Tuesday, 22 December 2009

Michael Jackson


I just had to weigh In. This Is undoubtedly one of the greatest songs AND videos of all time.

And I am a Rock fan. The top 10 now would torture me. Yet his song and CD Thriller still sound fresh.

It's a slam 5 stars for sure. If not tell me what your using to measure? He helped set the bar! Thriller

Still one of the best songs ever. This is a timeless classic that never gets old. A song that stands alone. A song that should be in everyone's music collection.



This song mixes a dance type sound with the halloween type sound that has been beautifully created. When you listen to it you think about what it would have been like to create this sound with the voice of MJ and how it all came together.

Michael Jackson-Thriller Album Cover, Music Poster Print, 24 by 36-Inch



I first purchase the LP in December, 1982. I remember the sound as being just this side of brilliant.

By the time Billie Jean hit the air waves, I have move on to other artists.

Then the Thriller video hit and my interest was renewed.

All the songs are the best that any artist could ever want.

This has been always been one of my favorite songs! I even had the making of Thriller on VHS and always used to watch it every night during the summer as a kid (I was in love with MJ back then, this was back in the mid 90's).



I heard the orignal demo for this song called "Starlight"...all I can say is thank goodness he changed it to "Thriller" or else he wouldn't have had the same success lol...

While Beat It was Michael Jackson's signature song, Thriller seems like it's a close second. Despite the fact that it wasn't written by the singer, It still felt true to Michael Jackson's style.



This song is so cool, that its album became the best-selling album OF ALL TIME. And that is saying something.



What seems really odd (To me) about Thriller is that there are zombies involved within the environment of the song. Fortunately, the scenery was able to fit in.

bought this album when it first came out, and bought the anniversary album - which is great with his updated versions with Akon, Will.i.am, Fergie... it's still my favorite of his albums... but I love them all

After you download this song and it begins to play it only gets a couple of lines in before it stops...I got a better download off of a free sight than this. That's totally messed up! It makes me really mad that you have to jump through all the hoops just to open the song and it barely plays not even 10 seconds...come on now, REALLY! I might as well just light my dollar on fire, at least I would get a cool visual. If I could, I would give this download a negative rating because it was so bad.'


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Yoga Accessories - non-slip, yoga accessories


I disagree with the other person who reviewed this product. This towel is so much better than a regular hand towel during my 90 minute hatha yoga classes. I get pretty sweaty and the towel is super absorbent...it does not become heavy and wet like a regular hand towel. Manduka Small eQua Hand Towel (Magic)

This little towel is a handy portable size and pretty color, but it's so soft that it is pretty useless as a towel rather than an accessory. Imagine wiping velvet across your sweaty face - it just makes you feel gross and even a bit hotter. I tried blotting, but that was no good either.

I bought this towel along with the full size to put over my yoga mat. I use it to wipe my face during yoga. I loved it so much that I bought another to use whenever I do activities and sweat (dance and tennis). It absorbs the sweat really well and is much better than a hand towel. Sometimes I put it down in the car if I'm sweaty on my drive home. I think it absorbs better if you don't use fabric softener when you wash it....

I take power yoga in a heated room and prior to purchasing this I just used a washcloth from home to wipe sweat off my face. This soaks up the sweat so much better. It is an odd feeling if your used to just a normal hand towel but it is really obsorbant and does not get overly wet during class. Highly recomend this hand towel as well as the skidless large towel to put over your mat if you are taking a hot yoga class.

Love this towel! Great color, very soft and absorbent. I do hot yoga and this towel grips better with the Manduka black mat than yogitoes. It bunches a little but no more than yogitoes and doesn't interfere with my practice. Washes well with no fading or bleeding.

This towel is easy to pack and carry, lightweight and absorbent. The mat doesn't have the non-skid silicone feet that some other mat towels have, but it seems to do a fine job, especially after it gets a little damp.

I bought this product because my favorite yoga hand towels by Luminaire are no longer available. This towel is a complement to the larger one I bought. It's the perfect size, 'fluffy',absorbent and just as lightweight and easy to care for as my old ones. I do Bikram Yoga so I need a hand towel to wipe my face and neck during the class. It absorbs like there is no tomorrow, and stands up to regular washing. A perfect yoga hand towel.

Excellent product. I bought this for the job as I work at the shipyard and when the sun beats down on a metal ship, things start to bake at VERY high temperatures. I dont go anywhere without this thing in my back pocket. It literally sucks the sweat off my skin whilst still being gentle and stays dry all day even when you mop up your wet face.



If it can handle that, I am sure it can handle a simple workout at home.

I thought this towel was going to be something special but it's just a microfiber towel with the Manduka logo. It's priced a little higher than what I'd value it at but nothing extravagant. Get it if you're into name brands or save three to five dollars and buy a generic towel.



