As Valve continues to fiddle with Steam OS, the key cog in the Steam Machine initiative it announced way at CES back in 2014, system builders have been taking matters into their own hands. We've seen various small form-factor gaming PCs that boot directly into Steams Big Picture mode, a 10-foot user interface designed for big-screen TVs. Many of the options have just been smaller versions of big desktops, while others look more like Xbox One or PlayStation 4 video-game consoles.

Origin PC is taking a whole different approach with its new Omega line, a new generation of home-theater PCs we first spied at CES 2015. Unlike Origins own Chronos line and the majority of SFF gaming PCs currently available, the Omega is designed specifically for living-room deployments, with a choice of legitimate HTPC enclosures that will look right at home in an A/V rack. These are understated square and rectangular cases that forgo the usual LED light show, although Origin does offer the option of custom airbrushed paint in any design or color.

Prices starts at $999 for a modest configuration consisting of an Intel Pentium Anniversary Edition dual-core processor overclocked to 4.5GHz, an Asus H97 mini-ITX motherboard, 8GB of DDR3-1600 memory, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 graphics card, a 500GB hard drive, a Silverstone 450W power supply, and Windows 8.1 Home.

This chassis would look right at home in any home-theater equipment rack, but it's one of several cases you can choose from should you order an Origin Omega system.

Hardcore gamers with deeper pockets have the option of configuring far more muscular builds, with up to three GeForce GTX 980 graphics cards in SLIthats more than enough to push pixels around a 4K resolution Ultra HD TV. Faster and higher capacity storage options are available too, up to 14TB of space for installing large libraries of games and storing movies, music and other media.

On the OS side, the Omega can boot directly into Steams Big Picture mode, with optional mouse emulation software for Xbox controllers as a stop-gap solution until Steam OS finally arrives (which the Omega will also support). Likewise, movie buffs can stick with Windows 8.1 for easy access to Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and similar video-streaming services.

Why this matters:Its anyones guess when Valve will put the finishing touches on Steam OS, but system builders arent waiting. Origins Omega allows anxious gamers to jump the gun with a configurable system that looks like it belongs in the living room; one that can be upgraded to Steam OS, should the software prove be worth the wait. And with triple GTX 980 support, the Omega shouldnt skip a beat when you trade in that Full HD 1080p TV for a 4K model.

Paul Lilly is a freelance technology writer and an avid Boston sports fan. More by Paul Lilly

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Architect Elizabeth Diller, dressed mostly in sober New York black, hard hat in hand, stood on the Grand Avenue sidewalk Friday morning in front of the Broad museum, which she designed with her New York firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and is set to open Sept. 20.

Was she giving an architectural preview? Doing damage control? Trying to regain some influence over the narrative of the museums construction, which has been beset by delays, fabrication problems and legal wrangling?

The answer seemed to be some combination of the three. Diller, more jovial than defensive, was joined on the tour by Joanne Heyler, the director of the Broad museum, but it was the architect who said she had helped initiate the plan to open the nearly finished museum to some journalists Friday and then to ticketed members of the general public on Sunday.

MORE: Christopher Hawthorne's early Broad museum tour -- the tweets

In certain ways the advance look, seven months before the Broads official debut, was reminiscent of a decision by Michael Govan, the director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, to give private tours of Renzo Pianos Resnick Pavilion when that building was also nearly finished in 2010.

Govan installed a large piece by Walter de Maria, "The 2000 Sculpture," inside the Resnick, allowing collectors, board members and critics a chance to see the building as a single, open gallery space before interior walls were installed.

The situation at the Broad is similar. Construction on the $140-million museums column-free top-floor gallery, covering 35,000 square feet (compared with 45,000 at the Resnick), is almost finished. Much of its concrete floor has been polished to a high sheen.

At the same time, the movable walls that will go up before the opening exhibition is installed, dividing the space (but stopping well short of the 23-foot ceiling), have yet to go up.

In other respects, the Broad case is a unique one, especially given the degree to which its construction has been plagued by delays (and with those delayed chronicled and picked apart by the media).

When the exterior scaffolding was removed from the building a few weeks ago, the reaction on social media and elsewhere was not good: People seemed let down that the facade they were now seeing in the flesh didnt live up to the promise of earlier digital renderings.

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An in-progress look at the Broad museum

Construction workers with A&A The Art of Destruction walk under the newly exposed balcony area after removing part of the false ceiling on the east side of the Reilly Arts Center, the old City Auditorium, Thursday afternoon September 25, 2014. The rest of the renovations to the building to accommodate the Ocala Symphony Orchestra will not be done until the symphony raises more funds.

The tempo of the Reilly Arts Center project has just accelerated from andante to allegro.

The construction funds are in place, the plans have been approved, the permits have been pulled, and the work begins Monday on converting the former City Auditorium at Tuscawilla Park into the Reilly Arts Center, the long-awaited home of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra.

We always believed this day would come but, now that its here, its even more exciting than we thought it could be because its a collaboration of the community and some people who had a dream. That dream is real. Its real now, said Cindy Van Heyde, the symphonys president.

If all goes as planned, the music will begin in October.

Van Heyde said that, preliminarily, the thought is to have the opening the third weekend in October.

And, there will be 736 seats for patrons, more than the 665 originally contemplated. Van Heyde said the final calculations showed more seating space was available.

We have been assured every seat is going to be very comfortable, Van Heyde said. We are not squeezing them in.

Like the music itself, the Arts Centers design will be a mixture of classical and contemporary.

The 1930s art deco facade and the original steel bow trusses, crowning what will be a completely renovated seating section 40 feet below, will be preserved. Those two distinctive retro architectural features will be enhanced with the installation of cutting-edge acoustics and a high-quality multimedia system.

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A musical conversion: Work on orchestra's new home to begin

Survivors of typhoon Yolanda from Samar and Leyte continue to get back on their feet and show that they can be an inspiration to the world.

While assistance from different countries and organizations across the globe came in as soon as the world witnessed the disaster, kababayans still continue to help until today.

True to its commitment of providing a sustainable future for Filipinos, James Hardie quickly engaged in the rehabilitation efforts after Yolanda.

Acknowledging the importance of education in rebuilding the lives of Yolanda survivors, James Hardie partnered with De La Salle Philippines to create maximum, positive change in some of the most badly hit communities, prioritizing the rebuilding of schools.

When our team, together with De La Salle Philippines, visited the site, we saw that there was a lot of work to be done, James Hardie Philippines country manager Mark Sergio said. Almost everything had to be rebuilt from the ground up. But this did not discourage us. In fact, it strengthened our resolve.

In an initiative called Rebuilding the Future, DLSP identified and adopted communities that were badly damaged by the typhoon. James Hardie came in to provide assistance in the rebuilding efforts in partnership with DLSP.

James Hardie and DLSP both wanted to provide safer and sturdier schools for the children in those communities. This was achieved by conducting ceiling installation workshops for carpenters involved in the rebuilding of the schools.

James Hardie will continue the series of workshops to help locals in their rebuilding efforts and to upgrade the skills of carpenters in Samar and Leyte. We helped by giving the locals carpentry workshops and by providing HardieFlex products for the schools, Sergio said. It is important to us that the people feel that they personally contributed to their communitys recovery.

In rebuilding the schools, James Hardie and DLSP put in mind how their efforts can help children and their families move on from the trauma of the past. We, in De La Salle Philippines, are thankful that James Hardie partnered with us because we were able to help more people, DLSP president Bro. Jose Mari Jimenez said. It is also of utmost importance that our classrooms are conducive to learning and are made with durable building products such as HardieFlex.

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