Reviews Written By: A8WAYVOKYBLO6provided by Amazon.com |
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 | AutoCAD LT 2010 | |
 | "Good for 2D work" | 2009-07-06 |
| This program is very good for 2D work. It is very powerful and has a lot of tools. I am new to AutoCAD and did have trouble getting used to it at first. I asked a friend with more AutoCAD experience to give it a try and give me his impression. He also liked it and felt it was good for 2D work. That being said, he also felt that he preferred his older version (2002) and said he wasn't interested in upgrading. He said he could make custom tools in his older version and this version doesn't appear to allow that. The ribbon integration looks very sleek, but might actually make things more complicated. If you don't absolutely need to upgrade, there is probably no reason to. If you are looking for new software, however, this is an excellent choice. | ||
 | 3,000 Solved Problems in Calculus | |
 | "Excellent source for practice problems." | 2009-04-04 |
| This book isn't a study guide, it's a book of practice problems. This book is for you if you understand the concepts and want more practice applying them. There are worked-out solutions for every problem, so if you get stuck you can see what the next step should be. If you are looking for supplemental instruction, this is not the right book. In that case you should look at the Humongous Book of Calculus Problems, and/or Jason Gibson's DVD. But once you have figured out how to do the problem, you are still going to want this book for the practice. If you are a serious math student and want to understand Calculus, rather than just get through it, this is a must-have. | ||
 | Texas Instruments TI 84 Plus Silver Edition Calculator (Pink) | |
| "This is a perfect calculator" | 2009-01-18 |
| This is a great example of a product that only does one thing, and does it well. It isn't a PDA/cellphone/MP3 player hybrid whatchamacalit, it is a calculator. The screen is easy to see, and the contrast can be adjusted to improve visbility. The buttons are large. I rarely hit a button I wasn't intending to. If you are thinking about upgrading from a TI-83 you definitely should. I am math tutor, so I am very familar with both models. The TI-84 is loaded with useful applications that can't be found on the 83. For instance, the TI-84 has an application that allows you to graph and shade inequalities. It is a great application that makes it easy explain inequalities to students. You can also load flashcards on it with simple graphics, and even design quizes. I love the color. It is a nice soft pink that is very pretty. I've seen the calculators that are all pink and I think they are ugly. The all pink calculators are a dark purpely hot pink that is just glaring and ugly. The combination of soft pink and grey on this calculator is much more feminine and stylish. The cover also has a neat retro design. At first I thought it seemed kind of spendy for a calculator, but I have been very happy with this purchase. A word of warning to math students. Don't just assume that any ole scientific calculator will do. If the instructors says to get a TI-83/84 they mean it. Other scientific calculators don't have the same functionality and it can really put the student at a disadvantage. You can use EITHER the TI-83 or TI-84, but it needs to be one of those, and the TI-84 is worth the investment. | ||
 | The Anatomy and Physiology Coloring Book | |
| "Great resource but you might want to wait" | 2009-01-06 |
| This is an odd one. The book is actually very good and can be helpful, but I hardly used it at all. I found that A&P lab was pretty easy and the coloring book didn't provide enough depth to be useful for lecture exams. I used it the first couple of weeks for anatomical directions and stuff like that, but in the end it wasn't really useful to me beyond that. I found the Netter flash cards to be much more helpful for lab stuff. That being said, I am still giving it a good rating because the quality is very good and it could be good some people. | ||
 | Anatomy and Physiology Coloring Workbook: A Complete Study Guide | |
| "Great resource but you might want to wait" | 2009-01-06 |
| This is an odd one. The book is actually very good and can be helpful, but I hardly used it at all. I found that A&P lab was pretty easy and the coloring book didn't provide enough depth to be useful for lecture exams. I used it the first couple of weeks for anatomical directions and stuff like that, but in the end it wasn't really useful to me beyond that. I found the Netter flash cards to be much more helpful for lab stuff. That being said, I am still giving it a good rating because the quality is very good and it could be good some people. | ||
 | National Audubon Society Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals | |
| "Excellent resource, but a little awkward" | 2009-01-05 |
