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Toshiba KIRAbook Ultrabook Reviewby Dustin Sklavos on 5/9/2013 12:01 AM EST
109 Comments
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baronmog - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkWow. I was reading the specs and mostly thinking, "that's pretty cool," or "eh, I could live with that," until I got to the "no 5GHz wifi support." Dude, that doesn't cut it. The ThinkPad my work provided to me a year ago has 5 GHz support. My Galaxy S3 (from a year ago) has 5 GHz support. My Nexus 10 has 5 GHz support. The Netgear router I bought almost a year ago has 5 GHz support...
Seriously, what was Toshiba thinking? Reply
danstek - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - link$1599 but no dual band WiFi is just lulz. Seriously, all single band WiFi adapters and routers at this point should just be banned from existence. Reply
Hrel - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkAgreed Reply
SirKronan - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - linkYup! Reply
CajunArson - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI have a 5 year old Core 2 notebook with Intel 5Ghz wireless-N support fer crying out loud! Reply
elitegibson - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI think that's funny because my 2008 Toshiba Satellite has 5ghz wifi. I would probably cost them like $3 per laptop to put a good wifi card in it. Major misstep Toshiba. Reply
chrnochime - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkSo one manufacturer finally makes a laptop with a good screen and all you have to complain is no 5GHz support? BTW 5GHz has crappy wall penetration so it's not like you're going to be using it anywhere BUT completely open space anyway. Besides there are crapload of 5GHz wifi adapters to buy to remedy this. Reply
sosrandom - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkYup 5Ghz is pretty bad on my router, upstairs in my plaster board house the signal is really weak. Reply
Gigaplex - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI get better reception and speed on 5GHz than 2.4GHz throughout my entire (admittedly smallish) apartment. I'm certainly not willing to give it up especially if it's not user serviceable so I can switch in my own WiFi adapter. Reply
SirKronan - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - linkA sleek, expensive, premium looking/feeling ultrabook is not supposed to have unsightly things hanging out of it and taking up your precious few USB ports... just to get 5GHz. This is one standard where costs shouldn't have been cut. It makes an otherwise premium device at least "seem" less premium to consumers, and will chase away many "premium" buyers that expect 5GHz as a standard. Reply
wanderer000 - Sunday, May 26, 2013 - linkWhy does a laptop need to have things hanging out of it to achieve 5Ghz? It's all internal....... Reply
wanderer000 - Sunday, May 26, 2013 - linkWhoops just ignore me, your comment confused me on first read. Reply
madmilk - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - linkThey're not the one manufacturer that finally made a laptop with a good screen. They're the second, following Apple, and in any case being first doesn't mean no other standards apply. For comparison: the $1500 rMBP comes with a dual-band, 3x3 802.11n adapter, and that really should be the norm for a laptop of that price. Reply
Dalamar6 - Monday, May 13, 2013 - linkThey aren't the 2nd to use a "good screen" by far. They're the second to use one this good that's higher res than 1920x1200.
In any case, I do not see the point to using such a high res screen on less than a 20" notebook, or at the very least, 17". 1080p pixel pitch is TINY on 15.6" already.
I wouldn't buy this... that much money's better spent on an IPS screen laptop elsewhere. Reply
ShieTar - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - linkActually, the tiny resolution does make sense, because it makes texts and other fine details more readable if the software offers reasonable scaling. Which any office suite, web browser and a lot of other productive stuff do.
When you view videos or play games, resolution becomes less relevant. Nevertheless, if the HD4000 is too weak to play the full resolution, it is nice to be able to use half resolution without major resampling artifacts. That actually works fine with the 1440p screen scaled to 720p, which is a design resolution for most modern games anyways, but you won't be able to scale anything modern to 960x540 and still enjoy it.
Alternatively, you can try to play the full resolution an just switch of any kind of AA, as you basically get a biological AA due to the sub-visible pixel size. Reply
wanderer000 - Sunday, May 26, 2013 - linkIt is when it costs an arm and a leg. Reply
JoseAntinio - Friday, May 10, 2013 - linkHi I'm new here and would appreciate some advice.
My understanding is that 2.4GHz Vs 5GHz have both plus and minuses and many believe that 2.4GHz is a better option for the home user.
If I am right there are no speed issues, in fact as I understand it 2.4GHz can run quicker.
Could it be that Toshiba have actually got it right for the target market? Reply
hp79 - Friday, May 10, 2013 - linkYup, both plus and minus. I use both at home. 2.4GHz is too crowded these days especially if you live in an apartment. That's when 5GHz does a great job.
Wifi cards generally support only 2.4GHz, or both 2.4GHz&5GHz. It's very rare to find a card that only supports 5GHz. If you look at prices on ebay, intel 6300 wifi cards costs about $20 while the cheaper models costs about $15. There's not really that much price difference, so it's just crazy not to put a proper wifi card in a flagship device.
My Galaxy Note1 also supports both 2 and 5GHz band, and my HTC One even supports 801.11ac (max 450mbps, 5GHz band). Toshiba should have put a card that supports 801.11ac since nothing is replaceable. Reply
CSMR - Sunday, May 12, 2013 - linkVery few people will even know what this means, let alone notice the difference. Ultrabooks have clear compromises (e.g. 256GB total storage); this is an extremely minor point in comparison. Any wireless internet, regardless the speed or standard, will fill up 256GB in no time. Reply
jeffkibuule - Saturday, May 18, 2013 - linkUmm... the problem with 2.4Ghz is that in an apartment complex that has 25 wireless networks around it, using that spectrum is bound to cause interference when there are only 3 non-overlapping transmit channels. That manifests itself in dropped packets. It has nothing to do with downloading data off the Internet. Reply
l_d_allan - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkValuable review, but I'd find it helpful to also see "corrected De2k after calibration". Or did I miss that spec? Reply
wendoman - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - link> if it's running Windows, you need to charge less for it
WTF??? Apple OS X has no apps! Reply
VivekGowri - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkYeah, but from a "what sells" perspective, consumers at large seem hesitant to drop MacBook Pro money on any PC notebook unless it's an Alienware or similar. PCs have inherently less brand value, and so PC manufacturers can't charge equal (or in this case, more) money to a comparable Mac and hope to have a sales success. The PC industry destroyed that part of itself in the race to the bottom, and now nobody wants to pay more than $700 for a general purpose notebook. While it may not be fair, PC manufacturers cannot use Apple's price points and hope to win unless they ship a significantly more compelling product (see Zenbook Prime vs MacBook Air). Reply
mayankleoboy1 - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - link"The PC industry destroyed that part of itself in the race to the bottom, and now nobody wants to pay more than $700 for a general purpose notebook"
Very good point. Reply
ananduser - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkVivek...why should be pay more than 700$ for a general purpose notebook. Why shouldn't tech be a commodity ? Are we supposed to pay premiums on looks only(as Dustin said) ? We should care about the unit as it is and not that "it doesn't look as posh" crap that Dustin highlighted.
I doubt that consumers that agree to pay more on macs are the same that are pondering a pc. Generally speaking macusers and pcusers are mutually exclusive. A macuser buys a mac for OSX that is exclusive to Apple. A pc user feels constrained about Apple's spartan choices and one size fits all solutions.
The main issue OEMs have is this. Ultrabooks are a more expensive choice within any OEM's lineup. In Apple's case you do not have a lower priced choice at all. The lineup starts with the MBA so if you want the entry level access to Apple's world you have to buy an ultrabook whether you like it or not. Thus it seems that people are validating ultrabooks when in fact they are aiming for the cheapest Apple unit and not the chipset type. Reply
Hrel - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - link"Posh" is such a fantastic word Reply
p_giguere1 - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkThey are.
Apple has a philosophy of "Trust us to make sure every detail is perfect so you don't have to".
Your average consumer feels comfortable blindly buying any Apple product without reading this sort of comprehensive review or getting explained what a chipset or an ultrabook are. I can't blame them, that's exactly what Apple is trying to do and they are successful at it: delivering constant quality in order to gain trust and fidelity.
Any ultrabook that would have the exact same price and specs as a MacBook Air would sell much less than it. Would it be strictly because of Windows vs OS X, proving OS X is more popular at the same price point? I don't think so. It would be because the Mac would be pretty much guaranteed to have no major flaw and deliver decent and constant quality across all components, even the small ones people don't usually consider or are even aware exist until they have trouble with it. Apple cares about details and people are willing to pay more for this peace of mind.
On the other hand, ultrabooks, while costing more and offering better specs than you average $500 laptop, aren't guaranteed to be flawless and very well though-out computers. Some are, some aren't, and trying to figure out which one are is a pain in the ass a lot of consumers don't want to deal with. Somebody who doesn't already follow tech websites doesn't have the time and knowledge to start reading (and understanding) tens or hundreds of laptop reviews.
Bottom line: Time and peace of mind are worth something and reputation matters to people. People are willing to pay more for Apple's reputation of constant quality alone and it's perfectly normal. Reply
bji - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkA well-thought out and logical post concerning Apple value vs. PC value in the Anandtech comments section? Is this even possible? Did Hell just freeze over or something? I am so confused! Reply
ananduser - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkThis site is not about the average customers that blindly purchases macs. Furthermore time and peace or mind are not guaranteed with macs as are not guaranteed with any PC.
Regardless of the willingness of the average Joe to spend whatever he wishes on macs, this site should not refrain, for example, from calling the vanilla mbp13" a poor choice(to say the least). Reply
zepi - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkImo Anand should grade their laptops over couple of axes, like "portability, performance, display quality and ergonomics". Price shouldn't even be mentioned or at most the MSRP could mentioned somewhere somewhere in small pring.
As a customer I can sometimes find deals that are way under the MSRP if sales have been underwhelming and sometimes MSRP can be way too low considering the amount of units manufacturer can deliver. Reply
kevith - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI think that´s spot on what Mac-buyers think. Every one of them, that I know, points out just that, again and again. Very well nailed! Reply
robinthakur - Monday, May 13, 2013 - linkWow, a well reasoned argument, this site is not just catering to nerdy IT Types, the ultrabook is just a tool at the end of the day, not a toy to play with in and of itself. Apple's reputation for quality and customer service have ben hard won over many years, it is somewhat unfair to now expect PC manufacturers to offer the same when their margins are much less. I think the big difference now is that these machines cost as much as macs do, whereas in the past, you pretty much paid very little and got what you paid for. Reply
robinthakur - Monday, May 13, 2013 - linkDoes "Posh" equal build quality? When you ape Apple's design so closely, then cheap out on the materials, do they think people won't notice? There is a time in a potential customer's lifecycle where they evaluate what choices are out there, and solicit purchase advice from knowledgeable sources. If you are in the market for an ultrabook, the main competition is the MacBook Air, which is comfortably still the biggest selling ultrabook, not the PC variants. I personally know loads of people that bought MBA's and then run windows on them, usually they present a lot, and being able to kit it out with 8GB of ram was a big deal at the time, even if you are constrained to dual core CPUs. Reply
sxr7171 - Sunday, May 19, 2013 - linkHaving recently switched back to Windows for hardware reasons (Nec Lavie Z - lighter than any Macbook), I agree simply based on that touchpad. Apple touch technology is miles ahead of anything Ive used on Windows. I'm still playing with these synaptics settings and I'm not anywhere close to the "out of the box" feel of a Mac's touchpad feel. I really like the Thinkpad trackpoint on Windows but no touchpad can compare to the Apple touchpad.
Also this OS is confused. Does it belong a laptop or tablet, I can't figure it out. It generally sends you back to the old Windows settings screen for any major settings changes. Apps launch off the start screen into desktop mode anyway. The RT mode has the same apps optimized for touch input.
Also Windows still hasn't improved the overall amount of effort it takes set the machine up the way that one likes. A Mac out of the box takes about an hour to get to how I like it. A Windows machine takes 6-8 hours if not more. Some things are terrible like setting up a Wi-Fi priority list requires you to get into terminal. The time needed to research and implement things is much higher on Windows. I've had to run some Google Searches for Mac also but far fewer and the it rarely if ever necessitates going into Terminal.
All in all I couldn't agree more that competitors of Apple have to undercut Apple on price. The only exception would be if they have very compelling hardware features that Apple doesn't have and those are few and far between. Reply
happycamperjack - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI think you missed the point. Retina 13 can run both Windows and OSX. But this laptop can only run windows. So it is a subset of Retina 13, therefore it should cost less. Reply
wendoman - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkBut Macbooks runs Windows very bad usually. Poor battery life, bad drivers etc.
I don't know about Intel only GPU Macs, but Macbooks with discrete GPU can't switch graphics and drain battery. Reply
lukarak - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkYou can always run it in VMWare. Which you can't easily do with OS X on Windows Reply
KPOM - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI run Windows 7 on my 13" rMBP and it works pretty well. Sure, Apple doesn't prioritize their WIndows drivers, but it is certainly doable. You are right that battery life takes a hit, though. Sometimes replacing the Boot Camp drivers with the native Intel drivers helps. Reply
SirKronan - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - linkI did this with my video card drivers on my MBP and noticed not only an improvement in battery life (albeit a small one) but a significant difference in performance and stability. Reply
nathanddrews - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkThis laptop could probably run OSX. Hackintosh style. Reply
