The Nether-World

A Review of The Toshiba Tecra A8 Notebook

2007-07-26T10:56:00.000+01:00

Full disclaimer: I was contacted by Toshiba and asked if I would like to try out one of their notebooks for a limited time and review it. Toshiba made it clear from the beginning that I will have to return it after two weeks. I am not being paid nor have I received any other incentives to write this review. The courier costs have been covered by Toshiba.

When I was asked by Talk Toshiba if I wanted to try out the Tecra A8 Notebook and write a review of it, I jumped at the chance. My own laptop computer is over four years old and is showing signs of age so I thought this would be a good opportunity to see what advances have been made which may perhaps help to shape my choice when I eventually replace my current machine. I won't repeat all of the technical specifications of the machine as they can be seen at a glance from the link. The only difference (as far as I can tell) between the machine in the specifications and the model that I tested is that the Tecra that I received came with Windows XP rather than Vista. I was happy about this as I didn't have to get used to a different operating system and I could install my usual software.

The first thing I noticed about the Tecra is that despite its larger size (368 x 268 x 29.8/36.9 mm), it is, if anything, lighter than my laptop and it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience to carry around. It also seems far more robust than many other notebooks (including mine) which is important for something which is supposed to be portable (Toshiba will be relieved to know that I didn't subject the Tecra to any stress tests). In their advertising, Toshiba say that the Tecra can withstand being dropped from the height of a table. One part of the machine which doesn't seem very resilient is the CD/DVD drive. As with all the portable computers I've used, it looks very flimsy. I doubt there is much that can be done about this without increasing the size and weight of the machine but it does seem to be noticeably less solid than the rest of the notebook and may well be the first part to wear out. I also found that it didn't read some of the CDs and DVDs on which I've backed up my data and occasionally I resorted to a an external USB drive.

Once I turned the machine on and started using it, I was struck by how quiet it is - even when the hard drive is being accessed. The only times I was aware of the noise was when the CD/DVD drive was in use. You don't often notice the noise a notebook computer can make until you turn it off. In the case of this machine the noise is barely noticeable in a quiet room. Also it doesn't seem to radiate much heat. Even when it had been in use all day, all parts of the casing were cool to the touch and only the warm air from the cooling vents betrayed its continuous use.

I very quickly got used to the Tecra's wide screen. At 15.4" it is like working at a desktop PC and I was reluctant to go back to my old machine which has a slightly smaller screen. The display is clear and sharp so it is easy to read small text and also to do fine editing of graphics. It's also easy to adjust the brightness and I found it was possible to work at the machine in bright sunlight, something that isn't always easy with other displays. I was interested to know how the Tecra handled graphics and I wasn't disappointed. I tried various drawing and animation packages and also a resource-hungry game. The screen refresh speed is very good.

One of the things I like about the Tecra is the layout of the top where the keyboard is. It looks simple and uncluttered. Having said that, I would have liked the hard disk and power LEDs to be near the keypad, where they are more instantly visible at a glance, rather that at the front of the machine where you have to move in order to see them. The keyboard is further back than on some other notebook computers which means that it's easier to type while resting your wrists on the casing which I find more comfortable when working. The keyboard itself has a very nice action so you don't have to press very hard on the keys. Also, because the keyboard is set well into the machine, there is less risk of keys becoming detached. Not only is this good for typing, it also means that the keyboard is easy to keep clean. The keyboard is said to spill resistant which is a very good idea although I didn't put that to the test. The touch pad isn't very different from those of other notebooks I've seen and I only used it rarely as I prefer to work with a combination of mouse and graphics tablet. However, for travelling it is more than adequate.

