Guy Low Price Electronic: 5 Jul 2009

Sunday, 5 July 2009

Paranormal Anthology - nalini singh, ilona andrews

[...]

"The Britlingens Go To Hell" by Charlaine Harris. This story is a bit hard to classify. The story involves two female members of an elite Britlingens guard (who appeared briefly as bodyguards in All Together Dead, Sookie Stackhouse book 7) for hire who accept a contract with a thief on a recovery mission to Hell. The setting is a planet in a futuristic alternate dimension. Translation: hovercrafts and time travel portals.

There are a couple historical cameos that pop up inexplicably in an attempt at comic relief; attempt being the operative word there. And Lucifer himself as the villain is more interested in sadomasochism then anything else. The obligatory hellhounds serve as prison guard dogs.

If I hadn't read Charlaine Harris before, this story would probably have kept me from seeking out her other books. This just feels like she phoned it in. The writing is not good, the characters underdeveloped (even for a novella), and the world convoluted and poorly explained. Since I know that Charlaine Harris is a good author, I'm going to dismiss this effort as a fluke.

Sexual Content: references to sadomasochism and male rape. Anatomical sexual incompatibilities.

2 out 5

"Magic Mourns" by Ilona Andrews takes place in the same world as the Kate Daniels series. While Kate is in a few scenes, "Magic Mourns" focuses on Kate's best friend and fellow Knight in the Order of Merciful Aid, Andrea Nash. If you want to read the series chronologically, the order would be:

Magic Bites

Magic Burns

Magic Strikes

Magic Mourns (novella in Must Love Hellhounds Anthology)

I'll admit it up front: I bought this anthology solely to read this story. The Kate Daniels series is hands down one of the best urban fantasy series today. I was a little disappointed when I realized that Kate (and Curran) wouldn't be front and center in this story, but my disappointment didn't make it past the first page.

Of all the stories in this anthology, "Magic Mourns" makes the best use of the hellhound concept using Greek mythology and the most famous hellhound of all: Cerberus. Familiar characters abound here, most notably the werehyena Rafael. He had been pursing Andrea since the previous Kate Daniels book and I loved getting to focus more on that relationship.

I also loved how thoroughly and quickly the complex world of this series and those that inhabit it (Masters of the Dead, The Pack etc) were explained and incorporated into the narrative. Longtime fans and new readers alike should love this edgy, and deeply magical story. And a BIG thank you to Gordon and Ilona for the pretty significant reveal regarding Curran at the end. Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, book 5) is due May 25, 2010, and for me, the wait just got worse.

*"Magic Mourns" is my pick for best story of the anthology*

Sexual Content: References to rape. Implied sex.

4/5

"Angels' Judgment" by Nalini Singh continues her Guild Hunter Series following Angels' Blood. If your interested in reading this series chronologically the order would be:

Angels' Pawn (e-release, early 2009; this novella is written to stand alone, so it can be read at any stage in the series. Angels' Blood is the first book in the series.)

Angels' Blood

"Angels' Judgment" in the Must Love Hell Hounds anthology

Archangel's Kiss

In her Guild Hunter Series, Nalini Singh capitalizes on the two hottest trends in the urban fantasy genre today: vampires and angels. I know I don't normally associate the two, but Nalini makes it work.

Sara wasn't used to feeling sorry for vampires. Her job, after all, was to bag, tag and transport them back to their masters, the angels. -Angels' Judgment

If you're new to this series, the world building here spins traditional angel mythology completely on its head. Forget everything you learned in Sunday school, these angels are lethal beings of unimaginable power as well as the creators (and masters) of vampires. When a vampire tries to buck the system and go AWOL, Guild Hunters are called in to bag & tag them and drag them back to their angelic masters.

"Angels' Judgment" is a prequel to Angel's Blood and focuses on Elena's best friend, Sara. While on the hunt for a rogue Hunter who has been butchering vampires, Sara teams up with smokin' hot Deacon (aka The Slayer) to stop the killer and survive the `angel sanctioned tests' long enough to become the new Guild Director.

I loved the original angels in this world and the strong, yet still feminine, character of Sara. I'm not usually a fan of a lot of romance in short stories or novellas simply because there aren't a lot of pages available to develop a love story with any credibility. That being said, I thought the relationship between Sara and Deacon had more substance than most. I especially liked the scene where she `protected' him at the club.

For me, anthologies are a great way to try out new authors and possibly get hooked on their writing style. From there, good characters and unique world building will always reel me in, and with "Angels' Judgment," Nalini Singh has caught herself another happy reader.

Sexual Content: One brief non-graphic sex scene, one long semi-graphic sex scene, a scene takes place in a gay club without any description.

3/5

"Blind Spot" by Meljean Brook takes place in the world of her Guardian Series. It is not necessary to have read all the previous books in this series to enjoy "Blind Spot" as each story focuses primarily on a different couple. However, if you want to read the series chronologically, the order would be:

HOT SPELL (anthology) - The Guardians, Prequel Novella

DEMON ANGEL - The Guardians, Book 1

WILD THING (anthology) - The Guardians, Book 1.5

DEMON MOON - The Guardians, Book 2

DEMON NIGHT - The Guardians, Book 3

FIRST BLOOD (anthology) - The Guardians, Book 3.5

DEMON BOUND - The Guardians, Book 4

DEMON FORGED - The Guardians, Book 5

MUST LOVE HELLHOUNDS (anthology) - The Guardians, Book 5.5

Note to my readers: Although MUST LOVE HELLHOUNDS will be published a month before DEMON FORGED, the story in the anthology takes place after the events of DEMON FORGED, and "Blind Spot" contains minor spoilers for Irena and Alejandro's story. I have done my best to keep those spoilers to a minimum, however... -Meljean Brook

Ex CIA operative Maggie Wren (who appeared briefly in Demon Forged) has been working as a `butler' for the vampire Colin Ames-Beaumont (from Demon Moon) when she is sent to rescue his kidnapped niece, Katherine, along with the aid of his nephew, Blake. While not a vampire like his uncle, Blake, though blind, has his own talents that include being able to see through anyone else's eyes. Given the title of this anthology, I'll give you one guess what kind of breed his seeing eye dog is.

Despite having roughly the same amount of pages as the other authors in this anthology, Meljean delivers the best romance of the bunch in "Blind Spot." It drives me nuts in a story when character's stop for `sex breaks' during life or death situations (for example rescuing your sister from her demon kidnapper). Fortunately, while there is a satisfying amount of romantic tension here, both characters have enough self control to put Katherine's life ahead of their own attraction.

I really only had one problem with this story. I would imagine that growing up together, Katherine and Blake would have learned the most effective ways of communicating with each other, given their unique abilities. And I have to think that sign language would have occurred to someone by now. I mean how hard would it be to look at your own hands and even just spell out a message alphabetically?

This was my first time reading Meljean Brooks and I'm now going to have to add myself to her throngs of fans. Her writing, pacing, characters, and world are simply delicious. The next Guardian book, Demon Blood is due out July 6, 2010.

Sexual Content: References to sex.

4/5 Must Love Hellhounds - Anthology - Ilona Andrews - Charlaine Harris - Nalini Singh'

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Accessories - mini, exercise

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This ball is not made of thick rubber like you're used to with the large swedish balls at the gym. It popped on me after about 4 months (I am 6ft 170lbs) while I was using it for sit ups.

