Holiday Gift Guide

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T h u r s d a y , N o v e m b e r 1 5 , 2 0 1 2 | w w w . p g c i t i z e n . c a 3

By Anne SteinCTW FeaTures

There are fitness gadgets to excite and inspire exercisers of any level, whether you’re shopping for an Ironman triathlete or try-

ing to persuade a couch potato to get up and get active. And since it’s all in the name of health, you might just want to pick up a duplicate gift for yourself.

Keep in mind what activities interest

the individual, says Jessica Matthews, exer-cise physiologist with the American Coun-cil on Exercise. This will help you identify gifts that they will use and enjoy.

“Are they someone who enjoys work-ing out at home or do they prefer attending group fitness classes? Would they perhaps like working one-on-one with a personal trainer at the gym? It’s important to consid-er how he or she is most likely to work out,” says Matthews.

Let it snow…If your favorite runner dreads winter because of snow and ice, check out the New Balance Winter 110 trail running shoe. This minimalist-style shoe is wrapped with a waterproof layer that protects feet from slush and snow, and it comes with plush lining for warmth ($125, running shops). Someone more interested in a walk or short hike might try the New Balance 1099 lightweight boot. It’s waterproof and

the sole’s designed to grip snow and ice ($110).

Buying the right clothing for the outdoor exercise enthusiast makes a great gift.

Dressing in layers is ideal for exercising outdoors in the winter, so consider hats, gloves, scarves and socks designed for the activity of choice. “Layers protect the exerciser from the elements while giving them the flexibility to remove layers if they become too warm,” Matthews says.

Cont’d on page 4

Fit to Be Gifted

Don’t look now, New Year’s resolutions are on-deck. Launch

them into 2013 with a gift that really gets them going

Numbers on the run: Garmin Forerunner 610

Gar

min


Cont’d from page 3Indoor exercisers who want a new strength-

training tool will love the Century Dual Grip Med-icine Ball, (in 8-, 12-, 16- and 20-pound versions). The vinyl ball, which is filled with sand that shifts slightly as you grip and move it, tests muscles and coordination by combining the qualities of a medicine ball with the challenge of a sand bag ($25-$45, sporting goods stores).

Consider purchasing training sessions with a local certified personal trainer for

someone who prefers the indoors and is new to fitness.

Matthews, a certified personal trainer and yoga instructor,

says working with a pro-fessional offers

many benefits, “from learning the basics about fitness, such as how to perform exercises with proper form, to having a customized program developed by a qualified professional to help the individual reach his/her unique health and fitness goals.”

Keeping cool while you’re working out can be a challenge and even a safety issue in extreme summer temperatures. Mission’s Endu-raCool Instant Cooling Towel provides two hours of quick, chemical-free relief from the heat. Just wet the towel and snap it to lower the towel’s temperature to 59 degrees within a min-ute, whether you’re indoors or out. Wet again to re-activate. ($14.99/large size, sporting goods stores).

Monitoring heart rate can be a great motiva-tional tool for athletes. A chest strap or a finger sensor allows the user to target a specific heart rate range in order to achieve the maximum benefit from a workout without overdoing it. Prices vary from around $60 to $400 or more, depending on the bells and whistles. Erik Hron-cich, owner of Seattle-based EDGE Personal Training, recommends Garmin, Polar and Timex, popular brands with multiple versions. Garmin’s new Forerunner 610 has a touch-screen, wrist-

watch-style system with GPS, heart rate monitor and the ability to wirelessly upload and track running routes and stats to a computer ($400, sporting goods stores and specialty shops).

Cont’d on page 5

Let it snow: lightweight New Balance boot with soles designed for slippery conditions

New

Bal

ance

Get a grip: Century dual grip

medicine ball is filled with sand

Cent

ury

n FIT TO BE GIFTED


Cont’d from page 4

Muscle madnessFrom bike-riding Olympians to regular Joes out for a jog, athletes everywhere are wear-ing compression garments, skin-tight black sleeves and socks designed to squeeze and compress muscles and enhance perfor-mance. Now they’re available in a stylish pink, medical grade material from Cramer sports medicine products. Cramer’s Endur-ance Support System (ESS) sleeves promise to increase muscular blood flow and flush away painful lactic acid to allow quicker recovery and tougher workouts ($20 - $25 for calf, thigh, knee, arm and ankle, sporting goods stores).

Safety firstIf your kid’s already a jock but you just can’t get him or her to wear a protective mouth guard – essential to decreasing the risk of concussion and protecting teeth – try MoGo Sport’s new flavored mouth guards, which fit adults, too. They come in lemon, orange, mint, bubble gum and fruit punch, are BPA-free and contain natural flavors that last for the life of the mouth

guard. They even fit over braces ($11.99, sporting goods stores).

Tools of the tradeFitness-related gifts aren’t just for those who are already in great shape. Sometimes, the right gift can encourage someone in need of a life change.

An inexpensive pedometer or fitness-tracking software for a smartphone can be helpful reminding someone to be active, according to Pete McCall, a San Diego exer-cise physiologist.

While daily weigh-ins can be demoralizing, since an exerciser isn’t likely to see losses daily, tracking weight every 10 days or so may be beneficial, McCall says.

The FitBit Aria ($149) is a WiFi-enabled scale that records weight, body fat and BMI and wirelessly sends the info to a computer to track calories, pounds lost and overall progress. The device also connects with others trying to lose weight via the FitBit website. Each family member can create his or her own account ($149, specialty stores).

Books to inspire “The World’s Toughest Endurance Chal-lenges,” by Richard Hoad and Paul Moore (VeloPress, 2012) is great reading for the most adventurous athlete on your list. Whether it’s walking and skiing 420 nautical miles across the South Pole or cycling 240 miles across five mountain ranges in Costa Rica, there are dozens of races that’ll take months or years to prepare for. Meanwhile, a reader can simply enjoy the images (bookstores, $29.95).

