberglass from the edges (still left a bit though).
Then I applied another layer of Bondo. I guesstimate that I’ll need another 4 layers of raw bondo before I get to the basic shape that I am seeking. As of now, I have applied the bondo to the front, left side and top part of the front-bezel. I will do the right side of the bezel tomorrow and continue to add layers until I achieve the desired shape for sculpting.
Was bored, so I added the 3rd layer of Bondo. Another 3 layers to go and then should be good for sculpting. There will probably be uneven layers here and there that I’ll need to patch up with filler as I sculpt away next week.
In the meantime, I have placed an order for a slimline SATA 2.6 connector. It can be purchased for as little as $4.99USD on Ebay. I am getting it shipped from Taiwan, hope to expect it in the next 2-3 weeks.
So what’s the point of this type of connector? For one, I am going to be purchasing the following slot-load blu-ray player, which is made for laptops. Optic drives made for laptops have a special SATA connector that includes both the SATA connection and power. If you take a look at the picture, you will quickly see that the connector is combined on the input end, and on the output end, it has your typical SATA connector and 4 pin Molex for power. I need this if I intend to use a an optical drive made for a laptop on a desktop build.
Below is the SONY NEC Slot-in BC-5600D Blu-Ray Player that I purchased, which should be coming in about 2-3 weeks as well. Went for $134.95USD on Ebay, sure beats paying over $250!
Notice the connectors in the back? 
M4T4 - Day 001 - Conception
Posted by Ernest Kwan | Filed under Xtrkyr's Forge
Introduction
I’ve been putting off my case fabrication for nearly a year now. I’ve always wanted to build my own case from scratch but found it difficult without having the right tools nor skills to build one from scratch. I had submitted several blue prints to some metal fabrication shops in my local but only to find that they did not have the precision I was looking for or, was going to bust my wallet for charging me as much as $500 just for the case chassis…
In December, I finally gave in and decided to work with an existing case chassis, with the intent to completely transform it to something out of this world. I looked at several case options, including the Corsair 800D, CM Haf 932, CM NV690, CM Scout, and ThermalTake Spedo. I decided to go with the CM Scout, a standard issue mid-tower of steel construct. There were several reasons for the CM Scout. Firstly, its relatively affordable at just a bit over $100 (I purchased it used). It contains just enough bells and whistles for convenience (i.e. hdd rails, tool-less drive bays, flexible heatsink bracket, and good airflow) but leaving just enough wildness to be tamed with my customization. I won’t post the blueprints to my build, just to keep my work log nice and suspenseful
M4T4
M4T4 is actually a twist on M44, as in Messier 44, the star cluster Praesepe, Latin for “Manger” or a beehive cluster. It is a cluster located in the Cancer Constellation, home to my zodiac The M4T4 case will essentially be home to the various computer components that will work in harmony to produce an experience like no other. The purpose of the M4T4 is to create an energy efficient PC that has enough power to scale up to enthusiast level experience for gaming, and scale down for normal use. The case needs to be sound and vibration proof.
Possible Components
As of this time, I am looking at getting the following:
+ i7 920
+ X58a Mobo
+ Haven’t thought about memory
+ 80+ 850W or more PSU
+ 2 x ATI Radeon 5850s
+ 4 x Eco Drives (5800RPM) in Raid 1+0 for storage and application execution
+ 1 x SSD (32-64GB) for OS and Virtual Drive
+ Slot-Load BD Reader + DVD Burner Combo
Safety
+ Sperian Survivair Valuair Plus Mask (The Bondo and Fiberglass Resin/Hardeners are toxic).
+ Disposable Latex Gloves
+ Air Filter to circulate and filter air (sand debris)
Front-Bezel
1. I have decided to work with the front-bezel first. First step was to clean it with soap and lukewarm water to remove any water-soluble agents. Also, I had to remove the filters on the hard drive covers as they will soon be filled with Bondo filler.
2. I re-attached the drive covers back on to the front-bezel, with the exception of the middle one as I intend to put the blu-ray drive there.
3. Next, I took 80grit sandpaper and roughed up the ABS plastic of the front-bezel, so that it provides some adhesion for the Bondo Filler application. I did as “rough” of a job as I could, trying to make it as uneven as possible. After sanding, I vacuumed the debris and proceeded with washing it one more time with soap and water, drying it with a towel and a hair blow dryer (for the mesh).
4. After it completely dried, I proceeded with mixing the Bondo (each golf-ball size requires about 1 inch squirt of hardener). I mixed it using a plastic spreader. I did this as fast as possible as this stuff dries real fast. Each application was about 4 golf ball amounts, no more as anymore would mean I’d have to either apply it real fast before it dries up, which is too much of a rush.
5. Next, I applied the Bondo to all the cracks, gaps, and whatever. Goal here is to create a full surfboard like front-bezel, with a rough shape of the final look. As the front-bezel had a lot of grooves, it was unlikely I would be filling the front-bezel with half an inch thick of bezel. Therefore, I decided to just make it about 2.5-5cm thick, with the intentions of applying fiberglass to reinforce it for the next layers. As you can tell from the below pictures, some of the bondo became very rough to apply at the end as it was drying up. I will be sanding these rough parts off later before layering the fiberglass tomorrow.
