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DISCLAIMER: I bought this kit months ago and it has worked well, but I find I use better alternatives to pretty much all of the tools in the kit now. For that reason, I only mean this review as a word of warning to people who are pretty sure they are going to be doing a lot of modelling, if you are just starting out or trying modelling, this is a great purchase because most serious nippers alone will run you more than the whole kit! That being said here's an overview of my issues with what is included.
Knife: An Xacto or equivalent is a better knife than the one in the kit, sharper, more easily controlled, and THINNER which is so important for removing nubs or flash.
Nippers: A set of nippers such as Xuron 2175ET or Tamiya 74035 are much sharper, more comfortable, and cut plastic with less warp which creates pits or nubs.
Tweezers and File: Nearly ANY set of model files or tweezers will be superior to the included ones as these are the weakest elements of the kit. The tweezers have basically no grip and are for decals only, and for that purpose the flat side of a knife is better because it will not mark the printed side of the sticker.
Screwdrivers: Sometimes convenient but relatively unnecessary for most kits and you most likely have a pair already.
So in the end you are basically paying around 15 bucks for a pair of basic nippers and some mediocre additional tools. These suggestions will naturally run more money than this kit, but if you know you are going to make models a real hobby they are well worth the investment to improve the experience. | 1 | neutral | [
"DISCLAIMER: I bought this kit months ago and it has worked well, but I find I use better alternatives to pretty much all of the tools in the kit now.",
"For that reason, I only mean this review as a word of warning to people who are pretty sure they are going to be doing a lot of modelling, if you are just starting out or trying modelling, this is a great purchase because most serious nippers alone will run you more than the whole kit!",
"That being said here's an overview of my issues with what is included.",
"Knife: An Xacto or equivalent is a better knife than the one in the kit, sharper, more easily controlled, and THINNER which is so important for removing nubs or flash.",
"Nippers: A set of nippers such as Xuron 2175ET or Tamiya 74035 are much sharper, more comfortable, and cut plastic with less warp which creates pits or nubs.",
"Tweezers and File: Nearly ANY set of model files or tweezers will be superior to the included ones as these are the weakest elements of the kit.",
"The tweezers have basically no grip and are for decals only, and for that purpose the flat side of a knife is better because it will not mark the printed side of the sticker.",
"Screwdrivers: Sometimes convenient but relatively unnecessary for most kits and you most likely have a pair already.",
"So in the end you are basically paying around 15 bucks for a pair of basic nippers and some mediocre additional tools.",
"These suggestions will naturally run more money than this kit, but if you know you are going to make models a real hobby they are well worth the investment to improve the experience."
] |
I chose this book from the free download section, and being free I was impressed by the quality and the full length of the story. This is the kind of book that normally would sell for around $8-12.
It starts and ends with a lot of melodrama and our heroine's suffering will just go on and on. She is likable nevertheless, strong, smart and opinionated despite her circumstances, except when it comes to submit to the man she loves. She has a lot in common with the hero of this story, both having been fiscally abused in their youth. Both not exactly honorable. And this is something refreshing, the duplicity of the main characters, that makes them more complex and human.
Also the clash between and England educated girl and the more loose social boundaries in "the colonies" is interesting to me. The other refreshing aspect is that both characters are not even remotely part of the nobility, which is uncommon for this genre.
Finally, the premise of being an "impostor" does not fail to give a lot of suspenseful situations, some that are resolved in unpredictable ways. | 1 | neutral | [
"I chose this book from the free download section, and being free I was impressed by the quality and the full length of the story.",
"This is the kind of book that normally would sell for around $8-12.",
"It starts and ends with a lot of melodrama and our heroine's suffering will just go on and on.",
"She is likable nevertheless, strong, smart and opinionated despite her circumstances, except when it comes to submit to the man she loves.",
"She has a lot in common with the hero of this story, both having been fiscally abused in their youth.",
"Both not exactly honorable.",
"And this is something refreshing, the duplicity of the main characters, that makes them more complex and human.",
"Also the clash between and England educated girl and the more loose social boundaries in \"the colonies\" is interesting to me.",
"The other refreshing aspect is that both characters are not even remotely part of the nobility, which is uncommon for this genre.",
"Finally, the premise of being an \"impostor\" does not fail to give a lot of suspenseful situations, some that are resolved in unpredictable ways."
] |
It is a real shame that they managed to take the stick from NWN and not run with it. The story is okay, the menus are a pain and difficult to work with. They really messed up the multiplayer portion in the campaign mode. Everyone playing freezes as you talk to NPCs. Even at the merchants. If one person zones, everyone has to zone. There are way too many cut-scenes. I found NWN more enjoyable even with its limitations. What can i say. It's an okay RPG, fun enough to pay at a moderate price... could/should have been so much better. | 1 | neutral | [
"It is a real shame that they managed to take the stick from NWN and not run with it.",
"The story is okay, the menus are a pain and difficult to work with.",
"They really messed up the multiplayer portion in the campaign mode.",
"Everyone playing freezes as you talk to NPCs.",
"Even at the merchants.",
"If one person zones, everyone has to zone.",
"There are way too many cut-scenes.",
"I found NWN more enjoyable even with its limitations.",
"What can i say.",
"It's an okay RPG, fun enough to pay at a moderate price...",
"could/should have been so much better."
] |
Then it gets too hard and very frustrating. I'm not a spider. I can't seem to find a way to crawl all the way to the top of the Vulture's "home." The controls are solid. The combos are pretty cool. The game seems big enough. It's challenging and fun at times. I can only play the same level about a thousand times before I get too frustrated to continue. I've got upwards of 30 games and this one is smack dab in the middle. If you're a big Spidey fan like me, get it. Just don't be surprised if it gets too hard. | 1 | neutral | [
"Then it gets too hard and very frustrating.",
"I'm not a spider.",
"I can't seem to find a way to crawl all the way to the top of the Vulture's \"home.",
"\" The controls are solid.",
"The combos are pretty cool.",
"The game seems big enough.",
"It's challenging and fun at times.",
"I can only play the same level about a thousand times before I get too frustrated to continue.",
"I've got upwards of 30 games and this one is smack dab in the middle.",
"If you're a big Spidey fan like me, get it.",
"Just don't be surprised if it gets too hard."
] |
Never before has Pink Floyd rocked out with such contempt for society and its inability to solve its most glaring problems. Unfortunately, though that contempt is clearly genuine, the album cannot be saved by its own most glaring problem: the three songs that make up the body of Animals are too long for their own good. The album starts off well enough with "Pigs on the Wing, Part One," a minute-and-a-half piece about a typical subject in rock, love and its endearing qualities. However, nothing Pink Floyd ever did was typical and this is certainly not a typical love song. The album ends with "Pigs on the Wing, Part Two," which is the same song as the first but with different lyrics, also lasting a minute and a half. The three remaining songs explode with such angst-ridden rage that, upon hearing them, the average listener may feel it necessary to go out and commit various acts of violence against his fellow man. Animals' main theme deals with the obvious differences between society's classes, a situation that front man Roger Waters finds inexcusable. "Dogs" is a 17-minute ballad about the people who became known as yuppies in the decade that followed the release of this album. As Waters sees it, these high achievers obtain riches by exploiting lower classes and backstabbing their way to the top. This belief is especially evident in the following three lines: "You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to/ So that when they turn your backs on you/ You'll get the chance to put the knife in." The song that follows this lengthy diatribe, "Pigs (Three Different Ones)," is even more straightforward in its disapproval of certain groups of people. This one lasts eleven and a half minutes and is punctuated by lines such as, "You radiate cold shafts of broken glass." Much of this song is spent mocking authority figures like the police, public officials, military, and self-appointed moralists who proclaim to know what is best for everyone else. The latter group is seen in the form of Mary Whitehead, a British woman who became famous by attacking the suggestive lyrics of rock artists. Waters has nothing but contempt for these people and the restricting effects they have on everyone else's freedom. After "Pigs" comes "Sheep," an ultimately forgettable song about the lower classes of society rising up from oppression and conquering their oppressors. This one comes in at a little over ten minutes, and therein lies the album's biggest problem: the three main songs are way too long. "Dogs" could have easily been chopped down to twelve minutes while "Pigs" would have been precious at eight. "Sheep" is easily the album's weak link and after listening to it, most Floyd fans will wonder how it made its way onto the album in the first place. Despite its obvious shortcomings, Animals flows extremely well and is a strong musical achievement. By the time it was made, Waters operated almost total control of the group and it shows. The lyrics are strong, the music is solid for the most part, and one can rest assured that this band is always attemting to make progress in everything it does. Good predecessor to the even-more ambitious Floyd album that would follow. | 1 | neutral | [
"Never before has Pink Floyd rocked out with such contempt for society and its inability to solve its most glaring problems.",
"Unfortunately, though that contempt is clearly genuine, the album cannot be saved by its own most glaring problem: the three songs that make up the body of Animals are too long for their own good.",
"The album starts off well enough with \"Pigs on the Wing, Part One,\" a minute-and-a-half piece about a typical subject in rock, love and its endearing qualities.",
"However, nothing Pink Floyd ever did was typical and this is certainly not a typical love song.",
"The album ends with \"Pigs on the Wing, Part Two,\" which is the same song as the first but with different lyrics, also lasting a minute and a half.",
"The three remaining songs explode with such angst-ridden rage that, upon hearing them, the average listener may feel it necessary to go out and commit various acts of violence against his fellow man.",
"Animals' main theme deals with the obvious differences between society's classes, a situation that front man Roger Waters finds inexcusable.",
"\"Dogs\" is a 17-minute ballad about the people who became known as yuppies in the decade that followed the release of this album.",
"As Waters sees it, these high achievers obtain riches by exploiting lower classes and backstabbing their way to the top.",
"This belief is especially evident in the following three lines: \"You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to/ So that when they turn your backs on you/ You'll get the chance to put the knife in.",
"\" The song that follows this lengthy diatribe, \"Pigs (Three Different Ones),\" is even more straightforward in its disapproval of certain groups of people.",
"This one lasts eleven and a half minutes and is punctuated by lines such as, \"You radiate cold shafts of broken glass.",
"\" Much of this song is spent mocking authority figures like the police, public officials, military, and self-appointed moralists who proclaim to know what is best for everyone else.",
"The latter group is seen in the form of Mary Whitehead, a British woman who became famous by attacking the suggestive lyrics of rock artists.",
"Waters has nothing but contempt for these people and the restricting effects they have on everyone else's freedom.",
"After \"Pigs\" comes \"Sheep,\" an ultimately forgettable song about the lower classes of society rising up from oppression and conquering their oppressors.",
"This one comes in at a little over ten minutes, and therein lies the album's biggest problem: the three main songs are way too long.",
"\"Dogs\" could have easily been chopped down to twelve minutes while \"Pigs\" would have been precious at eight.",
"\"Sheep\" is easily the album's weak link and after listening to it, most Floyd fans will wonder how it made its way onto the album in the first place.",
"Despite its obvious shortcomings, Animals flows extremely well and is a strong musical achievement.",
"By the time it was made, Waters operated almost total control of the group and it shows.",
"The lyrics are strong, the music is solid for the most part, and one can rest assured that this band is always attemting to make progress in everything it does.",
"Good predecessor to the even-more ambitious Floyd album that would follow."
] |
After reading TIGANA, I decided to read the first book in this acclaimed series. I did manage to read the whole book, which is one good thing, because the really bad books I stop reading as soon as they get boring. In short, the book does keep your attention. I think most of this is due to the book's originality. Sure, the OTHER WORLD apart from OUR WORLD may not be so original--Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber comes to mind--but there are other parts that ARE original. The hunter in the wild fields. The overall storyline about five young ones going to a world they don't understand. The summer tree itself. One thing that I noticed was that Kay used FAR too many commas in this book. Some sentences, sorta look, like this. In the end, this is only a mediocre fantasy novel, especially when compared to the works being cranked out by such heavy-hitters as Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, and George R. R. Martin. | 1 | neutral | [
"After reading TIGANA, I decided to read the first book in this acclaimed series.",
"I did manage to read the whole book, which is one good thing, because the really bad books I stop reading as soon as they get boring.",
"In short, the book does keep your attention.",
"I think most of this is due to the book's originality.",
"Sure, the OTHER WORLD apart from OUR WORLD may not be so original--Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber comes to mind--but there are other parts that ARE original.",
"The hunter in the wild fields.",
"The overall storyline about five young ones going to a world they don't understand.",
"The summer tree itself.",
"One thing that I noticed was that Kay used FAR too many commas in this book.",
"Some sentences, sorta look, like this.",
"In the end, this is only a mediocre fantasy novel, especially when compared to the works being cranked out by such heavy-hitters as Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, and George R.",
"R.",
"Martin."
] |
Based on Jared M. Diamond's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1997 book, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 480 pp., [32] pp. pls.), this July 2005 telecast (also available on DVD) received full and somewhat critical reviews by M. Balter in Science 309: 248-249 (8 July 2005) and by N. Martel in The New York times (11 July 2005).
Suffice it to say here, the first episode is the best, and by far the most botanical, dealing with Diamond's controversial ideas on the origins of agriculture and domesticated plants and animals in the Near East and their global latitudinal (rather than longitudinal) spread. Episode 2 is a tad overkill, focusing almost entirely on that fateful November-1532 day when 168 Spaniards killed some 7000 unarmed Incas; smallpox was the cour de grce for countless Incan survivors of the massacre, who lacked the resistance to the disease many Europeans had. Episode 3 deals with the European and Boer colonization of Africa and ends in hopeful platitudes but regretfully offers no solutions for the continent's troubles. [Because the first episode deals much with grains, and because guns and germs do not enter until the second episode, I suggest a better title for the book would have been Grains, Guns, Germs, and Steel.] Despite the obvious padding and repetition characteristic of video endeavors of this sort, the program is definitely worth watching for its historical and biological insights. | 1 | neutral | [
"Based on Jared M.",
"Diamond's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1997 book, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (W.",
"W. Norton & Co.",
", New York, 480 pp.",
", [32] pp.",
"pls.",
"), this July 2005 telecast (also available on DVD) received full and somewhat critical reviews by M.",
"Balter in Science 309: 248-249 (8 July 2005) and by N.",
"Martel in The New York times (11 July 2005).",
"Suffice it to say here, the first episode is the best, and by far the most botanical, dealing with Diamond's controversial ideas on the origins of agriculture and domesticated plants and animals in the Near East and their global latitudinal (rather than longitudinal) spread.",
"Episode 2 is a tad overkill, focusing almost entirely on that fateful November-1532 day when 168 Spaniards killed some 7000 unarmed Incas; smallpox was the cour de grce for countless Incan survivors of the massacre, who lacked the resistance to the disease many Europeans had.",
"Episode 3 deals with the European and Boer colonization of Africa and ends in hopeful platitudes but regretfully offers no solutions for the continent's troubles.",
"[Because the first episode deals much with grains, and because guns and germs do not enter until the second episode, I suggest a better title for the book would have been Grains, Guns, Germs, and Steel.",
"] Despite the obvious padding and repetition characteristic of video endeavors of this sort, the program is definitely worth watching for its historical and biological insights."
] |
"The Magician's Nephew" by C.S. Lewis is one of those books I read just because. Because I'd read "The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe" when I was a kid. Because I always wondered what exactly Narnia was. Because I'd watched all the Narnia movies with my kids. Because it was sitting on my son's shelf collecting dust and it had a number one written on it: i.e. first book of the series. So because of all those reasons, I wiped the dust off of it and read it.
This book isn't about anyone I was familiar with from the other Narnia books/movies. Well, I guess Aslan is there toward the end, but honestly, the majority of the book is about Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer and that was okay, because their story was easy to grasp. You see, these two neighbors met, become friends then decide to explore the attic connecting their houses. Unfortunately, during their exploration, they accidently go into the study of Digory's Uncle Andrew, who is a magician. Hence the name of our book: The Magician's Nephew.
Once in Andrew's study, Polly is tricked by Digory's almost evil uncle into touching a magic yellow ring which causes her to vanish. It seems Uncle Andrew has been dabbling in ancient magic that allows one to travel between worlds. In order to save Polly, Digory is blackmailed by his uncle into testing another magic ring so as to follow Polly; our young hero also takes two green ones just in case they can actually try to return home. When Digory touches his yellow ring it transports him to a wood between the worlds where he finds Polly alive and well. Also there is a series of pools which the two discover lead to separate universes.
Of course, our two, young adventures decide not to immediately return home to England but to explore a different world and so jump into one of the nearby pools. Instantaneously, Digory and Polly find themselves in a desolate, abandoned city of some strange, ancient world, which they later learn is Charn. Inside an ancient building, which they surmise must have been a palace, they discover a huge room filled with statuesque figures of Charn's former kings and queens. These perfect statues are beautiful beyond compare but seem to degenerate from the fair and wise of the first to the unhappy and cruel of the later. Among these images from some long forgotten past, there is a bell and a hammer with these words written:
Make your choice, adventurous Stranger
Strike the bell and bide the danger
Or wonder, till it drives you mad
What would have followed if you had.
The story of Narnia start with that bell. Everything else spirals out from the fateful choice placed before Digory and Polly on whether to ring that bell. Sure, the rest of the book reveals to us the creation of Narnia and its talking animals,, the origins of the lamp-post, the wonders of its first human king and queen, the first evil deed of the White Witch, and of course Aslan's role in all of it. We are even told how the wardrobe becomes "the wardrobe" which ever after will transport some lucky few to Narnia. But it begins at the decision before the bell.
All in all, this was a very entertaining story. If I was still a kid I would have undoubtable rated it much higher, but it was still well-worth my time, especially since it answered all the "how" questions about Narnia. For that reason alone, you should give it a try. | 1 | neutral | [
"\"The Magician's Nephew\" by C.",
"S. Lewis is one of those books I read just because.",
"Because I'd read \"The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe\" when I was a kid.",
"Because I always wondered what exactly Narnia was.",
"Because I'd watched all the Narnia movies with my kids.",
"Because it was sitting on my son's shelf collecting dust and it had a number one written on it: i.",
"e. first book of the series.",
"So because of all those reasons, I wiped the dust off of it and read it.",
"This book isn't about anyone I was familiar with from the other Narnia books/movies.",
"Well, I guess Aslan is there toward the end, but honestly, the majority of the book is about Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer and that was okay, because their story was easy to grasp.",
"You see, these two neighbors met, become friends then decide to explore the attic connecting their houses.",
"Unfortunately, during their exploration, they accidently go into the study of Digory's Uncle Andrew, who is a magician.",
"Hence the name of our book: The Magician's Nephew.",
"Once in Andrew's study, Polly is tricked by Digory's almost evil uncle into touching a magic yellow ring which causes her to vanish.",
"It seems Uncle Andrew has been dabbling in ancient magic that allows one to travel between worlds.",
"In order to save Polly, Digory is blackmailed by his uncle into testing another magic ring so as to follow Polly; our young hero also takes two green ones just in case they can actually try to return home.",
"When Digory touches his yellow ring it transports him to a wood between the worlds where he finds Polly alive and well.",
"Also there is a series of pools which the two discover lead to separate universes.",
"Of course, our two, young adventures decide not to immediately return home to England but to explore a different world and so jump into one of the nearby pools.",
"Instantaneously, Digory and Polly find themselves in a desolate, abandoned city of some strange, ancient world, which they later learn is Charn.",
"Inside an ancient building, which they surmise must have been a palace, they discover a huge room filled with statuesque figures of Charn's former kings and queens.",
"These perfect statues are beautiful beyond compare but seem to degenerate from the fair and wise of the first to the unhappy and cruel of the later.",
"Among these images from some long forgotten past, there is a bell and a hammer with these words written:\n\n Make your choice, adventurous Stranger\n Strike the bell and bide the danger\n Or wonder, till it drives you mad\n What would have followed if you had.",
"The story of Narnia start with that bell.",
"Everything else spirals out from the fateful choice placed before Digory and Polly on whether to ring that bell.",
"Sure, the rest of the book reveals to us the creation of Narnia and its talking animals,, the origins of the lamp-post, the wonders of its first human king and queen, the first evil deed of the White Witch, and of course Aslan's role in all of it.",
"We are even told how the wardrobe becomes \"the wardrobe\" which ever after will transport some lucky few to Narnia.",
"But it begins at the decision before the bell.",
"All in all, this was a very entertaining story.",
"If I was still a kid I would have undoubtable rated it much higher, but it was still well-worth my time, especially since it answered all the \"how\" questions about Narnia.",
"For that reason alone, you should give it a try."
] |
"The Battle for Skandia" is the fourth book in John Flanagan's Ranger Apprentice series. Picking up where book three had dramatically ended (not strictly a cliffhanger but definitely a "you now have to read the next book" ending), "The Battle for Skandia" sees Will, Halt, and their friends join forces with their erstwhile Skandian enemies to fight off an invading force of Temujai from the eastern steppes.
As much as I enjoyed book three, "The Battle for Skandia" fell flat quickly and never completely recovered. The third book ended with Will and Evanlyn in hiding, on the run from the Skandians, with Will's mentor Halt and friend Horace seemingly nowhere close to finding them. Will himself has to fight off the lingering effects of a warmweed addiction. How will they survive? How will they find each other? Miraculously, they just all happen to converge on the same Temujai camp and are happily reunited within the first 65 pages. Suspension of disbelief is one thing, but this was not just a suspension, but an expulsion. The drama and tension that elevated book three were frittered away. Beyond that, Will's and Evanlyn's ready willingness to defend the same people who had captured, enslaved, and brutalized them was also unconvincing.
Allowances, of course, must be made for the fact that the target audience are middle-school children and not adults approaching (ahem) middle age. My daughter, though, who is in the target demographic had a similar reaction to mine. That being said, Flanagan's style is always pleasant and readable and there are much worse ways to spend an afternoon than hanging out with Will and the others. Parents should be mindful that there is a lot of battle violence here, and while not George R.R. Martin graphic it is still more than cartoon violence and may bother some young readers. | 1 | neutral | [
"\"The Battle for Skandia\" is the fourth book in John Flanagan's Ranger Apprentice series.",
"Picking up where book three had dramatically ended (not strictly a cliffhanger but definitely a \"you now have to read the next book\" ending), \"The Battle for Skandia\" sees Will, Halt, and their friends join forces with their erstwhile Skandian enemies to fight off an invading force of Temujai from the eastern steppes.",
"As much as I enjoyed book three, \"The Battle for Skandia\" fell flat quickly and never completely recovered.",
"The third book ended with Will and Evanlyn in hiding, on the run from the Skandians, with Will's mentor Halt and friend Horace seemingly nowhere close to finding them.",
"Will himself has to fight off the lingering effects of a warmweed addiction.",
"How will they survive?",
"How will they find each other?",
"Miraculously, they just all happen to converge on the same Temujai camp and are happily reunited within the first 65 pages.",
"Suspension of disbelief is one thing, but this was not just a suspension, but an expulsion.",
"The drama and tension that elevated book three were frittered away.",
"Beyond that, Will's and Evanlyn's ready willingness to defend the same people who had captured, enslaved, and brutalized them was also unconvincing.",
"Allowances, of course, must be made for the fact that the target audience are middle-school children and not adults approaching (ahem) middle age.",
"My daughter, though, who is in the target demographic had a similar reaction to mine.",
"That being said, Flanagan's style is always pleasant and readable and there are much worse ways to spend an afternoon than hanging out with Will and the others.",
"Parents should be mindful that there is a lot of battle violence here, and while not George R.",
"R. Martin graphic it is still more than cartoon violence and may bother some young readers."
] |
I bought this on .co.uk because it's at least $100 cheaper (depending on the exchange rate you get). The box is a little larger than the size of an album but about six inches deep, with paper-magnetic tiles on top of the Achtung Baby cover that you can remove. You have to flip open the front panel and open the top to get at the vinyl and book. There's a drawer underneath that you have to pull open revealing a 4 block drawer holding the CD's, glasses, pins a magazine lays on top. The corner of the drawer was ripped when I got the set, indicating how cheap the box actually is constructed. The glasses come sewn in a bag that you have to rip open to get at (I haven't).
The CD's are what I wanted and the remastered sound is excellent. You get 6 cd's, a complete set of all of the Achtung Baby music including B sides and all of the mixes, plus you get Zooropa. The vinyl is 180g album plus 7" vinyl singles housed in individual sleeves and put in a slip case. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.
All in all, this set is not worth the price, it's probably not worth more than $200. You have to love U2 or love music (like me) in order to spring for this! | 1 | neutral | [
"I bought this on.",
"co.",
"uk because it's at least $100 cheaper (depending on the exchange rate you get).",
"The box is a little larger than the size of an album but about six inches deep, with paper-magnetic tiles on top of the Achtung Baby cover that you can remove.",
"You have to flip open the front panel and open the top to get at the vinyl and book.",
"There's a drawer underneath that you have to pull open revealing a 4 block drawer holding the CD's, glasses, pins a magazine lays on top.",
"The corner of the drawer was ripped when I got the set, indicating how cheap the box actually is constructed.",
"The glasses come sewn in a bag that you have to rip open to get at (I haven't).",
"The CD's are what I wanted and the remastered sound is excellent.",
"You get 6 cd's, a complete set of all of the Achtung Baby music including B sides and all of the mixes, plus you get Zooropa.",
"The vinyl is 180g album plus 7\" vinyl singles housed in individual sleeves and put in a slip case.",
"I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.",
"All in all, this set is not worth the price, it's probably not worth more than $200.",
"You have to love U2 or love music (like me) in order to spring for this!"
] |
If you have a baby, then you've probably seen the Avent brand taking over the shelves at your local Babies R Us, Target, and even Walgreen's. For me, the main advantage in using the Avent brand was the interrelating parts. I used many of the Avent feeding items, and was pleased with the performance of all the products. Thus, when it came time to select a sippy cup, I choose the Magic Cup by Avent.
The Magic Cup is quite durable, and long lasting. It withstood 20-months of dishwashing, sterilizing, gnawing, and dropping without any sign of cracks, splits, or chips. It's also easy to clean and to store, because of the wide neck and bottom. Due to the wavy shape, the grasp is comfortable for babies; however, the Easy-Hold handles are great for beginners. The Toddler Spout will discolor after eating spaghetti and meatballs, but after several washings, the stain dissipates. By the way, the cup, and all its parts are top-drawer dishwasher safe. To avoid build-up in the spout disassembled the valve before cleaning. If cleaning in the dishwasher, store all parts in a basket to protect them from the heating element. Avoid anti-bacterial soaps, as they cause the plastic to become brittle.
The Toddler Spout handles pulpy juices, although I rarely served my son juice, so I don't claim to have experience in pulpy matters. In addition, Avent does not recommend serving fizzy drinks in the Magic Cup. If you're interested in training your child in a free-flowing cup, just remove the valve. As far as I know, Avent spouts only work in conjunction with the Avent products.
Why the 3-star rating? Well, I wasn't thrilled with the performance of the Magic Cup. At first, the valves were difficult to separate. Eventually I got the hang of it, but long fingernails definitely get in the way of this task. Also, some people (hubby) found all the bits and pieces confusing, and annoying, but it didn't bothered me. The thing that really got my goat about this cup is the cost. According to the manufacturer, the spouts need to be replaced every 3-months. EVERY 3-MONTHS? The replacement spouts retail for roughly $4.00 a pair. If replacing the spouts every 3-months then that's $8.00 on spouts a year, for ONE cup. Multiple that by 6. Plus, don't forget the initial investment for the cups. WOW! I think that's expensive. In my case, I had to replace spouts due to biting abuse more than anything, so I don't blame Avent for my son's oral affliction. I found that the spouts last longer than the recommended replacement time, but after a while the valves loose suction, and this causes leaks. I suspect that's from separating them dozens of times a week rather than from use. In addition, the cup seemed to work better when assembled with dry parts.
As to the recommendation, I'm a bit on the fence. The Toddler Spouts worked great for transitioning my son to the sippy cup. For some reason, the spouts worked better with the Reusable Bottles then with the Magic Cup. I'm not sure why. To compare the Magic Cup with other training cups, I'd have to say the Magic Cup is superior to most. It will leak, but it's minimal compared to other sippy's. The thing that got me with this product was the price. If you select the Magic Cup you'll have a decent training cup, but you'll pay for it over, and over again.
Mary :) | 1 | neutral | [
"If you have a baby, then you've probably seen the Avent brand taking over the shelves at your local Babies R Us, Target, and even Walgreen's.",
"For me, the main advantage in using the Avent brand was the interrelating parts.",
"I used many of the Avent feeding items, and was pleased with the performance of all the products.",
"Thus, when it came time to select a sippy cup, I choose the Magic Cup by Avent.",
"The Magic Cup is quite durable, and long lasting.",
"It withstood 20-months of dishwashing, sterilizing, gnawing, and dropping without any sign of cracks, splits, or chips.",
"It's also easy to clean and to store, because of the wide neck and bottom.",
"Due to the wavy shape, the grasp is comfortable for babies; however, the Easy-Hold handles are great for beginners.",
"The Toddler Spout will discolor after eating spaghetti and meatballs, but after several washings, the stain dissipates.",
"By the way, the cup, and all its parts are top-drawer dishwasher safe.",
"To avoid build-up in the spout disassembled the valve before cleaning.",
"If cleaning in the dishwasher, store all parts in a basket to protect them from the heating element.",
"Avoid anti-bacterial soaps, as they cause the plastic to become brittle.",
"The Toddler Spout handles pulpy juices, although I rarely served my son juice, so I don't claim to have experience in pulpy matters.",
"In addition, Avent does not recommend serving fizzy drinks in the Magic Cup.",
"If you're interested in training your child in a free-flowing cup, just remove the valve.",
"As far as I know, Avent spouts only work in conjunction with the Avent products.",
"Why the 3-star rating?",
"Well, I wasn't thrilled with the performance of the Magic Cup.",
"At first, the valves were difficult to separate.",
"Eventually I got the hang of it, but long fingernails definitely get in the way of this task.",
"Also, some people (hubby) found all the bits and pieces confusing, and annoying, but it didn't bothered me.",
"The thing that really got my goat about this cup is the cost.",
"According to the manufacturer, the spouts need to be replaced every 3-months.",
"EVERY 3-MONTHS?",
"The replacement spouts retail for roughly $4.",
"00 a pair.",
"If replacing the spouts every 3-months then that's $8.",
"00 on spouts a year, for ONE cup.",
"Multiple that by 6.",
"Plus, don't forget the initial investment for the cups.",
"WOW!",
"I think that's expensive.",
"In my case, I had to replace spouts due to biting abuse more than anything, so I don't blame Avent for my son's oral affliction.",
"I found that the spouts last longer than the recommended replacement time, but after a while the valves loose suction, and this causes leaks.",
"I suspect that's from separating them dozens of times a week rather than from use.",
"In addition, the cup seemed to work better when assembled with dry parts.",
"As to the recommendation, I'm a bit on the fence.",
"The Toddler Spouts worked great for transitioning my son to the sippy cup.",
"For some reason, the spouts worked better with the Reusable Bottles then with the Magic Cup.",
"I'm not sure why.",
"To compare the Magic Cup with other training cups, I'd have to say the Magic Cup is superior to most.",
"It will leak, but it's minimal compared to other sippy's.",
"The thing that got me with this product was the price.",
"If you select the Magic Cup you'll have a decent training cup, but you'll pay for it over, and over again.",
"Mary :)"
] |
This is an interesting Sic-Fi short story. Please be aware that this review may contain spoilers.
This book is about Palequus and Peter who were sent to investigate problems in an area of space.
Peter and Palequus are a little weird. One is an ex-grim reaper and the other is a discarded cherub. The author has put together to totally unlikely characters.
Peter and Palequus try and figure out what is wrong at Cavalcade and with Mr. Kite. When they figure out the problem it is kinda like all hell breaks loose.
The bunnies and I rate this book at 3-Carrots. I would of gave 4-carrots if there were not some grammar and more background information about the main characters. | 1 | neutral | [
"This is an interesting Sic-Fi short story.",
"Please be aware that this review may contain spoilers.",
"This book is about Palequus and Peter who were sent to investigate problems in an area of space.",
"Peter and Palequus are a little weird.",
"One is an ex-grim reaper and the other is a discarded cherub.",
"The author has put together to totally unlikely characters.",
"Peter and Palequus try and figure out what is wrong at Cavalcade and with Mr.",
"Kite.",
"When they figure out the problem it is kinda like all hell breaks loose.",
"The bunnies and I rate this book at 3-Carrots.",
"I would of gave 4-carrots if there were not some grammar and more background information about the main characters."
] |
I really love this concert, so my 3 star rating is for the Blu-ray presentation and not the concert itself. I already had the DVD (1998 Eagle Rock/Image Entertainment version), which looks and sounds very good. I saw this Blu-ray (2010 Eagle Vision/Warner Music SD Blu-ray with DTS-HD audio) at HMV for $10 and bought it because I hoped Blu-ray would be significantly better picture and sound than the DVD. I didn't open it until I read positive ratings on the internet... which I must contest. My review is a comparison between the two formats.
Both the DVD and the Blu-ray contains the same concert and editing, so the program itself is the same. 32 songs are played (one song is played twice and some songs are shortened and played in medley form with other songs). The program is tightly edited so that there is not much talking or time between songs. To date, it is the best and only full Bee Gees concert available and it is very good. While the brothers don't sound so young any more (the concert was filmed in 1997), they still sound good. There are definitely added extra vocal tracks enhancing some songs.
The DVD has a single sided insert with the names of the songs written and the composers of each song that's easy to read. The DVD cover does not list the songs at all. The Blu-ray lists the songs on the back (but without chapter numbers) for the concert and has an two-fold picture insert with the names of the songs, which looks nicer but is much harder to read. Both the Blu-ray and DVD have the same picture on them but the picture is much larger on the Blu-ray so it looks nicer.
The DVD menu only lets you press play or go to a specific song. The Blu-ray menu gives this plus more: you can choose one of 2 audio modes; you can choose to display text in one of several languages; and you can go to Special Features.
The DVD has no special features. The Blu-ray Special Features include 5 extra songs --- 4 songs are already in the concert program, so only "Chain Reaction" is needed --- as well as a 20-minute interview with the brothers, which is okay but not necessary if you already have any one of their biographies (ex. This Is Where I Came In). Overall, these special features alone are not worth buying a more expensive Blu-ray for.
The sound on the DVD is good and balanced, not harsh on the ear as you turn it up. Nowhere on the DVD or its packaging does it say what the audio is, so I assume it's simply a stereo mix. There are no menu options to change the audio on the DVD. The Blu-ray is louder and brighter, even the menu music. IMO, it's too bright and harsh on the ears when you turn it up. The Blu-ray has 2 audio modes and I prefer the DTS-HD and do not like the LPCM Stereo (it is too compressed and even distorted). So, while others have claimed the sound on the Blu-ray is improved, I would say it's only different and louder, and one of the mixes sounds as good while the other sounds bad.
