Jolt! by Phil Cooke

Jolt!: Get the Jump on a World That's Constantly Changing
Author: Phil Cooke
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Date: April 19, 2011
Cover Design: Christopher Tobias
Cover Image: Chad Baker
Genre: Business & Economics (Motivational / General)
Cover Price: $22.99 US
Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD


Jolt! was a riveting read!  Cooke is a motivational writer with truly amazing true-to-life stories to tell.  This book is a must read for everyone from high school to the nursing home.  Cooke inspires you to get out of your complacent way of thinking and doing, and encourages you to give a much needed Jolt to your life.  We all tend to get lazy in our day to day lives.

I highly recommend this book.  Overall, it is interesting and inspiring.  Jolt! is just what we need to get us moving in the right direction again!

Reviewed by C for Book Sneeze

Hanna

Hanna is a film about a girl raised by her father to be an assassin. The concept for the movie was original, but based in an idea used before (not going into detail on this, want to avoid spoilers). I thought it was done well and didn't copy from other films. The movie had a healthy balance of plot and action. It wasn't your Michael Bay guns and explosions, but it still had plenty of engaging fight sequences. I enjoyed the style in which the fight scenes were filmed. It almost seemed like it was from a comic book, alternating between real time and brief slow motion shots. It was quite bullet time, the slow motion was only noticeable by the overall effect it created (these were not slow mo replays). 

Galileo by Mitch Stokes

Over the past few days I've been reading Galileo by Mitch Stokes from the Christian Encounters series. This book was provided to me by Book Sneeze. The book itself is nice enough, it is small enough to read on the go and the cover is textured, giving it a classic sort of feel.

Christian Encounters: Galileo Author: Mitch Stokes Publisher: Thomas Nelson Date: April 12, 2011 Cover Design: Dual Identity Cover Illustration: Clint Hansen Genre: Biography (Religious / General) Cover Price: $12.00 US Paperback | Kindle

All that is fine and dandy, but let's get to what you really want to know, the content. I should preface this review by saying biographies usually aren't my first choice to read and science is definitely my forte. That said, I found this book very difficult to get in to. With all the footnotes, it read like an essay and not a novel. The book, although brief, covers more than just the commonly known facts about Galileo's life. I personally didn't enjoy the book and only found it only slightly interesting when Stokes started discussing Galileo's family. But again I mention that I have little interest in science. This book would be of much more enjoyment to someone interested in Galileo's controversial life and could be a useful and valid resource for research assignments or projects.  Overall, Galileo is very factual but not the most interesting read.

Reviewed by C

Arthur

I went into this movie fully expecting a vulgar, on-the-verge of raunchy comedy with some funny moments but nothing overly special. I was pleasantly surprised. It doesn't have the non-stop hilarity that movies like The Hangover bring, but it was entertaining and is more suitable for younger audiences. It has a great mix of Brand's ridiculousness, pop culture nostalgia, and a fairy tale esque story. Perhaps because this is a remake of the 1981 film, Brand didn't have as much freedom to be as wild and crazy as in he was in Get Him to the Greek. I cannot say how the 2011 version compares to the 1981 film, as I have yet to see the original, but I would guess its primary difference would be modern references. It was quite odd watching such a respectable actress as Dame Helen Mirren say "wash your winky" with a Darth Vader mask on. But, if you are looking for a laugh, I'd recommend Arthur starring comedian Russell Brand and Academy Award Winner Dame Helen Mirren. See, it does sound weird.  The movie has been out for some time and movies that I expect to be much better have been released or will be soon, so I'd save this one to rent for a rainy day.

Pokemon Black and White Versions

This game has revolutionized the Pokemon that we have come to know and love. Right when you first turn it on you begin a whole new experience never seen before. The advancements in music are the first thing noticed by everyone. The introduction was epic. The new generation graphics are unfathomably amazing, especially in Castelia City. That is where most of the new graphics are showcased. With a new game, (not including remakes) comes new Pokemon to discover and capture. In total, there are now 649 Pokemon in the Pokemon Universe. These new Pokemon are actually really good, with some exceptions. In addition to the new Pokemon, Black and White comes with new moves and a new battling style. The game introduced the triple battles and rotation triple battles. There are not many in the game, but they are an interesting addition. With the new graphics and sound advancements, this has turned out to be one extraordinary game. The Skyarrow Bridge shows so much of what the DSi can offer. With games being upgraded to the 3DS, this will likely be the best graphics the DSi ever sees.

