Toyo Ito, the innovative Japanese architect, just won the esteemed 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

The 71-year-old architect has designed dozens of structures, from homes to libraries, around the world.

He is known for his fluid, airy style and his ability to bring a natural feel into his structures.

Ito was born in Seoul, South Korea, but spent the majority of his life in Japan. After graduating from Tokyo University in 1965, he worked for six years before starting his own firm. For more than four decades, Ito's buildings have been popping up around the world.

The sixth Japanese winner of the Pritzker Prize, Ito joins the ranks of world-famous architects like Frank Gehry, I.M. Pei, and Renzo Piano.

Sendai Mediatheque, a library in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, is widely regarded as one of Ito's best works. The multi-purpose building also houses galleries, studios, and a cafe.

Everything inside the modern glass building is transparent, including the internal tubes and pipes used for ventilation and wiring.

'Silver Hut' is Ito's own home. Built in 1984, it is next to 'U House,' which he designed for his sister.

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When Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson asked entrepreneurs to send him world-changing business ideas, a four-person startup in Chicago jumped at the chance.

Michael Tang's company, Raise5, was only a few months old then. It is an online platform where people can buy and sell services, kind of like Craigslist, that launched in February 2012. But instead of keeping the payments, the service providers on Raise5 donate the money to their favorite charities. 

"We help people who wouldn't normally be donating to give money to causes," Raise5 tells Business Insider.

Tang and his partners, Shayan Nahrvar, Hassan Hassan and Jesse D’Andrade beat out 500 other applicants and won a trip to South Africa with Branson himself.

"Raise5 is simple, entrepreneurial and it works. It stood out to me as a perfect example of how anyone can think differently to affect change," Branson has said of their startup.

Nahrvar, Raise5's Chief Development Officer, left on March 1 for Africa and visited two places, Johannesburg and Ulusaba. Branson's Virgin Unites team does a lot of work with emerging entrepreneurs there.

He documented the experience and shared it all with Business Insider.

Fresh off the plane from Chicago! At London’s Heathrow Airport in the Virgin Terminal. Next stop: South Africa.

Landed in Johannesburg at a small airport. It was not your typical airport, it had a very homey cafe atmosphere.

We took a charter flight from the airport to Sir Richard Branson’s private game reserve Ulusaba.

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A New York-based startup is giving small businesses, big brands, and e-commerce companies physical spaces where they can connect with consumers in a cohesive way. 

STORY launches a themed store every few weeks. Past themes have included love, wellness, and color. 

Founder Rachel Shechtman describes her business as "a dating service using storytelling as the matchmaker between brands and consumers." 

While not all of STORY's featured brands are traditionally e-commerce, Shechtman has made an effort to integrate online like never before. 

The brand has worked with startups including Birchbox, ArtSpace, and Quirky. 

"We are a living advertorial – and one in which the sponsor aka ‘advertiser’ adds credibility and conversation to the subject matter therefore driving impact in real life and a compelling story," Shechtman told us. 

Her business was profitable in the first year and has received international attention because of the unique experience it creates for shoppers. 

STORY just launched its latest theme ART in partnership with Art.com open through April 16^th – the store is in the swanky Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan.  

STORY launched in beta as "A Start-Up Store" in 2011 in New York City.

Founder Rachel Shechtman is a consultant who has worked with brands including Gap, Kraft, and Lincoln.

STORY stores have themes, such as "wellness." All products fit into the theme.

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The FBI is once again ramping up its efforts to solve the largest art theft in history, a 23-year-old case in which $500 million worth of paintings and other works were stolen from a Boston art museum.

The agency announced today that it had identified the two people who had committed the crime. It also launched a publicity campaign aimed at uncovering the 13 missing works, for which the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is offering a $5 million reward.

Investigators have said in the past that they hope to crack the case by using tactics like those used to capture notorious gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, who was eventually caught after authorities publicized the case on billboards, TV commercials, and other ads, according to the Associated Press.

As art thefts go, the 1990 heist at Boston's Gardner Museum was one of the most brazen in history. Click through to see the missing works and read how it went down.

The theft took place in the early morning hours of March 18, 1990 – 23 years ago today.

Vermeer, The Concert

Source: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

It occured at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Saint Patrick's Day, a Sunday when most of the city was preoccupied with celebrations.

Rembrandt, A Lady and Gentleman in Black

Source: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

A pair of thieves posing as Boston police officers showed up at the museum and said they were responding to a call.