The image on the DVD is quite good and clear. It looks like a full frame presentation (for older TV's) with black bars on the sides. The Blu-ray claims it has a widescreen presentation but that is highly misleading. It seems to me the image has been cropped (i.e. they enlarged the full frame image enough to eliminate the side bars but now the tops and bottoms are not as visible). It's the same false widescreen problem that many Looney Tunes cartoons have had when put on DVD for the first time. For example, while you can see above Barry's head and much of his torso and guitar in the full frame ratio, the top of his head and lower parts of his torso and guitar are not always seen in the widescreen. In this sense I prefer having the full screen because I can always use my TV's picture options to enlarge it anyways. As for the picture quality itself, I can see no real noticeable improvements over the DVD (viewing on my 50" Panasonic Plasma TV). Again, I see no reason to spend more on the Blu-ray for the picture.
To sum up, I did not need to buy this Blu-ray after all. The DVD presentation was already very good. The Blu-ray audio and visual "improvements" and the few special features are not are not worth the extra money IMO. It's a great concert and one worth owning but I suggest you buy whichever is cheaper.
Cheers! | 1 | neutral | [
"I really love this concert, so my 3 star rating is for the Blu-ray presentation and not the concert itself.",
"I already had the DVD (1998 Eagle Rock/Image Entertainment version), which looks and sounds very good.",
"I saw this Blu-ray (2010 Eagle Vision/Warner Music SD Blu-ray with DTS-HD audio) at HMV for $10 and bought it because I hoped Blu-ray would be significantly better picture and sound than the DVD.",
"I didn't open it until I read positive ratings on the internet...",
"which I must contest.",
"My review is a comparison between the two formats.",
"Both the DVD and the Blu-ray contains the same concert and editing, so the program itself is the same.",
"32 songs are played (one song is played twice and some songs are shortened and played in medley form with other songs).",
"The program is tightly edited so that there is not much talking or time between songs.",
"To date, it is the best and only full Bee Gees concert available and it is very good.",
"While the brothers don't sound so young any more (the concert was filmed in 1997), they still sound good.",
"There are definitely added extra vocal tracks enhancing some songs.",
"The DVD has a single sided insert with the names of the songs written and the composers of each song that's easy to read.",
"The DVD cover does not list the songs at all.",
"The Blu-ray lists the songs on the back (but without chapter numbers) for the concert and has an two-fold picture insert with the names of the songs, which looks nicer but is much harder to read.",
"Both the Blu-ray and DVD have the same picture on them but the picture is much larger on the Blu-ray so it looks nicer.",
"The DVD menu only lets you press play or go to a specific song.",
"The Blu-ray menu gives this plus more: you can choose one of 2 audio modes; you can choose to display text in one of several languages; and you can go to Special Features.",
"The DVD has no special features.",
"The Blu-ray Special Features include 5 extra songs --- 4 songs are already in the concert program, so only \"Chain Reaction\" is needed --- as well as a 20-minute interview with the brothers, which is okay but not necessary if you already have any one of their biographies (ex.",
"This Is Where I Came In).",
"Overall, these special features alone are not worth buying a more expensive Blu-ray for.",
"The sound on the DVD is good and balanced, not harsh on the ear as you turn it up.",
"Nowhere on the DVD or its packaging does it say what the audio is, so I assume it's simply a stereo mix.",
"There are no menu options to change the audio on the DVD.",
"The Blu-ray is louder and brighter, even the menu music.",
"IMO, it's too bright and harsh on the ears when you turn it up.",
"The Blu-ray has 2 audio modes and I prefer the DTS-HD and do not like the LPCM Stereo (it is too compressed and even distorted).",
"So, while others have claimed the sound on the Blu-ray is improved, I would say it's only different and louder, and one of the mixes sounds as good while the other sounds bad.",
"The image on the DVD is quite good and clear.",
"It looks like a full frame presentation (for older TV's) with black bars on the sides.",
"The Blu-ray claims it has a widescreen presentation but that is highly misleading.",
"It seems to me the image has been cropped (i.",
"e. they enlarged the full frame image enough to eliminate the side bars but now the tops and bottoms are not as visible).",
"It's the same false widescreen problem that many Looney Tunes cartoons have had when put on DVD for the first time.",
"For example, while you can see above Barry's head and much of his torso and guitar in the full frame ratio, the top of his head and lower parts of his torso and guitar are not always seen in the widescreen.",
"In this sense I prefer having the full screen because I can always use my TV's picture options to enlarge it anyways.",
"As for the picture quality itself, I can see no real noticeable improvements over the DVD (viewing on my 50\" Panasonic Plasma TV).",
"Again, I see no reason to spend more on the Blu-ray for the picture.",
"To sum up, I did not need to buy this Blu-ray after all.",
"The DVD presentation was already very good.",
"The Blu-ray audio and visual \"improvements\" and the few special features are not are not worth the extra money IMO.",
"It's a great concert and one worth owning but I suggest you buy whichever is cheaper.",
"Cheers!"
] |
Amistad is a powerful movie about a real incident that had a bearing on history. Let's start with some of the many positives: Spielberg is one of our era's most talented filmmakers and his skills are certainly on display here. The film is well acted by the entire cast, especially Hopkins as former president Adams and Freeman as an abolitionist businessman. These 2 actors are always good and Amistad is no exception.
Where the film falters is when Spielberg takes "dramatic license". Putting it simply, when he lies. The real story should have been enough for a great movie so the truth shouldn't have to be stretched to overdramatize events. The slavetraders were lousy human beings without a doubt but they didn't dump half the slaves in the ocean. Adams never met any of the Africans he defended so well and their presence in a courtroom is not believable. The speeches made in the film do not reflect 1839-40 attitudes, they reflect current ones. This could have and probably should have been great. As it is, it is a well told story with too many half truths. Just filming the truth would have been better. 3.5 Stars. | 1 | neutral | [
"Amistad is a powerful movie about a real incident that had a bearing on history.",
"Let's start with some of the many positives: Spielberg is one of our era's most talented filmmakers and his skills are certainly on display here.",
"The film is well acted by the entire cast, especially Hopkins as former president Adams and Freeman as an abolitionist businessman.",
"These 2 actors are always good and Amistad is no exception.",
"Where the film falters is when Spielberg takes \"dramatic license\".",
"Putting it simply, when he lies.",
"The real story should have been enough for a great movie so the truth shouldn't have to be stretched to overdramatize events.",
"The slavetraders were lousy human beings without a doubt but they didn't dump half the slaves in the ocean.",
"Adams never met any of the Africans he defended so well and their presence in a courtroom is not believable.",
"The speeches made in the film do not reflect 1839-40 attitudes, they reflect current ones.",
"This could have and probably should have been great.",
"As it is, it is a well told story with too many half truths.",
"Just filming the truth would have been better.",
"3.",
"5 Stars."
] |
I've been looking for a good mp3 player for awhile now. Pre-ordered Rio in February. When i received it in April(!) i was immediately pleased and disappointed. 20GB, FM radio, very nice "DJ" feature - these are the good things.
What you really need to read is the bad things.
- The little wheel used to do pretty much everything in the player slides under my fingers - if your hands are always moist, you'll love it.
- Headfones are ugly, but decent sounding.
- "Hold" slider is the same slider that turns unit on and off. I tried it a few times and accidentally shut the player down. Ooops - this being a hard drive based player - it takes a while to load.
- This monstrous size and no remote? Gimme a break!
- In the twighlight conditions the "backlight" feature is useless - you can't see anything.
- The thing that made me pack it - it crashed in the beginning of my 1-hour commute home and i wasn't able to recover it. After one day of usage...
- If you "like" Motorola's cell fones - you will love this menue-driven toy. With soooooo much empty space, Rio could put some more buttons on the surface!
The fact that it takes half a second or so to load a song onto the disk: who cares! - you only do it once.
Bottom line: Huge storage, FM radio, great software taht really entertains, cheap looks, bad execution. See for yourself and you'll understand. | 1 | neutral | [
"I've been looking for a good mp3 player for awhile now.",
"Pre-ordered Rio in February.",
"When i received it in April(!",
") i was immediately pleased and disappointed.",
"20GB, FM radio, very nice \"DJ\" feature - these are the good things.",
"What you really need to read is the bad things.",
"- The little wheel used to do pretty much everything in the player slides under my fingers - if your hands are always moist, you'll love it.",
"- Headfones are ugly, but decent sounding.",
"- \"Hold\" slider is the same slider that turns unit on and off.",
"I tried it a few times and accidentally shut the player down.",
"Ooops - this being a hard drive based player - it takes a while to load.",
"- This monstrous size and no remote?",
"Gimme a break!",
"- In the twighlight conditions the \"backlight\" feature is useless - you can't see anything.",
"- The thing that made me pack it - it crashed in the beginning of my 1-hour commute home and i wasn't able to recover it.",
"After one day of usage...",
"- If you \"like\" Motorola's cell fones - you will love this menue-driven toy.",
"With soooooo much empty space, Rio could put some more buttons on the surface!",
"The fact that it takes half a second or so to load a song onto the disk: who cares!",
"- you only do it once.",
"Bottom line: Huge storage, FM radio, great software taht really entertains, cheap looks, bad execution.",
"See for yourself and you'll understand."
] |
I bought 4 colors of nail polish and 1 bottle of the topcoat, each for about $11.
While I know that's not the most expensive nail polish out there--it is a lot more than I usually pay.
I have used the polish three times and have been less than blown-away by it. I have used the Serene Green on my toes and it has held up pretty well. However, the Electric Orange I have used twice on my fingernails has two problems: the color is sheer enough that I don't feel two coats gives enough coverage (you still see streaks through to my nail) and it has chipped or worn off the end of the nail within a couple of days. So the 5-7 days touted has just not been my experience. The polish seems to chip or wear off much less than normal polish but, still. My expectations were higher for this product.
One thing I did find out is that the first 2 coats of color seem to stay a bit sticky--I tried letting them dry for several minutes to an hour--but as soon as I put the topcoat on, it dried pretty hard after about 10 minutes. So the topcoat is important and it seems to "dry" the first coats very well. | 1 | neutral | [
"I bought 4 colors of nail polish and 1 bottle of the topcoat, each for about $11.",
"While I know that's not the most expensive nail polish out there--it is a lot more than I usually pay.",
"I have used the polish three times and have been less than blown-away by it.",
"I have used the Serene Green on my toes and it has held up pretty well.",
"However, the Electric Orange I have used twice on my fingernails has two problems: the color is sheer enough that I don't feel two coats gives enough coverage (you still see streaks through to my nail) and it has chipped or worn off the end of the nail within a couple of days.",
"So the 5-7 days touted has just not been my experience.",
"The polish seems to chip or wear off much less than normal polish but, still.",
"My expectations were higher for this product.",
"One thing I did find out is that the first 2 coats of color seem to stay a bit sticky--I tried letting them dry for several minutes to an hour--but as soon as I put the topcoat on, it dried pretty hard after about 10 minutes.",
"So the topcoat is important and it seems to \"dry\" the first coats very well."
] |
Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force is an fps with a great story driven single player gameplay and built on the fantastic quake III arena engine. It has a good storyline with perfect voice acting and a pretty good AI. I played it on the default opengl video mode and the game runs very smoothly. The graphics are fantastic, the xen like alien levels look very georgeous, sound recording is good. charecter animation are great, crew members look very life like. The level load times are good and save games do not eat up disk space. The length of ellite force is just right and it has a great multiplayer and single player tournament gameplay. The gameplay is good, but mostly you are playing with the AI team members and it is quite bad. The level design is good and there are lots of great puzzles to be solved, Action gameplay is slightly dissapointing as some of the levels are very linear and some of them are very difficult. I did not like the selection of weapons in ellite force, they are very badly done, their effects are very disspointing, almost all weapons just shoot a straight line of colored light. Star Trek Voyoger: Ellite Force is the best star wars based game ever made but i wish it was a little better as it is devoloped by raven software. | 1 | neutral | [
"Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force is an fps with a great story driven single player gameplay and built on the fantastic quake III arena engine.",
"It has a good storyline with perfect voice acting and a pretty good AI.",
"I played it on the default opengl video mode and the game runs very smoothly.",
"The graphics are fantastic, the xen like alien levels look very georgeous, sound recording is good.",
"charecter animation are great, crew members look very life like.",
"The level load times are good and save games do not eat up disk space.",
"The length of ellite force is just right and it has a great multiplayer and single player tournament gameplay.",
"The gameplay is good, but mostly you are playing with the AI team members and it is quite bad.",
"The level design is good and there are lots of great puzzles to be solved, Action gameplay is slightly dissapointing as some of the levels are very linear and some of them are very difficult.",
"I did not like the selection of weapons in ellite force, they are very badly done, their effects are very disspointing, almost all weapons just shoot a straight line of colored light.",
"Star Trek Voyoger: Ellite Force is the best star wars based game ever made but i wish it was a little better as it is devoloped by raven software."
] |
** 3.5 Stars! **
Sundwellers are nasty evil monsters that eat the flesh off of human bodies.. Or at least thats what the main character, Lyra has been told all her life. Moonwalkers are creatures that survive off the blood of humans.. Or at least thats what Perseus has been told his whole life.
Each night both creatures lands lock themselves up so the other monsters don't come and attack at night. One night, Lyras sister wanted to go talk to a friend but the gates would be closing soon.
At one point, Lyra and Perseus are confronted with each other. Will something happen?
My Thoughts:
I probably shouldnt even be doing a review for this since it was SO short, but hey. Its still a book and I enjoyed it. It works right? :)
When I read the synopsis on Amazon, it sounded so interesting! Definitely a different take on a dystopian world in which everyone basically turns into a cannibal!
The reasoning as to why I gave it a 3.5/5 stars is because it was soo short and there was an insta-love. I thoroughly enjoyed this world and the characters that were introduced, I just wish the author had made this a little longer and didn't make the relationship an insta-love.
Despite the insta-love, I really enjoyed it!! | 1 | neutral | [
"** 3.",
"5 Stars!",
"**\n\nSundwellers are nasty evil monsters that eat the flesh off of human bodies..",
"Or at least thats what the main character, Lyra has been told all her life.",
"Moonwalkers are creatures that survive off the blood of humans..",
"Or at least thats what Perseus has been told his whole life.",
"Each night both creatures lands lock themselves up so the other monsters don't come and attack at night.",
"One night, Lyras sister wanted to go talk to a friend but the gates would be closing soon.",
"At one point, Lyra and Perseus are confronted with each other.",
"Will something happen?",
"My Thoughts:\n\nI probably shouldnt even be doing a review for this since it was SO short, but hey.",
"Its still a book and I enjoyed it.",
"It works right?",
":)\n\nWhen I read the synopsis on Amazon, it sounded so interesting!",
"Definitely a different take on a dystopian world in which everyone basically turns into a cannibal!",
"The reasoning as to why I gave it a 3.",
"5/5 stars is because it was soo short and there was an insta-love.",
"I thoroughly enjoyed this world and the characters that were introduced, I just wish the author had made this a little longer and didn't make the relationship an insta-love.",
"Despite the insta-love, I really enjoyed it!!"
] |
I finished this game in about two hours playing time total. With 16 relatively short levels, this game is not strong in breadth at all. Level designs are fairly limited, and the sound is quite unimpressive. This game also has a very dumb system with lives and continues -- every time you fall off the edge or your life runs out in battle, you get blasted right to the beginning of the level. Perhaps this was the programmers' way to try to make the game and the too-short levels more difficult, but I figured out a way to get around this almost immediately (to simply quit and reload the saved game is exactly the same as using up a life or a continue), so the lives system didn't increase the challenge much, only the level annoyance.
Good points: The controls are not nearly as stiff as, say, Super Ghouls N' Ghosts, and Buffy fans will enjoy watching the characters in the show interact -- even if their backgrounds are always the same and the "cut scenes" are all in stills. A Gameboy Advance cartridge probably doesn't have the storage for captured scenes, so I think the effort to try to get the stars of the show into the cut scenes (which would have cost much more money) is admirable. Sarah Michelle Gellar is of course a given (who would buy a Buffy game without her face?), but having Anthony Stewart Head, Alyson Hannigan, Nicolas Brendon and Emma Caulfield reprise their characters at least adds an element of authenticity, underwhelming as that presence is.
To be fair, I've played franchise games (such as Evil Dead: Hail to the King) that have shirked design and mechanics far more than this game, and the quirky Buffy environments are fun to navigate through. You pretty much have to be a fan of the show already to play this game, but if you are, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. | 1 | neutral | [
"I finished this game in about two hours playing time total.",
"With 16 relatively short levels, this game is not strong in breadth at all.",
"Level designs are fairly limited, and the sound is quite unimpressive.",
"This game also has a very dumb system with lives and continues -- every time you fall off the edge or your life runs out in battle, you get blasted right to the beginning of the level.",
"Perhaps this was the programmers' way to try to make the game and the too-short levels more difficult, but I figured out a way to get around this almost immediately (to simply quit and reload the saved game is exactly the same as using up a life or a continue), so the lives system didn't increase the challenge much, only the level annoyance.",
"Good points: The controls are not nearly as stiff as, say, Super Ghouls N' Ghosts, and Buffy fans will enjoy watching the characters in the show interact -- even if their backgrounds are always the same and the \"cut scenes\" are all in stills.",
"A Gameboy Advance cartridge probably doesn't have the storage for captured scenes, so I think the effort to try to get the stars of the show into the cut scenes (which would have cost much more money) is admirable.",
"Sarah Michelle Gellar is of course a given (who would buy a Buffy game without her face?",
"), but having Anthony Stewart Head, Alyson Hannigan, Nicolas Brendon and Emma Caulfield reprise their characters at least adds an element of authenticity, underwhelming as that presence is.",
"To be fair, I've played franchise games (such as Evil Dead: Hail to the King) that have shirked design and mechanics far more than this game, and the quirky Buffy environments are fun to navigate through.",
"You pretty much have to be a fan of the show already to play this game, but if you are, I'm sure you'll enjoy it."
] |
What can I say that hasn't already been said? I guess I'm torn between wanting to love this feeder and being very frustrated with it at the same time. Things about the feeder I love:
-Very large capacity, about a quart.
-A glass reservoir...no plastic to oxidize or yellow with age.
-The price. It was really affordable. I think I got it for around $10 at the local hardware store way back when.
-It's durable. The branch I had mine attached to came down in a storm and fell 10 feet. The feeder was fine.
Ok, then why the three star review? Well, every time I fill it I wash it. The first washing of the season (around now) is almost impossible. The problem is the base: It does not disassemble. There are some very hard to reach spots in there, and yes I have bottle brushes! The dried rice suggestion by a representative from the company is a novel idea. I will try that next. But the point is, it could've been so easy. As with most products today, it seems the manufacturer does not actually use their own product. If they did, they would've designed this feeder differently.
I have owned this feeder for over 5 years, and sadly I think I will buy a different one. The search begins now. Does anyone have a good recommendation?
***UPDATE 5/15/13
I tried the rice trick. It actually works pretty good. I'm guessing sand or some other media might work good too. I'm leaving my rating the same though. It shouldn't be this difficult to clean a hummingbird feeder. | 1 | neutral | [
"What can I say that hasn't already been said?",
"I guess I'm torn between wanting to love this feeder and being very frustrated with it at the same time.",
"Things about the feeder I love:\n\n-Very large capacity, about a quart.",
"-A glass reservoir...",
"no plastic to oxidize or yellow with age.",
"-The price.",
"It was really affordable.",
"I think I got it for around $10 at the local hardware store way back when.",
"-It's durable.",
"The branch I had mine attached to came down in a storm and fell 10 feet.",
"The feeder was fine.",
"Ok, then why the three star review?",
"Well, every time I fill it I wash it.",
"The first washing of the season (around now) is almost impossible.",
"The problem is the base: It does not disassemble.",
"There are some very hard to reach spots in there, and yes I have bottle brushes!",
"The dried rice suggestion by a representative from the company is a novel idea.",
"I will try that next.",
"But the point is, it could've been so easy.",
"As with most products today, it seems the manufacturer does not actually use their own product.",
"If they did, they would've designed this feeder differently.",
"I have owned this feeder for over 5 years, and sadly I think I will buy a different one.",
"The search begins now.",
"Does anyone have a good recommendation?",
"***UPDATE 5/15/13\n\nI tried the rice trick.",
"It actually works pretty good.",
"I'm guessing sand or some other media might work good too.",
"I'm leaving my rating the same though.",
"It shouldn't be this difficult to clean a hummingbird feeder."
] |
Over all it's a decent case. Thinner than the Otterbox cases for sure and sleek. I like this case because it's so slim and has a decent amount of rubber for a good grip. It has lasted me through several 3ft. drops and bangs on the floor, so I'd say the durability is fairly well. I haven't tested if it's waterproof,and I don't plan on drenching my phone in the toilet or spilling something on it, knock on wood to do so. The rubberized part is a little annoying to deal with though when trying to get it out of a pocket and it does shred from constant friction. The plastic part at the bottom where the charging port can snap because it's so thin. Another downside is that my car charger doesn't seem to fit in the port with the case on. I eventually just had to get a USB car charger and attach the the cord. | 1 | neutral | [
"Over all it's a decent case.",
"Thinner than the Otterbox cases for sure and sleek.",
"I like this case because it's so slim and has a decent amount of rubber for a good grip.",
"It has lasted me through several 3ft.",
"drops and bangs on the floor, so I'd say the durability is fairly well.",
"I haven't tested if it's waterproof,and I don't plan on drenching my phone in the toilet or spilling something on it, knock on wood to do so.",
"The rubberized part is a little annoying to deal with though when trying to get it out of a pocket and it does shred from constant friction.",
"The plastic part at the bottom where the charging port can snap because it's so thin.",
"Another downside is that my car charger doesn't seem to fit in the port with the case on.",
"I eventually just had to get a USB car charger and attach the the cord."
] |
After these have been open a few day, my dog doesn't seem to particularly like this product. I don't know if it's the texture or flavor though. Probably the texture, as I've gotten the peanut butter flavor as well with similar results.
I think it is to how they're made. They seem to lose freshness in a hurry. Yes, I make sure the bag is sealed properly every time.
Dog will eat them enthusiastically enough in the first 3-5 days of opening a new bag. After that he'll often drop it on the ground, in hopes for something else, only eating it after realizing nothing else is coming.
I too can certainly feel a difference in their touch after a few days.
So even though Zuke's is one of my favorite brands, I would recommend these
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Ark-Naturals-Sea-Mobility-Joint-Rescue-Beef-Jerky-for-Dogs-9-Ounce-Pouch/dp/B00005OMWO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Ark Naturals Sea Mobility Joint Rescue, Beef Jerky for Dogs, 9-Ounce Pouch</a>
over Zuke's, so for as hip and joint supplement treats go at least.
Though admittedly, Zuke's is a better deal. So, if your dog enjoys them, stick with them | 1 | neutral | [
"After these have been open a few day, my dog doesn't seem to particularly like this product.",
"I don't know if it's the texture or flavor though.",
"Probably the texture, as I've gotten the peanut butter flavor as well with similar results.",
"I think it is to how they're made.",
"They seem to lose freshness in a hurry.",
"Yes, I make sure the bag is sealed properly every time.",
"Dog will eat them enthusiastically enough in the first 3-5 days of opening a new bag.",
"After that he'll often drop it on the ground, in hopes for something else, only eating it after realizing nothing else is coming.",
"I too can certainly feel a difference in their touch after a few days.",
"So even though Zuke's is one of my favorite brands, I would recommend these\n<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Ark-Naturals-Sea-Mobility-Joint-Rescue-Beef-Jerky-for-Dogs-9-Ounce-Pouch/dp/B00005OMWO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Ark Naturals Sea Mobility Joint Rescue, Beef Jerky for Dogs, 9-Ounce Pouch</a>\nover Zuke's, so for as hip and joint supplement treats go at least.",
"Though admittedly, Zuke's is a better deal.",
"So, if your dog enjoys them, stick with them"
] |
I got mine and it's exactly what to expect when you're paying less that $10 bucks. Though it says it's 1900 mah, it would charge the phone to full. I read that it should be surprising since the phone requires more juice than just 1470 mahs. Anyways, I've charged my iPhone 4 from 12% percent. After a while, hour or so, it only charged my phone between 57% to 77%. I think, when I turned my phone off, I manage to get it to 87%.
I got the white case and had to get a black marker to blacken the camera area cause the photos with flash had a white blur in them. It worked.
It gets really hot when I'm charging the case and phone at the same time. Especially when I'm using the phone during the recharging. I would suggest you charge the case first and then the phone. Obviously, you should know that heat breaks down the battery's capabilities in holding the charge. So please don't just charge it and ignore it. You didn't pay enough to garner that kind of technology that automatically turn off itself.
I don't like that screen of the phone is a bit out of the case. Do NOT lay your phone facing down then. There is no space between the screen and the case like others.
As long as it keeps chugging, I'm happy with my purchase with all of it's blemishes. | 1 | neutral | [
"I got mine and it's exactly what to expect when you're paying less that $10 bucks.",
"Though it says it's 1900 mah, it would charge the phone to full.",
"I read that it should be surprising since the phone requires more juice than just 1470 mahs.",
"Anyways, I've charged my iPhone 4 from 12% percent.",
"After a while, hour or so, it only charged my phone between 57% to 77%.",
"I think, when I turned my phone off, I manage to get it to 87%.",
"I got the white case and had to get a black marker to blacken the camera area cause the photos with flash had a white blur in them.",
"It worked.",
"It gets really hot when I'm charging the case and phone at the same time.",
"Especially when I'm using the phone during the recharging.",
"I would suggest you charge the case first and then the phone.",
"Obviously, you should know that heat breaks down the battery's capabilities in holding the charge.",
"So please don't just charge it and ignore it.",
"You didn't pay enough to garner that kind of technology that automatically turn off itself.",
"I don't like that screen of the phone is a bit out of the case.",
"Do NOT lay your phone facing down then.",
"There is no space between the screen and the case like others.",
"As long as it keeps chugging, I'm happy with my purchase with all of it's blemishes."
] |
I have never read a Liz Carlyle novel before, so I must honestly say that I had no expectations. The description sounded promising so I enthusiastically set out to embrace the world of Anais and Geoff. I must say that while I traditionally do not enjoy period pieces, I did enjoy this one. Why? I enjoy the paranormal especially if it is peppered with a little romance. Ok, a lot of romance. What isn't there to like? You have a daring heroine (Anais de Rohan); a villain (Lezennes, who rivals all villains); a sexy dashing hero (Lord Geoff Bessett); sword fights; wonderful scenery (Europe) romance and intrigue. There was a decent storyline: the strong female character with secret talents, who would like admission into an all male society known as "Fraternitas Aurea Crucis" (FAC for short) and a hero who doubts her abilities. Determined to show her worth to both the society and Geoff, she sets out to help him rescue a young girl from a dastardly villain.
Overall, this was a decent story. While I felt at times the story was buried deeply in period explanations (which made it at times difficult to follow), once you get use to the rhythm you are able to follow it easily. And while I am not sure if I would seek out another Carlyle novel, if I stumble upon it....who knows. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have never read a Liz Carlyle novel before, so I must honestly say that I had no expectations.",
"The description sounded promising so I enthusiastically set out to embrace the world of Anais and Geoff.",
"I must say that while I traditionally do not enjoy period pieces, I did enjoy this one.",
"Why?",
"I enjoy the paranormal especially if it is peppered with a little romance.",
"Ok, a lot of romance.",
"What isn't there to like?",
"You have a daring heroine (Anais de Rohan); a villain (Lezennes, who rivals all villains); a sexy dashing hero (Lord Geoff Bessett); sword fights; wonderful scenery (Europe) romance and intrigue.",
"There was a decent storyline: the strong female character with secret talents, who would like admission into an all male society known as \"Fraternitas Aurea Crucis\" (FAC for short) and a hero who doubts her abilities.",
"Determined to show her worth to both the society and Geoff, she sets out to help him rescue a young girl from a dastardly villain.",
"Overall, this was a decent story.",
"While I felt at times the story was buried deeply in period explanations (which made it at times difficult to follow), once you get use to the rhythm you are able to follow it easily.",
"And while I am not sure if I would seek out another Carlyle novel, if I stumble upon it....",
"who knows."
] |
I guess I don't appreciate the style of humor that much. There were definitely some creative ideas here, but much of it seemed just plain silly, rather than funny. Am I the only one who cares about the difference?
Several people I like a lot (and some I don't know well, but liked well enough) were in it, including half a dozen little people and the little boy who is apparently dreaming the whole thing. There is a pathetic Ogre, but his wife is the delightful Katherine Helmond, who has a talent for making the most outrageous things seem quite normal. Ian Holm does a thoroughly absurd Napoleon, whose main point seems to be his delight in finding the time bandits are shorter than he is. Michael Palin plays Vincent and Shelly Duvall plays Pansy, who show up twice. The first time is when they are in Sherwood Forest at the time of Robin Hood (John Cleese), and the second is on the deck of the Titanic. "Waiter, more champagne, and plenty of ice."
My favorite is Sean Connery as King Agamemnon and later as the fireman who rescues the boy from his burning home. But then, I love Connery no matter what he's playing. | 1 | neutral | [
"I guess I don't appreciate the style of humor that much.",
"There were definitely some creative ideas here, but much of it seemed just plain silly, rather than funny.",
"Am I the only one who cares about the difference?",
"Several people I like a lot (and some I don't know well, but liked well enough) were in it, including half a dozen little people and the little boy who is apparently dreaming the whole thing.",
"There is a pathetic Ogre, but his wife is the delightful Katherine Helmond, who has a talent for making the most outrageous things seem quite normal.",
"Ian Holm does a thoroughly absurd Napoleon, whose main point seems to be his delight in finding the time bandits are shorter than he is.",
"Michael Palin plays Vincent and Shelly Duvall plays Pansy, who show up twice.",
"The first time is when they are in Sherwood Forest at the time of Robin Hood (John Cleese), and the second is on the deck of the Titanic.",
"\"Waiter, more champagne, and plenty of ice.",
"\"\n\nMy favorite is Sean Connery as King Agamemnon and later as the fireman who rescues the boy from his burning home.",
"But then, I love Connery no matter what he's playing."
] |
I was several hundred miles from home and my shop, helping a friend with a kitchen remodel. Got to a point in the cabinet portion when we really needed a rabbit plane badly. He ran down to the local hardware store and this one was all that they had. I have several older stanley planes and they are good tools. This one disappointed me quite a bit, as it is not up to the Stanley standards I have seen and used in the past. It's pretty roughly made, the adjustments are kind of a joke and the blade doesn't hold a very good edge. We finally got it to work and finished the cabinet doors, but halfway thru I was ready to drive home and get my Lee Valley/Veritas bullnose rabbit plane.
I gave it 3 stars because it will work if you mess with it enough, and it is inexpensive. I think if someone bought it as their first one, they would probably never want to use one again. Save your money and buy a good one from Lee Valley or one of the other quality makers. Can't recommend this one. | 1 | neutral | [
"I was several hundred miles from home and my shop, helping a friend with a kitchen remodel.",
"Got to a point in the cabinet portion when we really needed a rabbit plane badly.",
"He ran down to the local hardware store and this one was all that they had.",
"I have several older stanley planes and they are good tools.",
"This one disappointed me quite a bit, as it is not up to the Stanley standards I have seen and used in the past.",
"It's pretty roughly made, the adjustments are kind of a joke and the blade doesn't hold a very good edge.",
"We finally got it to work and finished the cabinet doors, but halfway thru I was ready to drive home and get my Lee Valley/Veritas bullnose rabbit plane.",
"I gave it 3 stars because it will work if you mess with it enough, and it is inexpensive.",
"I think if someone bought it as their first one, they would probably never want to use one again.",
"Save your money and buy a good one from Lee Valley or one of the other quality makers.",
"Can't recommend this one."
] |
Tripod worked well and seemed sturdy. However, after six months (about 5 uses), an internal plastic part broke on a leg clamp. Now it is non-functional.
Off to the company website: After two layers of company's deep (Velbon, and HakubaUSA), I find a service page. Email using the provided link. Bounces: 'Mailbox Full'. Try to call: "We're sorry, we are unable to take your call.". Hmmmm. This one may be heading to the dumpster after just five uses. | 1 | neutral | [
"Tripod worked well and seemed sturdy.",
"However, after six months (about 5 uses), an internal plastic part broke on a leg clamp.",
"Now it is non-functional.",
"Off to the company website: After two layers of company's deep (Velbon, and HakubaUSA), I find a service page.",
"Email using the provided link.",
"Bounces: 'Mailbox Full'.",
"Try to call: \"We're sorry, we are unable to take your call.",
"\".",
"Hmmmm.",
"This one may be heading to the dumpster after just five uses."
] |
I had a Performax 16-32 but had to downsize due to a recent move. This Jet 10-20 (They didn't send a Performax) is not the same quality as the Performax was, IMHO. The manual says that all adjustments were made at the factory but I had to adjust the tracking, conveyor belt tension, and roller position. The manual says that the trackers should be installed but they were already on the machine that I got. There are worn sections along the sides of the tracking belt which causes me to wonder if this machine is used. However, everything else looks new. The motor that runs the conveyor is quite noisy compared to my previous . This machine is heavy duty though as was the 16-32 and pretty much the same size and weight (except for the conveyor and drum). The dust port is on the back side of the drum roller rather than on the top (like the 16-32). Seems to be a better location for dust collection. I only ran a test piece of rough popular through so far and it came out okay. The paper is 80 grit. I ordered some finer grit paper but it's on backorder. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for now.
Update August 2, 2008. I had not used this sander for awhile. I had a warped piece of 1/2" thick mahogany that I wanted to try and flatten. I did run it through a bunch of passes and it did take a lot of the warp out. For those who have had the motor lug and/or burning, this is mainly caused by trying to take too much off in a single pass. Yes, the wood will have scratch marks if the grit is too coarse. Just as in hand sanding, you have to go to finer grits toward the end of your sanding process. I finish with 180. The drum alignment was way off, but not difficult to change. This has to be done more often that one might think. The little holder tool works just fine. I'm just now buying the infeed/outfeed tables. If your paper starts filling up, you need to apply one of those gum rubber sticks. I got mine at Harbor Freight--makes your paper last a lot longer. | 1 | neutral | [
"I had a Performax 16-32 but had to downsize due to a recent move.",
"This Jet 10-20 (They didn't send a Performax) is not the same quality as the Performax was, IMHO.",
"The manual says that all adjustments were made at the factory but I had to adjust the tracking, conveyor belt tension, and roller position.",
"The manual says that the trackers should be installed but they were already on the machine that I got.",
"There are worn sections along the sides of the tracking belt which causes me to wonder if this machine is used.",
"However, everything else looks new.",
"The motor that runs the conveyor is quite noisy compared to my previous.",
"This machine is heavy duty though as was the 16-32 and pretty much the same size and weight (except for the conveyor and drum).",
"The dust port is on the back side of the drum roller rather than on the top (like the 16-32).",
"Seems to be a better location for dust collection.",
"I only ran a test piece of rough popular through so far and it came out okay.",
"The paper is 80 grit.",
"I ordered some finer grit paper but it's on backorder.",
"I'm keeping my fingers crossed for now.",
"Update August 2, 2008.",
"I had not used this sander for awhile.",
"I had a warped piece of 1/2\" thick mahogany that I wanted to try and flatten.",
"I did run it through a bunch of passes and it did take a lot of the warp out.",
"For those who have had the motor lug and/or burning, this is mainly caused by trying to take too much off in a single pass.",
"Yes, the wood will have scratch marks if the grit is too coarse.",
"Just as in hand sanding, you have to go to finer grits toward the end of your sanding process.",
"I finish with 180.",
"The drum alignment was way off, but not difficult to change.",
"This has to be done more often that one might think.",
"The little holder tool works just fine.",
"I'm just now buying the infeed/outfeed tables.",
"If your paper starts filling up, you need to apply one of those gum rubber sticks.",
"I got mine at Harbor Freight--makes your paper last a lot longer."
