‘Ere we go, off the starting block with MBC children’s ceramics. The children were soon busy creating  ceramic egg cups, which are very suitable for painted hard boiled eggs. ‘Do you remember how kids like us, says Margaret, ‘painted hard boiled eggs, then popped them into egg cups?’  All the egg cups were wonderful, so the children deserved the boxes of lunch sandwiches dropped off by Andrew Leach.

ACT came and decorated, and also fitted the sky light. Apparently it’s a lot lighter in the corridor with the new sky light in place, while the ever cheerful  Davey assessed preparations for the Loft ladder due to be fitted any minute now. Oh, by the way, Red Shoes Bob reckons he can hide up there. ‘No way,’ came the cry from Marion. ‘There’s no hiding place for you, Matey.’ Be afraid Bob, very afraid.

Marion advertised for photo frames and low and behold the CCA have had an amazing donation from the lovely Lorna to get them started on their mission. These were followed by Harry, Jeane and Gillians’ donations. What would we do without social media on these cocasions?

Aimee and her wonderful dancers did amazingly well at the weekend, when they attended the Karen Llewellyn Comp and once again came away with an array of prizes in all categories. Everyone is so very proud of you all.

Arthur, the decorator’s wife sent a handmade gift, which the team thought was, ‘Lovely and thoughtful of her, people are so kind,‘ said Marion.

Clean and Green are in the area doing a wonderful job and were welcome to use the CCA’s  facilities, on the basis that ‘It’s all about community lending a hand and working as a team. Our very own Dianne lent a hand, for the photo shoot anyway,‘ said Marion.

Brickies arrived, to brick up an external door to the computer room, leaving internal access only. Everyone is very security conscious at the CCA, safety first every time. Next week the grinder will be here removing concrete from the outside wall, ‘Out with the old and in with the new.’ says Marion, briskly, a glint in her eye. Perhaps you should hide in the loft after all, Red Shoes Bob!?

JLA are scheduled for the coming  week, assessing what electrical work is left  – heavens – that should be it for the electrics.  Then the CCA had a visit from their  surveyor Richard. Everyone was so pleased to see he had recovered from a broken foot and what’s more, he was over the moon with the progress and left a happy man.

Yvonne called in with a huge bag of Seahouses shells for a display that has been created in the toilet, which  looks fab. The team have run some pictures off Sponge Bob Square pants for the little people’s loo, they even have their own reachable hand towel dispenser which the kiddie winkles think it’s great.

The Forever Young ladies had an Easter Buffet with  goodies galore, and although the CCA is closed for business on Good Friday, the team have decided that this will be an excellent opportunity to hang some pictures in the newly decorated Cross Streets room. The team are determined to re-create the journey they have travelled, however, there is still a way to go and if your picture is not yet printed don’t panic, the team are sure it will appear through time.

Talking of time, here we all are in the midst of Easter, which is Margaret Graham’s  favourite time,  and she and Frost Magazine join everyone of her friends  at Columbia Community Association in sending warmest wishes for a peaceful EASTER and may the next few days be filled with joy, happiness and sunshine.

Information: Columbia Community Association  Columbia uk Community Forum

Memories of Brady Square

A powerhouse business laptop with portability

As with all of the Lenovo Thinkpad range, they are aiming for a certain type of market; the discerning business consumer, those that are looking for office type machines, packaged in portability and ‘set yourself up anywhere’ approaches.  The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 is expensive in terms of core components but then it’s meant to be. 32GB of RAM as standard; almost 4x as much as the average consumer who tends to have just 8GB puts it in the territory of users who demand an exceptional degree of power, think creative industries such as sports photographers, architects and designers, think special effects implementers think those utilising the 360 market.

What else does that price get you besides the power? There are so many areas. I could talk about the size of the machine; it still has a remarkably small footprint. The weight of it, barely 1.17kg yet balanced. The material used to make up the body; a mix of magnesium alloy, for the lid and carbon fibre-reinforced for the keyboard plate all give it this polished look.

Out of the box, it looks slick and refined. Compared to other laptops I have tested in the past; you just get this feeling that this is premiership quality. Connectivity wise the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 affords two ultra-fast USB-C Thunderbolt 4 sockets, one of which would normally be occupied by the power connector. Then there are two USB-A connectors, a full-size HDMI, and in models with mobile Internet, a Sim tray. According to Lenovo, HDMI only supports 4K/60 output, so it’s not HDMI 2.1 in terms of output but let’s be honest that is hardly problematic. The Carbon Gen 10 features a 1080p software rich webcam. The screen can dim if you walk away, and there’s an IR emitter for secure face unlock. Nice.