Pros -

Area, larger than a typical hand towel

Thickness, easily stowable



Neutral -

Texture, it's soft but I feel like I'm going to wash my car when I pick it up.



Con -

Cost, costs 20 - 33% more than comparable towels. - Non-slip - Yoga Towels - Yoga Accessories - Hot Yoga'


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Screen Protectors - screen protector, screen protectors


This protector goes on very easy and is invisible as long as you line it up right with your screen. the only problem I have is I bought this for my LG Vortex and it does not have the hole for the sensor that turns the screen off while your talking on it so I'll have to mark it out and use a hole punch to solve that problem. Also make sure you read the instructions carefully. This protector actually has 3 layers. a top and bottom layer of clear plastic that you peel off and throw away and the layer that stays on the phone. 5x LG Vortex VS660 Smart Phone Premium Clear LCD Screen Protector Cover Guard Film Kit, no cutting is required! Exact fit and satisfaction guaranteed!

It took a little while to receive these, but I can live with that. I didn't want to spend $20 on a screen protector, especially when I would need 3 of them for all the phones in the house. So I stumbled upon these, For the price, you can't beat it. Pick these up if you need a quality screen protector at the price of a cheeseburger.

I was very pleased that this was so easy to use. I have watched others I know try to cut their protective covers to fit and it was more than I have time to deal with. Just peel this and stick and your good to go. It appears that they will be removable and easily replaced as well.

The fit of these protectors is just slightly larger than easily fits on the whole screen...a minor side trim make them fit snugly and securely. Super price as these usually last a few months before becoming fogged by scratches...I would recommend these for anyone who is rough on their phone screen.

This item came very quickly which I was happy about. It fits the phone perfectly and is very easy to apply. It definately was exactly how the seller described it! It was a pleasure doing business with this seller. I would buy from them again anytime in the future if I ran across something I liked that they sold! - Lg - Screen Protector - Screen Protectors'


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Mat Bags - yoga accessories


I get so many compliments on my Yoga Sak wherever I go with it! It was surprisingly both larger & softer than I was anticipating too! Plenty of room for a lot more than just my yoga mat and incredibly light to carry. I'd recommend it to anybody!



I've definitely become a loyal customer of Aurorae as they have clearly perfected all of their products to a first-rate level of quality. I look forward to seeing what they come out with next! Aurorae Yoga Mat Bag "The Mat Sak" 100% Cotton Premium Ring Spun Denim

This bag is soft, and easy to use. My Aurorae yoga mat nestles in the bag comfortably. It is lightweight, and has an adjustable handle. The denim is soft, and goes with everything! I highly recommend this bag!

This is great denim bag that fits everything I have for my yoga class as well as a zip lock pocket for my car keys,wallet and jewelry, which I take off during class.



Quality is as nice as my expensive jeans and so soft yet light weight.

I'm not a yoga person. I have the Aurorae yoga mat for exercising and doing kettleworx so I never knew they even have a bag for yoga mat! These are so adorable! It's also durable. Love the pockets! It's also big enough to fit a towel. Like I said I don't do yoga, but this bag makes me want to go to yoga class!

I am new to yoga and purchased an Aurorae mat and ordered this this bag at the same time in the dark denim. I wasn't really sure what to look for in a bag so first I went for style and from there I diligently read the reviews. I loved that this is different from anything else I had seen. I loved it even more once I received it! The quality is excellent, the extra pockets on the front are great and there is plenty of room for my mat. I also like that it is very convenient to carry, the adjustable shoulder strap is very comfortable. I commend this company for creating such a quality product at a very reasonable price!

This yoga bag is awesome! If you're searching for a bag to hold two rolled mats, this is the bag for you. It also has two nice pockets to hold keys, socks, yoga strap, etc. I can't fit my blocks in it but I believe they would fit if I only had one mat instead of two. Besides functionality, it looks very cool - I get lots of comments from other yogis!

I just started yoga and when I realized I needed accessories, bag, mat, water, keys, change of cloths, yoga wear,towels, phone, money etc... I was overwhelmed. I wanted to get a quality bag that could carry everything at once. This item is doing the job. I found other items that were more expensive but didn't have all the accents, or the reviews said that they weren't durable. This bag has been a miracle blessing. It holds everything that I need plus the stuff I want. If you get carried away it can be tight, but it's doable with some creativity. Especially when you consider the price. The jean material helps it to have durability even when your bag is overstuffed and heavy. - Yoga Accessories'


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Accurate Scale - postage scale, digital scale tare accurate


This product is extremely easy to use and very accurate! When using battery power instead of the AC adapter, it even turns off after not being used for a while to preserve battery life. I would recommend this product to anyone that needs to weigh items under 75lbs! Very pleased with my purchase. Weighmax 2822-75 lbs capacity, Blue,Postal Shipping Scale, Battery and AC Adapter Included

I bought this scale so I could use the free USPS.com mailing service. The scale I got from one of the commercial mailing services did not have a digital read-out and only worked with their online service. Needless to say, it was useless when I discontinued the commercial mailing service. The cost of this scale was about the same as one month of the commercial service and I can mail boxes and packages using the free USPS.com mailing service using this scale. It is easy to use, very intuitive, and works well. The range of weights is also helpful since the limit of priority mailing is 70 lbs. It is a good buy!