| The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals is a beautiful book packed full of information. The guide, including index, is 850 pages, with over 250 full color pages featuring pretty much every rock and mineral you will come across in North America. The regular pages are very thin, similar to the paper bibles are printed on. This thin paper is very flimsy and may not hold up well to the kind of abuse it would take if you actually carried it in the field. The thiness also allows the print on the other side to show through, making it difficult to read sometimes. The print is especially small, contributing to some readability problems. The information is most certainly complete, though. The first 48 pages talk about the various characteristics that are used to identify minerals. It includes brief descriptions of the characteristics and in some cases line drawings. The next section is a "visual key" to minerals. The minerals are arranged by color and form. A small icon at the edge of the pages allows you to quickly flip through the key to find the type of mineral you are looking for. For instance, if you found something orange and globular you can quickly fan through the pages using your thumb until you see the appropriate icon. Then you can look at beautiful pictures of minerals that match those characteristics. The specimen pictures really are beautiful, but probably are not particularly useful. They are all gorgeous museum quality specimens that likely will not look like anyting you find in the field. But it does help you narrow it down to a list of suspects, and then you can go on from there. The plates include the mineral name and the page number where you will find the more useful information. There is also a "descriptive key" in case you don't want to use the images. This is probably the most useful part of the book. It allows you to take information you have gathered about your mineral--including color, hardness, cleavage, and form--and quickly reference it. This section is organized by hardness and color. Once you have your suspect this section refers you to the pages where you can find more information about these minerals. The information section is very thorough. It not only presents the various physical and chemical characteristics of the mineral, but also tells you where the mineral is likely to be found and what other types of minerals would be found in the same area. That information is very useful for ruling out suspects. The next section is on rocks. The arrangement is very similar. Information about the various characteristics of rocks is presented at the beginning of the section, followed by a visual key. Unlike the mineral section, however, there is not a section with a descriptive key. The visual key references to information pages that are just as thorough as the mineral pages. At the end there is a brief section on rock and mineral collecting and the environments in which various minerals are found. The appendices also include interesting information, including a glossary and information about rock-forming minerals, as well as a list of chemical abbreviations. The index is alphabatized by rock and mineral names and allows to quickly reference a specific rock or mineral you may be curious about. The information is excellent. The arrangement is logical and intuitive. The pictures, whether useful or not, are stunning. My only complaint about this field guide is that it is a little bit awkward. The pages are about 3.5" wide and 7.5" tall, and the book is approximately 1.25" inches thick. The thickness makes it a little difficult to handle, especially when you first get it and the binding is still tight. I would have liked it to be a little thinner. The beautiful pictures are three to a page and quite large (you can look at all the minerals in "look inside this book" thing here at Amazon). I think the pictures could have been equally as effective if made a little smaller and presented 6 to a page. That would have reduced the page count by more than 150 pages and made it a little easier to handle. That being said, I really can't complain. The fact that Audubon was able to fit this much information into such a compact volume is really impressive. I do recommend anyone with troubled vision to get a magnifying glass (or loupe!) with this purchase, though. | ||
 | HP iPaq hx2795b Pocket PC | |
| "Love it, worth every penny" | 2009-01-01 |
| I've had this device since April 2007. Twenty months later it is still going strong. I let it sit for several months without powering it up and was sure that the battery would be completely dead, but nope. It charged up to full power and has held the charge just as well as when it was new. I use it to keep track of my classes, check my email on the run, and various other tasks. It is a lot more convenient than trying to pull out my laptop to do that stuff. Recently I got into geocaching and I am also using it for that. I have a program called diet organizer that lets me track my weight and calories, as well. I use this little device a lot more than I thought I would, and it has held up very well. I've dropped it a few times (mostly onto carpet) without causing any damage. This is my second PDA and it is far superior to my old one. When the time comes to replace it I will definitely be looking at other HP models. | ||
 | Practical Algebra: A Self-Teaching Guide, 2nd Edition | |
| "Amazing!" | 2007-11-08 |
| I recently returned to school intending to major in Forensic Science. I graduated from high school in 1992 and only had pre-algebra. When I took the placement exam it put me in Algebra I. I suppose that is pretty good since it meant that I hadn't forgotten the stuff I learned in high school, but it meant I would have to spend at least an extra year just getting caught up on math before I could even get into the science classes I needed for my desired major. I purchased several algebra books that weren't helping at all, then I found this one. I love this book. I spent 5 days working through the book from cover to cover. I also used a software program called "College Algebra Solved!" for the areas where I needed a little more help (like simplifying radicals). After spending those five days with the book and software I retook the placement exam and placed into precalulus (my placement score went from 34 to 85. That's a 51 point increase!). So, yes, you can teach yourself algebra with this book. Everything is explained well and there are lots of practice problems and self-tests.