A week into use and I am still enjoying using the keyboard. The depth of the keys doesn’t feel tremendously deep but the keypresses feel sturdy and satisfactory as does the mouse pad and buttons. There is not separate number pad here but you don’t tend to find them on the 14 inch laptops anyway. Keys are well backlit in lowlight conditions and like most of the Thinkpads it has a TrackPoint; a red button in-between the keys which acts like a sort of mouse, although it has to be said, takes some getting used to.

Visuals

I found the X1 Carbon Gen 10’s screen to be very good. My model was the 14-inch 2880 x 1800 OLED display. It gave great colour, with fantastic contrast although I understand that is not the bog standard model. The laptop when fully opened lies completely flat on the surface, affording a maximum viewing range and making it even more compatible for those perhaps wanting to use a separate keyboard. Another thing that has to be said is great is the sound. Two speakers either side of the keyboard take great pleasure in taking care of the stereo meaning that presentations, movies, games and do I say meetings have a great level of sound quality.

Testing the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10:

Testing of the Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon Gen10 was carried out with UserBenchmark software using their freely available speed test tool tests. The software not only tests each component such as graphics cards and processing chips individually but compares the results to other users with the same and similar components. This provides the extra benefit of being able to size up a machine, identify hardware problems and explore the best upgrades. The machine I reviewed is a very high-end spec, with 32GB RAM, an Intel Core i7-1260P CPU and 1TB SSD. This spec is high level and perhaps more than what is required for most people users looking to buy a laptop this portable and light. That amount of RAM also limits the number of competitors which could be be taken in comparison as bar just a couple (the Macbook’s, the enhanced versions of Dell’s and the HP’s) most will have lower RAM.

Areas Of Excel

This machine cleared the testing as you would expect. 32GB of RAM demolished every computing task set before it with ease, this included RAW photos and fast rendering times of 4K video used in both Adobe Premiere and After Effects software, the only two machines to beat it in terms of processing was the Dell XPS 15 (2022) and the HP Envy 16, the latter of which other reviewers have noted has a higher depreciation rate owing to the way the chips and processing power is configured within the system. It also handled most games although these were at normal, not enhanced settings. This should be expected; it is after all, not a dedicated gamers machine and is suited towards the business consumer with the needs of a casual gamers requirements being met as an added bonus.

Power consumption was average in the testing’s. The ThinkPad Carbon lasting nine hours off a single charge. Not as much as I would have liked, especially given that over time battery life tends to shorten with the age of the technology but for the business consumer this is not a dealbreaker and is more than enough to last most journeys and meetings combined before a recharge is required.

FINAL Verdict: A very capable machine

The ThinkPad series continues with the trend of delivering a premium quality at a requisite price tag, Here you have an ultra-transportable PC that appears delivers on power, prowess and is best for its desired market, that of commercial and enterprise staff who will require power on the go. Whilst you might spend more on a MacBook Pro, or a MacBook Air in in terms of purpose, the layout and power of the Thinkpad Carbon 10 puts it in a very similar league and with the connectivity that means it is slightly more mainstream.

There’s a lot here to like and love and for that it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars

A stunning looking machine, that combines power and portability but falls short on connectivity.

I have to say straight off the bat that there is so much to love about this machine, there really is. Opening up the box the first thing that hits you is the curves, curves, curves and more curves; it seems like any sharp 90 degree angle they wanted to smoothen and soften it, and it gives you this real prestige feeling; the feeling you get when someone pays attention to detail. The smooth curves  extend to the Bezel which houses the webcam. The second thing that hit me was the lightweight of it. Holding it in my palm it felt light, balanced, but not flimsy.

Looking at its size, It is undeniable what market this ThinkPad is aimed at. At 0.55 by 11.59 by 7.86 inches (HWD), it’s similar in dimensions to the Dell XPS 13 Plus (0.6 by 11.63 by 7.84 inches) and the Apple MacBook Air (0.44 by 11.97 by 8.46 inches), it’s a market for those that crave a powerhouse on the go. This is further evidenced by the designs available, the all-metal aluminum construction version or the discerning vegan leather edition. It’s also evidenced by its price; the bog standard 16gb ram edition arrives at a near £2k price point. Put simply, this is a laptop geared at people in business, where time is money and money is time.

