 Reviews of all sorts of things: books, gadgets, software, etc.
|
Apr
15
2006
|
Saturday, 15 April 2006 |
|
First things first: don't read the paperback edition. The print is
tiny, and the book huge - the perfect recipe for a painful headache.
I heard about Cryptonomicon first in a personal ad, in the category last read. The
title sounded interesting, so I bought the book and read it on my last
trip to Hawai`i. Which ensured that I had plenty time to read with no
distraction or better things to do.
Measured against that backdrop, the book was an utter failure. I was
bored with entire sections, and skipped liberally without ever having
to go back, never missing the plot.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Apr
03
2006
|
Monday, 03 April 2006 |
|
Guess what? Now it all works. Regardless of whether you use OpenSuSE or Fedora, it's all good. You just fire up the scanner tool and scan the images the way you want. I have tested it over and over again, and I am thankful to all those that made it work for me. Go, Linux !
|
|
Feb
13
2006
|
Monday, 13 February 2006 |
Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise! A revival of the (excellent) Minority Report! That sounds like a reason to go to a theater, doesn't it?
Well, I didn't go when I could have, and I am happy I didn't. The movie is a singular catastrophe, and I wished the director and protagonist had chosen a better screen writer.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Feb
13
2006
|
Monday, 13 February 2006 |
Paradoxically, while I am a huge fan of the history of the Medieval Middle East (in particular, of the Eastern Roman Empire) I didn't watch "Kingdom of Heaven" in the theaters. Instead, I waited for a sick weekend and rented it from the local store.
Ridley Scott set out to do a relatively accurate depiction of the goings-on during the destruction of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. For those that don't know, in 1099 the First Crusade marched into Jerusalem and captured the city from the Saracens (Muslims). A hundred years later, the resurgence of Islam that came from the Turkic tribes of Anatolia forced the destruction of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Just as the notorious internecine warfare between Muslim states enabled the Christians to gain land, their own constant dissonance was their undoing when the Muslims found their unity under Saladin. Indeed, most of the movie tries to deal with this disconnect: a small country on the border of giant empire, and yet its inhabitants are constantly at odds with each other.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Jan
24
2006
|
Tuesday, 24 January 2006 |
Ok, I'll give it away immediately: this is one charmer of a book! It's the story of a woman who escapes an abusive husband and chronic poverty by participating in contests and winning prizes in a big way. She is so good at it, she makes a living with it and eclipses her husband's earnings.
All in all, though, it's at the same time the story of ten kids that have to suffer through a childhood full of strictures just to find themselves a wonderful family that will stick together forever. This is all told with the honesty that accompanies American family biographies, revealing all in a humorous tone.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
| Results 46 - 54 of 126 |
Reviews 