6. While I wait for the Bondo to cure, I decided to start preparing the strips of fiberglass that I will be applying tomorrow. After cutting the strips, I placed them on the dry front-bezel to ensure that there was plenty of excess on the edges.
Blurry/Bleeding Red Text on Black Background with HDMI/DVI-D and LCD TVs with 1:1 Pixel Mapping
Posted by Ernest Kwan | Filed under Synthetic Interaction
LG LH90 - Yah for LG Uberness!
Step 1: Check your TV and GPU specs
Before we proceed any further in the whole matter of blurry text, please ensure that your monitor and GPU have been set to work harmoniously at the same screen resolution and refresh rate. As HDTVs are either 1080p or 720p these days, you will need to check your GPU settings to ensure that the desktop resolutions are running at 1920×1080 or 1280×720 respectively. You want the refresh rate to be 60hz if possible (enforce Vertical Sync for gaming).
Step 2: Force 1:1 Pixel Mapping or Just Scan
Most new HDTVs will support 1:1 Pixel Mapping or Just Scan. What is it? In a gist, unlike CRTs, LCD TVs are comprised of very small and fixed crystals that fill with liquid based on a charge sent by the panel. These dots are the pixels that you see on the screen. So say you have a 1080p monitor and are running a desktop at 1920×1080 pixels, that’s 2,073,000 dots that make up the image you see. If you bring up a simple program like MS Paint, and choose the smallest brush, and you click on the paint canvas once, you will notice that it will fill exactly one pixel with paint. Fill enough of these and you get yourself a picture. So back to 1:1 Pixel Mapping. Essentially, the video signal that gets sent to your TV monitor may not display 1 pixel of content with 1 pixel of actual screen. Due to post-processing and scaling (possibly inherent in your TV screen), the TV screen may try to squish 2 pixels of content into 1 pixel of screen, which creates a warped or unfocused picture. By forcing 1:1 Pixel Mapping or Just Scan, it forces the monitor to account each pixel of content with exactly 1 fixed pixel of screen. For the most part, this should resolve the overall blurriness of the picture. If your TV does not support 1:1 Pixel Mapping, you will need to play around with your nVidia or ATI control panel to fit it to your screen. You should not see any black bands at the sides or top/bottom.
Step 3: Tackling the Real Problem: RGB vs yCbCr
If doing the above does not resolve the blurriness, then we need to look at the digital format that is being sent from your GPU to your monitor. By default, HDMI and DVI-D connections to most new HDTVs will be sent via yCbCr digital format (the analog version would be yPbPr, you know, the 3 component cables you would plug into your TV set prior to HDMI).
YCbCr or Y′CbCr is a family of color spaces used as a part of the color image pipeline in video and digital photography systems. Y′ is the luma component and CB and CR are the blue-difference and red-difference chroma components. Y′ (with prime) is distinguished from Y which is luminance, meaning that light intensity is non-linearly encoded using gamma.
Y′CbCr is not an absolute color space, it is a way of encoding RGB information. The actual color displayed depends on the actual RGB colorants used to display the signal. Therefore a value expressed as Y′CbCr is only predictable if standard RGB colorants or an ICC profile are used. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YCbCr)
In any case, yCbCr is a digital format adopted by the consumer media industry (think HD DVDs and Blu-Ray content, which are encoded in this format). Without going into great detail, this signal is subject to post-processing by the monitor. The monitor will up-sample the signal and typically apply a wide array of filters such as smoothing, dynamic contrast, etc, all of which will give you a nicer movie experience, but if you’re running a desktop full of icons and text-heavy content like surfing and word documents, then chances are, your experience will be horrible due to all this post-processing. This is, at least in my case, the culprit.
Before we proceed, let’s try something. If you have a VGA cable or DVI-D->VGA converter on hand, try connecting your computer via this VGA connector type to your monitor. Again, ensure that 1:1 Pixel Mapping has been set. Your picture should look a lot clearer now, no? Yes, the picture you see may be a little more “dead/flat” looking compared to when you had it hooked up via DVI or HDMI, reason being is because most monitors, if they detect a VGA connection type, will quickly revert to accept the signal via RGB, which is not subject to any of the post-processing you see with HDMI/DVI-D. Good thing however, is most modern GPUs will provide you with a wide array of options to calibrate and improve image quality.
The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additive primary colors, red, green, and blue.
The main purpose of the RGB color model is for the sensing, representation, and display of images in electronic systems, such as televisions and computers, though it has also been used in conventional photography. Before the electronic age, the RGB color model already had a solid theory behind it, based in human perception of colors.