madmilk - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - linkYes, but one option is legal, and the other isn't. While you may not care, real businesses with real legal departments buying laptops do.
Also, the common complaint of Boot Camp is that Windows doesn't really run well. A Hackintosh is even worse, in that 90% of the time there is some piece of hardware that just isn't supported. Which leads to the obvious conclusion: If you want to use Windows, get a Windows laptop, and if you want to use OS X, get a Mac. Reply
ananduser - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkWindows8 Pro is 200$ worth of software that needs to be added to the cost of the macbook. Also the bundled Adobe software isn't exactly cheap either. Add those to the bottom line also. All in all the mac will end up costing more while performing worse. Reply
Sm0kes - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkUmm... a Windows 8 Pro license can be had for much less than $200. Also, factoring in bundled software (that may or may not be used) can't just be added to the bottom line dollar for dollar. Sure it may increase the value proposition for those interested in it, but I suspect the vast majority could care less. Reply
robinthakur - Monday, May 13, 2013 - linkWTF??? You can run Windows in bootcamp on a Mac, better than you can on a dedicated PC. Can you say the same for this laptop? Can you run OSX even in Hackintosh? Doubtful. I run OSX these days having stopped building my own pc's a while back running dedicated windows, and have no trouble with "Apps". I have Windows Server 2012 environment running in a vm for my SharePoint development and otherwise just use OSX which is reassuringly familiar and stable.
I certainly wouldn't spend this sort of money for something as written in the review with a flexing cover, dubious build and no dual band, and with resale value which will be wiped out when the next revision hits. It's simple economics really. Reply
Zink - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkAwesome. It would be nice to have an option at 3.5 lbs with a bigger battery though. 4-5 hours isn't enough for many days. Reply
Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkRemember that our battery testing is particularly strenuous. You can probably eke out another hour or so just dropping the brightness by 100 nits. Reply
Voldenuit - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkMagnesium alloy can have a plasticky appearance, especially after being treated with corrosion resistant finishes. For instance, the mag-alloy shift paddles on my steering wheel look like plastic, but I am definitely glad they're not aluminum on hot sunny days (when my aluminum shift knob burns my hands but the mag paddles are comfortable to the touch). Reply
bji - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI can confirm this. The Panasonic Y2 that I had for 7 years before getting my rMBP had a magnesium alloy case and there were times I was sure that Panasonic had lied and that it was really plastic. But after I didn't need the laptop anymore I disassembled it and found that the body panels bent like metal after all. Reply
Silma - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkWishing for an update soon with decent Wifi + Haswell Reply
Silma - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - link"You can make something that's ostensibly better than an Apple product, but if it's running Windows, you need to charge less for it". Fanboyism at its best.
Why should you charge less with a Windows laptop when you get a vastly greater software choice, that there are very very few interesting software available on the Mac that isn't available on the PC, that you get tremendously better device support and touch as well if you so desire.
The real lesson pc manufacturers have so tough a time to learn is: stop putting crap on your notebooks sur as 1368x768 1:200 contrast ratio screen, 2.4 GHz wifi, 20 Wh excuses-of-a-battery or I-suck-aplenty-3200rmp HD.
Where Apple is unfortunately - for wintel notebook users - vastly Superior to notebook manufacturers is that Mac laptop are generally much more coherent. It is rare to get a crappy component on a Mac whereas it is the sad norm on pc notebooks. It seems Apple is goal oriented (let's have 6h battery life even if this means bigger 70Wh batteries) whereas the pc notebook manufacturers are crap-orientated (let's see how much crap I can hide in my notebook and let's pray consumers don't notice it). But consumers do notice and vote with their wallet. The industry, instead of mending its ways is putting the onus behind Windows 8's supposedly lack of success but they really should clean their own house and drop the blinders. Reply
ananduser - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkDon't forget OSX. OSX only runs on macs. If you want or need OSX you have no choice but to get a mac. Windows compatibility ads to the desirability. Mac sales really "exploded" when they switched to Intel. If they were mutually exclusive with Windows I doubt they would've passed the 1-2 million/year volume.
About crap ... the mbp 13". 1280x800 resolution(TN panel), 5400 rpm, integrated graphics. All for 1400$(in Europe). Ironically it is the most purchased item within Apple's line up. Reply
solipsism - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - link» "Mac sales really "exploded" when they switched to Intel."
That doesn't mesh with the time lines as Intel Mac sales jumped immediately but the ability to do dual boot or run a VM came later. Sure, people could have assumed this would soon be a viable option but that hardly seems like the primary reason to drop $2k for a notebook
The MBP were a new design in a time when PPC had long sense drop the ball for mobile chips. The boost in performance per Watt and the anticipation was tremendous. Mac users knew these were coming, they just came much sooner than Apple had promised.
» "If they were mutually exclusive with Windows I doubt they would've passed the 1-2 million/year volume."
I'm not so sure. As Silma says, they are goal oriented. I think if they only sold Windows they would be the best Windows notebook vendor on the market.
On top of that it doesn't really jibe with your previous comment that they only became popular because of Windows. Reply
ananduser - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI always thought that if Apple would start pumping Windows only macs they would eat(at least in the States) Dell and HP's lunches.
They are still "relatively" popular in the States alone(even there 11% or 12%); don't overdo it. Apple is after margins not share, so in absolute terms I believe I am right. Windows compatibility definitely made many people switch that were on the fence due to some win exclusive software. There isn't a single macuser without parallels/vmware and a Win license, metaphorically speaking ofc. Reply
B3an - Friday, May 10, 2013 - link"Don't forget OSX. OSX only runs on macs. If you want or need OSX you have no choice but to get a mac."
It's easy to get OSX running in a VM. Or theres always the hackintosh route. How can you not know this... Reply
KPOM - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkMacs also have better trackpads. Until the Chromebook Pixel, no non-Mac notebook came close to the Mac. It can't be that much more expensive to put in a decent trackpad. Reply
andrewaggb - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkyeah. My issue is nobody seems to make an end to end good computer. With desktops I could build my own and choose what I was willing to compromise on (if anything). But laptops you can't do that.
At this point in my life I'm not interested in compromising on much of anything in my work computer. At least not if it's just cost related (like a wifi card and touchpad). Obviously there are heat/weight/performance tradeoff's that a little money can't fix, but otherwise I'd really like a premium machine start to finish. As a software developer/enthusiast/occasional gamer, ideally it would have an excellent screen, keyboard, touchpad, connectivity (network, audio/video,usb etc), graphics, fast encrypted storage, everything :-). I really don't think it's impossible or unreasonable, but nobody seems to have built a laptop that caters to me yet. Macbook pro's are close but I have extremely little interest in mac os. I have a mac mini for occasional mobile development and that's it. My most important apps are visual studio, eclipse, sql server, postgres, chrome, and internet explorer. Half of those are windows only. Reply
bji - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkAs a software developer I greatly prefer OS X to Windows. It's probably because I come from a Unix background and my primary development environment for nearly 20 years was Linux. I find that OS X gives me nearly the same set of nice development tools (oriented towards my preferred development style) as Linux did, while also giving me a first class graphical environment and graphical development tools.
Of the software that you listed, unless you are truly wedded to Visual Studio, there are equivalent or identical software choices available on Mac OS X and Linux. I know that a development environment can be a very personal thing and it's hard to switch, so if you have to have Visual Studio, I guess you're stuck on Windows. If you can handle a different IDE then nothing that you listed sounds like a reason to stick with Windows. Reply
andrewaggb - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkMy primary employment is enterprise .net apps running on microsoft sql server databases :-). To be honest, I really like Visual Studio and c# is my favorite programming language. Windows is ok. It would be nice if it had a bourne shell and gcc and great posix support, but virtualization is so easy these days it's not a big deal anymore. I write most of my linux applications (c/c++/ or mono .net) in visual studio as well. I certainly could use a different IDE for those but it's a workflow thing :-) Reply
robinthakur - Monday, May 13, 2013 - linkI just run server 2008r2 in a virtual environment on my MBP and it works great for Visual Studio Development. This is a handy setup for me because you need a Mac to run Xcode and iOS development. Reply
ahamling27 - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - linkAbout 4 years ago now, (wow I can't believe I'm still using this laptop) I was in this same predicament. But I found the Gateway P-7811FX and I'm still using it as my laptop of choice. Sure it's not an ultrabook (it's nowhere close) but it has a dual core 2.2 ghz proc, and that hasn't changed a whole lot anymore. It's a 17" screen which turns some people off, but it's 1920 x 1200 resolution is impossible to find today. Sure you can argue that a 1080p 17" screen is only 120 pixels less top to bottom, but you tend to still find more 768p monitors than anything, 4 years later.
Plus it has 2 bays for hard drives. I don't have an SSD in it, because I threw in a couple 500 GB WD Blacks in raid 0, and I don't want to mess with that. But it's plenty snappy.
Also the Nvidia 9800m GTS can play most games, just nothing like Crysis 3.
Anyway, my point is, there was a time before "Ultrabooks" that they did try and make some great laptops for a great price, hell I only paid $999 for that Gateway. Now that they have a buzz word, I think it gives laptop manufactures a excuse to charge more for a laptop that really should be priced lower. Reply
robinthakur - Monday, May 13, 2013 - linkI couldn't agree more, having prepared to disagree with you over your opening salvo! On paper, Windows has many more applications available, and perhaps in a business context this would be important. I thought I would have to compromise a little when I went over to Mac but have not found I have to so far. He only thing is visual studio for SharePoint development and I run this environment in a VM with no issues. The touchpad and gestures on a MBP are so fantastic I could never go back to a PC laptop ever again, regardless of whether it is running Microsoft's latest attempt at an OS. I am used to the admiring oohs and aahs when I show them the natural momentum scrolling and the gestures , Exposé etc. and several have purchased Mac's since I got one in the team.
I can't fault MS's advertising trying to make Windows 8 seem less threatening to consumers, they are blanketing adverts across all media I consume. They must be one of the few companies that this strategy does not work for, which leads me to think that there is something wrong in between users deciding to take a look at the Windows 8 machines available and the final decision to buy. Perhaps bad feedback from friends and trusted sources, bad battery life, lack of apps or unfamiliarity are causing this to not translate into sales, or even the fact that MS have been so absent from the tablet market that all they remember is their previous attempts at convertible tablets which failed, as did their smartphones. Reply
8steve8 - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI don't agree with the conclusion that a better laptop must be cheaper if it runs windows... the problem is more that none of the non-apple laptops are better (with the possible exception of the chromebook pixel)... they all seem to miss something here or there... usually touchpad, often keyboard or screen.. For example the power connector on apple laptops are amazing, so much better than any non-apple power connector i've seen... and actually it's pretty important since we are all constantly plugging and unplugging the device.
I would pay the same amount for an apple quality laptop running windows, maybe more.
but 5Ghz wifi is pretty important to me, and I cirtainly wouldn't consider a high end laptop that couldn't use it. Reply
ananduser - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkThe Zenbook and the Sammy Series 9 are both better than the MBA in every aspect. In fact the only excellent mac Apple sells is the 15" rmbp(and even that is pretty closely matched in all areas except panel). All others are surpassed by PC laptops. Reply
repoman27 - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI get that you're just trolling, but with the 13-inch MBA, for the same or less money you can get a faster processor (Core i7 3667U), larger SSD option (512 GB), more RAM (8 GB), DisplayPort, Thunderbolt (can drive two 2560x1600 external displays), better trackpad, etc. The only specs where the MBA loses are the number of horizontal pixels (1600 vs. 1440) and the number of MP for the camera (where Asus bothers to mention a number). And then of course there's all the usual places where OEMs try to hide the crap in the spec sheet and save a few pennies: does the SDXC card reader support UHS-I, what type of controller does the SSD use, how well is the display calibrated at the factory, does the WiFi solution support 3x3:3 MIMO on both 2.4 and 5 Ghz? Reply
ananduser - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkThe devil is in the details and I admit I haven't researched all aspects that you demand. Can't answer and won't bother searching. But off the bat I will say that(to me at least) TB and Displayport mean jack. I'd rather have ethernet instead of TB and spare myself the adapter cost. I'd also demand a W8 pro license included with the MBA for the same price... oh and a touchscreen just because. Reply
mhampton - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkWow, that's not even close to true. I've bought both, and the Zenbook is a nightmare to configure right (mainly the trackpad) compared to a mac laptop. Reply
sweenish - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkIt's a statement driven by sales numbers. It's stupid consumer logic. Consumers buy cheap Windows laptops that suck, get frustrated, and then spend three times as much on a macbook. They never consider spending more on a windows laptop, because in their heads, all windows laptops are the same, regardless of price.
My wife is a rockstar at work with her Zenbook Touch. It just never enters peoples' heads that they could also spend more money on a Windows laptop. Reply
Jon Tseng - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkNice, but somewhat familiar design... KIRFabook? lol Reply
heelo - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkWhen a product has a certain amount of success it can get to the point where it defines the category, and that's what's happened to Apple with the Macbooks and the iPhone (pre-Galaxy S3).