VeloPress

n FIT TO BE GIFTED

MoGo Sport’s new flavored mouth guards in lemon, orange, mint and bublegum ($11.99)MoGo Sport

FitBit Aria Wi-Fi-enabled scale ($149)FitBit


The iPhone 5 – and 4 more hot phones for the holidaysBy TimoThy R. SchulTe

CTW Features

iPhone 5

Every year, people anxiously await the Apple’s new-iPhone announcement. The big news this year was that the iPhone itself was bigger. Well, sort of.

A 4-inch Retina display screen means the iPhone 5 is taller than its 3.5-inch-screen predecessors (you’ll now notice five rows of app icons) but the new iPhone also is 20 per-cent thinner and 18 percent lighter than last year’s 4S – just 0.30 inches and 3.95 oz.

The iPhone 5 also is the first iPhone to feature high-speed 4G LTE connectivity, and its battery promises up to 8 hours of LTE browsing or talk time and up to10 hours of video play-back.

The iPhone 5 has a two-tone design, available in black and slate or white and silver. Even the headphones got a style tweak. New earpods, designed to comfortably fit and stay in any user’s ear, replace Apple’s iconic – and much-maligned – earbuds.

The iPhone 5 also is the first device to feature connectivity via Lightning, which Apple is using to replace its the 30-pin connector. So, anticipate a slew of new accessories to help the iPhone work in conjunction with older Apple devices.

AVAilABle oN AT&T, SPriNT ANd VerizoN WireleSS

16GB – $199

32GB – $299

64GB – $399

Nothing Phony About Them

Nokia lumia 920

Charging this flagship Windows 8 phone is as simple as setting it down. The Lumia has built-in wireless charging, so if ever your bat-tery is low you can just set it atop a charging plate, place it on a charging stand if you need to multitask, or even on top of a JBL PowerUp Wireless Charging Speaker, which can play music directly from the phone via NFC while it charges the 2000 mAh battery.

The Lumia is a photo lover’s phone. The 8MP rear camera features Nokia’s PureView technology and a Carl Leiss lens that is able to take in five times more light than similar smartphones without using flash, which allows it to capture clearer photos and vid-eos. It also features Nokia City Lens – point the camera at a street, and the City Lens overlays info about restaurants, hotels and other businesses in the area.

The rest of the specs read like a smart-phone wish list: 4G LTE, 1.5Ghz dual-core processor, 1 GB RAM and 32GB internal storage.Available in yellow, red, gray, white and black.

AVAilABle oN AT&T – PriCe TBd


A wireless charging plate for the Lumia 920.

n NOTHING PHONY ABOUT THEM

Samsung Galaxy S iii

The S in Galaxy S III might as well stand for shar-ing, which this phone does very well, thanks to its AllShare Play software near-field communication chip. The coolest thing might be its S Beam feature, where two Galaxy S III owners simply just need to place their devices back to back and photos, videos and documents instantly are transferred between the two. Its Buddy Photo Share feature recognizes faces, so photos instantly can be shared with the friends in the photo, or you can group-share photos with Share Shot. The AllShare Play software also makes it easy to send photos and videos to TVs, PCs and tablets. All this capability is designed to make the most of the 8MP/1080p rear camera. The 1.9MP front camera also is capable of recording 720p video.

The Galaxy S III, a 4G LTE phone, boasts some powerful specs, too: 1.5Ghz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and the internal memory (16GB or 32GB) can be expanded to 64GB via the mircoSD slot. Avail-able in pebble blue or marble white.

AVAilABle oN AT&T, SPriNT, T-MoBile, VerizoN

WireleSS ANd U.S. CellUlAr

16GB – $199.99

32GB – $244.99

droid razr Maxx Hd

The Droid Razr Maxx HD’s identi-ty is that it packs battery life more befitting a tablet into the body of a smartphone. It’s 3300mAh battery delivers up to 32 hours of perfor-mance. Watch up to 13 hours of HD videos. Or drive from NYC to D.C. ... and back ... with 8 hours of voice-guided GPS directions. If you or someone you know if a power smartphone user always needing a charge, this is the phone to get.

The 4G LTE Razr Maxx HD also features a sharp 4.7-inch HD display that is extra tough thanks to scratch- and scrape-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass. The back-side also is protected with a Kevlar fiber rear cover. It’s NFC-enabled, too, for sharing informa-tion and making purchases with apps like Google Wallet.

AVAilABle oN VerizoN WireleSS

– PriCe TBd




The S Pen for the Galaxy Note II lets you scribble an email – literally


Samsung Galaxy Note ii

Nicknamed a “phablet” for bridging the phone/tablet divide, the Galaxy Note II is a whop-ping 5.5-inch “smartphone” with a 1280x720 HD Super AMOLED display. The other big thing about the Galaxy Note II is the S Pen stylus for making the most of the screen surface area. The S Pen allows user to take notes, schedule events and email all via handwriting integra-tion. Then S Pen also can be used for quick commands, photo clipping and simply doodling via apps like Paper Artist from the Google Play Store (the Galaxy Note II runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean). The 4G LTE, NFC-enabled phone features Samsung’s AllShare Play software and S Beam for easy sharing of photos and videos. A phone this size obviously goes large every-

where else: 1.6Ghz dual-core processor and 2GB RAM with a 3100mAh battery. It comes in

16GB, 32GB and 64GB models and has up to 64GB of additional memory

accessible via a microSD slot.

AVAilABle oN AT&T – PriCe

TBd


Take 10: Children’s Books

And Then What Happened?

1 “A Ball for Daisy,” by Chris Raschka (Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011) $16.99 Calde-cott Medal

2 “Blackout,” by John Rocco (Disney Hyperion Books, 2011) $16.99 Caldecott Honor

3 “Grandpa Green,” by Lane Smith (Roaring Brook Press, 2011) $16.99 Caldecott Honor

4 “Me… Jane,” by Patrick McDonnell (Little, Brown and Co. div. of Hachette Book Group, 2011) $15.99 Calde-cott Honor

5 “Dead End in Norvelt,” by Jack Gantos (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011) $15.99 New-bery Medal

6 “Rotters” audio book, written by Daniel Kraus, narrated by Kirby Heyborne (Random House audio, 2011) $35 Odyssey Award

What happens when Daisy’s ball is destroyed? When all the lights go out? When a family must flee their homeland? Adventure hap-pens, that’s what – and so does discovery, learning and joy. Buy a child and book, and ask to share an hour. Here, a few of 2012’s best, for tots, teens and you.