If you decide to buy it, don't let them sucker you into buying a pump for it. You can blow the ball up like a balloon and don't need the pump. FitBall Mini Exercise Ball FBMINI 9" Dark Blue

My personal trainer recommended using this smaller ball as support when doing sit-ups as it really works the core. Crunches and regular sit-ups tend not to work all the stomach muscles or is [....] the back. However, when used at base of your back, this ball really helps focus on the core muscles. I highly recommend this product.

I use this ball to do crunches. It works the muscles of the back in addition to the abs, and gives you amazing overall abdominal strength. It's the same product as the green Bender Ball that's advertised on TV (I bought one of those too, not as high quality). Only thing is it doesn't come with an excercise DVD, but you can buy one seperately (I just bought the "Pilates Mini-Ball Advanced Workout" coincidentally by Leslee Bender of the Bender Ball). There are many other things to do with this little guy besides abs. Very good quality and you really don't need a pump to inflate it! So cheap too!

I ordered this mini exercise ball for use in my daily stretching. I use it every day for situps (pressed between my knees) and bicycles. I also use it to stretch backwards by arching my back over it from a sitting position. It provides good support. It is easy to keep in the living room, out of the way since it is small. Unfortunately my kids love it for a soccer ball. It did ship fast as promised. I'd recommend it.

One of my friends bought the Bender Ball DVD's. I bought this ball to work out with her. It's perfect, just like the ball she uses. It's easy to inflate and deflate. I keep in my gym bag and it doesn't take up much space at all. I have recommended it to other friends who also bought it and think it's great.

If you are in physical therapy like I am for a back problem, this is a perfect aid to get those muscles in your thighs stretched out. It comes with everything you need to inflate it as much or as little as you need. highly recommended.

ball is easy to blow up by mouth and piece, don't bother buying the pump it's a waste of money. Thin soft rubber ball made to use with lower back for a more intense sit up, behind the head for support or under the rear and small back for balance exercises. it is meant to be aquishy unlike the sweedish/medicine balls. Would definately recommend we use these in gym class all the time so I bought one for home.

DO NOT BUY THE PUMP it is a waste of money. - Mini - Core - Exercise - Mini Ball'

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Gadget - cool, gadget

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The LT2000 Superwinch is a great little winch for the price. This was surprisingly smaller lighter than I expected, but it does perform well for my needs. Here are my observations:

Pros -

+ Lightweight; easy to move around when not in use

+ Powerful; has enough pulling "umph" for the jobs I bought it for (pulling bushes)

+ Easy To Use; controls are intuitive

Cons -

- Cable was caught in the "Back Plate" when it arrived, I had to manually unwind the cable and use a small pry-bar to free it and now I have a concern every time it is used that the cable will get caught again (but it hasn't)

Since this is so light, and we didn't want to permanently attach the winch, we also bought Superwinch 2060 Portable Ball Hitch Mount.

Recommended!

CFH Superwinch 1220210 LT2000 Utility Winch

I have only had this winch on my Outlander 800 for a couple months, so don't have longevity to report. I also don't have a lot of winch experience to compare this against. What I do know is this thing gets the job done for a lot less than the comparable winches. I was able to pull my HEAVY machine out of a deep mud hole, the only anchor point was a tree 50' away to the left. So the winch really had to work to pull me out. I doubt if we could have gotten the ATV out without the winch. To my mind this is a great product for the price.

I bought this winch to use in removing my aluminum 400# shore station from the water each fall. I was able to connect this using jumper cables to the car battery being careful to separate the wires connected to the unit. This easily lifted the shore station through a directional transfer pulley and held it in position while I was able to secure it. The construction is very good and the controls are easy to figure out. The instructions are fine and explain how to set the unit up. I'd recommend this to anyone looking to use the winch for medium duty lifting or moving of heavy loads.

I have owned an ATV for 15 years now. I installed a snow blade with a manual raise/lower handle the next year. I cannot believe for 14 years I would MANUALLY raise/lower that heavy snow blade!! For the money and quality in the Superwinch name, you will not find a better winch. I built a mounting bracket from some scrap 11 ga. stainless steel and stainless steel mounting bolts/nuts. The remote control mounted on the ATV's handlebar via two electrical ty-wraps that I supplied. Total installation time including the wiring was less than 1/2 an hour.

So far so good! Life is so much easier plowing snow!!

This is the second one of these that i purchased. this is for a small weed harvestor boat. It operates a bulldozer type scoop to rid lakes, ponds of weeds. We use larger powerwinch for the boat/trailer. the hand held switch works great.

This is a fine little winch, and at the price it is a steal. I'm thinking about buying another one just to keep as a spare.

The wiring instructions are not real clear, but it is a simple installation and hard to wire incorrectly.

Maybe its not fair, but I expected something a little more robust. The remote controller has very short wires and the connections are less than professional. In fairness I have some of their other "heavy duty" winches and I expected the same robustness, with a smaller motor and capabilities. - Cool - Winch - Gadget - Atv'

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Rockstar Games - playstation 3, video games

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*No Spoilers* just details that can hopefully help the undecided

First review (had to really great game) don't be too harsh

What an amazing game this is so far. The environment is so vivid. Graphics are up to par. This game was made for the Ps3!

Being a Rockstar Game, the controls are very similar to Grand Theft Auto & Red Dead Redemption. The controls also reminded me of Mafia II. Very smooth and fluid. There's also a map on the bottom left corner just like in the other Rock* games.

This game is not as fast paced as Grand Theft Auto. It is not a shoot first ask questions later type of game. Keep that in mind before buying. I'm enjoying it but I can just imagine some people hating it for be slow paced.

Investigating crime scenes can be so exciting as you do not know what or where your next clue will be. You are given the freedom to walk around and find clues with the assistance of vibration/music as you get near them.

There is no multiplayer for this game, which can be good or bad. I for one will be way too busy solving crimes around Los Angeles to even notice.

The PS3 version of the game comes with an exclusive DLC card to download a case called Consul's Car.

I pre-ordered from Best Buy so I received The Sharpshooter suit also.

And I was there for the midnight release so I received the nicholson electroplating DLC.

I will update as I get farther in the game & notice more helpful tips/details

Update:

The characters in LA Noire look so real. When they speak, it is shown in their facial expressions. No lip syncing here, it looks like they are actually talking. When a victim/witness is upset you can notice how their eyebrows kind of fold in.

Interrogation

When questioning a victim/suspect/witness you can choose from accepting it as the truth, lies, or doubt. Choose wisely. There's a score system which will provide you with experience points if you ask the right questions. These points can help you find clues easier.

Driving

I've experienced that some of the cars start to swerve if you're going too fast. Also even though you have destinations, you can just cruise the city limits. If you get lost, your partner will be more than glad to give you directions. "Make a left, take the right" kind of thing.

Fist fights

Some guys just don't give up without a fight. Team Bondi provides a nice block and punch system to knock some sense into them.

I've noticed you can use the block to make your opponent attack & opening himself for a nice right hand hook.