Apple spent a lot of time and money selling people on the idea that glass clickpads and island-style back-lit keyboards are the best, and that aluminum unibody construction was the strongest, most attractive housing available. But they did such a good job of convincing everybody, that the natural result is that their competitors were forced to adopt those features in order to compete at/near the high end. That's just the price of success.
And while I'm somewhat sympathetic to the idea that Apple should get to "own" the look that it invented, I simply can't overlook the fact that their notebooks haven't undergone a significant design change in more than half a decade. Reply
Mikhail - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkStop. Where is DisplayPort here? Premium laptop'2013 without DP? I'm dissapointed. Reply
nportelli - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkThe only reason I didn't pre-order one last night was because of the pending Haswell release and only 8GB. I'd rather have more. But if the first few new Haswell laptops come out with crap resolution... read not at least 1080p no matter the size of the screen. No 5Ghz? I can live with that since I don't have it now. Reply
TrackSmart - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkThat and the 256GB SSD, with no option for anything larger. That's partially a limitation of it being an mSATA SSD (only 4 NAND chips), but that issue should be solved soon with Crucial's new higher capacity modules. Another reason to wait a bit longer. Reply
Gunbuster - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI know it's Japanese but really Kira on the name? Did they do any user testing to see if naming a $1500 laptop Kira was a good idea? Jennabook, Beckabook, Kirabook
Hi, this is my cool new laptop with a 10 year old girls name. Reply
solipsism - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - link1) It's a town in Japan, among other things.
2) "10 year old girls name"? Where are you from that girls are giving new names based on their age? Where I'm from a name is given around birth and is kept throughout one's life. Reply
chrnochime - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkNothing else to whine about other than the name? If they name it Jenna you'd whine about it being named after a p0rn star. Reply
cknobman - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkPersonally I was onboard @1599 until I read no touchscreen unless you pay $200 more.
F_CK THAT Toshiba! Reply
akp - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkDon't be too quick to dismiss the lid flex as a problem. Google for 'Portege Z835 cracked screen' and then ask yourself if you'd really want to put down $1599 for one of these. Reply
Hrel - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkYou mention this is Toshiba's way of "getting their foot in the door". But then you lament the colors of the notebook? Doesn't it make sense to use silver/grey for the "foot in the door"? Sure there are probably very few people who SEEK OUT grey, but there's an equally small number of people who would actively avoid it. Seems like a pretty safe bet, cover the widest base. Then once they've established market share they can be more aggressive with designs they know will only appeal to certain people; and then cover the difference with more designs. Obviously this increases operating costs and required resources; not to mention risk.
So, to me, it makes perfect sense to design it this way. Really the only thing that makes no sense at all is the wifi card and I think they'd have a really solid offering if only they had used a dual band ac card. Reply
Hrel - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkThe reason I bring it up is I feel that this counter point should be raised in the article after lamenting the color/design choices. You sacrifice sophistication anytime you want to hit the largest possible audience. Reply
KPOM - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI'm a bit surprised by the resolution. 2560x1440 translates to 1280x720 when scaled. That gives less usable real estate than the typical 1366x768 display. Sure, you can scale to less than 200%, but I think Toshiba would have been better off going with 2560x1600 like the 13" rMBP. Lots of programs (e.g. Quicken 2013) "expect" to have 768 pixels of usable vertical space, and when scaled, this screen won't give it to them. Reply
andrewaggb - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI thought that as well. But I don't have a 2560x1440 panel to test scaling on so I'm not sure if it's really an issue. Reply
andrewaggb - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkthough I could probably set a 2560x1600 monitor to that resolution temporarily to test it... Reply
jhoff80 - Friday, May 10, 2013 - linkIs the scaling actually set to 200%? I didn't see that anywhere in the review, but I'd tend to think it's more likely to be set to 150%
Not that your complaint applies to Metro apps anyway, but even those are designed for 140% and 180%, so 200% isn't happening there either. Reply
jhoff80 - Friday, May 10, 2013 - linkSet that way out of the box, I mean. Reply
PEJUman - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkDustin, is that a DS9 homage? I took me a while to realize where I heard 'major Kira' before... Reply
my3rc - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - linkHaha Major Kira, I love it! Reply
deeps6x - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkTouch on a laptop is stupid. If you actually use it heavily, you destroy the hinge. Have one with it and hate it.
Glossy screens suck as well. Just when it looked like we were finally putting that shit behind us, MS goes and tries to cram Win8 with touch down everyone's throat. It is enough to make you want to switch to Apple products. Reply
B3an - Friday, May 10, 2013 - link"Touch on a laptop is stupid. If you actually use it heavily, you destroy the hinge. Have one with it and hate it."
Thats you're own fault for buying junk. Theres loads of Win 8 laptops that don't have this problem, and theres always things like the Lenovo Yoga, Asus Taichi, or hybrids with tablets + docks that wont have this issue. But i guess you're probably lying anyway to make a stupid incorrect point. Reply
Conficio - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - link"The essential ingredients to any PC computing experience are the keyboard, the mouse/touchpad, the display, and responsiveness." - Yeah sold - Notice this does not include super thin or super light.
Anyhow, the price is not to be justified - MacBook 13.3" retina includes a longer lasting battery, an OS that supports the retina display well + thunderbold and costs less? Not even speaking about single band Wifi support.
P.S.: I'm not an Apple fanboy, just to old to spend my day with crappy tools. Reply
The0ne - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI had to laugh at the comments. I'm sorry, it's not meant to be rude. I'm just reading and thinking to myself that some of you will NEVER be happy regardless of any expectations. There will always be something that is or will never be to your liking. That's just how alot of people are.
For me, the screen is a great addition and one that IS and SHOULD be a lot more important than whether or not you have your dual wifi band options. For that I can fix easily with a better router or dongle. The screen, good luck. Priorities I guess.
Haven't read the article yet but when I have the time I will. Just had to respond because these comments made me laugh. Reply
patelkedar - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkIs it just me or... does it look exactly like my Asus Zenbook? Lol. Reply
sweenish - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkIt looks a lot uglier than a Zenbook, to me. The colors and shape are just so plain. Nothing pops. But I may have a bias as I think that the Zenbooks and Series 9s are the best looking laptops on the market. Reply
tipoo - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkWhat about display scaling though? That resolution would make elements tiny without setting Windows scaling, and Windows scaling breaks some things (usually old or poorly coded, but still) since it's not perfect integer scaling like the rMBP at default. I'd be interested in some commentary on that. Reply
zogus - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - linkI'm not sure if it's really fair to compare 13" retina MacBook Pro to the Kirabook, considering that the rMBP is 20% heavier. In fact, the Kirabook's weight (1.35kg) is identical to 13" MacBook Air. Reply
repoman27 - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - linkWell, going by the specs though, that 20% is just 270g. And the MBPR is only 6% larger. In exchange for that very small sacrifice in portability, you get a 42% larger battery (74 Wh vs 52 Wh), a 2.6 GHz Core i5-3230M or 3.0 GHz Core i7-3540M as opposed to a 2.0 GHz Core i7-3537U, up to 768 GB SSD options, and a 2560x1600 display. I guess my point being the price for thin and light is getting a little ridiculous when you compare either the high-end MacBook Airs or the KIRAbook to the 13-inch MBPR. Reply
surt - Friday, May 10, 2013 - linkKudos on the DS9 reference. Reply
seapeople - Friday, May 10, 2013 - linkHave to agree about the lack of screen discussion. You basically just reviewed a revolutionary (for Windows) 1440p 13" laptop and did not say a single thing about how the display works or looks with Windows 8. Can you scale this to 1280x720 and get sharp graphics for gaming, like you can with the rMBP? Reply
barry spock - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - linkGot to say,
I'm really liking the little pithy commenty thing in the top right of the article headers.
And dead-set right, Dustin, on the point about why doesn't anyone do a gunmetal/"titanium-colour" or bronze-coloured metal chassis. Reply
Death666Angel - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - link"You can make something that's ostensibly better than an Apple product, but if it's running Windows, you need to charge less for it."
Ain't monopolies grand? :D Reply
MelodyRamos47 - Sunday, May 12, 2013 - linkIf you think Amber`s story is impossible..., five weaks-ago my cousins friend who's a single mom basically also made $4658 workin a fifteen hour week from their apartment and the're classmate's mother-in-law`s neighbour was doing this for seven months and actually earnt over $4658 part time on there labtop. use the information available on this page Jump44.comTAKE A LOOK Reply
augustofretes - Sunday, May 12, 2013 - linkYou should really go on and review the Chromebook Pixel, especially with I/O around the corner. Reply
Sabresiberian - Sunday, May 12, 2013 - linkKudos to Toshiba for stepping up the quality of the screen, but frankly I'm not buying a screen that small that is 16:9. The smallest acceptable size for that dimension, for me, is a 27".
Apple still wins. I'm sorry, I'm not an Apple guy, I'm a PC guy, but I wouldn't shoot myself in the proverbial foot by buying one of these over an Apple MacBook just because I prefer the OS. OS X just isn't that bad - it's actually good, it's just not as good, imo, as Windows. And, there is no "price premium" downside here, either, in buying the MacBook. (Regardless of what you think about Apple's prices, their support for consumer level products is second to none. Of course, considering their profit margins, it should be.) Reply
crinosil - Monday, May 13, 2013 - linkWhat I don't get is why be excited about this...I'm a longtime PC user (writing this on my home gown Windows 8 Pro tower PC as a matter of fact)... but I just bought a Macbook Pro 13 Retina for $1799.00 ... It included an i7 CPU running at 2.9/3.6mhz, 8GB DD3 1600 RAM, 512GB SSD, etc, etc....and only about half a pound heavier.... and by the way....I installed Parallels on it and am running Windows 7 on it in a virtual machine. Could have dual booted into Windows with Boot Camp but I find I actually like OSX.... So with this available... from an American company (yes I know they all build them in China)...why would anyone buy this this Toshiba?? Reply
ShieTar - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - linkDid you know that 96% of the worlds population, owning 85% of the worlds money, are not American and thus do not care at all if a product was designed by an American company? And that even of the 4% who live in the US, a large percentage is not actually affected by that kind of nationalist concepts?
The 1599$ is a proposed price, the market will quickly figure out what the majority of customers consider to be the worth of the unit. As Dustin wrote in the article, you can expect to see it sell for 100$-200$ less than the Toshiba proposal if you just look around a bit. Add to that the fact, that the Toshiba already includes the Windows-License, which you need to buy separately if you want to dual-boot or parallel Windows on the Mac, and the Toshiba is a very credible and reasonably priced competitor for everybody who wants to use Windows. Reply
crinosil - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - linkBut $1599 is for the lowest spec-ed version... to get closer to my Mac Pro they'll want $1999 and that's we a slower CPU and 256GB SSD... and single band WiFi.... the Window's Licence is a valid point...however, I had about 6 of them lying around so not an issue for me.... Still I also found Windows 7 Home Premium on Ebay for about $65-$75 dollars from reputable sellers.... Still not sure the value here.... and as to world not caring about American designed products....the queues outside the various stores around the world every time Apple releases some nick nack would seem to counter that opinion... Reply
ShieTar - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - linkNah, I've lived in 5 different cities over the last 20 years and visited about 30 more, and never seen an Apple-Shop anywhere (except on TV). I'm not entirely convinced they exist anywhere outside the US and France. Almost everybody around here buys his electronics either through the Net or from the big markets like Media Markt or Saturn. And Apple is striving to get to half the market shares it holds in the US and France.
Made in America is just not considered a positive aspect on consumer electronics by anybody in Europe. It's not nearly as negative as it is for cars, it just doesn't matter to anybody if a phone or PC is American, European, Japanese or Korean. Reply
sxr7171 - Sunday, May 19, 2013 - linkThis one has one hardware feature that Apple does not have. It has Macbook Air weight packing a Macbook Pro Retina quality display. Apple hasn't done that yet. Maybe the new 2013 Macbook Air machines will have 2560x1440 displays.
But long story short there are people who would find in this something Apple doesn't yet offer. Reply
relativityboy - Monday, May 13, 2013 - linkAs soon as an updated Kirabook (Haswell) comes out I hope you guys do a performance review. Reply
sxr7171 - Sunday, May 19, 2013 - linkHaving recently switched back to Windows for hardware reasons (Nec Lavie Z - lighter than any Macbook), I agree simply based on that touchpad. Apple touch technology is miles ahead of anything Ive used on Windows. I'm still playing with these synaptics settings and I'm not anywhere close to the "out of the box" feel of a Mac's touchpad feel. I really like the Thinkpad trackpoint on Windows but no touchpad can compare to the Apple touchpad.
Also this OS is confused. Does it belong a laptop or tablet, I can't figure it out. It generally sends you back to the old Windows settings screen for any major settings changes. Apps launch off the start screen into desktop mode anyway. The RT mode has the same apps optimized for touch input.
Also Windows still hasn't improved the overall amount of effort it takes set the machine up the way that one likes. A Mac out of the box takes about an hour to get to how I like it. A Windows machine takes 6-8 hours if not more. Some things are terrible like setting up a Wi-Fi priority list requires you to get into terminal. The time needed to research and implement things is much higher on Windows. I've had to run some Google Searches for Mac also but far fewer and the it rarely if ever necessitates going into Terminal.
All in all I couldn't agree more that competitors of Apple have to undercut Apple on price. The only exception would be if they have very compelling hardware features that Apple doesn't have and those are few and far between. Reply