I received the Weighmax 2822-75 lb capacity scale that I purchased at Amazon.com. It arrived on time and in perfect condition. I sell on line and need to be able to take a picture of the items on the scale and the weight window. It worked very well. I am pleased with the purchase. I would certainly purchase from this supplier again. Thanks!!!

I started selling on-line and I thought I needed a nice scale to weigh the items and print the shipping labels from home to save some time and money. Started looking around in Amazon for scales that had over 4 stars average rating and also some nice reviews. It was between a food scale and a postal scale. At first i thought about going with a food scale since those are more accurate with small items, but then I went with the WeighMax 2822-75lb Digital Postal Scale in case I had to ship heavy items in the future and so far I haven't been disappointed. After shipping a few items under 1lb I have found out that this scale is very accurate and the items have been off by 0.2oz the most compared to the postal scale of the Post Office.



I always keep the scale plugged in on my desk and haven't tested it with the battery yet. It is small enough so it doesn't take that much space. I first tested the accuracy of the scale with dumbbells and I was worried at first because I would get different numbers with different dumbbells of the same weigh (10lb) but after figuring out that those things are cheaply made and are only meant to build muscle so they don't have to be very accurate.... and after shipping a few items, i was finally satisfied that this is a great scale.



Even though this review is for the blue scale, I'm sure the black and the gray ones are the same. - Postage Scale - Accurate Scale - Shipping Scale - Digital Scale Tare Accurate'


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Hp Ac Adapter


Absolutely love this product! This makes my third power block for my HP laptop and it came even better than what was shown in the photo! It runs very cool for my laptop (unlike another off brand charger I bought that would literally burn your skin) and it has a very lord cord which is so helpful. It seems to be put together very well and not cheap-like. Would definitely buy this again if I lost it or accidentally broke it! HP ED495AA 90 Watt Smart AC Adapter

They work just fine, and seem to really be original HP issue. But the ones I got were in opened boxes and had clearly been at least uncoiled. I presume, therefore, that they were used, not new. But for the price, I'm not complaining - they work just like new.

The best thing about this was the speed in which it arrived - I ordered it on a Tuesday, and it arrived TWO DAYS LATER, on a Thursday. Considering the date-of-arrival was listed as 4-14 days, that's great.

The shipped sent me out the product ASAP I recieved it about 4 or 5 days sooner than I had anticipated, which was great because my power adapter had died. I began having issues with the new one. I happened to be up late into the night so I emailed the seller at 12:58 am I had a response by 1:05 am. He very quickly got me a new adapter! A+++++++

I was very disappointed to find that this "universal adapter" was NOT compatible with my laptop, even though the advertisement claims it is. When I tried to return the item because it wasn't compatible, PCUniverse DENIED me. I could'nt be more dissatisfied with my experience. BIG WASTE OF MONEY.'


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Fishing Rod - travel rod, travel pack


It's an awesome rod, great action and i love it. It has one drawback, the sections

keep coming apart on hard casting.--To correct the problem i had to glue two of the four sections together and make it a two piece rod. I would not trade this rod

for anything. Guy Eagle Claw Pack-It Spin and Fly Rod (4 Piece)

I have owned three of the Eagle Claw pack-it rods over the past 30+ years. My grandfather bought me one when I was 15, and that lasted for many years. Most recent purchase (#3) was to replace #2 which was damaged by no fault of its own. They are great for back packing, but the action is good enough for an everyday pole as well. I have used the pole for fly fishing as well as spin-casting, and it works well for both - again, more than just "good enough", a real reasonable pole for all seasons and purposes. No doubt that you can buy a better pole, but for the money you'd be hard pressed to find something better. And if you back pack, this is a must-have. - Travel Pack - Travel Rod - Fishing Rod - Portable'


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Driving Directions - driving directions, navigation


While the updated data base was the desire and achieved purpose of getting the latest version, it sufers from classic Microsoft update. Ease of use is severely impacted. My favorite means of navigation was to selct a region and tehn zoom in, you can't do that any more. Now you have to center and zoom, then re-center and zoom, not nearly as easy or effecient.



