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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Serial (Kindle Edition)

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Customer Reviews
By J. A. KONRATH "Thriller Author"

Amazon hasn't listed the description yet, so here it is:

Remember the twin golden rules of hitchhiking?

# 1: Don't go hitchhiking, because the driver who picks you up could be certifiably crazy.

# 2: Don't pick up hitchhikers, because the traveler you pick up could be a raving nutcase.

So what if, on some dark, isolated road, Crazy #1 offered a ride to Nutcase #2?

When Blake Crouch (DESERT PLACES, ABANDONED) and Jack Kilborn (AFRAID, TRAPPED), face off, the result is SERIAL, a terrifying tale of hitchhiking gone terribly wrong. Like a deeply twisted version of an "After School Special," SERIAL is the single most persuasive public service announcement on the hazards of free car rides.

Beyond a thrilling piece of horrifying suspense, SERIAL is also a groundbreaking experiment in literary collaboration. Kilborn wrote the first part. Crouch wrote the second. And they wrote the third together over email in 100-word exchanges, not aware of each other's opening section. All bets were off, and may the best psychopath win.

F. Paul Wilson says, "SERIAL reads just like a Crouch or Kilborn novel: Full speed ahead, no flinching, no blinking, no brakes."

SERIAL contains the 7500 word novella, SERIAL, a Q&A with Kilborn and Crouch, author bibliographies, and excerpts from their most recent and forthcoming works: Kilborn's AFRAID and Crouch's ABANDON.

And finally, a note/disclaimer from the authors:

SERIAL is a horror novella written by two of the most twisted minds in the world of horror fiction.

But just because it is 100% free doesn't mean you should automatically download it.

This is disturbing stuff. Perhaps too disturbing.

If you can handle horrific thrills, proceed at your own risk.

But if you suffer from anxiety attacks, nervous disorders, insomnia, nightmares or night terrors, heart palpitations, stomach problems, or are of an overly sensitive nature, you should read something else instead.

The authors are in no way responsible for any lost sleep, missed work, failed relationships, or difficulty in coping with life after you have read SERIAL. They will not pay for any therapy you may require as a result of reading SERIAL. They will not cradle you in their arms, rock you back and forth, and speak in soothing tones while you unsuccessfully try to forget SERIAL.

Yes, it's free. But free has its price.

You have been warned.


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Monday, May 25, 2009

The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite (Hardcover)

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Customer Reviews
By Natasha Stryker

I appreciated this book. I appreciated a health-related book discussing dieting that WAS NOT trying to sell you something. The research that went into this book is impressive and the results are fascinating. Turns out that along with our waistlines, processed food manipulation has been on the rise since the 1980's.

Food producers of all types have been seeking ways to make us want their product more, and it is working. The pleasure-seeking part of your brain is hard to turn off once saturated with key combinations of ingredients, namely fat, sugar and salt. We are hard-wired to seek foods with these ingredients combined, and the public has been trained to respond. The result? Severe obesity and obesity-related health problems in the numbers we have never seen before.

This book does a wonderful job educating the reader in what they are doing subconsciously. It gives power to those who walk around inhaling food and thinking, "why the hell am I doing this?!" Once armed with the knowledge, it is amazing how you walk through the grocery store and see the companies practicing what the book preaches.

You begin to read labels in a new way and ask yourself questions like, "why would this product have so much sugar salt AND fat in it, it's just plain spaghetti sauce?!" If you are a chronic dieter, you stop looking at just fat grams and calories and start READING the whole label. The book is completely right about so many products; fat, salt and sugar are there in combinations to solely get you hooked to eat more of the product.

This book is informative and well written; the style is very easy to read and understand without feeling talked down to. If you ever wondered why we are in the state we are in as a nation of consumers, you will enjoy the education you will get from this book.


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Garmin nüvi 260 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

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Customer Reviews
By Writesoon
The Nuvi 260 is a Nuvi 250 with the addition of text-to-speech (speaks actual names). Other than the text-to-speech (TTS) feature, the units are identical in appearance and operation.

Why did I buy this?
1)Many GPS models have features not needed for navigating (such as an MP3 player or Bluetooth). The 260 only has what I really think is necessary in a portable GPS. It's sleek (fits comfortably in your pocket), easily transportable, has preloaded maps with a tremendous database, and a fast processor which calculates and recalculates routes in seconds. Eliminating unnecessary features reduces the cost, plus makes it easier to use.

2)The touchscreen interface in the Nuvi 260 is so intuitive, many people can skip the short instruction book altogether. Ten minutes of just "playing around with the unit" after taking it out of the box is all you will need to be navigating. That's the mark of a great design.

3)Unlike the flip-up antenna found in Garmin's 300 series, the 200 series has an internal antenna...a big plus. (One less thing to break.) In addition, the screen in the 200 series units is significantly brighter and sharper than Garmin's older 300 series.

4)Speaking street names is a tremendous asset. Units that don't have TTS only say "In 500 feet exit right". That forces you to glance at the screen to see what street/exit/etc you need to navigate to. A unit with TTS says " In 500 feet take exit 52, on right, to Route 80 West". You keep your eyes on the road with this feature. So besides the convenience, TTS is a safety feature that is worth the extra dollars.

What do I dislike about the Nuvi 260?
1)I am not a fan of the windshield suction mount. In many reviews people have said that the mount is not reliable in the long term. It randomly falls off (this happened to me a few times). On a hot day the suction cup can soften and is reluctant to come off at all, or it leaves a telltale ring on the windshield. That's not good. (As an aside, there has been a significant increase in the thefts of portable GPS devices from cars...even when the devices were not in plain view. Police have stated that thieves assumed there was a GPS unit hidden in the car if a residual ring from the suction cup was seen on the windshield.) Save yourself from the inevitable and buy the beanbag dash mount.
2) The information in the database and maps can be a few years old. This problem is seen in ALL brands of GPS units, not just Garmin. There are millions of points of interest and roads to keep track of. It changes by the day. By the time the final product makes it to market, some of it is already outdated. But, for over 99% of the time, it is correct and it finds what I looking for. Until the manufacturers figure out a way to update their databases and maps in real time, this is what we have.

Once you think about what the really important features are in a portable GPS unit, you will realize that the Garmin Nuvi 260 is a wise choice.


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Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive 3.5 Inch, 32 MB Cache, 7200 RPM SATA II WD10EADS

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Customer Reviews
By T. Anderbery "-Simplistik Software, Co." (Central Pa. USA)

WD engineering continues to impress me and I've been in the IT business for 20+ years as an engineer on all levels. When used in an Apple computer these drives impress with the hardware and OS ability to control the drive for increased performance. Some PC's are being built with this capability as well, but even without it the on-board processor performs fantastic. I would however not recommend this drive in a server due to it's variable spindle speed.