Cover system

By going into cover, the player can look around to see where the bullets are flying in from. This way you can pick the enemy out one by one. The Cover system allows you to regain health if you need to. Sometimes you will be outnumbered and outgunned. So this is where the cover system comes in handy. Cover and peek out when the enemy is reloading if they have serious fire power. The first time I ran into a shooting. I caught a bullet in the back. You've been warned!!!

Health

There was an actual opened bloody wound on my back for a while. But as my health recovered it went away. so you can restore your health by staying out of harm's way. I like this system better than Grand Theft Auto's health packages.

Thanks for reading! L.A. Noire

I'm 33yrs old and I've been playing video games most of my life and I can honestly say that after playing this game for five hours this is one of the best games I have ever played. It is like watching a (mystery) movie and being able to control the plot. Graphics are excellent, controls are very easy to use.

I pre-ordered this game from amazon, they honored the pre-order price of $59, and I got a $15 credit towards my next game...I also ordred the .99 release day delivery and received it on time. Today (one day after the game came out) they increased the credit $5, but I'm not concerned about it.

Just a note, that this game is rated M and is definitely not for kids...You do very graphic detective work on brutal raped/murdered victims.

Aside from the controls, this game isn't like any other Rockstar game made...You can't go running around going crazy causing chaos like Red Dead Redemption or any GTA series. It is what they say it is, it is innovative and a very refreshing experience. I would say that this game could open a totally new Genre in the near future.

Buy this game here at amazon and enjoy it.

I love this game for so many reasons, yet the few irritating drawbacks infuriate me. The atmosphere, music, facial expressions, and story are amazing. I want to advance through the game as quickly as possible to find out how things progress. However, the completely hit-or-miss interrogation sessions and rooting through garbage can crime scene investigation have me sick enough to quit.

The facial expressions and voice acting are just as incredible as advertised. I knew going into this that picking up on facial ticks and eye darting were key to detecting inconsistencies in testimony. Still, no matter how you play it, there's no way to tell whether you should believe, doubt, or catch the witness in a lie. Some of the lying is completely obvious, yet you still lose for not selecting the correct choice between "doubt" or "lie". I don't mind doing more investigation to solve the case, but I hate feeling like a failure when the game gives me no other options or assistance.

I also tired of the same old crime scene investigations. You move from area to area, waiting for the controller to rumble so that you can investigate. Sometimes its evidence worthwhile, but more often its just a bottle or an ashtray worth nothing. Often times you find yourself re-examining an area after all other evidence has been found, as if you'd missed something the first time.

It pains me to write this review. I had this preordered, and had been counting down the months to its release. I still find it an amazing piece of entertainment, pushing the boundaries of what a video game can be. Yet some of the elements are just not implemented in a way that can be considered fun, or an attainable challenge. When you don't know why you're getting things wrong or misinterpreting information, there's no reason to hone your technique or continue. I'll probably just finish this up with a strategy guide so I know how to answer the interrogations. - Playstation 3 - Video Games - Rockstar Games - Adventure'

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soap holder - soap holder

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So, I just paid $9 for a single soap dish. I'm not too miffed about that, but seeing as it's a plastic dish, it BETTER last forever! The way it's shown on Amazon makes it look like you get one of each color (4 in all) and that's just not the case. So, be aware of what you're getting before you buy. The construction looks sturdy enough. I hope it lasts. Case-Soap - 1 - each

You never want to let your soap mingle with your other toiletries and this item seems to securely keep that soap isolated from the other shower buddies untill it's to be used. I had to dock it a star because the main hinge seems like it'll eventually give after a few uses. This item is perfect for a person who will be seeing a lot of unfamiliar showers.

I've been using this case for 6 months and I go to the gym 5-6x a week -- so this soap case has been opened and closed about 100 times. The latch still works but the area around the latch broke off (about 1/2"x1/4" area). It still closes and works ok, but clearly the engineer who designed this didn't understand the concept of stress concentrations. - Soap Holder'

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helicopters - helicopters

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This is the most advanced and forward thinking 3 channel heli I have ever flown. Great responsiveness and it even banks like a four channel heli. Great build quality and design. I am very excited about this heli....ordered another one today. Only down side is that this model is brand new so product support such as parts are going to be a lot harder to find. Like what I have seen so far when flying it. Trim levels are easy enough to adjust and the hovering on this model is very stable for a single blade configuration. The speed on this thing is definitely past what any other three channel has to offer. The characteristics are far more like a 4 channel with servos that affect the pitch of the blades, vs every other 3 channel that is fixed blade and usually a coax/ double blade configuration.

I would not recommend this heli to someone who has never flown a rc helicopter. Start with another Syma Heli, there is a mini s107, regular double horse which is roughly the same size as this one and the volitation which is 26 inches, a fairly large heli. The volitation is great for beginners as well as the s107. I own both and they provide a stable platform to work with while learning to control rc choppers. Both don't take kindly to light winds, but besides that they are great to fly. All syma's have lights found throughout the frame of the chopper. Night flying with any of these models has to be my favorite pastime. I hope you enjoy this addictive hobby and happy flying regardless of what ever model you choose. New Double Horse 9100 "Hover" 3-Channel Sports R/C Helicopter w/ Built in Gyroscope

I have been trying to learn how to fly rc helicopters now for 1 year. I have at least 14 broken heli's around my house, but now I have a lot of experience, and I can fly a 4ch. So, anybody who is wanting to get started flying rc helicopters, here's is a few pointers that I can pass on to you.

1. Start out with a Syma s107 3 ch. this is hands-down the best 3ch heli, very accurate.

2. Next heli would be a Mini-X 6025, this is a tiny 4"long, 3ch heli. These little heli's are extremely accurate, cute, and so much fun to fly.

3. Now, the Double Horse "Hover" 3ch 9100 Helicopter. These heli's are a little harder to fly, but with a little practise you will get-it. This is actually a 3ch collective- pitch heli. Now after you can fly this heli with confidence ,, you will be good enough to move up to just about any 4ch co-axial heli, which is a 4ch heli with the double-blades.

Esky Big Lama 4ch is a great heli for out-side to fly. Blade MCX is a good 4ch to start out with inside. I sincerely hope some of this experience will help someone else that is getting started in the rc heli's. Good Luck!!! and have fun.

Just bought one of these 9100's and the S107 coaxial. The S107 is super simple to fly and rock stable. If you're looking for a heli to play around with indoors, and have never flown one, the S107 is hard to beat. It's durable and capable of precision flight. I have it at work and store it on top of my computer. I can fly it off and land it back to the same place. Lots of fun.

The 9100 will fly but it is a little more tricky to control. It's very fast and responsive, which usually means not a good trainer. Once you can stay ahead of it, it's pretty smooth flying. Regarding it pulling left on take off, mine does that too. The way to take off is just give it enough power to overcome the left tendency. And turn (right) away from the direction it's pulling as soon as airborne. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I can hover with this one and fly simple patterns with it. For first flights, make sure to have plenty of room, like a 50' X 50' area and about 12' high. Hovering stable takes a bit of trimming to achieve. But even once airborne, that left pulling tendency shows up intermittently. Just have to

watch for it and compensate for it on inputs. From what I've read, the left pulling is common with 3-channel heli's. I read somewhere they are coming out with a newer version that addresses the problem. Watch the 9100 intro on youtube and you can plainly see it favoring left.