Also, as a program that needs to be "activated" it is no longer convienent to have on multiple computers. This substantially degrades the value of the product. Streets and Trips 2010

The new "Streets and Trips" can only be used and registered on one computer.

Would not buy it again for this reason.

Shuts off the second computer automaticly after a 60 days trial. Since I need to use Streets and Trips at home and on my web book while driving its useless for me.

All the older versions could be used on multiple computers. Microsoft should have put a warning sign at the outside of the package about their policy change.

Alfred Voll

I had an older version of this and liked it. The "2010" version is not up to date. A local freeway that is at least 3 years old is not even on the map! In addition, the software can only be installed on one computer, so I can't have it on my laptop and desktop unless I buy it twice. If I had known these two facts, I wouldn't have bought it.

I have no idea how well the 2010 version of Streets and Trips operates but, I have the 2005 edition and it works great. I ordered the 2010 edition for a more updated version and found that it doesn't work on my Windows XP system. Unfortunately for me I found this out the hard way by ordering through Amazon and trying to install on my system and receiving a message stating this. Amazon's description of system requirements stated that it did run on XP. Well since it had been opened and I (absent of mind) trusted Amazon's description, it has cost me 15% of my money on the return. I called them and told them of their error online and they were not going to change the information stated for the product. Needless to say I thought it would be good to let people know not to buy if they had a Windows XP operating system. I still need a undated mapping program and Amazon will not be getting my order. Hope they like the 15% because they will not be getting any more from me.

MS Streets and Trips 2010...lousy upgrade from '08. Lots of area data not current, up to 2 yrs out of date!. Many routes improperly computed. Does not "talk" or see other gps units as advertised. VERY POOR PRODUCT...SAVE YOUR MONEY...GARMIN STILL BEST! - Navigation - Driving Directions - Maps - Streets And Trips'


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Pirates Of The Caribbean - action, johnny depp


Let me start this review by saying the 3 Stars is not for the movie itself, or necessarily the package, because I am sure it will be great. I myself, maybe I might be overrating it, but I loved this movie. I thought it was much closer to the fun and surprise of the first movie, and not the bad dialogue and pacing issues of the second and third. Depp was great as usual, the new villain was awesome, and the movie was so much fun! It wasn't flawless, but it was really good.



Now as for this package, I would be more than happy to buy it. However, Disney really did a good job of ripping off the buyers who don't have a 3D TV.



This is not the only edition of the movie on Blu-Ray, but this is the best one to buy. The five disc set consists of The 3D Blu Ray disc of the movie, a standard Blu Ray edition, a special features disc on a REGULAR blu-ray, a DVD copy, and a Digital Copy of the film. So what's the problem? Well me myself, I do not own a 3D player, but I love special features on Blu-Ray discs and for DVD's, so I like to buy the edition where I can have all of my special features.



However, what Disney did with this release is they put the standard Blu-Ray disc with all of the special features ONLY IN THIS RELEASE! In the other Blu Ray release of this film, it only includes the movie on Blu-Ray and the Movie on DVD. No special Features Disc to be found, but it is in this version.



This is really scummy by Disney because not only do standard people who don't want a copy of it in 3D get ripped off of special features, but also us who like our features will have to dig out some more money to pay for it. This edition is about 5-10 dollars more expensive than the standard Blu Ray and not only because of the extra disc, but because of the 3D!



It really makes me annoyed because I love special features, and I thought this movie was really good! But I am going to have a tough decision to make whether to buy this edition or not. I don't know, what do you guys think? Me myself? I might not even end up buying the movie because of this. Darn shame, I was looking forward to getting it. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Five-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy)

I'm living in South Korea. Here they just released the 3D Blu-Ray of "Pirates of Caribbean 4' ahead of States.

Guess I don't need to babble about the movie itself . What I did care only was the 3D effects with my Sony

3D A/V systems. Conclusion: Getting better everyday nowadays. Can't go back to 2D Dayz anymore.

For number 4 in this series, this bad boy isn't a stinker. I did miss Bloom and Knightley, but Depp is still good/bad ol Cap'n Jack, and Rush is back as well bringing his creepy elements to the whole story. Penelope Cruz adds a little feminine touch as the daughter (? is she or isn't she?) of the infamous Blackbeard.



And speaking of feminine touch. I will NEVER look at a mermaid quite the same way again. Shudder. Who knew?



If you are a big fan of Depp and Captain Jack you will probably need to watch this at least once. And if you are waffling as to whether to invest your money and your time in number 4... Red Box or Netflix it. A few laughs, some neat special effects, a couple of fights, some nastiness and those mermaids....ugh.

