Outdoor Power - outdoor power, snow blower

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I had the opportunity of using this electric snow blower/thrower last season when it came on the market. I'm surprised this is the first review. I have a short driveway, approximately 16' deep and 1-1/2 car widths wide. As this is not my primary residence, I was not there when the snow fell so I was unable to clear freshly fallen snow. The snow that I had to clear was 8-10" taller than the Snow Demon and was a combination of slush (on the driveway at the bottom) and then packed snow, a layer of ice (where the snow had melted and re-frozen)more packed snow and one more layer of ice on the top. I had never used a snow blower in my life and did not know what to expect. I got out my extension cord, plugged it in (there's a place to clip the cord so it does not pull out or fall, hit the safety button and pulled the handle to crank it up. It worked remarkable well from the gate. It is very quiet, very smooth (does not jump or hop around)and clears about 16" wide at a time. It shot the loose, slushy snow fifteen to twenty feet plus, as it was throwing it downhill. When the adjustable, directional shoot is facing forward, the snow is thrown a little further than when it is off to either side. The snow is easily thrown 12-15' when it is thrown 90 degrees to either side. The blades are a tough, flexible rubber that clears down to the ground. It almost squeegees the ground. The blades picked up small rocks, pine cones, pine needles and other debris. It is not made for that but tossed this dirty snow out of my way. The blades would occasionally get wedged with some of this debris, but letting go of the dead mans throttle would instantly turn the motor off. It was then a simple matter of clearing the blades and I was back in business. It comes with a short dowel for clearing, but I never used it. The only problem I encountered was with the type of snow that I was disposing of. Since I had a layer of ice in the middle, I had to "bang" the Snow Demon against the bank to chip away at the pile. This worked exceptionally well, although it took longer than if it was all slush, all powder, or all freshly fallen snow. I suspect that if it was ice free snow, the job would have taken my far less time than it did. I worked close to an hour clearing my driveway. This is how long it would have taken me to just dig a walkway from the street to the door with a shovel. The Snow Demon held up well. Nothing cracked, broke, chipped or came loose. There was virtually no wear on the rubber blades, so I believe that they will last for years. For the price (especially), design, functionality, looks and ease of use, you can not go wrong with this item. The handle and directional shoot are easily detachable for storage in it's original box. Derrik DuroStar SD1300 Snow Demon 16-Inch 9.7 Amp Electric Snow Thrower

I am very happy with the Model SD1300 Snow Demon. I purchased a model at the end of last winter for my cabin in the mountains and it did a great job of clearing my driveway and walk way. I put several hours of use on it and it worked well exceeding my expectations. The instruction manual needs to be improved but it was pretty easy to assemble anyway. We just bought a second unit to send to my father for Christmas. He has a larger gasoline snow thrower and has trouble maneuvering it so this light weight electric model should be able to do the basics for him.

I bought this snowblower as a backup to my old gas engine blower. I seem to always have trouble getting the gas blower to start up every winter and the noise bothers my neighbors. The snow demon worked great. It cleared my driveway and walkway and it was a lot easier to maneuver and carry up the steps to my walkway. I also like it because its lightweight and I store it by hanging it on my garage wall. I like the snow demon and I would recommend it to my friends.

This machine is very light weight. This can be a good and a bad thing. Yeah it clears the snow, but I have to lean it forward a little for the blades to really touch the ground. If you want it to really work good, you better hit that snow right when it falls. Once it packs ANY, the machine will go right over it. We had to go behind with the shovel in some spots. We only got 2-3 inches.



For this to be my first snow blower, I have to say I was disappointed.

We received our shipment on time and as expected. I had some trouble putting the machine together due to a piece of the plastic molding being in the way of inserting the lower handle bar. After a bit of machine surgery I got that part fixed.



A few days later we got our first snow of the season. After reading all the reviews prior to purchasing the snow blower I thought for sure we'd found the holy grail of snow blowers. Turns out this snow blower doesn't blow snow. Not even a little bit. I'd say we had maybe 3 inches of snow by the time I decided to go out and brave the weather. It was heavy snow, perfect for building a snow man. I fired up the snow blower, got about 3 feet, and it quit. I shook off the built-up snow, started it up again, quit. This went on about 5 more times until I realized I wasn't getting anywhere. I don't know what it was but this machine doesn't have the power to handle anything. I'm sure it'd be fine in the light, powdery stuff, but so would my shovel. I really thought this machine would help me but it did nothing but create a problem.