] |
With the horrible release of NBA Live 02 a year ago the EA production team realized that if it wanted to compete w/the NBA 2k franchise it had to make a competitive game. Gone from last year are the horrible 3 point bank shots (thank God) and the weak AI. The new analog control scheme that EA invented is "revolutionary" in what it brings to the sports venue. With this new analog control a player can perform a plethora of cross overs and fakes to break a defender down. The commentary is much better than last year, however the player animations could have been better. Looking at NBA 2k3 you can tell the facial differences of each player, however in Live 03 the facial features seem to be alot alike. Actally the game deserves about 3-4 stars, there are some problems here and there (e.g. defintion, the fast gameplay), but what game doesnt have its' problems. In the "basketball wars" between Live and 2k, I think that 2k may be better, but not by far, EA is on the right track (hopefully they'll stay there).
-peace | 1 | neutral | [
"With the horrible release of NBA Live 02 a year ago the EA production team realized that if it wanted to compete w/the NBA 2k franchise it had to make a competitive game.",
"Gone from last year are the horrible 3 point bank shots (thank God) and the weak AI.",
"The new analog control scheme that EA invented is \"revolutionary\" in what it brings to the sports venue.",
"With this new analog control a player can perform a plethora of cross overs and fakes to break a defender down.",
"The commentary is much better than last year, however the player animations could have been better.",
"Looking at NBA 2k3 you can tell the facial differences of each player, however in Live 03 the facial features seem to be alot alike.",
"Actally the game deserves about 3-4 stars, there are some problems here and there (e.",
"g. defintion, the fast gameplay), but what game doesnt have its' problems.",
"In the \"basketball wars\" between Live and 2k, I think that 2k may be better, but not by far, EA is on the right track (hopefully they'll stay there).",
"-peace"
] |
Thank goodness for the internet, is all I have to say. I MAY have not otherwise ever found all the info I need to know about Ram Jam. Was it just me or did any of you ever 'always' assume their sole hit "Black Betty" was a Black Oak Arkansas song? Anyway, most of these eleven tracks appear to be off their self-titled 1977 debut album. They had a follow-up after that, 'Portrait Of The Artist' in 1978, then I guess they simply called it a day. Tunes here that I liked best are the previously mentioned "Black Betty", "Let It All Hang Out", "404" and the jamming "Hey Boogie Woman". Basically, just all around decent '70's hard rock. Nothing special, but okay. Line-up: Myke Scavone - vocals, former Lemon Pipers member Bill Barlett - guitar, Howard Blauvelt (R.I.P.) - bass and Pete Charles - drums. Might appeal to fans of Foghat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Oak and maybe The Sweet. | 1 | neutral | [
"Thank goodness for the internet, is all I have to say.",
"I MAY have not otherwise ever found all the info I need to know about Ram Jam.",
"Was it just me or did any of you ever 'always' assume their sole hit \"Black Betty\" was a Black Oak Arkansas song?",
"Anyway, most of these eleven tracks appear to be off their self-titled 1977 debut album.",
"They had a follow-up after that, 'Portrait Of The Artist' in 1978, then I guess they simply called it a day.",
"Tunes here that I liked best are the previously mentioned \"Black Betty\", \"Let It All Hang Out\", \"404\" and the jamming \"Hey Boogie Woman\".",
"Basically, just all around decent '70's hard rock.",
"Nothing special, but okay.",
"Line-up: Myke Scavone - vocals, former Lemon Pipers member Bill Barlett - guitar, Howard Blauvelt (R.",
"I.P.) - bass and Pete Charles - drums.",
"Might appeal to fans of Foghat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Oak and maybe The Sweet."
] |
I've had 3 or 4 of these things now... I mount them in the engine compartment far away from sources of heat and where they won't get splashed on... I've had them on a number of different vehicles so its not a vehicle specific issue... they just tend to die after about 2 years.... so yes I've had these in my cars for 8 or so years.... manufacturer has had no comment about them failing (besides their statement that they work fine for other people)... on my latest one, I opened it up to see if I could see what exactly was failing, and noticed that the center mounting screw of the PC Board inside, had a screw crushing one of the capacitors on the board... Wolo did send me a replacement board (not whole horn, just the board) at no cost, so I give their customer service a so/so... I just wish they offered a slightly more heavy duty model at a slightly higher price so I wouldn't have to replace them so often... I started crimping quick disconnect connectors on so I could replace them quicker (seriously!) | 1 | neutral | [
"I've had 3 or 4 of these things now...",
"I mount them in the engine compartment far away from sources of heat and where they won't get splashed on...",
"I've had them on a number of different vehicles so its not a vehicle specific issue...",
"they just tend to die after about 2 years....",
"so yes I've had these in my cars for 8 or so years....",
"manufacturer has had no comment about them failing (besides their statement that they work fine for other people)...",
"on my latest one, I opened it up to see if I could see what exactly was failing, and noticed that the center mounting screw of the PC Board inside, had a screw crushing one of the capacitors on the board...",
"Wolo did send me a replacement board (not whole horn, just the board) at no cost, so I give their customer service a so/so...",
"I just wish they offered a slightly more heavy duty model at a slightly higher price so I wouldn't have to replace them so often...",
"I started crimping quick disconnect connectors on so I could replace them quicker (seriously!",
")"
] |
The filming and quality is very poor. Some of the acting is sooooo bad. BUT there is always a silver lining. This must have been one of Hugh Grant's first movies. Who needed a better haircut. I daresay his voice almost cracks at times he must have been pretty young. There are other famous actors and actresses starring in this film. Grant was one of the main characters but did not get top billing. That went to Oliver Reed who had about 20 lines for the whole production. John Mills and Michael York were among the actors.
The Silver Sword (Hugh Grant) could go nowhere but up after this. | 1 | neutral | [
"The filming and quality is very poor.",
"Some of the acting is sooooo bad.",
"BUT there is always a silver lining.",
"This must have been one of Hugh Grant's first movies.",
"Who needed a better haircut.",
"I daresay his voice almost cracks at times he must have been pretty young.",
"There are other famous actors and actresses starring in this film.",
"Grant was one of the main characters but did not get top billing.",
"That went to Oliver Reed who had about 20 lines for the whole production.",
"John Mills and Michael York were among the actors.",
"The Silver Sword (Hugh Grant) could go nowhere but up after this."
] |
The daughter of Senator Rose is kidnapped by her "teacher"; another teacher is killed. This crazy killer hides young Megan Rose, and calls Dr. Cross, a profiler. (How did this "teacher" pass his background checks?) The problem is to recover Megan Rose unhurt by solving this crime. The Secret Service agent who failed to protect Megan Rose partners with this profiler whose previous partner was killed on the job (an omen?).
Dr. Cross discovers a clue hidden away in a digital photograph. (This crime is modeled after the Lindbergh kidnapping.) Megan Rose tries to escape, the man who tries to help her is killed by kidnapper Songee. There is an attempt to meet another student that goes awry, almost trapping Songee! The police seem to be closing in. Songee calls for $10 million in untraceable diamonds, but this call can't be traced. (Have they no Caller ID?) A series of phone calls leads Dr. Cross to the transit system to deliver the ransom. While this pair discuss the case, Songee invades their house to question them! (Believable?) This mistake leads to Songee's death. But Songee never got the ransom! Is there another criminal involved? The brains behind this plot is a killer! Now Megan Rose knows too much, and must be silenced. But Dr. Cross arrives to stop the killer and save Megan Rose.
This is an entertaining story with plot twists; but the final ending seems incredible to me. | 1 | neutral | [
"The daughter of Senator Rose is kidnapped by her \"teacher\"; another teacher is killed.",
"This crazy killer hides young Megan Rose, and calls Dr.",
"Cross, a profiler.",
"(How did this \"teacher\" pass his background checks?",
") The problem is to recover Megan Rose unhurt by solving this crime.",
"The Secret Service agent who failed to protect Megan Rose partners with this profiler whose previous partner was killed on the job (an omen?",
").",
"Dr.",
"Cross discovers a clue hidden away in a digital photograph.",
"(This crime is modeled after the Lindbergh kidnapping.",
") Megan Rose tries to escape, the man who tries to help her is killed by kidnapper Songee.",
"There is an attempt to meet another student that goes awry, almost trapping Songee!",
"The police seem to be closing in.",
"Songee calls for $10 million in untraceable diamonds, but this call can't be traced.",
"(Have they no Caller ID?",
") A series of phone calls leads Dr.",
"Cross to the transit system to deliver the ransom.",
"While this pair discuss the case, Songee invades their house to question them!",
"(Believable?",
") This mistake leads to Songee's death.",
"But Songee never got the ransom!",
"Is there another criminal involved?",
"The brains behind this plot is a killer!",
"Now Megan Rose knows too much, and must be silenced.",
"But Dr.",
"Cross arrives to stop the killer and save Megan Rose.",
"This is an entertaining story with plot twists; but the final ending seems incredible to me."
] |
I didn't play the first Fable but I was excited about Fable 2. I really enjoy action RPG style games.
Overall Fable 2 is a fun game to play that feels like it's trying to scale to something great but falls short. It's limiting, buggy and frankly starts to feel small about halfway through the game when you realize there's really only one major city.
Fable 2 has many issues. Here are a few:
1. Graphic glitches, pop-in, strange lines running through some textures.
2. Lockups, sometimes full console crash but mostly just game lockups.
3. The story is pretty bad but not as bad as some JRPGs I've played.
4. The pet is very limited, it won't tank and has no combat commands.
5. Camera in 2 player mode is awful. In fact, 2 player mode is awful.
That last item brings me to multiplayer. Basically multiplayer is extremely dissapointing. My wife and I wanted to play this together and realized on of us has to be a "henchman". We can't even use our individual characters at the same time. The online multiplayer uses the same camera shared screen technique as the offline which is awful.
Ok, so that sounds like I hate the game but not really. I like some things about it:
1. The combat is simple but elegant.
2. Many of the enviroments look great.
3. The narrators voice of work is good.
4. Even though the pet is limited it's still nice to have.
5. I love this style of game.
6. The fact you can buy/sell/customize house is all very cool.
Overall it's a game I recommend to people who really enjoy this genre. As much as I was dissapointed with the multiplayer aspect it's still a good single player game. | 1 | neutral | [
"I didn't play the first Fable but I was excited about Fable 2.",
"I really enjoy action RPG style games.",
"Overall Fable 2 is a fun game to play that feels like it's trying to scale to something great but falls short.",
"It's limiting, buggy and frankly starts to feel small about halfway through the game when you realize there's really only one major city.",
"Fable 2 has many issues.",
"Here are a few:\n1.",
"Graphic glitches, pop-in, strange lines running through some textures.",
"2.",
"Lockups, sometimes full console crash but mostly just game lockups.",
"3.",
"The story is pretty bad but not as bad as some JRPGs I've played.",
"4.",
"The pet is very limited, it won't tank and has no combat commands.",
"5.",
"Camera in 2 player mode is awful.",
"In fact, 2 player mode is awful.",
"That last item brings me to multiplayer.",
"Basically multiplayer is extremely dissapointing.",
"My wife and I wanted to play this together and realized on of us has to be a \"henchman\".",
"We can't even use our individual characters at the same time.",
"The online multiplayer uses the same camera shared screen technique as the offline which is awful.",
"Ok, so that sounds like I hate the game but not really.",
"I like some things about it:\n1.",
"The combat is simple but elegant.",
"2.",
"Many of the enviroments look great.",
"3.",
"The narrators voice of work is good.",
"4.",
"Even though the pet is limited it's still nice to have.",
"5.",
"I love this style of game.",
"6.",
"The fact you can buy/sell/customize house is all very cool.",
"Overall it's a game I recommend to people who really enjoy this genre.",
"As much as I was dissapointed with the multiplayer aspect it's still a good single player game."
] |
NOPE! While this novella started off REALLY nicely, when we actually meet the mysterious Dante who broke Noah's heart 6 years ago and disappeared from his life I was NOT impressed. I mean, I hoped, and was rewarded with a better story than a simple misunderstanding, I could have accepted the strange situation that broke them apart, but I couldn't stand the way Dante behaved. I know some people like the alpha aggressive possessive type but while I can be annoyed and still accept it in some scenarios, here it just didn't work for me AT ALL. It's not just Noah and Dante anymore, there's a 5 years old kid, who didn't know a thing about Dante though he is her actual father. Noah have been raising her like his own because he couldn't even get in touch with Dante to let him know he is a father..
Now that Dante knows about Grace he wants both of them. That's totally understood, I just don't think he truly understand what stability means to a child, or how NOT to toy with a kids' feelings.. Manhandling Noah is one thing, manhandling the both of them to do his bidding - WRONG.
This is a short novella so I don't want to say too much though I have a feeling I already did. I liked Noah though I thought he was too weak around Dante, too accepting of Dante's dominance over his life (and I'm NOT talking just about sex). Dante was HORRIBLE, he is frankly one of the worst MCs I've read in a LONG time. I hate him with a passion! He was childishly possessive. I won't say more not to spoiler but I will say I hated his behaviour not only towards Noah and Grace. I"m not sure how I can recommend this short novella because it didn't even end in a way I could HOPE for a reasonable Noah and a more compliant Dante who realizes OTHER people's life and the way they live it matter MORE than himself.
Yet I'm not dissing this book totally because as always, I enjoyed Mary's writing, I DID like Noah (our sole POV), and really, Grace was the cutest thing (even if kids aren't my "thing" usually, she had a really nice part). I also liked the explanation to their breakup. I think Dante could have done more, but I also get why he didn't. My ONLY complaint about this story is - as you can more than guess - Dante. He might be the sexiest man alive, but he had NO appeal in the way he was behaving. sorry..
Tags: Contemporary MM Romance
More @ Ultra Meital Reviews. | 1 | neutral | [
"NOPE!",
"While this novella started off REALLY nicely, when we actually meet the mysterious Dante who broke Noah's heart 6 years ago and disappeared from his life I was NOT impressed.",
"I mean, I hoped, and was rewarded with a better story than a simple misunderstanding, I could have accepted the strange situation that broke them apart, but I couldn't stand the way Dante behaved.",
"I know some people like the alpha aggressive possessive type but while I can be annoyed and still accept it in some scenarios, here it just didn't work for me AT ALL.",
"It's not just Noah and Dante anymore, there's a 5 years old kid, who didn't know a thing about Dante though he is her actual father.",
"Noah have been raising her like his own because he couldn't even get in touch with Dante to let him know he is a father..",
"Now that Dante knows about Grace he wants both of them.",
"That's totally understood, I just don't think he truly understand what stability means to a child, or how NOT to toy with a kids' feelings..",
"Manhandling Noah is one thing, manhandling the both of them to do his bidding - WRONG.",
"This is a short novella so I don't want to say too much though I have a feeling I already did.",
"I liked Noah though I thought he was too weak around Dante, too accepting of Dante's dominance over his life (and I'm NOT talking just about sex).",
"Dante was HORRIBLE, he is frankly one of the worst MCs I've read in a LONG time.",
"I hate him with a passion!",
"He was childishly possessive.",
"I won't say more not to spoiler but I will say I hated his behaviour not only towards Noah and Grace.",
"I\"m not sure how I can recommend this short novella because it didn't even end in a way I could HOPE for a reasonable Noah and a more compliant Dante who realizes OTHER people's life and the way they live it matter MORE than himself.",
"Yet I'm not dissing this book totally because as always, I enjoyed Mary's writing, I DID like Noah (our sole POV), and really, Grace was the cutest thing (even if kids aren't my \"thing\" usually, she had a really nice part).",
"I also liked the explanation to their breakup.",
"I think Dante could have done more, but I also get why he didn't.",
"My ONLY complaint about this story is - as you can more than guess - Dante.",
"He might be the sexiest man alive, but he had NO appeal in the way he was behaving.",
"sorry..",
"Tags: Contemporary MM Romance\n\nMore @ Ultra Meital Reviews."
] |
I needed to replace my Blender and also wanted to buy a small food processor so this sounded like a great idea from a reputable company. As noted elsewhere - the Blender is LOUD. When I make my daily Smoothie the Blender hops around and you have to hold the pitcher down on the base. But it DOES get the job done.
The Food Processor works well. BUT - it comes with the 'S' blade and one cutting/shredding disk only. There are NO other ones available as in other brands and models. NO GOOD. The slicing side has about a 2mm cut which is OK for paper thin cucumbers but NO good for potatoes other than maybe potato chips. I need the larger slice for breakfast, sliced zucchini, and so on.
I am giving my Duo away and getting some other model that is more rugged and has food processor attachments. Still like Cuisinart - just not the Duo. | 1 | neutral | [
"I needed to replace my Blender and also wanted to buy a small food processor so this sounded like a great idea from a reputable company.",
"As noted elsewhere - the Blender is LOUD.",
"When I make my daily Smoothie the Blender hops around and you have to hold the pitcher down on the base.",
"But it DOES get the job done.",
"The Food Processor works well.",
"BUT - it comes with the 'S' blade and one cutting/shredding disk only.",
"There are NO other ones available as in other brands and models.",
"NO GOOD.",
"The slicing side has about a 2mm cut which is OK for paper thin cucumbers but NO good for potatoes other than maybe potato chips.",
"I need the larger slice for breakfast, sliced zucchini, and so on.",
"I am giving my Duo away and getting some other model that is more rugged and has food processor attachments.",
"Still like Cuisinart - just not the Duo."
] |
PUBLISHER: Pocket Books, 12/2015
ORIGINAL PUB: 1982
GENRE: Contemporary Suspense
SETTING: Virginia, USA
SERIES: Audrina, #1
NARRATION: First person
MY GRADE: C
This wasbeyond bizarre. The timespan is about five years and the narration is in first person, told from Audrina Adare's point of view. It was warped, and I prefer that sort of thing, but this didn't do anything for me. Child gang-rape, miscarriages, a retarded child, a seriously disturbed relative, ect. Not one bit of it was plausible. The story should have been under four-hundred pages, not over five-hundred. I thought it would never end, seriously. It was mostly monotonous.
Vera- A slightly older'relative' of Audrina's. She should have been the star because she was so screwed up psychologically. She was, by far, the worst character in the novel and the only one Iliked. She was rotten to the core. The rest were bland, especially Audrina. I've never figured out who paid for her schooling once she left Whitefern, the mansion she grew up in, along with Audrina.
I didn't like for feel the need for the characters Sylvia or Billie. I didn't like that several deaths took place in the same exact way nor did I like the ending.
There was a ghost-written sequel to this 1982 book, published in 2016 called Whitefern but I'm not interested in reading it. There was also a 2016 Lifetime film based on this novel.
**I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.** | 1 | neutral | [
"PUBLISHER: Pocket Books, 12/2015\nORIGINAL PUB: 1982\nGENRE: Contemporary Suspense\nSETTING: Virginia, USA\nSERIES: Audrina, #1\nNARRATION: First person\nMY GRADE: C\n\nThis wasbeyond bizarre.",
"The timespan is about five years and the narration is in first person, told from Audrina Adare's point of view.",
"It was warped, and I prefer that sort of thing, but this didn't do anything for me.",
"Child gang-rape, miscarriages, a retarded child, a seriously disturbed relative, ect.",
"Not one bit of it was plausible.",
"The story should have been under four-hundred pages, not over five-hundred.",
"I thought it would never end, seriously.",
"It was mostly monotonous.",
"Vera- A slightly older'relative' of Audrina's.",
"She should have been the star because she was so screwed up psychologically.",
"She was, by far, the worst character in the novel and the only one Iliked.",
"She was rotten to the core.",
"The rest were bland, especially Audrina.",
"I've never figured out who paid for her schooling once she left Whitefern, the mansion she grew up in, along with Audrina.",
"I didn't like for feel the need for the characters Sylvia or Billie.",
"I didn't like that several deaths took place in the same exact way nor did I like the ending.",
"There was a ghost-written sequel to this 1982 book, published in 2016 called Whitefern but I'm not interested in reading it.",
"There was also a 2016 Lifetime film based on this novel.",
"**I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.",
"**"
] |
Corey Lewandowski Rick Dearborn testify before House Intel Committee as part of Russia probe
Lewandowski and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Rick Dearbonâs interviews with the House Intelligence Committee come after ex-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon met with congressional investigators for almost 12 hours on Tuesday.
Lewandowski said on Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria" Wednesday that he was not instructed by the White House to withhold any information.
"I'll tell you anything " Lewandowski said.
Lewandowski who led the Trump campaign for almost two years through the Republican primaries said they welcomed the âopportunityâ to testify before the committee.
âSteve was [with the campaign] for a short period of time. I was there almost two years every day next to the candidate next to President Trump â Lewandowski said on Fox News Channel's âOutnumbered Overtimeâ Tuesday. âNever ever ever did we coordinate or cooperate or collude with any Russians.â
Lewandowski told Fox News that he would âanswer every question truthfully honestly to the best of my ability and the best of my recollection.â
âBut because I have nothing to hide Iâm looking forward to this opportunity help finally bring this to a close â he said.
Lewandowski added that he hopes Democrats come to a ârealizationâ that there was no Trump-Russia collusion. | 1 | neutral | [
"Corey Lewandowski Rick Dearborn testify before House Intel Committee as part of Russia probe\nLewandowski and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Rick Dearbonâs interviews with the House Intelligence Committee come after ex-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon met with congressional investigators for almost 12 hours on Tuesday.",
"Lewandowski said on Fox Business Network's \"Mornings with Maria\" Wednesday that he was not instructed by the White House to withhold any information.",
"\"I'll tell you anything \" Lewandowski said.",
"Lewandowski who led the Trump campaign for almost two years through the Republican primaries said they welcomed the âopportunityâ to testify before the committee.",
"âSteve was [with the campaign] for a short period of time.",
"I was there almost two years every day next to the candidate next to President Trump â Lewandowski said on Fox News Channel's âOutnumbered Overtimeâ Tuesday.",
"âNever ever ever did we coordinate or cooperate or collude with any Russians.",
"â\n Lewandowski told Fox News that he would âanswer every question truthfully honestly to the best of my ability and the best of my recollection.",
"â\nâBut because I have nothing to hide Iâm looking forward to this opportunity help finally bring this to a close â he said.",
"Lewandowski added that he hopes Democrats come to a ârealizationâ that there was no Trump-Russia collusion."
] |
James Herbert's '48 is a good example of the "last-man-on-earth" theme that has been growing in creativity and gore in recent years (compare 2004's Dawn of the Dead or Resident Evil to 1978's The Omega Man for a rather graphic representation of this progression). Set in post-World-War-II London, this book is the story of a small band of survivors struggling to flee the evil, destructive "black-shirts" in a world decimated by Hitler's last-ditch, desparate, horrific attack. The "B2" bombs, warheads filled with a devastating virus called the "blood death," have wiped out nearly all of the world's population. The only survivors are those with the extremely rare AB-negative blood type and a handful of other, less fortunate souls who survived the initial attack but are slowly dying from the blood disease nonetheless.
The story starts with an immediate pulse-pounding chase scene as the protagonist, Hoch, is pursued through the London's empty streets by a gang of murderous thugs loyal to Hitler's ideals and infected with the blood death. Their only hope for long-term survival is to capture Hoch and drain him of his healthy blood, then attempt a transfusion.
We follow Hoch down into the tunnels of London's Underground, into lavish hotel halls, and eventually to the top of the Tower Bridge, where he engineers a final standoff with the black-shirts who want his blood. Along the way, Hoch encounters a few other healthy individuals. One of them, Muriel, becomes a love interest in two drawn-out and unfortunately quite graphic sex scenes. Another, a German named Wilhelm Sterne, becomes the focus of Hoch's hatred in a series of character-development scenes that add surprising depth to the otherwise action-based plot.
The body count in '48 is unknowable. Beyond the initial deaths of billions of people worldwide due to the blood death, Hoch singlehandedly kills hundreds of black-shirts during the course of the story. In one brief but nonetheless disturbing scene shown in a flashback, Hoch runs over an insane man in the street for no reason other than the fact that the man is in his way. Hoch's female companions continually entreat him to spare the lives of his enemies ("Hasn't there been enough killing?" is a common refrain from these characters); but Herbert's protagonist is unaffected by their pleas.
This is a dark story that ends without imparting much hope for the future. It is without question entertaining--the rapidity of the plot and the well-written scenes of nonstop action see to that--and the characters are multilayered and for the most part believable. The book accomplishes exactly what it sets out to accomplish. However, due to the unoriginality of the story, the graphic sexuality, and the overwhelming scenes of violence, it is not one that I feel can be recommended. | 1 | neutral | [
"James Herbert's '48 is a good example of the \"last-man-on-earth\" theme that has been growing in creativity and gore in recent years (compare 2004's Dawn of the Dead or Resident Evil to 1978's The Omega Man for a rather graphic representation of this progression).",
"Set in post-World-War-II London, this book is the story of a small band of survivors struggling to flee the evil, destructive \"black-shirts\" in a world decimated by Hitler's last-ditch, desparate, horrific attack.",
"The \"B2\" bombs, warheads filled with a devastating virus called the \"blood death,\" have wiped out nearly all of the world's population.",
"The only survivors are those with the extremely rare AB-negative blood type and a handful of other, less fortunate souls who survived the initial attack but are slowly dying from the blood disease nonetheless.",
"The story starts with an immediate pulse-pounding chase scene as the protagonist, Hoch, is pursued through the London's empty streets by a gang of murderous thugs loyal to Hitler's ideals and infected with the blood death.",
"Their only hope for long-term survival is to capture Hoch and drain him of his healthy blood, then attempt a transfusion.",
"We follow Hoch down into the tunnels of London's Underground, into lavish hotel halls, and eventually to the top of the Tower Bridge, where he engineers a final standoff with the black-shirts who want his blood.",
"Along the way, Hoch encounters a few other healthy individuals.",
"One of them, Muriel, becomes a love interest in two drawn-out and unfortunately quite graphic sex scenes.",
"Another, a German named Wilhelm Sterne, becomes the focus of Hoch's hatred in a series of character-development scenes that add surprising depth to the otherwise action-based plot.",
"The body count in '48 is unknowable.",
"Beyond the initial deaths of billions of people worldwide due to the blood death, Hoch singlehandedly kills hundreds of black-shirts during the course of the story.",
"In one brief but nonetheless disturbing scene shown in a flashback, Hoch runs over an insane man in the street for no reason other than the fact that the man is in his way.",
"Hoch's female companions continually entreat him to spare the lives of his enemies (\"Hasn't there been enough killing?",
"\" is a common refrain from these characters); but Herbert's protagonist is unaffected by their pleas.",
"This is a dark story that ends without imparting much hope for the future.",
"It is without question entertaining--the rapidity of the plot and the well-written scenes of nonstop action see to that--and the characters are multilayered and for the most part believable.",
"The book accomplishes exactly what it sets out to accomplish.",
"However, due to the unoriginality of the story, the graphic sexuality, and the overwhelming scenes of violence, it is not one that I feel can be recommended."
] |
First, I should begin by conceding that this is my first MMORPG though I have done the online battles (Half-Life, Unreal, etc). Despite some really great technical details, I was unfortunately a little disappointed overall with the game.
The Good
- Great Graphics.
- Character creation (as everyone who has tried it attests) is simply the best out there. It is a lot of fun to try different combinations to create a unique persona.
- Communication between characters, teams, and friends was pretty easy and did not require a MIT computer science degree. Teaming was very easy.
- Fun to try to build up powers in different combinations.
The Bad
- Missions were pretty much the same. Many buildings and areas were exactly the same as others. Eventually, the repetition made the experience a little boring and ruins the suspension of disbelief.
- Battle was similar no matter where you went. If you are a brawler, you get in the middle of the group of thugs, and push 1/2/1/2 as fast as it will let you; if you are a commander you stand back and push 1/2/1/2 as fast as it will let you; if you are a healer, you stand back and.... The team strategy made it a little more fun, but it too was largely pretty repetitive.
- Enemies were pretty similar. Once you pass a certain point, all enemies are divided into color-codes. Most go down in one hit, but give you little experience; others kill you pretty much automatically. So you have to go search out the ones in your band of skill. I couldn't find any unique qualities about bad guys that would make me want to try one strategy over another. As mentioned about, it was pretty much 1/2/1/2 no matter who you fight.
- No real story arcs, even in the continuous stories (which they called arcs). Nothing like a real RPG (a la Final Fantasy or Balder's Gate). I understand the MMORPG need to have a slightly different paradigm, but they really could have worked harder to come up with a compelling reason for playing beyond (i) kill 10 of these guys, (ii) now kill 10 of these guys, (iii) now go recover the non-descript loot, etc. The identity-less contacts didn't help all that much.
- No competition with others (though I hear it is coming in CoV).
Here is my rundown:
Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are solid and I run into little slowdown when I jacked it up to the highest resolution (Pentium 4 2.5G/ GForce 4). I won't say much here, because you can check out the screenshots for yourself.
Sound: 4/10
Not horrible, but nothing to write home about. I just finished Chronicles of Riddick where you could hear the muffled tortured screams of cell mates and unique voice acting for each character, so I have to admit the twing sound when you activate telekinesis seems a little weak.
Fun: 7/10
Starts out a lot of fun, but after playing 10 hours or so, everything just seems about the same. The mission are not really all that different and I could not find a compelling reason to keep coming on.
Overall: 7/10
I hate to be harsh on games, but overall I would probably not buy this one again. My advice to someone considering buying CoH is to wait to see how things improve once City of Villains comes out. Supposedly, most of the things that I found annoying are being fixed in the expansion. If you are a hard core MMORPGer, there is a lot here that is worth the time. But if you are a casual gamer (such as myself), I would say you can probably skip this one without losing too much sleep. | 1 | neutral | [
"First, I should begin by conceding that this is my first MMORPG though I have done the online battles (Half-Life, Unreal, etc).",
"Despite some really great technical details, I was unfortunately a little disappointed overall with the game.",
"The Good\n- Great Graphics.",
"- Character creation (as everyone who has tried it attests) is simply the best out there.",
"It is a lot of fun to try different combinations to create a unique persona.",
"- Communication between characters, teams, and friends was pretty easy and did not require a MIT computer science degree.",
"Teaming was very easy.",
"- Fun to try to build up powers in different combinations.",
"The Bad\n- Missions were pretty much the same.",
"Many buildings and areas were exactly the same as others.",
"Eventually, the repetition made the experience a little boring and ruins the suspension of disbelief.",
"- Battle was similar no matter where you went.",
"If you are a brawler, you get in the middle of the group of thugs, and push 1/2/1/2 as fast as it will let you; if you are a commander you stand back and push 1/2/1/2 as fast as it will let you; if you are a healer, you stand back and....",
"The team strategy made it a little more fun, but it too was largely pretty repetitive.",
"- Enemies were pretty similar.",
"Once you pass a certain point, all enemies are divided into color-codes.",
"Most go down in one hit, but give you little experience; others kill you pretty much automatically.",
"So you have to go search out the ones in your band of skill.",
"I couldn't find any unique qualities about bad guys that would make me want to try one strategy over another.",
"As mentioned about, it was pretty much 1/2/1/2 no matter who you fight.",
"- No real story arcs, even in the continuous stories (which they called arcs).",
"Nothing like a real RPG (a la Final Fantasy or Balder's Gate).",
"I understand the MMORPG need to have a slightly different paradigm, but they really could have worked harder to come up with a compelling reason for playing beyond (i) kill 10 of these guys, (ii) now kill 10 of these guys, (iii) now go recover the non-descript loot, etc.",
"The identity-less contacts didn't help all that much.",
"- No competition with others (though I hear it is coming in CoV).",
"Here is my rundown:\n\nGraphics: 9/10\nThe graphics are solid and I run into little slowdown when I jacked it up to the highest resolution (Pentium 4 2.",
"5G/ GForce 4).",
"I won't say much here, because you can check out the screenshots for yourself.",
"Sound: 4/10\nNot horrible, but nothing to write home about.",
"I just finished Chronicles of Riddick where you could hear the muffled tortured screams of cell mates and unique voice acting for each character, so I have to admit the twing sound when you activate telekinesis seems a little weak.",
"Fun: 7/10\nStarts out a lot of fun, but after playing 10 hours or so, everything just seems about the same.",
"The mission are not really all that different and I could not find a compelling reason to keep coming on.",
"Overall: 7/10\nI hate to be harsh on games, but overall I would probably not buy this one again.",
"My advice to someone considering buying CoH is to wait to see how things improve once City of Villains comes out.",
"Supposedly, most of the things that I found annoying are being fixed in the expansion.",
"If you are a hard core MMORPGer, there is a lot here that is worth the time.",
"But if you are a casual gamer (such as myself), I would say you can probably skip this one without losing too much sleep."
] |
After using "AVG FREE" (the free version of AVG's Anti Virus software) I kind of knew what to expect from this software. AVG's "Anti-Virus & Anti-Spyware" is basically a step up from the freeware that I have been using for several years on one of my PCs. The two year subscription is a big plus, hopefully it will keep me worry free.
The program installed without issue once I put the disc in my drive, entered the license information and waited about five minutes for the process to finish. I rebooted my machine, registered my copy and everything appeared to be working fine. The program updated the virus and spyware definitions to the latest available versions, then the program said that there was a newer version of the program available for download. Apparently the disc has version 8. X on it, and there is version 9. X out on the upgrade server. That's great, but why didn't it tell me that before I wasted my time installing from the disc? This is one thing that Kaspersky informs you of, and seems like a logical place to have up front. So I downloaded the newest version, which seemed to take a long time. I don't remember how many megabytes it was but I don't think it was a big file, yet took awhile to acquire.
