Reviews Written By: AO9UNKQG83BUPprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | Apple iPod touch 8 GB | |
 | "What's missing (& how to get email in a strange city)" | 2009-10-29 |
| The iPod Touch is a great line. I was so happy to get mine when it first came out and still use it constantly. It has been made very useful by a number of great apps. The advantage of getting an iPod Touch is that you only pay for it once, there are no high monthly iphone service fees.
But if you are contemplating purchasing a 1G iPod Touch, you will be missing what the more recent generations have: a speaker and a microphone. Unless you have some very restricted uses anticiapted, i strongly recommend getting a later generation. Additionally, there are a few things the iPhone has that the Touch line currently does not have (as of this writing): - camera - web connectivity even if wifi is not present (by using the cell system) - gps - magnetic compass The last two items are generally needed if you want to play with the new "augmented reality" apps. And lots of mapping and location aware apps (e.g. where is a nearby pizza restaurant?) are disabled on the touches (though there are a few exceptions, e.g. Gaia GPS). However, the touch does triangulate locations based on wifi signals, so if you are in an area with decent wifi coverage, it can figure out where you are anyway (e.g. Paris or Santa Monica California). Here is a trick for getting and receiving email when you are in a place where you don't have a wifi account. Using the app WifiTrak, set the "Connect and Check" setting to ON. Then as you walk around the area, if it detects an open wifi connection, it will connect and check your email (even if in sleep mode). Then when you sit down for coffee or lunch somewhere, open up your touch, and you will see mail received and sent automatically while you were walking around. As soon as they release iPod Touches with decent cameras (e.g. better than the nano cameras), I plan to upgrade. If that doesn't happen, I will instead get an unlocked iphone, so that I don't have to pay monthly service fees for it. But in the meantime, the touch is great and has been very useful to me. | ||
 | Wenzel Queen-Size Raised Insta-Bed | |
 | "Higher than other air beds, more like a real bed, happy with this choice" | 2009-10-28 |
| When my daughter said she wanted to replace her college room aerobed with a bigger one, I thought she was finally ready to accept a real bed. No, it just turned out she wanted an air-bed that was taller like a real bed, so that she could sit on it like furniture.
This one has worked out very well for her. She likes having an inflatable bed because it makes moving easier. This one is high enough to sit on comfortably. Also the aerobed was actually slightly smaller in all dimensions, so this one is a better fit for her sheets. The cons: The top was a bit plastic hard, so for comfort she got a soft puffy mattress pad. It is hard to get deep pocket sheets to fit on it tightly because there is nowhere for the sheets to actually tuck under, and the ridge for the sheet elastic is too high for deep pocket sheets. Finally she has to top it off with air every few days. In spite of the cons, the height of this one makes it a winner for us. | ||
 | Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver) | |
| "Can add functionality thru firmware extensions" | 2009-10-19 |
| Purchased this as a present for a family member. It is a great camera, light enough to carry around, takes wonderful photos, and built in time-lapse, video, and sound recording.
But a special feature worth knowing about is that firmware extensions can be installed on the memory card (not the camera itself) and then the camera can have more functionality. (This may be true of more recent successor models). Now I want my own! The product CHDK (third party I think) apparently adds various functions to the feature-set of this camera. Note, according to what I am told, since it is on the memory card, it does not affect the firmware in the camera itself. Here is some of the expanded capability: - take photo if motion detected, e.g. at a bird feeder (uses the focus mechanism as motion detector) - HDR function, will take a number of bracketed exposures for combining into a single well-exposed photo. - time lapse photo cycle has been increased I don't know what else CHDK helps with, but this gives you an idea of the wonderful things you can do with this camera (and probably others in this product line). This has greatly expanded the usability of this camera and some really great HDR photos have been produced. | ||
 | Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Brown) | |
| "Can add functionality thru firmware extensions" | 2009-10-19 |
| Purchased this as a present for a family member. It is a great camera, light enough to carry around, takes wonderful photos, and built in time-lapse, video, and sound recording.
