In the same vein as The Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch comes Ice Road Truckers on The History Channel, a chronicle of the yearly trucking trials and tribulations faced in the great white north. The series focuses on the few weeks a year the ice is hard enough across many of Canada‘s lakes to allow for semi’s packed with supplies to make runs to outposts which would otherwise be inaccessible, including a De Beer’s diamond mine.

The ice is a treacherous place, and the first few episodes go into detail on some of the many problems facing truckers stemming all the way from moisture freezing in airlines to frostbite from failed heaters in the cabs. Its almost a thankless job, but full of pride as we get to see a stable of regulars gunning for each other, topping the number of runs laid down by comrades, and aiming to be the best of the best.

The series is shot in a quasi-documentary style focusing on the dynamics of trucking across the ice roads, how the roads are maintained and safety checked, and how the truckers are able to survive in the harshest environments on earth. On the flip side it also focuses on a handful of actual truckers and their issues with trying to complete runs and dealing with common problems like a broken pin in a transmission. Problems that would be easy to fix in the standard climates most of us are used to, but under the urgency of supply runs and the bid to make as much money as possible, become life threatening ailments.

A particularly interesting segment deals with how sunken truckers are rescued by a specialized squad of divers responsible for submerging themselves in the below freezing water to save lives. It becomes very obvious that this is not an easy, infinitely rewarding, or safe manner to make a living, but as the old saying goes, someone has to do it.

The limited run series is unique, although maybe not the best placed series for The History Channel, it is, nonetheless, an interesting and entertaining series and a welcome change to the typical occupational-reality fare focusing more on the interesting aspects of the industry rather than the overly dramatic lives of its participants.

Ice Road Truckers debuts Sunday, June 17, 2007 on The History Channel.

Generally most people would assume that your mouse pad is a disposable part of your set up, and for most casual users this is most likely true, but for gamers, where split-second timing is everything, a mouse pad could be the difference between a rocket to the head, or narrowly dodging disaster.

SteelSeries has long been known as one of the premiere gaming peripheral manufacturers with mouse pads, gaming headsets, and even co-branded mice and keyboards all aimed at making your gameplay easier, and smoother.

The SteelSeries S&S is a 12.6’x10.6′ hard plastic mouse pad which serves as one of the company’s entry level pads. The surface is suited for all types of mice, and for the purposes of this review a Logitech G5 Laser Mouse was utilized. The rubberized underside of the pad creates a non-slip grip to your desk, and the pad didn’t move once during our testing, including extensive late-night sessions of World of WarCraft and a few select first-person shooters.

Previously using a standard cloth mouse pad you instantly notice an increase in responsiveness due to a decrease in drag from the cloth. The plastic surface coupled with the already smoothly designed feet on the G5 provided quick, reactive movement in all the games and programs tested. In the mouse-intensive World of WarCraft the mouse worked wonderfully allowing you to move your character with general ease. The huge surface area of the pad eliminates the need to pick up your mouse and re-center it after extended playtimes.

We also tested the S&S with the entirely mouse-based Space Quest Collection from Sierra where lightning fast reflexes are not necessarily required, but the extensive surface area is the biggest benefit. Finally, testing was done in Adobe Fireworks creating the graphics used on this site; the precise movement was a noticeable change from the cloth pad and from not using one at all.

The SteelSeries S&S comes with a protective carrying case and self-adhering feet for your current mouse, should it not be out-of-the-box equipped with specially designed feet like the G5. SteelSeries knows how to make products for serious gamers and the S&S puts that pedigree in the limelight, you can’t go wrong with this pad, it’s a must addition to any serious gamer’s setup.