Now I have to figure out how to take it apart and fit it back in the box for a return. I'm disappointed.

I knew it was going to be cheap but I didn't think you could make a snow blower with that much plastic. It seems to work best with 2-3 inches of light snow. Used twice on 70ft driveway. Wing nuts can't keep blower in direction you want. No way it throws up to 25ft unless 30-40 mph wind. Does clear OK. Motor stuggles over 4in snow. Don't let snow get too deep.

I ended up returning this product. Maybe for extremely light snow it may work, but for upstate New York winters this simply does not cut it. Someone mentioned it cleared 18 inches of show; I had trouble getting it to clear 2 feet when we first got it, and even 2 inches after we got our driveway plowed. I was extremely disappointed with this purchase. I also think it was returned from someone else, as some parts were already put together and one of the screws was stripped. Guess we're back to shoveling for now. - Electric Snow Thrower - Snow Blower - Snow Thrower - Outdoor Power'

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Outdoor Power - outdoor power, snow blower outdoor power Outdoor Power - outdoor power, snow blower

Memory Card - 8gb, blueproton

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Introduced on January 17, 2011, the SanDisk Extreme Pro is the fastest SD card to date. At 45MB/s (45 Megabytes per second, read *and* write), this card is 1.5x faster than its predecessor, the SanDisk Extreme [8GB, 16GB, 32GB], which is rated 30MB/s (class 10). Like its predecessor, the SanDisk Extreme Pro comes in storage capacities of 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB.



- UHS Speed Class 1

This SD card is rated UHS Class 1 (commonly denoted as UHS-I or UHS-1). The UHS-I speed class rating was introduced by the SD Association in June 2010, and should not be confused with the older speed class rating that designates a memory card as class 2, class 4, class 6, and class 10 (for write speeds of at least 2 MB/s, 4 MB/s, 6 MB/s, and 10 MB/s, respectively). Memory cards that are rated UHS-I support data transfer speeds of up to 104 MB/s.



As an aside, on January 5, 2011, the SD Association announced yet another speed class rating -- UHS Class 2 (UHS-II or UHS-2) -- for memory cards that support data transfer speeds of up to 312 MB/s.



- Compatibility

This SD card is backwards compatible with any device that supports SDHC (SD, High Capacity) and SDXC (SD, Extended Capacity). SDHC cards are memory cards that have capacities that range from 4GB to 32GB (FAT 32 file system). SDXC cards are memory cards that have capacities that range from 64GB to 2TB (exFAT file system).



I have no trouble using this card on my older devices, such as my Canon Rebel XSi (introduced in January 2008), HP iPAQ 111 (introduced in September 2007), and a generic memory card reader.



- Performance

A faster speed rating does not mean faster performance. To take full advantage of the 45 MB/s speed, you will need a device that supports the new UHS bus interface (the Nikon D7000 is currently the only such device that I know of).



My rebel XSi is, not surprisingly, unable to take advantage of the UHS bus interface. I ran some tests to see how the SanDisk Extreme Pro stacked up to each of my class 4, class 6, and class 10 SD cards by noting the time it took the Rebel to write data from its buffer to each of the SD cards.



The results:

Class 4: ~9 sec (Kingston)

Class 6: ~10 sec (Transcend)

Class 10: ~6 sec (RiData)

UHS Class 1: ~6 sec (SanDisk Extreme Pro)



Conclusion:

There is no appreciable performance gain beyond Class 10 because at speeds upwards of Class 10 (i.e. >10 MB/s), the bottleneck lies with the speed at which my camera is capable of writing data from its buffer to the memory card.