Once the upgraded version of AVG's Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware was installed, I rebooted the computer only to find that the Anti Virus engine failed to initialize. Windows Security Center informed me that the anti virus software was turned off, and when I opened the AVG control panel it was confirmed. The antivirus component, as well as several other components were not active. I decided another reboot was in order, but when the computer came back up it was the same scenario, it was still not active. No matter how many times I rebooted the machine I could not get the modules to get to their active state so I figured something must have gone wrong during the install. I decided to uninstall the software and try again, hoping that this time it will load properly.
It took two attempts after the initial install of the upgraded version of AVG Anti Virus & Anti Spyware and about two hours to be successful. Finally the program loaded with active components and theoretically was doing its thing. That's where this review gets difficult as far as the functionality of this software, since unless you get hit by a virus or spyware you don't really know if the program is working OR if the virus or spyware is not detected by the software you don't know that it has failed.
As far as the user interface on AVG's Antivirus & Antispyware, it is similar to other programs, showing each component and its status, then getting more detailed if you click on the icon. It contains the following: Antivirus, Antispyware, LinkScanner, Anti Rootkit, Email Scanner, Web Shield, Resident Shield, Update Manager, and License. What you do not get in this version of the software is a Firewall and Identification Protection. For that you will have to get the Internet Security product. Off to the left side of the interface there is the computer scanner button, which allows you to manually scan your whole computer, scan specific files or folders, and an anti rootkit scan. You can also manage scheduled scans, allowing you to plan when you want scans to occur (assuming you leave your computer on during those times).
So far, the software has not indicated that I have had any threats to my system since it has been installed. Like I mentioned early that could be a good thing or a bad thing. Subsequent scans have also indicated that the computer is clean. I am hoping that AVG's Anti-Virus & Anti Spyware is doing its job since you really don't know it's there except for the icon in the system tray, when it is performing an update, when it scans an email you are sending or receiving, or it lets you know you are visiting a safe website. It does not noticeably slow your computer down, but you know it is running in the background and you hope it catches a threat before it is too late. I just hope it never has to.
I am giving it three stars because of the initial install issues, not because of the performance or user interface. | 1 | neutral | [
"After using \"AVG FREE\" (the free version of AVG's Anti Virus software) I kind of knew what to expect from this software.",
"AVG's \"Anti-Virus & Anti-Spyware\" is basically a step up from the freeware that I have been using for several years on one of my PCs.",
"The two year subscription is a big plus, hopefully it will keep me worry free.",
"The program installed without issue once I put the disc in my drive, entered the license information and waited about five minutes for the process to finish.",
"I rebooted my machine, registered my copy and everything appeared to be working fine.",
"The program updated the virus and spyware definitions to the latest available versions, then the program said that there was a newer version of the program available for download.",
"Apparently the disc has version 8.",
"X on it, and there is version 9.",
"X out on the upgrade server.",
"That's great, but why didn't it tell me that before I wasted my time installing from the disc?",
"This is one thing that Kaspersky informs you of, and seems like a logical place to have up front.",
"So I downloaded the newest version, which seemed to take a long time.",
"I don't remember how many megabytes it was but I don't think it was a big file, yet took awhile to acquire.",
"Once the upgraded version of AVG's Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware was installed, I rebooted the computer only to find that the Anti Virus engine failed to initialize.",
"Windows Security Center informed me that the anti virus software was turned off, and when I opened the AVG control panel it was confirmed.",
"The antivirus component, as well as several other components were not active.",
"I decided another reboot was in order, but when the computer came back up it was the same scenario, it was still not active.",
"No matter how many times I rebooted the machine I could not get the modules to get to their active state so I figured something must have gone wrong during the install.",
"I decided to uninstall the software and try again, hoping that this time it will load properly.",
"It took two attempts after the initial install of the upgraded version of AVG Anti Virus & Anti Spyware and about two hours to be successful.",
"Finally the program loaded with active components and theoretically was doing its thing.",
"That's where this review gets difficult as far as the functionality of this software, since unless you get hit by a virus or spyware you don't really know if the program is working OR if the virus or spyware is not detected by the software you don't know that it has failed.",
"As far as the user interface on AVG's Antivirus & Antispyware, it is similar to other programs, showing each component and its status, then getting more detailed if you click on the icon.",
"It contains the following: Antivirus, Antispyware, LinkScanner, Anti Rootkit, Email Scanner, Web Shield, Resident Shield, Update Manager, and License.",
"What you do not get in this version of the software is a Firewall and Identification Protection.",
"For that you will have to get the Internet Security product.",
"Off to the left side of the interface there is the computer scanner button, which allows you to manually scan your whole computer, scan specific files or folders, and an anti rootkit scan.",
"You can also manage scheduled scans, allowing you to plan when you want scans to occur (assuming you leave your computer on during those times).",
"So far, the software has not indicated that I have had any threats to my system since it has been installed.",
"Like I mentioned early that could be a good thing or a bad thing.",
"Subsequent scans have also indicated that the computer is clean.",
"I am hoping that AVG's Anti-Virus & Anti Spyware is doing its job since you really don't know it's there except for the icon in the system tray, when it is performing an update, when it scans an email you are sending or receiving, or it lets you know you are visiting a safe website.",
"It does not noticeably slow your computer down, but you know it is running in the background and you hope it catches a threat before it is too late.",
"I just hope it never has to.",
"I am giving it three stars because of the initial install issues, not because of the performance or user interface."
] |
I have been doing this for 35 years and this is my 4th detector. My last one was a top of the line and had to part with it to raise money when I was out of work. I decided it was time to once again buy one and the price seemed right. Of course I cannot compare it to a $300 detector ( at the time ), you do really get what you pay for.
Here is my take so far. The bad : No volumn control, one level fits all sound.
Also, it was hard as heck to pinpoint the target. With my last detector, when I dug the hole, you simply placed the coil over the hole and found the object. With this unit, it only works when moving so you have to wave it back and forth while digging to locate the target.
The good: It is super light weight, made almost 100% from plastic. You won't get tired as fast.
Takes 2 9v batteries.( Batteries while wearing headphones last about 15-20 hours )
Probably ok for a beginner, however if you are an avid hunter and you can afford, spend at least $200. Once I find enough to pay this one off, I am going back to a better model. This model will NOT go deeper than about 6" on a quarter and to find older silver coins, this model won't work. I have challenged Bounty Hunter manufacturing to prove me wrong but they actually agreed with my test. They said they sell a more expensive model if you want more depth.
UPDATE 2: OK have used for 1 month now and have found a total of $200.00 in gold jewelry. I know that because a reputable dealer paid me that amount for what I have found so far. I have now paid off the detector in just a months time. I am more impressed now, however, if you are wanting to find old deep silver coins you have two choices, buy a better machine, or use this one on all metal mode, go real slow and dig about 1000 lbs of trash for every coin found then still no guarantee. Also, with my old detector, you just held the detector over your hole and it beeped if item was still there. This detector is a motion detector so you have to swing it for it to work so pinpointing is litteraly a pain. By the end of the first day my shoulders were sore.
* If you want a decent detector to just find recently lost coins around playground equipment, this detector is awesome with its three mode detection. If you want to do some serious silver hunting or looking for old deep buried coins,forget it. It is however great at finding old soda cans up to 12" deep. Maybe you can dig them all day and cash in the aluminum, you should be able to pay off the detector in maybe 75 years.
Overall, like I said, Bounty hunter is one of the 5 oldest detector companies around but most of their equipment is geared towards beginners.
UPDATE: 2013. Even though I kept the Bounty Hunter for a back up detector, Once I got back on my feet and was hooked again in metal detector, I did some research and ended up going mad and paying $1,800.00 for a metal detector. I have found more with the new one in 16 months than all 4 other detectors over 35 years. I am still glad I bought the Bounty Hunter and keep it as a back up cause it is so darn easy to use. Plus it triple paid for itself in less then 5 months. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have been doing this for 35 years and this is my 4th detector.",
"My last one was a top of the line and had to part with it to raise money when I was out of work.",
"I decided it was time to once again buy one and the price seemed right.",
"Of course I cannot compare it to a $300 detector ( at the time ), you do really get what you pay for.",
"Here is my take so far.",
"The bad : No volumn control, one level fits all sound.",
"Also, it was hard as heck to pinpoint the target.",
"With my last detector, when I dug the hole, you simply placed the coil over the hole and found the object.",
"With this unit, it only works when moving so you have to wave it back and forth while digging to locate the target.",
"The good: It is super light weight, made almost 100% from plastic.",
"You won't get tired as fast.",
"Takes 2 9v batteries.",
"( Batteries while wearing headphones last about 15-20 hours )\nProbably ok for a beginner, however if you are an avid hunter and you can afford, spend at least $200.",
"Once I find enough to pay this one off, I am going back to a better model.",
"This model will NOT go deeper than about 6\" on a quarter and to find older silver coins, this model won't work.",
"I have challenged Bounty Hunter manufacturing to prove me wrong but they actually agreed with my test.",
"They said they sell a more expensive model if you want more depth.",
"UPDATE 2: OK have used for 1 month now and have found a total of $200.",
"00 in gold jewelry.",
"I know that because a reputable dealer paid me that amount for what I have found so far.",
"I have now paid off the detector in just a months time.",
"I am more impressed now, however, if you are wanting to find old deep silver coins you have two choices, buy a better machine, or use this one on all metal mode, go real slow and dig about 1000 lbs of trash for every coin found then still no guarantee.",
"Also, with my old detector, you just held the detector over your hole and it beeped if item was still there.",
"This detector is a motion detector so you have to swing it for it to work so pinpointing is litteraly a pain.",
"By the end of the first day my shoulders were sore.",
"* If you want a decent detector to just find recently lost coins around playground equipment, this detector is awesome with its three mode detection.",
"If you want to do some serious silver hunting or looking for old deep buried coins,forget it.",
"It is however great at finding old soda cans up to 12\" deep.",
"Maybe you can dig them all day and cash in the aluminum, you should be able to pay off the detector in maybe 75 years.",
"Overall, like I said, Bounty hunter is one of the 5 oldest detector companies around but most of their equipment is geared towards beginners.",
"UPDATE: 2013.",
"Even though I kept the Bounty Hunter for a back up detector, Once I got back on my feet and was hooked again in metal detector, I did some research and ended up going mad and paying $1,800.",
"00 for a metal detector.",
"I have found more with the new one in 16 months than all 4 other detectors over 35 years.",
"I am still glad I bought the Bounty Hunter and keep it as a back up cause it is so darn easy to use.",
"Plus it triple paid for itself in less then 5 months."
] |
I was one of the many that waited a year or so to play this game and when I finally did I felt pretty good about my purchase. Of course the game is too short, the graphics are phenominal, and the game play is refreshing and a nice change from the typical First-person shooter game. BUT, this game has a tremndous amount of flaws that can cause many to stop playing the game.
First, there are several bugs in the multiplayer that are very annoying. Because I don't have time to list them all one of them is where several times I went to change guns and it would get stuck on my back and I had no way of defending myself.
Another enormous annoyance this game has is the way the multiplayer is set up. It's the same way in which MM games have been setting up for 10 years. Tell the system what you want, wait to see what's available, select it, get kicked out of the room, try again, get kicked out again, finally get in, sit around for 2-5 minutes waiting for 8 players, some quit, some stay, finally you get your team together, things seem to be going well, then the host quits 1 round before the 19 round game is over, everyone is kicked out of the game, and all your hard work and 55 minutes is now gone. Waisted... Epic should have taken some notes from the ingenious Halo 2 multiplayer. There's a reason Halo 2 is still played so much 2.5 years after release.
There are half a dozen exploites in the game that are terrible that are heavily used.
The worst part of the game is how the host of the game will have a HUGE advantage over all the players in the game, which gives the host's team an enormous advantage. It's completely irresponsible that Epic gives that type of advantage to a player.
Once I accomplished the achievements I wanted I dumped this game and have vowed to myself to never ever play it again, and unless Epic makes huge advances in Gears of War 2 I won't be back. | 1 | neutral | [
"I was one of the many that waited a year or so to play this game and when I finally did I felt pretty good about my purchase.",
"Of course the game is too short, the graphics are phenominal, and the game play is refreshing and a nice change from the typical First-person shooter game.",
"BUT, this game has a tremndous amount of flaws that can cause many to stop playing the game.",
"First, there are several bugs in the multiplayer that are very annoying.",
"Because I don't have time to list them all one of them is where several times I went to change guns and it would get stuck on my back and I had no way of defending myself.",
"Another enormous annoyance this game has is the way the multiplayer is set up.",
"It's the same way in which MM games have been setting up for 10 years.",
"Tell the system what you want, wait to see what's available, select it, get kicked out of the room, try again, get kicked out again, finally get in, sit around for 2-5 minutes waiting for 8 players, some quit, some stay, finally you get your team together, things seem to be going well, then the host quits 1 round before the 19 round game is over, everyone is kicked out of the game, and all your hard work and 55 minutes is now gone.",
"Waisted...",
"Epic should have taken some notes from the ingenious Halo 2 multiplayer.",
"There's a reason Halo 2 is still played so much 2.",
"5 years after release.",
"There are half a dozen exploites in the game that are terrible that are heavily used.",
"The worst part of the game is how the host of the game will have a HUGE advantage over all the players in the game, which gives the host's team an enormous advantage.",
"It's completely irresponsible that Epic gives that type of advantage to a player.",
"Once I accomplished the achievements I wanted I dumped this game and have vowed to myself to never ever play it again, and unless Epic makes huge advances in Gears of War 2 I won't be back."
] |
City agrees to pay $115 million to dancer paralyzed in bus shelter collapse at O'Hare
The settlement comes after a Cook County jury in August deliberated just four hours before awarding Tierney Darden now 26 a record $148 million in damages. The city had admitted it was liable five months before trial. Jurors lined up to hug Darden who lives with her father in Vernon Hills before leaving the Daley Center courtroom.
After the city argued in court the verdict was âexcessiveâ Darden âs lawyers ultimately settled this week for $115 million â still a state record in an individual personal injury case her lawyers said. Such post-verdict settlements are not uncommon in civil cases with large damage awards against municipalities and other deep-pocketed defendants.
âAlthough we believed the verdict would have been upheld on appeal when weighing the risks and benefits we felt this was a fair compromise â Patrick Salvi one of Darden âs lawyers said in a statement. â Tierney has a long difficult life ahead of her ; these funds will help her obtain all the necessary medical care for the remaining decades of her life.â
AIG Aviation one of the cityâs insurance companies paid out the entire settlement which was structured in a $15 million annuity to cover Darden âs living expenses and $100 million in cash Salvi said in a phone interview. A spokesman for the New-York-based insurance giant declined to comment.
Darden âs settlement matches what has been paid out â at least $115 million â by the city so far in claims related to disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge.
In his clientâs case Salvi said the funds will not only pay for round-the-clock care for Darden who had been studying modern dance when her spinal cord was severed but also underwrite her quest to end chronic daily pain she described as âtortureâ during the 7-day trial. Darden is paralyzed from the waist down.
The women had just returned to Chicago from Minneapolis where they were shopping for bridesmaid dresses for an upcoming wedding Darden 's lawyers said. A storm rolled through the area as the women were waiting to be picked up and a 750-pound pedestrian shelter came loose and fell onto Darden .
Before the incident Darden had lived independently in Chicago and was attending Truman College.
It was determined the shelter that injured Tierney had missing bolts Darden 's lawyers said. An investigation later found other shelters at O'Hare were poorly maintained with missing bolts corroded parts or broken brackets her lawyers said.The city has since removed all the shelters at OâHare Salvi said.
Darden wasnât available for comment Tuesday but told reporters at a news conference after the jury verdict last year: âIt didn't have to happen to me. I was more upset than anything and kind of heartbroken because my legs were taken away and those were the two things I needed to do the one thing that I love which is dance.â | 1 | neutral | [
"City agrees to pay $115 million to dancer paralyzed in bus shelter collapse at O'Hare\nThe settlement comes after a Cook County jury in August deliberated just four hours before awarding Tierney Darden now 26 a record $148 million in damages.",
"The city had admitted it was liable five months before trial.",
"Jurors lined up to hug Darden who lives with her father in Vernon Hills before leaving the Daley Center courtroom.",
"After the city argued in court the verdict was âexcessiveâ Darden âs lawyers ultimately settled this week for $115 million â still a state record in an individual personal injury case her lawyers said.",
"Such post-verdict settlements are not uncommon in civil cases with large damage awards against municipalities and other deep-pocketed defendants.",
"âAlthough we believed the verdict would have been upheld on appeal when weighing the risks and benefits we felt this was a fair compromise â Patrick Salvi one of Darden âs lawyers said in a statement.",
"â Tierney has a long difficult life ahead of her ; these funds will help her obtain all the necessary medical care for the remaining decades of her life.",
"â\nAIG Aviation one of the cityâs insurance companies paid out the entire settlement which was structured in a $15 million annuity to cover Darden âs living expenses and $100 million in cash Salvi said in a phone interview.",
"A spokesman for the New-York-based insurance giant declined to comment.",
"Darden âs settlement matches what has been paid out â at least $115 million â by the city so far in claims related to disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr.",
"Jon Burge.",
"In his clientâs case Salvi said the funds will not only pay for round-the-clock care for Darden who had been studying modern dance when her spinal cord was severed but also underwrite her quest to end chronic daily pain she described as âtortureâ during the 7-day trial.",
"Darden is paralyzed from the waist down.",
"The women had just returned to Chicago from Minneapolis where they were shopping for bridesmaid dresses for an upcoming wedding Darden 's lawyers said.",
"A storm rolled through the area as the women were waiting to be picked up and a 750-pound pedestrian shelter came loose and fell onto Darden.",
"Before the incident Darden had lived independently in Chicago and was attending Truman College.",
"It was determined the shelter that injured Tierney had missing bolts Darden 's lawyers said.",
"An investigation later found other shelters at O'Hare were poorly maintained with missing bolts corroded parts or broken brackets her lawyers said.",
"The city has since removed all the shelters at OâHare Salvi said.",
"Darden wasnât available for comment Tuesday but told reporters at a news conference after the jury verdict last year: âIt didn't have to happen to me.",
"I was more upset than anything and kind of heartbroken because my legs were taken away and those were the two things I needed to do the one thing that I love which is dance.",
"â"
] |
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you are a fan of Desmond Cory's other books, or classic spy novels in general, then it's likely you'll enjoy this mountain-themed adventure. Cory strikes me as a skilled writer and there's a great deal of clever wit in this tale.
However, there were elements of the novel which felt un-polished. Given that Cory died several years ago and the book was published more recently, I was left with the impression that someone has dug up a draft novel and released it without further editing. Sadly, they also skipped some formatting and proof-reading courtesies. The first half of the book failed to pull me in, and I was puzzled by some of the main character's actions and motivations, including bringing his female companion on the 'mission' and his choice of team when he decides to tackle the mountain.
That said, things really pick up around the half-way mark with a clever and surprising link to real-life European history. The ascent of the mountain, and what follows, is nothing short of gripping and the last few chapters were genuine page-turners.
If this genre is your cup of tea, by all means give this book a try and know that the second half is stronger than the first. Overall, however, I suspect this is not Cory's best work. | 1 | neutral | [
"I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.",
"If you are a fan of Desmond Cory's other books, or classic spy novels in general, then it's likely you'll enjoy this mountain-themed adventure.",
"Cory strikes me as a skilled writer and there's a great deal of clever wit in this tale.",
"However, there were elements of the novel which felt un-polished.",
"Given that Cory died several years ago and the book was published more recently, I was left with the impression that someone has dug up a draft novel and released it without further editing.",
"Sadly, they also skipped some formatting and proof-reading courtesies.",
"The first half of the book failed to pull me in, and I was puzzled by some of the main character's actions and motivations, including bringing his female companion on the 'mission' and his choice of team when he decides to tackle the mountain.",
"That said, things really pick up around the half-way mark with a clever and surprising link to real-life European history.",
"The ascent of the mountain, and what follows, is nothing short of gripping and the last few chapters were genuine page-turners.",
"If this genre is your cup of tea, by all means give this book a try and know that the second half is stronger than the first.",
"Overall, however, I suspect this is not Cory's best work."
] |
I had a smaller one for my pet rat that she later on outgrew. The first one came damaged and a new one arrived promptly as the first one was returned. Very smooth. With the newer one I needed to use vegetable oil on it right away which is something to expect as I did this every so often when I had a wheel for my gerbils growing up. I have found product to be little too high for the plastic tub with on top wire cage. I also am needing to make a repair by gently using pliers to shape. I was happy when I learned there was one for pet rats. I currently have one and she liked the smaller one and likes this one when I let her run on it. My hope is that the wheel would be made a little lower, closer to the floor so it would fit into the cage. I plan to place it in the tub on a tub mat with her on it in the future so are no worries of escape. | 1 | neutral | [
"I had a smaller one for my pet rat that she later on outgrew.",
"The first one came damaged and a new one arrived promptly as the first one was returned.",
"Very smooth.",
"With the newer one I needed to use vegetable oil on it right away which is something to expect as I did this every so often when I had a wheel for my gerbils growing up.",
"I have found product to be little too high for the plastic tub with on top wire cage.",
"I also am needing to make a repair by gently using pliers to shape.",
"I was happy when I learned there was one for pet rats.",
"I currently have one and she liked the smaller one and likes this one when I let her run on it.",
"My hope is that the wheel would be made a little lower, closer to the floor so it would fit into the cage.",
"I plan to place it in the tub on a tub mat with her on it in the future so are no worries of escape."
] |
UPDATE: As I had feared, the heat break ended up breaking inside the heat sink. There were 2 conditions that contributed to this failure. The first, is that the inner bore was drilled way too far down the tube, right to the neck. The neck being a smaller diameter, this left a paper then layer of metal to support the top of the neck (notice the bore in the picture goes right to the neck where it broke). The second, which was probably exacerbated by the 1st condition, is that it arrived slightly bent at that weak point (likely during shipping). I only hope I can get the broken tube out of the heat sink so it isn't a complete loss. I highly recommend that 3D CAM shorten the bore to e3d spec, and maybe add a shipping support collar to the heat block so it doesn't get bent during shipment. This would have been 5 stars without the heat break issue, as I really liked the rest of the product.
ORIGINAL:
I did an analysis of the item I received vs. the e3d specs for the V6 hotend as soon as the package arrived. Overall, I am very happy so far with the construction. A few improvements, and it would be perfect. I haven't printed with this unit yet, but will update my review with performance stats once I get some prints done. Here is what I found:
The item I received is indeed modeled after the V6. Below is an analysis of the quality vs.the e3d:
* The heater cartridge is clamped in with an M3 screw instead of just using a set screw. E3d did this to improve heat transfer.
* The thermistor is embedded in the heat block and also clamped with an M3 screw. However, there is no washer included that would cover the hole (part of the e3d spec), though I don't see the thermistor falling out easily. Also, the thermistor uses PTFE insulation instead of the stronger braiding, so the clamp screw could short the thermistor out if tightened too much. I will change the insulation as a precaution.
* The nozzle matches the v6, having 2 transitions of narrowing instead of one, which is a great improvement due to less required nozzle pressure. Haven't had a chance to check internal finish, but I can say the hole is round and centered.
* The heat break had some major issues, which prevented a 5 star rating. My heat break came slightly bent at the thinner neck area, probably due to bring shipped fully assembled in a soft pouch. I very carefully corrected by bending with a nail, but am unsure of the strength now (well, it just broke...). The heat break matches some of the design of the V6, but the PTFE liner is allowed to move all the way down near the cold/hot boundary instead of just a few mm like the V6. It's still in the cold end, so we will see.
* The heat sink is well machined and the shroud and fan were tight and straight. I haven't powered up the fan yet to test.
* Threads in the heat sink appear to be decently cut. They are a little on the loose side, so I will put thermal paste in to allow better heat transfer.
* All wires were neatly attached and fastened together with kapton tape.
* Hydraulic clamp for PTFE liner was nice and snug.
In summary, here are the areas that could be modded to bring this very close to e3D quality:
* Braided fiberglass insulator added to thermistor wires where screw clamps it down to prevent short.
* Add washer to thermistor clamp screw to cover the hole and keep it nice and tight in there where it will get a better reading.
* Just buy a new heat break for 5-10 dollars to be safe if yours is bent. I did. | 1 | neutral | [
"UPDATE: As I had feared, the heat break ended up breaking inside the heat sink.",
"There were 2 conditions that contributed to this failure.",
"The first, is that the inner bore was drilled way too far down the tube, right to the neck.",
"The neck being a smaller diameter, this left a paper then layer of metal to support the top of the neck (notice the bore in the picture goes right to the neck where it broke).",
"The second, which was probably exacerbated by the 1st condition, is that it arrived slightly bent at that weak point (likely during shipping).",
"I only hope I can get the broken tube out of the heat sink so it isn't a complete loss.",
"I highly recommend that 3D CAM shorten the bore to e3d spec, and maybe add a shipping support collar to the heat block so it doesn't get bent during shipment.",
"This would have been 5 stars without the heat break issue, as I really liked the rest of the product.",
"ORIGINAL:\nI did an analysis of the item I received vs.",
"the e3d specs for the V6 hotend as soon as the package arrived.",
"Overall, I am very happy so far with the construction.",
"A few improvements, and it would be perfect.",
"I haven't printed with this unit yet, but will update my review with performance stats once I get some prints done.",
"Here is what I found:\n\nThe item I received is indeed modeled after the V6.",
"Below is an analysis of the quality vs.",
"the e3d:\n* The heater cartridge is clamped in with an M3 screw instead of just using a set screw.",
"E3d did this to improve heat transfer.",
"* The thermistor is embedded in the heat block and also clamped with an M3 screw.",
"However, there is no washer included that would cover the hole (part of the e3d spec), though I don't see the thermistor falling out easily.",
"Also, the thermistor uses PTFE insulation instead of the stronger braiding, so the clamp screw could short the thermistor out if tightened too much.",
"I will change the insulation as a precaution.",
"* The nozzle matches the v6, having 2 transitions of narrowing instead of one, which is a great improvement due to less required nozzle pressure.",
"Haven't had a chance to check internal finish, but I can say the hole is round and centered.",
"* The heat break had some major issues, which prevented a 5 star rating.",
"My heat break came slightly bent at the thinner neck area, probably due to bring shipped fully assembled in a soft pouch.",
"I very carefully corrected by bending with a nail, but am unsure of the strength now (well, it just broke...",
").",
"The heat break matches some of the design of the V6, but the PTFE liner is allowed to move all the way down near the cold/hot boundary instead of just a few mm like the V6.",
"It's still in the cold end, so we will see.",
"* The heat sink is well machined and the shroud and fan were tight and straight.",
"I haven't powered up the fan yet to test.",
"* Threads in the heat sink appear to be decently cut.",
"They are a little on the loose side, so I will put thermal paste in to allow better heat transfer.",
"* All wires were neatly attached and fastened together with kapton tape.",
"* Hydraulic clamp for PTFE liner was nice and snug.",
"In summary, here are the areas that could be modded to bring this very close to e3D quality:\n* Braided fiberglass insulator added to thermistor wires where screw clamps it down to prevent short.",
"* Add washer to thermistor clamp screw to cover the hole and keep it nice and tight in there where it will get a better reading.",
"* Just buy a new heat break for 5-10 dollars to be safe if yours is bent.",
"I did."
] |
Ok, first go read some of the bad reviews which talk about problems with getting the game to run. They are right. I have 2 computers, and for reasons that escape me one of them will not run this game. As a result you may want to borrow it from a friend and see if you can get it to work properly before you buy it.
The Good:
The battle system is very intuitive, and gives a nice ammount of control over your units. You can tell them to aim for different mech parts, concerve ammo, or engage at a specific range. You can almost pick the game right up and start playing it, though you may want to go through the training missions just to be sure you know about some of the finer points.
The mechs are also very well done, though I don't like the customization freedom with them (sure with the clan mechs it is ok since they are all omni, but last I checked most IS mechs were not). They do look a little blocky, however it does not end up detracting from the game.
The actors hired for this did a very good job. Cut sceens are convincing and you actually get to the point where you feel like you know them. The plot is fairly transparent, however it is more than enough to hold the game together and avoids the pitfall of making things too complicated.
The Bad:
The game is much too short, and much too easy. First time I played through I played on normal and it took me 3 days. Second time I decided to play on the hardest difficulty, and I am sad to say I didn't notice any difference. Very few of the missions are truely hard (most that are belong to House Leio, and even they are just what I feel the average difficulty should be). This means there is also very little replay value.
Adding to the little replay value is the fact that the plot is 100% liner. Nothing you do ever effects what you are going to do next or where you are going. Once you have played through once, you have seen it all. This also makes it feel like you arn't really a merc commander. You don't get to chose your jobs or to weigh risk and proffit at all. The game just strings you along, and no matter what your proformance in the mission if you complete it then you move on in the plot.
Mechs come out feeling a little flimsy with few exceptions. This is mostly due to the fact that later on the head is much too easy to hit. My standard tactic became pulling along a few mechs with long range weapons and just targeting the head of the mech. It would kill the mech with little to no dammage to the rest of the mech, making it ready to salvage and giving me that much larger of a force for that mission.
Another thing that this game would have benifited immensly from would be some type of campaign/mission editor to allow players to make thier own games. This simple addition would have pushed this game up to 4 stars overall raiting and a 5 star fun raiting since the problems with the campaign could be overlooked with the addition of player maps and campaigns that would cater to differetn interests.
If you consider yourself a fan of MW I would give this a try, but don't expect the world from it. The campaign is good enough that you won't be appaled by it, and the multiplayer is good (though nothing too terrably special as far as I could see) if you can find someone to play with. If you are just a fan of RTS games you should look someplace else as this will leave you with a wanting feeling. | 1 | neutral | [
"Ok, first go read some of the bad reviews which talk about problems with getting the game to run.",
"They are right.",
"I have 2 computers, and for reasons that escape me one of them will not run this game.",
"As a result you may want to borrow it from a friend and see if you can get it to work properly before you buy it.",
"The Good:\n\nThe battle system is very intuitive, and gives a nice ammount of control over your units.",
"You can tell them to aim for different mech parts, concerve ammo, or engage at a specific range.",
"You can almost pick the game right up and start playing it, though you may want to go through the training missions just to be sure you know about some of the finer points.",
"The mechs are also very well done, though I don't like the customization freedom with them (sure with the clan mechs it is ok since they are all omni, but last I checked most IS mechs were not).",
"They do look a little blocky, however it does not end up detracting from the game.",
"The actors hired for this did a very good job.",
"Cut sceens are convincing and you actually get to the point where you feel like you know them.",
"The plot is fairly transparent, however it is more than enough to hold the game together and avoids the pitfall of making things too complicated.",
"The Bad:\n\nThe game is much too short, and much too easy.",
"First time I played through I played on normal and it took me 3 days.",
"Second time I decided to play on the hardest difficulty, and I am sad to say I didn't notice any difference.",
"Very few of the missions are truely hard (most that are belong to House Leio, and even they are just what I feel the average difficulty should be).",
"This means there is also very little replay value.",
"Adding to the little replay value is the fact that the plot is 100% liner.",
"Nothing you do ever effects what you are going to do next or where you are going.",
"Once you have played through once, you have seen it all.",
"This also makes it feel like you arn't really a merc commander.",
"You don't get to chose your jobs or to weigh risk and proffit at all.",
"The game just strings you along, and no matter what your proformance in the mission if you complete it then you move on in the plot.",
"Mechs come out feeling a little flimsy with few exceptions.",
"This is mostly due to the fact that later on the head is much too easy to hit.",
"My standard tactic became pulling along a few mechs with long range weapons and just targeting the head of the mech.",
"It would kill the mech with little to no dammage to the rest of the mech, making it ready to salvage and giving me that much larger of a force for that mission.",
"Another thing that this game would have benifited immensly from would be some type of campaign/mission editor to allow players to make thier own games.",
"This simple addition would have pushed this game up to 4 stars overall raiting and a 5 star fun raiting since the problems with the campaign could be overlooked with the addition of player maps and campaigns that would cater to differetn interests.",
"If you consider yourself a fan of MW I would give this a try, but don't expect the world from it.",
"The campaign is good enough that you won't be appaled by it, and the multiplayer is good (though nothing too terrably special as far as I could see) if you can find someone to play with.",
"If you are just a fan of RTS games you should look someplace else as this will leave you with a wanting feeling."
] |
If, like me, you listened to a lot of the other Rush albums before purchasing this one, you may be in for quite a shock. It is VERY different from the classic Rush sound. That is not to say that it is bad, not by any means. It is just not on the level of classics like 2112, MP, PW, and Kings. Not that we should expect it to be, of course, it is Rush's DEBUT album, without Neil. So, although the music is still pretty strong throughout, the lyrics are not up to par. Instead of the deep meanings we have the usual testosterone-driven rock songs. So, I will judge the best cuts by their music: Finding My Way, What You're Doing, and Before and After are all good songs. But the songs with the extended jam sections, Here Again, and, of course, Working Man are excellent songs. They show the musicianship that Rush would later become known for. This is a good ROCK 'N' ROLL album, but, for me at least, Rush really began with Fly By Night. | 1 | neutral | [
"If, like me, you listened to a lot of the other Rush albums before purchasing this one, you may be in for quite a shock.",
"It is VERY different from the classic Rush sound.",
"That is not to say that it is bad, not by any means.",
"It is just not on the level of classics like 2112, MP, PW, and Kings.",
"Not that we should expect it to be, of course, it is Rush's DEBUT album, without Neil.",
"So, although the music is still pretty strong throughout, the lyrics are not up to par.",
"Instead of the deep meanings we have the usual testosterone-driven rock songs.",
"So, I will judge the best cuts by their music: Finding My Way, What You're Doing, and Before and After are all good songs.",
"But the songs with the extended jam sections, Here Again, and, of course, Working Man are excellent songs.",
"They show the musicianship that Rush would later become known for.",
"This is a good ROCK 'N' ROLL album, but, for me at least, Rush really began with Fly By Night."
] |
I have several belts that I have used for CCW. Here are some bullets of my experience with this one: 1. Fairly thick 2. Stiff (not necessarily in a good way) 3. Edges are not finished (raw leather) 4. Retains wear memory. Belt now has a permanent bend at point of buckle. I have a bridle leather belt from a different craftsman and while it cost approx. $15 more, is definitely worth it. Unfortunately , bridle leather in this brand is about $35+ more expensive. All I can say is do your homework and compare features and value. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have several belts that I have used for CCW.",
"Here are some bullets of my experience with this one: 1.",
"Fairly thick 2.",
"Stiff (not necessarily in a good way) 3.",
"Edges are not finished (raw leather) 4.",
"Retains wear memory.",
"Belt now has a permanent bend at point of buckle.",
"I have a bridle leather belt from a different craftsman and while it cost approx.",
"$15 more, is definitely worth it.",
"Unfortunately , bridle leather in this brand is about $35+ more expensive.",
"All I can say is do your homework and compare features and value."