Rembrandt, Self-Portrait

Source: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

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Stocks are within a few points of their all-time highs.  However there are a few signs that the market's bull run could soon hit a few bumps.

In his latest research note, JP Morgan's Tom Lee says he is remaining cautious on stocks due to higher taxes, rising gas prices and the sequestration budget cuts.

Lee has put together 15 stocks that could leave investors insulated to any oncoming volatility. Here's what makes them unique.

"Interestingly, in the last 11 5%- pullbacks since 2009, this group of 15 stocks outperformed the S&P 500 8 of the 11," wrote Lee.  "In other words, these names provide exposure to a portfolio of US stocks that could be seen as relatively safe, even in the anticipation of a pullback."

The screening criteria: less than 15 months of both a) negative monthly absolute performance, and b) relative monthly underperformance (vs SPX) of more than 150bps. And, the largest monthly relative underperformance (since 2009) is no greater than 8 percent.

Dentsply International

Ticker: XRAY

Implied upside (downside): NA

Largest monthly underperformance:
-6.5 percent

Industry: Health care supplies

Comment: Dentsply just raised its dividend by 13.6 percent.  

Source: JPM

Loews Corp.

Ticker: L

Implied upside (downside): NA

Largest monthly underperformance: 
-7.4 percent

Industry: Insurance

Comment: Loews stock just hit a 52-week high.  

Source: JPM

3M

Ticker: MMM

Implied upside (downside): (8 percent)

Largest monthly underperformance: 
-6.6 percent

Industry: Finished products conglomerate

Comment: 3M shares are up 17 percent since December.  

Source: JPM

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The tiny island country of Cyprus is in the spotlight this week for a surprise bailout plan that was specifically designed to tax deposits held by Russian gangsters and oligarchs.

You see, wealthy Russians love the country's lax citizenship requirements, which provides an easy way to get black money into the European Union.

But that can't be all that Russians love about Cyprus, right? 

The Mediterranean nation is home to more than 10,000 Russians, notably in the coastal city of Limassol, which is home to several Russian schools, Russian-language newspapers, and boutiques that sell some of the world's best mink coats.

So many Russians have made their home in the coastal port city of Limassol that they jokingly refer to the city as "Limassolgrad."

Source: Reuters

Limassol's tourist strip, which faces the water, has stores that cater to the Russians, selling everything from kefir (a Russian yogurt drink) to Russian beer.

Source: The Guardian

It's clear that the Russians are big buyers here when you see the large billboards advertising sea view villas and apartments — in Russian.

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In mid-February, an engine room fire onboard the Carnival Cruises ship Triumph left more than 4,000 passengers stranded in the Gulf of Mexico, with no hot water and few working toilets.

A month later, just as the incident was fading from the public eye, the diesel generator in the Carnival Dream malfunctioned, while the ship was at port, and passengers were flown home.

The next week, Carnival Legend had a technical issue with its sailing speed, and was sent back to its destination in Tampa, canceling a scheduled stop.

This recent string of public relations disasters is not a new phenomenon for Carnival: Its first ship ran aground on a sandbar on its inaugural voyage. There have been fires on four ships since 1998.

The Costa Concordia, operated by a Carnival subsidiary, struck a reef of the coast of Italy in January 2012, killing 32 people.

But despite its checkered past, the increased cost of maintaining its aging fleet, and the need to cut prices to draw customers put off by recent fires and strandings, Carnival's bottom line has not badly suffered.

In fact, its quarterly earnings and revenue just beat market expectations, and Carnival executives say bookings have already bounced back in the wake of the heavily publicized Triumph disaster.

Problems started early for Carnival: The TSS Mardi Gras, its first cruise ship, ran aground on a sandbar during its inaugural voyage, in 1972.

Everything was fine until July 1998, when a fire started in the main laundry room of the Ecstasy, soon after the ship left Miami.

A fleet of tugboats fought the fire and pulled the ship to shore, but not before 8 passengers and 14 crew members were injured.

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At 36,000 feet below sea level, it's perpetually dark, freezing cold, and there's enough pressure to liquefy human bones. 

Welcome to the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot on Earth.

Even in one of the most inhospitable places on our planet, certain life thrives.  

Researchers announced on Sunday that bacteria live in booming communities, feeding on the remains of dead animals, algae, and other microbes.  

