schools

We know that the quest for the perfect laptop is ultimately fruitless. Different users have different needs, budgets, and expectations, and tomorrow's technology threatens to make any just-purchased laptop semi-obsolete before it even comes out of its cardboard box. That said, the new Toshiba Portege R705 comes about as close as anything we've seen this year, offering a great mix of price, design, features, and performance.

The Portege R705 is a 13-inch laptop (similar to Apple's MacBook), which is the biggest screen size we'd consider carrying around on a regular basis, but also the smallest we'd be able to comfortably use for full-time computing. It's thinner than the current white plastic MacBook (but not as svelte as the MacBook Air or Dell Adamo XPS), and has a sturdy magnesium alloy chassis.

Toshiba lists the Portege R705 for $889, but as of this writing, it can be found online for $799. A handful of business-oriented configs are also available (called the R700, instead of the R705), adding a docking port and a few other corporate-friendly features for $999 and up.

For $100-$200 less than an entry-level MacBook, you get a newer Intel Core i3 processor (the basic MacBook has an older Core 2 Duo CPU), a large 500GB hard drive, and Intel's Wireless Display technology, which allows the laptop's display to be beamed to a remote TV or monitor (this requires a sold-separately $100 Netgear adapter that connects to your TV). Not to draw too many MacBook comparisons, but it also has an SD card slot (as does virtually every Windows-based laptop no matter the price), something the $999 MacBook lacks.

There are a few issues. The integrated Intel graphics are a drag, and the keyboard isn't backlit, which would have been a nice touch on this slick-looking system. Also, out of the box, the hard drive accelerometer was far too sensitive, parking our HDD head every time we so much as breathed on the R705.

Those problems aside, the Portege R705 looks and feels like a much more expensive laptop, and is our new go-to choice for those who want a 13-inch experience but can't (or won't) join the MacBook masses.… Read more

Right in time for back-to-school shopping considerations, Dell has updated its popular Inspiron series of laptops with a new design, and new configurations to boot. Covering a wide variety of CPU levels (Pentium up to Core i5) and prices (mid-$400 up to nearly $1000), the Inspiron R can be either a budget or higher-end laptop depending on what's put into it. To split the difference, we reviewed two of the more midrange offerings, one 14-inch, the other 15-inch.

Both Inspiron Rs we reviewed feature Intel Core i3 CPUs, but with slightly different price configurations. At $779, our Dell … Read more

Apple has announced its annual Back to School promotion, which includes an online rebate for $199 toward the purchase of an iPod Touch. But, though your new Mac is great out of the box, here are a few free applications you might want to add right away.

… Read more

Artist/nerd Steve D'Angelo calls this a sculpture, but we think it's more than that. It's an awesome sculpture.

It's called Action Buttons, and that's exactly what it is. Steve, a Crave reader in Pennsylvania, has put a collection of arcade game buttons on the surface of a small plywood box and wired them up to old-school audio samples downloaded from the Web that play when the arcade-like buttons are pressed.

The sounds aren't from specific games but sound like they could be, with titles like "energize," "fire laser," "… Read more

A new motion in the Lower Merion School School District Webcam-spying case has presented extraordinary suggestions as to the frequency and intimate nature of the photographs allegedly taken remotely by the cameras on school-issued laptops.

On Thursday, lawyers for 15-year-old Blake Robbins and his family claimed that thousands of images were taken by the laptop Webcams. Included in these were, according to the motion, "pictures of Blake partially undressed and of Blake sleeping." In addition, images of Web sites visited and snapshots of their instant messages were also allegedly captured.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, lawyers claim that … Read more

No doubt, Bootsy Collins put the fun in funk.

All the showmanship aside--the wild costumes and glasses--the guy can play bass. Now, Collins is preparing to go online to share his knowledge about the instrument. On July 1, Collins, 58, is opening up what he says is the world's first "Funk University."

Collins wrote at Thefunkuniversity.com: "This sonic learning institution will be unlike anything before as Professor Collins and the finest bassists in music will unleash an intense curriculum on the Web for intermediate to advanced funk disciples." Musically.com first reported the story. … Read more

I'm not one to fawn over online maps, but 8-Bit NYC appeals to my two loves: usefulness and 1980s adventure video games.

The 8-Bit NYC map is simply fantastic. The service displays New York City in a depiction that's modeled after maps in adventure video games from the 1980s. Even better, all the content in 8-Bit NYC is accurate, making it a viable mapping tool, as well.

"I hope to evoke the same urge for exploration, abstract sense of scale, and perhaps most importantly unbounded excitement that many of us remember experiencing on the Nintendo Entertainment System, … Read more

Two IT employees at Pennsylvania's Lower Merion School District have been put on administrative leave, and pictures taken from Webcams on school-issued computers have been turned over to the local police department, according to the attorney of one of the employees now on leave.

Attorney Charles Mandracchia, who represents school district information coordinator Carol Cafiero, told Philadelphia TV station Fox 29 that that "they had a private Web site for some of these pictures for the Lower Marion Police Department to view and they were the only ones who could view it."

In February, the family of … Read more

I, like many others, am looking for science to control the world. Humans have used their instincts for far too long. They have bungled too much. Now it's time for the scientific to become beatific.

I am therefore leaping as if it were February 29 to discover that scientists in Europe have finally come up with the perfect formula for the ultimate human condition: marriage.

Regular sufferers here will know that this subject fascinates me beyond the usual level of engagement. A little while ago, mathematicians came up with a formula for choosing a wife. Essentially, it involved selecting … Read more