I bought this heli for outdoor use primarily in my back yard, and also the local fields. I'm not new to R/C and have owned nitro planes, cars, and have a few helos. This heli caught my attention being a single rotor at such a low price. The first couple of days were fine, but then the bird went downhill.

First, this heli is not quite large enough to handle even the mildest breezes. This is not a fault, just that you need at least a 450-class (larger) heli for outdoors. Second, this bird is FAST!!! I don't recommend flying it in the typical suburban back yard. Again, not a fault of the heli. Bottom line is that it is best to fly this one early in the morning or late in the evening when the air is very still. Flying this bird the first couple of days was fun. It's not a beginner's heli and you have to actually fly the thing. It's very responsive and fast, and has all of the quirks of a real heli.

However, after a couple of crashes, which were not that bad, the problems started. The bird would fly fine, then it seemed that it had a mind of it's own, giving me the feeling that I was not in control. The biggest problem was that it would pitch back mildly during flight, which at first I thought was wind or something out of adjustment, and I would have to yaw and dive to try to get control of it. I thoroughly went through the heli making sure everything was adjusted and in proper working order, testing it thoroughly in my garage before taking it out. It was flying fine, or so it seemed. At about 50ft altitude and forward flight the heli started the backward pitch thing, and then crashed at high speed. The wreckage is now in my garage awaiting rebuild or salvage of usable parts.

If you want an outdoor heli for backyard fun get a Syma s032 or other comparable co-ax. For indoors I strongly recommend the Syma s107, and I have several that I love to play with. If you want a good outdoor heli look at the 450-class birds and spend the money on a good one. I can't recommend the DH-9100.

EDIT: I can't recommend this as a first heli or for anyone that can't mod it, but if you have the experience and know how to make modifications this heli has potential. Please read the comment that I wrote. - Helicopters'

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Catherine Keener - colin firth, hope davis

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This film is a truly beautiful, touching, and real piece of art. It is the most real depiction of life ever filmed. The film follows the lives of Joe (Colin Firth) and his daughters as they deal with the death his wife. Spending a year in Italy, the family is shown continuing their day to day lives as each character evolves and deals with their loss. One daughter becomes independent and rebellious while the other is lovingly haunted by the ghost of her mother. Joe does all that he can to just get through every day and give his daughters what they need. It is beautiful and touching. If you're looking for a lot of plot or action then this film is probably not for you. But if you want to be moved by inspired acting and the touching reality of life then you will not be disappointed. Summer in Genoa

3.5 stars

Colin Firth can act his way out of a paper bag. Kathleen Keener, one of those actresses that gives any film a feeling of reality is superb in this film. That said, this could be one of the more symbolic films I have seen. It is an OK film, but not a great one. Heavy on drama and darkness and grief.

A family has lost their mother in a car accident. The youngest daughter thinks she is to blame for the accident. The older daughter feels her life is out of control and not what she wants. Dad, is a college professor. He has a contact in Genova, an old college friend, who tells him of a job. Italy may just be the place to chase their demons away. The city is indeed beautiful, and we see quite a lot of it. the back streets and channels as the girls walk their way to piano lessons each day. Life moves on slowly, the older daughter is exploring her sexuality and acting out. The younger child is left to deal with the daily life. The city and the back alleys and the maze of streets are a metaphor for the inner turmoil of each of the members of the family. It is a beautiful film, a quiet film that does not say much but brings to the surface the emotions that surround the family. These emotions are transported to the audience, and we are in a sense filled with anxiety waiting for the next move. The film was not what I expected, and it is not a great film, but well worth viewing.

Recommended. prisrob 04-16-11

The King's Speech

The Real Blonde

Have you ever done something so terrible that it ruined your life? After a game in the car causes an accident and the death of her mother (Davis), Mary must live with the results. Her and her sister along with thier father (Firth) travel to Italy for a year in hopes that the change of scenery will help the grieving process. Each girl handles the life change differently. Based on the preview, I was worried about watching this because it looked so depressing. The first five minutes is very hard to watch, and sporadically there are tough parts, but this is not as bad as I was expecting. The acting was great, and the story is very real, but I just couldn't get into it. It was a little slow moving and seemed to go nowhere. I can't give it a bad grade because it wasn't a bad movie, just a little slow. Not really my kind of show. I know there will be many people who really like it though. I give it a C+.

Would I watch again? - I don't think I will, not one to watch over and over.

As a long-time Colin Firth fan I looked forward to this film, but while his performance is dead on, the film was disappointing. Director Michael Winterbottom is more into being seen as an "auteur" than in creating a cohesive film. He thinks he is being naturalistic by not using any lighting, but the eye naturally captures more light than a camera lens does so several scenes are so dark it is difficult to tell who is talking in situations where this would not be true in real life. Don't expect the central mystery of the film to be resolved, that is apparently too low-brow for Mr. Winterbottom. To be fair, if you liked "And When Was the Last Time You Saw Your Father," then you'll probably be moved by this one, too, But from my POV, it doesn't deliver both artistry & story like some of Mr, Firth's other films -- A Month in the Country, Apartment Zero, Trauma, The King's Speech, etc. -- it is more just art for its own sake.

After his wife dies, Joe (Colin Firth) decides a change of scenery would be good for him and his two daughters, so he accepts a teaching job at the university in Genoa. The younger daughter is racked with guilt and sees visions of her mother, the teenage daughter rebels by chasing boys, while dad enjoys his job and his students.

With a cinéma vérité style and plot, this film feels like a reality show. Dialogue is mumbled and often insignificant, emotions are muted and interactions are casual, the handheld camera is often shaky, and it all seems too ordinary to be interesting for an hour and a half. The children are often lost among the dark and winding alleyways of the city, building tension that, unfortunately, never pays off. The script (which annoyingly sometimes said they were there for a year, other times just there for the summer) goes on and on about their daily activities in a new city and that's realistic, but not, for me, necessarily entertaining.

Firth is very good as the father, but we never get to know or understand him well. Only once does he mention his wife and his feelings about her aren't clear. He seems to get over her quickly enough, embracing the city and romancing a local. Willa Holland is convincing as a self-centered and headstrong teen and is thoroughly unlikable. The youngest daughter is more sympathetic, but there was something lacking that kept me from caring about her.

All in all, I enjoyed the scenery but the story lacked emotion and clarity and was dull for me.

I'm probably going to get negative votes for stating my opinion here, but I must tell you the truth. So here goes...(remember I told you so).

If for some reason you wish to be depressed, watch this movie. If you like watching paint dry, watch this movie. If you like watching people walking, watch this movie. If you like watching people watching other people, watch this movie. It is very dark, and extremely slow. I did NOT find it beautiful at all...in any form. I wish I had not wasted our hard earned money on this one.

I'm giving it 2 stars only because of the acting performance by the younger sister in the movie. I would, otherwise, have given it 1 star. - Hope Davis - My Favs Dvd - Colin Firth'

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Co Detector - co detector, smoke alarm

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We have several of them that came with our new house in addition to the 1204 model smoke alarms. They are all problematic. They go through batteries every 6 months and they 'chirp' in the middle of the night. The company is not easy to deal with. Recently all of them went off at the same time at 4 am and there was no smoke or fire... the company says to vacuum them out... easy on 15 foot ceilings?... they are a bad product. I am going to replace them all with a reliable brand. Universal Security Instruments USI-7795 120-Volt AC/DC Wired-In Combination Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm

We kept trying to replace the battery, but it kept chirping intermittently, in the middle of the night, waking up our baby and disrupting world peace. Our world anyway.