Prior explorations of the Mariana Trench, including James Cameron's recent manned exploration of the trench and a 2011 expedition by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, have revealed that other, larger deep-sea species manage to survive at unimaginable depths.  

Although there's an endless number of creatures waiting to be discovered since only a very small fraction of the sea floor has been explored, here's a look at what scientists have found so far.

Giant, single-celled Xenophyophores: The sponge-like animals were found in 2011 at a depth of 6.6 miles by footage from National Geographic's Dropcams. The organisms are about four inches long.

Source: National Geographic

Deep-sea microbial mats: Clumps of microorganisms were found in samples collected during James Cameron's mission to the bottom of the trench in 2012.

Amphipods: Seven-inch-long crustaceans that look like shrimp were found in the deepest part of the trench, called Challenger Deep.

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For retirees hoping to live long and prosper in their golden years, the U.S. may not be the best option, according to the recently released Natixis Global Retirement Index. 

The humbling report places Western European countries far ahead of the U.S. in areas like health, finances, quality of life, and material well-being.

“The message is clear: You will be called on to finance more of your retirement,” John Hailer, NGAM’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

“Citizens of other industrialized nations can rely on strong social safety nets in old age, at least for now. In the U.S., we encourage workers to plan, save and invest, and promote policies that help them meet their future needs.”

We've highlighted the 21 highest ranking countries for retirement, according to the index.

21. Italy

Health: 8.2/10
Finances: 5.9/10
Quality of life: 8.0/10

Rounding out the top 21, Italy scores high in health and overall quality of life, but it is struggling through an economic crisis of its own. 

20. United Kingdom

Health: 8.1/10
Finances: 5.6/10
Quality of life: 8.3/10

The U.K. may be in a worse financial state than the U.S. at the moment, but it does post a higher quality of life and was ranked higher for overall health. 

19. United States

Health: 8.1/10
Finances: 6.9/10
Quality of life: 7.4/10

Despite is generally high quality of life and decent health ranking, the U.S. isn't one of the most financially stable places for retirees.

Fixed costs like health care and housing are increasing, and consumers approaching retirement likely saw their nest eggs shrink during the recession. 

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Apple and Samsung have emerged as the two dominant players in the smartphone wars.

In light of Samsung recently unveiling the Galaxy S4, which is right on par with the competition from a hardware perspective, Apple has unleashed a new advertising campaign that highlights why people love their iPhones.

So, which company is cooler? A company is arguably only as cool as the people who like it. We decided to take a look into what else Samsung and Apple fans like on Facebook. 

Skip directly to the data >

A company called Likester has tracked over 1.2 billion Facebook Likes from tens of millions of users. Its marketing tool, Likester Pro, lets brands see what else their fans like.

All you have to do is type a company's name into the Likester engine to learn about what the company's fans like to read, watch on TV, and even where they like to shop. 

Likester founder Kevin McCarthy was kind enough to give us an account to explore what Samsung and Apple fans like. So we dove right in to Likester's trove of data to see if Apple and Samsung people are all that different. 

We specifically analyzed the likes on Apple's official Facebook page, though, it appears that Apple has never actually posted to its page. Samsung, on the other hand, has several Facebook pages, but we specifically looked at the Samsung Mobile USA page. 

Apple has a ton of Brazilian fans, and they are mostly men.

Collectively, they also love music more than anything else, and are mostly men (62%).

Total fans: 8,853,589

Samsung's fans are American and female.

The majority of people who like Samsung's Mobile USA page are unsurprisingly based in the U.S., and they skew female. A majority (51%) of its fans are female. 

Total fans: 22,729,575

Apple fans like "The Simpsons" more than any other TV show

"The Simpsons" has a total of 62,231,072 likes. 

Overlap between Apple and The Simpsons: 13,590 likes

Other shows Apple customers like include Two and a Half Men (11,896 overlap) and The Big Bang Theory (8,363). 

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Spring and then summer will be here before we know it and that means Wall Streeters will start heading out to the golf course after work and on the weekends.  

So that got us thinking.

Which bankers and hedge fund managers are the best on the fairway?  

We combed through the latest handicap data of some of the Street's biggest names compiled by GHIN, a website run by the U.S. Golf Association.

We've included a full rundown of Wall Street golfers in the slides that follow.  We also threw in some of the more infamous names who are no longer on the Street.  

Some of these golfers are very, very talented, while others could use a bit more practice. Take Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein for instance. He seems to find shooting low scores a difficult endeavor.