Because I often work as a VJ and one of the main reasons I use a portable computer is to do video shows at concerts and in clubs, the dual screen capabilities of the Tecra was one of the things I was very keen to test. It took a bit of fiddling about as I got used to a different graphics adaptor, but I'm happy to say that once I figured it out the Tecra performed very well in this task and I was able to display my material full screen through a video projector while keeping the control menus and a preview window on the notebook's monitor. I tested this function with both the S-Video port and the external monitor port and both worked well. This capability is very useful for working with graphic packages which have lots of menu windows; you can have all the menus displayed on one monitor and the artwork on another to save cluttering up one screen. Of course this function isn't unique on portable computers but it is important from my perspective. It also means that the Tecra is an ideal machine to use for multi-media presentations which would be a far more normal use for a notebook.

The Tecra has three USB ports at the back. I'm used to making do with two ports and resorting to a USB hub for my numerous accessories. I found that the extra port made quite a difference as I don't always need more than three or four USB powered accessories at once. I still found that I needed the hub at home, but for travelling, the extra port would be helpful. Of course, if Toshiba could squeeze in another one...

As you'd expect, the Tecra has a headphones port at the front which means it can be connected to external speakers. Obviously, the built-in speakers on notebooks tend to sound a bit tinny. However, the speakers on the Tecra are surprisingly good for their size. Not brilliant for listening to music, of course, but fine for most of the computer's sound functions or audio from web pages. They are also good for internet telephone conversations with applications like Skype. One quibble I have is the apparent lack of a built in microphone which means that in order to have vocal conversations over the internet, it's necessary to either have a microphone on the web cam or to plug in a separate microphone or headset. I prefer to be able to talk hands free without the need for extra accessories.

I was curious to see how battery technology has advanced over the last few years. One of the reasons the Tecra is lighter than my laptop is down to the smaller size of the battery. I found that I was able to work for two and a quarter hours before I got a warning that I should either save my work and shut down or plug the PC back into the mains. This is somewhat less than the three and a half hours battery time advertised in the specifications (.pdf) but perhaps that is with a different battery or without taxing the machine at all. I tested the battery without overly taxing the hard drive and CD/DVD drive as I wanted to see what 'normal' usage was like on battery power. It would be interesting to know how many charges it's possible to get out of the battery before it reaches the end of its life.

This notebook is advertised as being wireless enabled. This is something I wanted to test but I was unable to as I don't live in good reception range of free wireless networks. However, I did notice that the Tecra informed me when certain security enabled networks were in range. The built-in Bluetooth capability was straightforward to use and it didn't take long for the Tecra to find other Bluetooth devices in my home and exchange data with them. I had no trouble setting up my cable broadband on the PC and was soon surfing the web and collecting my e-amils.

There are a few interesting features on the Tecra A8 which were new to me. One is the Toshiba Assist button which, when pressed, can launch a predefined application or perform a predefined function. Another is the Toshiba Presentation button which can be used when another monitor is connected to change between internal, external, simultaneous or multi-monitor displays. I didn't get into the habit of using this but I can see that it would be very useful for working with multi-media presentations. Another feature I didn't fully explore is the Hot Keys which are specific key combinations which allow you to change the system configuration from the keyboard without having to run a system program.

All in all, I really liked the Tecra and would certainly consider buying one when I get around to replacing my current computer. The Tecra doesn't break the mould in portable computing, but then it doesn't have to. It has everything you'd expect from a quality up-to-date notebook from a trustworthy brand and it is comfortable to use as well as seeming to be pretty robust. With a gigabyte of RAM and 100 gigabyte hard drive along with its Intel Centrino Duo Processor with a clock speed of 2.0 GHz, it's more than adequate for most of the demands made of a modern computer. And the WXGA TFT display and graphics adaptor with 128 megabytes of RAM on it makes it a good machine for working with graphics or just gaming.

Tags: Toshiba, Tecra A8, Notebook Computers

Out Of The Tunnel - A Review

2007-07-07T17:41:00.000+01:00

I've just finished reading Out of the Tunnel, the first book by Rachel North in which she describes her experience of the London bombings of July 7 2005 and subsequent recovery. Because today is the second anniversary of that atrocity, I thought this would be a good day to review the book.