Ahhh... just found several reviews of another USI smoke alarm with similar issues. Here's a link to one of them from someone who seems to have found the root of the problem (i.e. they break easily and then start chirping):

http://www.amazon.com/review/RKR39B5B094IL/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0026T76AU&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=

Errrrrggh! Dp not buy this detector!

We bought one of these to replace one of our original smoke detectors about 18 months ago. We had to replace the battery every 2 or 3 months which does not make sense, considering the battery is supposed to be a backup for failure of the AC power. The unit has started a single 2 beep chirp which can happen from once every few days to a couple of times a day, not described in the manual. I have vacummed it as recommended, changed batteries, but continue to lose sleep and disconnect the unit in the middle of the night. I am ready to go try another type of unit. We are in summer with absolutely no source of CO in the house, so definitely defective. When searching the web for some help, appears short battery life and chirping is common. These may be cheaper, but if you have to replace them every 12 to 24 months, the apparent savings really turns out to be a much higher cost.

I have several of these unit in my house and they seem like a poor quality item. I suspect the builder used the cheapest detector that would meet code. Incidentally, this seller is asking about 6-7 times what the product should sell for. It should be in the $10-15 dollar range. I am going to switch to a new brand. Hopefully I have more confidence in the First Alert unit.

The price was right on this combo alarm, but the quality is NOT. I installed several of these in my residence in 2008 after a whole house remodel. Every single one of them have failed by now (3 years later). They scared the heck out of everybody by randomly, intermittently alarming in the middle of the night - with increasing frequency - until replacement. Battery changes didn't matter, so it wasn't the cause... Of course, following Murphy's Law, it happened every 2 hours starting the evening I had company from out-of-town staying over. Trashed these and got some Kiddie combo alarms. Much better!

I had 5 of these alarms professionally installed and ganged together. One of the monitors would signal elevated CO levels without any CO-producing equipment running. I moved the bad monitor to different locations and had the same result, one failing monitor. I recommend not purchasing this product.

We had two interlinked USI-7795 combination smoke and CO alarms installed in our home in 2009 during a remodel. When they sounded we evacuated the house and stayed in a hotel for the night. We aired out the house and they were fine the next day. We then had a CO detection company ($$$!) come in and do a CO assessment. No CO anywhere. I rented a highly sensitive detector and when the alarms went off again, I was prepared. Again, no detectable CO with the very expensive and sensitive unit. Replaced these less than two year old defective units with First Alert. I have seen nothing that would convince me to buy USI again. We will see how it goes with the BRK/First Alert units.

I swapped out the USI smoke alarm located in the room with a gas furnace for this smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. In just a few minutes we had added protection if a carbon monoxide situation developed.

The swap of units was easy and trivial.

I did try another brand before the USI and discovered that even though the socket on the other device would plug in, the wiring was different. When the sparks jumped and the smoke came out of the other brand detector, I knew they weren't plug compatible. So if you have USI devices now, this is a nice upgrade for added CO protection. If you have another brand, be careful..... and check the polarity of the leads before assuming that just because the plug fits, the wiring is correct. - Smoke Alarm - Combination Smoke - Co Detector - Smoke Detector'

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Womens Laptop Bags - womens laptop bags, laptop case

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I love this laptop sleeve! It's really nice and finished on the inside, the fabric is soft and "cushy" and the design is absolutely gorgeous. Worth every penny!!!! I am using this sleeve for my Asus N43jf-a1 14" laptop. It's a tad bit larger than the laptop, which is fine. I looked all over online and in the stores for a nice sleeve, but they averaged at around $25 a pop. And it was difficult to find many options for a 14". Most were for 15.4-15.6, which I didn't want cuz I don't plan on putting the adapter or mouse in there with it. I don't want to scratch the lid :-)Oh and the free shipping with prime is great! $15.50 is a great price, almost a steal! 14 inch Brilliant Butterfly Escape White Floral Notebook Laptop Sleeve Bag Carrying Case for Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba

Very nice and chick sleeve to protect your laptop from scratches. The sleeve has very little padding however, so if you're looking for something with thicker padding, this sleeve is not it. Also, the background white color shown on the picture is much brighter than the actual sleeve itself. It is true to its size. My laptop is 13.5 inches in width, so it fits perfectly well with some space remaining for the mouse and charger. Overall, I like it because it does what I wanted it to do which was to hold my laptop with primary accessories and it protects my laptop from scratches.

I have a HP g4t laptop with a 14 inch screen, the width is perfect for it but the height is about 1.5 inches too tall. However, since there is no side pouch for my mouse and power cord, I will get a small cloth bag for them and store them inside the sleeve as well. That should take up the extra room. Otherwise it is a very nice sleeve with a beautiful design on it.

Arrived earlier than expected and was packaged very well. Reasonable price however, I would imagine something like this to be 10 instead of 12. It had a "new bag" scent that wasnt pleasant but faded quickly. The outside of the sleeve can get dirty fairly easily if you set it on a dirty surface (it is mostly white).

I just got it and i love it already. It does smell like new shoes but that should go away. I thought it wasn't going to be think enough for my laptop but it does have extra room to make up for the thickness of my laptop it's very nice looking. I think the only problem im going to have is figuring out what way i put my laptop in becasue both sides are identical, but there are two zippers. Nice zippers with smooth rubber and strange leaf designs on them. It is definently solid. Air gets caught in it like a little balloon. But the air smoothly blows out. Its nice, smooth, and a little padded. Ultimately a good buy. I ordered it on monday night aroud 7pm it arrived in my city on thursday and delivered to my door on friday at 2pm.

A most excellent choice for protection and truly outstanding graphic design. The case is well made with straight, tight stitching and zipper covers to protect the laptop edges. The black and white backdrop and shadings are crisp and the colorful lone butterfly will complement any computer protective covering from deep red, pink, purple, green, blue, white to black. The 14" case is a comfortably snug fit and is lightweight, slipping easily into my backpack or Belkin traveling bag. The white neoprene exterior is surprising resilient to stains and remains clean despite constant use. The interior is protectively soft to cushion my laptop, (though I have it in an Incase for super-added protected! A bit over-the-top, but gives me additional peace of mind...) Primarily, I am using this sleeve to protect my laptop whenever it is not being used and am pleased that the side and dual zipper combinations allow me to easily zip both zippers to almost overlapping, allowing the laptop cord to charge the laptop when not in use. I researched the many available choices and am well pleased with this particular sleeve. My daughter likes it so well that I will be ordering an identical sleeve for her 13" macbook pro.

This sleeve is really nice. It serves its purpose. It is soft and will protect your laptop from scratches and nicks. Not that good that you can drop it with your laptop in it though. Although there was a strong odor when it came out of the wrapper but it does diminish over time. I really like this sleeve and the design is really pretty. - Laptop Sleeve - Laptop Case - Womens Laptop Bags'

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Microsoft Wireless Mouse - wireless, laptop mouse

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Wow! I had a 3 year old Microsoft mouse that worked great, but the USB transceiver was a real pain mainly because

of the length of the thing. I broke one of my USB ports when I accidentally banged into the thing one day and on

a laptop one can ill afford to lose a USB connector right?