Keep in mind, the higher the handicap number, the worse the player is in comparison to others with lower handicaps.

Also, JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon doesn't golf. His two predecessors at JPMorgan were members of the prestigious Augusta National Golf Club though. 

If you know of anyone who should be on the list that we omitted, please email us at jlaroche@businessinsider.com.

Anthony Scaramucci (Handicap Index: 28.4)

Firm/Title: Skybridge Capital, founder

Where He's Played: Hudson National Golf Club and Plandome Country Club

Last Golf Outing: October 2003 

He's a good sport about it though. When asked for comment, he said, "Really? Who knew? I thought the highest score is what mattered."

Source: GHIN

Lloyd Blankfein (Handicap Index: 23.8)

Firm/Title: Goldman Sachs, CEO 

Where He's Played: Blind Brook Club, East Hampton Golf Club, Sebonack Golf Club and Manhattan Woods Golf Club

Last Golf Outing: July 2012

Source: GHIN

James Gorman (Handicap Index: 20.0)

Firm/Title: Morgan Stanley, CEO

Where He's Played: Millbrook Golf & Tennis Club, Blind Brook Club and Winged Foot Golf Club.

Last Golf Outing: August 2012

Source: GHIN

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Now that Tim Geithner has been relieved of his duties as Treasury Secretary, he can do all the things that former Treasury Secretaries do — write books, speak on TV programs, hang out with his family, and most importantly, leave Washington.

That's why Geithner's Bethesda, Maryland, home is now on the market, Curbed DC reports.

Geithner and his wife bought it for $950,000 in 2009 and are now selling it for $995,000.

In case you were ever wondering, Tim Geithner is not a fancy guy. His four bedroom house is pretty modest, yet spacious. 

Matt Modesitt of Redfin has the listing.

As you can see, this house isn't over-the-top.

The entrance is minimal.

Let's go into the living room.

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There remains controversy over just how long America's current energy boom will last.

Some, like University of Chicago professor Raymond Pierrehumbert argue we are totally overlooking the rapid depletion rate of shale oil and gas wells. This is among other signs of a slowdown.

But there are plenty of experts who would argue such notions are off the mark.

Using data from the Energy Information Administration and Canadian energy consultancy ITG, we have put together what we think is a comprehensive review of the American shale story.  Ultimately, we think that you'll conclude that "Saudi America" is real and here to stay.

Quick review: Fracking involves injecting large volumes of fluids and small particles like sand into a well to free up oil or gas.

It's a great way to access otherwise hard-to-reach energy.

Currently, 1,752 wells in operation drilling both shale and conventional rocks in the U.S.

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Facebook recently redesigned its news feed so users can look at its Timeline feature in a bunch of different ways.

Many of the photos and videos brands currently use on their pages are going to appear even bigger and brighter.

Yet some advertisers have yet to take full advantage of the large-scale palette they've been offered, as we noted last year.

Here are 18 big, brand-name advertisers who aren't using Facebook's Timeline to its full advantage. (See also our list of the best Timelines here.)

DISNEY has 43 million fans so it must be doing something right. Nonetheless, it would be nice to get a little more info on items from the company's archive. This appears to be a draft sketch of Wendy from Peter Pan, but the post never actually said that.

SMIRNOFF: It's harder to be an alcohol brand on Facebook because of the age restrictions. But even so, Smirnoff's page underperforms. Almost every post is a self-serving promotion using generic product beauty shots.

Brooks Brothers: Last year, we hailed Brooks Bros for using Timeline to show off its historical archives. This year we're putting the brand in the 'must try harder' category — its Timeline was cluttered with these repeated discount offers. This one garnered only 14 likes. In general, people on Facebook want to be entertained, not sold.

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On March 19, 2003, as troops packed gear into their trucks on the Iraq-Kuwait border and loaded weapons for combat, President George W. Bush told the American people he had given the order to attack.

"At this hour, American and coalition forces are at the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from grave danger," he said.

Ten years later, however, it is clear that most of the reasons given for the second post-9/11 war were dubious at best.

Rachel Maddow recently aired a documentary (which will re-air on Mar. 22 at 9 EST) called Hubris: Selling the Iraq War, in which she reminds us of how we got to that moment.

The documentary is based on a new book by Michael Isikoff and David Corn. It begins with the devastation of the 9/11 attacks ...

One day later, Pres. Bush ordered his counterterrorism director to find an Iraq connection.