In short, it's excellent. I couldn't put it down and had to put other things on-hold until I had finished reading it. It's not often I can say that about a book. Rachel describes the horror and confusion of July 7 in vivid detail. She also describes her struggle with the inevitable Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that followed the bombings. Three years prior to being blown up on the London tube, Rachel had been viciously attacked, raped and left for dead in her home and this horrific episode is woven into the narrative. She was reading her own account of this assault in a magazine when her carriage exploded.

In fact I found the description of that attack one of the most moving parts of the book and I was wincing as every blow was recounted. Much of the book though is about Rachel's coming to terms with both of these traumatic events and the title, Out of the Tunnel is very apt. As the story progresses we see how these life-changing events transformed Rachel from helpless victim to strong campaigner and author. Rachel used the medium of blogging as part of her therapy and from this discovered and then honed her talent as a writer.

One of the things this book does well is highlight the problems of PTSD which are not well known. Rachel was fortunate enough not to suffer serious physical injury on July 7 (unlike 800 other survivors of that attack) but the survivor guilt and the flashbacks had a detrimental effect on her job, her personal life and general well-being. If Out of the Tunnel helps people to better understand PTSD, then that alone is a valuable service.

This is a book I would recommend to anyone. Despite the awful experiences described, the overall message is positive. I was moved to the verge of tears on several occasions. Oddly, the times when I found my eyes welling up were when reading about the numerous acts of kindness from people either after the rape or in the aftermath of the bombings.

I urge people to read this book and I challenge anyone not to be moved by it. Out of the Tunnel is published by The Friday Project and should be available in most bookshops from next week as well as from Amazon (UK).

You can purchase the book from here by clicking on the link in the left sidebar.

Tags: Rachel North, Out Of The Tunnel, London Bombings, 7/7, Books

Taking Liberties: A Short Review

2007-06-10T19:09:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I finally got to see Taking Liberties after more than a month of watching the trailer, reading various reviews and encouraging people to go and see it. I have to say I was very impressed. It's going to be difficult to say anything vastly different from what Tim over at Bloggerheads has already said but I'll give it a go. The documentary covers in great detail the erosion of civil Liberties in Britain since Tony Blair came to power. It does this by breaking the subject into sections rather than taking a chronological approach. These sections are:

Right to protest
Free speech
Privacy
Detention without Trial
Extradition
Torture

These sections are largely taken from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) set up in 1950 by the Council of Europe in order to prevent the appalling abuses of the Second World War from happening again. Some of these rights though are very ancient like Habeas Corpus which dates back to Magna Carta. Taking Liberties explains these rights and their origins with some entertaining animated sequences.

The film opens with the story of bus loads of anti-war protesters at the start of the Iraq war who were wrongfully stopped by police and escorted back to London after being prevented from continuing on to their peaceful protest. It is a good starting point and sets the tone for the rest of the film. Using a mixture of interviews with both politicians and ordinary people along with news footage interspersed with animated sequences, the film shows us the decline of civil liberties from the heady days of Tony Blair's arrival in Downing Street which seemed to promise a bright new era. There are frequent news clips of Blair saying things like:

When I pass protestors every day at Downing Street... I may not like what they call me but I thank God they can. That's called freedom. - Tony Blair 07/04/02

These are followed by other news clips that completely expose Blair's statements for the utter rubbish they are, for example, the arrest of Maya Evans, the manhandling of Walter Wolfgang and the attempts to silence Brian Haw.

For such a serious subject, Taking Liberties does manage to inject just the right degree of humour to make it entertaining without detracting from the film's important message. Much of the film's humour comes from the ingenious ways peaceful protestors try to get around the Draconian restrictions placed on them. Particularly funny were two elderly ladies who defied a police ban on protesting outside an American listening station. I won't say any more but these two ladies seemed to encapsulate 'Britishness' better than Gordon Brown ever could. The film also covers the Mass Lone Protests which take place on a monthly basis to highlight the stupidity of the demonstration esclusion zone. One of the things I liked about the film was the focus on ordinary people caught up in Blair's assault on freedom and not just what politicians say.