Anyway, the transceiver on this unit is tiny, it only sticks out maybe a 1/4 of an inch so there's no probability

of you damaging your machine by accident. And, it is extremely responsive, even more than the older design. The

drivers loaded automatically in Windows 7 and I'm back in bidness. Both left and right buttons work as they should,

and the scroll is perfect. Battery life is extended too with an On/Off switch. Works on any surface, the laptop frame,

the couch, your jeans! The transceiver does snap into the body of the mouse for travel, and the only minor complaint

I have is that the mouse doesn't turn itself off when the transceiver is nested.

This purchase BTW was a necessity because of the crappy touch-pad on my new Asus K52jr-4, which was so erratic as to

make the laptop virtually unusable. I see a lot of complaints on the web about this, but anyway I highly recommend

this mouse, especially at the price which is about 1/2 of an equivalent Logitech device. One word of advice, if you

fail to turn off this mouse when not in use it tends to go through batteries like Vegas hookers through a Shriners

Convention..... always always flip the switch Off when your machine is idle. And it pays to use a Lithium battery (1)

for extended life. Microsoft deserves a slap for claiming "up to 8 month" battery life in the product info above.

Update 6/02/2011: This mouse still works perfectly and is just as responsive as it was on Day 1. It doesn't "squeak",

the mouse clicks are barely audible, but you may find that the rubber casing begins to peel away from the plastic body

over time, this is easily remedied with a drop or two of Superglue. This doesn't affect comfort or performance of the

mouse. Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 - Loch Ness Gray

This mouse replaced a retractable corded USB "travel" mouse. It was small and basic and worked quite well for years but finally died. I wanted a small cordless mouse to replace it so I surfed Amazon and found this one. The Logitech's were nice but I like that the USB receiver dongle is small. Most others are as big as a flash drive increasing the chances of it getting broken off.

So far it does seem to work well on a variety of surfaces. It works on my laptop table of course but I've also used it on the fabric chair arm and it worked just fine.

Two other nice features are the off switch and the dongle fits in the bottom of the mouse. All in one package for ease in travel. The mouse is also just the right size, not too big or small and reasonably comfortable. After a month or so I'm quite happy with it.

This is the only Microsoft mouse with BlueTrack and a click motion wheel. The mouse is very responsive and has a good feel. Battery life should be good as well.

I had stopped purchasing Microsoft mice because all the new mice had smooth scrolling wheels. The wheel design is a weakness on Microsoft mice. Logitech has a much better wheel design both smooth and click motion. The click wheel is a little stiff on this mouse. If it loosens up after some use, this will be the best value small form factor wireless mouse available.

My boyfriend has the model before this, "Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3000", and since I constantly used his, we decided that I should go ahead and get a wireless mouse myself. I searched for hours for a mouse that would meet my needs; something small, not too pricey, and would work on many different surfaces. I initially was going to purchase the same mouse as his, but I also wanted to see what else was out there. My first choice was the "Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000" in their Dragon Fruit color.. mainly because the mouse matched my laptop (appearance is always a first reaction of mine), was inexpensive, and had gotten good reviews! But.. I kept searching. After hours of looking at many different mice and reading many different reviews, I found the Mobile Mouse 3500. It had no reviews, so I was VERY skeptical about purchasing it. It caught my eye because it matched my Dell Insprion perfectly color wise, was small, and it was also the newer version of my boyfriend's mouse that I enjoyed so much. Microsoft's new "BlueTrack" technology was also very appealing to me, so being an electronics junkie, I had to try it out! The price exceeded my price range by a little, but this mouse ideally had everything I wanted in a mouse. I searched around to see if I could find a better deal, but since this is a mouse that was newly released, Amazon had the lowest price.

I finally ordered the mouse, and received it 2 days later (thanks Amazon!). The mouse fits snuggly in my hands (I have small hands), and has a nice rubber grip on each side. I was SHOCKED to see how small the nano receiver was. I knew it was going to be small, but this is TINY. About a 1/3 the size of Microsoft's other receivers. I actually love this, but it may be difficult for people with larger hands. There is a button that stores the receiver on the bottom of the mouse, and with just a push, it will push the receiver out for you, then when you have to store it, just push it back in. Like I said previously, this is great, but may be difficult for people with larger hands. The bottom also has an on and off button which I find very convenient. Unlike my boyfriend's mouse, I can leave my receiver in my laptop, and then just click off/on the mouse when it's not in use. With his mouse, you have to take out the receiver and store it back under the mouse for it to turn off.

Overall I am very happy with the mouse. The BlueTrack definitely works great. The mouse runs smooth, and the receiver doesn't overheat, even after hours of use! I have Windows 7 and had to download their software on their website to program the middle button, but it was quick and easy.

Pros:

Small

1 AA Battery

Smooth

Easy to setup

On/Off Button

Works on a lot of different surfaces

Cons:

Doesn't have a back button like the older model (3000) - ok with me though

Receiver might be hard for people with larger hands (boyfriend finds it easy though) - Wireless - Microsoft Wireless Mouse - Laptop Mouse - Notebook Mouse'

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2nd Gen Ipod Touch - mp3 player, ipod

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Before i start let me just tell you "what's New" with the iPod touch Third generation" :

-Faster Cpu/Double the ram/Better graphic (faster Boot time/faster loading is all what i did notice)

-Double the storage for the same old price

-Voice control (I'll explain it in a second)

-Latest firmware for free

-New Earbuds with built in remote+Microphone (So you can use voice control)

And that is everything~ depends on your needs upgrading from 2G to 3G might be not worth it.

*Important Note* : only the New iPod touch 32GB/64GB are third generation ~ (8GB is repacked 2G) Details below.

About the new Voice control function, if you love to take your iPod with you to the Gym the new feature "Voice control" is pretty cool, it does allow you to control your music via your voice, no need to get the iPod out of your pocket you can simply say "Next" to move to next song, say "shuffle" for shuffle , say "Pause" and music playback will stop etc, that is why i recommend the iPod touch over iPod classic for gym users, my friend bought an iPod classic and now he complains that the iPod classic is too heavy for him when he goes to the gym and he will have to buy another iPod "properly Nano" for his Gym, for me i use my iPod touch for the gym, it's so light that sometimes i forgot that it's even in my pocket.

After playing with my iPod touch 3g for a while i honestly did not notice any difference from the outside or the inside compared to my old iPod touch Second generation (It's supposed to be faster but i did not notice anything during music and video playback or the menus, however browsing with safari and loading facebook was faster, same thing with boot time), you properly can only notice it being faster with heavy applications since video/music playback is already fast enough with 2G.

I got the 64GB iPod 3G for [...]$, if you think of upgrading your 2G iPod touch honestly do yourself a favor and save yourself the money unless you really need that much of a storage (I do that is why i bought one), also remember that the 3G battery lasts less than 2G,(3G battery = 30 Hours of music playback versus 2G 36 hours of music playback according to apple official specs)

*VERY IMPORTANT* for the people who wants the new 8GB version, the new third generation 8GB iPod touch is NOT 3G it's a second generation iPod touch but apple did repack it/renamed it to 3rd generation, which seems to be misleading by APPLE and it's not cool at all, it is IPod Touch 2G+Updated firmware and that is it.