But a special feature worth knowing about is that firmware extensions can be installed on the memory card (not the camera itself) and then the camera can have more functionality. (This may be true of more recent successor models). Now I want my own! The product CHDK (third party I think) apparently adds various functions to the feature-set of this camera. Note, according to what I am told, since it is on the memory card, it does not affect the firmware in the camera itself. Here is some of the expanded capability: - take photo if motion detected, e.g. at a bird feeder (uses the focus mechanism as motion detector) - HDR function, will take a number of bracketed exposures for combining into a single well-exposed photo. - time lapse photo cycle has been increased I don't know what else CHDK helps with, but this gives you an idea of the wonderful things you can do with this camera (and probably others in this product line). This has greatly expanded the usability of this camera and some really great HDR photos have been produced. | ||
 | Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8.0MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Blue) | |
| "Can add functionality thru firmware extensions" | 2009-10-19 |
| Purchased this as a present for a family member. It is a great camera, light enough to carry around, takes wonderful photos, and built in time-lapse, video, and sound recording.
But a special feature worth knowing about is that firmware extensions can be installed on the memory card (not the camera itself) and then the camera can have more functionality. (This may be true of more recent successor models). Now I want my own! The product CHDK (third party I think) apparently adds various functions to the feature-set of this camera. Note, according to what I am told, since it is on the memory card, it does not affect the firmware in the camera itself. Here is some of the expanded capability: - take photo if motion detected, e.g. at a bird feeder (uses the focus mechanism as motion detector) - HDR function, will take a number of bracketed exposures for combining into a single well-exposed photo. - time lapse photo cycle has been increased I don't know what else CHDK helps with, but this gives you an idea of the wonderful things you can do with this camera (and probably others in this product line). This has greatly expanded the usability of this camera and some really great HDR photos have been produced. | ||
 | Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Pink) | |
| "Can add functionality thru firmware extensions" | 2009-10-19 |
| Purchased this as a present for a family member. It is a great camera, light enough to carry around, takes wonderful photos, and built in time-lapse, video, and sound recording.
But a special feature worth knowing about is that firmware extensions can be installed on the memory card (not the camera itself) and then the camera can have more functionality. (This may be true of more recent successor models). Now I want my own! The product CHDK (third party I think) apparently adds various functions to the feature-set of this camera. Note, according to what I am told, since it is on the memory card, it does not affect the firmware in the camera itself. Here is some of the expanded capability: - take photo if motion detected, e.g. at a bird feeder (uses the focus mechanism as motion detector) - HDR function, will take a number of bracketed exposures for combining into a single well-exposed photo. - time lapse photo cycle has been increased I don't know what else CHDK helps with, but this gives you an idea of the wonderful things you can do with this camera (and probably others in this product line). This has greatly expanded the usability of this camera and some really great HDR photos have been produced. | ||
 | Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Pink) with Selphy CP760 Photo Printer (Pink) | |
| "Can add functionality thru firmware extensions" | 2009-10-19 |
| Purchased this as a present for a family member. It is a great camera, light enough to carry around, takes wonderful photos, and built in time-lapse, video, and sound recording.
But a special feature worth knowing about is that firmware extensions can be installed on the memory card (not the camera itself) and then the camera can have more functionality. (This may be true of more recent successor models). Now I want my own! The product CHDK (third party I think) apparently adds various functions to the feature-set of this camera. Note, according to what I am told, since it is on the memory card, it does not affect the firmware in the camera itself. Here is some of the expanded capability: - take photo if motion detected, e.g. at a bird feeder (uses the focus mechanism as motion detector) - HDR function, will take a number of bracketed exposures for combining into a single well-exposed photo. - time lapse photo cycle has been increased I don't know what else CHDK helps with, but this gives you an idea of the wonderful things you can do with this camera (and probably others in this product line). This has greatly expanded the usability of this camera and some really great HDR photos have been produced. | ||
 | What Would Google Do | |
| "Rethinking Everything for Functioning in the Future" | 2009-05-28 |