] |
This is a good quality single player Star Wars game. You start off with a lightsaber, and force powers. It's a very arcade like Star Wars game, different from the PC Jedi Knight Series (which had extraordinary graphics, and game play) and is very straight forward...acheive the objective. It's a sword swining force using arcade game that is good fun.
However, it does lack XBOX LIVE...and with most buyers that is gonna hurt. People WANT to play online in some fashion, and the coop mode (vs. someone on controller 2) is not enough. 3 years ago this game would have been amazing, but in 2005 its just "good". | 1 | neutral | [
"This is a good quality single player Star Wars game.",
"You start off with a lightsaber, and force powers.",
"It's a very arcade like Star Wars game, different from the PC Jedi Knight Series (which had extraordinary graphics, and game play) and is very straight forward...",
"acheive the objective.",
"It's a sword swining force using arcade game that is good fun.",
"However, it does lack XBOX LIVE...",
"and with most buyers that is gonna hurt.",
"People WANT to play online in some fashion, and the coop mode (vs.",
"someone on controller 2) is not enough.",
"3 years ago this game would have been amazing, but in 2005 its just \"good\"."
] |
Trace Memory has a great storyline and in my opinion has better graphics than many for the DS. However, this game is SUPER short. I completed the entire game is less than 8 hours. I believe that they could have stretched out the game a little longer. I enjoyed this game because not only was I wraped up in the story, but this game really gave the DS the chance to do everything it was meant to do. You can use the stylus or you can use the buttons through the whole game. I prefer the stylus but again that's my opinion. - You can also use the microphone which I think is WAY cool! This game has many different puzzles too! I rated Trace Memory 3 stars overall because of the length of the game. If you are a relentless player like I am you might be VERY disappointed with the length of this game. But if you are player who plays a little every once in a while. You will most likely LOVE this game. I'm not saying I don't love it but it's too short for me!!! | 1 | neutral | [
"Trace Memory has a great storyline and in my opinion has better graphics than many for the DS.",
"However, this game is SUPER short.",
"I completed the entire game is less than 8 hours.",
"I believe that they could have stretched out the game a little longer.",
"I enjoyed this game because not only was I wraped up in the story, but this game really gave the DS the chance to do everything it was meant to do.",
"You can use the stylus or you can use the buttons through the whole game.",
"I prefer the stylus but again that's my opinion.",
"- You can also use the microphone which I think is WAY cool!",
"This game has many different puzzles too!",
"I rated Trace Memory 3 stars overall because of the length of the game.",
"If you are a relentless player like I am you might be VERY disappointed with the length of this game.",
"But if you are player who plays a little every once in a while.",
"You will most likely LOVE this game.",
"I'm not saying I don't love it but it's too short for me!!!"
] |
I went through a couple years of very expensive laser hair removal. It was marginally effective. I thought this might be a good touch up/improvement solution. Given the feeling and the process, I'm doubtful.
Pros:
- Easy to use and understand. I figured it out in just a few minutes.
- It's not very painful. This is also a con. The industrial laser they used at the clinic hurt a ton. It was kind of effective. It was a lot more powerful. See where I'm going here?
Cons:
- Haven't noticed any difference. It has only been a treatment, but there's no impact. Given how little it hurts compared to the commercial version, I'm doubtful of its efficacy. | 1 | neutral | [
"I went through a couple years of very expensive laser hair removal.",
"It was marginally effective.",
"I thought this might be a good touch up/improvement solution.",
"Given the feeling and the process, I'm doubtful.",
"Pros:\n- Easy to use and understand.",
"I figured it out in just a few minutes.",
"- It's not very painful.",
"This is also a con.",
"The industrial laser they used at the clinic hurt a ton.",
"It was kind of effective.",
"It was a lot more powerful.",
"See where I'm going here?",
"Cons:\n- Haven't noticed any difference.",
"It has only been a treatment, but there's no impact.",
"Given how little it hurts compared to the commercial version, I'm doubtful of its efficacy."
] |
The Motorola TX500 is my second bluetooth hands free device from Motorola. Since I really liked the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Motorola-Roadster-Bluetooth-In-Car-Speakerphone-Retail-Packaging/dp/B004877KOK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Motorola Roadster Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone (Retail Packaging)</a>, I would like to compare the TX500 with it. Basically the Motorola TX500 is a simplified version of the Roadster. All the bells and whistles that the Roadster had were removed. The TX500 focuses only on the basic features. Taking calls and making calls. The voice guide (or voice prompts) feature that the Motorola bluetooth hands free devices commonly has worked very well and thanks to this, pairing of the phones to the device could not be simpler. You can turn off the voice guide by pressing and holding the volume button until you hear saying 'voice intructions off', if you do not like it. I connected two phones to the TX500 and had no problem to pair those (a Verizon Fascinate and a Verizon basic feature Samsung phone).
The best parts of the TX500 are good voice quality and strong battery life. The call quality was very good and the TX500 lasted 2 weeks without any problem. For your information, I did not make many calls while I am driving, though. I charged my Roadster once a week, so the TX500 lasted twice much with a single charge.
The things that I do not like of the TX500 are that all the features that I loved so much from the Roadster were gone. The TX500 does not deliver the music from your phone. And the TX500 is not capable of working as an FM transmitter that I liked the most from the Roadster. The Roadster sends every music and sound from your phone to the FM radio in your car flawlessly and I have been so happy with this feature since my car does not have any auxillary input for the audio. And the TX500 cannot sense the vibration of your car. What this means is that you should manually turn on the TX500 every time you hop on your car. The Roadster automatically detects the motion of your car and turns itself on whenever you get on the car. This was one of the best feature I have ever seen from any bluetooth device for a vehicle.
Therefore, if you need a bluetooth hands free device with solid basic features such as good voice quality and long battery life, the TX500 is for you. However, if you need a motion-sensing bluetooth device with an FM transmitter built in, go for the Motorola Roadster. | 1 | neutral | [
"The Motorola TX500 is my second bluetooth hands free device from Motorola.",
"Since I really liked the <a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Motorola-Roadster-Bluetooth-In-Car-Speakerphone-Retail-Packaging/dp/B004877KOK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Motorola Roadster Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone (Retail Packaging)</a>, I would like to compare the TX500 with it.",
"Basically the Motorola TX500 is a simplified version of the Roadster.",
"All the bells and whistles that the Roadster had were removed.",
"The TX500 focuses only on the basic features.",
"Taking calls and making calls.",
"The voice guide (or voice prompts) feature that the Motorola bluetooth hands free devices commonly has worked very well and thanks to this, pairing of the phones to the device could not be simpler.",
"You can turn off the voice guide by pressing and holding the volume button until you hear saying 'voice intructions off', if you do not like it.",
"I connected two phones to the TX500 and had no problem to pair those (a Verizon Fascinate and a Verizon basic feature Samsung phone).",
"The best parts of the TX500 are good voice quality and strong battery life.",
"The call quality was very good and the TX500 lasted 2 weeks without any problem.",
"For your information, I did not make many calls while I am driving, though.",
"I charged my Roadster once a week, so the TX500 lasted twice much with a single charge.",
"The things that I do not like of the TX500 are that all the features that I loved so much from the Roadster were gone.",
"The TX500 does not deliver the music from your phone.",
"And the TX500 is not capable of working as an FM transmitter that I liked the most from the Roadster.",
"The Roadster sends every music and sound from your phone to the FM radio in your car flawlessly and I have been so happy with this feature since my car does not have any auxillary input for the audio.",
"And the TX500 cannot sense the vibration of your car.",
"What this means is that you should manually turn on the TX500 every time you hop on your car.",
"The Roadster automatically detects the motion of your car and turns itself on whenever you get on the car.",
"This was one of the best feature I have ever seen from any bluetooth device for a vehicle.",
"Therefore, if you need a bluetooth hands free device with solid basic features such as good voice quality and long battery life, the TX500 is for you.",
"However, if you need a motion-sensing bluetooth device with an FM transmitter built in, go for the Motorola Roadster."
] |
I bought these headphones because I was looking for exceptional audio quality and appreciate the Pioneer brand. I must admit that these headphones do sound impressive. The only problems I see are comfort and durability. The muffs sit on your rather than around it which leads to discomfort after prolonged use. As for the durability, many people have claimed that these break easily and I would agree. While mine haven't broken yet (I just received them recently), the construction is entirely plastic and feels cheap. They even used plastic on high-wear areas like the ball joints.
Pros:
-Great audio quality
Cons:
-Plastic construction
-Uncomfortable (Muffs sit on the ear rather than around it)
At this price point, I would have to recommend the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50-Professional-Studio-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B000ULAP4U/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Professional Studio Monitor Headphones</a> instead. They're more comfortable, have better construction and have great audio as well. | 1 | neutral | [
"I bought these headphones because I was looking for exceptional audio quality and appreciate the Pioneer brand.",
"I must admit that these headphones do sound impressive.",
"The only problems I see are comfort and durability.",
"The muffs sit on your rather than around it which leads to discomfort after prolonged use.",
"As for the durability, many people have claimed that these break easily and I would agree.",
"While mine haven't broken yet (I just received them recently), the construction is entirely plastic and feels cheap.",
"They even used plastic on high-wear areas like the ball joints.",
"Pros:\n-Great audio quality\n\nCons:\n-Plastic construction\n-Uncomfortable (Muffs sit on the ear rather than around it)\n\nAt this price point, I would have to recommend the <a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50-Professional-Studio-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B000ULAP4U/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Professional Studio Monitor Headphones</a> instead.",
"They're more comfortable, have better construction and have great audio as well."
] |
This case provides good protection. I drop my phone a couple times a week and there's never any problem. The lip around the front provides good protection for the screen if you set the phone face down.
Regarding the looks of this case. The iPhone 4/4s without a case is beautiful, and most cases don't look as good as the phone AND hide the phone's good looks. Since this case is clear, it lets the phone's good looks show through. I have used it on both a black and white iPhone. It looks good on both, and is especially nice on the white one. The only thing I don't like about the looks is the circles on the back. To me, they aren't attractive at all, they look a bit tacky and unattractive. But, they're on the back, and the case is super inexpensive, and the case is very protective, and nothing's perfect. So I can live with the circles.
What's harder to live with, though, is the gradual yellowing that started showing up after about two months. It is more noticeable on the white iPhone. I would throw the case out, but I value it's protection a lot and I haven't found another case yet. I thought about buying another one of these--they're very inexpensive. But i think it's cheaper in the long run to pay $20 or even $40 for a case that will look good for a year or two than to keep replacing a $9 case every couple of months. | 1 | neutral | [
"This case provides good protection.",
"I drop my phone a couple times a week and there's never any problem.",
"The lip around the front provides good protection for the screen if you set the phone face down.",
"Regarding the looks of this case.",
"The iPhone 4/4s without a case is beautiful, and most cases don't look as good as the phone AND hide the phone's good looks.",
"Since this case is clear, it lets the phone's good looks show through.",
"I have used it on both a black and white iPhone.",
"It looks good on both, and is especially nice on the white one.",
"The only thing I don't like about the looks is the circles on the back.",
"To me, they aren't attractive at all, they look a bit tacky and unattractive.",
"But, they're on the back, and the case is super inexpensive, and the case is very protective, and nothing's perfect.",
"So I can live with the circles.",
"What's harder to live with, though, is the gradual yellowing that started showing up after about two months.",
"It is more noticeable on the white iPhone.",
"I would throw the case out, but I value it's protection a lot and I haven't found another case yet.",
"I thought about buying another one of these--they're very inexpensive.",
"But i think it's cheaper in the long run to pay $20 or even $40 for a case that will look good for a year or two than to keep replacing a $9 case every couple of months."
] |
I am just a casual gamer who likes to play games. I bought the PSP with big expectations, and I am a little dissapointed. There is no denying that the PSP is a beautiful and powerful peice of work, but I am not sure that is enough to warrant a purchase.
I got this system, and I found out that it was great for watching movies and listening to music. It has an amazing picture quality, and I was blown away at the crispness of the visuals. I found that the interface was accessable and easy to use, and I was perfectly content with using it for non-interactive media.
But then I tried to play the games. I was impressed with the graphics (PS2 quality) but the way thet the psp is set up, it is a little difficult to play the games that it is trying to sell. There is only one set of shoulder buttons, and the analog nub is very uncomfortable and not effective to use. This is a problem because most games these days rely on 2 functioning analog sticks, and the PSP just can't do that. Also, I found that almost all the games on the PSP were just bad remakes of better PS2 games. But that is just what the PSP promises: a PS2 you can fit in your hand. But I'd much rather be playing these games on a PS2 with a comfortable controller and a big screen.
Another problem is that the PSP is extremely delicate, and scratches really easily. This is a really bad thing, considering its meant to be portable. I found myself not wanting to pull out my PSP and use it just for fear of scratching it. You don't have that feeling with a Gameboy or a DS.
But this is still a good system for some games, and is still a great media player to show off to friends, but this isn't really the ideal portable gaming system, and that's what I came for. | 1 | neutral | [
"I am just a casual gamer who likes to play games.",
"I bought the PSP with big expectations, and I am a little dissapointed.",
"There is no denying that the PSP is a beautiful and powerful peice of work, but I am not sure that is enough to warrant a purchase.",
"I got this system, and I found out that it was great for watching movies and listening to music.",
"It has an amazing picture quality, and I was blown away at the crispness of the visuals.",
"I found that the interface was accessable and easy to use, and I was perfectly content with using it for non-interactive media.",
"But then I tried to play the games.",
"I was impressed with the graphics (PS2 quality) but the way thet the psp is set up, it is a little difficult to play the games that it is trying to sell.",
"There is only one set of shoulder buttons, and the analog nub is very uncomfortable and not effective to use.",
"This is a problem because most games these days rely on 2 functioning analog sticks, and the PSP just can't do that.",
"Also, I found that almost all the games on the PSP were just bad remakes of better PS2 games.",
"But that is just what the PSP promises: a PS2 you can fit in your hand.",
"But I'd much rather be playing these games on a PS2 with a comfortable controller and a big screen.",
"Another problem is that the PSP is extremely delicate, and scratches really easily.",
"This is a really bad thing, considering its meant to be portable.",
"I found myself not wanting to pull out my PSP and use it just for fear of scratching it.",
"You don't have that feeling with a Gameboy or a DS.",
"But this is still a good system for some games, and is still a great media player to show off to friends, but this isn't really the ideal portable gaming system, and that's what I came for."
] |
This book follows a programmer as he tries to stop a rogue swarm of nanobots and save his marriage. Guest appearances are made by: Stinky Tech Guy, Wimpy Tech Guy, Anal retentive, does what ever the boss wants tech guy, The unfaithful wife, The talented Chinese Scientist, and the I will analyze members of my family psychologist.
I will preface this review by saying that Prey is the first Michael Crichton book I have read.
That being said, Prey is an average science fiction novel at best. The science is viable but the story lacks a real hook. The characters are one dimensional and very stereotypical. I really did not care for or relate to any of the characters. Crichton has the ability to scare the reader with the most evil potential of a technology. He has a gift to see a worst case scenario and create a character, eventhough one dimensional, that has the ability to survive this technology gone wild.
This book was enjoyable and the ending was clever. It did not get to pager-turner status until the middle to end. The book did have a nice flow and was written in an after actions report type format that was interesting. The only bog downs in the story is when Crichton is explaining some elementary techno babble (what is a nanobot anyways?).
This book may do well for fans of thrillers or as an intorduction to sci fi, but the experienced sci fi fan will see this book as lackluster. I say save your money for the movie when it comes out. | 1 | neutral | [
"This book follows a programmer as he tries to stop a rogue swarm of nanobots and save his marriage.",
"Guest appearances are made by: Stinky Tech Guy, Wimpy Tech Guy, Anal retentive, does what ever the boss wants tech guy, The unfaithful wife, The talented Chinese Scientist, and the I will analyze members of my family psychologist.",
"I will preface this review by saying that Prey is the first Michael Crichton book I have read.",
"That being said, Prey is an average science fiction novel at best.",
"The science is viable but the story lacks a real hook.",
"The characters are one dimensional and very stereotypical.",
"I really did not care for or relate to any of the characters.",
"Crichton has the ability to scare the reader with the most evil potential of a technology.",
"He has a gift to see a worst case scenario and create a character, eventhough one dimensional, that has the ability to survive this technology gone wild.",
"This book was enjoyable and the ending was clever.",
"It did not get to pager-turner status until the middle to end.",
"The book did have a nice flow and was written in an after actions report type format that was interesting.",
"The only bog downs in the story is when Crichton is explaining some elementary techno babble (what is a nanobot anyways?",
").",
"This book may do well for fans of thrillers or as an intorduction to sci fi, but the experienced sci fi fan will see this book as lackluster.",
"I say save your money for the movie when it comes out."
] |
Contradictions In Seth Rich Murder Continue To Challenge Hacking Narrative » Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!
As rumors swirl that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is preparing a case against Russians who are alleged to have hacked Democrats during the 2016 election â a conclusion based solely on the analysis of cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike a Friday op-ed in the Washington Times by retired U.S. Navy admiral James A. Lyons Jr. asks a simple yet monumentally significant question: Why havenât Congressional Investigators or Special Counsel Robert Mueller addressed the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich â who multiple people have claimed was Wikileaksâ source of emails leaked during the 2016 U.S. presidential election?
Mueller has been incredibly thorough in his ongoing investigations â however he wonât even respond to Kim Dotcom the New Zealand entrepreneur who clearly knew about the hacked emails long before they were released claims that Seth Rich obtained them with a memory stick and has offered to provide proof to the Special Counsel investigation.
Reminder: Hereâs the first letter my lawyers wrote to Special Counsel Mueller regarding Seth Rich . We never received any reply. Itâs astonishing considering my first hand knowledge of the DNC leak. https://t.co/TvpVaLsmzW â Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) March 2 2018
I knew Seth Rich . I know he was the @Wikileaks source. I was involved. https://t.co/MbGQteHhZM â Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) May 20 2017
On May 18 2017 Dotcom proposed that if Congress includes the Seth Rich investigation in their Russia probe he would provide written testimony with evidence that Seth Rich was WikiLeaksâ source.
Odd facts surrounding the murder of Seth Rich
âThe facts that we know of in the murder of the DNC staffer Seth Rich was that he was gunned down blocks from his home on July 10 2016. Washington Metro police detectives claim that Mr. Rich was a robbery victim which is strange since after being shot twice in the back he was still wearing a $2 000 gold necklace and watch. He still had his wallet key and phone. Clearly he was not a victim of robbery â writes Lyons.
Another unexplained fact muddying the Rich case is that of a stolen 40 caliber Glock 22 handguns stoken from an FBI agentâs car the same day Rich was murdered. D.C. Metro police said that the theft occurred between 5 and 7 a.m. while the FBI said two weeks later that the theft had occurred between Midnight and 2 a.m. â fueling speculation that the FBI gun was used in Richâs murder.
Furthermore two men working with the Rich family â private investigator and former D.C. Police detective Rod Wheeler and family acquaintance Ed Butowsky have previously stated that Rich had contacts with WikiLeaks before his death.
While Wheeler initially told TV station Fox5 that proof of Richâs contact with WikiLeaks lies on the murdered IT stafferâs laptop he later walked the claim back â though he maintained that there was âsome communication between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks.â
Rod Wheeler telling Fox5 his FBI sources linked Seth Rich to Wikileaks. "Absolutely and that's confirmed" #RodWheeler #SethRich pic.twitter.com/IGWERgRBkE â ZeroPointNow (@ZeroPointNow) August 2 2017
Wheeler also claimed in recently leaked audio that Seth Richâs brother Aaron â a Northrup Grumman employee blocked him from looking at Sethâs computer and stonewalled his investigation.
Wheeler said that brother Aaron Rich tried to block Wheeler from looking at Sethâs computer even though there could be evidence on it. â He said no he said I have his computer meaning him â Wheeler said. âI said well can I look at it?⦠He said what are you looking for? I said anything that could indicate if Seth was having problems with someone. He said no I already checked it. Donât worry about it.â Aaron also blocked Wheeler from finding out about who was at a party Seth attended the night of the murder. âAll I want you to do is work on the botched robbery theory and thatâs it â Aaron told Wheeler âBig League Politics
Perhaps the most stunning audio evidence however comes from leaked audio of a recorded conversation between Ed Butowsky and Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh who told him of a âpurported FBI report establishing that Seth Rich sent emails to WikiLeaks .â
What the report says is that some time in late Spring⦠he makes contact with WikiLeaks thatâs in his computer â he says. âAnyway they found what he had done is that he had submitted a series of documents â of emails of juicy emails from the DNC.â Hersh explains that it was unclear how the negotiations went but that WikiLeaks did obtain access to a password protected DropBox where Rich had put the files. âAll I know is that he offered a sample an extensive sample Iâm sure dozens of emails and said âI want money.âLater WikiLeaks did get the password he had a DropBox a protected DropBox â he said. They got access to the DropBox.â Hersh also states that Rich had concerns about something happening to him and had âThe word was passed according to the NSA report he also shared this DropBox with a couple of friends so that âif anything happens to me itâs not going to solve your problems ââ he added. âWikiLeaks got access before he was killed.â
Last but not least letâs not forget that Julian Assange heavily implied Seth Rich was a source: | 1 | neutral | [
"Contradictions In Seth Rich Murder Continue To Challenge Hacking Narrative » Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!",
"As rumors swirl that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is preparing a case against Russians who are alleged to have hacked Democrats during the 2016 election â a conclusion based solely on the analysis of cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike a Friday op-ed in the Washington Times by retired U.",
"S. Navy admiral James A.",
"Lyons Jr.",
"asks a simple yet monumentally significant question: Why havenât Congressional Investigators or Special Counsel Robert Mueller addressed the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich â who multiple people have claimed was Wikileaksâ source of emails leaked during the 2016 U.",
"S. presidential election?",
"Mueller has been incredibly thorough in his ongoing investigations â however he wonât even respond to Kim Dotcom the New Zealand entrepreneur who clearly knew about the hacked emails long before they were released claims that Seth Rich obtained them with a memory stick and has offered to provide proof to the Special Counsel investigation.",
"Reminder: Hereâs the first letter my lawyers wrote to Special Counsel Mueller regarding Seth Rich.",
"We never received any reply.",
"Itâs astonishing considering my first hand knowledge of the DNC leak.",
"https://t.",
"co/TvpVaLsmzW â Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) March 2 2018\nI knew Seth Rich.",
"I know he was the @Wikileaks source.",
"I was involved.",
"https://t.",
"co/MbGQteHhZM â Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) May 20 2017\nOn May 18 2017 Dotcom proposed that if Congress includes the Seth Rich investigation in their Russia probe he would provide written testimony with evidence that Seth Rich was WikiLeaksâ source.",
"Odd facts surrounding the murder of Seth Rich\n âThe facts that we know of in the murder of the DNC staffer Seth Rich was that he was gunned down blocks from his home on July 10 2016.",
"Washington Metro police detectives claim that Mr.",
"Rich was a robbery victim which is strange since after being shot twice in the back he was still wearing a $2 000 gold necklace and watch.",
"He still had his wallet key and phone.",
"Clearly he was not a victim of robbery â writes Lyons.",
"Another unexplained fact muddying the Rich case is that of a stolen 40 caliber Glock 22 handguns stoken from an FBI agentâs car the same day Rich was murdered.",
"D.",
"C. Metro police said that the theft occurred between 5 and 7 a.",
"m. while the FBI said two weeks later that the theft had occurred between Midnight and 2 a.",
"m. â fueling speculation that the FBI gun was used in Richâs murder.",
"Furthermore two men working with the Rich family â private investigator and former D.",
"C. Police detective Rod Wheeler and family acquaintance Ed Butowsky have previously stated that Rich had contacts with WikiLeaks before his death.",
"While Wheeler initially told TV station Fox5 that proof of Richâs contact with WikiLeaks lies on the murdered IT stafferâs laptop he later walked the claim back â though he maintained that there was âsome communication between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks.",
"â\nRod Wheeler telling Fox5 his FBI sources linked Seth Rich to Wikileaks.",
"\"Absolutely and that's confirmed\" #RodWheeler #SethRich pic.",
"twitter.",
"com/IGWERgRBkE â ZeroPointNow (@ZeroPointNow) August 2 2017\nWheeler also claimed in recently leaked audio that Seth Richâs brother Aaron â a Northrup Grumman employee blocked him from looking at Sethâs computer and stonewalled his investigation.",
"Wheeler said that brother Aaron Rich tried to block Wheeler from looking at Sethâs computer even though there could be evidence on it.",
"â He said no he said I have his computer meaning him â Wheeler said.",
"âI said well can I look at it?",
"⦠He said what are you looking for?",
"I said anything that could indicate if Seth was having problems with someone.",
"He said no I already checked it.",
"Donât worry about it.",
"â Aaron also blocked Wheeler from finding out about who was at a party Seth attended the night of the murder.",
"âAll I want you to do is work on the botched robbery theory and thatâs it â Aaron told Wheeler âBig League Politics\nPerhaps the most stunning audio evidence however comes from leaked audio of a recorded conversation between Ed Butowsky and Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh who told him of a âpurported FBI report establishing that Seth Rich sent emails to WikiLeaks.",
"â\nWhat the report says is that some time in late Spring⦠he makes contact with WikiLeaks thatâs in his computer â he says.",
"âAnyway they found what he had done is that he had submitted a series of documents â of emails of juicy emails from the DNC.",
"â Hersh explains that it was unclear how the negotiations went but that WikiLeaks did obtain access to a password protected DropBox where Rich had put the files.",
"âAll I know is that he offered a sample an extensive sample Iâm sure dozens of emails and said âI want money.",
"âLater WikiLeaks did get the password he had a DropBox a protected DropBox â he said.",
"They got access to the DropBox.",
"â Hersh also states that Rich had concerns about something happening to him and had âThe word was passed according to the NSA report he also shared this DropBox with a couple of friends so that âif anything happens to me itâs not going to solve your problems ââ he added.",
"âWikiLeaks got access before he was killed.",
"â\nLast but not least letâs not forget that Julian Assange heavily implied Seth Rich was a source:"
] |
It is impossible to be objective about a novel, especially one such as this - a highly personal experience. The experience is in the dialogue between the writer and the reader, and Roy, communicating (for most of the novel) through the vulnerable experiences and private jokes of children, reaches into your most personal areas (wherever they may be), and then channels into them her ideas and tales. For this reason, it is a (rewardingly) difficult novel, both in the content and style. It is also, for this reason, a very different experience for many people - more so than most novels.
The consensus is, apparently, that this is an excellent novel; I bought it because it was a popular book. But I did not particularly enjoy it. I understand what she is trying to say. I do not in any way claim to know WHY, though she seems to me a painfully and beautifully constructed personality, with many things to say to a world that wishes to listen. That is great, and I can see why this novel is so inspirational to people - it offers, not a truth, but a vision of a world that has beauty and ugliness in equal measure...usually in the same place.
Yet I struggled because...well, simply because it did not provoke me. It did not elicit much of an emotional response, and I began to find the style annoying after a while. That is, I believe, no one's fault. Then again, I think that Roy has the potential to write another novel which I would like - so though it is nothing to do with her, it is perhaps something to do with the novel...I sincerely doubt that the "style" here is her "style", and am sure she is pretty darn flexible.
Reviews that complain about inaccessibility might well be coming from the same place as I am - but I hope that I did not miss the point, so much as did not see why the point needed to be got. The dialogue was not instructive, not inspirational for me...it was almost, if at times thrilling and moving, often quite boring and frustrating. If that seems to be a sign of a lazy reader, fine. But James Joyce's Portrait of a Young Artist is another novel where poetry and prose have no definable boundary...and THAT...well - that is not an inspiration so much as a life-experience.
I look forward to Roy's next novel.
mrovich1@hotmail.com | 1 | neutral | [
"It is impossible to be objective about a novel, especially one such as this - a highly personal experience.",
"The experience is in the dialogue between the writer and the reader, and Roy, communicating (for most of the novel) through the vulnerable experiences and private jokes of children, reaches into your most personal areas (wherever they may be), and then channels into them her ideas and tales.",
"For this reason, it is a (rewardingly) difficult novel, both in the content and style.",
"It is also, for this reason, a very different experience for many people - more so than most novels.",
"The consensus is, apparently, that this is an excellent novel; I bought it because it was a popular book.",
"But I did not particularly enjoy it.",
"I understand what she is trying to say.",
"I do not in any way claim to know WHY, though she seems to me a painfully and beautifully constructed personality, with many things to say to a world that wishes to listen.",
"That is great, and I can see why this novel is so inspirational to people - it offers, not a truth, but a vision of a world that has beauty and ugliness in equal measure...",
"usually in the same place.",
"Yet I struggled because...",
"well, simply because it did not provoke me.",
"It did not elicit much of an emotional response, and I began to find the style annoying after a while.",
"That is, I believe, no one's fault.",
"Then again, I think that Roy has the potential to write another novel which I would like - so though it is nothing to do with her, it is perhaps something to do with the novel...",
"I sincerely doubt that the \"style\" here is her \"style\", and am sure she is pretty darn flexible.",
"Reviews that complain about inaccessibility might well be coming from the same place as I am - but I hope that I did not miss the point, so much as did not see why the point needed to be got.",
"The dialogue was not instructive, not inspirational for me...",
"it was almost, if at times thrilling and moving, often quite boring and frustrating.",
"If that seems to be a sign of a lazy reader, fine.",
"But James Joyce's Portrait of a Young Artist is another novel where poetry and prose have no definable boundary...",
"and THAT...",
"well - that is not an inspiration so much as a life-experience.",
"I look forward to Roy's next novel.",
"mrovich1@hotmail.",
"com"
] |
I have only a few words to say. Excellent try, but falls short in three categories: #1 Missions needs to be patched, or edited for better playability, especially mission c-e5m2: #2 The ships are not powerful enough, for example I never heard of Picard's Enterprise, running out of torpedoes of any kind, especially the more powerful and accurate quantum torpedoes, that is desparately needed, in the mission, pertaining to the alioth system..c-e5m2, with many cardassians, and 8 planets to deal with. Last ..#3 Most important.....The interface modes, should have been a combination of klingon acadamy,and dominion wars. My, personal perference, the klingon acadamy mode, whereby you could use a joystick to maneuver your ship,and the dominion wars mode, whereas you can target any celestial object, inorder to warp out of harms way, inorder to make some repairs. The problem is, and you trek gamers know this as well as I do, in order to finish a mission you have to follow program scripts. These marks goes against the grain, when compared to the televised trek series. If these attributes could be patched, or added in some way to bridge commander, then we will have a fantastic star trek, one of a kind game to enjoy for years, THANK YOU! | 1 | neutral | [
"I have only a few words to say.",
"Excellent try, but falls short in three categories: #1 Missions needs to be patched, or edited for better playability, especially mission c-e5m2: #2 The ships are not powerful enough, for example I never heard of Picard's Enterprise, running out of torpedoes of any kind, especially the more powerful and accurate quantum torpedoes, that is desparately needed, in the mission, pertaining to the alioth system..",
"c-e5m2, with many cardassians, and 8 planets to deal with.",
"Last..",
"#3 Most important....",
".",
"The interface modes, should have been a combination of klingon acadamy,and dominion wars.",
"My, personal perference, the klingon acadamy mode, whereby you could use a joystick to maneuver your ship,and the dominion wars mode, whereas you can target any celestial object, inorder to warp out of harms way, inorder to make some repairs.",
"The problem is, and you trek gamers know this as well as I do, in order to finish a mission you have to follow program scripts.",
"These marks goes against the grain, when compared to the televised trek series.",
"If these attributes could be patched, or added in some way to bridge commander, then we will have a fantastic star trek, one of a kind game to enjoy for years, THANK YOU!"
] |
I needed an egg poacher, so I bought this on sale. The cups are made of plastic and darn it, they MELTED after about the 4th or 5th time I made poached eggs! This after using this carefully! Add to it is the real concern about plastic making contact with food. The cups were irreparable, so now I just use the pan. The lid fits my 8" Anolon skillet PERFECTLY. As for poached eggs, I received a 1967 all metal egg poacher and that 1967 classic works like a charm!
This product would be ideal if the egg cups were made of metal instead of plastic. Add to it is the risk of plastic getting into your food and body.
I received a second one like this. This poacher DOES work well. Just make certain that the heat does not reach the melting point. Your poached eggs do slide out gently. I spray the cups with a little olive oil to ensure an easy glide. | 1 | neutral | [
"I needed an egg poacher, so I bought this on sale.",
"The cups are made of plastic and darn it, they MELTED after about the 4th or 5th time I made poached eggs!",
"This after using this carefully!",
"Add to it is the real concern about plastic making contact with food.",
"The cups were irreparable, so now I just use the pan.",
"The lid fits my 8\" Anolon skillet PERFECTLY.",
"As for poached eggs, I received a 1967 all metal egg poacher and that 1967 classic works like a charm!",
"This product would be ideal if the egg cups were made of metal instead of plastic.",
"Add to it is the risk of plastic getting into your food and body.",
"I received a second one like this.",
"This poacher DOES work well.",
"Just make certain that the heat does not reach the melting point.",
"Your poached eggs do slide out gently.",
"I spray the cups with a little olive oil to ensure an easy glide."
] |
After Trump clears the way GOP states move to charge poor more for Medicaid
The Trump administration is giving states the green light to increase premiums on enrollees in Medicaid the nation's health insurance program for the poor. (David Goldman/AP)
Indiana is at the leading edge of Republican efforts to shift Medicaid in a more conservative direction — with the Trump administration giving the green light to states to shift some of the burden for the program onto the poor.
Indiana began asking the destitute to pay a monthly premium for some Medicaid services in 2015 as part of a deal with the Obama administration to expand the program. But more recent moves by Kentucky Maine and Wisconsin seeking to ramp up patients' payments do not include a goal of expanding the 53-year-old program.
Last month the Trump administration approved Kentucky’s petition to raise premiums and impose work requirements for Medicaid. Earlier this month the administration approved Indiana's plan to raise premiums for poor people who smoke tobacco.
The new Medicaid premiums come at a time when the Trump administration is seeking to overhaul the social safety net. Conservatives say the changes which give poor people additional responsibilities for obtaining government benefits will encourage them to join the workforce.
Critics say the requirements will push more people into poverty. The Trump administration also plans on unveiling legislation to create work requirements for public housing programs and recently called for transforming the nation's food assistance program.
“A big part of the rationale behind what they're doing is the idea that these people are not intended to be beneficiaries of Medicaid despite the law saying that they are ” said Judith Solomon a health policy expert at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “This is part of an overall agenda as evidenced by the budget and elsewhere in the Trump administration that would take away health care and food and rental assistance including for working families. All these pieces go together.”
[ Trump wants to overhaul America’s safety net with giant cuts to housing food stamps and health care]
In an email Trump officials said that allowing states to increase premiums for Medicaid enrollees would lead to more “responsible decision-making.”