If you are looking to refresh or even teach yourself from scratch, this is the book. | ||
 | Vanguard MK-4 Heavy-Duty Tripod with Carrying Handle | |
 | "Junk" | 2007-01-03 |
| When I pulled this tripod out of the box I was all set to come here and give it a glowing review. It seemed very sturdy and I really thought it was a fantastic deal. That was three days ago. Since then, I have used the tripod only a few times. Today, I was photographing some trees. When I was done I went to lower the head. I turned the crank and everything was fine until the head was about 2 inches from the base. Then the crank made an ugly grinding sound and little bits of plastic fell out from the base. The crank no longer does anything, it just spins around freely and the head is stuck at the position. I'm going to have to buy a new tripod after only 3 days of light use. | ||
 | Bissell 1200B SpotBot Hands-Free Compact Deep Cleaner Carpet Cleaner | |
| "Ode to SpotBot" | 2006-11-03 |
| In honor of my spotbot I have written this haiku: So sad to say that on the floor, the cat did gack! Spotbot; friend, savior. I got my spotback in June. Five months later, I still love it! I have a cat. If you have a cat, I need not say more. If you don't, then let me put it this way; cats are puke machines. Getting down on my knees to clean up cat puke off the floor was getting really annoying. After five years with the most pukey puke machine on the face of the planet, I was at my wits end! I finally broke down and bought a SpotBot. Yes, $130 seems like a lot to spend on a machine that has only one function and can only perform that function on a 6 inch square area. After 5 months of use, I can honestly say, I would pay double that for this machine. It has made cat puke clean up a breeze! Just scoop up the solid bits (however you like, I use papertowels) apply the SpotBot and wait about 3 minutes and presto! It gets it all up and leaves no evidence of there ever having been cat puke on the floor. Here is the best part, it's not just good for cat puke! We've used it to clean up make-up, milk, juice and even soy sauce! We even let a neighbor use it to clean up set in dog pee and it cleaned it right up. It works both on new stains and old stains. It really is a magical, wonderful machine. This machine is great for anyone, but if you have a pet it is a must have. You will wonder how you ever lived without it. SpotBot, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways! | ||
 | A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive | |
| "Very poorly written" | 2006-11-01 |
| The title and what seemed to be overwhelming praise captured my attention. When the book arrived I was eager to read it. I cracked the pages and my jaw dropped, not in a good way. This book is so poorly written I am baffled at how it ever got published in the first place. I read as much as I could but the poor use of language and annoying blocks of italicized text made it impossible. I returned to Amazon to look at the reviews, again. This time, rather than just taking the star rating and "featured reviews" at face value, I really went through page by page and evaluated the reviews. It appears that many, many kids have been assigned to write a review here at Amazon as part of a class project. If you read through all of the reviews on this site you will see that most of them are written by children. 95% of the kids reviews have given the book a 5 star rating which has thrown off the rating. If you pay attention to the reviews not written by children you will see that the majority of adults do not enjoy this book. If you're between the ages of 11 and 13 you, apparently, will love this book. If you are an adult, who knows better, don't expect much from it. In my opinion, it is a waste of paper. (On a side note: A little time investigating the author brings into speculation about the veracity of his story.) | ||
 | mobiBLU Cube DAH-1500i 1 GB MP3 Player - Black | |
 | "mobiBLU Cube DAH-1500i 1 GB Digital Audio Player Review" | 2006-04-01 |