---

To recap: although the SanDisk Extreme Pro is backwards compatible with devices that support SDHC cards, you will only be able benefit from the its 45MB/s read/write speed if your device is able to take advantage of the new UHS bus interface. Regardless, the SanDisk Extreme Pro is definitely worth considering as a means of "future proofing" your memory cards. Moreover, as of this writing, the SanDisk Extreme Pro 8GB, 16GB, and 32 GB cards are actually priced near or below prices for their SanDisk Extreme (30 MB/s) counterparts! Highly recommended. SanDisk Flash 8 GB SDHC Flash Memory Card SDSDXP1-008G Black

I recently purchased a Nikon D7000 and planned to use the old memory card I had lying around until I could upgrade to one with more capacity. The old card I had was a sandisk ultra SD card, rated at 15 MB/s. I noticed that when shooting 14-bit RAW on the D7000, I could only get 10 shots in the buffer, which amounts to less than 2 seconds on continuous high. In testing the camera just to find its limits, I found that once the buffer was full, it took almost 3 seconds for me to be able to shoot another picture with my old card (this is based off of the EXIF data, so it's not exact). I wasn't terribly surprised, since the card was not rated to be particularly fast. Occasionally, when shooting sports, I could see myself hitting the buffer limit, so I decided that when looking for a new card, I needed to look at something that could write a little faster and make the camera's buffer stretch a bit farther.



I was looking at the Sandisk Extreme SD card, which was rated at 30 MB/s and was very well received, but came across this card, which uses a new standard to achieve speeds of up to 45 MB/s. There were very few reviews when I bought it, but since this card was actually cheaper than the tried and true Extreme SD card for the same capacity, I decided to spring for it. I also discovered that the D7000 actually supports the new (UHS-1) SD standard and thus could take advantage of the increased speed.



In my own tests, I found that the camera allowed me to continue shooting about 1 frame per second after filling the buffer. Unlike my old, slower card, I didn't feel like the camera had just stalled when hitting the buffer limit. I didn't time how long it took each card to completely empty the buffer once full, but I'm confident this card would do it much faster. Needless to say, I was very pleased with the increase in speed (and thus usability) this card added to the camera.



Obviously I can't comment on reliability at this point, but I suspect it will be on par with most other sandisk products--which is very good. My final verdict is this, if you have a camera that can support the faster speeds (like the D7000), this card might be a great choice for you. As long as it continues to be the same price as the older model, it is a no-brainer in my mind. If your camera doesn't support the faster speeds, or you never expect to fill the buffer on your camera, then these high speed cards may not be worth the expense to you. Hopefully my review can help you decide whether it's worth stepping up to the newer cards in your situation. - Sdhc - Sd Memory - Blueproton - 8gb'

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Mp3 Accessories - mp3 accessories, ipod accessories

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Note: These have an excellent, no-hassle warranty. Skullcandy will replace them for any reason, whenever - just go to their website, register your product, and fill out the warranty form.



Firstly, I want to mention a few important tidbits that I think you should know.



1. Pay attention to the L and R on these earbuds, which can be hard to see. Do not reverse them, as doing so can affect fit and sound quality.



2. Don't assume you know which gel size will fit you best; make sure you try on all 3 gel sizes that come with these, as using the wrong size can dramatically decrease sound quality and comfort. For myself, I automatically went with the smallest size because my ears are small, but those made the earbuds sound like cheap garbage. It wasn't until I tried the next size up did I get the full quality of sound that these are designed for. So pay attention to this, since it really matters.



3. These have a straight plug, not an L-shaped plug. So you will need to be extra careful as a straight-plug design increases the amount of pressure both on the plug, and the headphone jack of your player. This leads to frayed wires or a loosening of the headphone jack, or both, which ultimately lead to the classic problem of only one side having sound.



4. The cord is long - measures approximately 4 feet, 5 inches.



5. Burn-in works with these. Slightly.





Now, as for the build quality - I'm impressed. They are not cheaply made ear-buds, despite their low price. The wires are nice and solid, and feel very well made - not flimsy or plastic-y. The silicone gels (tips that go in your ear) are very soft and pliable, and even have the Skullcandy logo engraved on them. Nice touch.



They feel good, too. Really good. Both the material, and the way they fit my annoyingly small ears. And they don't fall out constantly, although I do sometimes get the sensation that it's getting sucked into my left ear.