But now some states are pursuing costlier premiums than what the Obama administration permitted or introducing penalties for failing to pay those premiums according to MaryBeth Musumeci associate director at the Kaiser Family Foundation. And unlike prior administrations Trump is poised to permit states to enact premiums without also guaranteeing they expand coverage in exchange.
But after Republicans in Congress failed last year to repeal the Affordable Care Act the Trump administration dropped the requirement for expanding coverage when considering states' proposals for overhauling Medicaid.
“We will not just accept the hollow victory of numbers covered ” said Seema Verma Trump's administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the time.
In North Dakota meanwhile lawmakers told The Washington Post they will consider adding new premiums in light of the Trump administration 's recent approval of Kentucky's plan.
Conservative supporters of the policies say they encourage the poor to take responsibility for their health. “There needs to be some skin in the game ” said state Sen. Judy E. Lee (R) chair of the North Dakota state senate's health services committee. “There’s a difference to how people respond when they might have to pay $2 to $3 and the flexibility we’re seeing from the Trump administration is very important.”
“This is a big part of the Trump administration’s war on Medicaid ” said Ari Ne'eman who served on the National Council on Disability under President Obama. “We are talking about populations of people many of whom are facing significant challenges associated with poverty and adding an additional administrative burden is needlessly cruel and offers no meaningful policy rationale.”
[‘We would literally not survive’: How Trump ’s plans for the social safety net would affect America’s poorest] | 1 | neutral | [
"After Trump clears the way GOP states move to charge poor more for Medicaid\nThe Trump administration is giving states the green light to increase premiums on enrollees in Medicaid the nation's health insurance program for the poor.",
"(David Goldman/AP)\nIndiana is at the leading edge of Republican efforts to shift Medicaid in a more conservative direction — with the Trump administration giving the green light to states to shift some of the burden for the program onto the poor.",
"Indiana began asking the destitute to pay a monthly premium for some Medicaid services in 2015 as part of a deal with the Obama administration to expand the program.",
"But more recent moves by Kentucky Maine and Wisconsin seeking to ramp up patients' payments do not include a goal of expanding the 53-year-old program.",
"Last month the Trump administration approved Kentucky’s petition to raise premiums and impose work requirements for Medicaid.",
"Earlier this month the administration approved Indiana's plan to raise premiums for poor people who smoke tobacco.",
"The new Medicaid premiums come at a time when the Trump administration is seeking to overhaul the social safety net.",
"Conservatives say the changes which give poor people additional responsibilities for obtaining government benefits will encourage them to join the workforce.",
"Critics say the requirements will push more people into poverty.",
"The Trump administration also plans on unveiling legislation to create work requirements for public housing programs and recently called for transforming the nation's food assistance program.",
"“A big part of the rationale behind what they're doing is the idea that these people are not intended to be beneficiaries of Medicaid despite the law saying that they are ” said Judith Solomon a health policy expert at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.",
"“This is part of an overall agenda as evidenced by the budget and elsewhere in the Trump administration that would take away health care and food and rental assistance including for working families.",
"All these pieces go together.",
"”\n[ Trump wants to overhaul America’s safety net with giant cuts to housing food stamps and health care]\nIn an email Trump officials said that allowing states to increase premiums for Medicaid enrollees would lead to more “responsible decision-making.",
"”\nBut now some states are pursuing costlier premiums than what the Obama administration permitted or introducing penalties for failing to pay those premiums according to MaryBeth Musumeci associate director at the Kaiser Family Foundation.",
"And unlike prior administrations Trump is poised to permit states to enact premiums without also guaranteeing they expand coverage in exchange.",
"But after Republicans in Congress failed last year to repeal the Affordable Care Act the Trump administration dropped the requirement for expanding coverage when considering states' proposals for overhauling Medicaid.",
"“We will not just accept the hollow victory of numbers covered ” said Seema Verma Trump's administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the time.",
"In North Dakota meanwhile lawmakers told The Washington Post they will consider adding new premiums in light of the Trump administration 's recent approval of Kentucky's plan.",
"Conservative supporters of the policies say they encourage the poor to take responsibility for their health.",
"“There needs to be some skin in the game ” said state Sen.",
"Judy E.",
"Lee (R) chair of the North Dakota state senate's health services committee.",
"“There’s a difference to how people respond when they might have to pay $2 to $3 and the flexibility we’re seeing from the Trump administration is very important.",
"”\n“This is a big part of the Trump administration’s war on Medicaid ” said Ari Ne'eman who served on the National Council on Disability under President Obama.",
"“We are talking about populations of people many of whom are facing significant challenges associated with poverty and adding an additional administrative burden is needlessly cruel and offers no meaningful policy rationale.",
"”\n[‘We would literally not survive’: How Trump ’s plans for the social safety net would affect America’s poorest]"
] |
I bought a Nook today. The one and only reason I chose Nook (instead of just sticking with and upgrading my beloved old Kindle 1) is its ability to download books from the public library. Tomorrow I am taking the Nook back to Best Buy for a refund, not an exchange. The Nook is attractive and nicely packaged. I completely expected it to just work, like my Kindle did (and still does) and all of my Apple products do. But, like so many other reviewers here, my Nook never even got up and running before it croaked. First, it would not complete the registration process. I have an active account on B&N and strong WiFi in my home, plus this Nook also has 3G so there were not any connection problems. Then, when I decided to just register later and moved on to explore how the Nook worked, it froze. Could not reboot or turn it off by holding down power key as suggested in the troubleshooting help/support on the B&N website. It did not work. I do not want to mess with taking the back off, using little screwdrivers or whatever to take out (the fully charged) battery, etc. We should not have to do that on a brand new 200.00 product! So, am taking it back and won't buy another until they improve the quality of the thing. I never had one bit of trouble with my trusty Kindle, and would not even be looking at another brand of reader except for Kindle's inability to download library books. I'm giving the Nook two stars instead of one because, if it actually worked, it looks like it would be a nice ereader and it has a more open format than Kindle does.
Update: 1/28/11
Went to return the Nook for a refund today and at the last minute decided to give it another go, so did exchange instead. Tonight charged and powered up the replacement Nook, so far so good. It works perfectly. Registration was smooth and fast, wifi connected easily with my signal, downloaded a book quickly, and navigation is a breeze. No problems encountered yet except that it is not downloading an available firmware update, and there's probably some explanation for that so not a big deal. So, I might just end up keeping this baby as a companion to my Kindle. Love having the Nook with its open format for library and other downloads. Will see how it holds up over the next several weeks and then update my rating accordingly.
Update: 2/3/11
Returned the Nook to Best Buy today and bought a Kindle 3 through Amazon. After exchanging the first defective Nook then using its replacement for several days I found that the device worked pretty much as it was supposed to. There are a couple of minor things about it that I was not crazy about and probably would have gotten used to, but there is one problem (design flaw?) that for me is definitely a deal killer. One of the minor annoyances is that there is a lot of screen flash during any menu change. Another is that the color, lighted touch screen control at the bottom of the device is distracting when it lights up at any touch during reading. And after a while I was not that crazy about the menu navigation either, seemed like too many steps and screen flashes, but probably could have gotten used to that too. I would not have rejected the Nook just over those little quirks. The big reason that the Nook was no way going to work out for me is, again, that touch screen display at the bottom of the device. It is, like an iPad, highly reflective. So what that means is that when the screen is off, which it is most all of the time during reading, you can watch yourself read! The black screen reflects anything in front of it, almost like a dark mirror. That was a no go for me, no I did not like it at all. Aside from these annoyances, the Nook did well at everything it was designed to do. So will upgrade the rating to reflect (haha) that. I have to say that I am much happier with the Kindle, but Amazon really needs to get with the program and let Kindle use the epub format. They will eventually lose me and a lot of other prospective customers over the epub problem, it is that big of a deal.
Yet another update! 5/31/11
Caved in and purchased another Nook last week. I still love my Kindle and prefer it over Nook, but just could not wait another minute for Amazon to open Kindle to ePub for downloading public library books. So, last week when B&N had Nooks for sale cheap on their eBay website (99.00, free ship, 3g/wifi, non-color, refurb w/ full warranty) I jumped on it. This refurb Nook worked much better out of the box than my initial brand new device purchased then returned back in Jan/Feb. I am using the Nook just for library books, and it does what it's supposed to do. Navigation works well, but seems like it requires more step than Kindle. Still do not like the reflective color screen below the reading area. There is one thing that I do like better on Nook, the screen background is a paler gray than Kindle making for easier reading in low light. I will keep this Nook until Amazon does ePub, then stick with Kindle. | 1 | neutral | [
"I bought a Nook today.",
"The one and only reason I chose Nook (instead of just sticking with and upgrading my beloved old Kindle 1) is its ability to download books from the public library.",
"Tomorrow I am taking the Nook back to Best Buy for a refund, not an exchange.",
"The Nook is attractive and nicely packaged.",
"I completely expected it to just work, like my Kindle did (and still does) and all of my Apple products do.",
"But, like so many other reviewers here, my Nook never even got up and running before it croaked.",
"First, it would not complete the registration process.",
"I have an active account on B&N and strong WiFi in my home, plus this Nook also has 3G so there were not any connection problems.",
"Then, when I decided to just register later and moved on to explore how the Nook worked, it froze.",
"Could not reboot or turn it off by holding down power key as suggested in the troubleshooting help/support on the B&N website.",
"It did not work.",
"I do not want to mess with taking the back off, using little screwdrivers or whatever to take out (the fully charged) battery, etc.",
"We should not have to do that on a brand new 200.",
"00 product!",
"So, am taking it back and won't buy another until they improve the quality of the thing.",
"I never had one bit of trouble with my trusty Kindle, and would not even be looking at another brand of reader except for Kindle's inability to download library books.",
"I'm giving the Nook two stars instead of one because, if it actually worked, it looks like it would be a nice ereader and it has a more open format than Kindle does.",
"Update: 1/28/11\n\nWent to return the Nook for a refund today and at the last minute decided to give it another go, so did exchange instead.",
"Tonight charged and powered up the replacement Nook, so far so good.",
"It works perfectly.",
"Registration was smooth and fast, wifi connected easily with my signal, downloaded a book quickly, and navigation is a breeze.",
"No problems encountered yet except that it is not downloading an available firmware update, and there's probably some explanation for that so not a big deal.",
"So, I might just end up keeping this baby as a companion to my Kindle.",
"Love having the Nook with its open format for library and other downloads.",
"Will see how it holds up over the next several weeks and then update my rating accordingly.",
"Update: 2/3/11\n\nReturned the Nook to Best Buy today and bought a Kindle 3 through Amazon.",
"After exchanging the first defective Nook then using its replacement for several days I found that the device worked pretty much as it was supposed to.",
"There are a couple of minor things about it that I was not crazy about and probably would have gotten used to, but there is one problem (design flaw?",
") that for me is definitely a deal killer.",
"One of the minor annoyances is that there is a lot of screen flash during any menu change.",
"Another is that the color, lighted touch screen control at the bottom of the device is distracting when it lights up at any touch during reading.",
"And after a while I was not that crazy about the menu navigation either, seemed like too many steps and screen flashes, but probably could have gotten used to that too.",
"I would not have rejected the Nook just over those little quirks.",
"The big reason that the Nook was no way going to work out for me is, again, that touch screen display at the bottom of the device.",
"It is, like an iPad, highly reflective.",
"So what that means is that when the screen is off, which it is most all of the time during reading, you can watch yourself read!",
"The black screen reflects anything in front of it, almost like a dark mirror.",
"That was a no go for me, no I did not like it at all.",
"Aside from these annoyances, the Nook did well at everything it was designed to do.",
"So will upgrade the rating to reflect (haha) that.",
"I have to say that I am much happier with the Kindle, but Amazon really needs to get with the program and let Kindle use the epub format.",
"They will eventually lose me and a lot of other prospective customers over the epub problem, it is that big of a deal.",
"Yet another update!",
"5/31/11\n\nCaved in and purchased another Nook last week.",
"I still love my Kindle and prefer it over Nook, but just could not wait another minute for Amazon to open Kindle to ePub for downloading public library books.",
"So, last week when B&N had Nooks for sale cheap on their eBay website (99.",
"00, free ship, 3g/wifi, non-color, refurb w/ full warranty) I jumped on it.",
"This refurb Nook worked much better out of the box than my initial brand new device purchased then returned back in Jan/Feb.",
"I am using the Nook just for library books, and it does what it's supposed to do.",
"Navigation works well, but seems like it requires more step than Kindle.",
"Still do not like the reflective color screen below the reading area.",
"There is one thing that I do like better on Nook, the screen background is a paler gray than Kindle making for easier reading in low light.",
"I will keep this Nook until Amazon does ePub, then stick with Kindle."
] |
So, why do you want to purchase this album? Have a scratched LP copy? Interested in the wonderful music Chicago produced? If so, then here's the plusses and minuses of this purchase. This review is *not* designed to pass judgment on the band as a whole, just about this purchase.
This album has great Chicago songs: Wake Up Sunshine, So Much to Say, So Much to Give, Colour My World, Fancy Colours, 25 or 6 to 4...and over the middle stretch of this originally four sided LP, the album has a thematic structure like a rock opera. Unfortunately, the entire first side (from Moving In to In the Country) has no redeeming value. One boring song after another. Side four (It Better End soon and Where Do We Go From Here) isn't listenable either -- both make lame excuses for Vietnam era songs. If you can't get the great songs any other way, then get this CD. | 1 | neutral | [
"So, why do you want to purchase this album?",
"Have a scratched LP copy?",
"Interested in the wonderful music Chicago produced?",
"If so, then here's the plusses and minuses of this purchase.",
"This review is *not* designed to pass judgment on the band as a whole, just about this purchase.",
"This album has great Chicago songs: Wake Up Sunshine, So Much to Say, So Much to Give, Colour My World, Fancy Colours, 25 or 6 to 4...",
"and over the middle stretch of this originally four sided LP, the album has a thematic structure like a rock opera.",
"Unfortunately, the entire first side (from Moving In to In the Country) has no redeeming value.",
"One boring song after another.",
"Side four (It Better End soon and Where Do We Go From Here) isn't listenable either -- both make lame excuses for Vietnam era songs.",
"If you can't get the great songs any other way, then get this CD."
] |
good old rice chex.... fairly healthy ingredients, nice and crispy in milk, and contains no gmo grains that i am aware of- since i don't think they have done gmo rice yet... and i hope they never will. Some of the most healthy ingredients i've seen in an old commercial brand. ***UPDATE***- the package says it contains some gmo ingredients, but not which ones! i would bet on the sugar or molasses .I AM DOWNGRADING IT FROM 5 TO 3 STARS FOR THE UNKNOWN GMO INGREDIENTS.
Ingredients: Whole grain rice, Rice, Sugar, Salt, Molasses, vitamin E (mixed tocopherol even! wow).
it's good to diversify the grains we eat, Americans probably eat too much wheat. rice is one of the friendlier grains for the human body. | 1 | neutral | [
"good old rice chex....",
"fairly healthy ingredients, nice and crispy in milk, and contains no gmo grains that i am aware of- since i don't think they have done gmo rice yet...",
"and i hope they never will.",
"Some of the most healthy ingredients i've seen in an old commercial brand.",
"***UPDATE***- the package says it contains some gmo ingredients, but not which ones!",
"i would bet on the sugar or molasses.",
"I AM DOWNGRADING IT FROM 5 TO 3 STARS FOR THE UNKNOWN GMO INGREDIENTS.",
"Ingredients: Whole grain rice, Rice, Sugar, Salt, Molasses, vitamin E (mixed tocopherol even!",
"wow).",
"it's good to diversify the grains we eat, Americans probably eat too much wheat.",
"rice is one of the friendlier grains for the human body."
] |
Having used another "high-end" rechargeable (600 Lumens) flashlight, a law enforcement colleague of mine recommended the Ultra Stinger. Great white light, long distance illumination on a dark wooded trail while walking my Springer Spaniel. Charge appears to last as the product details indicates - so don't risk it dimming to dark in the dark!
OK...the bad news. Product had stopped working after 90 days! Charge is working, but Flashlight is dead! Warranty?
I am investigating because the replacement bulb and battery (OEM) are very pricey. I do not trust a knock-off battery model made in China as I saw advertised. Needless to say, I am disappointed. Purchase was from Amazon. Any recourse? | 1 | neutral | [
"Having used another \"high-end\" rechargeable (600 Lumens) flashlight, a law enforcement colleague of mine recommended the Ultra Stinger.",
"Great white light, long distance illumination on a dark wooded trail while walking my Springer Spaniel.",
"Charge appears to last as the product details indicates - so don't risk it dimming to dark in the dark!",
"OK...",
"the bad news.",
"Product had stopped working after 90 days!",
"Charge is working, but Flashlight is dead!",
"Warranty?",
"I am investigating because the replacement bulb and battery (OEM) are very pricey.",
"I do not trust a knock-off battery model made in China as I saw advertised.",
"Needless to say, I am disappointed.",
"Purchase was from Amazon.",
"Any recourse?"
] |
The first part (mode) of this game is excellent. You play as a young man who is shipwrecked on a tropical island, with a girl of the same age. The whole premise is that you have to find a way to eek out a living however you can and eventually get rescued. You make weapons (for hunting and fishing- no battle in this game!) You gather food and water and range all over the island, solving puzzles. All very fun, for those virtual life fanatics. And guess what! After you finish the firt mode, you unlock a second mode, where you get to play as the girl....
....Except the game makers must not think much of girls. She's useless. She's half-blind and so weak that she can't even pull herself over tiny rocks, in order to explore the island. All she can do is hang around your cave home all day, gathering clams and cooking. Over and over and over. If you're lucky, the boy may come home late one night with news of all the fun things he's been doing on the island. Yay. How insulting to female gamers, like myself- and boring!
All I can say is- buy this game for the first mode. Have fun for a week, and then leave it alone, before the second mode poisons your soul. | 1 | neutral | [
"The first part (mode) of this game is excellent.",
"You play as a young man who is shipwrecked on a tropical island, with a girl of the same age.",
"The whole premise is that you have to find a way to eek out a living however you can and eventually get rescued.",
"You make weapons (for hunting and fishing- no battle in this game!",
") You gather food and water and range all over the island, solving puzzles.",
"All very fun, for those virtual life fanatics.",
"And guess what!",
"After you finish the firt mode, you unlock a second mode, where you get to play as the girl....",
"....",
"Except the game makers must not think much of girls.",
"She's useless.",
"She's half-blind and so weak that she can't even pull herself over tiny rocks, in order to explore the island.",
"All she can do is hang around your cave home all day, gathering clams and cooking.",
"Over and over and over.",
"If you're lucky, the boy may come home late one night with news of all the fun things he's been doing on the island.",
"Yay.",
"How insulting to female gamers, like myself- and boring!",
"All I can say is- buy this game for the first mode.",
"Have fun for a week, and then leave it alone, before the second mode poisons your soul."
] |
I like it particularly for its ability to transpose but it's harder to read than its less expensive cousin from Korg that does NOT transpose. This has nice input/output jacks and replaceable batteries that can be recharged. Its cheaper alternative has better back lighting and is MUCH easier to read. Unless you have a strong need/desire to transpose, I recommend the cheaper one which includes a metronome function. I suspect the electronics guts/audio sensor/internal mic are the same and perform equally well. When I'm jamming, I always keep the less expensive one in front of me to see what concert pitch note is currently being heard. Other street musicians will often come over to check the tuning of their instrument. This is SO much better than the cheap tuners guitar or banjo players have clipped on the necks of their instruments. It has a MUCH wider range of notes it will respond to, and is more accurate. It's NOT good enough, however, for tuning your piano. It's excellent for tuning your sax/horn. | 1 | neutral | [
"I like it particularly for its ability to transpose but it's harder to read than its less expensive cousin from Korg that does NOT transpose.",
"This has nice input/output jacks and replaceable batteries that can be recharged.",
"Its cheaper alternative has better back lighting and is MUCH easier to read.",
"Unless you have a strong need/desire to transpose, I recommend the cheaper one which includes a metronome function.",
"I suspect the electronics guts/audio sensor/internal mic are the same and perform equally well.",
"When I'm jamming, I always keep the less expensive one in front of me to see what concert pitch note is currently being heard.",
"Other street musicians will often come over to check the tuning of their instrument.",
"This is SO much better than the cheap tuners guitar or banjo players have clipped on the necks of their instruments.",
"It has a MUCH wider range of notes it will respond to, and is more accurate.",
"It's NOT good enough, however, for tuning your piano.",
"It's excellent for tuning your sax/horn."
] |
good color good strap......the ERNIE BALL advertisement bugs the crap out of me it just sticks out....people ask me who is Ernie.....big big bummer for me.......
I feel these straps should be give aways for advertisement.....I bought several colors and i am sad about the big ERNIE BALL print right in the front of my stap....wish I would of noticed that....It is an eye soar. | 1 | neutral | [
"good color good strap....",
"..",
"the ERNIE BALL advertisement bugs the crap out of me it just sticks out....",
"people ask me who is Ernie....",
".",
"big big bummer for me....",
"...",
"I feel these straps should be give aways for advertisement....",
".",
"I bought several colors and i am sad about the big ERNIE BALL print right in the front of my stap....",
"wish I would of noticed that....",
"It is an eye soar."
] |
Likes: It worked great adapting to my Dell Latitude 6430u laptop. I used Sony Sound Forge and plugged the mic in and within a minute of installing began recording. I also used it for my macbook & macbook pro and it immediately saw the device and didn't have to change any setting. It automatically made the connection with the USB mic. The recording quality was great in my point of view.
Dislikes: This was a big issue for me was the mini tripod because I was really looking forward to the mini tripod stand it came with. It was broken out the box. There is a round part that looked like it was glued on and it fell immediately after opening it. There's also a crack on in the middle of 2 legs that was also there out the box. I'm too lazy to send the mic back for a refund and order the mic again. So I will use crazy glue to fix this issue cause I really like the mic and don't want to go through the hassle.
Conclusion: Mic is great but don't get too excited over the mini tripod it comes with it. Many simply don't care about it but I'm one of the few that did. It would have easily gotten 5 stars if it wasn't for this minor issue that ment a lot for me. | 1 | neutral | [
"Likes: It worked great adapting to my Dell Latitude 6430u laptop.",
"I used Sony Sound Forge and plugged the mic in and within a minute of installing began recording.",
"I also used it for my macbook & macbook pro and it immediately saw the device and didn't have to change any setting.",
"It automatically made the connection with the USB mic.",
"The recording quality was great in my point of view.",
"Dislikes: This was a big issue for me was the mini tripod because I was really looking forward to the mini tripod stand it came with.",
"It was broken out the box.",
"There is a round part that looked like it was glued on and it fell immediately after opening it.",
"There's also a crack on in the middle of 2 legs that was also there out the box.",
"I'm too lazy to send the mic back for a refund and order the mic again.",
"So I will use crazy glue to fix this issue cause I really like the mic and don't want to go through the hassle.",
"Conclusion: Mic is great but don't get too excited over the mini tripod it comes with it.",
"Many simply don't care about it but I'm one of the few that did.",
"It would have easily gotten 5 stars if it wasn't for this minor issue that ment a lot for me."
] |
I've had this tank for 8 months now. The tank itself is made nicely. It has little feet to keep it from scratching surfaces you set it on. The filter is not perfect, but sufficient. I've had to restart it multiple times because the motor tends to overheat and stop working. There's room for a heater, a vital object you're going to need to keep your fish alive. In order to feed the fish, you have to take the top off, but that isn't that bad. You can feed them through the top flap if you take care to miss the filter, or just lift the top off at the corner and put food in.
The dangerous part about this tank is the light fixtures. There is no protection from it. In other words, there is no plastic barrier from the water to the lights. If you let the water level go down just a little bit (I like mine down because the waterfall from the filter oxygenates my plants), the water splashes up at the lights. My lights corrode very quickly. Sometimes, the light won't turn on and you have to scrape the corrosion off the lamp ends. I've had to replace the lamp twice in the past 8 months. If you aren't savvy with fishtanks, most lights only need changing once a year. It's especially dangerous if you are changing the bulb, because it's so damp and covered with water. There's even a warning up there in the canopy that says "Wipe dry before changing." It's very unsafe.
Overall, this tank isn't bad. But the light fixtures were poorly done. If you are good with making things, try making a plastic barrier to separate the lamp from the water. Otherwise, use caution when taking off the top or changing the light bulb. | 1 | neutral | [
"I've had this tank for 8 months now.",
"The tank itself is made nicely.",
"It has little feet to keep it from scratching surfaces you set it on.",
"The filter is not perfect, but sufficient.",
"I've had to restart it multiple times because the motor tends to overheat and stop working.",
"There's room for a heater, a vital object you're going to need to keep your fish alive.",
"In order to feed the fish, you have to take the top off, but that isn't that bad.",
"You can feed them through the top flap if you take care to miss the filter, or just lift the top off at the corner and put food in.",
"The dangerous part about this tank is the light fixtures.",
"There is no protection from it.",
"In other words, there is no plastic barrier from the water to the lights.",
"If you let the water level go down just a little bit (I like mine down because the waterfall from the filter oxygenates my plants), the water splashes up at the lights.",
"My lights corrode very quickly.",
"Sometimes, the light won't turn on and you have to scrape the corrosion off the lamp ends.",
"I've had to replace the lamp twice in the past 8 months.",
"If you aren't savvy with fishtanks, most lights only need changing once a year.",
"It's especially dangerous if you are changing the bulb, because it's so damp and covered with water.",
"There's even a warning up there in the canopy that says \"Wipe dry before changing.",
"\" It's very unsafe.",
"Overall, this tank isn't bad.",
"But the light fixtures were poorly done.",
"If you are good with making things, try making a plastic barrier to separate the lamp from the water.",
"Otherwise, use caution when taking off the top or changing the light bulb."
] |
One of Our Aircraft is Missing, 1942 film
This was produced with the co-operation of the RAF and the Royal Netherlands Government in London. In the summer of 1941 five Dutchmen were executed for helping members of the RAF to escape. This is their story. One April morning a British bomber did not return with the others. We see the members of the crew. [Note the blackboard used to record and display data.] Airmen listen to a soccer game on the radio. In the morning they enter their bomber and take off. We see the activities of the crew inside the bomber and their conversation. They fly towards the Dutch coast. There are flashes from anti-aircraft cannon. They first drop leaflets. A log records their journey. Searchlights on the ground sweep the skies. Buildings on the ground burn from the bombing. Their bomber flies lower to drop the bombs. One man destroys a piece of paper.
A hit on their bomber stops one engine, they fly lower. More trouble causes them to parachute from the bomber, the pilot is last. Daylight finds one of their crew is missing. Dutch children hunt for straying farm animals. Their dog finds the fliers up a tree. A safety pin is a symbol to keep quiet. They are brought to a house. A schoolteacher speaks and questions them. Are they who they say they are? They are given food. The sea is 58 km away. Can they hide in a church? Is it the right religion? They have a plan. Wearing clogs is part of their disguise. [If a man is disguised in a woman's dress would his height give him away?] You need a permit to travel in Occupied Holland. Bicycles are used to travel. The Germans found a parachute and are searching for its owner! A local collaborator visits this house and discovers the Englishmen. Was there a mix-up in the gramophone records? [What did they do to keep him silent?]
They travel by boat along a canal to watch a soccer game. They discover their missing crew member at the soccer game, well-disguised! A truck carries them to the seaside where they hide in a warehouse then a home. There is a plan to get them back to England during the next air raid when people seek shelter. This involves some risk from a few Germans. They will use a rowboat to find a fishing boat at sea. They must pass a guarded bridge, which opens to let fishing boats enter the harbor. A guard sees them and shoots at them. George is hurt. They stop at a station used for airmen shot down at sea. Two small boats arrive to rescue them. They must hurry because E-boats are coming. [Equivalent to PT boats.] Next stop Dover. Three months later they are back in service with a newer and bigger bomber. Four engine bombers can reach Berlin.
This is a slower-paced movie than some others from this era. It doesn't have much action and avoids any of the nasty events that were going on. You could read a book to learn more about the events in Occupied Holland at this time. | 1 | neutral | [
"One of Our Aircraft is Missing, 1942 film\n\nThis was produced with the co-operation of the RAF and the Royal Netherlands Government in London.",
"In the summer of 1941 five Dutchmen were executed for helping members of the RAF to escape.",
"This is their story.",
"One April morning a British bomber did not return with the others.",
"We see the members of the crew.",
"[Note the blackboard used to record and display data.",
"] Airmen listen to a soccer game on the radio.",
"In the morning they enter their bomber and take off.",
"We see the activities of the crew inside the bomber and their conversation.",
"They fly towards the Dutch coast.",
"There are flashes from anti-aircraft cannon.",
"They first drop leaflets.",
"A log records their journey.",
"Searchlights on the ground sweep the skies.",
"Buildings on the ground burn from the bombing.",
"Their bomber flies lower to drop the bombs.",
"One man destroys a piece of paper.",
"A hit on their bomber stops one engine, they fly lower.",
"More trouble causes them to parachute from the bomber, the pilot is last.",
"Daylight finds one of their crew is missing.",
"Dutch children hunt for straying farm animals.",
"Their dog finds the fliers up a tree.",
"A safety pin is a symbol to keep quiet.",
"They are brought to a house.",
"A schoolteacher speaks and questions them.",
"Are they who they say they are?",
"They are given food.",
"The sea is 58 km away.",
"Can they hide in a church?",
"Is it the right religion?",
"They have a plan.",
"Wearing clogs is part of their disguise.",
"[If a man is disguised in a woman's dress would his height give him away?",
"] You need a permit to travel in Occupied Holland.",
"Bicycles are used to travel.",
"The Germans found a parachute and are searching for its owner!",
"A local collaborator visits this house and discovers the Englishmen.",
"Was there a mix-up in the gramophone records?",
"[What did they do to keep him silent?",
"]\n\nThey travel by boat along a canal to watch a soccer game.",
"They discover their missing crew member at the soccer game, well-disguised!",
"A truck carries them to the seaside where they hide in a warehouse then a home.",
"There is a plan to get them back to England during the next air raid when people seek shelter.",
"This involves some risk from a few Germans.",
"They will use a rowboat to find a fishing boat at sea.",
"They must pass a guarded bridge, which opens to let fishing boats enter the harbor.",
"A guard sees them and shoots at them.",
"George is hurt.",
"They stop at a station used for airmen shot down at sea.",
"Two small boats arrive to rescue them.",
"They must hurry because E-boats are coming.",
"[Equivalent to PT boats.",
"] Next stop Dover.",
"Three months later they are back in service with a newer and bigger bomber.",
"Four engine bombers can reach Berlin.",
"This is a slower-paced movie than some others from this era.",
"It doesn't have much action and avoids any of the nasty events that were going on.",
"You could read a book to learn more about the events in Occupied Holland at this time."
] |
first, they sent me the Anagram 3, not the 6. Anyhow, check out asio4all for windows asio driver. Not sure it makes a world of diff. No probs with the Yamaha drivers, Windows vista 32bit.
Have static real bad if my laptop is plugged into 110, on battery the system is crystal clear.
Data has some skips during recording. using laptop w/ 5400 rpm sata or usb 7200 drive, both skip.
Decided to go with a Mackie 8 channel (802 VLZ3) mixer and a Tascam dp 004 recorder and bypass the computer/interface all together. The computer interface is too complicated for a two channel mix. Too much to set up and tear down for live performances.
Love the Mackie for a 1000 reasons! It's my favorite piece of equipment. Haven't got the Tascam yet, 1 more week.
Note on the Audiogram: the channel level controls are not full kill. If you have a mic plugged in and turn the level all the way down, you still get signal from the mic in your mix.
The users manual is very good.
The Cubase AI4 is rock solid, extensive activation process, updates are available.
Update on Tascam dp-004 pocket studio with which I was going to replace this yamaha recorder and my laptop, didn't like the Tascam at all, doesn't record directly to WAV (or any other usable) format and converts in real time, a two hour recording takes at least two more hours to convert. Sent it back. Looking at a Zoom H2 for the same price. | 1 | neutral | [
"first, they sent me the Anagram 3, not the 6.",
"Anyhow, check out asio4all for windows asio driver.",
"Not sure it makes a world of diff.",
"No probs with the Yamaha drivers, Windows vista 32bit.",
"Have static real bad if my laptop is plugged into 110, on battery the system is crystal clear.",
"Data has some skips during recording.",
"using laptop w/ 5400 rpm sata or usb 7200 drive, both skip.",
"Decided to go with a Mackie 8 channel (802 VLZ3) mixer and a Tascam dp 004 recorder and bypass the computer/interface all together.",
"The computer interface is too complicated for a two channel mix.",
"Too much to set up and tear down for live performances.",
"Love the Mackie for a 1000 reasons!",
"It's my favorite piece of equipment.",
"Haven't got the Tascam yet, 1 more week.",
"Note on the Audiogram: the channel level controls are not full kill.",
"If you have a mic plugged in and turn the level all the way down, you still get signal from the mic in your mix.",
"The users manual is very good.",
"The Cubase AI4 is rock solid, extensive activation process, updates are available.",
"Update on Tascam dp-004 pocket studio with which I was going to replace this yamaha recorder and my laptop, didn't like the Tascam at all, doesn't record directly to WAV (or any other usable) format and converts in real time, a two hour recording takes at least two more hours to convert.",
"Sent it back.",
"Looking at a Zoom H2 for the same price."
] |
Sylvester Stallone achieved amazing heights during the 80's, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, especially as a movie character synonymous with the muscled guy who is a pure fighting machine...
In Ted Kotcheff's "First Blood," John Rambo (Stallone) is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran who was trained specifically as a killing machine... He has come to a quite little town in Oregon, only to visit one of his platoon buddies... He was told that his friend has died, last summer, of cancer...
Disheartened, Rambo continues to walk the streets of Hope when he is annoyed by the local Sheriff (Brian Dennehy), and booked for vagrancy and resisting arrest...
Beaten, kicked all over, treated like trash, and pushed too far by the other cops in the Sheriff's office, Rambo is taking back to traumatic flashbacks, to the enduring torture in POW camp... Rambo, by that point, fights his way out and wages a one-man war against the police force that escalates out of control... Rambo is seen as a one man army overpowering all the sheriff's deputies and escaping into the surrounding woods...
"First Blood" communicates the rage, the depression, the frustration and the psychological wounds of one Vietnam soldier that fought for his country and was then hassled by it upon his return...
But what makes Rambo such a dangerous hero is Brian Dennehy being incredibly efficient as the cruel officer who doesn't like the looks of Stallone... Sure he's the abusive sheriff who is the victim of his environment, but he's also arrogant and incessantly underestimating a man who was 'the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands...'