Out with the old and in with the new. The new features are exquisite. The old Pokemon contest that was started in Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire and was continued in Pokemon Diamond & Pearl has been scrapped. Instead, this is now a musical. You dress up your Pokemon and they dance around to music on a stage. You get to dress them up using a variety of different props and items, and then they go on stage. Unfortunately, there isn't much to do after you use up your Pokemon's items (up to 2, called appeals). Another new feature is the people that play music in the game. As you get near them, you start to hear their instruments. This was my favourite addition to the game. Finding all these musicians is rather fun. Two kids in a house in Accumula will only play if you talk to them. The music has become such a huge part of this game. It is small details like this that show the hard work Nintendo developers have put into make this an all around amazing game. With many of the past features left out of this installation in the series, Nintendo was smart to keep their impressive new multiplayer features. The C-Gear is so useful and fun when friends are around. Wi-Fi trading and battle features are no different than past titles. Also, after you beat the game, there seems to be nothing to do but the musical and battling people over again. But, this is a problem with all Pokemon games. Some changes I would have made are using the Entralink Forest as a personal base, currently it is useless for the most part. Also, I would have kept the Safari Zone above all the previous features scrapped. Overall, this game was a decent improvement on the last Pokemon release and it has its arguments to be one of the best.

Windsor Sea Salt and Pepper Grinders

Roasted Garlic 85g Grinder, Pepper
68g Grinder, Sea Salt 150g Grinder

Using the same style of grinder as with the Windsor Roasted Garlic Grinder, the extra coarse sea salt and black peppercorn grinders are due in stores soon (keep a lookout on the shelves when you shop). Much like the garlic grinder, these are very handy products. The small packaging makes them highly portable, so they're great for camping trips to add some extra flavour to your food. The garlic grinder is especially great for steaks in the bush. The salt and pepper taste just as good as if they came from the other packaging Windsor offers currently. But, I've never found any difference between fresh ground pepper and regular pepper from shakers, so you may prefer these. Both the salt and garlic grinder use sea salt which is healthier and better for blood pressure (if that's a concern to you). These will be an excellent addition to diners across North America, and even give a extra fancy touch to them. But these products are great even for those who don't want to purchase a new grinder after each empty. The grinders are disposable, but if you choose to keep the grinder, refilling from other larger volume Windsor products or a bulk foods store is simple.

As a student, I've found these to be very handy. Since I never go through a box or shaker of salt or pepper in one term, these products are much better than having move a box of salt with me. The roasted garlic grinder (currently available) is also helpful because the bags of garlic seasoning available in grocery store never get used up and I end up wasting large amounts at the end of the term. Overall, the products taste great (as I would expect from any Windsor product) and are very handy for camping or picnics. I recommend giving them a try at least once, when they are available. If you choose to go back to your normal products, at least you got a neat plastic grinder.

The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau was quite the enjoyable movie. It really has the audience rooting for Norris to succeed in outsmarting the bureau. It is definitely something I recommend seeing. It has the foundation of an interesting idea. That idea being that perhaps something or someone unseen or unnoticed is doing things to direct your life. It will have you wondering next time you miss the bus because some bumped into you or when you forget something as you are about to leave the house. What could have happened if you didn't turn back to grab that item in your house? Maybe you could have been in an accident, or caused one. Several successful movies have come out in recent years with the similar concept of toying with these mind blowing ideas. Inception is a great example of this. The difference with The Adjustment Bureau is that it was kept short and simple. It will make you thing for a moment afterwards, but never have the involved thought (and cult following that comes with it) of movies like Inception or The Matrix. You are probably still wondering if the top was wobbling over or not. Fans of these movies will pick them apart and analyze the pieces a hundred times over. While The Adjustment Bureau will never require this much analysis, it is worth the ticket price for the mystery and entertainment it brings. And if you are taking your partner, it is a refreshing break from sappy love stories and romantic comedies. I wouldn't wait for DVD, but if you are, this looks like it could have some excellent bonus features. Possibly an alternate ending or something.

Prohands Gripmaster and Pro Hand Exercisers

Exercise gadgets are a dime a dozen with new products coming and going regularly.  Most of these products exercise muscle groups that could easily be worked without the product.  The Prohands hand exercisers are unique because they allow your fingers to be exercised, which I've always found difficult to do otherwise.  In the past, I was using the simple grip strengtheners to exercise my fingers, but most of the work not done by my forearm was picked up by my index and middle fingers.  Not only that, but after a few weeks of use the grip strengtheners offered much less resistance than when brand new.  Prohands are a great product for me because they strengthen individual fingers and after constant use have not lost any noticeable amount of tension.

Energizer Hard Case LED Inspection Light

Flashlights aren't something that immediately comes to mind when I think of Energizer, but I was pleased with what I got.  The Hard Case Inspection flashlight is categorized by Energizer as a work light, but I find it is quite versatile.