| This is a great mind-twisting book that shows examples of rethinking everything in different ways, as well as laying out how the business world is changing. It is more than just an anecdote book. It is well organized around 40 well-illustrated principles about coming trends. It is more about the changes our business world is undergoing than about Google itself. For example, in "Middlemen are doomed" the role of middle men (agents) in the publishing world, and in real estate, is discussed along with the changing role of newspapers. Following that, there are 20 examples of applying rethought approaches to a number of different situations, for example, medical care and insurance, manufacturing, travel, etc. One thing particularly enjoyable about this book is that it draws from many sources for thoughts and examples. In doing so, I am learning about a number of interesting bloggers and book authors that I had not yet encountered. What is useful about this book is that it conveys the message of standing somewhere different and thinking differently about something that has been done in one way for far too long. Of course this book is only speaking in generalities -- it is not a user manual, and your task, should you choose to accept it, is to figure out how to apply this new perspective to whatever you are involved in. I found it an enjoyable mind-brightening book. | ||
 | Machine Knitting | |
 | "Beginner level only, better alternatives are available." | 2008-10-10 |
| This book is for beginners only, and there are other books that go farther. However, for its audience, it is very well done, especially if the instructions that came with your knitting machine are minimal and you don't have a good instructor nearby (it goes way beyond the manual that comes with a Silver-Reed LK-150, for example). Everything is illustrated with large clear b&w photos. The copy I looked at was a paperback printed on thin high quality paper, so the book is not bulky, and it is easy on the eyes (the index was on page 171, so I don't know why the listing says the book has 192 pages). However, this book contains only a fraction of the information in Susan Guagliumi's most excellent book Hand-Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters. In comparing the two, it seems like the topics of this book (not counting the projects) correspond pretty closely to just the first 50+ introductory pages of Guagliumi's book, which contains 230 pages of skills and machine knitting stitches, not counting glossary, index, etc. So if you have to pick only one book, go for Hand-Manipulated Stitches instead. One very thing nice about this book is that it includes a DVD. If you don't have someone to show you in person how to do certain moves or techniques, a dvd can be very helpful. (There is a DVD or video that goes along with Hand-Manipulated Stitches, but you have to track it down separately.) | ||
 | Celtic Woman | |
| "Yanni-like performance" | 2005-08-25 |
| Everyone's musical taste is different, so writing a review that says I loved it or hated it doesn't really help others who are contemplating buying it. So here I will try to describe what it is like so you can decide for yourself: The cast of 5 ladies is presented with modern staging: evening dresses, modern straight hair-styles (unlike the traditional costumes and curly hair of Riverdance; you can see 4 of them in the blueish background of the cover art). The stage projects out into the audience. Part of the show is just watching these ladies. Except for the thrashing of the violin player, there is not much movement and no dancing. They all sing with beautiful clear toned voices. This performance reminded me a lot of Yanni, in terms of the orchestration and presentation. It was not deep emotional music like Enya, or evocative like RiverDance. It contains modern and traditional Celtic songs, arranged for wide popular appeal. If other Celtic music you have heard seems too straightforward and wistful and deep, you may like this presentation. If you find that Yanni has too much surface glitz and is meaningless and hollow, you may not like this. I was intrigued by the number of reviews here that comment on the obvious lip syncing. This could be why it seemed empty and souless to me. I really like this kind of music, and thus was puzzled why the performance didn't grab me. That said, there are obviously many people who have enjoyed this performance. Also, one of the great ways of watching music on tv today is to turn on the closed captions and get the lyrics while you're listening/watching. The PBS broadcast had them; shame on them for leaving them off the DVD, as has been mentioned by other reviewers. The Celtic lyrics were very interesting, especially with the audience singing along. | ||
 | Paper Clay | |
| "Ceramic Clay Variation Worth Knowing About - Great Book" | 2005-07-28 |