I am a big fan of the Pirates movies and Johnny Depp. The third one was my least fav but have watched it over and over. This movie was fantastic contrary to what the critics said. What is wrong with them??? Maybe they didn't see the same movie?? All the actors were fantastic, the storyline was great and fresh and the humor was at times rib splitting for me. The bed scene with Barbossa, Jack and the skeleton of Ponce de Leon is hysterical. Penelope Cruz did a great job as a pirate both going up against and laying down with our Jack Sparrow!! Lucky girl!! The story was new and different------but still had the same magic of the pirates and some of the old familiar faces and fall backs to the other movies and of course Jack's humor and tricks but added new faces and different locations. I loved it and highly recommend it! Can't wait till #5 comes out!

Here is a rule of thumb. Each Pirate movie is exponentially worse than the one previous. The first being a classic, the second being highly entertaining, but not quite as special as the first. The 3rd was a bloated mess. The 4th was worse yet with a pointless plot and phoned in performances by most of the acting core. I fear for the 5th, but based on my infallible observations, it will be less than garbage.



Do not buy this unless you are a DEVOTED fan of the Pirates franchise.

This movie pales in comparison to the first. It is not as good as the second or third either. It is bad enough that I actually had to stop watching it and take a break. It just seems cheesy to the point of being stupid. There are a few scenes that make it watchable though. The mermaid scene is really cool and reminds me of the quality of the first movie alot. Other than that it looks like this series has run its course.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides follows the same formula as the first three movies, monsters, treasure and swashbuckling, but it do not manage to live up to the awesomeness of the first trilogy. The story this time around is that the Spanish, the English and Captain Blackbeard all want the fountain of youth so three ships set sail. Jack Sparrow get involved with this and the race in on, who will get to the fountain first. Now this is not a bad movie, it is entertaining but the plot lack the twists and turns that made the first three movies so fun.This movie suffer from the beating a dead horse for money syndrome. The first trilogy rounds of and ends the story nicely, however as a result of that both Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner was taken out of the picture, now I am glad those that made this film did not decide to ruin that ending and bring those two back, however them missing from the character list give Jack Sparrow very few balancing points and also drives the number of sub plots and plot twists down to almost nothing. Yes they do bring in some new characters but the chemistry just is not there. The fact of the matter is, this movie never needed to be made, the original trilogy have one, contained storyline, that ends. This movie is just made so Disney can milk a few more bucks out of their franchise. Now as for the humor, a big part of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are the humor, and yes this movie to was funny, but while I in the first trilogy would laugh so hard my eyes would water up, this one was humerus at times but they tried to hard, with over acting and very contrived situations, many of which just where not funny, several times I could not suspend my disbelief because the acting was just bad, not the entire movie mind you bit in some of the scenes, it was like if Disney just said, ah people will buy this film anyway, it is a best selling franchise let us just not give a *beep* about if a scene turns out bad, let us just churn it out anyway, the movie is sloppy.Now I am not saying that Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides is a bad movie, it have many good scenes, the action is entraining, the story is good and the special effects is often very well done, especially during the mermaid battle. (it is like Disney got tired of hearing how sweet and innocent their mermaids are, for these will rip your face of an enjoy it.) If you like the first three movies in the series I am sure you will enjoy this, it is not bad, it is just that when watching the first three movies I looked down when it was over and saw my popcorn untouched in my hand, the movies had sucked me into it's story making me forget everything else from the first scene until the credits rolled, this movie is merely ok. It is a ok fantasy movie but it is sub par to the rest of the series and it also feels very tacked on.I recommend this movie to fantasy, swashbuckling and action fans, but if you expect it to be of the same caliber as the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, then prepare to be disappointed. If you just want two hours of entertainment of the fantastical sort then this movie will provide that and do so fairly well. - 3d - Johnny Depp - Action - Pirates Of The Caribbean'


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Real Time Strategy - fantasy, black and white


I'm a huge fan of Fable, Populous and Black & White. I got Black & White 2 the moment it came out, and dove into playing it. Was it worth the long wait?



First, make sure you download the 100mb patch before you start playing. Any save games you make will be incompatible with the patch, and the patch fixes a TON of bugs. It sort of makes you wonder about the QC process, if this was released on the same day as the software was. But in any case, at least they fixed the problems quickly.



The game is classic good-bad choices from Peter Molyneux - the creator of fantastic open ended games where you can choose your own destiny. In B&WII this is very much a combination of Creatures and Age of Empires. You are building up your town - placing buildings to please the villagers, tending farms, mining ore. You are also training your creature to be responsible - watering the gardens, entertaining the villagers. That being said you can instead choose to be an evil overlord - starving your villagers, taking over nearby towns, causing destruction.