| A few months ago I saw the MobiBLU Cube on some weekend morning news show. At the time I did not have an MP3 player, which is kind of strange since I am what you call an "early adopter." I liked the looks of the MobiBLU Cube. It's a small (approx. 1") cube that fits in the palm of your hand. A couple of weeks later I went to Wal*Mart and bought the black one. I wanted the pink one but that is only available online and I didn't feel like waiting. I purchased the 1 GB player and it was $129.00. The MobiBLU Cube comes with the mp3 player, a pair of necklace headphones that double as antennae for the FM receiver, an ac adapter, USB cable, instruction manual, software and a rubbery protective thingy. I should say right off that I am not a music person. I like music, of course, but I don't obsess about it. I can't really tell the difference between good sound quality and great sound quality. I can tell bad quality, though, and the MobiBLU Cube does not have bad sound quality. It may not be great quality but it is at least good quality--and, it may be great quality, as far as I know. All I can really say is that the sound quality is sufficient for me and would probably be sufficient for most people. The MobiBLU Cube has some neat features. It can tune in FM radio stations, although in my area this feature doesn't really work. It has a microphone and can be used to take memos. You can also record from the FM receiver and add the recordings to your playlist. I find that the included earbuds get really uncomfortable overtime. They came with spongy cover things but by the time I realized they had come with it one had already fallen out of the package so I don't know if that would help with the discomfort. My guess is that it would not help much because the discomfort is a result of the somewhat large size and slightly odd shape. I'll probably eventually pick up new earbuds one of these days. The Self Emitting Blue OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) Display is ultra bright. Sometimes I use it in the middle of the night to find things when I don't feel like turning on the light, it is that bright. I also haven't had any problems reading the screen outside and I don't exactly have the best eyes in the world. The random play feature needs some work. I currently have 66 songs on my unit (and yes, I paid for every one of them--I don't steal music), 26 of those songs are Big & Rich (two full albums). That's just over 1/3rd of them so at that rate B&R should be player approximately every 3rd song but typically it plays about 5-6 B&R songs in a row and then will play 1 of my other songs and a lot of the songs almost never come up on random play. Interestingly the B&R songs that are playing are almost always from the Coming to your City album. So, I have songs from one album playing repeatedly while other songs aren't playing at all. Now, obviously I like Big & Rich but come on, there's a limit to how many times I can listen to Jalapeno in one sitting! I frequently skip several songs in a row when I am listening in random play. The product manual claims that with the screen off and the volume under 20 the MobiBLU Cube can play for up to 10 hours. I don't have the patience to wait out 10 hours to test it but I do know that I have never had it stop playing while I was listening to it. The most time I am likely to spend listening is maybe 2 or 3 hours. The one thing that really bothers me about this MP3 player is that the battery doesn't hold a charge when it is off. Every time I want to listen to it I have to recharge it even if I haven't been playing it and the battery was full a couple days ago. This may be the case with all MP3 players, I'm not sure. I had trouble using the included software. I would drop the files to the player and the files would come up on the player as zero length files. Then I reformatted it and tried using the WMP sync function and it worked perfectly. When I got my new laptop I didn't even bother to install the MobiBLU software, I just use WMP and everything works just fine. As far as durability goes I have had no problem. I have been using it for a few months without any problems. I have definitely dropped it once or twice and my cat is certain it is actually a cat toy. If I look away for just a second he will pick it up and run off with it and bat it around for a while. It still works despite a bit of abuse and that's a good thing. The iPod we got my nephew for Christmas stopped working before the New Year and he was treating it like vial of nitroglycerin! Apparently those things break if you look at them wrong. The MobiBLU Cube is not without its flaws, but it's a cute little device. It's lightweight and really simple to use. The 1 GB capacity holds up to 32 hours of music (in WMA format). For the price it is probably the best deal on the market. It used to only be available from Wal*Mart but now you can find it all over the web including at TigerDirect, Target and Amazon.com. | ||
 | Swheat Scoop Scoopable Cat Litter | |
| "Swheat Scoop review" | 2006-03-12 |