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JOBS are at risk at local branches of the camera chain Jessops after the group went into administration.
The future of 2,000 staff nationwide is in doubt after administrators said branch closures were "inevitable".
And administrators have said stores will not be accepting gift vouchers or returned goods while talks go on in a bid to save the business.
The company has branches at Bournemouth's Castlepoint and Poole's Dolphin Centre. It closed a branch in central Bournemouth in 2012.
The Poole branch has been open for 24 years.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been appointed to the group, which is Britain's only specialist nationwide camera retailer, with nearly 200 stores.
It marks the first high-profile retail collapse of 2013 and comes soon after consumer electricals chain Comet hit the wall, sparking more than 6,000 job losses.
Jessops, which has its headquarters in Leicester, has suffered in recent years from online competition and the boom in camera phones, which has hit demand for digital cameras.
A statement from PwC said: "Jessops is a major high- street retailer of photographic equipment and growing online business. Turnover in the year to December 31 2012 was £236million and Jessops operated from 192 stores with around 2000 employees throughout the UK. It has a well-known brand, strong reputation for service and a significant national footprint.
"However, its core marketplace has seen a significant decline in 2012 and forecasts for 2013 indicate that this decline would continue. In addition, the position deteriorated in the run-up to Christmas as a result of reducing confidence in UK retail. Despite additional funding being made available to the company by the funders, this has meant that Jessops has not generated the profits it had planned with a consequent impact on its funding needs. This was exacerbated by a credit squeeze in the supplier base."
Rob Hunt, joint administrator and partner, PwC said: "Over the last few days the directors, funders and key suppliers have been in discussions as regards additional consensual financial support for the business. However these discussions have not been successful. In light of these irreconcilable differences the directors decided to appoint administrators and we were appointed earlier today (Wednesday).
"Our most pressing task is to review the company's financial position and hold discussions with its principal stakeholders to see if the business can be preserved. Trading in the stores is hoped to continue today but is critically dependent on these ongoing discussions. However, in the current economic climate it is inevitable that there will be store closures."
The statement added: "At present Jessops is not in a position to honour customer vouchers or to accept returned goods."