Dennehy got a presence of his own pushing an 'expert in guerrilla warfare' at the breaking point... | 1 | neutral | [
"Sylvester Stallone achieved amazing heights during the 80's, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, especially as a movie character synonymous with the muscled guy who is a pure fighting machine...",
"In Ted Kotcheff's \"First Blood,\" John Rambo (Stallone) is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran who was trained specifically as a killing machine...",
"He has come to a quite little town in Oregon, only to visit one of his platoon buddies...",
"He was told that his friend has died, last summer, of cancer...",
"Disheartened, Rambo continues to walk the streets of Hope when he is annoyed by the local Sheriff (Brian Dennehy), and booked for vagrancy and resisting arrest...",
"Beaten, kicked all over, treated like trash, and pushed too far by the other cops in the Sheriff's office, Rambo is taking back to traumatic flashbacks, to the enduring torture in POW camp...",
"Rambo, by that point, fights his way out and wages a one-man war against the police force that escalates out of control...",
"Rambo is seen as a one man army overpowering all the sheriff's deputies and escaping into the surrounding woods...",
"\"First Blood\" communicates the rage, the depression, the frustration and the psychological wounds of one Vietnam soldier that fought for his country and was then hassled by it upon his return...",
"But what makes Rambo such a dangerous hero is Brian Dennehy being incredibly efficient as the cruel officer who doesn't like the looks of Stallone...",
"Sure he's the abusive sheriff who is the victim of his environment, but he's also arrogant and incessantly underestimating a man who was 'the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands...",
"'\n\nDennehy got a presence of his own pushing an 'expert in guerrilla warfare' at the breaking point..."
] |
The stars perform well, and the movie will occasionally make you laugh. Julie Roberts is the type of "working girl" all men wish they could win over...
But a contemporary "fairy tale?" Let's not be too sentimental. A vain and arrogant rich man hires a woman who "puts out" for money... charming.
It does become charming, when the vain rich man becomes a more caring person, and the street walker decides she wants a different life... but one can't help but think this film doesn't glamorize prostitution... IT GLAMORIZES GOLD-DIGGING!
I guess money "can buy love" after all!
Jeff Messenger, author of the novel "the Shroud of Torrington." | 1 | neutral | [
"The stars perform well, and the movie will occasionally make you laugh.",
"Julie Roberts is the type of \"working girl\" all men wish they could win over...",
"But a contemporary \"fairy tale?",
"\" Let's not be too sentimental.",
"A vain and arrogant rich man hires a woman who \"puts out\" for money...",
"charming.",
"It does become charming, when the vain rich man becomes a more caring person, and the street walker decides she wants a different life...",
"but one can't help but think this film doesn't glamorize prostitution...",
"IT GLAMORIZES GOLD-DIGGING!",
"I guess money \"can buy love\" after all!",
"Jeff Messenger, author of the novel \"the Shroud of Torrington.",
"\""
] |
There are all sorts of things to love about this bag, and, having purchased Tamrac bags in the past I do love the brand and their quality. The inserts are easily movable, and the bridge for the camera is a very nice feature. The pockets in the lid and front are roomy, and the side pockets easily fit my filter wallets. The only downside for me was the top flap. Yes, there is a inner pocket that causes this to be thick, but the lid isn't designed for easy entry. It is thick, bulky, and (as seen in the picture) covers much of the front of the bag. In order to gain entry into the bag you have to lift this heavy flap up and hold it out of the way while you pull out your camera... a move that is not feasible if you are wearing the bag at the time. Sometimes those great shots come along that have you wanting to whip out your camera, not have to stop, put the bag on the ground and fiddle with the lid until you can get to your camera. As a travel bag though it would be great, its just not what I'd use in the field. Otherwise, spot on.... I'd just prefer a zipper along the top that would allow for a faster grab of my camera when needed. | 1 | neutral | [
"There are all sorts of things to love about this bag, and, having purchased Tamrac bags in the past I do love the brand and their quality.",
"The inserts are easily movable, and the bridge for the camera is a very nice feature.",
"The pockets in the lid and front are roomy, and the side pockets easily fit my filter wallets.",
"The only downside for me was the top flap.",
"Yes, there is a inner pocket that causes this to be thick, but the lid isn't designed for easy entry.",
"It is thick, bulky, and (as seen in the picture) covers much of the front of the bag.",
"In order to gain entry into the bag you have to lift this heavy flap up and hold it out of the way while you pull out your camera...",
"a move that is not feasible if you are wearing the bag at the time.",
"Sometimes those great shots come along that have you wanting to whip out your camera, not have to stop, put the bag on the ground and fiddle with the lid until you can get to your camera.",
"As a travel bag though it would be great, its just not what I'd use in the field.",
"Otherwise, spot on....",
"I'd just prefer a zipper along the top that would allow for a faster grab of my camera when needed."
] |
I mention it, because they are showing photos of the newer boxes with "Socker Boppers" on it.
Then they have photos of the actual item, and it is the older versions called "Sock'em Boppers".
If you get the original ones, they are a lot of fun for kids.
We had twins, and had two sets of these. When things got too heated, they were told to go out
in the backyard with these and "work things out". They are inflatable plastic gloves. As long as they are
not inflated too hard, they don't really hurt anyone. Most of the time, the kids ended up laughing too much to
inflict any harm.
I was reading a few of the other reviews, and was amazed that someone said they had pulled a child's arm
out of the socket. I cannot even imagine how that could happen. Maybe if the child was way too young to use
these (or incredibly undernourished!) and the parents yanked like crazy people! Your hands will sweat a little
when you use them - that's normal - it's plastic. But a simple way to get them off if they seem stuck is - wait for
it - open the air valve and let some air out! Tah-dah! I hope I've saved a child's arm now.
The original toys were well-made. We were cleaning out old closets and found an original set. They still inflated
easily and worked just fine! We have a little newsprint on one of the gloves from being packed in a box of
whatever for almost a decade. Reading here, it would seem the newer "socker boppers" are not made as well, and
leak easily. I can't vouch for that, since I don't have a set of the new ones, only the older style ones.
Over all, these are a relatively harmless way for kids to get out some energy. Don't inflate them too hard, because
it could hurt a little if it is hard as a rock. Most people are not going to do that - it'll be up to the parents
to check on how the kiddos are inflating/using them.
(For those of us who grew up in a non-PC (politically correct) world, isn't it amazing that we have survived
Sock'em Boppers, Duncan Yo-Yos (with a broken vase or two), Kabonkers (oh, the bruises I had on my arms!), and skates
that were halfway screwed on to your oldest tennis shoes. Heck, we even drank out of the outside hose when thirsty,
had no bottled water, and have lived to tell the tale. ; ) | 1 | neutral | [
"I mention it, because they are showing photos of the newer boxes with \"Socker Boppers\" on it.",
"Then they have photos of the actual item, and it is the older versions called \"Sock'em Boppers\".",
"If you get the original ones, they are a lot of fun for kids.",
"We had twins, and had two sets of these.",
"When things got too heated, they were told to go out\nin the backyard with these and \"work things out\".",
"They are inflatable plastic gloves.",
"As long as they are\nnot inflated too hard, they don't really hurt anyone.",
"Most of the time, the kids ended up laughing too much to\ninflict any harm.",
"I was reading a few of the other reviews, and was amazed that someone said they had pulled a child's arm\nout of the socket.",
"I cannot even imagine how that could happen.",
"Maybe if the child was way too young to use\nthese (or incredibly undernourished!",
") and the parents yanked like crazy people!",
"Your hands will sweat a little\nwhen you use them - that's normal - it's plastic.",
"But a simple way to get them off if they seem stuck is - wait for\nit - open the air valve and let some air out!",
"Tah-dah!",
"I hope I've saved a child's arm now.",
"The original toys were well-made.",
"We were cleaning out old closets and found an original set.",
"They still inflated\neasily and worked just fine!",
"We have a little newsprint on one of the gloves from being packed in a box of\nwhatever for almost a decade.",
"Reading here, it would seem the newer \"socker boppers\" are not made as well, and\nleak easily.",
"I can't vouch for that, since I don't have a set of the new ones, only the older style ones.",
"Over all, these are a relatively harmless way for kids to get out some energy.",
"Don't inflate them too hard, because\nit could hurt a little if it is hard as a rock.",
"Most people are not going to do that - it'll be up to the parents\nto check on how the kiddos are inflating/using them.",
"(For those of us who grew up in a non-PC (politically correct) world, isn't it amazing that we have survived\nSock'em Boppers, Duncan Yo-Yos (with a broken vase or two), Kabonkers (oh, the bruises I had on my arms!",
"), and skates\nthat were halfway screwed on to your oldest tennis shoes.",
"Heck, we even drank out of the outside hose when thirsty,\nhad no bottled water, and have lived to tell the tale.",
"; )"
] |
Sweet Leaf USDA-Certified Organic Iced Tea, Mint and Honey Green Tea 16-ounce (473mL) plastic bottles (Pack of 12), by Sweet Leaf.
This Sweet Leaf Green Tea with mint and honey is good, but a bit too sweet for me, especially since I have to restrict my sugar intake due to being pre-diabetic. This tea is spoiled by the use of the two sweeteners, when one, the honey, would have been enough. The 15 grams of sugar is a relative pittance compared to the 55 grams of HFCS sugar in a 16.9 ounce bottle of Coca-Cola, but at least this tea uses cane sugar instead of the relatively unhealthy High Fructose Corn Syrup in Coca-Cola. It is hard to say how good this tea might have been if the cane sugar sweetener had not been included. It does not taste like tea, -all that you can taste is the mint and the sugar, with a slight taste of honey. Another problem is that it comes in a breakable glass bottle, which can make a dangerous mess in your refrigerator, if the refrigerator is too cold on that shelf, and that can cause the bottle to freeze and break, right next to your food. A plastic bottle would have some give to it, and it would expand if it got frozen. The bottle might split, but it would not break apart into sharp pieces of glass. Use a thermometer to find the right spot on the shelf for the tea. The space in back is next to the refrigeration unit, and will probably be the coldest part of the refrigerator. All in all, this overly sweet tea is nice, but it could have been even better. I cannot give it more than three stars because of the glass bottle, and because the tea taste is overwhelmed by the other flavors. The other flavors should be subtle, not overwhelming. More is not always better. When adding flavoring, a little bit goes a long way. The tea flavor should be the predominant flavor. Some bottled tea makers are just starting to figure that out. Perhaps they are trying to appeal to a younger crowd brought up on sweet sodas, -and not accustomed to drinking tea of any kind.
The Nutrition Facts, and Ingredients, as listed on the label:
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 8 fl oz (240mL), Servings per Container 2.
Amount Per Serving:
Calories 60.
Total Fat 0g.
Sodium 0mg.
Total Carbohydrates 15g (Sugars 15g).
Protein 0g.
INGREDIENTS: FILTERED WATER, ORGANIC CANE SUGAR, ORGANIC GREEN TEA, ORGANIC HONEY, NATURAL FLAVORS, CITRIC ACID, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C). CONTAINS NO JUICE.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
PRODUCED FOR SWEET LEAF TEA CO., AUSTIN TEXAS 78704; PHONE: 1.877.832.5323; WEB: SWEETLEAFTEA.COM; 2014. | 1 | neutral | [
"Sweet Leaf USDA-Certified Organic Iced Tea, Mint and Honey Green Tea 16-ounce (473mL) plastic bottles (Pack of 12), by Sweet Leaf.",
"This Sweet Leaf Green Tea with mint and honey is good, but a bit too sweet for me, especially since I have to restrict my sugar intake due to being pre-diabetic.",
"This tea is spoiled by the use of the two sweeteners, when one, the honey, would have been enough.",
"The 15 grams of sugar is a relative pittance compared to the 55 grams of HFCS sugar in a 16.",
"9 ounce bottle of Coca-Cola, but at least this tea uses cane sugar instead of the relatively unhealthy High Fructose Corn Syrup in Coca-Cola.",
"It is hard to say how good this tea might have been if the cane sugar sweetener had not been included.",
"It does not taste like tea, -all that you can taste is the mint and the sugar, with a slight taste of honey.",
"Another problem is that it comes in a breakable glass bottle, which can make a dangerous mess in your refrigerator, if the refrigerator is too cold on that shelf, and that can cause the bottle to freeze and break, right next to your food.",
"A plastic bottle would have some give to it, and it would expand if it got frozen.",
"The bottle might split, but it would not break apart into sharp pieces of glass.",
"Use a thermometer to find the right spot on the shelf for the tea.",
"The space in back is next to the refrigeration unit, and will probably be the coldest part of the refrigerator.",
"All in all, this overly sweet tea is nice, but it could have been even better.",
"I cannot give it more than three stars because of the glass bottle, and because the tea taste is overwhelmed by the other flavors.",
"The other flavors should be subtle, not overwhelming.",
"More is not always better.",
"When adding flavoring, a little bit goes a long way.",
"The tea flavor should be the predominant flavor.",
"Some bottled tea makers are just starting to figure that out.",
"Perhaps they are trying to appeal to a younger crowd brought up on sweet sodas, -and not accustomed to drinking tea of any kind.",
"The Nutrition Facts, and Ingredients, as listed on the label:\n\nNutrition Facts:\nServing Size 8 fl oz (240mL), Servings per Container 2.",
"Amount Per Serving:\nCalories 60.",
"Total Fat 0g.",
"Sodium 0mg.",
"Total Carbohydrates 15g (Sugars 15g).",
"Protein 0g.",
"INGREDIENTS: FILTERED WATER, ORGANIC CANE SUGAR, ORGANIC GREEN TEA, ORGANIC HONEY, NATURAL FLAVORS, CITRIC ACID, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C).",
"CONTAINS NO JUICE.",
"Ships from and sold by Amazon.",
"com.",
"PRODUCED FOR SWEET LEAF TEA CO.",
", AUSTIN TEXAS 78704; PHONE: 1.",
"877.",
"832.",
"5323; WEB: SWEETLEAFTEA.",
"COM; 2014."
] |
For all the hype this game really dissappointed me. I'm glad that I borrowed it from a friend. If I had to drop $60 on this game I would have been furious at the Bungie.
Campaign mode is just like the first two Halo games. Which isn't really a bad thing, but something a bit different might have helped. In the end the single player mode felt rushed as if it were an afterthought.
Online is fun at first, but really doesn't do anything that was done before. Maps are still too small and the Halo community is still as immature as they were with the second Halo on Live. Halo has an online shooter full of more drama queens (look at me I'm ranked #1 because I play Halo 16 hours a day), sore losers (screamers and proclaim everybody that beats them "cheaters"), and racist/profanity laced language than I have experienced in any other FPS online shooter.
I'll stick to my Half Life and Counterstrike to get my FPS fix for now. | 1 | neutral | [
"For all the hype this game really dissappointed me.",
"I'm glad that I borrowed it from a friend.",
"If I had to drop $60 on this game I would have been furious at the Bungie.",
"Campaign mode is just like the first two Halo games.",
"Which isn't really a bad thing, but something a bit different might have helped.",
"In the end the single player mode felt rushed as if it were an afterthought.",
"Online is fun at first, but really doesn't do anything that was done before.",
"Maps are still too small and the Halo community is still as immature as they were with the second Halo on Live.",
"Halo has an online shooter full of more drama queens (look at me I'm ranked #1 because I play Halo 16 hours a day), sore losers (screamers and proclaim everybody that beats them \"cheaters\"), and racist/profanity laced language than I have experienced in any other FPS online shooter.",
"I'll stick to my Half Life and Counterstrike to get my FPS fix for now."
] |
Actors: Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Ann Reinking, Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters
Directors: John Huston
Format: AC-3, Blu-ray, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: Hindi, German, French, Finnish, Swedish, Arabic, Italian, Norwegian, Dutch, Danish, English, Turkish, Spanish, Japanese
Dubbed: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese
Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
Region: All Regions
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number of discs: 1
Saw the film in its original theatrical run, was ready to leave the Uptown Theater in D.C. but realized Carol Burnett still had more to do, so I stayed. Been reading the reviews here and don't understand the business about the aspect ratio. If the reviewers had only the DVD version and not the Blu-ray, then maybe so. This is what the High Def Digest review says regarding that:
30 years can show a lot of age on some movies but Annie is a breath of fresh air for a catalog title. The films 2.40:1 framed production design and muted color scheme shines bright and clear with a beautiful restoration. The picture maintains a wonderful film-like appearance with a solid grain structure that maintains depth and detail without compromising black levels. There is slight softness in the overall image, but Id wager that is by intention as fine detail doesnt suffer. For a musical it offers a lot for the eyes to see and enjoy. Would love to hear comments/clarifications on this. | 1 | neutral | [
"Actors: Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Ann Reinking, Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters\nDirectors: John Huston\nFormat: AC-3, Blu-ray, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen\nLanguage: English\nSubtitles: Hindi, German, French, Finnish, Swedish, Arabic, Italian, Norwegian, Dutch, Danish, English, Turkish, Spanish, Japanese\nDubbed: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese\nSubtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English\nRegion: All Regions\nAspect Ratio: 2.",
"40:1\nNumber of discs: 1\n\nSaw the film in its original theatrical run, was ready to leave the Uptown Theater in D.",
"C. but realized Carol Burnett still had more to do, so I stayed.",
"Been reading the reviews here and don't understand the business about the aspect ratio.",
"If the reviewers had only the DVD version and not the Blu-ray, then maybe so.",
"This is what the High Def Digest review says regarding that:\n30 years can show a lot of age on some movies but Annie is a breath of fresh air for a catalog title.",
"The films 2.",
"40:1 framed production design and muted color scheme shines bright and clear with a beautiful restoration.",
"The picture maintains a wonderful film-like appearance with a solid grain structure that maintains depth and detail without compromising black levels.",
"There is slight softness in the overall image, but Id wager that is by intention as fine detail doesnt suffer.",
"For a musical it offers a lot for the eyes to see and enjoy.",
"Would love to hear comments/clarifications on this."
] |
The Nintendo GameBoy Advanced is a good system. It has great graphics for a handheld. 32-Bit. The sound is also good. The screen is fairly good,and the size isn't bad. There's one problem. The Light. No BackLight is really disappointing. To bad for a good system.
If you were to buy one,beware,you will always have to keep your light on in your room or keep the screen near the glare of the Sun. There is no BackLight to see the screen which is really annoying. It's impossible to see it in the dark. I recommend the GameBoy SP. It plays all GameBoy games,has a BackLight,It's small,so it fit in your pocket,two sides to protect the screen,and you can charge it. The Nintendo 3DS is also better. Two screens,Nintendo games to downloads,and can take videos. The same with the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DS Lite and Original DS. They are much better then the Nintendo GameBoy Advanced. It's not a bad system,but yet not the best. I remember playing pokemon Silver on it,and I couldn't see the Screen!!!!
Besides the problem,it's still fun to play with. It's much upgraded then the classic Nintendo GameBoy Color. The sound for the Nintendo GameBoy Advanced is great. The graphics are also amazing. There are plenty of good games to play on it. Golden Sun is one to try out. It has all sorts of magic,and is a RPG. Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green is on too. Great GamePlay,graphics,and improvements. Sonic Advanced is another fun looking one. I heard you can connect your Nintendo GameBoy Advanced with Sonic Advanced in it to trade you Chao from Sonic Adventure Battle 2 from the Nintendo GameCube. There is also Super Mario Advanced,or something like that. Final Fantasy is also for the Nintendo GameBoy Advanced. There are plenty of fun games to play on it.
I can't recommend this system. The poor screen might not be good for younger gamers. Despite this problem,it's still one of the best selling Game Systems of all time. Plus,with fun gameplay,you can't go wrong this game system. | 1 | neutral | [
"The Nintendo GameBoy Advanced is a good system.",
"It has great graphics for a handheld.",
"32-Bit.",
"The sound is also good.",
"The screen is fairly good,and the size isn't bad.",
"There's one problem.",
"The Light.",
"No BackLight is really disappointing.",
"To bad for a good system.",
"If you were to buy one,beware,you will always have to keep your light on in your room or keep the screen near the glare of the Sun.",
"There is no BackLight to see the screen which is really annoying.",
"It's impossible to see it in the dark.",
"I recommend the GameBoy SP.",
"It plays all GameBoy games,has a BackLight,It's small,so it fit in your pocket,two sides to protect the screen,and you can charge it.",
"The Nintendo 3DS is also better.",
"Two screens,Nintendo games to downloads,and can take videos.",
"The same with the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DS Lite and Original DS.",
"They are much better then the Nintendo GameBoy Advanced.",
"It's not a bad system,but yet not the best.",
"I remember playing pokemon Silver on it,and I couldn't see the Screen!!!!",
"Besides the problem,it's still fun to play with.",
"It's much upgraded then the classic Nintendo GameBoy Color.",
"The sound for the Nintendo GameBoy Advanced is great.",
"The graphics are also amazing.",
"There are plenty of good games to play on it.",
"Golden Sun is one to try out.",
"It has all sorts of magic,and is a RPG.",
"Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green is on too.",
"Great GamePlay,graphics,and improvements.",
"Sonic Advanced is another fun looking one.",
"I heard you can connect your Nintendo GameBoy Advanced with Sonic Advanced in it to trade you Chao from Sonic Adventure Battle 2 from the Nintendo GameCube.",
"There is also Super Mario Advanced,or something like that.",
"Final Fantasy is also for the Nintendo GameBoy Advanced.",
"There are plenty of fun games to play on it.",
"I can't recommend this system.",
"The poor screen might not be good for younger gamers.",
"Despite this problem,it's still one of the best selling Game Systems of all time.",
"Plus,with fun gameplay,you can't go wrong this game system."
] |
This game does have its good points. The graphics are great and the objectives of the game are realistic.
The game controls are a little annoying, as you have to go into a special "view" mode to make your character look around and look in a specific area in order to find something...and if you miss that specific area, she won't "see" it and therefore be able to do the thing you want her to do.
The enemy A.I. isn't very intelligent, they'll walk right by you even if they shine flashlights on you they won't necessarily see you. Some of the levels border from hard to impossible though. I like an approach that isn't all out guns blazing, but I do like the option of being able to take out a guard or security camera if I have to. Some of the levels in this game, you can't take out even a security camera, which is just stupid...and it's not the latter missions where you would expect things to be harder. Some of the ends of missions also have you fighting a "boss" which brings back NES and Super NES memories, but the bosses aren't necessarily as challenging. Having to fight a boss at the end of a level sometimes just seems pointless and derivitive instead of using gameplay based on objectives and enemies throughout the level.
Overall, this game had the potential to be as good as Splinter Cell, but the over emphasis on stealth (sometimes in the face of common sense) dooms it to just average.
However, if you're a player that's extremely good at Splinter Cell using stealth and don't need to take out many guards or enemies in each level, you'll probably like and be good at this game too. | 1 | neutral | [
"This game does have its good points.",
"The graphics are great and the objectives of the game are realistic.",
"The game controls are a little annoying, as you have to go into a special \"view\" mode to make your character look around and look in a specific area in order to find something...",
"and if you miss that specific area, she won't \"see\" it and therefore be able to do the thing you want her to do.",
"The enemy A.",
"I. isn't very intelligent, they'll walk right by you even if they shine flashlights on you they won't necessarily see you.",
"Some of the levels border from hard to impossible though.",
"I like an approach that isn't all out guns blazing, but I do like the option of being able to take out a guard or security camera if I have to.",
"Some of the levels in this game, you can't take out even a security camera, which is just stupid...",
"and it's not the latter missions where you would expect things to be harder.",
"Some of the ends of missions also have you fighting a \"boss\" which brings back NES and Super NES memories, but the bosses aren't necessarily as challenging.",
"Having to fight a boss at the end of a level sometimes just seems pointless and derivitive instead of using gameplay based on objectives and enemies throughout the level.",
"Overall, this game had the potential to be as good as Splinter Cell, but the over emphasis on stealth (sometimes in the face of common sense) dooms it to just average.",
"However, if you're a player that's extremely good at Splinter Cell using stealth and don't need to take out many guards or enemies in each level, you'll probably like and be good at this game too."
] |
Morning,. T map, jej,mrs t, dan a,ndo w, cy, blisters, oo, rb-congratulations and commiserations. Great reports. Ndo, I hope you are all right. 3 hours 6:51: for me. 1h29 at half way and just on time by 20 miles, but i had very tight hamstrings which were cramping up so I slowed to a pace that allowed me to get to the finish without stopping. I have mixed feelings this morning. The marathon is such an unnatural distance to run. Anyway it's great to be able to listen to your thoughts about the race and the banter and support on this thread has been fantastic this year. (People at work who haven't got a clue are already annoying me with their advice and anecdotes.). All the best and recover well. No running for me till Saturday and I have mayo on my sarnies at lunch today. I agree with dan a -.tapering is over-rated. | 1 | neutral | [
"Morning,.",
"T map, jej,mrs t, dan a,ndo w, cy, blisters, oo, rb-congratulations and commiserations.",
"Great reports.",
"Ndo, I hope you are all right.",
"3 hours 6:51: for me.",
"1h29 at half way and just on time by 20 miles, but i had very tight hamstrings which were cramping up so I slowed to a pace that allowed me to get to the finish without stopping.",
"I have mixed feelings this morning.",
"The marathon is such an unnatural distance to run.",
"Anyway it's great to be able to listen to your thoughts about the race and the banter and support on this thread has been fantastic this year.",
"(People at work who haven't got a clue are already annoying me with their advice and anecdotes.",
").",
"All the best and recover well.",
"No running for me till Saturday and I have mayo on my sarnies at lunch today.",
"I agree with dan a -.",
"tapering is over-rated."
] |
I'm a pro musician who's often called upon to play a variety of instruments depending on "genre". For Celtic/Irish music gigs I play Bodhran and the PennyWhistle. My PennyWhistle Playing level: Internediate- Advanced.
While I've been playing primarily Dixon whistles (tunable), I thought it fun recently to revisit the simple days of my "beginner roots" and treated myself to a $5.35 Waltons WM1535 Little Black whistle (ASIN: B00C8U7WQ0) and this Clarke Celtic (I'm a fool for aesthetics - the glossy green paint & Celtic "knot" won me over).
Wow! While I realize each whistle has its own "personality", the particular Clarke Celtic I received must've awoken on the wrong side of its proverbial bed & remained in a foul mood! It sounds awful!
Not even the redeeming pleasant Clarke-"chiff", I was so looking forward to. (The Clarke I began on had a very distinct, lovely little "chiff" to it).
The overall tone was muddy. The whistle difficult to play cleanly (...and I've been paid for playing pennywhistles for the past several years, so I do know how to play very cleanly).
I then picked-up the $5 Waltons and was blown away (no pun intended) by the difference in tone! The inexpensive, lightweight Waltons WM1525 had a gorgeous full, rich, melodious tone with no effort from me. Vibrato was easily achievable, but on the Clarke Celtic it required far more effort.
It could just be that I received a dud, but my Clarke Celtic sounds nothing like the one in the video-review provided by another reviewer, even when I play along with him note-for-note.
One last gripe: that seam on the back! I'd forgotten about the seam on Clarke whistles due to the "rolled & turned" nature of their manufacturing process. After playing a while I barely noticed it, but it's very annoying at first. Makes the whistle feel lop-sided when holding to me.
Anyhow, based on other reviews, this is a fairly popular whistle and not all-bad, it does look nice... but the one I received was less than impressive, at best.
I won't be returning it (for sanitary reasons), but I won't be playing it either. It's not a complete waste... It is a pretty little thing & will do as ornamentation in my studio. (By the way, speaking of sanitation... the $5 Waltons whistle even came with a sealed, cello-wrapped mouthpiece!)
I rated this Clarke Celtic 3-stars based on the fact that it looks nice & has a decent reputation, altho my own experience was probably more that of 2-stars.
If you really want a decent PennyWhistle and don't mind spending a bit more, I strongly recommend considering a Dixon.
An entry-level Dixon "Traditional" brass model (ASIN: B000VPHC5U) can be had for approx. $30 USD.
If you prefer to stay under $20, then I'd recommend either the Feadog brand or Waltons. They have a similar tone and feel (and no distracting seams!)
But based on my own experience with this particular Clarke Celtic, I simply cannot recommend it all.
Thank you for reading,
-CC, Amazon Prine Member-Reviewer | 1 | neutral | [
"I'm a pro musician who's often called upon to play a variety of instruments depending on \"genre\".",
"For Celtic/Irish music gigs I play Bodhran and the PennyWhistle.",
"My PennyWhistle Playing level: Internediate- Advanced.",
"While I've been playing primarily Dixon whistles (tunable), I thought it fun recently to revisit the simple days of my \"beginner roots\" and treated myself to a $5.",
"35 Waltons WM1535 Little Black whistle (ASIN: B00C8U7WQ0) and this Clarke Celtic (I'm a fool for aesthetics - the glossy green paint & Celtic \"knot\" won me over).",
"Wow!",
"While I realize each whistle has its own \"personality\", the particular Clarke Celtic I received must've awoken on the wrong side of its proverbial bed & remained in a foul mood!",
"It sounds awful!",
"Not even the redeeming pleasant Clarke-\"chiff\", I was so looking forward to.",
"(The Clarke I began on had a very distinct, lovely little \"chiff\" to it).",
"The overall tone was muddy.",
"The whistle difficult to play cleanly (...",
"and I've been paid for playing pennywhistles for the past several years, so I do know how to play very cleanly).",
"I then picked-up the $5 Waltons and was blown away (no pun intended) by the difference in tone!",
"The inexpensive, lightweight Waltons WM1525 had a gorgeous full, rich, melodious tone with no effort from me.",
"Vibrato was easily achievable, but on the Clarke Celtic it required far more effort.",
"It could just be that I received a dud, but my Clarke Celtic sounds nothing like the one in the video-review provided by another reviewer, even when I play along with him note-for-note.",
"One last gripe: that seam on the back!",
"I'd forgotten about the seam on Clarke whistles due to the \"rolled & turned\" nature of their manufacturing process.",
"After playing a while I barely noticed it, but it's very annoying at first.",
"Makes the whistle feel lop-sided when holding to me.",
"Anyhow, based on other reviews, this is a fairly popular whistle and not all-bad, it does look nice...",
"but the one I received was less than impressive, at best.",
"I won't be returning it (for sanitary reasons), but I won't be playing it either.",
"It's not a complete waste...",
"It is a pretty little thing & will do as ornamentation in my studio.",
"(By the way, speaking of sanitation...",
"the $5 Waltons whistle even came with a sealed, cello-wrapped mouthpiece!",
")\n\nI rated this Clarke Celtic 3-stars based on the fact that it looks nice & has a decent reputation, altho my own experience was probably more that of 2-stars.",
"If you really want a decent PennyWhistle and don't mind spending a bit more, I strongly recommend considering a Dixon.",
"An entry-level Dixon \"Traditional\" brass model (ASIN: B000VPHC5U) can be had for approx.",
"$30 USD.",
"If you prefer to stay under $20, then I'd recommend either the Feadog brand or Waltons.",
"They have a similar tone and feel (and no distracting seams!",
")\nBut based on my own experience with this particular Clarke Celtic, I simply cannot recommend it all.",
"Thank you for reading,\n-CC, Amazon Prine Member-Reviewer"
] |
Doom 3 looks great, but the gameplay is the same throughout with little variation or variety. Plus, almost all of the levels look nearly identitcal. From a technical standpoint, the game is demanding -- even though I have 512MB of RAM and a 2.08 Ghz Athlon XP 2600+, my graphics card had only 64MB of RAM, and required me to disable some of the features that the auto-detect had configured when it set the game to the low quality setting. And even then the game was less than smooth (I've since upgraded to a GeForce FX with 128MB, and the game runs much smoother with more goodies). I recommend having at least 128MB of graphics memory for this one.
As far as the atmosphere goes, the designers succeeded in creating a spooky atmosphere. I initially played the game as recommended: with the door shut, the sound up, and the lights out. And yes, I jumped a few times! But the game is predictable: countless times I knew that if I picked up a certain item, then immediately a monster would spawn behind me; it's a pattern repeated throughout the game.
Another thing I disliked was the requirement to constantly have to pick up and listen to personal logs, and read e-mail, from the base inhabitants. This brings the pacing to a screeching halt. It does help flesh out the story, but at too high a price -- slowing down gameplay. Just as the adrenaline is pumping, look, there's another PDA -- let's do some light reading!
Overall, not a bad game, but not great. Oh, and all the comparisons to Half-Life are ironic, considering Half-Life's story was derivitve of the original Doom's. | 1 | neutral | [
"Doom 3 looks great, but the gameplay is the same throughout with little variation or variety.",
"Plus, almost all of the levels look nearly identitcal.",
"From a technical standpoint, the game is demanding -- even though I have 512MB of RAM and a 2.",
"08 Ghz Athlon XP 2600+, my graphics card had only 64MB of RAM, and required me to disable some of the features that the auto-detect had configured when it set the game to the low quality setting.",
"And even then the game was less than smooth (I've since upgraded to a GeForce FX with 128MB, and the game runs much smoother with more goodies).",
"I recommend having at least 128MB of graphics memory for this one.",
"As far as the atmosphere goes, the designers succeeded in creating a spooky atmosphere.",
"I initially played the game as recommended: with the door shut, the sound up, and the lights out.",
"And yes, I jumped a few times!",
"But the game is predictable: countless times I knew that if I picked up a certain item, then immediately a monster would spawn behind me; it's a pattern repeated throughout the game.",
"Another thing I disliked was the requirement to constantly have to pick up and listen to personal logs, and read e-mail, from the base inhabitants.",
"This brings the pacing to a screeching halt.",
"It does help flesh out the story, but at too high a price -- slowing down gameplay.",
"Just as the adrenaline is pumping, look, there's another PDA -- let's do some light reading!",
"Overall, not a bad game, but not great.",
"Oh, and all the comparisons to Half-Life are ironic, considering Half-Life's story was derivitve of the original Doom's."
] |
African
African-American Congressmen Will Skip Mississippi Civil Rights Event To Avoid Trump
Two Democratic representatives John Lewis and Bennie Thompson say they will not attend the long-awaited opening on Saturday of two museums dedicated to Mississippi's history and civil rights struggle because of the planned appearance of President Trump .
"President Trump 's attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum. The struggles represented in this museum exemplify the truth of what really happened in Mississippi. President Trump 's disparaging comments about women the disabled immigrants and National Football League players disrespect the efforts of Fannie Lou Hamer Aaron Henry Medgar Evers Robert Clark James Chaney Andrew Goodman Michael Schwerner and countless others who have given their all for Mississippi to be a better place."
Soon thereafter former Navy Secretary Ray Maybus who is white tweeted that he would not attend the museum opening either citing Trump 's planned speech. "His support of white supremacists and racism exact opposite of what museum is about " said Maybus a former Democratic governor of Mississippi.
Trump was invited to speak at the ceremony marking the bicentennial of Mississippi's admission to the union by Republican Gov. Phil Bryant who criticized Trump 's detractors.