The first B&W really went overboard on the creature micro-management. You were more of a creature nanny than a God. Some people might have enjoyed that - and there are certainly enough NintenDogs and NeoPet games out there to soothe those people who want to spent 24 hrs a day raising a pet. I really found it quite tedious to sit there slapping and petting an animal, when I was a god with a civilization to build. I'm thrilled that they have the whole creature thing much more reasonable. It still takes your attention to set the creature on its path, but you don't have to spend hours on it. You're a God after all.



By the same token, if you're looking for a high end killer war - strategy game, this just isn't it. This isn't meant to be like a Command & Conquer or other war engine. War is an aspect of the game, yes, but you are encouraged to bring in people by impressing them just as much as by conquering them.



The graphics are of course stellar. There are tons of villagers, each with his or her own name, personality and job, wandering around the village doing tasks. Each tree and flower can be interacted with individually. The sounds are reasonable, with a nice soundtrack that isn't hard to listen to repeatedly as you go through the game using different creatures and aiming for different alignments.



The shining essence of this game is of course the choices you make. As you make evil creatures, the world gets more and more grim through each level - and your creature begins to look really violent and depraved. If you choose to make good creatures, the world reacts to that quite amazingly, and your creature reflects those choices. Even the ground on which he / she walks reflects that nature.



In the end, you could probably play through the game in 1-2 days, on a single pass. But the fun in the game is to replay it with different creatures and different aims, to see how it affects your world. In this sense it's very much like Fable, a game that was amazingly fun to replay. I found this an extremely well balanced game between the town building, creature taming and god-like powers. Enjoy! Black & White 2

For those that have played the original B&W, and who remember all that frustrating micromanaging, will certainly applaud Lionhead for finally working all that out. For some the new question is "What took you so long?" But for this review the question is "What new problems are there now?"



Newcomers will certainly be awed by the look and feel of this game, and will certainly enjoy watching their creature (I enjoy the cow myself ^^) grow and learn into their ideal beast. Even the old folks can't deny how awesome these creatures look, and are probably just as relieved to see how much more control they have on what their creature will do. But experienced gamers know that good games aren't all "just looks".



In my opinion: I love it. Graphically the game is 98% what I expected. One of my few issues with the graphics is that the people don't have functional facial features (since I don't know what the technical description is, I'm just peeved that nothing on their face actual moves... no talking, blinking... kind of lower standard as to what I was expecting, but allowable). The music is great; if I could I'd put it all on a CD and listen to it all the time. Thankfully, they aren't repeating the same story line (from what I've seen, I'm only 60% through the game) over again from the old one. Of course, you control everything through your hand and have that nifty toolbar to help you out when you need something done. Beats having to go all over the map to find out how many disciples you have how many resources you have stocked, what's going on where... you get the picture. If all these are what made a great game, I'd be tempted to give it 5 out of 5 stars.



Now, here's what you NEED TO KNOW before you commit to buying this game! First off, you will need a shy bit of a high end computer (or a little bit). Certainly might want to think about investing more ram (I'm going to aim for two 512 chips myself) before you get this game. It really sucks when the loading times take forever due to limited ram or slow processor. Speaking of which, you may, depending on what you are willing to spend, want to see about getting a new processor! There can be a heck of a lot going on your screen at once, so never hurts to see if you got the processing power (and then some) to handle it! Of course a good graphics card is most likely a BIG must, but that kind of goes without saying. The space is 3 gigs and a half I think, so just keep that in mind. All that said that's what you should know about the technical stuff. My computer is due for both more ram and probably a new processor, but right now the game runs fine with the exception of the choppy cut scenes (bummer I know, but I blame either the ram or the processor, because the game runs just great when I'm just playing).



Now, a little more about the game. FROM what I see, the creature's size does not grow to be any where near as big as in the original game, cause then I'd think the creature would just hop over the walls and have the run of the town. I suppose they did that so it wouldn't be TOO easy for the creature to destroy the platoons, or the buildings for that matter. After all, gotta give those little people a fighting chance, right? Your alignment, as before is another feature that makes this game so darned purdy. As it changes, the land that's under your influence, or anywhere your hand TOUCHES, is affected and changes accordingly. Example: Evil makes everything look so horribly depressing and ruined, and good is all flowers and bright colors. I'd have to say that that they did a good job rendering all that!



Now your creature is a little different. You can make him good or evil based on his actions, and of course he will change in appearance. However, he will undergo some minor changes at each no land. Example: My ape was 100% evil by the Norse land (second or third), and he really just looked more like a thug. Now I'm on the 5th or 6th area and he's starting to turn black and his hair is falling out in places, as well as his entire look just getting MEANER. Of course your creature will grow in size, and at your discretion get buffer and/or fatter, and so on and so forth, so you do have a LOT of control over his appearance than just if he's a good or bad little monster. Oh, another nifty thing that I just LOVE. As your creature moves around the areas that he walked on (touched?) ALSO changes to reflect his alignment. Now that's a good touch and kudos to the folks who kept an eye on appearance of this game.