| This is a useful great book about "paper clay". However, the editorial description of this book doesn't quite tell you what "paper clay" is, so here is a nuts and bolts description: Paper clay is ceramic clay (slip or dry powder+water) that has had some percentage of fiber mixed into it, which produces a product with very interesting properties. The fibers can be paper, or refractory such as ceramic fiber. Because of the intermixed fibers, the unfired clay is stronger and can be manipulated when very thin, so it facilitates new kinds of clay sculpting. Additionally, because the fiber provides a sort of scaffolding that prevents shrinkage, "paper clay" can be used in new ways that traditional clay cannot, such as adding on to or repairing already bisqued pots. There is lots more, and it is all well discussed in this book, with some mention in the editorial description. The style of the book is NOT that of a craft recipe book, it is a thorough discussion of paper clay usage and variations, firing issues, fiber sources, steps in making and using, etc. There are specific charts and tables in the appendix. The topic is definitely worth five stars to anyone who works in clay. The only reason I am giving it four stars instead of five is that I can imagine even more comprehensive coverage, especially of use of castable refractory fiber -- other than that, it is worth five stars. But it is definitely an informative and useful book, which benefits from being the successor of several previous books on the topic by the same author. NOTE: There is a commercial product called "Paper Clay" which seems to be some sort of air-dry paper mache. The paper clay in this book is entirely different, a ceramic material which requires kiln firing. | ||
 | Alternative Kilns & Firing Techniques : Raku * Saggar * Pit * Barrel | |
| "emphasis on firing techniques, not kilns" | 2005-07-22 |
| This is a very worthwhile and contentful book, just not what it seemed from the brief desciption. Hopefully this clarification is helpful to others: This book's editorial description, along with the title, seem to suggest that its focus is in how to create various homemade ad hoc kilns (for those that don't have ready access to a kiln already). It talks about kiln building, and never uses the word raku. Basically, however, this is a raku book, with lots of interesting variations. "Barrel" and "pit" kilns (mentioned in the subtitle) turn out to be just more forms of raku, rather than new kinds of homemade kilns. It contains many creative firing ideas with wonderful results, generously shared by a number of contributors. Along the way, of course, they do tell you how to put together firing chambers for these firing techniques. So it does provide some alternative kiln construction guidance with variations, but not the quantity I was expecting. And the firing techniques were an unexpected bonus. In style, this is a thin "coffee-table book" - lots of great photos, widely set lines of type, artistic white space. But the content is fascinating and invaluable to anyone who wants to do firings that are more interesting than simply closing the door and turning on the heat. Initially, I was disappointed when I saw how the content of the book was padded out with white space, but after I started reading I realized how much great information was in it. I would like to see much more expanded content (not counting the gallery & appendices, it is 89 pages). However, this does provide plenty of ideas to try for quite some while. I just need to find a different alternnative kiln book for when I'm not doing raku style firings. (The publisher could really help out here, by giving the table of contents, which really does give an accurate idea of the book content). | ||
 | A Stolen Tongue | |
| "Mixture of interesting, boring, disgusting" | 2005-07-13 |
| This book does an excellent job of conveying the mindset and worldview of someone who is participating in a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the 1400s, as well as all sorts of details about what the pilgrim encountered when there. Having a window into that world was interesting, for a while. However that is not enough to make a good book. The primary disgusting aspect of this book is the constant theme of reveling in dried up body parts of supposed saints, but there are other disgusting aspects as well. The book starts out interesting, conveying how very different the bizarre world view of a religious christian at that time was to the world we live in today. And there is a problem introduced that seems like it is going to be a mystery that will drive the plot. But then after the first say 1/3 of the book, the middle of the book is succession of boring and tedius groveling and praying at various holy sites. (This could be interesting if this is of meaning to you.) Then at the end, aspects of the problem return, and things get really grim and disgusting. There is no mystery and ensuing detective thought and insight, there is just straightforward progress in dealing with the problem. Oh yes, a touch of "magical realism" that jumps in out of the blue at a critical scene at the end. It is too bad there is so little plot, and what little there is has such a unpleasant taste to its resolution. The author has gone to great effort to provide a well-written and excruciatingly detailed picture into the world of 1400s pilgrimages, which I did find interesting. But it reads more as a boring travelogue framed by a bit of plot distastefulness at the beginning and end. Also, in an afterward, you read that it was based on the translations of this real guy's journals. So then I wonder how much of it was actually conceived by the author, or just put into good narrative form from what was extant in the journals. | ||
 | The Craft and Art of Clay (3rd Edition) | |
| "Very Comprehensive Survey of Ceramics Techniques & Materials" | 2005-06-10 |