For a film which shows Tony Blair and New Labour in such a bad light, Taking Liberties is remarkably non-partisan which is something I really appreciated. Among the politicians interviewed are Clare Short and Tony Benn as well as Ken Clarke and Boris Johnson. This is an important part of the argument because we seem to be moving away from a discourse between 'Right' and 'Left' into a more crucial discourse between 'Libertarian' and 'Authoritarian'.

Where I do perhaps disagree with Tim is on the animated sequences. I don't think they do "stray from the narrative/thrust". For me they break up what might otherwise be too much news footage and interview at any one time and inject some humour as well as covering very dry subjects like the ECHR in an entertaining fashion. However, I wholeheartedly agree with Tim that these animations are spectacular.

If I had to find a quibble about the film, I would say that I would have liked to have seen more emphasis on the role of the media in allowing the attack on civil liberties to go ahead even though, as the film suggests, we all bear some responsibility. The film did allude media manipulation several times with the smear campaign against Mohammed Abdulkahar who was shot by police in the botched Forest Gate raid, the July 7 bombing survivor who was used against his will by The Sun to justify 90 days detention and with the "45 Minutes From Doom" headlines relating to the September dossier prior to the Iraq war. But the death of Dr David Kelly and the subsequent Hutton whitewash which resulted in the BBC being severely punished and which has affected much of its reporting since wasn't mentioned. For me this was the event that removed any lingering doubt I may have still had about the direction in which Britain seems to be heading (not that there were many doubts remaining). The role of the media in bringing about so much knee-jerk legislation and Tony Blair's cosy relationship with Rupert Murdoch, as well as Alistair Campbell's media manipulation deserved a bit more scrutiny in my opinion. However, this is a very tiny quibble in what is a great film. And I realise that it is impossible to cover a decade-long attack on civil liberties fully in two hours. As it is I'm impressed so much was fitted into a couple of hours, from the right to protest to pre-natal ASBOs to ID cards to torture and rendition. Like Tim, I'm just so relieved that a film like this has finally been made...and made well.

Contrary to what Martin Kettle said about this film in The Guardian, I don't think the premise of Taking Liberties is that Labour has turned Britain into a police state...yet. Of course we can't compare what is happening in Britain to the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. To me the film is a warning that unless we stop this erosion of civil liberties and reverse it, we could eventually find ourselves in a similar situation. Civil liberties are very easy to remove if we allow it (as we have seen) but they are much harder to re-introduce. Nazi Germany lost all its freedoms almost overnight. In Britain we have seen the erosion of our freedoms by a sustained decade-long attack, and with this continuous chipping away at civil liberties it's much harder to define the point where we do find ourselves in a police state. New Labour seems to be laying the groundwork for a police state, a point that even Martin Kettle can't avoid making by referring to "the oppression we all suffer under the Blair tyranny".

Not Saussure points out that the Soviet Constitution guaranteed the right to hold demonstrations but that when people did try to protest they were told that they did not have the necessary permits to do so. I would add that in Albania these days people can protest outside their parliament without the need for permission. The fact that at the moment some protests are allowed outside the British Parliament (provided permission is obtained a week in advance) is beside the point. We shouldn't need permission.

Finally, I'd like to pay tribute to the director of Taking Liberties, Chris Atkins, and all those who participated in the film. Once again I urge people to go and see Taking Liberties and help give it the publicity it deserves. Go see this film and take people who might not be aware of what is happening in their name with you. Also, buy the book. I expect it's as entertaining and informative to read as the film is to watch.

Tags: Taking Liberties, Civil Liberties, Blair, Entertainment, Film

An Opportunity Missed

2007-01-16T15:39:00.000Z

Here's another first for this blog, a film review (or rather, a rant about a TV show). Since I saw it advertised on More 4, I had been waiting impatiently to watch "The Trial of Tony Blair". The trailers looked great and I've liked Robert Lindsay as an actor since "Citizen Smith" back in the 70s. I thought the idea for this programme was a good one; to see Tony Blair (a fictional one unfortunately) on trial at the Hague for war crimes relating to the illegal Iraq war. What a disappointment it turned out to be!