Richard Clarke told the President: "We've done it before ... and the answer has always been no, and it's likely to be no this time."

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From traditional two-story homes to state-of-the art skyscrapers, Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, is a mix of traditional and modern.

Lucien Zeigler, research director for the non-profit Saudi-U.S. Trade Group, took some Instagram photos on a recent trip to Riyadh showing the modern side of the city.

They are accompanied here by Zeigler's own captions.

"The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Designed by Henning Larsens Architects, the new city adjacent to Riyadh will also be known simply as “Riyadh’s Financial District” and will host many of the financial institutions operating in Saudi Arabia."

"The Kingdom Tower in Riyadh is the symbol of the city. The largest building in Riyadh has a large mall, offices, and a Four Seasons hotel. Also known as the “Kingdom Centre,” the building was completed in 2002."

"Another view of the Kingdom Tower at night."

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Lululemon's recall of its sought-after yoga pants — because they're sheer enough to become see-through— isn't the first weird event in the company's history.

Lululemon's story is just one weird chapter after another.

Did you know the company took its name because the founder believed Japanese people wouldn't be able to pronounce it?

Or that the company once claimed falsely that its pants were made with seaweed?

The pants recall is, in fact, serious business for Lululemon. Luon pants represent 17 percent of the chain's entire stock; they're $98 a pair and revenue growth at the company was already slowing before the recall was announced.

The screw up came a little more than a year after founder Chip Wilson stepped aside to be replaced as CEO by Christine Day.

The founder is an Ayn Rand fan and the company takes its values from Atlas Shrugged.

Late in 2011, the company began printing the phrase "Who is John Galt?" on its shopping bags. Galt, of course, is the star of Rand's "objectivist" novel, "Atlas Shrugged," which argues that the naked pursuit of self-interest should be society's highest ambition. Founder Chip Wilson read the book when he was 18.

Wilson believes the birth control pill and smoking are responsible for high divorce rates — and the existence of Lululemon itself.

Here's what Wilson says of his company's origins:

"Women’s lives changed immediately [after the pill]. ... Men did not know how to relate to the new female. Thus came the era of divorces.

"With divorce and publicity around equality, women in the 1970′s/80′s found themselves operating as “Power Women.” The media convinced women that they could win at home and be a man’s equal in the business world. Women put in 12 hour work days, attempted to keep a clean and orderly house, and give their children all the love they had pre-divorce. What they gave up however was their social life, exercise, balance, and sleep.

"The 1980′s gave way to Power Women dressing like men in boardroom attire with big shoulder pads. They went to 3 martini lunches and smoked because this is what their “successful” fathers did in the business world.

"Breast cancer also came into prominence in the 1990’s. I suggest this was due to the number of cigarette-smoking Power Women who were on the pill (initial concentrations of hormones in the pill were very high) and taking on the stress previously left to men in the working world.

"Ultimately, Lululemon was formed because female education levels, breast cancer, yoga/athletics and the desire to dress feminine came together all at one time."

Wilson created the name 'Lululemon' because he thinks Japanese people can't say the letter 'L.'

He told Canada's National Post Business Magazine, "It's funny to watch them try and say it," when asked about his views on the Japanese pronunciation of the company's name.

In 2009, he wrote:

It was thought that a Japanese marketing firm would not try to create a North American sounding brand with the letter “L” because the sound does not exist in Japanese phonetics. By including an “L” in the name it was thought the Japanese consumer would find the name innately North American and authentic.

In essence, the name “lululemon” has no roots and means nothing other than it has 3 “L’s” in it.  Nothing more and nothing less.

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How do Trojan viruses infect your computer? Where does spam come from? How do hackers gain control over your computer?

Often times, the answer is via botnet.

A botnet is nothing more than a small program that people install (usually without realizing it) that "phones home" to another computer and carries out whatever instructions it's given.

On it's own, a single infected computer isn't much to write home about. But when you're talking about 100 or 1,000 (and often times even more) computers, a hacker has a lot of computing power at his disposal.

One of the most popular means of gaining access to a computer is to hide a Trojan in an email attachment that joins the botnet upon installation. This happens without the user's knowledge or consent. From here, the botnet owner can deploy commands to his collection of compromised computers.

One of the most widely-used botnets is called Zeus.

Zeus is one of the most widely-used botnets on the internet today. It's estimated to have infected 3.6 million computers in the United States and many more worldwide.

You can customize your own build using free software.