| This is a large book chock full of information, and provides an in-depth survey of ceramics. There are many photographs about techniques and many illustrations of beautiful artistic ceramics pieces. Also it contains lots of technical information, tables, etc. Since other reviews have covered the merits of this book quite well, I'll mention a few issues: First, there are lots of sample photos of different clay bodies under different firings and different glaze colors and combinations, etc., but they are all *way too small* to really see the characteristics of each sample. Also sometimes there is a series of photos, e.g. throwing a pot, building a kiln, and when they are all arranged on the page, each one is too small (and many are b&w, from previous editions?) Otherwise the book is very well illustrated with a wide variety of work. The glaze discussion does not cover the properties of glaze bases and coloring oxides much at all, which is something I would expect in a book of this comprehensiveness. It does spent some time on commercial fritted stains and Mayco glazes, which other books don't, and can be useful to some, especially for low-temp work. But if you really want to get into glazes, this is not the book. For many advanced topics, she has just a mention that leaves me hungry for more. E.g. lusters she briefly mentions using and making, but Rhodes has a much more thorough discussion of making lusters. Paperclay is mentioned briefly but not enough to really tell me how to make it or use it. For many of the topics in the book, more detailed discussions are possible and likely available elsewhere. However she has assembled lots of brief mentions of different and experimental work that you might not encounter in other ceramics survey books, so it is useful for knowing what else I want to look into. [This review pertains to the 4th edition, 2003.] | ||
 | The Craft and Art of Clay | |
| "Very Comprehensive Survey of Ceramics Techniques & Materials" | 2005-06-10 |
| This is a large book chock full of information, and provides an in-depth survey of ceramics. There are many photographs about techniques and many illustrations of beautiful artistic ceramics pieces. Also it contains lots of technical information, tables, etc. Since other reviews have covered the merits of this book quite well, I'll mention a few issues: First, there are lots of sample photos of different clay bodies under different firings and different glaze colors and combinations, etc., but they are all *way too small* to really see the characteristics of each sample. Also sometimes there is a series of photos, e.g. throwing a pot, building a kiln, and when they are all arranged on the page, each one is too small (and many are b&w, from previous editions?) Otherwise the book is very well illustrated with a wide variety of work. The glaze discussion does not cover the properties of glaze bases and coloring oxides much at all, which is something I would expect in a book of this comprehensiveness. It does spent some time on commercial fritted stains and Mayco glazes, which other books don't, and can be useful to some, especially for low-temp work. But if you really want to get into glazes, this is not the book. For many advanced topics, she has just a mention that leaves me hungry for more. E.g. lusters she briefly mentions using and making, but Rhodes has a much more thorough discussion of making lusters. Paperclay is mentioned briefly but not enough to really tell me how to make it or use it. For many of the topics in the book, more detailed discussions are possible and likely available elsewhere. However she has assembled lots of brief mentions of different and experimental work that you might not encounter in other ceramics survey books, so it is useful for knowing what else I want to look into. [This review pertains to the 4th edition, 2003.] | ||
 | THE CRAFT AND ART OF CLAY | |
| "Very Comprehensive Survey of Ceramics Techniques & Materials" | 2005-06-10 |
| This is a large book chock full of information, and provides an in-depth survey of ceramics. There are many photographs about techniques and many illustrations of beautiful artistic ceramics pieces. Also it contains lots of technical information, tables, etc.
Since other reviews have covered the merits of this book quite well, I'll mention a few issues: First, there are lots of sample photos of different clay bodies under different firings and different glaze colors and combinations, etc., but they are all *way too small* to really see the characteristics of each sample. Also sometimes there is a series of photos, e.g. throwing a pot, building a kiln, and when they are all arranged on the page, each one is too small (and many are b&w, from previous editions?) Otherwise the book is very well illustrated with a wide variety of work. The glaze discussion does not cover the properties of glaze bases and coloring oxides much at all, which is something I would expect in a book of this comprehensiveness. It does spent some time on commercial fritted stains and Mayco glazes, which other books don't, and can be useful to some, especially for low-temp work. But if you really want to get into glazes, this is not the book. For many advanced topics, she has just a mention that leaves me hungry for more. E.g. lusters she briefly mentions using and making, but Rhodes has a much more thorough discussion of making lusters. Paperclay is mentioned briefly but not enough to really tell me how to make it or use it. For many of the topics in the book, more detailed discussions are possible and likely available elsewhere. However she has assembled lots of brief mentions of different and experimental work that you might not encounter in other ceramics survey books, so it is useful for knowing what else I want to look into. [This review pertains to the 4th edition, 2003.] | ||
