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Reviews Written By: A1GA0GA1PTOKIZ

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	JBL ONSTAGE 2 - Speaker System for iPod and MP3 Players
	"Good value"	2007-02-20
This is a cute, compact device that sounds decent and is reasonably priced. It sounded much better than comparably priced iPod speakers I tested. Of course the sound quality of the JBL On Stage II does not compare with much more expensive and much larger systems such as Apple's iPod Hi-Fi and Bose's SoundDock. But for our needs it fit well. Small, convenient, adequate sound, and easy on the wallet.
	Oneida Satin Garnet 65-Piece Flatware Set with Caddy, Service for 12
	"Well made - Decent price"	2007-02-20
This flatware set feels well made and durable. It feels heavy, substantial, and solid, but not awkward to use. Our only problem was that the forks were so sharp I actually cut my fingers twice on the prongs. We bought two sets just before Thanksgiving, 2006, enough for lots of out of town relatives staying at our house for days. No rust problems yet (as another reviewer reported). So far we are quite satisfied. We did shop around but were quite satisfied at Amazon's price, especially with the free shipping.
	Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred Speech Recognition
	"Best speech recognition program I've ever used"	2007-02-05
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 is the third speech recognition program that I've bought in the last six years. I am a poor typist and I've dreamed about a computerized secretary to take my dictations. A prior version of Dragon Dictate and an old IBM speech recognition program were both quite disappointing. So, despite the great reviews I approached this latest product with great skepticism. It's true, now I have a far more powerful computer than I ever dreamed of in years past. I'm running Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 preferred edition on a home built PC running Windows XP with an AMD 64 dual core 3800+ processor, with 2 GB of RAM, and a Sound Blaster Audigy soundcard. I even bought special high quality headsets. Well, here's my experience. The program does indeed work well. Needless to say, I'm dictating this review. Periodically I find little mistakes. And correcting each mistake is a little bit of a pain. But boy does it ever beat typing! I certainly did not need the special high quality headsets that I bought. Those were a flat-out waste of money. The headset that came with the program works just fine. Nor did I need such a powerful computer. I bought a separate copy of NaturallySpeaking for my Gateway notebook running Windows XP on a Pentium M 1.73 GHz processor with 1 GB of RAM, and without a separate soundcard. Surprisingly, speech recognition seems to run almost as smoothly on my notebook, as it does on the more powerful desktop with separate soundcard. The program really did improve in accuracy because I took the time to correct my own mistakes. I wouldn't want anyone to expect too much from this program out of the box. It really does get better with time and usage. This is an endorsement. Generally, I only write reviews for products that I can recommend. Would I buy it again? Well, I already bought a second copy for my notebook. My 14-year-old son also uses it to dictate his homework.
	Alexander Hamilton
	"Hamilton's incredible life"	2005-10-30
I don't imagine it is easy to write a biography about Alexander Hamilton without taking a position. In Hamilton's day he was loved and admired, and loathed. He was a passionate, ambitious, brilliant man who seemed to provoke extreme reactions, positive and negative. Even now, 200 years after his death, the pro- and anti- Hamilton debates continue. Chernow's biography is well researched and detailed. The author is obviously generally sympathetic to the subject (and to his wife.) But he does not shy away from Hamilton's many faults and missteps. But a complete, realistic portrait does not detract from Hamilton's many accomplishments. In fact, it is hard to conceive how anyone could have risen so far, considering his birth, childhood, and lack of formal education. Equally unbelievable is how a man of such great intelligence could have made such obvious blunders, such as his involvement in the Reynolds affair, his attacks on John Adams, etc. Credit Chernow for giving credible explanation for all of Hamilton's extremes. Perhaps at many points he strays from fact and research, but any savvy reader will easily discern what is documented from the historical record, and what is the author's conjecture. You cannot have a biography of Hamilton without discussing Washington, Adams, Madison, Jefferson, and of course, Burr. The author is obviously sympathetic to Hamilton in his conflicts with the last four mentioned. But he is generally fair, so readers can form their own opinions. I was never a history buff. But now, in my mid-40's, because of this biography and David McCullough's 1776, I'm on an American history binge. I'm reading book after book on the subject, which I had previously ignored. Even if it is not PC to admit this, learning about the faults and foibles of "the founding fathers" has not lessened my respect and admiration for them. Well, except for Burr, that is... The writing is more than adequate, and Hamilton's life supplies enough drama to keep readers involved.
	Zagatsurvey 2004 San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants
	"Met our needs"	2005-09-15
This was our first visit to San Francisco, so I bought this guide based on my nice experiences with Zagat NYC Restaurants. With all due respect to the previous reviewers, my family found this Zagats Survey quite helpful. We are a difficult family to please. My wife wants value, I am a vegetarian, and our kids are, well, not adventurous eaters. None of us like touristaurants. We much prefer unique, down to earth kinds of places. This guide was just what we needed. We avoided a couple of well publicized places that were judged mediocre but found a few out of the way gems. In one wonderful, tiny restaurant the chef asked how we found them, as usually they only had locals. None of our meals disappointed us when we used Zagats/SF as our guide. In fact, one of the nicest parts of our West Coast vacation was all the great dining in San Francisco. To be fair to the other reviewers, we are not typical. Fancy and formal and expensive are turn-offs for us. We are looking for personality, family and vegetarian friendly, and value, as well as good food and service. Gary Danko or French Laundry? Not us. But for our out of town family looking for an honest guide, this was perfect.