In an external enclosure SATA II through Firewire 800 sustained speeds matched a WD Black 1tb drive, basically maxing out the FW800 bandwidth. Through USB 2.0 they both performed identical as well but USB speeds are based on the external enclosures chip and since it's Serial (USB) it's ONE WAY at a time which makes it slow when compared to FW400/800.

Temps in an iMac were less than 109* at most times, rarely exceeding 110* which also resulted in lower fan noise.

Lower Heat, Less power generally equal longer life and higher reliability however these drives are still new. But as of this review our company has 2 in a NAS Enclosure running in RAID1 for the last 4 months non-stop without any issues.

The WD Black drives would be ideal when performance is what matters but in situations where energy consumption and more importantly heat is considered the ideal attribute these drives are best. The WD black is about 30% faster overall on either Mac/Pc.

Spindle speed varies from 4200rpm-7200rpm on newer models, first generation varied 5400rpm-7200rpm. Both are able to stop altogether through a spin down feature however this will never "spin-down" on a windows based machine due to the indexing Windows employs that access's the drive once every 3 seconds.


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The 8th Confession (Kindle Edition)

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Customer Reviews
By Reviewing for dummies "Toto"

This review is from: The 8th Confession (The Women's Murder Club) (Hardcover)
When a homeless man's death garners no attention, Lindsay Boxer's friend, Cindy Thomas, uses her influence as a journalist to convince San Francisco Police Department to investigate the case.

Lindsay and her partner Rich Conklin have already been assigned to investigate the deaths of Ethan and Isa Bailey, however, and can't pursue the case while on duty.

As mysterious deaths begin to mount, Lindsay and Rich, find less and less time to investigate the homeless man's case. Cindy, on the other hand, continues to probe the case and bring justice to the homeless man.

As in all Patterson books, sideplots are plentiful. The Assistant District Attorney is prosecuting Stacey Glenn for the death of her parents. A mobile meth lab disguised as a school bus explodes.

Patterson is a master at developing plots and intertwining stories. The action and intrigue never ends, and the story flows smoothly.


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Sunday, May 24, 2009

First Family (Kindle Edition)

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Customer Reviews
By Amy Y.(FREMONT, CA USA)

I couldn't put this down. You know those books where you want to skip pages or just read *faster* so you can find out what happens?!? This is one of those.

I haven't read much by Baldacci but I'm going to go back now and see if he has other books I can load up on. Great writing, especially the action scenes. I love that the two protagonists have a little intrigue of their own instead of being your typical heroes all-in-white.

The First Lady throws a Birthday Party for her favorite neice at Camp David. The party goes well and the First Lady heads home happily to the White House. Later that night, her neice goes missing, there is a murder and another unrelated woman is kidnapped. Sean and Michelle are PIs who arrive on the scene. Sean is linked to the First Lady and he and Michelle are both former Secret Service.

From there,not even knowing why the First Lady's sister had called for their help, they become entangled in this complicated mystery.

You'll have to read it- no spoilers here! A quick read because it is hard to put down but very well written! Love how it all comes together in the end! I literally couldn't sit still while I was reading First Family.

For me, it was totally worth the price even if it didn't have as big a discount as other books- actually, I'd probably pay more having read it now!!


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Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Merchant of Death (Kindle Edition)

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Customer Reviews
By "liaden"

At first sighting, this book looked distinctly, er, okay, boyish, from the apparently gruesome title and sinister looking cover. It took one of my friends saying "you HAVE to read this" to get me to buy it. Even then I suspected that "the Merchant of Death" was definitely not something I was going to buy into.

SUPRISE! I opened the cover and was shocked to discover that the first thing Bobby Pendragon (our protoganist) was doing was kissing a girl! The book was certainly more appealing now with a tad bit of romance and I started to enjoy the story.

Bobby Pendragon's Uncle Press shows up unexpectedly and sweeps him away to another "territory" called Denduron, through a doorway in a New York subway tunnel (no easy access here!) despite being chased by wild beasts called quigs. Bobby soon realizes that his notions of reality are way off.

Bobby is fated to help save the Milago people from their oppressors, the people of the neighboring Bedoowan. Reluctant and scared, Bobby wants to return to his perfect life at home, where he was considered smart, popular, a jock, and not to mention the love interest of the coolest girl in his grade. But no such luck; he must learn how to use his Traveler powers to help save this world...and all the others...from complete distruction...

I really enjoyed this novel. It is told in narrative form as Bobby writes scrolls back to his best friend Mark and sort-of girlfriend Courtney back on Second-Earth to tell them what is happening, and then switches to third-person once in a while to describe what Courtney and Mark are doing. It was fast-paced and Bobby's witty comments made me laugh.

Be warned, this novel also contains explicit language and the afore-mentioned making-out scenes. These parts are appropriate however, and I think that they added a sense of humanity to the read. I'd say do not let this stop you from reading the book!

So go grab the book at your local bookstore and spread the word: its not just for boys! 4 stars for lots of action, not a 5 because the plot was simplistic. I hope the sequel, the Lost City of Faar, is just as good! Happy Reading!


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Friday, May 22, 2009

Kiss of Midnight (Kindle Edition)

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Customer Reviews
By iheartjackbauer

After witnessing a murder and barely escaping with her life, Gabrielle Maxwell does what any good and sane citizen would do; she calls the police. Upon their arrival, they find nothing that indicates anything violent happened outside the nightclub. While Gabrielle insists that she's not lying, she can't help but think she might be insane like her birth mother. The only thing that gives her hope that she is perfectly sane is the pictures she took on her cell phone as she was running away from the group of men who so savagely murdered a man right in front of her. When "Detective" Lucan Thorne appears on her doorstep, she has no reason to doubt his authenticity.

Lucan Thorne is instantly attracted to Gabrielle and almost makes an irreversible mistake when he attempts to take her blood. Seeing the mark that shows Gabrielle is a Breedmate, Lucan knows that he can't take her blood, nor can he leave her to continue living the life she has. Only a handful of human women are marked as such and to take her blood would mean mating with her for life. The the leader of an elite group of warriors, the Breed only works to protect humans from vampires that have let Bloodlust overcome them and become Rogue. When it seems that the Rogues are somehow organizing their ranks and starting a war in the human world, Lucan is determined that Gabrielle won't end up in the middle of it.