 | The Practical Potter: A Step by Step Handbook | |
| "Informative Book, same as "[Complete] Practical Potter"" | 2005-06-05 |
| This appears to be the same book as "The Complete Practical Potter" isbn #0754801950, so see the reviews there for more info about the contents of this book. [My full review of this title is at isbn #1843092069, which is another edition of this same book.] | ||
 | The Complete Practical Potter | |
| "Informative book, available in smaller/cheaper version" | 2005-06-05 |
| This book is quite informative. The same book appears to be available in a smaller (and much cheaper!) version titled "The Practical Potter". [My full review is at isbn 1843092069.] However the print is smaller, so if that will bother you, get this physically larger edition. | ||
 | The Potter's Encyclopedia of Color, Form and Decoration: The Comprehensive References for Today's Ceramicist | |
| "This book combines two previous books in one (plus some)" | 2005-06-05 |
| This book combines Neal French's "Potter's Directory of Shape and Form" along with Constant & Ogden's "Potter's Palette", along with some pages of additional decoration photos. By this I mean that the exact pages of those other books are what this book consists of. Thus, it is a better buy than either of those other books. Both of them are useful resources. To get an idea of what this book contains, look at the reviews for those books. The result is a very handy & informative book, but I can imagine a book which is even more comprehensive, which is why I'm giving only 4 stars. p.s. By the way, I spent a few moments paging through this book looking for any mention of Constant & Ogden, the authors of the Potter's Palette, but I couldn't find any (if it is there, it is obscure). How is it that they can publish this book under Neal French's name without any evident mention of the authors who produced half the book? I wonder what book the additional decoration pages came from? | ||
 | Electric Kiln Ceramics | |
| "Good intro survey technique, CHECK THE EDITION DATE" | 2005-06-05 |
| *** Note *** This review pertains to the 2004 all-color edition of this book. Because I don't think that Amazon has yet implemented time travel to future books for its customers, it is clear that the reviews dated 2000 and 2001 pertain to a much older edition of this book. This book seems a very reasonable introductory survey of things you do in ceramics, so would be a reasonable self-teaching text for someone using an electric kiln (check the table of contents to see the topics). About half the book is technique (though not as detailed as many other books, such as Petersen or Warshaw). Technique discussion is illustrated by many fascinating photos. Then about half the book is simply "Gallery" with more fascinating and beautiful photos, but no text. So the quantity of text is not huge, but what is there seems quite useful. In the discussion section, at various points it got quite interesting. E.g. with glazes, it goes through things that can occur in glazes (crawling, shivering, crazing, etc.), and then tells you how to accomplish it if you want, and then how to avoid it if you don't. To me this was one of the more fascinating because it explained how these effects came about and how to strive for them. This particular part was only a few pages, but quite worthwhile if these kinds of things interest you. At time to time, as appropriate, there were discussions relevant to electric kilns, but the whole book wasn't just electric kilns. This book is more of an artistic text book with electric kiln pointers, than a highly technical electric kiln book. | ||
 | Surface Decoration for Low-Fire Ceramics: Underglazes & Glazes * Maiolica * Slip Trailing * Grafitto * Terra-Sigillata * Photo Decals * Overglaze Enamels | |
 | "Good Book for Beginners" | 2005-06-01 |
| The emphasis of this book is surface decoration techniques in general. Most of the ceramics techniques in this book you will already know something about if you have had a good ceramics class. If the topics listed are new to you, then this book is a great introduction. If you've already been exposed to them, then this book does not take you farther. There is not a lot of specific low-temperature information, other than a few recipes (which can be quite useful). In particular, I was hoping for a book that would help me approach the effects of high temperature glazes when working with a low temperature kiln, how to modify a high temperature glaze recipe to be suitable for lower temperature work, how to do glaze calculations, etc. For an introductory book, it is very good, with good photos, etc. I'm giving it 3 stars simply because it is only introductory. There are more thorough treatements of surface decoration in ceramics, like Hopper's _Making Marks_. And there are better coverages of ceramics in general that include this surface decoration information, such as Peterson's _Craft & Art of Clay_, which is much larger, but can (at this writing) be purchased inexpensively from discounted booksellers listed through the Amazon page. | ||