RGB is a device-dependent color space: different devices detect or reproduce a given RGB value differently, since the color elements (such as phosphors or dyes) and their response to the individual R, G, and B levels vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, or even in the same device over time. Thus an RGB value does not define the same color across devices without some kind of color management. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rgb)
So back to the HDMI/DVI-D. HDMI and DVI-D obviously have their benefits against VGA. Firstly, its lossless as the siginal is transmitted via digital format, while VGA is analog which is subject to video signal loss, and is very dependent on the quality of the cable. Secondly, HDMI can carry audio content as well, which reduces the number of cables you need to wire up your home theater experience. Now, unplug the VGA cable and plug in the HDMI cable to your monitor. Text is blurry again (especially red text against black background). Now, there are 2 things you need to do (aside from the above). First, go to your GPU settings (ATI/nVidia), and there should be an option to select the digital format. Make sure this is selected to RGB and not yCbCr. Secondly, go to your HDTV settings and do the following (depends on what HDTV you have), on the LG 42LH90, go to Options and then select Label. For the HDMI connection label that you have connected to your computer, change it so that it says PC. What this will do is force the TV to receive the HDMI signal in RGB format as opposed to yCbCr. Now exit the settings, and you should notice the same crispness in text as with the VGA cable, but the added color richness that you have with the HDMI cable. Only downside to this? Well, most HDTV monitors that run in RGB/PC mode will be unable to have Trumotion active (120/240hz). This is a good thing actually for PC gamers as Trumotion actually adds to output latency (lag time between converting the video signal and outputting it to the screen). For the LG 42LH90, if you are watching a movie and wish to have Trumotion on, its quite simple actually. Go back to your settings and change the HDMI label from PC to Blu-Ray. Whether or not you want to change your GPU setting from RGB to yCbCr is up to you as well, but for the most part, changing the label to Blu-Ray will allow for many of the post-processing features to be re-instated.
Regardless of monitor type or such, red text on a black background will always look brutal for 2 reasons: 1) the human eye has a real hard time differentiating this color combination, and 2) Of the three colors, Red, Green and Blue, the red signal provides the least amount of data to produce on the screen (has a very low luminance and harder to contain the chroma values). That said, the steps I have taken above have rectified the blurriness issue with red text on a black background and I hope it helps you too.
Northlanders: Sven the Returned
Posted by Ernest Kwan | Filed under Uncategorized
So, I was browsing through my favorite comic book store today, Book Fair Comics, and I asked them what is a good series with swords and sandals; lots of blood and gore; countless recollections of pain, suffering, torture; religious controversy, etc… Everything pointed to one series: Northlanders, created by Brian Wood (whom is known for DMZ). I haven’t read it yet, but I did buy the paperback which includes the first 10 issues of the series, so when I get back home from work, I’ll start chomping away at it. But let me assure you the graphic work and the nordic setting is much to be pleased about.
Northlanders: Sven the Returned
L4D Demo: Expert Pwnage
Posted by Ernest Kwan | Filed under Synthetic Interaction
So yeah, just got Left 4 Dead 2 days ago, have been blowing zombie brains out ever since. The game is WICKED awesome! (To learn more about L4D, go to http://www.l4d.com). Anyhow, beating the game in Advance mode was cake for the most part, so my brother and I decided to give EXPERT mode a crack at it (the highest difficulty in the game). Unfortunately, do to the lack of available players at the time, only my brother and I were available to take on the hordes of zombies that infest Mercy city. I played Bill, my brother played Louis, and later, Douglas assumed the role of Zoey. And so our journey begins…
The hospital was cake, period. Only thing we had to be careful of was not to trigger any sirens and create to big of an explosion, which would induce a Zombie Panic (a huge call out to the zombie masses). Even though we did not induce any, expert mode really cranked up the difficulty by unleashing a Zombie Panic anyways, which at several points, overwhelmed us especially when we were out in the open streets from the apartment. My brother was equipped with the submachine gun, while I was equipped with the shotty. Our two PC counterparts were equipped with the same arsenal. The round that had us make it through the end saw us mow down waves of 2 dozen or more zombies, in quick succession. My brother, being the rambo that he is, took point subconsciously, often leading us into a barrage of trigger happy frenzy. Luckily, being the point person also means being the bait, which is exactly how myself and the computer counterparts took advantage of this array. Whenever my brother would get pinned down or smoked, we would allow the zombies to pile up on my bro, and when a critical mass was reached, a dozen slugs swept all of the zombies away, typically in time to save my brother from being ripped apart indefinitely. Unlike the Advance mode, the underground room leading towards the Safe Room is infested with zombies also, but judging from the way its setup, if you have a pipe bomb or molotov, you can easily flush it out before reaching safety…
Exit scene 1, and enter scene 2. The subway is extremely difficult in Expert mode. Not only are the number of zombies doubled if not tripped in every encounter in this scene, but the Tank or the Witch may spawn, and in some cases, both spawn! After losing round after round, our friend Douglas (DarkDays) joined up with us. After losing repeatedly from undisciplined warfare, we decided to pace ourselves more cautiously (we typically get wiped out by a tank or a witch, or from getting lost when the action got a bit too hot). This is where we took a much more tactical approach, which I will explain further. Most importantly, SURVIVAL IS ABOUT CONTROL, its not about ELIMINATION. There are 2 distinct differences between the two Unfortunately, we only had 3 human players in the game.
Point - My brother, assuming the same role, was required to do less strafing when charging up front. I would joke to him saying that this is not counterstrike, its one thing to dodge another person’s aim with a gun, but its another thing to dodge a wall of zombies advancing you. After toning down his footwork a bit, he reduced the amount of friendly-fire casualties. Weapon of choice was the submachine gun or the carbine. Reason why? My brother has the best shot, and with a 50 ammo clip, the submachine gun and carbine offer the highest kill % potential if weld by a person with a good aim. Coupled with my brother’s dexterous agility, my brother is quite incredible… Until he has to reload. Which leads us to the importance of the next person…
Suppressor - Douglas throughout played the role of a suppressor. The suppressor’s role was to provide suppressive firepower to the frontlines (aka. my brother), especially when my brother emptied his clip. This was very important as it prevented two things: it prevented the unnecessary unloading of firepower on the same wave of zombies in which one person can easily ward off alone; and secondly, it prevented pin-downs and smokes as when the point person had to reload, the suppressor would step up and continue with the barrage. Weapon of choice again here is some sort of semi-automatic, such as the sub machine gun or the carbine.