– Mary Connors, CTW Features


7 “The Notorious Benedict Arnold,” by Steve Sheinkin (Flash Point, 2010) $19.99 YALSA Award for young adult nonfiction

8 “Inside Out & Back Again,” by Thanhha Lai (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2011) $16.99 Newbery Honor

9 “Breaking Stalin’s Nose,” by Eugene Yelchin (Henry Holt and Co., 2011) $15.99 Newbery Honor

10 “Where Things Come Back,” by John Corey Waley (Atheneum, 2012) $8.99 Printz Award.

n CHILDREN’S BOOKS


The iPod touch and iPod nano get funky refreshes – just in time for the holidays

iPod Touch

The hard critique against the iPod touch was that it was just an iPhone with out the phone. That stops now.

The new touch is thinner and lighter then ever, at less than a quarter-inch thick and just 3.1 oz. Part of that is thanks to an anodized-aluminum body, the same material used in Apple’s Mac-Book line.

But just like its cellular-based kin, the touch also received an upgrade to a 4-inch Retina display, giving more widescreen space to game, browse, watch movies and swipe through your music library.

The new touch, available in 32GB ($299) and 64GB ($399) models, also unveils new line of colors – black, silver, pink, yellow, blue and a (Product) Red model.

iPod Nano

Where the iPod touch kept it kinda-like-the-iPhone appear-ance, the iPod nano underwent the most radical – and fun – transformation. The nano now is about the size of a credit card – about 3-by-1.5 inches – and is just 0.21 inches thick. The new format allows it to expand the touchscreen introduced on the last nano model. The screen now offers six icons for Music, Videos, Fitness (with Nike+ inte-gration), Podcasts, Photos and Radio (FM only).

Now available only in a 16GB ($149) model, the nano comes in the same colors as the touch, in addition to green purple.

iPods: The Next Iteration



Sometimes, it really is the thought that counts. Exploring gifts that lift the spirit.

By MelAnie WAnzekCTW FeaTures

This holiday season, take a moment to slow down – and then contemplate how to help others do the same.

“It is so easy in our very hectic world to forget what’s really important,” says Marilyn Tam, author of the forthcoming “The Happi-ness Choice,” (Wiley, 2013). “This is true even if we are so focused on something good.”

Tam speaks from her own bustling life experience. The former CEO of Aveda, Tam held senior executive positions at Reebok and Nike. She co-founded and now serves as executive director of the Us Foundation, a nonprofit that facilitates global action to address social, economic and environmental issues.

Even while doing important work, she says, one needs time to step away and reflect

on living a balanced life,.“We live dynamic lives, so we need to

recognize there is a dynamic balance for dif-ferent moments in time,” she says.

For Tam, the idea of a life-enhancing gift has less to do with objects than with a spe-cial experience. “We have so much stuff,” Tam says. “What we need to think about is how we can help people we love have the opportunity to relish the moment through meaningful experiences we can share together.”

A meaningful gift, she believes, is one rooted in unique, memorable experiences. Find activities that someone might not choose to do on his or her own, such as a cooking class, a pottery class or even a hot air balloon ride. Ready to give a life-giving gift? Here are some ideas.

Cont’d on page 15

A Gift of Comfort & Joy

Choose happy: author Marilyn Tam



A Breath of Fresh AirPracticing yoga can lead to a greater improvement of mood and a decrease in anxiety, according to a 2010 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Comple-mentary Medicine by a researcher at the Boston University School of Medicine. Yoga studios offer a variety of classes to fit the interests and skill level of the student. Many sell class cards so the recipient can select classes at his or her convenience. To take the gift to a higher level, consider adding a yoga retreat. At Nurture Through Nature in Maine, retreaters can design their own holistic eco-retreat, with private yoga instruction, guided mediation sessions and wood-fired steam baths.

A Taste of Local FareA membership to a local food coop-erative is a gift that combines tasty treats with meaningful investment. A food cooperative gives back to its members and the community.

Co-ops throughout the country offer a variety of food, wellness and home goods. No two are exactly the same, but they all share the same priority: serving people, says Elizabeth Archerd, membership and mar-keting manager for The Wedge, a

Minneapolis cooperative.The most important consideration in

purchasing a cooperative membership is location, she says. Proximity is key. At The Wedge, an $80 deposit covers the one-time lifetime membership fee on behalf of some-one else; the receiver then stops in the co-op to complete the paperwork to become a member.

Other options: a pre-paid summer CSA membership, through which recipients receive a box of fresh local produce each week for a particular season, or creating a gift basket of locally produced honey, jams, granola and grains.

Cont’d on page 16

Gifts with fair-trade pedi-gree: a hand-painted tray from Peru, left; above, a hand-cut mollusk shell set in a sterling necklace

Ten T

hous

and V

illag

esn A GIFT OF COMFORT & JOY



A Gift to Keep Giving Consider a gift that invests in the future of others. Many global fair trade companies distribute their wares to local gift stores and some have online storefronts, including Ten Thousand Villages, Akron, Penn. Marketing man-ager Michele Loeper says the group’s sole focus is to end poverty around the globe. The organization provides sustainable income opportunities to artists in developing countries by traveling to the countries, forming relationships with the artisans and buying their work at a fair price. “Our purchasing is based on long-term rela-tionships and consistent orders from year to year, meaning artisan can plan for the future and build better lives,” Loeper says. “Every purchase made at a Ten Thousand Villages store allows us to provide real and lasting income opportunity to women and men who would otherwise have no real income opportunity.”