And yes, these come with 3 different size gels.



Sound is great. These handle bass extremely well for mid-tier earbuds, and highs aren't so shrill and piercing as with other comparable brands. Some of this really depends on your player, too. Even between iPods, sound quality does differ.



As far as functionality goes, I find I am able to run with these with no problem. The wires do not get tangled, and you can easily adjust the split in them with an attached slider (that has 'Skullcandy' written on it in the corresponding colour), which I find very convenient. I do not hear this thumping sound that others claim to hear from wire-movement, so I can't confirm that.



The only things I dislike are the straight plug, and the lack of a case. Otherwise, I am thoroughly impressed with Skullcandy. The craftsmanship, the quality of sound, and all the little extras that Skullcandy does that really lets you know that they are paying attention, and that they care about their products and end-users.



Worth every penny. Skullcandy INK'd Earbuds S2INCZ-033 (Black/Black)

Purchased the headphones about a week ago and I'm very pleased. I previously had the JVC Marshmallows and loved those headphones, but one of the earbud sleeves came off and the new JVC's are designed differently so I decided to give these a try. They produce very clear sound with solid bass. I was also surprised by the fit on the silicon caps that come with these. I have a difficult time finding silicon caps that will stay in my ear so I usually stick to foam, but these headphones came with three different sizes of caps and the smallest size fits and stays in without a problem. I will also say that I bought the Comply Foam Tips recently and am currently using those on these headphones (since I already had them) but once these wear out then I will stick with the silicon tips that came with these headphones because they will probably last longer. All in all, great purchase!

I purchased my Skullcandy Ink'd ear buds almost two years ago, and now that I need to lay them to rest I thought I would write a review on them.



First off, don't think that they are cheaply made because mine broke. From what I have been reading, two years is a good deal of time to have working headphones, especially at the low price of under 20 bucks! If I have to say, I provably contributed to the heavy wear of the jack that plugs into my computer (it is in the front of my laptop, so when the computer slides close to my lap the jack gets pinched).



Construction:

--

Being my first pair of non-stock earphones, I don't really have much to say in terms of construction, but as previously mentioned they lasted a helluva long time, so that should carry some weight. Speaking of weight, these buds feel light, but not so much that they feel cheap. Even after a couple of years the wires are intact, and I have had no problems with them up until a couple days ago (one ear bud stopped working, probably due to abuse). The only problem I would say has carried any weight in this department has to be the the fact that the rubber coated wires make a noticable sound through the buds when tapped or rustled (almost sounds like a heartbeat). This could probably be fixed with some comply foam tips instead of the stock silicone ones.



Sound Quality:

--

I listen to a variety of music genres through these things, and I can safely say that the sound quality is great across the spectrum. Anything from the highs and mids from classical to the deep undulating bass from dub-step can be heard clearly. They might not hold in a battle against some $100+ buds, but for this price they are awesome.



All in all, I am rating the Ink'd buds a 4/5, only because of the sound producing wires (see 'Construction'). If I could give it a 4.5 I would. - Headphones - Ipod Accessories - Mp3 Accessories - Earbuds'

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Rechargeable Camera Battery - battery, camera accessories

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The item I purchased was exactly what I needed for my new camera; it arrived way before the date I expected and in excellent conditions. I've only used it once and worked fine. I was somewhat surprised by the fact that the charge didn't last as long as I expected, but now that I know I'll be prepared next time. Carlo Di Maio Kodak Kodak Li-ion Digital Camera Battery and Charger K8500 -C+1 Batteries

Kodak Digital Camera Battery Charger K8500-C

I am new at using Amazon, but the product I ordered was shipped quickly which I appreciate because I needed it for a trip that was planned. It was new and I was able to purchase the battery and charger cheaper than I could just get the battery at some other places on the web. Amazon, thank you for the excellent service and I look forward to make future purchases with you.

Best purchase I have made....I took over 200 pictures on vacation and charged it "just in case" but probably didn't have to. It was sitting on the shelf over a week and I turned it on and took several pictures of the blizzard! My old batteries would have been dead if it sat more than a day.