I was skeptical when I first picked this book up. There are so many new paranormal/vampire authors popping up, but Lara Adrian somehow kept it fresh with her new "Midnight" series. Throwing in a whole new twist on where vampires come from and what they represent, KISS OF MIDNIGHT is a promising start to a new vampire series.


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Friday, May 15, 2009

Garmin nuvi 265WT 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Bluetooth & Integrated Traffic Receiver

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Customer Reviews
By John S. Dean "jdthird"

Spent a weekend reviewing various GPS devices to replace my less than 1 year old Mio C320 (avoid these like the plague) that had its battery die about 4 months after purchase. Went back and forth along the entire line of Garmin devices, and finally settled on this one for the blue tooth and traffic, neither of which I'll probably hardly ever use, but nice to have when I want them.

I was disappointed with the map, the "new" 2009 one, because I have some streets in my neighborhood that have been around for over four years and they're not to be found on this unit. Even the piece of junk cheap Mio had these streets.

But that's about the only downside there is to it, the only reason I haven't given it 5 stars.

Having been used to the MIO, and the horrible refresh rate, it is a pleasant change to see smooth scrolling as my vehicle moves. The ability to change the car icon is nice, especially with the plethora of icons available on the garmin website.

Accuracy is very good as well, and even in turns the unit isn't so laggy that it becomes annoying. And also unlike what I was used to with the MIO, when I come to a stop at the intersection, the map doesn't start rotating randomly on me.

Speaker is about as I expected, won't hear much over a loud stereo but crank it up enough you can at least hear it if you keep the music down a bit.

The option to easily download voices is also appreciated.

It did well with my testing of going point to point, following the instructions, and for the most part you're given the instructions in plenty of time. only once or twice did it not tell me "turn right on such and such" until I was about 20 feet from the street, but that was when I was coming up on stop signs and had slowed down, so it may be compensating for the speed factor.

Recalculation notice is a bit annoying, my MIO would say it once, sometimes this says it three times before it starts to display the alternate route.

Still has about 900MB free on the internal memory for additional voices, icons, maps, and such, and with the SD slot there's plenty of room to grow.

I have a Verizon XV6900 phone with Windows Mobile 6.1, and while the bluetooth paired well and it can see the phone status, battery power, signal, even dialed and missed call lists, it never does get the phonebook. it gets a random entry and that's it - so whenever I turn it on, I have just one user to select from, and it's different each time. Still haven't tracked that one down yet. But every other bluetooth option worked just fine.

I'm not a fan of the very thick double power cable for it though, and it would be doubly annoying (no pun intended) if I were mounting this somewhere higher up on the window to have that double cable dangling down.

I can see how the ads would get annoying sometimes (the free traffic is because it is advertising driven) but you don't get them at all if you turn off the traffic feature, and since most of my driving isn't around times that traffic is a concern, i can just leave it for when I really have a use for it.

Good response to finger input, and while the unit is overall much better quality than the MIO, I really do miss the MIO's ability to have an info pane down the last third of the screen and the map on the first two thirds of it when desired. But there's some of that info available in the data bubbles on the bottom and top so I'll survive.

Overall happy with the unit, it works well and was worth the cost.


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Apple iPod nano 8 GB Black (4th Generation)

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Customer Reviews
By antibambi

this is my 6th portable digital music device so far, and i tried to avoid ipods because they always got bad reviews for malfunctioning and lacking features. this on is a different story. not only is this ipod the thinnest ipod ever made (you can stop here, apple, any further and it will vanish), its made smart, and so far its a very good buy for me. unlike everyone thinks cover flow cant be turned off, it can. instantly after i connected my ipod to itunes a new firmware update popped up, and one of the updates was an option to turn off cover flow, among other things.

+ pros
-incredibly thin. i cant even tell its in my pocket
-aluminum casing and glass screen offer excellent scratch resistence
-very light
-very competitive pricing - 16 gb for what the nano offers is the most affordble nano ever. the apple reputation has never been so attainable.
- accelerometer - this adds a few fun touches to operate without pressing buttons, is very useful for rotation on the screen when viewing pictures or watching videos. games are now actually very interesting
- screen clarity
-simplicity of use
-lots of colours to choose from

- cons
ITUNES - as usual itunes is very frustrating and needs redesigned. itunes 8 is dependent on quicktime! any quirks at all with it and your back to reinstallation. expect to encounter problems
- battery life - below average for me so far, no big deal though. just dont mess around with the thing so much
-everything is automated - when i put the headphones in the jack, or disactivate the hold button, it shouldn't automatically turn on.
-Apple is NOT doing the 3rd party crap. all apple accessories for ipods here on out must be apple brand or apple certified. depressing...

er, then i suppose theres a "both" category
-genius- theres something i havent noticed people mention, or if they do, its complaints. Genius is an absolutely worthless feature when used on the ipod. It works with only about 25% of PURCHASES. And it doesn't make a very satisfying playlist even when it does work. But honestly who should expect that? When you use genius on, itunes, yeah it still sucks at making playlists, and it is frustrating, but it's an excellent tool for finding new music, because it reccomends a huge list of new songs and different artists that usually appeal to your taste.

overall a big improvement compared to other ipods ive seen. the pricing and compactness, features and ease of use stand out. (get the 16 gb if you really want movies, or go for the classic or touch) i give it


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Garmin nüvi 360 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Text-To-Speech

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Customer Reviews
By Earl E. A. Dopter

Previous to this, I had the Nuvi 350, which is also an excellent device. Since the function is identical in nearly every regard to the 350, there is little point in covering the basics in much depth, but it's worth re-stating some of them. I will go into great detail on the Bluetooth functionality below.

This is such a handy device, and is so well executed, that you would be hard-pressed not to love it. The first thing I noticed about the Nuvi was its incredibly small size and weight. I could not believe how light it was. I literally expected it to have at least twice the heft when I went to pick it up the first time - it was like picking up a deck of cards, but lighter.

The antenna is a flap that is raised from the back, maybe about the size of a matchbook. When raised the Nuvi immediately starts locking in on satellites, when lowered, the unit knows you are through navigating for a while. Intuitive and effective.

Navigation on the Nuvi is very good, fast, and intuitive. It's no different from many of Garmin's other offerings in that regard. Some buildings and businesses that you would expect to be shown as POIs are not there, but most are. One thing I would suggest: when a route is less than ideal, Garmin should allow you to correct it permanently so that it does not re-suggest the non-preferred route each time.