Phoenician glass carafe handmade in HebronTen Thousand Villages

n A GIFT OF COMFORT & JOY



U Game?Say hello to

the new Nintendo Wii U

The Wii U’s GamePad adds another gaming dimension with a second screen

By tAnieShA RobinSonCTW FeaTures

Nintendo is back to change the gaming experience with its latest console, the Wii U – arriving Nov. 18, just in time for the holidays, for $299.99. The company lured gamers off the couch with the release

of the Wii in 2006, spearheading the motion-gaming seg-ment that now includes Kinect for Xbox 360 and PlaySta-tion Move. Nintendo now is pushing the envelope with Wii

U’s cooperative gameplay and integration into home-enter-tainment systems.

“It changes your gaming,” Nintendo of America President Reginald Fils-Aime said during the company’s All-Access E3 2012 presentation. “It changes how you interact with your gaming friends, and it changes the way you enjoy your TV.” Here’s how.

Console FeaturesWii U marks the first time that a tablet has been integrated into a video game console. The system’s primary controller is the Wii U GamePad, which features 6.2-inch, 16:9 aspect ratio LCD touchscreen, traditional button controls and two analog sticks. Gamers use their fingertips or the included stylus for control on the tablet. Up to two GamePads can be used at the same time during gameplay.

“I know there are people out there who have iPads and are like, ‘What’s the big deal?’” says Shane Satterfield, editor-in-chief of GameTrailers.com. “Well, the big deal is that you’re playing tablet games that have been produced by huge teams who have worked on the game for two years instead of the iPad games that generally are real simple, easy to pick up and are more time-wasters.”

Cont’d on page 19

Cont’d from page 18Game developers have many new features to work with

on the Wii U platform. The GamePad’s personal screen inte-gration with your TV enables double-screen gaming expe-riences. The tablet’s motion control includes the popular Nintendo rumble features, powered by an accelerometer and gyroscope.

Thanks to an added geomagnetic sensor, gamers can see their virtual worlds in unprecedented 360-degree pan-oramic views. Plus, through near field communication, the GamePad can communicate wirelessly with objects held above it.

This will allow users to program objects into games by setting a real object atop the GamePad screen, among other possibilities for interactive gameplay.

The Wii U GamePad feature that will help cement the con-sole’s place in living rooms across the world is the TV Con-trol button. This feature turns the GamePad into a universal remote for home entertainment systems.

When someone wants to watch TV while the Wii U is in use, gamers can keep playing on the tablet. And, they won’t have to stay on the couch; the system will stream the game to the tablet. “Basically you can count on being able to go into other rooms and continue playing games without having being tethered to the television,” Satterfield says.

Still, for all the cool new features of the GamePad, there

are people who only want an elevated, traditional gameplay experience. Nintendo was sure to accommodate them with the Wii U Pro Controller. Gaming bloggers have taken notice of its similarities to the Xbox 360 controller. Hardcore gam-ers are sure to find the controls familiar.

Those who already own a Wii console will be happy to know that nearly all of their current Wii software and acces-sories will be compatible with the Wii U. Up to four Wii Remote (or Wii Remote Plus) or Wii U Pro controllers can be used at once during gameplay. Favorites such as the Nun-chuk and Wii Balance Board also are compatible.

Cooperative GameplaySo how does Wii U handle four controllers and two Game-Pads in use at once? The answer lies in the different roles assigned to controller and GamePad users during gameplay. In “New Super Mario Bros. U,” GamePad users can help or hinder their friends.

“Basically, what they can do is they can use the touch pad to create platforms in the environment.” Satterfield says. “Now, those platforms can either help Mario get to some place really high, or you can kind of be a jerk and wait until they jump and put a platform above his head and make him fall into a pit.

Cont’d on page 20


Chocolate or Vanilla? Coke or Pepsi? Mac or PC?

One of the many things our nation of Democrats and Republicans does better than anyone else is drawing a line in the sand and, firmly and proudly, picking a side upon which to stand.

The video-game realm is no exception.

If the PlayStation purist on your list would never be caught dead with a Nintendo 3DS, be thankful for the PS Vita ($299.99).

Sony’s portable player just missed last year’s holiday

rush (it was released in Febru-ary), but it’s sure to be a much-desired device in 2012. The Vita packs dual analog sticks, a multitouch OLED display, a six-axis gyroscope and even a multitouch rear pad, for an immersive, revolutionary new

gaming style.There are front- and rear-

facing cameras, and the Vita also features Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, for accessing the PlayStation network wherever the gaming takes them.

–Timothy r. Schulte

¡Viva Vita! The must-have portable gaming device for the PlayStationphile on your list

n U GAME?


“It’s pretty innovative the way they’re finding ways to make people almost reflect their personality in how they play games,” Satterfield adds.

Opportunities to show personality surface in other Wii U titles like “ZombiU.” During gameplay, a GamePad user can select which zombies will attack the other players. Gamers will feel the tension when tasks that take place exclusively on the tablet arise (checking inventory, cracking door codes, etc.) while the game continues on their TV screen. That’s just a taste of the immersion experiences Wii U offers.

“When we start looking at the fact that this is the first wave of games for the Wii U, and we’re talking about what these developers are going to come up with over the next five years of the console’s life cycle, it’s a pretty exciting proposition,” Satter-field says.

Cont’d on page 22


Everyone can play together in cooperative gameplay mode.

The GamePad also functions as a universal remote

for your home theater.

n U GAME?




Social GamingThe GamePad controller is equipped with an Internet browser, but Wii U has another new network communica-tion feature that’s stirring interest: Miiverse, a real-time social window that opens up right as you’re playing, according to Fils-Aimes, the Nintendo of America presi-dent.

Gamers can brag about high scores through text mes-sages and share experiences through drawings or in-play screen images. Also, because the Gamepad has a built-in microphone and camera, Miiverse members can engage in voice and video chats.

In general, hardcore gamers have been apprehensive about Wii U. When the original Wii was released, many fans felt that Nintendo executives had concentrated their efforts on attracting soccer moms and casual gamers. “To me personally, I feel like they’ve done a pretty good job at hitting that middle ground and making sure there are games available at launch for both sides,” Satterfield says.