I bought this for my best friend due to the cost of the batteries in the store being $10 a piece, and not lasting long. This eliminates the need to buy batteries constantly & pays for it's self in just a few weeks :-) Very happy!!! We could never find this in stores in our area and was very happy to find this online. Shipping was very fast, only a few days even with the Christmas rush going on!

I broke the charger that came with the camera. This is to replace it, and got a third battery for backup. Be careful sliding the adaptor in the back of the charger. I broke off one contact. This time I just leave it all connected and at home. With three batteries I haven't had to charge up on the road. - Battery Charger - Rechargable Camera Battery - Battery - Camera Accessories'

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Waterpik Ultra Cordless Dental Water Jet - cleaning, oral irrigator

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I was ambivalent about buying this based on the reviews that I have read. I will say up front I do not have a Waterpik that sits on my counter top and plugs into the wall socket. I had one once and will never own one again. You pull on the hose and the unit travels across the counter. No I found that I like the cordless ones better. I have own the Waterpik WP-360W. It was OK but the battery pretty much had to be charged every week if used daily. It held just enough water to get the job done, it was hard to fill with water under the bathroom sink and I got about 3 years use from it until the unit stop charging due to corrosion where the charger plugs into the unit(This is because water spills on the connection).



I then bought the Panasonic EW-1270AC. This was fine for travel but it had allot of problems like the water cap always falling off, water leaking out when you needed to store it in the suitcase(always had to keep it in a zip loc bag to prevent the remaining water that was always there even after emptying in sink), the tip always falling on the floor as the way it was to be stored should have held the tip better. Allot of germs on the floor. Plus the batteries were not rechargeable. So even after reading the reviews on the new Waterpik Cordless Dental Jet I bought one. For the life of me I could not understand why so many negative and mediocre reviews on this unit. But I figure it could not be that bad as it was the number one seller of cordless water jets. Here is a little contrast and compare on the reviews and my unit the WP-450 Ultra;



1. It is so loud it will wake anyone sleeping. Coffee grinder loud!

** Yes I guess it is loud as it is near you ear while using! But not that loud to me(i.e. I am a bit hard of hearing) My woman says it is not that loud and she has great hearing**



2. The reservoir is so small it runs out in 10 seconds.

** Maybe this user has a leak in his unit. I use mine for about 30 seconds until all food is removed and I still have half of the water left. And yes I am using the High pressure setting. **



3. The tip is so mobile (rotates all over the place), you can't control it.

** Mine doesn't. Of course I have only had it a month. **



4. It is poorly designed, too large, and difficult to hold (Can't imagine if you have small hands).

** I thought it was well ergonomically designed. I have nerve damage in my hand that makes it hard to hold on to things and get tops off of bottles but I had no problem holding the WP-450 Ultra. I think it is most excellent! **



5. Poor battery life, long charge time, no charge indicator. After two uses I needed to recharge! (yes I let it charge up initially for 16 hours!).

** I have only charged my unit for 8 hours and have been using once a day for a month. I has not slacked off one bit in pumping the water out. **



6. Expensive, Poor Value: Price is ~70% higher than the WP-360

** Yes that is usually the case for older models. They usually do cost less than newer models as the cost of production is higher than years ago. It is actually 61.4 % higher in cost. The old unit uses Ni-Cad batteries as the new one uses more expensive L-Ion or NiMH batteries hence the higher cost and the L-Ion battery can hold a charge longer. **



7. Poor Reservoir Capacity -only 120 ml or 20% less than the already-tiny WP-360's 150 ml

** I do not know how you can say that. I fill my units up to max and the new Water Jet holds twice the amount of water then the WP-360. Also I had to use a paper cup the fill up the old WP-360 **



8. Terrible portability, large/inefficient size, ungainly ergonomics

** Well it is not touted as a travel water jet just a cordless one for home use. The Panasonic however is a true Travel/Portable unit as advertised. **



9. Weak water stream.

** You've got to be kidding. It has two settings and is way better then the WP-360 and about the same pressure as the Panasonic model. Are you sure you have it charged up? **



10. Very bad. Main problem is the tip won't stay fixed, it keeps rotating, so it sprays water everywhere but your teeth.

** I have not observed this problem. My tips stays right where it should. I will report back if this changes. **



11. The reservoir is so small that it empties before you are ready to stop using it. It should be at least 2 1/2 times the size.