The iPod touch 3rd generation 32GB/64GB versions comes with a free mic+remote with the earbuds while the 8GB do not (it comes with normal earbuds), the 32GB/64GB have the New CPU+Graphic (According to apple the new cpu is twice as fast just like the iPhone 3GS) while the new 8GB use the same old CPU/Chip from the old iPod touch second generation.

Here is APPLE description on the iPod touches page about the 32/64GB versions : """Enjoy all the great features of the 8GB model along with better performance, richer graphics and voice control"""

The iPod touch 3rd generation is the same awesome iPod touch second generation was.

You can play your music/watch your videos/play games, even read your kindle books/etc "you can read amazon big description of what it's capable of if you do not know yet, it's better than what would i say because it has pictures and everything.

The iPod touch got the best browser i have ever seen in a portable device, i do not even need to carry my netbook with me anymore thanks to my iPod touch, if you hated browsing with lame browsers that crash a lot or slow (many mobile phones) trust me on this one, the iPod touch browser is not a toy or a gimmick it is a browser you can depends on, it's super fast and smooth and after using it for like a full year it has only crashed on me once!

Short list of pros and cons about the iPod touch

Pros:

-Slick,small and light device

-Great touch screen

-The BEST web browser on a portable device

-Amazing video/music playback

-App Store (Too many cool applications for Free)

-Display screen is clear and bright

-No bugs and annoying stuff a very reliable hardware

-64GB Flash based mp3 player

Cons:

-Not much of an upgrade over 2G (people were disappointed because they did not get upgrades like camera/OLED/etc)

-Weaker battery, only lasts 30 hours for music playback versus 2G iPod touch 36 Hours music playback

-Expensive for the 64GB version

-Still no FM radio without the use of online applications

-Bluetooth is still half locked

Update : one more reason to avoid the 8GB ipod touch, Apple announced today "April 09 2010" that iPhone 4.0 OS will be released this summer and it will bring many new features to the iphone and ipod touch, however some features like Multitasking will only be available for iphone 3GS and higher or Ipod touch third generation and higher (As i said before the 8GB is second Generation only, a third generation 8gb ipod touch do not exist! so you wont be getting multitasking if you buy the 8GB ipod touch),

I hope my review was helpful :) Apple iPod touch 64 GB (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL

This is my first iPod and MP3 player. So far I've had the iPOD TOUCH (32-GIG/3RD GEN) for two-weeks and I'm loving it.

It's does so much more than just play music, which is why I wanted one. I'm not a Mac person at all but the iPod Touch...I love it.

Out of the box it found my Wi-Fi connection and had me surfing the net (the real Internet and not the cell phone web pages like the one on my Verizon phone). It was intuitive to use and I'm finally getting accustomed to using the touch screen to scroll and type away.

This review is mostly for other iPod newbies like myself. Here's what it comes with:

***The iPod Touch- slick and smooth and very thin

***A USB Cable- this hooks your iPod to your computer to recharge the battery and to sync it with iTunes.

***Plastic Docking Thing- this is a small plastic part that allows you to dock the iPod to an external device (I'm not sure what).

***Head Phones with Microphone and external volume control.

***Teeny-tiny insert- with bare-bones info. You have to access the full manual, which is available for free download in PDF format, at the apple website.

My advice is to buy an external cover for the iPod--the 2nd Generation iPod Touch skins/cover fit the new 3rd Generation ones because the body is the same--and buy a screen protector so you keep the screen free from scratches and such. I already scratched the shiny back of my iPod just by placing it down on the table so be careful when you first get it if you don't have a cover for it.

As long as you have Wi-Fi (wireless Internet connection) in your house/apt you can get full use out of the iPod Touch. You can also access free Wi-Fi hotspots in stores, restaurants, and other areas, so you can get on the Internet and download applications (apps) etc., check your email, go on facebook, youtube, even Amazon has an app, that can be downloaded onto the iPod.

The iPod Touch is configured to automatically search for Wi-Fi networks, it looks for both either locked (need a password) or unlocked (no password) networks, and displays them in the settings for "Wi-Fi." You really don't have to know anything about Wi-Fi to get it started. You just pick one of them and it connects to it.

I've tried my iPod at some hotspots like a shopping center with a Starbucks and it found the Wi-Fi and connected but since a lot of people were using it, it took a while to connect.

You need the program iTunes, which is a free down-loadable program for Windows or Mac, and an iTunes account to purchase and download the apps (most are free but you still need an account to download them). If you've used iTunes before for buying song downloads or just to register then you already have a login account...if you haven't used iTunes before it's free to download and easy to install. Then you sign up for an account which is also free, unless you plan on purchasing songs or videos.

The pluses on the iPod Touch:

===== Applications (Apps) =====

The apps are a plenty on the iPod Touch and there's an app for everything (practically). They're arranged by category like games, news, productivity, etc., and are furthered displayed by best selling, top-free, and release date. You can also search by keyword or check out the most popular and featured apps.

Some apps are free and some cost a one time fee of between $.99-$4.99 and up. If you're a news junkie like me, you'll really love it. I've downloaded Time Magazine, NPR (radio and print stories), BBC READER, New York Times, USA Today, AP (Associated Press) and ABC News...all for free!

I really like that the BBC Reader will download their stories into the cache memory, once you connect via Wi-Fi so you can read the articles offline (when Wi-Fi is not available). NYT and AP will allow you to save articles that you can read offline as well. And the AP will deliver breaking news as long as you're connected... ALL FREE!!!

I've downloaded a dictionary, spell checker, facebook, Grimm's Fairytales and Alice In Wonderland books to read...all for FREE! I also got this free app called "Pandora" which is a radio station that will only play songs by artists that you want to hear. Too cool!

I know that I sound like a broken record with the "free" stuff but being a Verizon Wireless user, I'm sure other VZW customers feel me, I'm amazed that one can download and install quality, portable applications onto a device for no charge or subscription plan.

===== Other Fun Stuff =====

Calendar for appointments etc., contact phone book, clock, weather, calculator (you can download a free tip-calculator), notes and maps. These all come with the iPod Touch.

iTunes will keep the stuff (music, apps, videos) on your iPod, backed-up on your computer so you'll always have a copy of those things. And you can tell it which play-lists to sync so that you don't have to carry around your entire music/video library from your computer on the portable.

Anyway, I'm loving my iPod Touch and it was the perfect birthday gift to myself. It really is like having a mini-computer with you at all times. The only thing that's missing is a camera, but that's not a big deal at all. It's great for people who want an iPhone, but don't want AT&T's lousy service. I also love not having to pay a monthly subscription charge to Verizon for apps on my cell phone, now that I have the iPod Touch!

The only thing I would advise getting--in addition to the iPod--is the cover protector skin and screen protector mentioned earlier, and the Apple USB Power Adapter which will allow you to plug the USB cord into an electrical outlet (though it isn't necessary, it charges a lot faster than when it's charging from your computer).