Perhaps the Wii U may woo the hardcore gamers yet.“Again this is the first wave of games and it’s already

doing some pretty cool stuff,” Satterfield says. “I imagine in a few years, we’re going to see some really mind-blowing things.”

It’s hard to imagine the Nintendo DS going any bigger.

The line of DS handheld gaming devices, you may be surprised to find out, is the company’s all-time best-selling hardware line, with sales of more than 152 million units, which outpaces Nintendo’s other iconic handheld, the Gameboy, by more than 30 million units. To put that into perspective, the Wii, Nintendo’s top-selling console, has yet to eclipse 100 million units.

Determined to make their best better,

Nintendo upped the ante with last year’s 3DS, which added glasses-free 3D technology to the hand-held device. The only thing left to do was go bigger, which it did with the new 3DS XL ($199.99).

The 3DS XL, available in red or blue, features 90-percent larger screens than the 3DS. The upper screen on the XL measures nearly 5 inches diagonally, and the lower screen is more than 4 inches (diagonal), each more than an

inch larger than the respective screen on the original DS.

Nintendo claims the XL features improved battery life over the DS, and it comes with a bundled 4GB SD card for storing downloadable games and videos. The larger screen size also gives users more space to enjoy entertainment apps, such as Netflix.


Big-Time Gaming The new Nintendo 3DS XL delivers even more multi-dimension entertainment

n U GAME?


BeST oF SHoW BeST oriGiNAl GAMe BeST CoNSole GAMe BeST ACTioN/AdVeNTUre GAMe SPeCiAl CoMMeNdATioN For SoUNd

The last of Us(Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3)

BeST HANdHeld/MoBile GAMe

Sound Shapes(Queasy Games/SCEA for PSVita, PS3)

BeST PC GAMe BeST STrATeGy GAMe

XCoM: enemy Unknown(Firaxis Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

BeST HArdWAre/PeriPHerAl

Wii U(Nintendo)

BeST ACTioN GAMe BeST oNliNe MUlTiPlAyer GAMe

Halo 4(343 Industries/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)

BeST role-PlAyiNG GAMe

South Park: The Stick of Truth(Obsidian Entertainment/THQ for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

BeST FiGHTiNG GAMe

injustice: Gods Among Us(NetherRealm Studios/WBIE for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U)

BeST rACiNG GAMe

Need for Speed Most Wanted(Criterion Games/EA for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

BeST SPorTS GAMe

FiFA Soccer 13(EA Canada/EA Sports for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

BeST SoCiAl/CASUAl GAMe BeST MoTioN-SiMUlATioN GAMe

dance Central 3(Harmonix/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)

BeST doWNloAdABle GAMe

Unfinished Swan(Giant Sparrow/SCEA for PlayStation 3)

SPeCiAl CoMMeNdATioN For GrAPHiCS

Star Wars 1313(LucasArts for TBD Platforms)

SPeCiAl CoMMeNdATioN For GrAPHiCS SPeCiAl CoMMeNdATioN For iNNoVTioN

Watch dogs(Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

E3 Game Critics’ Winners


By GReG ScobletectW FeaTures

Say what you will about laptops, but no one would ever mistake them for stylish – until now.

Once Apple unveiled the super-slender

MacBook Air in 2008, the tech world has been in a frenzy about “ultrabooks.” The term, coined by Intel, refers to a notebook com-puter that’s less than 1-inch thick and weighs less than 4 pounds.

Cont’d on page 25

Thin is in! If someone on your list is after a new laptop this season, give them one that is sleek, lightweight and, above all, powerful

The Ultimate Ultrabooks


Cont’d from page 24These incredibly thin notebooks also offer quick

start-ups times – often less than 10 seconds – and lon-ger battery lives alongside drool-worthy styling.

You will make a few trade-offs if you spring for an ultrabook this holiday season: There are no optical-disc drives, and external ports like USB and HDMI often are sparse. Plus, all these good looks and com-putational brains demand a premium price.

Still, if you’re looking for the latest and greatest in portable computing, these ultrabooks won’t disap-point.

Apple MacBook Air

Having created the category, Apple continues to innovate with its 2012 MacBook Air 13-inch model. At its thin-

nest edge it’s an amazing 0.1 inches thick, reaching a mere 0.68 inches at its thickest point. The appro-priately named Air weighs in at just a shade less than 3 pounds. Despite its delicate looks, the MacBook Air still packs a computational punch thanks to a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM (upgradeable to 8GB) and Intel’s HD Graphics 4000 engine. There’s a built-in 720p webcam for HD chatting over FaceTime or Skype.

The 2012 MacBook Air 13-inch starts with 128GB of flash storage and is upgradeable up to 512GB worth for those needing more space for their digital life. As far as connectivity goes, you’ll find a pair of USB 3.0 ports, an SD card slot, and a Thunderbolt port – a newer type of connection that’s even faster than USB 3.0. Not many peripherals use Thunderbolt yet – but they will – so you’re futureproof. Battery

life clocks in between 5 and 7 hours.Last, but certainly not least, the new

13-inch Air comes in at a base price of $1,199. The MacBook Air also is avail-able in an 11-inch model, which bases with a 1.7GHz processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of flash storage for $999.

Cont’d from page 25Ultra and Ultra-er: The 13- and 11-inch Apple MacBook Airs.

n THE ULTIMATE ULTRABOOKS

Samsung Series 9

Samsung is Apple’s arch rival in just about everything, and a slim notebook is no exception. With the Series 9, the company comes to the fight with a 13.3-inch LED display, Intel’s 1.7GHz Core i5 processor, a 128GB solid state drive and 4GB of RAM standard (upgradeable to 8GB). Graphics are powered by Intel’s HD Graphics 3000 engine, and you’ll find a 1.2-megapixel HD webcam plus a pair of built-in, 3-watt speakers for cranking out the tunes. Unlike the MacBook Air, there’s no Thun-derbolt port, but there are a pair of USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI output, which the Air doesn’t have.

The Series 9 Ultrabook measures in at 12.9-by-8.9-by-0.64 inches, and it weighs in just less than 3 pounds thanks to its “duralumin” body – a lightweight substance that’s twice as strong as aluminum yet light-weight. Expect to pay around $1,300 for the basic configuration.