Using readily-available software that's nothing more than a search away, people who mean you harm can get a customized Zeus botnet up and running in minutes. At this point, they distribute it, most likely via email.

They'll employ a little bit of human engineering to get you to install a program that connects back to a server that they control. At this point, they are able to send commands to your computer.

There are a few communities online where people trade botnet tricks and tips.

The Botting Network is one of the largest of these. People who run their own botnets (whether for legitimate or illegitimate purposes) will come together to trade tips and thoughts on maintaining a botnet.

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Zev Chafets' look at one of the most powerful figures in the conservative movement — Fox News president Roger Ailes — was released on Tuesday. 

In Roger Ailes: Off Camera, Chafets was given nearly unprecedented access to Ailes, and their discussions revealed some untold factoids about Ailes and his network. Ailes and Chafets talked about everything from Ailes' mentorship of then-fledgling radio host Rush Limbaugh to an unlikely friendship with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, who calls him the "most important Republican in the country."

Ailes really hates CNN.

Ailes has a longstanding feud with CNN and its founder, Ted Turner, who famously compared Ailes' and Fox's rise to that of Hitler. 

"I wouldn't say he wants everyone over there dead, but it's close," Fox anchor Shep Smith told Chafets of Ailes' view toward CNN.

Chafets also detailed the scene at Ailes' 72nd birthday last May, a night that saw host Sean Hannity's show outpace CNN's Piers Morgan's viewership by nearly 10-to-1. 

"It was a victory of epic proportions," Chafets writes, which Ailes, wife Beth and son Zac "celebrated with a homemade birthday cake."

Ailes says he never had an affair with Barbara Walters, but he "probably could have."

Ailes and Walters have a longstanding friendship that dates back to the mid-1960s. Ailes told Chafets that they even went out for a couple dates.

"I dated Barbara a couple times, or took her out as an escort, but we never had an affair," Ailes said. "We probably could have at some point, but we were always married or between marriages or talking about marrying someone. We never got beyond that point. But we trusted one another, and we still do."

President Barack Obama and Ailes met at the White House Christmas party in 2009.

Chafets detailed some behind-the-scenes angles of Obama's testy relationship with Fox News, including when Obama met Ailes at the 2009 White House Christmas party.

"Here comes the most powerful man in America," Obama joked when he saw Ailes. 

"Don't believe that bullshit, Mr. President," Ailes replied, according to Chafets. "I started that rumor myself."

Ailes told Chafets that he didn't want to go to the media Christmas party, but he did so because of the opportunity to introduce his son to the President.

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Google's new Chromebook is an awesome looking laptop.

I've been using it for the past few days and I'm really enjoying the experience.

The Pixel is a great device to have while you're watching TV sitting on the couch, or whenever you need to casually browse the internet.

I've played around with Chromebooks before. The experience was good, but it didn't feel like I was using a high quality product.

It's not all perfect though. After spending a few days with the Pixel, I found a lot of things I love and hate about Google's first laptop.

Love: The Pixel's design is gorgeous.

The design of the Chromebook Pixel is amazing.

The Pixel is solid and substantial, unlike the MacBook Air, which is made to feel light and thin. The Pixel doesn't feel heavy, it weights just 3.3 pounds, yet it feels solid.

There are no visible screws, logos are subtle, and the keyboard feels amazing. It's a work of art, and I haven't said that about a non-Apple product in a while.

I do have a slight gripe with the charger. Maybe it's because Apple's version is magnetic, but it seemed as if the Pixel's charger popped out at inopportune times.

Hate: There's no need for a touchscreen

In my experience, the touch screen was a clever addition, but it still felt awkward to use.

Multitouch gestures like pinch-to-zoom only works on a few Google apps and didn't really add much to the laptop. I imagine once Google and app developers work together to make more apps and touch features for the Pixel I'll grow to like the touchscreen.

I think The New York Times' David Pogue said it best, "...web sites aren’t designed for finger operation -- links are generally too small. So the addition of the touch screen is a little superfluous, and of course it adds thickness, weight and cost to the laptop."

Love: The screen is better than the one on Apple's MacBook with Retina display

The Pixel's has a high-resolution display with a density of 239 pixels per inch. That's slightly sharper than the resolution on Apple's MacBook Pros.

Text is crisp and clear and pictures and HD video look brilliant.

After looking at the Chromebook for a while and then switching to a lesser-quality screen, it took a second for my eyes to readjust.

All laptops need high-quality screens like this. 

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