Let's talk about your cities now. This is in nature a strategy game, but it is a different kind of strategy than what we're all used to. Even for those who have played the original B&W may find this remodeled system to be intriguing. You have many choices on how you can rule, but to sum them up the game explains them as being either good, bad, or neutral (for the record, neutral just means nothing really changes but your not slave to any decisions.) To be good you are NOT aloud to take over ANY towns (don't mean you can't from time to time.) To be evil you are NOT aloud to do anything that one could define as "NICE" (don't mean you won't if it benefits YOU). Your city will either be a large spread out town full of flowers, which is the general strategy for the good choice. Or it will be buildings atop buildings and people crammed into less than humane living conditions (heck you'll probably kill a few to feed your creature or sacrifice one to cast meteor on an invading platoon outside your walls). My point is that you do have a choice, and you are ALOUD to change your mind. One island you might be focusing completely on being evil, and then you just might have a change of heart at some point and then start aiming to be good. The transition will take a while to change and you won't see the changes right away, but that just depends how long you plan to be playing.



All this is a plus, but what comes next may disappoint a few... The War system. Okay, I say the pretty screen shots while anxiously waiting for it to come out, and I woulda thought without a doubt that your creature was more than just a "siege weapon" for the army. I thought he'd actually give ORDERS or something, ya know, be your GENERAL. Maybe I've not played it far enough, but this was a bit of a disappointment. I STILL don't know what the purpose of him "Inspiring the Troops" or what ever it's called is, but hey it kinda looks nifty! Oh, and when fighting the little platoons, the creature can be really stupid. He could kick into thin air because his foot was a shy bit too high, or he could hop around and NEVER hit one unit that didn't give chase to it, BUT the game does stress upgrading his roles so maybe he just isn't "leveled enough".



Stupid AI in my opinion...



Here's another downer. You don't fight the creature vs. creature fights anymore. He does it all himself based on soldier level, muscle, fatness, fitness, etc. This is cool to watch, and makes sense as to why you don't do it cause you have a bunch of platoons to be looking after, BUT still it would be nice to be able to tell it where to strike and when to block. Ya know, that all would be cool to control, BUT I'm not complaining as long as I always win >:D. For the record, don't think making platoons is a waste of time. Some of the enemy's platoons could kill your creature in seconds without some good back up. So if you designed your creature to be a war machine, support him with archers. That OR make a big platoon of footmen and use them as your main front instead.



The last thing, and my least favorite thing, is how the tribute system works. You know those big epic miracles that game was boasting? Ya know the volcanoes, or the siren? Will, you need to buy the buildings that make that using "tribute", Which is god money really, WHICH is only earned when you've hit some sort of mile stone or completed one of your objectives (like quests). Now, that's all fine and dandy, but while saving up that 400k for the first epic (the siren) you are passing up new buildings you can build, miracles you could use, and upgrades for your creature and town. But now I've gotten to the point where you get a LOT of tribute for doing things, but the problem is that it takes forEVER to get enough. Oh, and if you wanna make volcanoes, you need to buy the 1mil building (which are called wonders for the record) to be able to do that. Hey, if the game had any real fault, I'd say that would be it.



All right. The last points that I have to make. I said you would get the most out of the game TRIBUTE CONCERNED by going neutral because you'll be able to complete both the town and the army missions without being biased to any alignment. What you are missing is mostly appearance and style, and you then are simply playing the game to get through it. However, that's only if you are just doing ANYTHING without care of what alignment you are. You can do all the alignments with style, you just gotta find out what works best for you. Another point is that the tutorials are good enough to help you along, so make sure you pay your consciences good attention (no matter how gross that evil one is, sometimes he has got a point). Some glitches are mostly concerned with the creature, though I blame laggy ram for that.



If you haven't preordered it yet or what not, or put any money on it at all, get your facts straight cause you don't want to go through a total computer makeover to just run a game that you're gonna wanna take back tomorrow. That said, this game I wanna give 4.5 stars for, but because I've not completed it yet it's getting 4 stars to be on the safe side. I'm glad I got my copy of it, and wouldn't trade it for the world. Lets just hope that any "expansion packs" they add to this game can fix a few problems and present some new options. - Video Games - Black And White - God Game - Fantasy'