Sony Vaio T13

If you’re shopping on the budget end of the spectrum, Sony’s Vaio T13 is worth a look. This $765 ultrabook features an Intel Core i5 processor (1.7GHz) with 4GB of RAM and Intel’s HD Graphics 4000 engine. Somewhat unique among ultrabooks, it pairs a 320GB hard disk drive for ample file storage with a 32GB SSD for faster boot-ups.

Cont’d on page 27


Samsung Series 9



Sony Viao T13

Western digital My Passport

Most ultrabooks are pretty light on the storage side. If you need to add memory for those HD movies and digital music collections, Western Digital’s

My Passport portable drives are a good choice. They’re sleek and stylish – just like an ultrabook – and come in capacities of 500GB ($129) up to 2TB ($250). My Pass-port uses USB 3.0 for quick file transfers and comes with automatic back-up software and encryption for keeping digital files safe.

linksys Smart Wi-Fi eA6500

The Linksys Smart Wi-Fi EA6500 ($219.99) wireless Internet router uses the lat-est version of Wi-Fi technol-ogy (802.11ac, for those keeping score at home) so

there’s plenty of bandwidth for streaming HD movies to a Smart TV or media player, web surfing, music download-ing and gaming. No need to update other devices, though – it’s backward-compatible with all networked gear. This router has two USB ports for adding network storage plus four ethernet ports for super-fast hardwired routing.

epson Home XP-400

Despite the prevalence of wireless and cloud technol-

ogy, printing and scanning remain a necessary evil. Epson’s Home XP-400 ($99.99) packs a printer and scanner in one, and it’s com-patible with Apple AirPrint and Google Cloud, so you can wirelessly print from mobile devices like ultrabooks, tablets and smartphones. It features a 2.5-inch display, memory card slots and uses four individual ink cartridges. You can expect print speeds at around 8.7 pages per min-ute for black or 4.5 pages per minute in color.

–G.S.

Powerful PeripheralsThese super-mobile accessories are just the thing to make the most of a new ultrabook

Western DigitalMy Passport

Epson Home XP-400


The 13.3-inch LED display offers a resolution of 1366x768, and the Vaio T13 includes a 1.3-mega-pixel web camera, high-def audio and a battery that Sony claims can last for about seven hours of typi-cal use.

While there’s no Thunderbolt, you will get a pair of USB ports (one 3.0, one 2.0), an SD card slot, HDMI and VGA outputs plus an Ethernet port, should they wish to hardwire to the Internet. It measures in at 12.7-by-8.9-by-0.71 inches, and with a weight of 3.5 pounds it’s a tad heavier than either Samsung’s or Apple’s ultrabooks, but that’s the price you pay for having a hard disk drive on hand.



Sony Internet Player with GoogleTV

By tiMothy R. Schulte

ctW FeaTures

How many $50 bills would it take to pay your cable each month? Certainly one won’t cut it. Would two? Hopefully you wouldn’t need more than three … right?

If your or someone on your list’s cable bill provokes a monthly migraine, consider putting a month or two’s bill payments toward a streaming-media player. All you’ll need is your Internet connection, HDMI

cable and subscription to your favorite content services. Here’s a look.

Sony internet Player with Google TV

Sony’s Internet Player with GoogleTV ($199.99) looks to deliver the best of the

web and the latest streaming content – at the same time. The

GoogleTV features a built-in Chrome browser, so users can either search on the

big screen using the QWERTY keyboard on the dual-side remote, or even picture-in-picture their web browsing with TV – say, watching an NFL game while tracking their fantasy-football team online.

The Google TV offers services like Netflix, Pandora, HBOGo and Crackle, and Google’s proprietary TV & Movies for Google TV app lets you easily find what’s on – live, on-demand or on the web – from the best content services available. Just search, click and watch.

Cont’d on page 30

Tired of switching cable providers for the latest deal? Say goodbye for good by plugging in one of these smart media devices and streaming all the content you want, when you want

Cord Cutters



Roku 2 XD

n CORD CUTTERS


Apple TV

For the Apple aficionado, the Apple TV ($99) is the way to go, as it can work in tandem with a Mac, iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

The 4-by-4-inch, half-pound device lets users instantly stream video (up to 1080p) from any number of services like Netflix, HuluPlus, MLB.TV, NBA.com and

NHL GameCenter (subscriptions required).The Apple TV also can stream to a TV all sorts of media, including iTunes content, via the

AirPlay icon on apps like Photos, Videos, Music and Safari. If in need of a larger display, Apple TV can mirror other Apple devices and even serve as a double screen for gaming, with an iOS device serving as a controller. iOS devices also can serve as an Apple TV remote control via the Remote app, if the included Apple Remote gets lost.

roku 2 Xd

In terms of overall simplicity and the number of offerings, it’s hard to beat a Roku box. The tiny Roku 2 XD ($79.99) offers movies and TV shows from the likes of Netflix, HuluPlus, Amazon, Crackle and HBOGo, and there are sports from the NBA, NHL, MLS, UFC and MLB – all with video quality up to 1080p. There are tunes from Pandora and Rdio. And it only uses a mere 2 Watts of power while playing a movie. And, of course, you can turn your iPhone or Android into a remote via an app. Other Roku models range from $49.99 to $99.99.



1 “Sleeveface: Be the Vinyl,” by John Rostron and Carl Morris (Artisan, 2008) $13.95

2 “Feminist Ryan Gosling,” by Danielle Henderson (Running Press, 2012) $12.95

3 “Awkward Family Photos,” by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack (Three Rivers Press, 2010) $15

4 “Stuff on My Cat,” by Mario Garza (Chronicle Books, 2006) $9.95

5 “Garfield Minus Garfield,” by Jim Davis (Ballantine Books, 2008) $13

Take 10: Blogbusters!