LaCie MosKeyto USB Flash Drive

This is the ultimate portable USB drive.  With the amazing portability and decreasing size of external hard drives, I never thought I would buy another flash drive again.  It was then that I saw the LaCie MosKeyto, available in 2, 4, 8 or 16GB.  One of the smallest flash drives I've seen, it only sticks 6mm out of the computer port.  This tiny drive replaced a very large pile of USB drives.  The only issue was that it was difficult to find in-store, but I expect to start seeing it more and more.  For now it is easily available on LaCie's online shop and I highly recommend looking at it in more detail.  LaCie has a full gallery including the white version and the MosKeyto with a Mosquito.  In the photo to right, I have shown a scaled comparison of the MosKeyto to the common SD card and it is quite impressive.

Nintendo 3DS Launch Titles

Street Fighter, Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil, Star Fox, and more.  The lineup for the upcoming launch of the Nintendo 3DS is the best list of titles for a Nintendo launch since the original NES.  The launch lineup spans all genres: sports, racing, fighting, adventure, and puzzle/interactive.  It comes as no surprise that developers would take advantage of a 3D gaming system and make a game packed with beautiful women.  Dead or Alive Dimensions is this game.  The only surprise is that these games are coming to Nintendo, who is thought of by many as a children's game maker.  In addition to DOA, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries is also outside this profile.  Is Nintendo expanding its target audience to those mature, hardcore gamers?  Based on some recent DS releases and these titles, I think it is a likely and welcome possibility.

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelations

Nintendo has announced that the immensely popular Dragon Quest VI will finally be released in North America on the DS. Less than a year ago Nintendo released Dragon Quest IX to much success, so this DS remake will no doubt draw some comparisons.  Dragon Quest IX was the first in the series exclusive to the DS and VI was the best selling game in Japan during its original release and is often touted as the best in the series.  We'll have to wait until February 14 to see how it stands up, but until then these are my thoughts on the known details.

Yomega Maverick

The Yomega Maverick is a decent yo-yo.  It has great spin time, as low as 25 seconds on a bad throw.  It's excellent construction and design contribute to it's ability to do almost every intermediate trick and some advanced tricks with ease.  I was able to do several string tricks that were difficult on other butterfly (winged) shaped yo-yos.  It is not as responsive as many high end yo-yos, but it is certainly not finicky like some that will return at the slightest movement.  This is an excellent starter yo-yo because of its durability and wide variety of tricks.  Although it is on the more expensive side (for those who yo-yo for fun), it will outlast any of the yo-yos commonly sold in stores.  Younger children can let the Maverick hit the floor and break, so by the time they've gone through 3 or 4 yo-yos, they've already paid far more than the price of the Maverick.  The main downsize for young users is that the all metal construction can hurt when it smacks your hand.  My major complaint is that the Maverick was previously packaged with a neon string and additional gap spacers, but these are no longer included and yet the price was not decreased.  Although, this has no effect on the performance of the Maverick.  [UPDATE: After contacting Yomega, they revealed to me that the spacers were removed and the price remained the same due to an increase in manufacturing costs.  So while you still have to pay extra for the spacers (if you want them), it is better than making everyone pay more.]

A Yomega Maverick retails for $29.99 and are available in many toy and department stores or online.  If yo-yos are something that interests you or your kids, this is good one to pick up but isn't a good investment for a kid's fad.  Especially if parents have lots of glass for their kids to break.

Mountain Hardware Fluid 18 Pack

The MH Fluid series is a line of hydration day packs with an extensive variety of uses.  The packs are available in 10, 18, 26 and 32 Litre sizes and 4 different colour schemes.  They are flame (red/grey, as shown), grasshopper (green/grey), fresh blue (blue/grey) and black (black/yellow).  I purchased the Fluid 18 in black, which is the basically the same as the 26 and 32 L sizes, but the 10 L version is slightly different.  The pack shows clear evidence that Mountain Hardware is very knowledgeable in the usage of their products and develops innovative design features to address user complaints.  The Fluid 18 lived up to my expectations and surprised me in some aspects, so read on.

Banana Guard

The Banana Guard is useful for every occasion and is very inexpensive.  Whether you pack it in your lunch or take it in your pack on trail ride or camping trip, it occupies minimal space and prevents a mess and loss of snack.  Rest assured that every size and curve of banana will fit inside.  I tried a bunch that looked way too large to fit and had no problems fitting it in.  Only issue I had was that some of the more curved bananas need the end of the stem snipped off (hardly a minor inconvenience).  This handy case will cost you $7 and the price goes down the more guards you buy ($13 for 2 or $30 for 5).  If you don't want to get several Banana Guards (great for gifts), worry not as they offer other cases for apples, pears, grapes, cherries, peaches, kiwis, plums, and sandwiches.  I personally only found use for the Banana Guard as bananas are easier to squash than apples, but using the other fruit cases for grapes or cherries may have some benefit.  Guards are available in many outdoor and travel stores or for online order and I highly recommend getting yourself one.

