Entertainment > Reading >
Kids, the only survivors of a shipwreck, survive on a paradise island.
It's interesting, but not great. I stopped just before reading the chapter "A View to a Death" because it had been boring up to that point, and I could tell it was going to spiral into stupidity without a proper lead and reason for it.
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Hardware >
(on Wikipedia)
https://www.bluedesigns.com/products/yeti-nano/
A high quality budget microphone.
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Hardware >
https://ca.ipevo.com/VZ-R_HDMI_8MP_Camera.html
On-device buttons, optical zoom, native H.264 hardware.
Garbage; do not buy this overpriced toy. It's only "good" because it comes with a stand, but newer webcams are coming out with the threading for mounting to a simple $20 stand.
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Hardware >
(on Wikipedia)
https://web.archive.org/web/20190118143102/https://us.kobobooks.com/products/kobo-aura-one
(limited edition)
An E-book reader.
Because this is my first e-reader, I can't judge it against it's peers. It works well.
It is spectacular hardware-wise. Its software works, but it is sometimes obviously or even critically lacking. It lacking a file browser and respecting directories is bad enough that I can't really use it for its intended purpose, and almost regret buying it.
todo - there are more notes to be added, I've just been busy/lazy.
 Alpine white
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Hardware >
This is a low-end low-cost laptop. It was on extreme sale, and as it has USB 3.1 it'll do fine.
Very highly recommended: This thing is awesome in every way. Exception: It's childishly-glossy.
2018-06-08 - I used Windows 10 on it.
 Uses a single cable
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Canon CanoScan LiDE 120
I checked SANE's supported devices list, and saw that the LiDE 120 is supported, however the model I received uses a different and Linux-unsupported chipset! (GL848+)
Herein are notes of my misadventure.
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Entertainment > Reading >
A too-forgiving man and his stupid brute of a friend travel as farm hands to scrape together money for the dream of owning their own land.
A thriller, a gripping tale ... that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick.
-- The New York Times, who are about as smart as Lenny.
An unforgivably-terrible book. Awful almost beyond reason. Plodding and boring, it's only a "page turner" because it's tauntingly short enough to tear through like ripping off a bandage. But on the plus side, although it's littered with written-accents, it's not difficult to read.. plus the ending is great!
2019-08-07 - Wow, this was so forgettable that I couldn't actually remember reading it until I read the first few paragraphs..
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Entertainment > Reading >
In a world where everyday people use the internet through total-sensory virtual reality, a specialist intelligence agency tracks down murderers and terrorists.
Slow and confusing, this book isn't just a challenge to read, it's a challenge to read with a straight face. One of the risks of speculative science fiction is that they can get very, very, wrong in their predictions. This book hand-waives people being transported into a magical world with no explanation as to how it's possible or what it's like. It is vague in everything it demands the reader suspend their disbelief in. It is awed at 900 Mhz computers. This is definitely a 1998 book that had way too much hope for its future.
I had a sticker with two, and the book had two.. and none of these are coming up with anything:
This inspired Netforce - (1999 movie)
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Entertainment > Reading >
An unlikely little hero is swept into an travel-adventure through dangerous lands to recapture the lost treasures of a fallen Dwarvish kingdom.
Considered a classic fantasy book, it's definitely a children's book from it's narrative tone. It's slow and awkward in a lot of places, and takes too long to pick up into anything interesting for me. Perhaps it's because I had read it long ago, and perhaps it's because of the staggering quality of its associated movies, but I didn't like it.
Definitely not recommended as an entry into fantasy fiction, in spite of its popularity. Veterans of the genre may as well read this just to say they have.
Published 1982-01
Adapted into a movie which I don't have notes on.
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Entertainment > Reading >
The United States Navy discovers a crashed craft, and includes a cross-disciplinary team in its investigation.
I liked it, though I found it rather simple. I had already seen the movie that was inspired by this book, which I really liked, and that likely coloured my views.
Published 2011-04
This inspired Sphere - (1998 movie)