Laugh Out Loud with the BlogeratiThe once dignified kingdom of coffee table books, where Norman Rockwell retrospectives ruled, has fallen to the shameless, hilarious hordes. Behold the many highly giftable books from bloggers who first rocketed to fame online. Here are photos of people obscuring a body part with vinyl record sleeves, there are portraits of families you’re glad aren’t yours – and get a load of those snapshots of Legos, pizza and, uh, other stuff on cats. Send tidings of laughter and joy with any of these happy volumes.

– Lindsey Romain, CTW Features


6 “PostSecret: Extraordinary Confes-sions from Ordinary Lives,” by Frank Warren (William Morrow, 2005) $28.99

7 “Rules for my Unborn Son,” by Walker Lamond (St. Martin’s Press, 2009) $14.99

8 “This is Why You’re Fat: Where Dreams Become Heart Attacks,” by Jessica Amason and Richard Blakeley (HarperCollins, 2009) $19.99

9 “Stuff White People Like,” by Christian Lander (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2008) $15

10 “I Can Has Cheezburger: A LOLcat Collekshun,” by Professor Happycat and icanhascheezburger.com (Gotham, 2008) $10

n BLOGBUSTERS


Superheroes, bigger and more vivid than life, are here to stay. Just ask Joss Whedon, whose film, “The Avengers,” became the third highest grossing movie of all time this year, with a worldwide gross of over $1 bil-lion. Add in Marc Webb’s “The Amazing Spider-man” and Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” and 2012 marks the year superheroes officially transitioned from nerdy pastime to bona fide pop culture royalty.


Take 10: HD Heroes

Bring Home a Big-Screen Hero

Big-screen superhero: Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy

Sony Pictures Home entertainment

Big-screen superhero: Spider-Man: The High Definition TrilogySony Pictures Home entertainment


1 The Avengers (Walt Disney Home Entertainment) Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo, $39.99

2 Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), $92.95

3 The Dark Knight (Warner Home Video), $12.96

4 X-Men Trilogy (Fox Home Entertainment), $59.99

5 The Incredibles (Buena Vista Home Entertain-ment) Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy, $45.99

n HD HEREOS

6 Watchmen (Warner Home Video), $7.99

7 Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997 (Warner Home Video), $49.95

8 Blade Collection (Alliance), $64.98

9 Superman: The Movie (Warner Home Video), $19.98

10 Iron Man (Paramount), $29.99


Take 10: Dystopian Novels

Reading List for the End of the World1 “The Scorpio Races,” by Maggie Stiefvater

(Scholastic, 2011) $17.99

2 “Divergent,” by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen Books, 2011) $17.99

3 “Life As We Knew It,” by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008) $17

4 “Legend,” by Marie Lu (Penguin Group, 2011) $17.99

5 “Exodus,” by Julie Bertagn (Walker Books for Young Readers, 2008) $16.95

6 “Delirium,” by Lauren Oliver (HarperCollins, 2012) $17.99

7 “Matched,” by Ally Condie(Penguin Group, 2010) $17.99

8 “Bumped,” by Megan McCafferty (Balzer + Bray, 2011) $16.99

9 “The Forest of Hands and Teeth,” by Carrie Ryan (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2010) $16.99

10 “The Maze Runner,” by James Dashner (Random House Children’s Books, 2010) $16.99

It’s a feast for fans of “The Hunger Games.” The wildly successful film adaptation of the dark novel hits DVD shelves this holiday season. Suzanne Collins’ blockbuster trilogy about a young Katniss Everdeen battling for her life in a post-apocalyptic North America has drawn more readers to the world of dystopian litera-ture; new post-apocalyptic young adult titles crop up every month. Here are ten top titles about young people in dystopian peril, perfect for any Katniss fan’s stocking.



Feel

ing

Smitt

en

Cupcake Bath BombRibbon Candy Cupcake Bath Bomb from Feeling Smitten Bath Bakery with berries and sugar and a dash of light rose and carnation ($10.50 for the large size, specialty stores)

Gifts Good Enough to EatThose who indulge, bulge – unless, of course, the rich treats are designed to be slathered, smeared, scrubbed or spritzed upon the skin.

Sales of high-end beauty and skincare products are sizzling, up 11 percent to $9.5 billion in 2011, according to NPD Group. And soaps, lotions and treatments crafted from ingredients that are good enough to eat – or at least look that way – are especially popular.

Looking for a delicious gift? Go in search of the incredible, almost-edibles.

– Jessica royer ocken, CTW Features


Butter Them UpButter All Over, Rica Bath &

Body’s best seller, is billed as “comfort food for the skin,”

with coconut, avocado and passion fruit oils ($36, spe-

cialty stores)

Make Mine Ginger Ginger Sparkle Shim-mer Lotion with fair-trade shea butter and ginger root extract ($12, The Body Shop)

Citrus RelaxationTangerine and orange essential oils scent Kneipp’s new Stress Free Bath ($20, specialty stores)

Lip CreamsVegan Lip Creams from Metrop-olis Soap Company, made with essential oils, sunflower wax and sunflower oil, come flavored in spearmint with anise, lavender or lime ($6.99, specialty stores)

Vegan SoapRichly scented pine, cypress

and lime oil combine in North-ern Lights, a new handmade

vegan soap from Lush ( $7.95, Macy’s and specialty stores)

n GIFTS GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT

Bath SoapTrio of miniature size holiday Cupcake Bath

Bombs in Wonderland, Ribbon Candy and Rum flavours ($17, Feeling Smitten Bath Bakery)



What’s great about Instagram is that it takes all the fun ele-

ments of the classic Polaroid camera and put them into a mobile app on your smartphone. Snap a photo, then immediately share it with your friends. Or in the case of the old Polaroid instant camera, snap a photo, then wait for it to emerge from the camera, then shake it to accelerate development of the photo, then share it with your friends.

But what’s great about the new Polaroid Z2300 instant digital camera ($159.99) is that it brings back to a physical camera all the fun photo ele-

ments that Instagram cribbed from the original Polaroids.