Lenovo ThinkPad T510 Review

Specifications:

• Intel Core i7-620M Processor (2.66GHz, 4MB L3, 1066MHz)
• Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
• 15.6" HD (1366 x 768) 16:9 aspect Anti-Glare display with LED backlight and WWAN antenna
• NVIDIA NVS3100M graphics with 512MB DDR3 memory
• Integrated Bluetooth
• Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN wireless adapter
• 3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
• 500GB Hard disk drive, 7200 rpm
• DVD recordable optical drive
• 5-in-1 multimedia card reader
• 6 cell Li-ion battery and 90W AC adapter

Performance and Design Features:

• SD cards fit completely flush with notebook edge in reader slot.  The first time I went to remove a card after uploading some photos I didn't look and pass my hand across the edge and never felt the card.  I was completely surprised.  My previous notebook, Dell Inspiron 6400, held the card about 4 mm out of the reader.
• The keyboard light located on the screen body.  While a backlit keyboard seems better and most people brag their notebooks have it, I've found the body light to perform the function of a backlight and help find headphone and USB ports on the sides in the dark.
• Personally, I'm a fan of the TrackPoint and use it exclusively.  But for those who don't prefer the TrackPoint, Lenovo's UltraNav pointing system includes a touch pad as well (and either pointing device is easily disabled).  If neither float your boat, wireless mice are very cheap alternatives.
• T510 allows screen to be disabled/turned off.  Often I like to listen to music and turn off the display.  My Dell notebook does not have this feature and annoying methods must be used to have the screen black but still lit.  If you don't want a mouse movement to turn your screen back on, the external monitor/projector 'fn' key is a quick alternative.
• Battery performance was acceptable for a 6 cell battery.  I consistently got several hours (~ 4-5 hrs) before plugging in for a nightly charge.  The battery itself is in a more logical location than my previous notebook.  The battery on the Inspiron has one of the rubber grip pads on it and cannot be removed when the battery is no longer of use (I must use AC power on it currently) or the keyboard will wobble.  This is not the case with the T510.
  Charge time was no different than other brands.
• The display was excellent for high definition movies, YouTube videos, or images.  Although not a full 1080 HD display, it was satisfying enough for all my uses.  If it's too low quality for you, there's nothing stopping you purchasing a 1080p display.
• The notebook body is like a BMW M series, part powerful sports car and part business car.

Design Flaws and Issues:

• The first issue I noticed was the location of the left 'ctrl' key.  Located on the right side of the 'fn' (as opposed to being the very left key common on most keyboard), I was frequently pressing 'fn' when I wanted to copy or paste.  Searching for remedies online, the only possible solutions I found were highly technical and the average user could've messed up things on their computer.  Still this solution did not work as the 'fn' key lacked a scan code (and so is not recognized in Windows registry) and thus functions of the two keys could not be switched.  Lenovo has released a BIOS update with an option to fix this after much complaining from users.  I have yet to update, but I haven't seen have trouble from other users thus far.
• One mistake I made (not Lenovo) was not getting the webcam option for $30.  I didn't think anything of it at the time because after my school fees any savings get me more food.  The body shell still looks like a webcam should be there, only it is just black plastic.  I was disappointed by this, but it is really all my fault.
• The Lenovo sleeve made specifically for their laptops had a couple inches excess width.  This is not an issue with the laptop itself, but I returned the sleeve and picked up a Belkin sleeve that fit much better.  I believe this extra space must have been for the larger 9 cell battery.

Other Comments:

• One complaint against Thinkpads that I've heard is that the edges of the display body that protrude out from the screen (overlapping the main body) are ugly or unstylish.  This may be true for some models (mostly older models back with IBM), but on the T510 the only protruding edge is on the top of the display body and is very minimal.  This slight protrusion is needed for the keyboard light, which wouldn't shine on the keyboard as easily on a straight faced body.
• There are some dual touch functions on the touch pad, but no touch features on the display such as on some other T series models.

List Price: $1449 CAD (at time of posting only $1109 and is always on some sale)

Verdict:
The T510 is an excellent notebook and Lenovo allows users to have control over almost every component.  If you can wait for a good sale (which are often), I highly recommend you do.
My next PC notebook will be a Lenovo.