Connectivity

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Trackpad

OK so I have to get this out of the way, one of my biggest disappointments with this machine was the lack of connectivity on the machines. I appreciate that what Lenovo is trying to do here is challenge the Dells and the Apple Macbooks; limiting the connections space probably to keep the the speed and size of the machine compete against its rivals, but to only have two USB-C connectors (that’s right they are the only connectors you have) is just absolutely terrible. Remember back in those days when the Macbooks were relatively new, where you turn up at a training course or meeting and there would be the one person who had one but they needed completely different wires and leads to everyone else? Do you remember what a headache it became and sometimes you would have to make do and watch it off their laptop because they wanted to be different. Yes you get that type of feeling. Out of the box, if you don’t have a multiport adapter you cannot even run a third party mouse with this.  There is no USB, HDMI, or even a card reader. Fine, you can get an adaptor but that costs and you have to carry it as well, which kind of well adds to what you’re carrying which beats the idea of having a laptop in the first place if you have to pitch up with more stuff on the train and in the meeting spaces that would expect to use it.

Visuals

The laptop’s display very good, It houses 13.3-inch IPS panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio. The slimness of the screen and its surrounding frame is also impressive, the laptop has a 91.6% screen-to-body ratio, and the quality of the visuals is great. Colours are vibrant and bright, contrast making details pop, and the laptop has great wide viewing angles.

On the top of the display is a bump that Lenovo Communications calls a bar. This is a prominent housing for a Full HD webcam with an electronic shutter and his IR capabilities for facial recognition. Next to it are two microphones with Dolby Voice noise cancellation to filter out unwanted ambient noise. While the Z13 serves a definite purpose when open, the bar also has a handy lip that easily opens and closes the slim laptop.

Usability

Almost into a week in using it and it has to be said that typing on the keyboard is a lot of fun. The keys have some base lighting which helps in darker conditions and I found that the keytrokes aren’t very deep, which is probrably down to the slim nature of the machine but each key is well separated out. Lenovo have this thing and the full-size keyboard layout is comfortable to type on.There’s also a fingerprint reader lock for basic biometric security. For those familiar with think pads, Lenovo has developed the TrackPoint; a red button in-between the keys which acts like a mouse, although it has to be said takes some getting used to. Here they have added a new double-tap feature that brings up a range of tools including adjusting camera settings, muting the mic, and even a tool to transcribe speech right into a document. All very good.

Testing the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13:

Testing of the Lenovo ThinkPad was carried out with UserBenchmark software using their freely available speed test tool tests. The software not only tests each component such as graphics cards and processing chips individually but compares the results to other users with the same and similar components. This provides the extra benefit of being able to size up a machine, identify hardware problems and explore the best upgrades. My review unit was equipped with the AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U processor and integrated Radeon 680M graphics, paired with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB solid-state drive for storage. For benchmark comparisons, I compared the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 with other premium 13-and 14-inch laptops. Among those are top models like the Apple MacBook Air (2022, M2) and Dell XPS 13 Plus, two of the best high-end thin-and-lights on the market. For a side by side comparison I also looked at the business-oriented Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10.

Areas of Excel

The ThinkPad Z13 pits its AMD Ryzen 7 Pro processor against the Core i7 CPUs used in most competing systems and Apple`s M2 processor, making it an interesting alternative to most laptops in this price range. But as Intel and Apple move toward architectures that attempt to balance performance with efficiency by using a mix of different processing cores, AMD sticks to the more traditional approach, with every processing core equally yoked for different tasks. The result is a mix of leading scores in tests like PCMark and Cinebench, but the ThinkPad Z13 lands in the middle of the pack in tests. Not being the best but not being the worst. I found the overall performance to still be incredibly fast and this makes it extremely competitive, the 16GB of RAM delivering pure power when it came to resource heavy tasks.  Complex video and photo editing tasks were not a problem, even some FX files and Adobe After-effects at HD levels were handled with ease, which easily matched the performance of other premium ultra portables. Moving into the UHD level though did slow the machine down in terms of rendering times. Here the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 with its 32GB RAM outstripped the competition with only the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio left as its competitor but given that these are different machines in terms of the processing power it’s not the one-to-one comparison that you would usually benchmark against.