subset: commoncrawl


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JC Penney is learning there are few fast and easy victories when it comes to changing entrenched retailing culture in a market that has come to depend on coupons and discounts to drive consumer traffic.
Michael Francis is out at Penney in the wake of steeper-than-expected sales declines blamed by most informed observers on the retailer's Fair & Square pricing rollout. Perhaps someone had to pay the price. And an adjustment of the pricing strategy to wean Penney customers off excessive sale promotion more gradually could be in order.
Willing Sacrifice?
It begs many questions. Is Penney willing to sacrifice many of its traditional customers in the near term to build a robust base of younger customers more important to its long-term prospects? And is there enough patience in the market to wait until Penney's forthcoming merchandise reset has had a chance to take root before declaring success or failure?
Penney's recent Father's Day ad featuring a male couple with their children is further evidence of Penney's willingness to risk a little controversy in an effort to connect the brand with an emerging younger market. A study by Vision Critical indicates consumers 18-34 were more likely to view the ad positively while consumers 55 and older were more likely to find the ad distasteful or offensive.
Attention Grabber
Other recent research suggests the younger consumers that Penney seems to have its eye on don't respond to the idea of discounting with the same fervor of more experienced shoppers who have been trained to expect a sale. Young shoppers prefer the sound of a deal better. It might be semantics, but it matters when you're trying to grab their attention.
The same research suggests such younger consumers are more likely to embrace a total retailing experience— affordable pricing included, but not necessarily the dominant factor— better tuned to their lifestyles.
Penney sees Martha Stewart as a brand that can bridge traditional and younger consumers. Meanwhile, JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson has dipped into familiar turf with plans to rollout programs by Michael Graves and Bodum, both of which he brought to Target years ago to give the retailer more cred among the trendier set. These brands, and others the retailer is prepping for its reset, seem geared toward building a much more progressive Penney shopper profile.
America's Choice
JC Penney wants to become America's favorite place to shop as it continues to stage the rollout of its new identity. Penney is beginning to identify more clearly the America the retailer believes will be vital to its future.
JC Penney might have to compromise a bit in the near term on its no-nonsense pricing plan to prevent an irreversible falloff in core customers trained to expect a discount. But don't expect many more concessions when it comes to the implementation of a shopping experience meant to mitigate the dependency on coupons and sale promotion to capture a viable, long-term customer base.
Crafting compelling merchandising schemes when discounting is not the intended differentiator is becoming increasingly difficult for retailers.
JC Penney management isn't blind to the risks. Commitment can help overcome risk.
The question is whether JC Penney will get enough time for a reasonable chance to declare victory.


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News Release
Media Contact: TPWD News, email@example.com, 512-389-8030
Nov. 10, 2011
Big Time Texas Hunts winners announced
When an unknown number shows up on the caller ID, Weatherford Downtown Café owner Britton Schweitzer just lets it go to voicemail.
"It's usually people trying to sell me stuff, not Texas Parks and Wildlife calling because I won an amazing hunt," Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer and 13 other lucky sportsmen are clearing their calendars for some of the best hunting packages in the Lone Star State won through Texas Parks and Wildlife's Big Time Texas Hunts program.
The program's raffle offers hunting packages ranging from a guided white-tailed deer hunting experience in the South Texas brush country to the Grand Slam package which treats one Texan and a non-hunting friend to food, lodging, taxidermy and a personal guide service for four separate hunts for desert bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, pronghorn and desert mule deer. Schweitzer won the Grand Slam.
"When I get my license online I throw $100 toward the different hunts but never expect to win," Schweitzer said. "I am an avid fisherman and hunter and I see it as basically donating $100 every year to public lands," he said.
The small town café owner said he usually donates to local causes and was flabbergasted to have won the program's Grand Slam. He said he moved to Weatherford a few years ago with his wife to raise a family. He hopes to bring her along on his hunts.
"I think it's an awesome opportunity and I am excited I got picked," he said. " I never win anything and it was a pretty big shocker."
Big Time Texas Hunts are offered through an annual raffle. This season saw 62,610 entries generating almost $600,000. Ticket sales support wildlife research, habitat management and public hunting in the state of Texas. Ticket purchasers must be at least 17. For more information on this hunting program, visit tpwd.texas.gov/buybtth.
Following are the winners of this year's Big Time Texas Hunts.
- Grand Slam — Michael Schweitzer, Weatherford
- Premium Buck Hunt — Joseph Yuras, Garden Ridge
- Exotic Safari — Jimmy Webb, Tyler and Martha Vogelsang, Hearne
- Whitetail Bonanza — Tommy Dulin, Colorado City; Ivan Berry, Pasadena; Francis Sharp, Pasadena; Michael Broderick, Conroe; Joe Mills, Gonzales; Ramona Bourgeois, Concord, CA; Humbert Trevino, Laredo; Randall Coombs, Spearman
- Waterfowl Adventure — Alexander Hamilton, San Antonio
- Gator Hunt — Darren Lasorte, Fairfax, VA
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text:
Gators shut out Jacksonville State 23-0
Published: Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 4:27 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 4:27 p.m.
No. 7 Florida used a strong defensive effort to overcome a sluggish offensive performance in a 23-0 win over Jacksonville State on Saturday.
The Gators scored a touchdown on their first possession when Mike Gillislee plowed into the end zone from seven yards out. But that was the only offensive touchdown all day from Florida.
The Gators (10-1) also scored on a 7-yard interception return by Jonathan Bostic early in the third quarter. Caleb Sturgis added three field goals from 21, 44 and 47 yards out to complete the scoring.
Florida's defense allowed a 76-yard pass completion on the first play of the game, but held the Gamecocks to 176 total yards the rest of the game. Jacksonville State, an FCS program that plays in the Ohio Valley Conference, completed its season with a 6-5 record.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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It's OK to Eat (Fair Trade Certified) Quinoa
Guest post from Edouard Rollet, Co-Founder and COO of Alter Eco
This guest blog post comes to us from Edouard Rollet, Co-Founder and COO of Alter Eco, in response to recent concerns about quinoa. Read on to learn how Alter Eco is working to make a positive impact in the lives of quinoa farmers and why Fair Trade is an integral part of their mission.
Since 2002, Alter Eco has been working with and for indigenous quinoa growers from the southern Bolivian Altiplano. Our biannual visits to these communities are multi-faceted, from measuring impact and triple bottom line performances of the cooperative, to farming and processing cost analysis, to computer donations to schools. Our visit to Bolivia is also a time where we can share with our partner farmers each other's challenges with sustainable farming and succeeding with a mission-focus brand in a highly competitive market…
From these trips we have seen many difficulties that these families face, such as:
- Little to no electricity, sanitation or heating
- Poor and non-locally accessible health care and education services
- An extremely difficult working and living area; the Southern Altiplano is extremely harsh with more than 250 days with frost and scarce rainfall
- A risk of environmental damage and soil erosion because of fragile soils and high demand
Alter Eco, NGOs and Fair Trade farmer organizations such as ANAPQUI, which have a strong presence in the growing area of the Altiplano, see these issues as a top priority and are innovating at the farmer level by investing in sustainable methods and farmer's support with agrotechnicians.
Since 2002, changes in the lives of the Fair Trade Certified quinoa-growing communities that Alter Eco partners with have become very apparent:
- With the Fair Trade community development premiums, farmers are able to invest in quality and productivity, ensuring that there will be enough quinoa for all who want and need it for generations to come
- Household income and diversification of revenue sources have significantly increased. Better economic resources have allowed families to settle seasonally in more populated areas, improving their housing and living conditions and placing the farmers and their families in proximity of better school systems and higher education
- Education levels have increased, due to better access to schooling
- Diversification of diet: additional revenue from quinoa provide the farmers access to the local market and can add fresh vegetables, fruit and meat to their daily diet
- Alter Eco laptop donation programs, in partnership with the food distributor UNFI, have enabled producers to access improved data collection and communications between farms
It is clear that, without the international trade of quinoa, these positive achievements would not exist and Southern Altiplano inhabitants would be forced to continue migrating seasonally and selling their labor at cheap rates. There is a promising opportunity where this exponential market growth could be the solution to eradicate poverty in one of the poorest locations on the globe, but only if this demand is met with a sustainably provided supply.
To address environmental challenges, Alter Eco and its partner cooperatives have implemented several programs:
- Each farmer is required to own at least 7 llamas per cultivated hectare of quinoa to provide manure, which serves as an essential organic fertilizer to regenerate the soil. This rule is actually only the continuation of a traditional custom, as quinoa and llamas have always been considered as complementary in the Maya and Aymara indigenous culture, just like the ying and the yang in the far eastern culture
- Financing and implementation on an ambitious program focused on planting Thola and other native trees and shrubs around the parcels to protect the fields from the wind which is responsible for a large part of the erosion of the fragile desert soil
- Each family is able to keep an average of 600 to 800 pounds of quinoa a year for their own use (about 10% of their annual production)
- Crop rotations every other year to re-nourish the land (fallow set-aside land)
- Farmers are encouraged to hillside cultivation to further protect from wind
- Training on sustainable methods of mechanized cultivation, as more farmers rely on tractors and other mechanized tools for quinoa cultivation. About 20% of Alter Eco's partner farmers still cultivate quinoa manually
- Pre-financing through loan's guarantee for the cooperative ($3 million loans, interests paid by Alter Eco, more than $100,000)
As we've seen in some growing regions, the increase of quinoa production for the conventional market has resulted in soil erosion and has not always covered basic necessities in farmer's communities. On the contrary, Fair Trade standards require 1/3 of the Fair Trade premium (which increased in April 2012 from $85 to $260 USD per metric ton of quinoa) to be invested in prevention of soil erosion through environmental projects and agricultural education, and 2/3 towards community development projects. Since beginning our work together, the ANAPQUI cooperative has earned more than $290,000 Fair Trade community development premiums from their sales through Alter Eco.
Look for the Fair Trade label on your quinoa to know that you are helping to improve lives and protect the environment in quinoa farming communities across the globe. Now, that's a positive story!
For further information about Alter Eco's work in Fair Trade quinoa click here. You can also read more about what's happening in Bolivia right now in Slate.com's article by Ari LeVaux: It's OK to Eat Quinoa.
Learn more about Fair Trade Certified quinoa here.
Enter to win a gift pack of Alter Eco quinoa!
Enter the contest below for a chance to win a gift pack of assorted Fair Trade Certified quinoa from Alter Eco. Just login with Facebook or register your email below to see all the ways you can enter the giveaway!


