

No matter what your budget or computing needs, you have options, and a lot of them.
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Spoiled for choiceīeyond the differences between AMD and Intel, there’s more than one way to skin a hard a drive. A 10 or 15-percent performance gain is a big deal, which means you’re “outdated” card or CPU may not be far behind that newly released component. The performance gains that are seen with new parts just aren’t what they used to be.
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Gamers with a 1080p monitor can choose from a wide selection of capable cards that sell around $200, or less.Īnd every component you buy now is going to last a lot longer than it used to. The GTX 980, a card that hit the market in September of 2014, is readily available for less than $500. Both AMD and Nvidia have been releasing cards at a rapid click all the way down their performance tiers, which will again pay off with discounts for consumers. It’s also been a banner year for graphics cards, both original and rebranded. Fitbit Versa 3Ī wide selection of capable graphics cards for 1080p gaming are available for $200 or less In a world of negative environmental news, I loved seeing the feathery evidence of a success.

As I watched them, I was constantly reminded that a few decades ago such views would have been impossible. The boat slowly circled the island, and we saw many more birds, including six or seven additional puffins, one of which stayed quite near while we admired its plumage. There were a few very high-end cameras on board, and I heard the rapid click-click-click-click-click as they got the shots we had all hoped for. We all stood at the edge of the railing, practically hanging over the side to get a good look at the little bird. Then, suddenly, the speakers on the boat crackled to life, “Puffin! Puffin! 2 o’clock! 2 o’clock!” Photo by Brian Whalen Other than the birds, we also saw researchers on the island, wearing slickers to protect them against the hail of bird droppings.Ī few minutes ticked by while we scanned the water and sky for the signature shape of puffins. Common Terns nest in great numbers on the island as well, as do Roseate and even Arctic Terns in fewer numbers. Even before we reached the island we began to see birds: Black Guillemots with bright white wings against their black bodies, loud Laughing Gulls, diving Common Eiders, and nesting Common Terns all flew back and forth from the island and swam and dove beneath the waves. We passed porpoises, lobster buoys, and Harbor Seals, making a bee-line for Eastern Egg Rock. The boat pulled out of the harbor, quickly moving past Maine’s picturesque, rocky coastline and out into the open water. Since puffins spend a few years at sea before beginning to breed, wooden puffin decoys were put on the island to encourage their return.Īnd return they did! Beginning in 1977 Atlantic Puffins once again laid their eggs on Eastern Egg Rock, and there are now over 100 nesting pairs, raising the Maine total to nearly 1000! It was the descendants of these and subsequent transplants that we hoped to see on our evening excursion. Project Puffin was born in 1973, when puffin chicks were literally transferred to Eastern Egg Rock and fed by biologists. Until, that is, a few brave and intrepid souls decided to make it their mission to restore breeding colonies of puffins on Maine islands. For many years, puffins only nested on two islands in Maine. The last of the nesting puffins on Eastern Egg Rock – our evening destination – disappeared in 1885. While puffins used to be plentiful in Maine, hunting and egg collecting took a heavy toll. Make no mistake, they are absolutely adorable, and look like an animated Disney creation. Puffins, also known as “parrots of the sea,” are black and white seabirds, about the size of a football and known for their large yellow, orange, and black bills. Hardy Boat Cruises had been running tours for years from New Harbor, Maine, and as the visitors piled into seats we all had one image in mind: Atlantic Puffins. The sun had begun its descent but was still high, and bright light reflected off the ocean waves below us.
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It was large, complete with a covered downstairs and a roof-deck full of seats.