Support - The computer played the support. It would randomly follow one of us and provide additional firepower. Only problem is, the computer typically made some newbie mistakes (such as chasing down zombies, saving a soon to be incapitated player, etc). The computer has the aim, just no brains. However, if this person was to be replaced by a human player, this player would typically be supporting the point or the suppressor, depending on the nature of the map. On maps with lots of zombie stacks, it is best this person aid the suppressor, as to provide the party with more endurance. If the map spawns hard mobs but less mobs, it is best this person support the point, as to provide additional spike damage.
Clutch - The clutch is the role I played throughout the game. The clutch hangs in the back typically, and provides a full view of the situation and relays the situation. Should we through a pipe bomb up front? Should we charge? Where do we retreat to? The clutch makes those calls. But more importantly, the clutch serves 2 major tactical actions: 1) Provide cover for the rear as the front advances; 2) Is the last line of defense to the party, and is in charge of saving the other 3 player’s butts! This means rectifying zombie pile ups, and rescue missions. The preferred weapon of choice in my opinion for this person is the pump shotgun, and if available, the automatic shotgun. The shotgun was only used in situations where we were getting swarmed. At all times, it is important to have a full reload, as this person’s main duty was to ensure that zombie swarms do not overwhelm the other 3 player’s suppressive firepower, and in addition, to be prepared to save pinned down players. The shotgun was used typically when a player was pinned down and attracting mounds of zombies. After the zombies are piled up, several controlled shotgun bursts will sweep the zombies away for good, facilitating for a rescue. This person typically hangs silent in the back and lets the rest do most of the work in less stressful situations (providing cover fire), but in stressful situations of life and death, the clutch has to step it up.
The subway is fairly easy, our formation was simple, it was a diamond shaped array when advancing with my brother infront, suppressors on the mid-sides, and the clutch in the rear. When swarmed, this array would would become a T shaped formation, with everyone except the point person hugging a wall or corner. What this allows us to do is that if the point does get pinned down, it allows for the other 3 players to rain down ammo at the stack without falling victim to friendly-fire. Furthermore, in these situations, we were spaced at least 5 yards from each other. This gave us enough distance from each other to localize pile-ups, rather than getting mowed down all at once.
The scene starts off with us jumping down a hole to the subway station. This is pretty easy for the most part, with most of the zombies being cleared before we even exit the gate from the safe room. The next part is fairly straight forward too, usually we encounter a boomer, 1 or 2 hunters, and some smokers from behind. Again, advancing in the diamond-like array works well here as it provides complete 360 coverage.
Once we hit the bottom of the escalators to the ticket booths, if you’re lucky, you may find yourself some nice handy new weapons (carbine, auto shotty, sniper), or, some pipe bombs, or nothing at all. Once we make an exit back to the rail side, this is where we typically get run over by 3-4 waves of zombies, coming from both sides. In this situation, we go T formation, with my brother directing the zombie traffic down to the bottom. We typically have full health up to here. In the worst case scenario, we may run into a tank here, but from the games we played, we did not encounter the tank here.
Once top-side, we advance forward along the lines of crippled subway trains. For the most part, we took cover inside the cabins of the subways, making a standoff from all the varieties of zombies that come our way. In this situation, my brother, Douglas and I were inside, while the stupid computer kept running off on his own. We lost the computer here most of the time. Anyways, same array setup, brother point, Douglass suppressive, and me at the rear. Worked real well, we might lose 20-40hp at this part.
The next part has us advancing to the next set of trains, again same thing, however, this is where we typically encounter a tank. Depending on how lady luck feels, if the Tank pulverizes me first, we are typically okay because Douglas and my bro can shoot him down from range with their sub machine guns. If my brother goes down, its a bit harder, as doing any damage with a shotty at a range is pitiful. We died 2 times when we encountered the tank, drew once (I threw a pipe bomb at the tank and a bunch of zombies, but just before they died, the tank threw an ash tray at me), but the last time, we chopped it down (luckily because the tank went for the computer player, haha). Anyways, the next set of tracks can get pretty freaky, the witch spawned here on us, and also, we induced 3 zombie panics. Good luck finding the queen in the sea of zombies! We made fort in the last subway cabin, and luckily, we survived, though by now, both me and my brother were bleeding to death and limping on 1hp. Douglas was in the red bleeding out still, but was still able to walk right. The end of the tunnel has us taking a flight of steps to the basement of a building. Its all dark here, and depending on the spawn, you may get a tank or a witch here. However, we encountered both the witch and the tank already in the instance, so we knew they were not going to be in the basement. This part is simple though, if the witch does spawn, simply hug the wall and sneak your way past it to the flight of steps that leads to the main floor of the building. If you get a tank, use the pillars to block. If you get a huge zombie infestation, just get the point person to snipe all of them from afar. After 5 minutes of sniping, my brother finally cleared the room and we made our advance to the top-side. Again here, use the point person to snipe everyone from the cramped corridor, as to not draw too much aggro and to take out as many before entering the boiler room. To the right is a pit with a mounted machine gun. But before you go there, make sure you find any molotovs or pipe bombs. Get the point person to man the mounted machine gun, and have the suppressor watch the front and to kill any zombies that gets behind the range of fire of the machine gun. The clutch needs to watch the hole in the pit. Once setup, flip the switch…
Once the message comes up that rescue is coming this way, have the clutch toss a molotov into the hole. This molotov will last about 15-20 seconds which is good enough to catch everything that attempts to come up on fire. But, it won’t kill the zombies, it’ll make them moan and slow them down but thats about it, they will still try to climb up. Just take the shotty and easily pick off the zombies as they come up in droves of 2-3. Always have a reserve of half of your shotty ammo at all times, in case the front side needs help. Therefore, try to use controlled bursts, and only shoot with shotty if you see 2 or 3 of them bunch up together. This way you don’t waste a slug just on a per zombie basis.