My main gripe is this: How can you have a programme called "The Trial of Tony Blair" without erm... a trial? We only see Blair in the dock once, and that is for the extradition hearing. For me this spoiled the entire show. I was looking forward to seeing Tony Blair answer a well presented case by the prosecution with his defence (whatever that might be). Instead the film finishes as he is bundled off in a prison van to the airport and what we are presented with instead is a series of mildly amusing but not very credible gags which would have been more at home on the "Bremner, Bird and Fortune" show. Because of this the film packs less punch than a newspaper cartoon. Perhaps the film would have worked better as a docudrama, starting in the Hague with pertinent episodes dealt with as a series of flashbacks.

Robert Lindsay does look the part but nevertheless fails to convince as Tony Blair. He seems to have borrowed from his performance as the fictional manic Labour councillor Michael Murray in the excellent "G.B.H". Tony Blair's deluded character is dealt with far too obviously. Yes, of course Blair is deluded, but the film fails to portray his talent at spin and presentation. This clumsiness was shown in the scenes where he is writing his book and keeps using the soundbite "I felt the hand of history on my shoulder" over and over again, a good gag, just not very believable. One thing about Blair is no matter how cringe-makingly messianic his speeches are, they are well presented; it's one of the reasons he's so dangerous. I wasn't convinced by Phoebe Nicholls portrayal of Cherie Blair either. Peter Mullan did manage to capture the voice, mannerisms and general awkwardness of Gordon Brown but I think all the actors were let down by the script.

Unfortunately this was an opportunity missed. The chance for putting the possibility of Tony Blair being tried for war crimes into the public conscience degenerated into cheap satire. Now that the film has been made and well-received, there is little chance of another one being made covering the same topic. Unless of course the real Tony Blair is carted off to the Hague, but I'm not holding my breath.

Tags: The Trial of Tony Blair, Film, Entertainment

The Blog Digest 2007

2006-12-01T10:58:00.000Z

Justin from Chicken Yoghurt has put together an eclectic selection of the best blog writing of the last year. Themed in chapters - Culture & Media, Sex, War, Politics, Activism, Work & Play, Death and Sport, it’s a rounded collection of the posts that appealed to Justin and so promises to be an entertaining digest of the year.

It should be available in all good bookshops and of course on Amazon (you can help out this poor blogger by ordering it from the link in the side bar). I've just ordered my copy and I'm looking forward to a leisurely read.

Here's a review from the Amazon page:

Emma Kennedy
'The only book I've ever read that covers mint sauce and the war in Iraq. Genius.'
Book Description
From Bristol to Baghdad, from sex workers to ambulance drivers, it seems like everybody, everywhere is keeping a 'blog'. At least that's what the media would have you believe. But with millions of blogs in the UK alone (and many millions more worldwide), it would take you more than a lifetime to read them all in search of the best of the bunch. Which is where this book comes in. The Blog Digest is the ultimate anthology of blog writing from the last twelve months. From searing topical commentary to hilarious musings on modern life - no matter whether you're a seasoned blogger yourself or just want to know what the fuss is about, there's something here for everyone.
Synopsis
Charles Kennedy's resignation, Lib Dem sex scandals and the election of a new leader, Ariel Sharon's stroke, the Danish cartoon protests, the Winter Olympics, Gary Glitter, Dick Cheney shooting a man in the face...2006 is already shaping up to be a huge news year. Bloggers - for the uninitiated - are amateur online journalists who post real-time reports of major (and not-so-major) stories on their websites. Famous bloggers like Belle du Jour and the Baghdad Blogger have already secured lucrative book deals thanks to the quality and vibrancy of their writing. But there are literally tens of thousands of bloggers who have not yet made the move to print. "The Blog Digest" provides a complete round up of the way the blogging community covered the major events of the year. Collected and presented within a range of themes, this entertaining and opinionated guide features the very best writing from the rising stars og online journalism.

It'll probably make an excellent Christmas present or stocking filler.

Tags: Blogging