Since this is my first iPod, I don't know how it stacks up against the previous versions. But this one is great and really addicting! So if you've been wondering if you should get one and you don't have an iPhone, have access to Wi-Fi, then I'd say...yes! The iPod Touch has so much to offer the user that you can find something to do with it even if you don't plan on using it as an MP3 player all that much.

*** A Note About iTunes ***

Even if you don't buy MP3s--I've only purchased about three from iTunes; the rest was from Amazon through credits from special purchases and iPod can play them--iTunes is really handy because it makes taking songs from CDs so easy by capturing them and turning them into MP3s. The program will even retrieve song and artist information for you so you don't have to label the file once you import it. From there you can make your own playlists and burn your own CDs from those playlists, not to mention carrying them on your iPod, so it's definitely worth it and really easy to use. - Ipod - Itouch - Mp3 Player - Ipod Touch'

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Great Price - good sound, wireless speakers

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I purchased these speakers two years ago refurbished for $89. I placed one speaker in a room that is 30 x 42 and connected it to a laptop and LCD projector and had an instant home theater. The remote can not turn on the speakers which doesn't make sense, but the sound is just fine. In my house I have a 5.8 ghz Uniden 4 phones system and G wireless router which does not interfere with the signal. If you have a 900 mhz phone or baby monitor nearby it might mess up as with any wireless device operating in the 900 spectrum. You can power the speakers with D size batteries or plug the speakers into an outlet which is the way I used it and have no problems. I saw a teacher in my building use the same speakers which made me decided to by a pair for myself. The speakers are close to the size of a 2 liter bottle and sound like computer speakers. You are not getting Bose quality speakers, so don't expect perfection. They are good computer quality speakers that give you wireless capabilities. Audio Unlimited Premium 900MHz Wireless Indoor/Outdoor Speakers withRemote and Dual Power Transmitter (White)

My 2 main disappointments upon plugging those in were:

1) Very poor sound quality, worse than pc speakers. This has nothing to do with signal reception - 1 feet away from the transmitter and the signal seemed strong with no interference. The sound is just muffled, similar to what you hear from those cheap tiny iphone speakers that sell for a few bucks.

2) Discovering these do not support stereo sound. Now, I know I should have paid more attention and noticed 'stereo' is not mentioned anywhere in the product description. I simply assumed that since the speakers were shipping in pairs and due to their popularity and price, that they must be stereophonic.

To conclude, there is simply no enjoyment to be had with this set. It feels like you've gone 30 years back in time in terms of music experience. Whatever advantage wireless brings in, goes away when the first few notes play.

If you care anything at all about the quality of sound you listen to, don't get these speakers. If wireless is a must, get something more expensive, preferably from a different company. I recommend you look for "stereo" in the product description and read all the 1 star reviews. If I was less compulsive, I would've been spared this purchase.

This is our second set of this speaker system, the first one having not survived a recent vicious storm, after three years of service in our back yard. If you are looking for top quality sound, these are not the speakers for you. But if you are looking for a serviceable set of wireless speakers that produce "outdoor BBQ" quality sound these fit the bill. The remote is nice for adjusting volume to fit the conversation levels around the speakers. For the price, they are a good reliable system. We did not experience the interference problems mentioned in other reviews and our base is proximate to a full wireless home office, including wireless router, printers, server and workstations.Our first set lived outside under our open porch roof for their entire three years. We just plugged an iPod into the base and turned the speakers on whenever we went outside, never bothering to bring them in when the weather was bad.

I have tried hooking these up both indoors and out, from 10 feet to 50 feet away but no matter what I try the sound is awful and there is a ton of interference. The auto tune does very little to improve things and changing the channel only means slightly less static. In addition it is not a real ipod dock, it only plugs into your headphone jack and will not charge your ipod.

These speakers use an analog RF link. They pick up a lot of interference resulting in a lot of static in the sound output. Its completely unbearable. These speakers are not cheap enough to justify this poor sound quality.

I have purchased five of these speakers in less than two years. I am a senior citizen and do not play sound full volume and have used speakers only occasionally (certainly not daily). After the first speaker passed the one year warranty period it developed horrible static and noise problems. I contacted Cables Unlimited and was told that the speaker could not be repaired and speaker was out of warranty, and they recommended buying new, which I did and purchased two more. Again, after the warranty period expired the speakers developed static and noise problems which made them unusable. i was told by Cables Unlimited that the manufacturer does not supply parts to repair the speakers and to look for a repair shop (which may or may not be able to fix the speakers) or buy new. Now, I have three unusable speakers that cannot just be discarded in the trash. As an environmentally concerned consumer, I abhor this waste and hopefully anyone thinking of purchasing these speakers will think twice about doing so given my experience. I just can't afford to keep purchasing new speakers after making these high price purchases and only getting probably less than a year's usage from them.

I've hesitated buying wireless outdoor speakers for quite a while, expecting poor sound quality. But I grew tired of always hauling my Bose system outside every time we wanted to entertain on our deck. When I received the Audio Unlimited speakers, I was immediately impressed with the great styling of the speakers and with the heavy construction. The quality LOOKED great. After only a moment or two (just long enough to drop in batteries), I was up and running. Again, I found myself impressed--this time with the ease of use. Finally, I powered up the system and found high-quality sound pouring out of the speakers.

The system is expandable, including availability of speakers designed to look like rocks. Now that I've seen the quality first-hand, I will expand this with some additional speakers quickly.

Finally, having this available for Prime shipping with Amazon was fantastic. I upgraded to one day shipping for about $4. This same option through a non-Prime shipper would have cost me nearly $60!!! Prime shipping rocks, and is key to me when I am selecting products. - Good Sound - Outdoor Speakers - Wireless Speakers - Great Price'

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Toshiba Battery - laptop batteries, laptop battery

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This is a great, inexpensive replacement battery for my Toshiba laptop. It works perfectly and gives me about 3 hours of battery life! A great improvement from the 10 minutes I could get on my old battery. Highly recommend. NEW Laptop Battery for Toshiba Satellite A105-S4211-S3262 A105-S4074 A105-S4084 A105-S4284 A105-S4384 M115-S3094 M115-S3104 M40-S269-S331-S359 M50

I recently bought an Anker replacement battery for my Toshiba Satellite A105-S4384 laptop from Amazon, and I am very happy with it. Works just like the OEM battery. Fit and finish is nice, in fact, it seems a little sturdier than my OEM Toshiba battery. The best thing is that it was about $26, as opposed to the OEM model's $45-75 pricetag. It does what I need it to do, and that's all I expect. I would definitely order again from Anker!

I thought I needed a new laptop since it couldn't hold a charge. Amazon had a great deal on a new power cord and battery. Come to find out, my battery was just really old. My new battery can hold a charge for 3 hours+ without plugging it in!

Once I got this, I was kicking myself for not buying it sooner. I'd suffered with a computer that shut off every time I unplugged it, even if only for a few seconds while I moved from one side of the room to the other. I didn't want to spend the $200 that I was told it would cost for a new Toshiba battery when I could buy a whole new computer for not much more. When I found this one I was skeptical, but I figured for the price I wasn't gambling that much and could send it back if it didn't work right. It has done everything I need it to do with no problems. Don't tell Amazon, but I would have been happy if I'd paid more than double. - Laptop Batteries - Laptop Battery - Toshiba Battery'

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