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The Complete Personal Finance Handbook: Step-by-Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future is the kind of book that everyone needs when they are starting out on their own. We all know that high school and college graduates aren't going to listen to their parents, but this book is well organized and emphasizes the old fashioned virtues of frugality. The chapters on debt are a particular point of emphasis if you have a college student who has just discovered the allure of other people's money. It doesn't take very long for a twenty-something to run up a lifetime's worth of debt if he isn't careful, and while this book provides some good advice about credit repair and debt reduction, the best advice it gives is to avoid that kind of situation altogether. I was also particularly impressed with the concise information on mortgages. This is a subject that can get confusing pretty quickly and it's full of timely advice considering the mortgage crisis we are undergoing right now. A lot of people could have avoided a major financial headache if they had followed the advice in this handy little guide. If I had a child going off to college in the fall, this book would be going with him. The Complete Personal Finance Handbook: A Step-by-Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future With Companion CD-ROM

The Complete Personal Finance Handbook: Step-by-Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future is a real good book. I've read several Suze Orman books and Your Money or Your Life and other such tomes. And I've tossed aside several books on personal finance that couldn't hold my interest past a couple pages. But because of Personal Finance Handbook's comprehensiveness, clarity of explanation, detail and upbeat tone many will consider it their finance bible.

The book starts with budgeting and moves step-by-step through saving (in a multitude of ways), keeping track of your money, banking, the thrill of compound interest, financial advisors, insurance, investing and more.

"Now You Know" charts recap the chapters' main points. And gently, but frankly the book helps people through the emotional aspect of handling money. For example: budgeting and saving bring peace of mind. Yet, if you're in financial trouble, this book will help you without shaming you. Finally, Personal Finance Handbook contains helpful appendices, glossary and index.

The book's only fault is its lack of spacing between words and sentences in the foreword.

The Complete Personal Finance Handbook: Step by Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future by Teri B. Clark (Comes with a companion CD-Rom)



Boy! Don't we all need financial guidance, especially in today's economy? According to Clark, balancing what we need and want with what we have available to spend is the biggest part of the battle. Who could disagree? That balancing part is also known as budgeting, a much maligned word.

According to Juan Ciscomani, Senior Instruction Specialist at Credit-Wise Cats, who wrote the forward to Clark's powerful little handbook, most people think of budgeting as denying oneself the pleasures of life. Not so, he corrects. Instead, budgeting is a way to take control on one's financial life, and Clark's book shows us how.

Like most things, knowledge is the key to success and Clark has a whole batch of keys, and they all hang on a ring called "budget." If you're just starting out in your financial life, this book was written for you. If you're planning for your retirement, this book is for you. If you're going down for the third time in a sea of debt, this book's for you.

Chapter one starts of with a simple explanation of the whys and wherefores of budgeting. Clark calls it a game plan which sounds a lot more appealing than

In our current economic climate personal finance has become the priority of many. Pitfalls abound, so the need for sound financial guidance is critical for all consumers - those who are financially sound and those navigating rough waters. In order to prevent financial disaster, or recover from one, it is imperative that we learn to control our money so our money doesn't control us.



The Complete Personal Finance Handbook: Step-by-Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future begins with the logical first step of creating and analyzing a budget. That information is supplemented in the next chapter on banking; the author helps you navigate the banking system and gives sound instruction on keeping your accounts balanced to keep your budget in tact.



The following chapters on saving, wealth management, insurance, and retirement are designed to help you keep more of your money and put it to work. Then, The Complete Personal Finance Handbook: Step-by-Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future addresses the wise use of credit, how to avoid bankruptcy, and improving your credit history if you have already made some mistakes.



The chapter on buying a home is particularly relevant since so many are making their first foray into real estate. The Complete Personal Finance Handbook: Step-by-Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future is an invaluable primer for the first-time home buyer to navigate the terminology and processes involved in buying a home.



The included appendices in The Complete Personal Finance Handbook: Step-by-Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future give the readers sample documents, checklists, and worksheets to manage every aspect of your finances.



Knowledge is power, and The Complete Personal Finance Handbook: Step-by-Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future gives you the power correct or improve your financial future whether you are financially stable or financially troubled.

Need to learn how to balance a budget, buy a home, or save enough money so you can retire in style? In her book, " The Complete Personal Finance Handbook," author Teri B. Clark presents personal financing in a clear and concise manner. In 16 easy-to-understand chapters, she teaches the reader how to organize one's budget, buy a home, invest smartly, save for your children's college, hire a personal planner, and much more.



This is, in my opinion, the most common-sense book on home financing yet, as the author uses simple language and lots of real-life examples throughout the text. In addition to the different real-life case studies, the author provides a plethora of handy appendices at the end of the book that contain tools like Q and A sheets for your stock broker or a financial advisor, sample real-estate contracts, and much more. A glossary of terms also allows a quick glance in case readers want to look up a certain financial term.



What I especially liked in this book were detailed descriptions of various financial scams out there and how to protect yourself and avoid them. Also eye-opening was a lengthy but interesting chapter on saving for retirement, along with financial charts and other tools. This handy little book should be a part of everyone's library because saving money should be everyone's concern. - Budgeting - Money Advice - Finance - Debt'


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