On the front side, toss a pipebomb or molotov into the center of the room if you like just to slow down the zombies. My brother did an excellent job with the mounted machine gun, mowing everything that came from the opposite side of the pit. Douglas held the line, and no zombies made it pass into our pit. The molotov ran wore out, but by then, there was only a dozen zombies left coming from the bottom, which were easily picked off with the shotty.
After a 3-4 minute fire frenzy, we cleared the room, we scouted the top of the room, flushed out the balconies of any remaining zombies. We saw the safety room in sight! We limped over there, closed the door, enter the cutscene. w00t!
Fusion Grill (A- ~ 4/5 Stars [3.92/5])
Posted by Ernest Kwan | Filed under Tasteful Epicurean
The 747 Dinner Club begins its Winnipeg dining journey with Fusion Grill. To begin, the restaurant is located on 550 Academy Road at Lanark. The restaurant is quick to point out with its surfs-up exterior decor, with plenty of blues, yellows, and whites to make it stand out amongst the crowd. However, once stepping foot inside, the journey undergoes a complete metamorphosis into a lavishly decorated interior filled with ambient lighting, plenty shades of gray keep it chill, and a industrial-art inspired wine rack that will have you looking back at it more than twice, guaranteed. The monotone interior is vibrantly colored with some canvas paintings provided by local Winnipeg artists. However, beware, if you are claustrophobic, you may find the very cramped dining area to be a bit too “packed” for comfort.
Upon entering, you are treated immediately to your table with a very friendly, casual manner. Given a couple moments to absorb the surroundings, our waitress came to appoint us with something to drink. I ordered their Tequila Caesar (at this rate, I will have a column dedicated to rating the best Caesars in Winnipeg), which is really just a Caesar but uses Tequila instead of Vodka. Upon sampling, it was a unique combination, different, in a very good way. Its not watered down either, so every sip packed a punch that would have even had Caesar himself worried by its potency. Like my other dining adventures, I confess that I am not much of a wine drinker. Therefore, Fusion Grill’s wonderful selection of Canadian wines cannot be examined further by someone such as myself. Notable achievements in this area is their Cuvee Award Distinction for best wine list.
The waitress was very friendly and helpful in getting us familiar with the food menu. Nearly all their creations are made from scratch from ingredients coming from the local markets. Certain items are seasonal. To get our palates going, we had two appetizers:
Crispy grass-fed beef dumplings with garlic sesame noodles and sweet soy dipping sauce / $10.95
Panko crusted pickerel cheeks with Asian pear slaw, lemon parsley pesto, Manitoba golden caviar and crème frâiche / $11.95
The beef dumplings are delicious grounded beef tenderloin, wrapped in a wonton layer and deep-fried to a dry and crispy finish. This is served with a slightly thickened soy sauce, sweetened slightly to avoid saltiness. As good as it was, I felt it was too dry. if they were able to add some cilantro or even a creamy cheese filler with the beef, it would have made the dish a lot lighter and juicier, to bring out the beef flavors much more.
The Panko crusted pickerel cheeks was quite a sight. 6 pickerel cheeks are lightly breaded and cooked to a golden perfection. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures, however, the artistic presentation of this appetizer is phenomonal. The skewered pickeral cheeks float gently over a field of lemon parsley pesto, to the east is a forest of Asian pear slaw which is moderately marinaded in a vinegariette, and to the west, is an ocean of creme fraiche, with a sunset of Golden Manitoba caviar. What a beautiful portrait! The cheeks were excellent, they were cooked just well, and the batter was neither too thick nor too thin. Though my dining associates would disagree that the $11.95 appetizer was not warranted for the dish, I truly beg to differ! (I may have some bias towards this dish as I am a big fan of fish cheeks, and pickerel cheeks for the matter is a rare treat).
For our entrees (which took nearly 45 minutes to prepare),
Marcello had:
Stuffed chicken breast with mustard, butter, rosemary, thyme and basil on a green pea Oka cheese ravioli with carrots & marsala infused demi glace / $21.95
Adrian had:
Grilled grass-fed beef steak and yam frites with tempura mushrooms, green beans and demi-glace / $35.95
I had:
Grilled elk tenderloin with creamed oyster mushrooms, sweet pearl barley, Saskatoon berry gastrique and herb infused demi-glace / $36.95
The stuffed chicken breast, which was slow-cooked with plenty of mustard, butter, rosemary, thyme and basil. The dish itself was very simple, and though the chicken was cooked well, it may have been cooked just a tad bit too well, as the chicken lost its juiciness and was a bit too dry. Add the herbs into the equation, and you’ve got a really dry dish. A creamy wine-based sauce or even a sweet plum-based sauce on the side would have truly brought this dish greater justice, but it was to no avail.