I had a problem with my old Nuvi 350 that I have not observed on the new 360. Sometimes the 350 would not lock onto the satellite signal. Once it went into this mode of searching for, but not locking in, for over a minute it just never found anything. The only way I found to correct this was to push the small reset button under the antenna. I notice that another reviewer found that his new 360 had the same problem. This must be a bug in some Nuvi units that would be worth following up with Garmin on. I can tell you that my 360 NEVER has required a reboot, and I've been using it continuously.

I did not test the MP3 functionality beyond verifying that it plays back the songs that are pre-loaded for demo purposes. I didn't care about this feature; I'm very happy with my iPod for song management and playback. I can verify that you would not want to use the Nuvi's internal speaker for song playback, though. It's good enough to use as a speakerphone and for voice prompts, but it's not a hi-fi.

Now, for the fun part: Bluetooth functionality. I have been using it with my BlackBerry 8700c with excellent results so far. I had no problems with the initial discovery and mating process. The interface is robust. What happens is that once your phone has made the connection with the 360, a phone icon appears on the Nuvi. You can now use the 360 to call ANY POI directly from the screen! This is truly amazing; you are now walking around with the yellow pages in the palm of your hand, sortable by your current location, or any other location you choose. I just find the Point of Interest, and touch the phone number of that POI, and the phone starts dialing it. The sound comes out through the speaker of the Nuvi, and conversations have been natural so far. It's working like an absolute charm, and this single feature moves the device beyond anything else available right now.

When you select the phone icon from the main screen, several phone-related icons appear. From the phone screen, you can make a call manually, access your address book, call a POI, etceteras. The manual dial function works fine from the touchscreen. The really cool news: Nuvi automatically downloads your phone's address book to its database when it makes the initial Bluetooth link. So, if your phone supports this functionality, you can use it for all dialing functions, since the display is so much nicer than most phones, and the touchscreen works really well. You can always break the BT connection once you get the number dialed if you want a private, non-speakerphoned conversation. I have done that many times already. Once your call ends, the connection to the Nuvi is reestablished automatically. One word of warning: BlackBerry does not support sending its addresses to the Nuvi, so I was unable to test the download feature, but this does not surprise me given BlackBerry's security obsession. I am confident that it would work fine with other supported phones.

Overall, the device is a joy to operate. The battery life is good, although I would not call it excellent. The menus are very intuitive. The accuracy is very high. Even the windshield mount earns my praise. I did a lot of research on the Nuvi, comparing it in excruciating detail to the latest Tom Tom 910, the Magellan Roadmate 800, etceteras. The 350 was a great unit, the 360's Bluetooth functionality makes it even better, and worth the extra money for me.

UPDATE (7/28/06): I just returned from a 4 day trip to Banff, Canada during which I logged another 20 hours of driving. The unit continues to perform perfectly, including comprehensive POIs in the Banff/Lake Louise area. I also discovered an amazing feature I had not noticed before. I was unfamiliar with the Lake Louise area and had three hungry kids in the car. I pressed Where To, then Restaurants, and the list appeared, in order of proximity to my moving vehicle. Each listing showed the distance to that restaurant, with a little arrow next to it showing the exact direction to that restaurant. I just left it on this page and drove around, following the arrows, which moved as I did, until I found a restaurant that looked good. What an amazing device. I also have nothing but praise for the window mount. Seems like a small thing, but it's so solid and well-designed I had to make special mention of it. It has a lever to easily create a large suction force, the ball joints are very solid, and the method of attachment to the Nuvi is just extremely well designed.

Update (9/2/06): I have now owned the Nuvi 360 for about two months. It continues to exceed my expectations in terms of reliability and accuracy. So many nice touches that you don't notice right away but that are executed so well. The auto brightness level, for example, is perfect. The night mode changes the color scheme and the background goes black, highlighting the roads well and keeping the light emissions at a pleasant level, where the day mode would have been too bright. Everyone I demo it for wants one. My next step: buy stock in Garmin?

Update (9/14/07): The unit continues to operate flawlessly. I have now bought this machine for several employees of my company, each of whom love it. I also followed through on my impulse to buy Garmin stock, which has more than doubled since then! I now also own a Nuvi 660; it's fantastic. However, with the wider screen it's a bit bulkier to carry around, so my wife and I trade them back and forth depending on what we are doing. I still say that the 360 is the best bang for the buck if you want the Bluetooth functionality, and the 350, which is now selling for only $370, is every ounce as good if you don't care about the Bluetooth.

One other point - I now drive a BMW 545i with integrated GPS. I bought the car used but I know that the option costs a bundle. I never use it because the Nuvi is so much more user friendly and fast. So for anyone out there who is trying to decide if they should spring for a very expensive integrated GPS system in their new car, here's one vote to save yourself the money and get the Nuvi. It's easier to use and you get to carry it around with you to boot!


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Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Blue)

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Customer Reviews
By Garrett Lowenthal

If you need a solid, reliable, and stylish point-and-shoot ultracompact digital camera that produces high-quality images, then the new Canon PowerShot SD1100IS may be right for you.

I am an advanced amateur photographer and own 2 Canon digital cameras (G2 and 20D). Both have served me well over the years but recently I have found myself needing a decent ultracompact camera that I can easily carry with me at all times for unexpected photo-ops.

Other current Canon models that I also researched before my purchase of the "bohemian brown" SD1100IS included the SD950IS and the SD1000.

Here is my take on the SD1100IS:

Strengths:
- 8MP CCD sensor with DigicIII processor (excellent resolution images with good dynamic range)
- Solid construction (most of body made of anodized aluminum)
- Feels sturdy and well-balanced in the hands
- Easy to use (logical user-interface) with minimal need to consult owner's manual for basic operation
- Multiple shooting modes to fit variety of situations (action/sports mode is a glaring omission but read section below to see possibly why)
- Advanced metering system with accurately exposed pics in even "tricky" situations (great balance of highlights and shadows)
- Tack-sharp images (much more so with sufficient lighting and use of built-in flash)
- Macro mode can result in stunning close-ups with outstanding level of detail
- Optical IS feature helpful when shooting in either low-light conditions with flash off or at telephoto lengths
- Fast start-up with acceptable shutter-lag (when not using flash)
- Bright 2.5" LCD monitor (100% coverage, 230k pixels) made of polycrystalline silicon; fairly scratch-resistant (can't vouch if this applies to keys and coins)
- Optical viewfinder (though only a tiny peephole, it is essential when LCD glare and washout become an issue shooting in bright sunlight or when LCD cannot be used as battery power is nearly depleted)
- Camera made in Japan (at least those from the 1st shipment; this easily may be subject to change)