Another area where the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 stands out was in the battery test, astonishingly the thin, small laptop lasted nearly 18 hours on a single charge. This easily outperformed its competitors, and here the USB-C brought an added bonus, as the battery supports fast charging, which means you can quickly recharge when you need to. In comparison against the MacBook I found the display to also be brighter and with a wider viewing angle too, this beats its competitors, especially given the size of the machine. That’s impressive.

FINAL Verdict: Premium Price with Premium Performance

I have to be honest, these are tough times for a consumer, regardless of where you are, everyone is looking to cut costs and make savings. The Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 is proud not to be the cheapest out there. BUT, if you are in the market looking for premium ultraportable space and most importantly, power, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 vindicates the real truth that you what you pay for. It easily competes with the best of the best. Its size, its shape, its design is impressive, and the AMD-powered system has performance that’s delivers. At well under 3 pounds, with nearly 18 hours of battery life, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 is a powerhouse, and if you can look past the lack of connectivity is an ultraportable laptop, with fantastic performance to go with it. In terms of the score, it’s a solid 4 out of 5 just missing out on the top score owing to the lack of connections and optical drives.

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) marks its 70^th Jubilee year in 2023 with a series of events, including an exhibition of memorabilia from its archives.

Official archivist of the CWA, Martin Edwards, said the anniversary is a, “cause for celebration, not just among its members, but among crime genre fans everywhere.”

The exhibition will be part of the Alibis in the Archives crime writing weekend which runs 9—11 June at Gladstone’s Library in Wales, as well as other special events linked to National Crime Reading Month in June. There will also be a special Jubilee reception at the Mansion House, York, as part of the CWA’s conference.

One of the UK’s most prominent writers’ societies, the CWA was founded by the prolific author John Creasey, who wrote over 600 books under various pseudonyms.

The first CWA meeting was on 5 November 1953 at the National Liberal Club in Whitehall.  The invite from Creasey for the very first meeting, read: ‘The threatened meeting of mystery writers planned for the afternoon of Thursday, November 5^th, has been arranged to take place at the  NATIONAL LIBERAL CLUB, WHITEHALL PLACE, LONDON, S.W.1 …at 2.45 for 3 p.m. (It cannot go on much longer than about 5.15 p.m. as the room is needed for politics) On arrival at the Club ask for (a) Creasey and if you get a blank stare, (b) the Oak Room…IF YOU DON’T WANT AFTERNOON TEA, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I SHOULD HATE TO ORDER IT AND SEE IT WASTED.’

Its founding aims were to provide a social network as well as help crime writers with business matters. In Creasey’s words: ‘to give reasonable hope that both the prestige and the fortunes of crime writers generally should be improved.’

In 1956, it hosted its first awards ceremony for the best crime book of the year, which went to Winston Graham, best known for Poldark. Agatha Christie was the principal guest. The oldest awards in the genre, the CWA Daggers feature the highest honour in crime writing – the CWA Diamond Dagger – which recognises careers marked by sustained excellence. Recipients over the years include PD James, Ruth Rendell, Colin Dexter, John Le Carré, Lee Child, Ann Cleeves, Ian Rankin, Martina Cole, Val McDermid, and Walter Mosley.

Today, the CWA’s determination to promote the genre remains central to its mission, seen by the success of more recent initiatives including, starting in 1999, the Debut Dagger, a competition for uncontracted writers, and National Crime Reading Month (held annually in June), both of which help to connect crime writers and readers, as well as supporting libraries and bookshops.

Maxim Jakubowski, CWA Chair, said: “As my two-year term as Chair of the CWA winds down to an end, I feel I can’t leave the scene of the crime on a better occasion than the celebration of an impressive 70 years of so many activities indefatigably supporting the crime writing community and promoting our beloved genre. We have achieved so much and it makes me very proud that we are toasting such a jubilee in 2023. I raise the tip of my fictional fedora to another brilliant 70 years, which I’m sure my successors will make as memorable.”

Vaseem Khan, Vice-Chair of the CWA, said: “Longevity in any organisation is a sign that something is going right. The CWA’s star has shone over British crime writing for seven decades, never more brightly than now. Over the years, the CWA has welcomed, championed, and recognised the greatest writers of the genre, whilst nurturing future stars. Today, the CWA continues to evolve, just as the genre has evolved to become the most popular and most inclusive in publishing. Next stop…the CWA centenary!”