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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/2/2013 (1639 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Animal Wise
The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures
By Virginia Morell
Crown, 304 pages, $30
Losing a footrace to a cheetah would probably not be too much of a blow to your pride -- but what if a chimp could beat you at a memory test?
American science writer Virginia Morell is a regular contributor to Science magazine and National Geographic. Her articles most often deal with natural sciences, wildlife and evolutionary biology. This book, a broad ranging exploration of animal intelligence and emotion, grew from a National Geographic story called Minds of Their Own.
Animals certainly have brains -- you can buy and eat an animal's brains here in Winnipeg if you know where to shop. But what kind of minds do animals have, and could we ever really know what they are thinking and feeling?
The researchers that Morrell talks to in Animal Wise are trying to answer to those difficult questions. The partial answers they give are fascinating and disconcerting.
Research into animal minds begins surprisingly "low" on the food chain. Morrell starts with ants and bees, and then fish get a full chapter: for instance, archerfish that spit jets of water at beetles have to learn the skill, and they do learn, by practising themselves or by observing other fish.
Fish also have a structure in their brain (the amygdala) analogous to the part of our brain that would light up and cause pain if a hook went through our jaw. It's a short jump to conclude that a fish also feels pain, though a slightly bigger jump to conclude that the fish is suffering from the pain.
One great difficulty for all research into animal cognition and emotion is the inability to communicate directly, on an even keel. We can never know what it is really like to be an ant, or even a dolphin.
That barrier between us and other species was also a barrier to this type of research for many years. Many scientists were, and still are, quick to dismiss any conclusions about animal minds with the charge of anthropomorphism.
Since we can only observe outward behaviour, it is pointless to infer anything about thoughts or feelings.
These critics may help to hold more radical claims in check, but given the diverse and ingenious research described in Animal Wise, the hard position that animal minds are inscrutable, and not worth plumbing anyway, is no longer tenable.
For example, anecdotes about elephants' long memories have been passed around for centuries, but scientists in Kenya made careful observations while playing different elephant calls through a speaker.
When they played the call of a long-dead relative, the whole elephant family perked up and walk toward the noise. (The researchers later felt uneasy for possibly raising confusion, or even something like sorrow.)
Morrell refers frequently to Charles Darwin, which is fitting since he first explained how we are directly connected to the animals, and since he was much more comfortable exploring the interior lives of beetles, birds, dogs, and others, than the scientists a few generations later.
Given that all animals are literally our cousins, for we share common ancestors, it is natural to assume that some of them possess something analogous to our own higher faculties.
The mental feats of the most gifted animals described in the book, including parrots, dolphins, and great apes, are astonishing. Given their individual personalities, cultural diversity, and their ability to communicate and play with each other and with us, it is hard not to feel kinship.
To its credit, Animal Wise is very light on the guilt for how we use and treat animals. It simply points out that "like us, they think and feel and experience the world."
We know this now, but what to do with that knowledge is up to us all.
Paul Klassen is a Winnipeg engineer.


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Ok so i was in an XP party in the mire today and me and my good friend Cassalot was talking to each other in /sh, while Jragon started to go ahead and speak his mind out. I dont even know where he came from and why he started talking to us. So when my party ended i walked by their party and i was confronted by Jragon and his friend Ixjoexl, who by the way i respected for all his help back when i 1st started that game, but now i completely feel dis-respected. Here's what happened as i walked by:
So i guess we should all /bow down to Jragon? And i guess for thanking the people that helped you in the past can quickly turn on you because i was dissing his good friend? It looks like i was the victim here?
So then i finally walked away and was in shocked that people with "good gear" can be really full of themselves. So i decided to send Ixjoexl a /tell, although he did not respond, and then i decided to send Jragon a /tell apologizing for the mis-understanding with the /shouts that happened. (sorry i dont have pics of the /shouts cause my chat filter was all off and this was during an xp party)
Here are the /tells:
And yes i did call the GM because i felt that he needs to be mature about his words he choices in a conversations and not act like a 5 year old.


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Skin Care for Your 20s, 30s and 40s
How to look flawless — no matter your age!
-Paige Herman-Axel
Most of us take our skin for granted. Moisturizing, facials and applying sunscreen is something that we think we don't have to worry about when we're in our teens and 20s. But the truth is, the earlier you start taking care of your skin, the better it'll look in the future. And if you're in your 30s and 40s, you can still reap the benefits of a good skin care regimen. The key is to not only start something, but to keep it up.
In Your 20s
Your skin is in its prime, and it's unlikely to be showing signs of age, sun damage or the effects of bad habits like smoking, drinking and late nights.
If you haven't already started taking care of your skin, there's no better time than now. "Prevention is the key for your 20s," says dermatologist Dr. Kenneth Beer.
What to do: Dr. Beer's first piece of advice: If you smoke, stop now. Sun protection is imperative as well. Dr. Beer says most skin damage is done before the age of 20, but sun exposure thereafter "only adds insult to injury."
What to use: Start using antioxidant-rich products and sunscreen every day to help stave off damage. Dr. Beer advises his patients to use prescription retinoids like Retin-A in their 20s. He says, "If I had it my way, everyone would be on it." To round out your skincare regimen, incorporate a scrub like Scientific Skin White Bamboo Exfoliant ($68, idealskin.com) into your weekly regimen.
Age-specific issue: "Typically, hormones are quieting down and acne starts to abate, but some women have issues related to the hormones in oral contraceptives," explains Dr. Beer. If you're still experiencing acne flare-ups, try a daily face wash that contains salicylic acid, like Clearasil Stayclear Skin Perfecting Wash ($4.49, drugstore.com).
The look: To make the most of the radiance your skin has in your 20s, celebrity makeup artist Kimara Ahnert advises staying fresh and natural. "Instead of foundation, opt for a sheer tinted moisturizer with an SPF, followed by a bright blush that will make your cheeks pop." For eyes, Ahnert recommends using eyeliner on your top lids and sweeping on one to two coats of mascara. To finish the look, go with a shiny lipgloss or sheer lipstick.
Must-know info: To polish your look, Ahnert suggests you make sure your brows are groomed and filled in. And avoid sparkles or glitter, she says. "Leave that for the teenagers."
Left: JK Jemma Kidd Cheek ID Colour Adapt Blush ($18, target.com). Right: Rimmel London Sexy Curves Mascara ($7.50, ulta.com)