Limitations:
- Lack of manual control over aperture, shutter speed, and focusing (for the obssessive control-freaks)
- Noise is noticeable beginning at ISO 400 (ISO 800 still useable but probably for only 4x6 images; ISO 1600 mostly unuseable)
- Fastest shutter speed is 1/1500 sec (not fast enough to stop action for some sporting activities)
- Auto-focus speed inadequate to follow fast-moving subjects
- Shutter-lag accentuated with flash on (precious Canon moments lost while waiting for flash to recharge)
- Cannot adjust focus or optical zoom while shooting in movie mode (focus is fixed for distance selected at first frame, and digital zoom is permitted instead, resulting in significant image quality deterioration)
- Battery/memory card cover and hinge made of plastic (no safety latch that needs to be de-activated first before sliding cover out, in order to prevent accidental opening)
- Minor vignetting and chromatic aberration (albeit, difficult not to expect from compact p&s)
- Pincushion and barrel distortion at the extremes of the focal lengths
- No RAW shooting mode

Battery power in camera mode with LCD monitor on is mostly as advertised, allowing for approximately 240 images. If your budget permits, I recommend investing in a few spare batteries as backups and replacing the supplied 32MB memory card with a pair of 4GB SDHC memory cards--vital purchases if you plan to use the movie mode frequently.

Overall Impression:
Even with some serious limitations inherent to virtually all digital cameras in this class, I am recommending the Canon PowerShot SD1100IS. It does what it's supposed to do. This camera allows one to take beautiful photographs in an ultracompact, reliable, and elegant device that is both easy and fun to use.


[UPDATE: Since this review, Canon has recently announced 3 new ELPH models that will be released soon....in time for Grad & Dad's Day: the PowerShot SD770IS, SD790IS, and SD890IS. All are redesigned 10MP digital cameras with Optical Image Stabilizer. The saga of the MP race continues. If the same sensor is found in these units as their predecessors and without improving the noise reduction technology, then adding a few more MP can potentially result in noisier images. We'll have to wait and see. The most intriguing of the bunch appears to be the SD790IS, which replaces the SD750 by adding the very useful Optical IS feature and showcasing flat control buttons. Hopefully, the QC has been remedied on this unit as many consumers experienced the dreaded "lens error" nightmare. The SD890IS replaces the SD850IS and may appeal to vacationers and wildlifers needing more reach at the telephoto end. The SD770IS seems a bit curious as it may be in direct competition with the new SD1100IS (which is the natural successor to the wildly popular SD1000); it has 2 additional MP but the feature set appears at first glance to be nearly identical to the less expensive SD1100IS. I would've preferred to have seen upgrades to the SD870IS and the SD950IS, but those will be rolled out undoubtedly later this year....conveniently before the Holidays.


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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Kindle DX: Amazon's 9.7" Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)

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Customer Reviews

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Carry Your Library: Holds up to 3,500 books, periodicals, and documents

Beautiful Large Display: 9.7" diagonal e-ink screen reads like real paper; boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and sharp images

Auto-Rotating Screen: Display auto-rotates from portrait to landscape as you turn the device so you can view full-width maps, graphs, tables, and Web pages

Built-In PDF Reader: Native PDF support allows you to carry and read all of your personal and professional documents on the go

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle DX, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, no annual contracts, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

Books In Under 60 Seconds: You get free wireless delivery of books in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Long Battery Life: Read for days without recharging

Read-to-Me: With the text-to-speech feature, Kindle DX can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book's rights holder made the feature unavailable

Big Selection, Low Prices: Over 275,000 books; New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are only $9.99, unless marked otherwise

More Than Books: U.S. and international newspapers including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, magazines including The New Yorker and Time, plus popular blogs, all auto-delivered wirelessly


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The Forex Trading Course: A Self-Study Guide To Becoming a Successful Currency Trader (Wiley Trading)

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Customer Reviews
By Silkroad (Austin, TX United States)

For those of you, like me, who actually want to learn to trade forex and don't know where to start, this is the book to buy. I reviewed lots of others, was disappointed that they either spent most of the book shilling a particular book/system/company, or else they gave a high-level overview of everything in the forex universe, but not much in the way of how-to's. This book's different. The first part explains how/which economic factors affect currency markets; the next section tells you about technical analysis and which/why/how to use it, and also talks a little about strategies. The third part is called "Putting It Together" -- here's where this book really stands out: he explains how to get started, how to do test trades, how to gauge your results, putting on different kinds of trades so that you can compare which worked better, etc. etc. Included is a spreadsheet following one trader's journey from inept beginner to knowledgeable forex trader. He talks about how to trade different size accounts. He talks about determining your trading style and best strategies to use whichever style you select. Note that each subject area is explained with enough detail that you can get started, right now, as you read. But if you want more information (as do I), he tells you where to look. This book is just great. I highly recommend it.


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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Wii Fit

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Customer Reviews
By Sophocles Sophocleous

I own the Wii Fit since last week. I'm 32, 1.76m, ~82-84kg (fluctuates) and with my wedding coming up in a few months I wanted to lose some weight. I work all day and have little time in the evenings so the preparation and driving to and from the gym was too much. I wanted to use that 30-40 min to exercise, not prepare for exercise. I own a Wii since Xmas and decided to try this out after reading various reviews on the internet. Is this as good as going to the gym? No it does not replicate a gym. Will it get the job done? Will it keep you fit and help you lose weight? YES YES YES! I love it and highly recommend it. I get a great work out in 45 min. I feel great about myself, and have already lost a kilo. (note I have not changed my diet). Notice I get my work out in as much time as it takes to commute and prepare for gym. I also have more fun than going to the gym on my own. Perhaps going to a gym with a friend would be more fun. Depends. Anyway I love the Wii Fit! Note it takes a few times to get used to it and figure out how best to use it. Why? Well there is no prepared program for you. You have to decide on your own what you want to do and in what sequence. I start off by doing the aerobics (jogging, holla hoop) and then vary. Basically, the Wii Fit breaks its exercises into Muscle, Balance, Aerobics, and Yoga. I mainly doing the Aerobics and mix in some muscle and yoga. The muscle and yoga can be really tough. You wouldn't believe how much. You can really feel the muscles working. I do the balance exercises when I'm tired and want to relax a bit in between exercises. They may help with balance but are more of a game than anything else. The more you exercise, new exercises open up. In other words, you start of with a limited about of stuff to do and slowly you get more and more. Don't listen to the few negative reviews you may read on the internet. They were probably biased against the product before even trying it. This product costs a little more than going to the gym for a month (at least in my country). By the time I unlock all the exercises, I will have exercised more than a 1-month gym subscription, burnt more calories, and will have a fun game left too! Compared to nothing after a month at a gym. I highly recommend this. As I explained, you are getting more than your money's worth, having fun, and getting fit.