** I have to wonder what you are using this for. I use mine to remove the food particles from the gums and between teeth. When things stop coming out of the mouth am done. My dentist says I have the best gums of any patient he has in his practice and I only use this once a day before bed. **



It appears that the problem with the old WP-360 was the fact that the charger contacts on the front would get water inside no matter how careful one was and the metal from the charger was different from the metal that took the charger. What I observed on the WP-360 was dissimilar metal corrosion. What I observed on this new water jet was the charger contact is now enclosed in plastic and has been moved to the back of the unit where their is less chance of water getting in to the charger contacts.



Allot of people keep going on about the old WP-360 in this post about the batteries not holding a charge. I think most people probably keep the unit charger plug in while not in use. This will lead to what is called a memory problem with Ni-Cad batteries. Ni-Cad batteries should never be keep on a continuous charge as that will lead to the memory problem mentioned. It is best to have Ni-Cads discharge completely and then recharge them. L-Ion / NiMH batteries do not suffer from this problem that I know of, but it is always better to only charge any battery after it loses its charge. Continuous charging on batteries will lead to shorten battery life.



If I experience any problems with the Waterpic Water Jet WP-450 Ultra I will amend this review. I just can not understand all these bad negative reviews. If the unit was so bad why would it be the number seller when I bought it? No I do not work for Waterpic but I have used their products for years and have not had that many problems which is why I guess they are still number one in Oral Irragtor sales. I hardily recommend the WP-450 Ultra if you are looking for a cordless (not Travel sized) waterjet. This is hands down better then the old but still selling WP-360. - Oral Irrigator - Oral Hygiene - Water Pik - Cleaning'

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Outrageous Kindle Price - price gouging, no sale

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This was an impulse purchase a week or so ago, and I'm VERY glad indeed that I didn't start reading it until the hot weather broke (briefly) in New York this past weekend, as it's the chilling (sorry, bad pun) story of the 1896 New York heatwave that killed thousands, mostly poor working men and infants.



Kohn begins his story of a week in August by describing a horrific death toll of another kind -- the result of a railway crash. To New Yorkers, by the time the 19th century was drawing to a close, it seemed as if natural disasters had been replaced by those associated with man-made phenomena of various kinds -- until the heat wave struck, and they were reminded forcibly that some things, like the weather, can't always be conquered.



But the best thing about this book isn't the chronicle of misery during the heatwave, but the way Kotman weaves that horrifying story of death (including the deaths of horses in the streets, left to rot for days...) into the political climate of the day. At first, I was tempted to ask what the connection was, other than that of timing -- the presidential nominees for the Republican and Democratic parties had recently been selected -- but Kohn quickly makes clear where he's going. He's telling the story of the way in which the heatwave indirectly contributed to the end of the political ambitions of populist demagogue William Jennings Bryan, whose campaign hit the skids in New York on the same day that the heat wave peaked, for reasons that Kotman argues have as much to do with the heatwave as with Bryan's own unwelcome opinions. (There's a lot here about the battle to add silver as a reserve currency, and bimetallism, which is interesting, if you care to forge through it.) But it's also the tale of Theodore Roosevelt's ascendancy to political power, which took on fresh momentum in the wake of the heatwave. To borrow a phrase, it was the tipping point in both their political ambitions.



There's also plenty of fascinating detail about how people in New York's tenements really lived at the time -- despite having visited the Tenement Museum on the lower east side, Kohn's vivid prose brought this to life for me in a way that I hadn't experienced before. These days, people hold parties on their rooftops; in the late 19th century people slept there, despite melting tar and the risk of rolling over the parapet to their deaths, because it was the only way to catch a breath of air that wasn't fetid.