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Did you know?
The trampling of large herds of springbok helped create this sprawling water-filled pan.
Barberspan Bird Sanctuary is one of the largest waterfowl reserves in southern Africa. It was one of the first wetlands in South Africa to be covered under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, indicating its importance as a sanctuary for migratory birds and waterfowl.
Bird numbers are regularly around 20 000 and about 350 different species can be found in and around the pan. In September and October, just before the summer rains reach this part of the country, the pan can be crowded with more than 40 000 water birds.
This South African bird centre is in the North West province, just a few hours away from Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The South African bird sanctuary often supports large numbers of flamingos and pelicans and also features sought-after special twitches like maccoa duck, chestnut-banded plover and black-necked grebe. Winter also provides a good chance to spot western dry-country specials like Namaqua sandgrouse, grey-backed sparrowlark and swallow-tailed bee-eater.
In the far gone past Barberspan was just a large, temporary pan in the fossil bed of the Harts River, formed and enlarged by northerly winds and massive herds of springbok trampling the edges of the waterhole.
In 1913 the digging of a channel between the nearby river and the pan transformed Barberspan into a 2 000 hectare, 11 metre deep body of water that now functions as an extremely important wintering site for waterfowl.
Not only is Barberspan Bird Sanctuary a premier site for ornithological research, visitors can also fish for carp, barbel and yellowfish or paddle around in a canoe. The many well-positioned bird hides are great places to teach children the joys of bird watching.
Travel tips & Planning info
Who to contact
Barberspan Bird Sanctuary
Tel: +27 (0) 82 443 9777
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Barberspan Hotel and Resort
Tel: +27 (0) 73 318 6366
How to get here
The closest town to Barberspan Bird Sanctuary is Delareyville in the North-West province, approximately three hours drive from Johannesburg on the N14 highway from Krugersdorp.
Best time to visit
The best time to visit is September to October, when waterfowl numbers are at their most impressive.
Get around
You can drive or walk in the sanctuary.
What will it cost
The sanctuary is very affordable with a minimal entrance fee of approx R25.
Length of stay
Depending on your interest, a few hours to a day should be enough time at the pan. If you are an avid birder you may want to stay longer, in which case you can stay in nearby Delareyville, or in budget accommodation in the sanctuary.
What to pack
Don't forget your binoculars and camera, your scope (if you have one) and bird book.
Where to stay
Camping and budget accommodation is available in the sanctuary. The Barberspan Guest House is more upmarket, and Barberspan Hotel and Holiday Resort offers a range of accommodation options.


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Motorola XOOM 2 Media Edition Pictures
The Motorola XOOM 2 Media Edition is the smaller 8.2" sibling of the Honeycomb-running XOOM 2. Under the hood, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor brings plenty of software muscle and there's 1GB of RAM to back it up. All of that is packaged in an ultra slim 0.35" (8.9mm) body. There's also a 5MP camera on the back, and a 1.3MP shooter up front and you can record images and video to the 16GB of internal memory.


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Want a great job at a hot startup? Of course, you do. And there haven't been this many opportunities since the dot com bubble burst. Just ask Renaud Laplanche, CEO of LendingClub.com in Sunnyvale, Calif.: "You're in the driver's seat. So think about the place you'd like to work at for the next few years and choose wisely," he says.
[ See related stories: A sampler of fresh startup jobs and How to avoid jobs ripe for outsourcing ]
Laplanche isn't just talking -- he's hiring. The former Oracle exec is looking for techies who can help him build a digital marketplace for borrowers and potential lenders. Not your style? Not to worry. There are 50 other high-tech startups in the same building looking to fill the trenches with programmers, developers, and engineers.
For better or worse, Web 2.0 has helped unleashed a perfect storm of job opportunities. Baby boomers are beginning to retire, and what's more, enrollment in computer science and MIS degree programs is down as much as 30 percent, says Stephen Pickett, former president of the Society for Information Management.
The new environment, however, doesn't mean you can get greedy. Salaries are good -- and despite the furor over the expensing of stock options at established public companies, options and equity stakes are again on the table. But "companies have learned their lesson" from the bubble years, says Tony Bush, senior manager of staffing at VMware. "They're following best practices and offering salaries that are more in line."
In interviews with more than a score of founders, venture capitalists, and senior execs at startups and other young companies, we learned that today's culture demands more of employees than just technical expertise. If you want to thrive, you'd better be nimble.
"We're not looking for a lot of coaches or place kickers. We want to see a small team of great athletes who are fast, versatile, and can work together very well," says Doug Renert, a principal of Tandem Entrepreneurs, which funds and provides early-stage support for startups.
Don't expect to wear just one hat at your startup job, says Amir Arbabi, vice president at Melodis, a startup developing advanced sound and music recognition technologies. "We want people who will roll up their sleeves and do a bit of everything."
And while the stereotype of the flakey, inarticulate geek may have some basis in reality, startups want employees who can get along with non-technical teammates and customers. "You need people who are well-spoken and can write," says David Smith, vice president of applied engineering at Firefly Energy. "In fact everyone who works for me has to be a tech writer," he says.
Join the network
It'll be a long time until virtual networking replaces real-world networking. You know, face-to-face contact over lunch, or at a conference or on the job. Its importance can't be overstated. But social networking sites are still a valuable tool for your job search.
Indeed, real-world and virtual networking are complimentary. If you're like me, your Outlook contacts folder has hundreds, maybe thousands of entries. But many of them are years old, and these days, people change jobs nearly as often as Italy changes governments. Joining one or more social networks is a good way to find -- and be found by -- valuable contacts that have fallen off your radar screen.
There are a lot of sites to choose from, but as we interviewed the men and women who do the hiring at startups in Silicon Valley and other areas, the names of a few popped up over and over again.
Before we list them, here's a piece of advice from Samir Shah, founder and CEO of Zephyr, a quality assurance and test-oriented startup in Sunnyvale: Hit the technology discussion boards. "There are huge communities built around discussions of specific technologies. The people posting are a great source for us. We look at those boards and I often reach out to them," he says.
And get this: Many of the people who have impressed Shah were posting or blogging about matters not directly related to their own jobs. Shah looks for people who demonstrate a great grasp of technology and know how to solve problems.
It's hard to say which social networking site is best, but LinkedIn is the most talked about -- despite the recent surge in popularity of Facebook among tech professionals. LinkedIn boasts 14 million members in 150 countries. Search on a name by company or by former school and you'll not only find contact information and a profile, but you'll have the option of being introduced to that person by someone on LinkedIn who already knows you. Edward Kinsey, the founder of Ariba and now a principal of the Kinsey-Hills Group, says he reconnected with some 25 percent of the 3500 people in his well-stuffed database by joining LinkedIn.
Membership in Doostang.comis by invitation only, but if you have a friend who belongs, pull out all the stops to get a referral. Founded in 2005 by a pair of savvy guys from Stanford and MIT, it has grown to more than 250,000 members from companies such as Goldman Sachs, Google, Nike, Apple, KKR Summit Partners and many others. It's getting a lot of buzz.
Xing, a social networking site based in Germany, has some 3.5 million users and operates in 16 languages. According to a recent article in Business Week, Xing users will soon be able to tap into profiles of 36 million business people contained in the database of partner ZoomInfo. Xing charges for premium services, such as the ability of hosts to add their company's brand to groups.
Don't laugh, but Craigslist.org should be on your list, too. Why Craigslist, the site of choice for apartment rentals and romantic liaisons? "It's followed by much of the tech community," says Delip Andra, founder and CEO of Minekey. Andra says he's had more luck finding suitable hires on Craigslist than through the usual head hunter routine.
Get real
Now that we've sung the praises of virtual networking, we're going to repeat something we heard over and over again as we scoured the Valley for job tips: Get out from behind that computer.
Nothing a job seeker or career builder can do beats real, old-fashioned networking. "I get tons of resumes," says Barney Pell, CEO of Powerset, which is building a natural language search engine. But the ones he looks at are the product of a relationship with him, or someone he knows.
Be creative. Consider events like the annual Big Wheels Race down Lombard Street in San Francisco. It turns out that the race draws heavily from Silicon Valley and is a great place to make contacts and have fun.
A more conventional venue is the Silicon Valley New Tech Meetup Group, says Peter Thoeny, the founder of Twiki.org. It meets monthly and generally features short presentations by four or five companies. It's always well attended and making an advance reservation is a good idea, he says. It's a good place to meet VCs as well as potential employers.
And there are endless meetings of user groups, and tech-oriented conferences. Attend as many as you can.
Ace the interview
OK. You've done the networking and made a connection. Now comes the most critical stage of all -- the interview. Here are some tips from the people who do the hiring, so pay attention:
1) Dress up, not down. Employees at your target company may sport the standard, Silicon Valley casual attire, but don't be fooled. "Dress shows attention to detail. I don't expect a suit, but it impresses," says Devin Poolman, COO of 8020 Publishing.
2) Do your homework. Know the company, its competitors, and its technologies. If it's a software or Web company, download its products and think of ways you can help make them better.
3) Leave (part) of your ego at home. "Don't be too focused on yourself. I'm looking for team players," says David Smith of Firefly Energy. If you don't know something, don't be afraid to admit it. And if you don't know, don't guess, adds VMware's Bush. Be up-front and be honest.
4) Be solution-oriented in your discussion. "Coming in with a list of certifications or languages might get you in door, but what impresses me is how you solved a challenge," says Robert Rosen, CIO of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Emphasize your ability to work as part of a team, or to be its leader, he adds.
Be their dream candidate
Hiring is a very subjective process. What impresses one exec turns off another. But you can't be too passionate about technology. Asked to describe his "dream employee," Samir Shah, CEO of Zephyr, wants "someone who really gets the new technologies that are coming at us so fast and furiously. Even if you don't know them, show me you can pick them up fast."
Arbabi of Melodis puts it this way: "We been very selective so far; we've tried to surround ourselves with the best and the brightest. What makes the best and the brightest for me? Number one is motivation, the desire to work in the space we're in."
Great advice. Follow it, and with a little luck and a lot of talent, you're on your way to striking startup gold.