Lewis was to have been one of the main speakers at the event along with Myrlie Evers the widow of assassinated Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers. She told the New York Times she hopes that Trump will "learn something" by attending the museum opening. | 1 | neutral | [
"African\nAfrican-American Congressmen Will Skip Mississippi Civil Rights Event To Avoid Trump\nTwo Democratic representatives John Lewis and Bennie Thompson say they will not attend the long-awaited opening on Saturday of two museums dedicated to Mississippi's history and civil rights struggle because of the planned appearance of President Trump.",
"\"President Trump 's attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum.",
"The struggles represented in this museum exemplify the truth of what really happened in Mississippi.",
"President Trump 's disparaging comments about women the disabled immigrants and National Football League players disrespect the efforts of Fannie Lou Hamer Aaron Henry Medgar Evers Robert Clark James Chaney Andrew Goodman Michael Schwerner and countless others who have given their all for Mississippi to be a better place.",
"\"\nSoon thereafter former Navy Secretary Ray Maybus who is white tweeted that he would not attend the museum opening either citing Trump 's planned speech.",
"\"His support of white supremacists and racism exact opposite of what museum is about \" said Maybus a former Democratic governor of Mississippi.",
"Trump was invited to speak at the ceremony marking the bicentennial of Mississippi's admission to the union by Republican Gov.",
"Phil Bryant who criticized Trump 's detractors.",
"Lewis was to have been one of the main speakers at the event along with Myrlie Evers the widow of assassinated Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers.",
"She told the New York Times she hopes that Trump will \"learn something\" by attending the museum opening."
] |
Item came missing a manual of operations, which I found on-line, and also seemed to be missing the attractant cartridge. I have some of those on order, but I was disappointed that they were not included in the original packaging as indicated. Otherwise, the control unit was simple to assemble and plug in. Time will tell (I will amend this review) as to what it does on mosquitoes. So far, barely any, but without the attractant it probably won't do much. Hopefully the manufacturer will make good and I will modify this review.
UPDATE: I ordered some of the attractant and installed it. The machine does attract and kill mosquitos and also some of the smaller moths and other bugs attracted to light, or a place to hide. It is not what I envisioned when purchasing the product nor has it really helped with my mosquito problem, but I cannot say that it does not work. I have to empty the trap about once per week, and it generally has about 1/2" of dead insects in it, including an underwhelming amount of actual mosquitos. It is in an area of my yard that is loaded with them, so it is not a lack of mosquitos that is the problem. I'll stick with 3 stars and suggest that the unit is rather over-priced for what it is and what it does. | 1 | neutral | [
"Item came missing a manual of operations, which I found on-line, and also seemed to be missing the attractant cartridge.",
"I have some of those on order, but I was disappointed that they were not included in the original packaging as indicated.",
"Otherwise, the control unit was simple to assemble and plug in.",
"Time will tell (I will amend this review) as to what it does on mosquitoes.",
"So far, barely any, but without the attractant it probably won't do much.",
"Hopefully the manufacturer will make good and I will modify this review.",
"UPDATE: I ordered some of the attractant and installed it.",
"The machine does attract and kill mosquitos and also some of the smaller moths and other bugs attracted to light, or a place to hide.",
"It is not what I envisioned when purchasing the product nor has it really helped with my mosquito problem, but I cannot say that it does not work.",
"I have to empty the trap about once per week, and it generally has about 1/2\" of dead insects in it, including an underwhelming amount of actual mosquitos.",
"It is in an area of my yard that is loaded with them, so it is not a lack of mosquitos that is the problem.",
"I'll stick with 3 stars and suggest that the unit is rather over-priced for what it is and what it does."
] |
The materials and quality are good. The tablet fits snugly and the case works well as a stand. The case provides unobstructed access to all ports, lights, and buttons. There are magnets to hold the front flap closed, although they are pretty weak and the flap opens too easily.
The major drawback for me is that there is absolutely nothing to hold the front flap open if you just want to use the tablet holding it in your hands. The front flap turns over behind the back of the case and just flaps around.
The way the case is designed, the bottom of the tablet (where the docking port is located) is towards the middle of the case, so, when I fold the front flap over, it points up, and I have to hold it against the back cover or it falls down. I tried holding the tablet with the docking port up (it is possible, the tablet will turn the image properly most of the time), it is easier to control the flap, but some applications know where the bottom of the tablet is and they are displayed up side down, so I have to turn the tablet constantly.
This could have been a great product, but it needs stronger magnets in the front and something to hold the front flap open when it is folded over. The problem with the front cover flapping around when folded over makes this case just OK one. | 1 | neutral | [
"The materials and quality are good.",
"The tablet fits snugly and the case works well as a stand.",
"The case provides unobstructed access to all ports, lights, and buttons.",
"There are magnets to hold the front flap closed, although they are pretty weak and the flap opens too easily.",
"The major drawback for me is that there is absolutely nothing to hold the front flap open if you just want to use the tablet holding it in your hands.",
"The front flap turns over behind the back of the case and just flaps around.",
"The way the case is designed, the bottom of the tablet (where the docking port is located) is towards the middle of the case, so, when I fold the front flap over, it points up, and I have to hold it against the back cover or it falls down.",
"I tried holding the tablet with the docking port up (it is possible, the tablet will turn the image properly most of the time), it is easier to control the flap, but some applications know where the bottom of the tablet is and they are displayed up side down, so I have to turn the tablet constantly.",
"This could have been a great product, but it needs stronger magnets in the front and something to hold the front flap open when it is folded over.",
"The problem with the front cover flapping around when folded over makes this case just OK one."
] |
I was really hard to get into at the beginning. I think I've been trying to read this book for months. But one Demelza steps into the picture things start getting interesting especially the fact that she's a child when Ross first meets her and takes her in as a kitchen maid only to have Demelza determine that she wants Ross more than she ever thought.
Demelza's character really is refreshing. I really enjoyed her quips and her continuing effort to live up to a standard she really is the one to set.
Verity, Ross's cousin, also is a character close to my heart. I feel so bad for her and hope the next book has a little happiness headed towards her.
The writing seems very old fashioned even for a book written in the 50s. Sometimes the language and phrases are confusing but the overall story is good. I must admit to being bored by the mining talk. | 1 | neutral | [
"I was really hard to get into at the beginning.",
"I think I've been trying to read this book for months.",
"But one Demelza steps into the picture things start getting interesting especially the fact that she's a child when Ross first meets her and takes her in as a kitchen maid only to have Demelza determine that she wants Ross more than she ever thought.",
"Demelza's character really is refreshing.",
"I really enjoyed her quips and her continuing effort to live up to a standard she really is the one to set.",
"Verity, Ross's cousin, also is a character close to my heart.",
"I feel so bad for her and hope the next book has a little happiness headed towards her.",
"The writing seems very old fashioned even for a book written in the 50s.",
"Sometimes the language and phrases are confusing but the overall story is good.",
"I must admit to being bored by the mining talk."
] |
I can't get enough of Okami! I've beaten it and am started on a second play-though. Any action-RPG game fan has to at least try this game! The title basically says it all. It is a typically Japanese play on words, since, depending on how you translate it, "Okami" can mean either "wolf" or "king of the gods". For those people to whom that is not enough information to really understand the game, here are the basics:
100 years before the game's beginning, a huge 8-headed dragon monster called the Orochi menaced the small village of Kamiki. After suffering Orochi's tyranny for years, the village's champion, Nagi, and a white wolf the village dubbed Shiranui, defeated the Orochi. Shiranui died from his wounds after the fight, and the village built a shrine for him. Peace reigned for 100 years, until the evil suddenly and mysteriously reappeared...
You control Shiranui reborn in a quest to save the land from the evil. You travel all over the land of Nippon (which is Japanese for "Japan"; how original) fighting monsters, helping people, and healing nature of the curse of evil. The story is nothing new, and is both very linear and quite predictable. But it is very well done, mixing japanese mythology into a classic hero story, with a generous helping of humor to give it flavor.
The story has one major downside, though: it is told through cut scenes that contain bucket-loads of exposition. You will often find yourself button-mashing X desperately to try to speed things along, and that does not work very well because the important cut scenes don't let you speed up the dialogue. For instance, the very first cut scene that opens the game literally takes at least 15 minutes to get through before you can get to the action. Most of the rest are not nearly that long, but several of them do take a good 5 minutes at least. To say that it gets tedious is an understatement.
Still, the cell-shaded graphics largely make up for the tedious cut scenes. They are done in a very beautiful, yet simplistic style that evokes a traditional Japanese ink painting. Despite the simple style, though, the level of detail is outstanding. In fact, it is so detailed that there is the occasional spot of graphical slowdown. This game really pushes the hardware of the PS2 to its limits.
The music and sound are also fantastic. Most of the music evokes traditional Japanese art as much as the graphics do, while the sound effects range from wolf barks and footfalls to wind blowing gently through trees, and more. The mood is always set perfectly for whatever environment you're visiting.
Except, possibly, with the voices. Rather than real voices, people talk in a form of gibberish that sounds like someone trying to talk underwater. While it does not bother me personally, some people simply can not listen to these voice effects. Either you'll hate the voice noises with a passion, or you won't care at all. Either way, this is not a good point for the game.
The controls take a bit of getting used to, but when you have gotten used to them they become second nature. Unlike the "Legend of Zelda" games, there is no enemy lock-on during combat. Instead, you automatically target the closest monster(s) when you push the attack button. This simplifies combat without turning it into a button-mashing cake walk. It works perfectly...unless you get hit by the controller bug.
Yes, a *bug* in the game. Thankfully rare, as I only encountered it twice in 60+ hours of game play. Still, when it happens it is extremely annoying. During combat, while you're wailing away on a monster, the options-menu will suddenly open for no reason. Usually, the analog control on your controller will also go crazy, either just turning off or madly flickering on and off. Either case makes the game impossible to play, of course, since you control your in-game avatar with the left analog stick. The first case is easy to fix; just turn the analog control back on and exit the menu. In the second case, you can only fix it by literally unplugging the controller and then plugging it back in.
Far more common than the controller bug are the load times. They usually are not terrible, but it seems like a loading screen comes up at least every five minutes or so. Between these and the long cut-scenes, you might sometimes wonder if there is actually any game play included.
But there *is* game play, and it is a lot of fun. There is a great deal to keep you occupied, from the compelling story line to the many treasure hunts, races, puzzles, and mini-games. Between fighting to save the world, you can go fishing, feed animals, catch thieves, and a lot more. Plus, after you beat the game once it unlocks lots of extras, including image galleries and the sound track. All of that and the wonderful atmosphere definitely make this a game worth checking out. Rent it before you buy it, if possible, to make sure you can deal with the long cut scenes, numerous load times, and weird voice effects. But if you are a fan of action RPGs like "Legend of Zelda", you will definitely want to add Okami to your game library.
Summary:
Pros:
- Great story
- Great graphics
- Great music/sound
- Wonderful atmosphere
- Lots of culture and mythology to give it flavor
- Plentiful activities and mini-games
- Unlockable extras after beating the game
Cons:
- Occasional graphic slowdown
- Too much exposition
- Tedious cut-scenes
- Lots of load times
- Rare controller bug
Neutral:
- Voice noises that you might or might not hate
Over-all score: Five stars of fun-fun-fun! But three stars over all because of the many problems. | 1 | neutral | [
"I can't get enough of Okami!",
"I've beaten it and am started on a second play-though.",
"Any action-RPG game fan has to at least try this game!",
"The title basically says it all.",
"It is a typically Japanese play on words, since, depending on how you translate it, \"Okami\" can mean either \"wolf\" or \"king of the gods\".",
"For those people to whom that is not enough information to really understand the game, here are the basics:\n\n100 years before the game's beginning, a huge 8-headed dragon monster called the Orochi menaced the small village of Kamiki.",
"After suffering Orochi's tyranny for years, the village's champion, Nagi, and a white wolf the village dubbed Shiranui, defeated the Orochi.",
"Shiranui died from his wounds after the fight, and the village built a shrine for him.",
"Peace reigned for 100 years, until the evil suddenly and mysteriously reappeared...",
"You control Shiranui reborn in a quest to save the land from the evil.",
"You travel all over the land of Nippon (which is Japanese for \"Japan\"; how original) fighting monsters, helping people, and healing nature of the curse of evil.",
"The story is nothing new, and is both very linear and quite predictable.",
"But it is very well done, mixing japanese mythology into a classic hero story, with a generous helping of humor to give it flavor.",
"The story has one major downside, though: it is told through cut scenes that contain bucket-loads of exposition.",
"You will often find yourself button-mashing X desperately to try to speed things along, and that does not work very well because the important cut scenes don't let you speed up the dialogue.",
"For instance, the very first cut scene that opens the game literally takes at least 15 minutes to get through before you can get to the action.",
"Most of the rest are not nearly that long, but several of them do take a good 5 minutes at least.",
"To say that it gets tedious is an understatement.",
"Still, the cell-shaded graphics largely make up for the tedious cut scenes.",
"They are done in a very beautiful, yet simplistic style that evokes a traditional Japanese ink painting.",
"Despite the simple style, though, the level of detail is outstanding.",
"In fact, it is so detailed that there is the occasional spot of graphical slowdown.",
"This game really pushes the hardware of the PS2 to its limits.",
"The music and sound are also fantastic.",
"Most of the music evokes traditional Japanese art as much as the graphics do, while the sound effects range from wolf barks and footfalls to wind blowing gently through trees, and more.",
"The mood is always set perfectly for whatever environment you're visiting.",
"Except, possibly, with the voices.",
"Rather than real voices, people talk in a form of gibberish that sounds like someone trying to talk underwater.",
"While it does not bother me personally, some people simply can not listen to these voice effects.",
"Either you'll hate the voice noises with a passion, or you won't care at all.",
"Either way, this is not a good point for the game.",
"The controls take a bit of getting used to, but when you have gotten used to them they become second nature.",
"Unlike the \"Legend of Zelda\" games, there is no enemy lock-on during combat.",
"Instead, you automatically target the closest monster(s) when you push the attack button.",
"This simplifies combat without turning it into a button-mashing cake walk.",
"It works perfectly...",
"unless you get hit by the controller bug.",
"Yes, a *bug* in the game.",
"Thankfully rare, as I only encountered it twice in 60+ hours of game play.",
"Still, when it happens it is extremely annoying.",
"During combat, while you're wailing away on a monster, the options-menu will suddenly open for no reason.",
"Usually, the analog control on your controller will also go crazy, either just turning off or madly flickering on and off.",
"Either case makes the game impossible to play, of course, since you control your in-game avatar with the left analog stick.",
"The first case is easy to fix; just turn the analog control back on and exit the menu.",
"In the second case, you can only fix it by literally unplugging the controller and then plugging it back in.",
"Far more common than the controller bug are the load times.",
"They usually are not terrible, but it seems like a loading screen comes up at least every five minutes or so.",
"Between these and the long cut-scenes, you might sometimes wonder if there is actually any game play included.",
"But there *is* game play, and it is a lot of fun.",
"There is a great deal to keep you occupied, from the compelling story line to the many treasure hunts, races, puzzles, and mini-games.",
"Between fighting to save the world, you can go fishing, feed animals, catch thieves, and a lot more.",
"Plus, after you beat the game once it unlocks lots of extras, including image galleries and the sound track.",
"All of that and the wonderful atmosphere definitely make this a game worth checking out.",
"Rent it before you buy it, if possible, to make sure you can deal with the long cut scenes, numerous load times, and weird voice effects.",
"But if you are a fan of action RPGs like \"Legend of Zelda\", you will definitely want to add Okami to your game library.",
"Summary:\n\nPros:\n\n- Great story\n- Great graphics\n- Great music/sound\n- Wonderful atmosphere\n- Lots of culture and mythology to give it flavor\n- Plentiful activities and mini-games\n- Unlockable extras after beating the game\n\nCons:\n\n- Occasional graphic slowdown\n- Too much exposition\n- Tedious cut-scenes\n- Lots of load times\n- Rare controller bug\n\nNeutral:\n\n- Voice noises that you might or might not hate\n\nOver-all score: Five stars of fun-fun-fun!",
"But three stars over all because of the many problems."
] |
I wasn't that impressed with the graphics. The interiors look painted, so its done in an artsy way, not a realistic one. The neon signs look great, but the characters are cartoonish looking. I just played this after playing Crysis, which has gorgeous graphics, to the point where at times you feel like your on location and actually playing paintball in the woods, instead of a video game. The thing about graphics is that you have to compare them to games that came out at about the same time, and not games that came out 3 years before this game did.
I have the system to play Bioshock at the highest settings, but the lighting just isn't that great in the interiors, its a bit dark(yes you can turn up gamma, but then it looks washed out). The silly looking characters make it seem to much like an arcade game. The characters look mutilated, but then they wear a cute costume mask. That just looked weird to me. I want to be immersed in a game, to the point where it feels like I am in a different location or era. The game seems to try to make up for lack of realism by using overly graphic gore.
The game also feels too linear. There is one path or door to locate, kill some splicers or bots, heal, find ammo and repeat. I think there is a reason why this game is now half the price of Crysis, even though they were released within a few months of each other.
Not to keep harping on it, but I would like to explore the surrounds some but as soon as you try, you get attacked from behind. There is not enough quiet time and the constant regeneration of baddies just gets annoying after awhile. | 1 | neutral | [
"I wasn't that impressed with the graphics.",
"The interiors look painted, so its done in an artsy way, not a realistic one.",
"The neon signs look great, but the characters are cartoonish looking.",
"I just played this after playing Crysis, which has gorgeous graphics, to the point where at times you feel like your on location and actually playing paintball in the woods, instead of a video game.",
"The thing about graphics is that you have to compare them to games that came out at about the same time, and not games that came out 3 years before this game did.",
"I have the system to play Bioshock at the highest settings, but the lighting just isn't that great in the interiors, its a bit dark(yes you can turn up gamma, but then it looks washed out).",
"The silly looking characters make it seem to much like an arcade game.",
"The characters look mutilated, but then they wear a cute costume mask.",
"That just looked weird to me.",
"I want to be immersed in a game, to the point where it feels like I am in a different location or era.",
"The game seems to try to make up for lack of realism by using overly graphic gore.",
"The game also feels too linear.",
"There is one path or door to locate, kill some splicers or bots, heal, find ammo and repeat.",
"I think there is a reason why this game is now half the price of Crysis, even though they were released within a few months of each other.",
"Not to keep harping on it, but I would like to explore the surrounds some but as soon as you try, you get attacked from behind.",
"There is not enough quiet time and the constant regeneration of baddies just gets annoying after awhile."
] |
I must admit that I had higher hopes when I placed the order for these jeans. I like Wrangler jeans and find that the relaxed fit jeans fit me pretty comfortably. I have a stack of them at home, all having been acquired from local brick and mortar retailers (with the exception of the pair I'm now writing this review for, and another pair that were dark black, ordered at the same time I ordered the pair that I'm reviewing here). The jeans that I was already using have a different weight and thicker feel compared to the jeans that I received as fulfillment of my orders. The ones that I received feel soft and are comfortable to me, but they also feel like they are lighter weight and as such likely won't be as durable as the jeans that I already had were.
Oddly enough I purchased the jeans that I'm reviewing here from the A to Z store because the stores that I had previously purchased my jeans from have a reputation of squeezing every penny out of the cost of their products before they put them on sale and as such I had an expectation that was leading to a shorter life span for my jeans. Realistically, I can't complain about the life span of those jeans as they have held up well (most are in the 2+ year range, if not a little more), though they do eventually wear to the point of having holes in them, or having belt loops that are breaking away.
Sadly, given my disappointment with the jeans I received here, I am now back to avoiding doing any internet ordering of my jeans, instead I'll have to visit the local stores and find my supplies there.
3 middle of the road stars for these jeans. OK, but nothing special, at least not in my opinion. | 1 | neutral | [
"I must admit that I had higher hopes when I placed the order for these jeans.",
"I like Wrangler jeans and find that the relaxed fit jeans fit me pretty comfortably.",
"I have a stack of them at home, all having been acquired from local brick and mortar retailers (with the exception of the pair I'm now writing this review for, and another pair that were dark black, ordered at the same time I ordered the pair that I'm reviewing here).",
"The jeans that I was already using have a different weight and thicker feel compared to the jeans that I received as fulfillment of my orders.",
"The ones that I received feel soft and are comfortable to me, but they also feel like they are lighter weight and as such likely won't be as durable as the jeans that I already had were.",
"Oddly enough I purchased the jeans that I'm reviewing here from the A to Z store because the stores that I had previously purchased my jeans from have a reputation of squeezing every penny out of the cost of their products before they put them on sale and as such I had an expectation that was leading to a shorter life span for my jeans.",
"Realistically, I can't complain about the life span of those jeans as they have held up well (most are in the 2+ year range, if not a little more), though they do eventually wear to the point of having holes in them, or having belt loops that are breaking away.",
"Sadly, given my disappointment with the jeans I received here, I am now back to avoiding doing any internet ordering of my jeans, instead I'll have to visit the local stores and find my supplies there.",
"3 middle of the road stars for these jeans.",
"OK, but nothing special, at least not in my opinion."
] |
You can beat this game in about four to four and a half hours. Great graphics and plot. Good voice acting. Hard. The main character leo, is the worst character for this game. A wimpy little vengeful child. The music is awesome and so is the level design. Very fun to dive around and flip and use that to destroy enemies. There are quite a few subweapons, but the game is too short to enjoy them. Rent it and you can beat it. | 1 | neutral | [
"You can beat this game in about four to four and a half hours.",
"Great graphics and plot.",
"Good voice acting.",
"Hard.",
"The main character leo, is the worst character for this game.",
"A wimpy little vengeful child.",
"The music is awesome and so is the level design.",
"Very fun to dive around and flip and use that to destroy enemies.",
"There are quite a few subweapons, but the game is too short to enjoy them.",
"Rent it and you can beat it."
] |
I had this headset for about 6 months now and i use it with a Motorola phone. The construction is pretty good. It got a nice weight to it, but could be lighter. The controls are easy and very useful. The sound is mediocre, wired would be the best for sound quality at the moment, but if wires get in the way, this is a good choice. The ear cups tend to fall off a lot and if your not careful you could lose them. Motorola DOES NOT SELL REPLACEMENT EAR PIECES (stupid i know), if its under warranty they will exchange them, but you pay to ship it, then 2-4 weeks you should be sent new ones. So i recommend putting just a dab of super glue on each notch and put the ear cups on, that will keep them on, and avoid the hassles. They do hurt your ears after 4 hours or so, but its more of a slight soreness, it does not last long after you take them off.
I am not exactly sure how the microphone quality is, but the callers can hear me and don't notice a difference when i switch from handset to headset. Pairing is really easy, sometimes either through interference it will cut out for about 1 second every 10 minutes or so. Sometimes not at all. In high traffic area or just a bad connection it cuts out every minute. Most of the time its fine. I like motorola because they use usb as 1 standard interface. My phone and headset use them for charging.
Overall it's a nice product, especially if you have a motorola phone. Bluetooth headsets are just now getting popular. But no ear cup replacements, the ear soreness after extended use reduces my rating. | 1 | neutral | [
"I had this headset for about 6 months now and i use it with a Motorola phone.",
"The construction is pretty good.",
"It got a nice weight to it, but could be lighter.",
"The controls are easy and very useful.",
"The sound is mediocre, wired would be the best for sound quality at the moment, but if wires get in the way, this is a good choice.",
"The ear cups tend to fall off a lot and if your not careful you could lose them.",
"Motorola DOES NOT SELL REPLACEMENT EAR PIECES (stupid i know), if its under warranty they will exchange them, but you pay to ship it, then 2-4 weeks you should be sent new ones.",
"So i recommend putting just a dab of super glue on each notch and put the ear cups on, that will keep them on, and avoid the hassles.",
"They do hurt your ears after 4 hours or so, but its more of a slight soreness, it does not last long after you take them off.",
"I am not exactly sure how the microphone quality is, but the callers can hear me and don't notice a difference when i switch from handset to headset.",
"Pairing is really easy, sometimes either through interference it will cut out for about 1 second every 10 minutes or so.",
"Sometimes not at all.",
"In high traffic area or just a bad connection it cuts out every minute.",
"Most of the time its fine.",
"I like motorola because they use usb as 1 standard interface.",
"My phone and headset use them for charging.",
"Overall it's a nice product, especially if you have a motorola phone.",
"Bluetooth headsets are just now getting popular.",
"But no ear cup replacements, the ear soreness after extended use reduces my rating."
] |
There are a couple great things about Wii Play. The first is the inclusion of a controller. The second is that a couple of the minigames are actually really entertaining, and use the Miis to great effect. That first thing's really important, though, because Wii Play isn't the kind of game you'll play for hours on end. Some of the minigames are really clunky, and others are simply too shallow to be enjoyable for long.
Still, there are two standouts for me. One game, where you try to "Spot the Mii" is a great use of the system, and the more Miis you have, the better it is. The second standout is the shooting game, which is immediately reminiscent of Duck Hunt. Who doesn't love Duck Hunt? (Okay, I'm sure some of the younger set out there don't even *know* Duck Hunt, but I'll skip over that lest I feel too old.)
For a $50 game, Wii Play is a total and complete ripoff. A terrible value. For a $10 game that comes with a $40 controller? Worth every penny. | 1 | neutral | [
"There are a couple great things about Wii Play.",
"The first is the inclusion of a controller.",
"The second is that a couple of the minigames are actually really entertaining, and use the Miis to great effect.",
"That first thing's really important, though, because Wii Play isn't the kind of game you'll play for hours on end.",
"Some of the minigames are really clunky, and others are simply too shallow to be enjoyable for long.",
"Still, there are two standouts for me.",
"One game, where you try to \"Spot the Mii\" is a great use of the system, and the more Miis you have, the better it is.",
"The second standout is the shooting game, which is immediately reminiscent of Duck Hunt.",
"Who doesn't love Duck Hunt?",
"(Okay, I'm sure some of the younger set out there don't even *know* Duck Hunt, but I'll skip over that lest I feel too old.",
")\n\nFor a $50 game, Wii Play is a total and complete ripoff.",
"A terrible value.",
"For a $10 game that comes with a $40 controller?",
"Worth every penny."
] |
I read very good critics about this recording and I bought it expecting god performances. It didn't turn out like that.
1812 is the best work of the present recording, the coral part works extremely well and the performance in general has great distinction. In fact, this performance stands out among many others. It won't surpass Dorati's famous account, but it will do better than Gergiev, Abbado, Karajan, Solti, Maazel, Stokowski, Bernstein just to mention a few that I am familiar with.
Marche Slave: This is a very standard reading, in this case, if you really want a fine performance of this work, I strongly recommend you to go for Stokowski's one on Decca (by far the best I've heard) or Abbado's with the Berlin Philharmonic on DG (surprisingly).
In the Steppes of Central Asia, again, very standard, I don't mean it's a bad version, but you can find better ones like Gergiev's with the Kirov Orchestra.
The Polovtsian dances lack strength, there are plenty of versions better than this one. As I said about the "Steppes" this is not a bad account, but if you listen to Mackerras, Dorati, Gergiev or Stokowski, you will see what I mean.
The Russian Easter Overture is the biggest disappointment on this disc. Jrvi has made great recordings of Rimsky-Korsakov's music for Chandos, so I don't know what happened here. So, if you are buying this CD because of this piece, don't waste you money. The sound quality is poor, and the performance itself is not very exciting. So far, the best Russian Easter Overture I've heard is Markevitch's on Phillips, and Stokowski's on RCA.
On the other hand, the Capriccio Espaol is an excellent performance, very energetic, very well played from beginning to end and even though I wouldn't say it's the best, it cernainly ranks high among its many competitors. Dorati's and Mackerras's, both with the LSO in Mercury Living Presence and TELARC respectively are very recommendable too. | 1 | neutral | [
"I read very good critics about this recording and I bought it expecting god performances.",
"It didn't turn out like that.",
"1812 is the best work of the present recording, the coral part works extremely well and the performance in general has great distinction.",
"In fact, this performance stands out among many others.",
"It won't surpass Dorati's famous account, but it will do better than Gergiev, Abbado, Karajan, Solti, Maazel, Stokowski, Bernstein just to mention a few that I am familiar with.",
"Marche Slave: This is a very standard reading, in this case, if you really want a fine performance of this work, I strongly recommend you to go for Stokowski's one on Decca (by far the best I've heard) or Abbado's with the Berlin Philharmonic on DG (surprisingly).",
"In the Steppes of Central Asia, again, very standard, I don't mean it's a bad version, but you can find better ones like Gergiev's with the Kirov Orchestra.",
"The Polovtsian dances lack strength, there are plenty of versions better than this one.",
"As I said about the \"Steppes\" this is not a bad account, but if you listen to Mackerras, Dorati, Gergiev or Stokowski, you will see what I mean.",
"The Russian Easter Overture is the biggest disappointment on this disc.",
"Jrvi has made great recordings of Rimsky-Korsakov's music for Chandos, so I don't know what happened here.",
"So, if you are buying this CD because of this piece, don't waste you money.",
"The sound quality is poor, and the performance itself is not very exciting.",
"So far, the best Russian Easter Overture I've heard is Markevitch's on Phillips, and Stokowski's on RCA.",
"On the other hand, the Capriccio Espaol is an excellent performance, very energetic, very well played from beginning to end and even though I wouldn't say it's the best, it cernainly ranks high among its many competitors.",
"Dorati's and Mackerras's, both with the LSO in Mercury Living Presence and TELARC respectively are very recommendable too."
] |
Yes, it makes good coffee. Not extraordinary, but perfectly respectable coffee. The problems, though: 1) The machine is very tall - and even taller when the water/grounds cover is up - which means that if you have average-height cabinets in your kitchen, you will need to pull it to the edge of your counter to fill the machine; 2) I've found that I have to leave the cover up and open after making the coffee to prevent the condensation inside from mildewing in the machine. The whole compartment gets very wet, and if the cover isn't up, it doesn't totally dry out. Because of the aforementioned height, that means leaving it sitting on the edge of the counter for hours; 3) The opening for the area where you pour the water is very small. If you can't pour at exactly the right angle, you'll end up with water on your counter. I'm right-handed and it requires moving the machine to get the water in. If you're left-handed, you may need to do some contortions.
None of this is that big of a deal, but it's annoying enough that I've come back to share the details. We're not returning or replacing the machine, but had I known this, I might have ordered something else. | 1 | neutral | [
"Yes, it makes good coffee.",
"Not extraordinary, but perfectly respectable coffee.",
"The problems, though: 1) The machine is very tall - and even taller when the water/grounds cover is up - which means that if you have average-height cabinets in your kitchen, you will need to pull it to the edge of your counter to fill the machine; 2) I've found that I have to leave the cover up and open after making the coffee to prevent the condensation inside from mildewing in the machine.",
"The whole compartment gets very wet, and if the cover isn't up, it doesn't totally dry out.",
"Because of the aforementioned height, that means leaving it sitting on the edge of the counter for hours; 3) The opening for the area where you pour the water is very small.",
"If you can't pour at exactly the right angle, you'll end up with water on your counter.",
"I'm right-handed and it requires moving the machine to get the water in.",
"If you're left-handed, you may need to do some contortions.",
"None of this is that big of a deal, but it's annoying enough that I've come back to share the details.",
"We're not returning or replacing the machine, but had I known this, I might have ordered something else."
] |
Perhaps I'd understand it better with an additional viewing, but I don't find this movie important enough to motivate me to that action. There are enough real dramas and battles in the real, present-day Church to keep one's attention for 100 years. However, I would very much like to one day discover the intent of this curious movie.
After a fictional "Vatican IV" further revolutionizes the Church, Martin Sheen (playing an ultra-modern, Marxist-type priest) is sent to remotest Ireland to bring a group of Traditionalist monks into line with the new de-Catholicized Catholic church. The monks are understandably resistant, and there are some interesting exchanges between the revolutionary and the traditionalists, but the Abbot, who privately admits to a lack of faith, eventually orders them to submit to Rome, rather than defy the abomination of desolation. What exactly is the point of this movie? Is it a modernist message, that the Church must acquiesce to the zeitgeist in order to survive and be relevant? Is it a traditionalist message, that the true Faith would thrive were it not undermined by its leaders? Or is there any message at all? Beats me. | 1 | neutral | [
"Perhaps I'd understand it better with an additional viewing, but I don't find this movie important enough to motivate me to that action.",
"There are enough real dramas and battles in the real, present-day Church to keep one's attention for 100 years.",
"However, I would very much like to one day discover the intent of this curious movie.",
"After a fictional \"Vatican IV\" further revolutionizes the Church, Martin Sheen (playing an ultra-modern, Marxist-type priest) is sent to remotest Ireland to bring a group of Traditionalist monks into line with the new de-Catholicized Catholic church.",
"The monks are understandably resistant, and there are some interesting exchanges between the revolutionary and the traditionalists, but the Abbot, who privately admits to a lack of faith, eventually orders them to submit to Rome, rather than defy the abomination of desolation.",
"What exactly is the point of this movie?",
"Is it a modernist message, that the Church must acquiesce to the zeitgeist in order to survive and be relevant?",
"Is it a traditionalist message, that the true Faith would thrive were it not undermined by its leaders?",
"Or is there any message at all?",
"Beats me."
] |
I have exclusively played Suzuki's since I was about 13. My first harp was the Promaster & I loved the weight & the sound.
Just last year I discovered the Valved Promaster which seems to project better sound giving you more room to bend the notes. One problem with valved Promasters is they all seemed to need to be broken in before you could get the full sound out of the harps.
The SUZUKI MANJI is the best "play right out of the box harp". You get the great sound & ability to bend notes like the valved promaster without the dead notes or having to break it in much. It does have one "dead note" Since I got it the 3 hole is a little tough to blow through.
Bottom line is I really like this harp but it's not perfect. I want to keep experimenting & maybe try some HOHNER/Lee Oscars...
If your looking for professional sound this is a great harp. If your not used to nice harmonicas you will be blown away & amazed at how good you can sound playing a nice one compared to a lower grade or toy-store harp.
Keep honkin'! | 1 | neutral | [
"I have exclusively played Suzuki's since I was about 13.",
"My first harp was the Promaster & I loved the weight & the sound.",
"Just last year I discovered the Valved Promaster which seems to project better sound giving you more room to bend the notes.",
"One problem with valved Promasters is they all seemed to need to be broken in before you could get the full sound out of the harps.",
"The SUZUKI MANJI is the best \"play right out of the box harp\".",
"You get the great sound & ability to bend notes like the valved promaster without the dead notes or having to break it in much.",
"It does have one \"dead note\" Since I got it the 3 hole is a little tough to blow through.",
"Bottom line is I really like this harp but it's not perfect.",
"I want to keep experimenting & maybe try some HOHNER/Lee Oscars...",
"If your looking for professional sound this is a great harp.",
"If your not used to nice harmonicas you will be blown away & amazed at how good you can sound playing a nice one compared to a lower grade or toy-store harp.",
"Keep honkin'!"
] |
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