An excellent story, not only fascinating because it deals with the story of how people lived at the time, but because Kohn weaves into it the historical, political and social context. As the world gets hotter and our society even more urbanized than it was in 1896, we take refuge in our "cooling centers" and air-conditioned rooms -- but this book offers a lot of food for thought. I expect every time the thermometer jumps above 90 Fahrenheit, I'll be thinking about this...



4.5 stars, rounded up. Just don't read it in a heatwave. Hot Time in the Old Town: The Great Heat Wave of 1896 and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt

Author Edward Kohn has written two books, in a sense, with his new offering, "Hot Time in the Old Town". Each has its merit....one regarding the New York heat wave of August, 1896...the other, the rise and fall of the political lives of Theodore Roosevelt and William Jennings Bryan. As separate entities, they merit a read, but together, the book doesn't work.



Kohn is at his best when describing the prolonged, public suffering of those who lived and died during the heat wave. Individuals perished after falling off rooftops, collapsing at work and being suffocated in their own tenement apartments. Horses died more quickly than the health department could remove them and the stench that filled the air was palpable. The city government did virtually nothing, forbidding its citizens even to sleep in public parks. The relief from ice distribution was slow to begin and uneven in its delivery.



The connection to all of this with Roosevelt and Bryan is, to put it mildly, a stretch. Bryan's fate was sealed with his nomination and Roosevelt's fame would come after the Spanish-American War, so incorporating them doesn't serve history accurately. It's a nice try, but the heat wave story is the far better one to be told.

The title indicates that the book will show how the New York heat wave of August 1896 influenced the political career of Theodore Roosevelt. If that really is the author's intent, then the book is a frustrating failure. TR is a tangential figure in the narrative, no matter how many anecdotes the author tells about Roosevelt's tenure as president of the police commission. In fact, the book only shows one effect of the heat wave: that people suffered, including those who attended William Jennings Bryan's speech at Madison Square Garden, and Bryan himself. The author suggests that the poor speech derailed Bryan's chances of winning the election, but there is no evidence for that assertion.



On the other hand, perhaps the title was some sort of editorial compromise, because the majority of the text covers a slice of 1896 presidential campaign politics. The heat wave figures in to the campaign, we are told, because of its effect on Bryan and those around him, but the political effects of the heat are not as prominent in the book as the personal tragedies of random New Yorkers that get tossed into the book every few pages or so. The repetition is numbing and boring, but it is the sense of padding that really distracts the reader. The book seems little more than story after story about the campaign, punctuated with tales of heat wave victims, none of it tied into a cohesive whole. Even at the end, the author makes assertions about TR and Bryan that are unsupported by the text.



In fact, nothing is supported in the text. There is a bibliography, but it is more like a list of suggested works for further reading. The book has no footnotes, and there is no way to verify the author's work. He doesn't say where he got this or that fact, or why he comes to the various conclusions he does throughout the book. We can take him at his word that he reviewed the dozens of death certificates that he says he did, but we shouldn't have to trust him for his political observations unless we know exactly what their bases are.



The book is superficial and repetitive, and it jumps here and there among several topics that the author fails to unite coherently. I recommend this book for people who don't read a lot, and therefore will not be put off by the simplistic writing; for readers who get bored easily, and want a narrative that jumps among its disparate topics without threading them together; and for the easily distracted, who need to have the same point repeated ad nauseam. - Boycott - No Sale - Price Gouging - Never At That Price'

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Wireless Speaker - outdoor wireless speaker, waterproof

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I have had these for about 2 months. They are wireless and rechargeable. I use them to listen to movies outside. With my other assorted powered computer type speakers, people can never hear well enough even when they are at full volume. With these rocks, they ask me to turn the volume down. I haven't been using the rest of the speakers. (Much easier set up.)



However, I just ordered a second pair and today, every time I switch them on, they turn themselves immediately off. I don't know if it is a charging issue or something else. I have been charging them overnight so doubt that that is the problem. Except for this issue, they have been great. Hopefully, it is a little issue on my part.



Stay tuned. Audio Unlimited 900MHz Wireless Rock Speaker Bundle with Dual Power Transmitter (Granite)

Was quite surprised how easy this was to setup and how good the range was. Walked a speaker all around my 3,000 square foot house and yard and never lost the signal! Pretty good bass, and sound, in part because the rocks, well they're big and heavy speakers. Only negative is because of size they're harder to place so as to blend in with the landscaping. But the portability is great, if you have a larger area you can just move them wherever you plan to be.