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All Tags
Plan your ramble through the gustatory delights of the world's foremost culinary destination with detailed walking tours and advice from our food-crazed resident authors; view images taken by our award-winning photographers; text-search and filter hundreds of carefully-selected venues to plan your ideal itinerary, then simply click to make a call or visit a website. And don't worry about roaming costs eating into your holiday budget: this stand-alone app gives you plenty of warning before making a connection.
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
Tags: comprehensive maps, walking tours,
From PDA/MOBILE Software Category:
Of All:


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FUNDING for youth centres has been slashed 71 per cent in Worcestershire - leading to angry claims youngsters are being failed.
IT has been revealed that since 2010 support for youth clubs from Worcestershire County Council has plunged from £3.5 million to £1 million.
It means the number of centres have fallen from 20 to just 12, a record low in the county.
Council chiefs say the money that is still available helps fund 53 different organisations, and point to volunteers and other providers for filling some of the gap left behind.
But critics say the reductions have left more young people twiddling their thumbs, and claim families are losing out more than most due to the budget cuts.
Councillor Peter McDonald, opposition Labour group leader, said: "Young people are so important to the future of this county.
"It's absolutely outrageous and deplorable that this has been allowed to happen."
He said the council is letting people down and wants some of the funding restored.
The Conservative leadership at the council says it decided some time ago to no longer directly fund youth facilities as a strategic decision.
Instead, the focus is on using the £1 million to support outside projects which reach the most people.
Councillor Liz Eyre, cabinet member for children and families, said: "Young people are an important group who need a great deal of support.
"I'm pleased that actually, the funding we do have has gone out of buildings and into actual activities.
"I've been consistent on this all along, and I'd rather have money spent on people than buildings - that £1 million supports 9,000 young people.
"I realise there is more work to do with partner organisations that support young people but do I think we're letting anyone down? No I don't.
"We've not got something which is sustainable, and it's making a difference."
The Tory leadership is slashing about £100 million from spending by 2019 and intends to commission out 85 per cent of services.


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Just wanted to thank you and add another testimonial to the effect that you've have had on grilling. I was already interested in grilling when my wife gave me HTG for Christmas, but since then it has opened my eyes to how much stuff you can grill (and how much better it tastes). I now have the attitude that if you can't grill at least one thing in a meal, why waste your time.
Your grilled pineapple and corn have been the biggest hits so far and I look forward to working my way through all the recipes. (Maybe one day I'll have the money for lobster or prime rib.)


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Student Health and Support Services
80 Fifth Avenue, 3rd floor
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 212.229.1671, option 4
Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Trevor Lifeline
LGBTQ Suicide Prevention Hotline
Crisis Hotline for NYC Residents
English: 800.543.3638Spanish: 877.298.3373Korean and Chinese: 877.990.8585
Trans Lifeline
Trans-Run Suicide Prevention Hotline
The New School is dedicated to creating a welcoming environment for all members of the university community inclusive of race, ethnicity, national origin, culture, language, gender and gender expression, sexuality, religious and political beliefs, age, and ability. The university stands against all forms of discrimination and oppression, whether directed against individuals or groups.
The New School Safe Zone program assembles a voluntary network of faculty, staff, and student advocates to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual, and gender nonconforming (LGBTQIAGNC) community, creating a safe and supportive campus environment.
After introductory Safe Zone training, students, faculty, and staff can display a Safe Zone sign on their lockers, desks, backpacks, or office doors. This signifies support for LGBTQIAGNC people and identifies those who display the sign as advocates and/or allies who can be safely approached for support or guidance. To be trained or receive more information about Safe Zone, email
firstname.lastname@example.com or call 212.229.1671, option 4.
The Safe Zone team publicizes the program, distributes materials, and provides introductory training to those who wish to become involved, and educates the larger community about the meaning of the signs and the importance of building safe and inclusive spaces for all students.
New School Safe Zone training familiarizes allies and advocates with:
Discrimination involves unfair treatment of others on the basis of their identity or category. Hate crimes are defined as violent acts against people, property, or organizations on the basis of identity, such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, ability, age, class, national origin, or religious or political belief.
Bias incidents involve threatening or harassing behavior directed toward someone on the basis of his or her gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation or perceived gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Acts of bias are violations of the university Code of Conduct. These behaviors may take the form of verbal remarks, written messages, and drawings or other kinds of images. If you discover that a New School student feels she or he has been discriminated against for any reason, you should advise her or him to contact
Student Rights and Responsibilities at 212.229.5349 x3653. Advise faculty or staff members who believe they have been discriminated against to contact Human Resources at 212.229.5671 x4900. Victims of hate crimes should be advised to contact Campus Security 212.229.7001 (24 hours). They will be offered a range of support services, which may include assistance with filing a police report and information about medical and counseling services. The university's policy on discrimination and related subjects can be found on the Student Rights and Responsibilities page.


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easily with including a script in ./root/kde/autostart
in script invoke
macchanger --random eth0(or ur interface)
see u
is there a way macchanger change automatcly my real mac on startup without typing it everytime?
easily with including a script in ./root/kde/autostart
in script invoke
macchanger --random eth0(or ur interface)
see u
Now, to invoke that command, all you have to do is open a konsole and type "Fake_MAC" and it should run the command. Perhaps then, you can put the "Fake_MAC" command in the ./root/kde/autostartCode:alias Fake_MAC="macchanger --mac=00:11:22:33:44:55 wlan0"
The "Fake_MAC" command of course can be changed to whatever you please. I'm not sure if this will work, so don't quote me on it. It's just my stab in the dark.
Well..i typed this EXACTLY
alias Fake_MAC="macchanger --mac=00:11:22:33:44:55 wlan0"
and it looks like it accepted it...but when I opened another window and typed Fake_MAC is said...
-bash: Fake_MAC: command not found
but when i typed Fake_MAC= it gave me a new command line...also...how do I move that command to the ./root/kde/autostart folder?? I don't see kde listed under root...hmm...mabey I'm not looking in the right place? I'm new to Linux and I love it...but I'm still not all that familiar with locations of stuff yet.
Is it hidden? I'm not sure if B|T hides folders by default like Ubuntu does. Hit ctrl+H to see if any new folders show up. Also, try FakeMac (no underscore). Just a guess.
just want to say you create a text file name xxx.sh in /root/kde/autostart
in this text file write
macchanger --random eth0 (or the name of your interface)
save it
tht's all i think
will assign a totaly random mac to your interface at each time kde start
you can also link the file to desktop after ... this make it both autostart and on demand start
see u
Ok..I followed what you said EXACTLY...but there is some confusion...please bare with me...
1. I make a text document and named it MACCHANGER.sh not .txt right? and it made the icon look like a windows command prompt. Also i get this little dot like a period at the beginning on my .sh txt and it follows to the end of my macchanger --random wlan0. (wlan.with the dot) and I tried it without the dot...to no success of changing my mac address. :-( I can however manually do macchanger --mac 00:11:22:33:44:55 wlan0 in a shell window and it will change my mac address.
2. After I made that I noticed that the system made another icon next to my MACCHANGER.sh..it looks like a white coffe cup and it is called MACCHANGER.sh~ again...is this normal??
3. After saving it...I rebooted the system and I get a pop-up of my MACCHANGER.sh with that command in it. Is this normal?? And I did ifconfig wlan0 in a shell window and the mac address is still the same...any other suggestions..I don't mind doing a little trial and error guys...just throw me a little bone...lol
2. The ~file is a temp file I believe.
I'll work on this when I get home, maybe I can figure it out.


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Canon-McMillan wrestlers chasing fourth straight WPIAL title
From the bright lights of Reno, Nev., to the even bigger spotlight of the PIAA championships in Hershey, Canon-McMillan is out to have an unprecedented wrestling season.
The Big Macs have a busy December that includes the Walsh Ironman tournament this weekend, Powerade tournament Dec. 28-29 and the Reno Tournament of Champions next week.
That will mark the first time the decorated Big Macs program ventures that far for a prestigious national tournament. But it's another first Canon-McMillan wants even more: Becoming the first team to win four consecutive WPIAL Class AAA team championships.
"We've still got a lot of fire in the oven," Big Macs coach Chris Mary said. "It's a different calendar year, so we cherish what we've accomplished — but that's last year. It is time to turn the page and move on with a new, different group of kids."
Canon-McMillan set a WPIAL record with eight placewinners at the PIAA championships this past March in Hershey. Three graduated, but the Big Macs return five big wrestlers.
The group of seniors Cody Wiercioch, Connor Schram and Alex Campbell and juniors Dalton Macri and Solomon Chishko has already combined for three PIAA individual championships, six appearances in a PIAA title match, nine PIAA semifinal berths and 13 trips to the Giant Center podium.
"We've got a great group of kids who are willing to make sacrifices and work hard," said Mary, the reigning state coach of the year. "We hold them accountable to that work ethic, and we still have big goals at Canon-Mac with looking to defend the WPIAL title and ultimately the state title.
"It's a long season, and we need to stay as healthy we can through the grinder ... in December then hopefully peak at the right time as a team at the end of January."
The Big Macs also won the PIAA team championship last season and, on the basis of the eight-placewinners' performance in Hershey, the team title at the PIAA individual tournament.
At the Class AAA level, Canon-McMillan has matched North Allegheny (1986-88) as the only schools to win three consecutive WPIAL team championships.
Equally exclusive clubs are four-time PIAA individual finalists and three-time champions. Schram and Wiercioch both have opportunities to do the former; Wiercioch can accomplish the latter.
Wiercioch, a Pitt recruit who spent his first two years of high school at Charleroi, won PIAA gold at 170 pounds last season.
"He definitely is one of the best 170-pounders in the country," Mary said. "Being in the state finals three years and winning two titles, what a great achievement. But it's not going to be easy this year. There's a big bull's-eye on him. But he knows that and will handle it well."
Schram, who will attend Stanford on a wrestling scholarship, has been a PIAA runner-up each of the past two seasons after winning gold at 103 pounds as a freshman. He will likely settle in at 132 pounds this season.
Campbell also will be a college athlete, though it might be in football as he is also a standout linebacker/tight end for the Big Macs. After winning the WPIAL and placing third in the PIAA at 138 pounds last season, Chishko will not wrestle in December because of an injury, but Mary warned not to count him out for postseason honors in the 145-pound division.
Macri took second in the WPIAL and fourth at the PIAA championships as a 113-pound sophomore last season. He has been bumped up to 120 pounds.
"We've got some depth, we've got some experience but we've also got to get a lot of kids mat-ready with some of our younger kids," Mary said. "If we can gain some experience in all weight classes, we hope to ultimately have everybody prepared for the team tournament."
Chris Adamski is a freelance writer.