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SanDisk Cruzer Micro 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive

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Customer Reviews
By Gary A. Creighton "Gary A. Creighton"

Let me make a true review of this PRODUCT. I'm sorry to hear that people were disappointed that they didn't get the drive for a penny. I'm also sorry to hear that a reputable company is getting flak for a problem that wasn't caused by them.

And, a reminder, you can get this drive for only $7.00 by signing up for the Amazon Credit Card. Amazon credits back $30 for having signed up for their card. Not quite a penny, but...

First, I already have a SanDisk Cruzer 4GB unit. The thing I initially disliked about the Cruzer U3 is the fact that they come with built-in software which is supposed to allow you to boot the drive from the USB drive and run specialty applications from it (Called the U3 Launchpad).

If you didn't understand that when you bought the drive, and you weren't aware that you could remove that software, you might hate the drive.

If you do use U3, you will have to pay for most applications. But, if you want to ensure that some presentation you made in PowerPoint will be able to be viewed at your next interview... you get a U3 PowerPoint viewer and boot from your USB drive on their computer (without PowerPoint) and VOILA (hopefully).

However, some say that that booting proceedure is certainly less than reliable (this may have changed since I bought my 4GB version; so don't take that as gold-standard knowledge).

However, if you take the extra initiative to go to their website and download some software, the software will REMOVE that self-booting application junk and you will end up with a full-sized 16 GB USB drive that mounts on just about any XP system and above without any special drivers needing to be loaded.

http://communities.sandisk.com/sandisk/board/message?board.id=u3&thread.id=730

WARNING! If you copy stuff to the drive, then remove the U3 Launchpad, you will lose the stuff you copied to the drive. Back up whatever is on the USB drive before you remove the U3 Launchpad.

I mount my 4GB USB Drive on 5-year-old XP Professional computers at work which have been frozen with a program called 'DeepFreeze' (meaning that, each time they boot, will always revert back to their original condition).

Even though they're like that, the drive has never not mounted properly on any of the 13 different computers in the Tech Room even though they were frozen BEFORE I tried using this drive.

I've never had the drive do anything strange (like not mount properly) and it has always transferred files incredibly fast.

So, for those who want to be able to boot mini-applications like PowerPoint, if you have the money to purchase the applications, then this might be the drive for you.

Second... Once you have removed the auto-boot U3 Launchpad software (which is very easy to do), you'll also love this drive.

If you found that you, later, want the U3 Launchpad feature, download the U3 Launchpad Installer:

http://www.sandisk.com/driverdownload/drlogin.asp?driverId=163

Click on 'Don't Register' (or register) and download the 1.19MB installer (as of 12/10/08).


....

Also, there might be an added feature for those who might want it:

I have not yet tried doing it, but some out there are successfully made this USB drive boot from XP. Your computer needs to have a BIOS setting such as 'Boot From USB' that you would choose before you booted the computer; but if it did, and you installed the Operating system properly on the drive, it could boot from the USB drive.

http://communities.sandisk.com/sandisk/board/message?board.id=u3&thread.id=2114

http://www.google.com/search?q=bootable+usb+flash+drive&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US


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Kingston DataTraveler 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive DT100/8GB

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Customer Reviews
By Mark "Technology, Music and Movies"

This Kingston DT100/8GB Data Traveler 100 8 GB Drive attempts to achieve some of the features of the Sandisk Cruzer and comes pretty close. The several Kingston usb drives I own, such as the Kingston 8GB DataTraveler USB flash drive have done well for me so far. 8 GB capacity is very useful for large file backups or USB storage and transfer. Overall this is a good product. There are a few caveats though.

This is definitely an improvement over the standard design Kingston uses for the basic Data Traveler. Transfer speeds are better than the basic drive as well, but slower than the top end devices.

In order to enable encryption, there are a few ways but the best may be to use another tool to encrypt the drive after re-formatting it. This way you can test the drive as well as use the encryption you prefer.

The main real competition is from the SanDisk 8 GB Cruzer Micro which also has a retractable USB connector. The body is slightly smaller too, but it is more expensive though. In fact Kingston does compete well on price, which is probably the biggest draw to this drive.

Pros:
+ Kingston brand is perhaps under-rated, almost as good as Sandisk
+ Retractable USB head is convenient - No caps!!!
+ Nice capacity of 8 GB has you future proofed as smaller USB drives start to disappear
+ Durable body and NAND memory stands up to a lot of abuse
+ Compatible with old and new Mac and PC Operating Systems (XP, Vista, OS X)
+ Very light case
+ Rear bar to connect a lanyard or keychain
+ USB 2.0 connection is backwards compatible for older computers
+ Very quickly mounts and stops
+ Less scum-ware and needless apps than some other drives
+ Easy to format and enable encryption to protect your data
+ Enhanced performance is slightly better than the basic USB drive product

Cons:
- Lanyard or extender accessories not included
- Doesn't have the good looks of some drives like the Sandisk Cruzer Micro
- Still somewhat slow speed in copying large files, limited by USB transfer rate
- Drive is still larger than it has to be

Conclusion

If you must have the retractable head, give this Kingston a try. If you need the smallest drive available, go with the Sandisk Cruzer Micro.

Enjoy!


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Outliers: The Story of Success

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Customer Reviews
By Preston Barrett

In this wide-ranging third installment of Malcolm Gladwell's exploration of how people and social phenomena work, the New Yorker journalist takes a close look at what constitutes high levels of success. That is, what makes people at the top of their respective fields get there? As we've come to expect from Gladwell's previous books, the answer to the question is a bit complicated.

He says that upbringing, culture and even random luck have something to with success, but there is another important quality that anyone can control. Two chapters are dedicated to the "revelation" that IQ is only a baseline quality and success has little to nothing to do with having a high IQ or a low IQ. Rather, success is substantially a product of cultivating a high degree of what Robert Sternberg calls "practical intelligence" or what most refer to as "emotional intelligence."

Gladwell uses the example of Nobel laureates coming from unknown schools as often as ivy league schools. At this level of mastery IQ is no longer a factor. Success has little to do with where you were educated and everything to do with your level of practical/emotional intelligence and willingness to put in the 10,000 hours of practice required to reach mastery of your field.

All in all, it's an interesting read that isn't too heady and goes by pretty quickly, as the interesting anecdotes are what you would expect from Gladwell.

Another book on the topic that I strongly recommend because it has been really helpful to me in actually applying what Gladwell teaches in my own life (for my own success!) is The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book.