Don't know how long the battery charge lasts for, I've only tested them as I just got them today, but rest assured you won't stress out setting them up and tying them into a stereo component or digital music player. You'll be pleased with the rrange, and likely the sound. Don't expect a wired Bose experience, but for wireless, pretty darned good!

I needed outdoor speakers for my new mountain home so I settled on these and I loved them so much that I bought a second set for my home. They will work with my laptop, TV,and IPOD. You can buy additional speakers also if you need more sound but I found that these are plenty loud enough. The only complaint I have is there is on adapter so that I can plug my stereo into the dock. But I would definitely recommend these speakers.

I purchased these speakers as replacement for others I had that did not last a year and I could not get in contact with the maker for an explanation of problem. After some time being frustrated and searching for speaker options, I called Audio Unlimited. I was impressed with the expertise, information I received and the professional manner I was dealt with. I bought off Amazon because of price and waited a couple of months to make sure they performed as I was told before rating. "Super Impressed", and I know I can reach the manufacturer and resolve any issue that may come up.



I would highly recommend these speakers to anyone looking for great wireless.



BP

I bought these on a gold special for $99 and had to return them. Cool design and well built. Loud speakers ok sound. Bass is horrible outside. Turning them on and off and adjusting volume was a real pain. Interface is good with an Ipad or ipod. Problem was they had a persistent "Pop". Didn't matter what distance or where they were placed. Device changed and still no go. For the price, I'd look at a name brand solution.

The set up is very is. It just requires some charging. The speakers have a lot of volume. Good base. They go louder than I would dare play them outside for fear of bothering the neighbors. It seems the range is only about 40-50 feet between speakers and base. Anything further the sound fades in and out. The speakers hold a good charge. My wifes iPod dies before the speakers so I can't tell you how long.



Deff worth the money. We use them around our pool and get tons of compliments. I would deff purchase again assuming they last a while. We are only a month in

First impression of the entire system is excellent! I want to use these everywhere!



The Good:

- I love having wireless capability for both the transmitter and speakers.

- I love that the speakers are rechargeable and that to recharge you only have to plug them in.

- I love that both the transmitter and speakers power off after 4 minutes of inactivity. (Have not tested this yet.)

- The sound and volume level of the speakers seemed reasonable off first impression.

- One big complaint of people was not controlling volume except at the speaker but first trial I was able to adjust the volume from the ipod, although the manual recommend keeping the audio device at 3/4 or higher.

- The look and size of the speakers was good. There was some initial concern from reviews about the speaker size, however if you read carefully and review the pictures, then your expectations should be ok, which mine were.

- Getting the system working was very easy.



Open issues until use for some time are:

- Battery life with full charge?

- Battery life until new batteries are needed?

- Where can replacement batteries be purchased?

- How well the speakers hold up to normal, nominal weather conditions

The speakers arrived promptly and were packed very well. They looked nice as I wanted them to blend in with landscaping, however I was really disappointed in the quality. I bought them for the dock behind our house so my husband could have music there while he worked on the boat. I found the speakers to have very poor sound when moved just a little distance from the transmitter. All we could hear was static from one or the other depending on where I moved the transmitter. Needless to say I returned these speakers the very next day. The return process was very easy and my money was refunded within a reasonable amount of time. I would not recommend these speakers.

I purchased these speakers for outdoor patio use. They more than do the job...in fact, the sound quality is better than what I expected for the price. They are very easy to set up and use...you have sound within minutes! They work well with my computer, iPod and television. They even look a little nicer (aethsthetically speaking) and are larger than what I imagined when ordering, so paying attention to the dimensions is important! I have not yet experienced any difficulty or issues with these speakers.



I did quite a bit of comparison shopping and this was a far better deal than anything I saw at Radio Shack, Best Buy or Circuit City. I would definitley recommend them and repurchase if given the opportunity. - Wireless Speaker - Outdoor Wireless Speaker - Waterproof'

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