| I'd like to say that there was some profound reason why I decided to give Swheat Scoop a try, but the truth is I bought it because the cat on the box looks like my cat. While that may not be the best reason, it has worked out rather well. So, what is Swheat Scoop? Swheat Scoop Cat Litter is a natural cat litter made from wheat, yes wheat. When the wheat protein gets wet it binds together, creating clumps. In other words, it's a natural clumping cat litter. The manufacturer claims that this natural litter is better for you, your cat and the environment. They, and others, claim: the silica dust in standard cat litter can irritate your and your cat's lungs; clay litters can cause digestive problems and can get lodged in your cat's urethra making them unable to urinate; clay litters are not bio-degradable. Swheat Scoop claims to be dust-free. This is not entirely accurate. There is some dust. It is extremely fine and powdery and I haven't had any problems with it in 6 months of use. I can attest to the fact that this dust, or powder, is not irritating like the silica dust from traditional litters. Because Swheat Scoop is made from wheat, it is digestible. This is important because when your cat grooms him or herself s/he will ingest bits of their litter. Some claim that because clay litters cannot be digested they build up in the cat's system and can cause intestinal blockages. I don't know if this is true, but I do know that the claim is supported by some veterinarians. Whether or not a cat owner believes that there are potential risks from using traditional letters, they are always concerned with how well it works! Swheat Scoop is more than just a natural litter. It is a litter that does what litter is supposed to do, reduce odors. In fact, "reduce" is an understatement; it really does eliminate odors. I does require regular scooping, as in daily. If the litter is not scooped on a regular bases and the clumps become uncovered there is some odor from the moist wheat. Scooping is made much less of a chore by the fact that Swheat Scoop is flushable. If you keep your litter box in the bathroom, then it is even easier. There is one minor drawback to Swheat Scoop. It clumps almost too well. The clumps have a tendency to stick to the bottom of the litter box and require some muscle to get them loose. The maker recommends spraying the litter box with cooking spray to keep the clumps from sticking. I haven't tried this yet, but I will update if I ever get around to it. I've tried a lot of commercial cat litters and have even tried shredded newspaper. I have never found anything that works as well as Swheat Scoop, and I love that it is safe for my kitty. | ||
 | Writer's Guide to Hollywood Producers, Directors, and Screenwriter's Agents, 2002-2003: Who They Are! What They Want! And How to Win Them Over! | |
| "It's not as expensive as some others" | 2001-08-15 |
| In the back of this book is a database that lists agents and producers. There are comments included with each agent/producer, which I found to be very useful. I would recommend this book for people who can't affford the Hollywood Creative directory. It's definitely a good starting point. You'll find writing advice in the front. I can't really recommend those sections. It's not that they are bad, but there are much better resources for that information. I think the book just tries to do too much. Still, it should be on any writer's bookshelf. | ||
 | The Writer's Guide to Character Traits: Includes Profiles of Human Behaviors and Personality Types | |
| "Excellent, but don't get fooled" | 2001-08-15 |
| It's very important you understand what the function of this book is. This is not a book written to advise you on how to write characters. This is a book to help you create extra depth to your characters. That may sound like a contridiction, but I assure you it's not. The book offers straight forward profiles of various personality types. It covers normal personality types, abnormal types, types connected with various occupations, etc. These profiles are presented in an easy to read and understand manner. Use this book to create personality profiles for your characters. The book won't show you how to bring those traits out. It won't show you how to develop characters or add subtext or any of those things. What it does is give you a foundation on which to build your characters. It helps you keep your characters real and plausable. It's excellent within its intended function. I highly recommend it. Just don't think that it's a cure all for character issues. | ||
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