Adrian’s grass-fed beef steak (tenderloin) was a roughly 4-5oz portion, grilled to medium rare and served with yam fries and an assortment of tempuras. The tempura batter had the perfect consistency, as it was light, fluffy, and crispy, but, it was a bit too salty. The yam fries were really good, and you can quickly tell that it was prepared just in time along with the entree and not simply premade on the side and kept warm under a heat lamp. The tenderloin was of a very high grade cut, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it was AAA, however, it was kept very simple, with only some salt sprinkled sparingly on top of it to draw out some of the beef flavours. The au jus in which the tenderloin rests on was also a bit on the light side. Overall, the tenderloin was good.
The elk tenderloin that I ordered was definitely something worth remembering and even going back for. The 4-5oz elk tenderloin is charbroiled to a rare finish, and is served along side a wonderful plethora of creamed oyster mushrooms, sweet pearl barley, Saskatoon berry gastrique and herb infused demi-glace. The tenderloin had a very lovely charbroil aroma to it, and the salty/sour au jus that it is served with perfectly compliments the tenderloin, really drawing out the flavour out of the meat. The mound of sweet pearl barley had a heavenly aura surrounding it, and the feel and taste was an equal match to its sight once in my mouth. The oyster mushrooms (my favorite mushroom) was very nice too, however, I’m not sure if its just me, but why are the oyster mushrooms served at restaurants so small? The ones I buy at the local farmer’s market or even at the groceries are so much bigger. Anyways, overall, the elk tenderloin is highly recommended.
Another dish that I would like to try at my next visit is the Slow roasted Manitoba bison back ribs with spicyFive Star whiskey glaze and garlic smashed potatoes / $29.95. That is one of the things that really stood out at me aside from the Elk Tenderloin.
Aside from the slightly slower service and delivery of our meals, and smaller than average sized portions, the Fusion Grill is highly recommended for those looking for more than just getting their fill. It is evident in how the food is prepared that much time and care is put into the creations. This should be of no surprise as Chef Lorna Murdoch had won silver in the Gold Plates competition in 2006, second to Chef Makoto Uno of Gluttons.
Service: 3.5/5 Stars
Ingredients: 4.5/5 Stars
Environment: 3.5/5 Stars
Culinary Skill: 4.5/5 Stars
Price: 3.5/5 Stars
Uniqueness: 4/5 Stars
Overall: 4/5 Stars (A-) (Detailed Score: 3.92/5)
529 Wellington Review (A- ~ 4/5 Stars [3.67/5])
Posted by Ernest Kwan | Filed under Tasteful Epicurean
A bid farewell to Vinh Pham, friend of nearly 10 years, was an excuse for us to go to one of the most prestigious restaurants in Winnipeg. 529 Wellington is a formal restaurant set in an old contemporary English environment. The facility itself use to be the mansion of a very wealthy Winnipeger. The old cherry oak & mahogany interior is very prominent and provides a very interesting visit to the history of not only the restaurant, but Winnipeg itself. More amazingly, are their endless cabinetry housing some of the finest wine in the world, much of which has never seen daylight. We began with some appetizers, the Long Dry Ribs and beef Carpaccio. The Long Dry Ribs were nice and dry but still succulent. The beef Carpaccio seemed to be an instant favorite with the silky beef marinade, served with toasted wedges and white cheese. I also had a Caesar salad, which was a bit of a disappointment as the Romaine was not very fresh, and lacked the crispiness of fresh Romaine. However, the Caesar sauce was at a right consistency, but was a bit too mild.
John Ho pleased with his New York Steak.
For the main entree, I had a full rack of Lamb (Manitoba), done to rare to medium rare. The dish itself was simple, with the roasted lamb orientated decoratively in circular in a pond of au jus. The meat was extremely tender, and the taste was meaty but not gamey. However, for the most part, the lamb unfortunately was not very flavorable. It may have been juicy and fresh, but it lacked any flavor, even salt. This can be a good or bad thing, depending on whether you want to eat unaltered fresh red meat, or creatively cooked fresh red meat.
After the lamb, I was able to try some Porterhouse that my good ol’ friend Marcello ordered (which he was unable to stomach it all). Like the lamb, the meat is worthy of its premium AAA label. However, much like the lamb, it lacks any “special” taste other than the perfectly aged tenderness.
Rack of Lamb
For sides, we had Sauteéd Wild Mushrooms, Steamed Broccoli, and Chef’s Pontalba Potatoes Diced Red Potatoes, Sautéed with Garlic, Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms,Scallions, and Peppercorn Sauce. The wild mushrooms were a garden mix of Shitake, Portabello, Button, and some Oyster mushrooms. It is prepared in a very light brown wine sauce with some light seasoning. This side could have been prepared better as the mushrooms were simply too soggy and lost much of its “shroominess”, probably from being overcooked. The potatoes were definitely delicious, its unfortunate I’m not much of a potato lover. The broccoli was prepared in your typical fresh steamed manner.