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The Shack

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Customer Reviews
By Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States)
In the book world, it's hard to explain "the buzz." What causes word of mouth to start spreading? What turns an unknown author and novel into a surprise bestseller? Even more inexplicable for the book snobs is when a story fails to meet their literary standards and yet touches the masses in an undeniable way.

"The Shack" is the buzz book of the past few months. I hadn't even heard of it in November, but by the end of December I'd had relatives, friends, and online pals from across the country telling me I "had" to read this one. I've been burned by such recommendations in the past, particularly in relation to spiritually oriented titles. (Can anyone say "The Prayer of Jabez" and "Left Behind"?), but I was willing to give it a shot.

William P. Young's book has an intriguing premise. Years ago, a father name MacKenzie Phillips took his children camping and lost one of them to a man who has kidnapped and killed others. Mack has grieved since then. His marriage has struggled. Understandably, his relationship with God has suffered. Then, one wintry day, he receives a note in his mailbox inviting him back to the woods, to the shack in which his daughter's dress and bloodstains were found. The note, it would seem, is from God.

From this simple yet effective premise, Young leads Mack Phillips back to his point of despair and anger. The encounters he then has with God there in "The Shack" serve as thought-provoking moments for both Mack and the reader. This is not the God of stodgy Sunday school classes. This is not a flannel-graph Jesus. This is not limited to a fluttering dove of the Holy Spirit. The descriptions here are startling, while remaining true to the nature of God's love and grace as portrayed through Scripture. Not only are they startling, they're wise and moving and beautiful.

Some might argue that "The Shack" has little theology or accuracy to it, but the very argument is what Young is trying to melt away. I earned a Bachelor's from a Bible college, and the majority of Mack's godly encounters could be wrapped up in biblical theology: redemption, grace, forgiveness, propitiation, etc. Do I agree with every line of the book? Not necessarily. Yet, while never sounding like trite religion (because they're not and never should be!), the words spoken by God in this book are full of vibrancy and life.

Is it the best crafted novel ever? No. In many ways, it could be encapsulated in a non-fiction treatise. However, in sharing this remarkable tale in a fictional form, Young has breathed wonder and wisdom into a story that will continue to buzz around for years to come.


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Cook Yourself Thin: Skinny Meals You Can Make in Minutes (Paperback)

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Customer Reviews
By Shoyu

Lifetime Television presents another hit show in the form of a wildly popular book that bears the same name. The premise of the British show was teaching you how to replace your favorite foods with healthy alternatives. By switching ingredients you'll be able to cut the calories while retaining the flavor...and you just might find the healthy version a bit more scrumdiddlyumptious. The book includes all the recipes featured on the show. These include, among others: Meals, appetizers, snacks, and deserts.

Love chocolate brownies but fear the calories? Try the winter chocolate brownies recipe: Using pumpkin, organic dark cooking chocolate, cinnamon, almonds, and honey...you get that mouth-watering taste without all those grams of fat. Use healthy alternatives...get it?

The book also features a calorie guide: this will show you which foods to avoid...and which foods to replace them with. It has a "how to" guide...this gives you practical cooking tips. There is also a food personality quiz...this will help you with goals and results. By following the guide you really can cook yourself thin. Follow the simple instructions and learn how to remove those high calorie ingredients from your favorite foods, and replace them with tasty healthy alternatives. The recipes have a step-by-step guide that shows you the differences in the foods you are substituting. Simply put...the book advises you on the ingredients, tools and tips necessary to make healthy changes to your life.


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Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card with Card Reader TS16GSDHC6-S5W

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Customer Reviews
By Anonymous "Anonymous" (United States)

Fast and stable. You may have to download KB934428 HotFix from Microsoft to make it work in your integrated card reader.

( I can't provide the web link to the HotFix because Amazon filters web links, you can search for KB934428 at Google and get a direct link for download / you'll have to validate your copy of Windows before download)

We don't use this card in a camera, we use it to back up or XP system partitions when using Ghost or Acronis and our throughputs have improved tremendously compared to imaging the %systemdrive% to even another internal SATA drive.

The included adapter is a bonus and it has an orange status light to display read activity.

Five Stars !


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Monday, May 4, 2009

Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 (Black)

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Customer Reviews
By Robert L. Stinnett

The Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 is one of the better webcams I have had the opportunity to use over the years. Its stylish design fits easily on top of my LCD screen, while its functionality and features continue to impress. However, Vista functionality can be an adventure at a few times.

First, let's talk about the good -- picture quality. Let me put it to you think way: This webcam works better than my high priced Sony Camcorder at picking up video in low-light settings. I was simply amazed the first time I used it in a room with compact flourescents in the middle of the night and had such remarkable clarity and picture quality. Logitech credits this ability with something they call RightLight technology (in the video review I get it backwards -- sorry Logitech!). Whatever you want to call it, it's one of the features that definitely makes this webcam stand above the rest.

Next, the optics themselves are impressive. The 9000 utilized Carl Zeiss optics and you can tell the difference between this webcam and others. If you want to find out what makes Carl Zeiss optics so good, I encourage you to do a quick internet search or visit Wikipedia to look it up. It's hard to describe in text how this optics setup helps -- this is definitely something you have to see to believe.

Overall, I found it worked well with all the major instant messaging applications -- AOL, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo. It also worked very well as a stand-alone camera taking incredible video and decent still shots -- but remember, if you want to take a lot of still shots the quality you get from a product like this is fair at best compared to what you will get with a decent digital camera.

Now, let's talk about a few things that weren't so good about this webcam. The biggest struggle I had was with Windows Vista. Even though the box proclaims it is certified for Vista, I had numerous driver issues. The Logitech 9000 worked in Vista just fine, but for some reason at random intervals it wanted to re-install its drivers. One thing you should know if you purchase this camera is that when installing it you will want to make sure you have the installation program check for updates. I found there were two driver updates for the camera during install. However, even with these updates I continue to have that random re-installation issue.

The "helper application" that comes with the 9000 lets you do a lot of things -- such as configure the webcam, add effects, etc. Although I had no problem configuring it I never got the effects to work. However, this wasn't a big deal for me as I have no use for the special effects.

Overall, if you are looking for a quality webcam that can produce terrific results I highly recommend the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000. Just be aware of potential Vista issues (which hopefully Logitech will solve). Other than that it's so easy to use even beginners to computers will be able to get it up and running in no time. A quality webcam at a good price considering all of its features.


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Nokia BH-503 Wireless Stereo Headset

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Customer Reviews
By N. Jenkins

I feel like the quest for a decent pair of bluetooth stereo headsets is about like the search for the Holy Grail. Most of them don't sound very good or talk quality is terrible or the battery doesn't last or they are very uncomfortable.