About the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA)

The aim of the CWA is to support, promote and celebrate this most durable, adaptable, and successful of genres, both fiction and non-fiction, and the authors who write within it. It supports author members, plus literary agents, publishers, bloggers and editors with a monthly magazine; a digital monthly newsletter from sister organisation the Crime Readers’ Association, showcasing CWA authors’ books and events that goes to circa 12,000 subscribers; and Case Files, a bimonthly ezine highlighting new books by CWA members. www.thecra.co.uk  The CWA supports as yet unpublished writers with a bespoke group, The Debuts, many of whom enter the Debut Dagger competition and the Margery Allingham Short Mystery competition.

The CWA run an annual conference and hold chapter meetings throughout the UK, so members can access face-to-face networking and socialising.  It also runs National Crime Reading Month in June: www.crimereading.com  The CWA supports libraries and booksellers, with three Library Champions and a Booksellers Champion. It has links with various festivals and other writers’ organisations such as the Society of Authors.

CWA website, Facebook, Twitter #CWADaggers and YouTube.

d25bf24d13b2f9037588b06cf7397832

I adored Odysea’s range of meze. It’s healthy and delicious. Enjoy the flavours of the Mediterranean, courtesy of Odysea’s new range of meze. Forget uninspiring salads, transport yourself to sunny Greece with the pop of a jar and feast on Odysea’s diverse range of colourful dips, meze and olives.

With the choice of 11 new naturally vegan products that can be found at your local Sainsbury’s store, mix and match your favourites for a quick and simple plant-based meal, packed full of big flavours to treat your tastebuds.

Dip with a difference and spice up your meze board with Odysea’s vegan-friendly Harissa Houmous and Spicy Ajvar. The silky smooth ambient Houmous and smoky roasted red pepper and aubergine Ajvar add a warming addition that’s welcome at January mealtimes. Ready-to-eat and wonderfully versatile, slather on toast, dip with crunchy crudités or crispy pitas, or elevate your salads, sandwiches, roasted veg and more.

For added bite to your vegan spread, break out the Baked Gigantes Beans, which are cooked slowly in a full-flavoured tomato sauce with sprinklings of Mediterranean herbs and extra virgin olive oil. These beans, alongside Odysea’s Chickpeas in Tomato Sauce, can be enjoyed hot or cold as a starter, are an ideal base for stews and traybakes and are the willing co-stars in a plant-based Mediterranean meze feast.

Start your meal with fresh and vibrant traditional Greek appetisers and opt for Odysea’s Aubergine Imam or Stuffed Vine Leaves. The Imam features roasted aubergine in a rich tomatoey sauce, flavoured with onions, garlic, herbs and spices, while the Stuffed Vine Leaves, or dolmades, are filled with a traditional rice and onion filling, studded with raisins and pine nuts. Both of these new meze will beautifully enhance any meal.

Odysea’s new naturally vegan products feature three varieties of stuffed olives that you’ll want to include in your stock of vegan meze this January. Try Piri Piri Gordal Olives, plump Gordal olives filled with spicy piri piri peppers, delve into a jar of Double Stuffed Red Pepper and Almond Olives, Halkidiki olives filled with red pepper and creamy almonds for a vibrant meze that celebrates a trio of Mediterranean flavours, or tickle your tastebuds with tangy Gherkin Stuffed Olives, sweet olives that pair with the crunch of gherkins for a textured meze that’s great for snacking.

These new naturally vegan products join Odysea’s extensive range of Greek and Mediterranean meze. Drawing on Odysea’s meticulous focus on provenance, quality and authenticity, each jar unlocks an irresistible taste of the Med.

NEW ANTIPASTI:

Odysea Spicy Ajvar £2.75
Odysea Harissa Houmous £2.75
Odysea Aubergine Imam £2.80
Odysea Chickpeas in Tomato Sauce £2.80
Odysea Stuffed Vine Leaves (new easy-open jar) £2.80
Odysea Baked Gigantes Beans (new easy-open jar) £2.80 

NEW OLIVES

Odysea Gherkin Stuffed Olives £2.80
Odysea Double Stuffed Red Pepper & Almond Olives £2.80
Odysea Piri Piri Stuffed Gordal Olives £2.80
Odysea Etna Nocellara Pitted Olives with Lime and Chilli £2.80
Odysea Big Gordal Pitted Olives £2.80

About Odysea: Founded in 1991, having started as a stall on Portobello Road Market, Odysea is a fine food producer, specialising in sourcing products from Greece and the Mediterranean.

Twitter @Odysea_Ltd
Facebook: @Odysea.Ltd
Instagram: @Odysea_Ltd