Price-wise, 529 Wellington will definitely empty your wallets. Appetizers range from $10-20, while main entrees will range from $30-60. Seasonal fresh lobsters fetch a hefty $40 per pound. They have no drink menu, but you can have them make any cocktail as you wish. I had myself a Caesar, and it was nothing special. However, they do have an encyclopedia of wine ranging from $50-10,000 a bottle. Dessert ranges from $5-15. Our total bill for 5 rang up to just a bit over $400 before gratuities. Overall, the price is expensive, especially for the food they prepare for you, however, its all about living up to the status quo per say.
Group Shot after the Dinner
In summary, 529 Wellington is definitely an experience like no other in Winnipeg. It is one of very few restaurants that have extremely high standards when it comes to service. When it comes to freshness of ingredients regarding their steaks and lamb, it is truly as they say, PREMIUM. However, it is very distinguishable that 529 Wellington does lack some of the culinary skill that would otherwise truly take its culinary experience to the next level. It is truly unfortunate that Winnipeg does not have any 5 star restaurants, however, 529 Wellington does come close, especially with its ingredient-rich selection. Highly recommended, but don’t expect to be “WOW’d” by the food, as it gets boring real fast. Preferably treat yourself to it on an annual basis.
Service: 4.5/5 Stars
Ingredients: 4.5/5 Stars
Environment: 3.5/5 Stars
Culinary Skill: 3/5 Stars
Price: 3/5 Stars
Uniqueness: 3.5/5 Stars
Overall: 4/5 Stars (A-) (Detailed Score: 3.92/5)
Maggiano’s Little Italy Review (A ~ 4.5/5 Stars [4.33/5])
Posted by Ernest Kwan | Filed under Tasteful Epicurean
Maggiano's Outside
Maggiano’s Little Italy is an Italian-American dining experience that visits the heartful, festive nature of Italian Americans. Originating from Chicago, the chain of restaurants is neither formal nor casual, its simply festive and filled with good heartedness. Stepping into the restaurants feels like a scene from the Godfather. There are plenty of rich hardwood carpeting the floors and walls, and retro lighting to give the restaurant an ambient, warm feeling. Cushy leather seats provide excellent support for the long dining experience. The menu is very simple, with all items listed on one long hardstock paper. Maggiano’s is known for its scratch kitchen, where everything is made from ground up from the ingredient’s simplest forms.
From the pasta, the sauces and the meats, everything is done in-house, so be prepared to experience that tasteful home-made journey. Appetizers range from $8-15 while entrees range from $10-30. A comprehensive wine menu is available upon request.
Dining Area
To begin, I had myself a cup-size Minnestroni soup, but let me assure you, the cup-size is actually a bowl-size that is as large as a bowl at any other restaurant. Upont tasting, my taste buds were jumping with joy as the complete assortment of fresh beans and vegetables, and the scratch soup-base provided a tasteful experience like no other. Being a big soup-lover, I was satisfied. The soup was served with Italian Foccacia bread brushed with garlic butter and toasted to golden brown; dusted with house cheese and parsley. The bread was golden!
For the main course, I had the Mom’s Lasagna, which is composed of multiple layers of rich cottage cheese, grounded beef, and a mixture of melted white cheese, all wedged in a plethora of meat sauce.
Mom's Lasagna
Unlike any other lasagna I’ve tasted before, Mom’s Lasagna literally melts in your mouth upon eating. The ground beef is worked up to such a silky smooth consistency that it provides a mouth-feel like no other. Meanwhile, the meat sauce is totally indicative of the many number of fresh ripe tomatoes have been put into creating the rich-sweet tomato flavor that is hard to find in canned tomato sauces, which are often too sour or too salty. In terms of portion, I barely finished it, it is a massive dish, and for $13, the dish is in my opinion, greatly undervalued.
Dining Table
The dessert menu is somewhat limited, with your typical selection of baked cakes and ice creams. The price of all items are very reasonable, if not a tad undervalued for the quality and amount of food you get. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Godfather himself opened these chains of restaurants himself. In addition to great meal, service, and environment, the facility is built for large events such as huge banquets with seating capacities in excess of 500. Furthermore, they have a completely separate banquet room area compsed of some 5 or more banquet rooms that seat at least 50 each, to provide some privacy.
Walking down the banquet hall makes you feel like Godfather himself! The bathroom was real nice. It even had an area with a sofa seat (probably for the bodyguard). LOLz!
Service: 4/5 Stars
Ingredients: 4/5 Stars
Environment: 5/5 Stars
Culinary Skill: 4/5 Stars
Price: 4.5/5 Stars
Uniqueness: 4.5/5 Stars
Overall: 4.5/5 Stars (A) (Detailed Score: 4.33/5)
Banquet Hall
Typical Banquet Room with Open Table Array
Typical Banquet Room with Long Table
Fogo de Chão Review (B+ ~ 3.5/5 Stars [3.5/5])
Posted by Ernest Kwan | Filed under Tasteful Epicurean
Fogo De Chão
Fogo de Chão (fo-go dèe shoun) is an unique upscale steakhouse themed after the Gaucho (Brazilian Cowboy) culture from Rio Grande do Sul in Southern Brazil. The chain is popularized in the United States and Brazil. The interior decoration is modern and formal, with plenty of wood accents and complimentary shades of olive and mahogany to provide warmth to the environment. The meal format is buffet style, with a comprehensive salad bar that includes fresh market greens, lightly marinated shitake mushrooms, assorted cured meats, wild smoked salmon, a wide assortment of cheese amongst the typical salads. The main course meats are served upon request, as a server will deliver slices of woodfire meats done to whatever you like it to be, from rare to well.