On the digital side, the Z2300 packs a 10-megapixel image sensor and 3-inch LCD display for framing, captur-ing and reviewing photos and videos. On the instant side, it features an inte-grated ZINK printer, which in less than a minute can print out full-color, 2-by-3-inch photos, a modern take on the

old-school Polaroid. The ZINK Paper comes in both 30-sheet ($14.99) and 50-sheet ($24.99) packs.

The Z2300 comes in either white or black and features the iconic Polaroid rainbow stripe that harkens back to the Polaroid instant cameras of yester-year. Just like the one immortalized in the Instagram app icon.


Helvetica DekA Digital Camera for the Instagram Generation



Old-School, New FunBy tAnieShA RobinSonctW Features

Sixty years ago, when French electrician Andre Cassagnes came up with the idea for a toy that used a joystick, glass and alu-minum powder to draw pictures, he probably had no idea it would provide joyous playtime for chil-dren decades later. Today, Etch A Sketch is a household name that even made headlines during this year’s political season. How does such a simple toy still have so much popularity?

Toys that stand the test of time “draw you in, challenge you and remind you why you’re amused every time you play with them,” says Scott Eberle, who writes the

Play in Mind blog for Psychology Today and co-authored “Classic Toys of the National Toy Hall of Fame,” (Running Press, 2009). Etch A Sketch entered the hall of fame in 1998.

Classic toys foster learning and encour-age creativity, Eberle says. To make the hall of fame, a toy must attain “icon” status – with wide recognition, respect and longevity – and display innovation.

Toys that are creative or engage the imagi-nation are more likely to become a timeless hit with children, says Phil Wrzesinski, owner of Jackson, Mich.-based Toy House & Baby Too toy store. He says his top sellers are usu-ally interactive and open-ended, providing many ways to play.

“A lot of modern toys, everything is sort

of scripted out for the kids and the play pat-terns are not as random,” says Tim Walsh, author of “Timeless Toys,” (Andrews McMeel, 2005). Walsh invented the board game Blurt and is a fan of toys such as crayons, LEGO and Play-Doh that allow a child to create and build “anything that their mind conceives.

Adrienne Appell, trend analyst for the Toy Industry Assoc., cautions holiday shoppers in search of a special toy for a child to avoid “watch-me” toys. “They’re fun and they’re cute for a little while, but they don’t really captivate the children or hold their interest.” The best toys allow for play that evolves and changes.

Cont’d on page 43

Forego the fads this holiday season and seek out toys that have withstood the test of time.

Classic Jack-in-the-Box

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Author Scott Eberle makes an exception for wind-up toys such as a Jack-in-the-Box and cheerful figures that a child can bring to life with a few twists of a key. “As you set them in motion they seem to spur imagination rather than vitiate and degrade it,” he says.

“One of the tenants of a timeless toy is that kids love to play with it repeatedly,” Walsh says. “They don’t play with it once and say, ‘Oh ok, I’m bored. That’s enough of that.’ They come back to it again and again.”

Repeated-play value is the key factor for toys to continue entertaining chil-dren beyond the holiday season, let alone decades. And, to find the right toy for little ones and big kids alike, toy store owner Phil Wrzesinski encourages gift-givers to seek out help from their local toy store. “Your local, independent toy store is going to know these kinds of toys,” Wrzesinski says. “This is what we all do. We talk about not

just what’s cute and what’s going to be a good seller but what fits our mission and what’s going to be a great toy.”

Analyst Adrienne Appell encourages gift-givers to pick a toy that resonates with them personally and then share that experience with the child they’re buying it for. “That cre-ates new memories,” she says.

Walsh agrees: “When a toy or game can last ten or fifteen years and you start to see a second generation of people playing it, it starts to have more meaning because there are memories involved.”


Etch A Sketch

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Twister Mania for XBOX 360 Kinect $20Gamers must bend and twist their bodies with lightning speed to match the shapes of silhouetted objects on screen. Yes, the muscle-pulling risk remains an essential part of gameplay.

Barbie I Can Be… President $14Barbie is running for President and standing on her own two feet this year – literally. Barbie I Can Be… President doll is the first to stand without support in Barbie’s 53-year history.

LEGO Friends Girls love LEGOs, too – and early this year the company launched its first product line, Friends, tailored to them. Now, some 27 percent of U.S. sales of the construction toy are to girls, up from 9 percent last year, the company says.

Scrabble Flash $30It’s the old word-building game you love with shuffling speed. Build as many words as you can with the electronic tiles before time runs out.

in With the oldContinued innovation is one hallmark of classic toys. Check out these new twists on some timeless toys:

n OLD-SCHOOL,NEW FUN

Timeless toys hall of fame: Crayola crayonsCourtesy of The Strong, rochester, New yor

Timeless toys hall of fame: Play-DohCourtesy of The Strong, rochester, New york


Careers to book your career ad in Gateway to the north or the Prince George citizen classifieds call 250.562.2441 or 250.562.6666

Amy Barlow helps her 5-year-old son with his

homework every night. “Now it’s time to do your homework mom-my,” he says to her.

At 33, Barlow is a working single mother, studying part-time to get ready for a new career. She joined the military after high school and is now awaiting her medical release.

Over a year ago she began taking online courses in business administration and accounting through her local college.

“I’d been out of school 16 years. It went a lot easier than I thought it was going to go,” she says.

Barlow attributes her success to good time-management skills and being able to stick to her budget. “I started one course at a time, to make sure I could handle it financially.”

Now she’s taking four online courses at a time, and has de-cided to pursue another diploma in technical writing. According to Statistics Canada, in 2010, about 190,000 people were enrolled in part-time college studies.

The federal government of-fers part-time loans which have recently become interest-free for students while they’re in school. And, new rules are making it possible for people with higher incomes to qualify for part-time student loans. The web site, Can-Learn.ca, has the details on how to save, plan and pay for post-secondary education.

Although it has been difficult, Barlow has managed to balance a full-time job, part-time stud-ies and the responsibilities of motherhood. “I figured out how to include my son,” she says. “I would read my text books to him and he loved it.”She says she is confident and enthusiastic about

her future. “My goal is to have my own business.”www.newscanada.com

Part-time studies pave the way for career change



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Holiday Gift Guide

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