I'm happy to say that these were definitely worth the money and a big step up from anything else I have used.

Comfort -- I was concerned about the "secureness" of the fit and the comfort since I had tried a couple of the "back of the neck" styles before and they really didn't work for my head. These are a smidge too big but overall, they are very usable while I'm driving etc. You would not want to work out wearing these, though -- they would bounce right off and if they did stay on, the sweat would probably destroy them.

Incoming Sound quality -- Very good. I'm using this with a Nokia N96 and they get LOUD if you aren't careful. If you are on a call, the extra volume really comes in handy if you are in the car with wind and road noise.

Outgoing sound quality -- I'm taking this on "heresay" since I have not actually listened to anyone talk through these BUT the calls I've made -- no one has complained about the way I sound. When I have used a BT headset in the past, I would often get complaints that there is an echo or I sound like I'm in a wind tunnel. Today I used these on a conference call for work and nobody new (and they are a pretty vocal bunch if there is any extraneous noise -- they'll tell you to mute yourself!)

Battery life -- About average. You'll probably need to charge them every night but they should get you through the day.

Ease of use button control placement: The great thing about these headphones is that the buttons are big. Once you have the lay out memorized, it is hard to make a mistake. Of course, you can also use the controls on the phone if that is handy but you don't have to have the phone in hand to adjust.

Construction: Very solid construction -- some might find them a bit too heavy. However, the documentation is very specific on a list of no-nos for what not to do with these headphones (mostly having to do with protecting them from extreme weather elements or extreme movement). They do provide a nice little draw string bag to store them in which is a nice touch. I probably wouldn't throw them in your backpack to be crushed by a bunch of text books. However, I don't think you are going to have to baby them too much, either.

Overall, these are the best bluetooth headphones I've tried and I've tried them all!


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Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007

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Customer Reviews
By pm444 "pm444" (MI, USA)

While Office 2003 offered a refreshed look and some improvements in functionality, the basic structure remained the same. While veteran users were able to easily navigate the familiar menus, it had become increasingly difficult to locate some features (for instance, in Word, would you find "insert new rows" to a table in the "insert" or "table" menu?).

With Office 2007, Microsoft offers the "ribbon", a new and more intuitive way to access features that we used to find in the menus. While the features are basically the same, they are now grouped together according to when and how you would normally use them. These groupings are accessed by clicking on tabs, which are organized in the order you'd use them. The best way to get a better understanding of this change is to check out the screenshots, or download a free trial version of Office from Microsoft. While Office 2007 was released at the same time as Vista, you do not need Vista in order to run it. The program ran fine on my Windows XP laptop, which only had 512 MB of RAM, and it runs even better on my Vista laptop with 2 GB of RAM.

As for which version of Office to buy, this is the third time I've opted for the Home and Student version (which has had other names in previous releases, but is still being sold for $149). I need Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and this is the most cost-effective way to get those programs. I was disappointed that Microsoft dropped Outlook from the Home and Student version. In order to continue to use Outlook, I installed Outlook 2003 and haven't had any problems.

Instead of Outlook, you get OneNote, a program that uses notebooks and tabs to save and organize all sorts of files and documents. I haven't had much time to play with OneNote yet, but the more I use it, the more impressed I am with it. It looks like one of those programs that you can personalize to meet your own needs and not have to fight with it to get it to do what you want.

This is a significant upgrade and should allow all users, new and experienced, to work more efficiently and quickly.


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The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World (Paperback)

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Customer Reviews
By S. Peek

This is an incredible book that should be read by all Americans.

I first read this book back in the mid 1980s shortly after it was first published. It had such a profound effect on me that I can still recall where I was when I was reading it. That is rather amazing as I have I have probably read about 1600 books since then.

I was excited to see that it had recently been republished as my original copy is pretty ragged. It was great to reread it and brush up on the great ideas contained in it.

The premise of the book is that because of the free market system that took root after our Constitution was enacted, the United States literally made a 5000 year leap of progress in the time since then. The author, W. Cleon Skousen, discussed the changes from the time of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the early 1980s when the book was written. In discussing Jamestown, he said: "The most striking thing about the settlers of Jamestown was their startling similarity to the ancient pioneers who built settlements in other parts of the world 5,000 years earlier. The whole panorama of Jamestown demonstrated how shockingly little progress had been made by man during all of those fifty centuries."

He went on to say, "The settlers of Jamestown had come in a boat no larger and no more commodious than those of the ancient sea kings. Their tools still consisted of shovel, axe, hoe, and a stick plow which were only slightly improved over those of China, Egypt, Persia, and Greece. They harvested their grain and hay-grass with the same primitive scythes ..."

He then discussed the Constitution that was developed by the Founders. It took 180 years for them to put it all together from the beginning of Jamestown in 1607 to the enactment of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. He goes through the inspirations and sources for their thoughts in explaining how the U.S. Constitutional system came about.

Dr. Skousen contrasted the situation described in Jamestown above to the present day. He talks about the phenomenol results produced by the free enterprise system. Some of the incredible inventions and changes that he cites are as follows: the internal combustion engine, jet propulsion, exotic space travel, 'all the wonders of nuclear energy', massive changes in communications, the doubling of the life expectancy, central heating/air conditioning, surgical miracles, cures for numerous diseases, etc. Needless to say, the list could go on and on.

In showing how our system was designed, Skousen goes through 28 principles that the Founders developed from their study of sources such as Cicero, Locke, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, and others. Skousen has done what most people don't have the time or inclination to do: Study the original source materials and bring it all together.

Obviously, it would be great if every American studied the sources listed above as well as The Federalist Papers, the writings of Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, and others. Since that is unlikely, this is a great way to gain a good general understanding of the roots of our nation.

One great thing about this book is that the author discusses some of the problems that we have faced in recent years due to failing to follow the Constitution and the principles of the Founders. Some of these are issues like the mounting national debt, excessive taxation, and judicial activism.

Dr. Skousen also does a great job of explaining the political spectrum and the absurdities of the left-right labeling so often used in discourse today. He explains in an easy-to-understand manner that the far left and far right as the terms are used today are really the same thing, ruler's law, and are totally out of step with the way the system was intended.

One could easily go on about this book for a long time, but I will spare the reader that. Suffice it to say, this is an amazing book that should be read by all.

I would also highly recommend, "The Making Of America" The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution by the same author. Anyone who reads those two books will know more about the way our system was designed and supposed to work than 99% of all Americans including 'constitutional lawyers'. Buy this book.


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