Bar
To begin, we had the Picanha, a whole sirloin done to rare-medium rare seasoned with sea salt and some garlic. It was very flavorable, and has a strong woodfire taste to it, though it was a tad bit too salty. Next was the Costela beef ribs slow cooked with sea salt. It was extremely tender and juicy, but again was too salty. Next up was the Cordeiro, a lamb leg roast, served as chops. Unlike the other beef cuts, this one was not too salty. Beef ancho was served next, a rib eye cut that was torched to a nice crispy exterior, with a succulent and juicy interior, this was one of my favorites. Next was the Alcatra, a top sirloin cut, again was a bit too salty. I then had some pork rib roast, Costela de Porco. This one was a bit of a disappointment as it was too lightly marinaded and was far too dry, perhaps from being
Salad Bar
overcooked. Pork has always been one of the harder meats to cook due to the fact that it loses a lot of juices from being cooked to well. I then had a chance to have some Filet Mignon, again, the cut is top grade, but it suffers from too much sea salt. I then had some Frango, chicken breast wrapped in bacon, this one was surprisingly very delicious, it was not greasy at all. The one cut that I did not get to try was the Fraldinha, the bottom sirloin cut (a much tougher and less sought after cut of the sirloin).
Filet Mignon
Traditional sides include warm cheese bread, fried bananas, crispy hot polenta and seasoned mashed potatoes. The seasoned mashed potatoes are home-made and mashed to perfection. The fried bananas are a delicious starter to get your appetite going, while the crispy hot polenta cannot be passed upon!
The drink selection is comprehensive but I was unable to sample it because I had to drive back to Winnipeg that same day. Dessert menu is limited.
The price for the meal for lunch is $26 while the dinner fetches $46. There is no difference between the food served at lunch or dinner, so if you want to get the best bang for your buck, it is best to visit there during lunch hours.
Overall, the experience is grande and very satisfying. The food selection is top grade with plenty of variety to keep your curiosity going. The one thing I did not like about the restaurant is that all the meats were very crudely seasoned and marinaded, giving almost every dish the same identical, salty taste to it. This may be a good thing for those that love salt, but for my mild tongue, it can give a very stingy unwanted taste to the buds. The service is welcoming, with plenty of servers to help you along your dining experience, however, it was very difficult to understand what they were saying as not many of them knew how to speak English well. Highly recommended, visit Fogo de Chão for the fine dining experience, and for something quite different.
Service: 4/5 Stars
Ingredients: 3/5 Stars
Environment: 4/5 Stars
Culinary Skill: 3/5 Stars
Price: 3.5/5 Stars
Uniqueness: 3.5/5 Stars
Overall: 3.5/5 Stars (B+) (Detailed Score: 3.5/5)
ATI Radeon 4870X2 Benchmarks Revealed
Posted by Ernest Kwan | Filed under Synthetic Interaction
The folks at Tomshardware have done a preliminary review of the capabilties of the ATI Radeon 4870X2. The following pretty much sums up the findings:
Conclusion
Our first conclusion is that the Radeon HD 4870 X2 manages to achieve its objective—namely to be the best performing card you can buy. It has been a long time coming, and other Radeons have had the same goal but have not been able to attain the same results. Case in point, look at the Radeon HD 3870 X2 which was launched at the beginning of the year. With this model, however, the advantage that the Radeon HD 4870 X2 takes over the GeForce GTX 280 is incontestable. It averages a 25% gain (with a peak at 51% in 2560×1600, plus eye candy) and above all, stays true in all of the games except for Flight Simulator X.
It must be said that the design of the Radeon HD 4870 X2 takes into account the mistakes made with the Radeon HD 3870 X2. The memory capacity has been quadrupled, so that now there is 1 GB of usable memory. Its frequency has not been reduced. The PCI Express controller serving as a bridge between the GPUs supports PCI Express 2.0. And there’s a side-port connection between the GPUs reserved for future use when the PCIe pathway might become saturated.
And thus, Nvidia has finally been beaten and won’t be able to respond in the coming weeks. Considering the size and price of its own GT200 graphics processor, Nvidia is somewhat prohibited from any sort of retaliation based on the same bi-GPU solution.
In short, the Radeon HD 4870 X2 is the newest and fastest 3D card of the moment—25% better on average than the GeForce GTX 280 and up to 51% at the highest resolutions. And if you’re hoping for something in the near future with lower energy consumption, less noise, or a lower price, we’d recommend you not hold your breath.
Editor’s Note: While we were hoping to provide comparison numbers with the 4870 X2 in CrossFire and a pair of 4870s in CrossFire versus the X2, we’ve been somewhat limited by time and troubleshooting in the short time we’ve had the card. Also, the untimely death of our power meter prevented us from measuring consumption here. Keep an eye out for a follow-up story where we compare more elaborate X2 configurations to a higher-end GTX 280 setup.
Get full review at http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/4870-x2-amd,1992.html