 | The Potter's Palette | |
| "Visual Intro Glaze Formulas; Was Reprinted in a Better Book" | 2005-05-31 |
| The complete contents of this book comprise about half of Neal French's "The Potter's Encyclopedia of Color, Form and Decoration: The Comprehensive References for Today's Ceramicist". (The other half is his "Potter's Directory of Shape and Form"). Thus, that book is a better buy than this one. Therefore this book should be downgraded to two stars, but Amazon won't let me change it. This book contains well organized photos of glaze samples, so that you can see the effects of different combinations, firing conditions and firing temperatures. The samples appear to be close to life size. For me the book is valuable in seeing what a single oxide looks like in various glaze/firing conditions. This is very useful to me for seeing the limitations of low fire kiln, and for understanding the kinds of effects I get when I do high temp firing. It is not a "how to" book telling you how to apply glaze or ways of decorating ceramics. Its purpose is to give you mastery over using specific oxides for different color/texture effects. There are some quite detailed techical books out there which also cover this, but the visual immediacy of this little book is quite valuable. It is important to understand that each firing situation is different and just because they got a particular shade or texture, it doesn't mean you will too, but it is a good guide to help you figure out what you want to try. Here are the nuts & bolts of the contents, to help you decide if this is the glaze sample book for you. For each set of samples, four base glazes are used, two cone 04 low fire glazes (alkaline, lead), and two cone 6 high fire glazes (oxidation, reduction). Except for the reduction firings, all firings are oxidizing, as detailed in the firing section. The top of each column of samples is labeled by base glaze and firing-type, and rows of samples are labeled individually or by row as to ingredients. The book covers 9 basic coloring oxides: copper, cobalt, red iron, maganese diox, chrome, rutile, vanadium pentoxide, nickel, ilmenite. For each oxide, there is a 6 page spread giving various test samples: - 1 page of intro comments with example photos of use on pots - 1 page of firings with different oxide strengths in each of the four base glazes (total of 12) - 2 pages of cross-blends with the other eight oxides, for each of the four base glazes (32 samples total) - 1 page (12 samples) of using the oxide in-glaze, under-glaze, & in slip, for each of the four base glazes - 1 page (12 samples) of using the glaze with various opacifiers, in four base glazes. The "How to Use this Book" section which is given in the amazon sample pages illustrates the first four pages of each oxide's entry. Then there are stain samples: a page of four primary color stains in four glaze bases (16 samples), four pages of cross blends to mix intermediate colors (64 samples), two pages of in-glaze, underglaze, and slip coloring samples (32 samples). Finally there one page of using oxides in a raku base glaze with raku firing (16 samples). This is minimal raku coverage and I would really like to see more. All in all this is a very useful book. I'm giving it four stars only because I can imagine an even better and bigger book covering this kind of topic with more base glazes, more oxides, more cross-blends, etc. For what it is, it is five stars in quality, but I would like a wider scope. --- P.S. regarding other reviews: I can't believe the reviewer who wrote "Useless pretty book" is writing about the same book. Every column and row/sample is clearly labeled as to glaze and firing condition. Along with the 7 glaze recipes on pages 8-9, and detailed firing sequences on pages 12-13, it is very clear how each sample was produced. Again I wonder the same thing about the people who say they have the book in spanish, and they voted twice, but who can tell if it is really the same book or not since they gave no reasons. | ||
 | Making Marks on Ceramic Surfaces | |
| "Compendium of Surface Decoration Techniques" | 2005-05-27 |
| This book is an exhaustive compendium of all different surface decoration techniques. The second paragraph of the "Book Description" in the "Editorial Reviews" for this book gives you a good idea of the range of topics in the many chapters. Each one of these topics is treated comprehensively, and also includes many color photo examples. It is a very thorough and well-done book. | ||
 | Ufos over Topanga Canyon: Eyewitness Accounts of the California Sightings | |
 | "Fiction for the gullible (by a Topanga resident)" | 2005-05-27 |
| I've lived in the little town of Topanga since before the time span of this book. When the book came out we bought a copy to add to our Topangiana collection, just for fun. As far as I'm concerned, this book is amusing fiction. I had never heard of any of these people, nor had anyone else that I talked to. And I've never heard of any of these kinds of events either ... and having school kids & volunteering in the local school, I have talked to many many people and have friends all over the canyon. | ||
 | Radio Your Way LX AM / FM Radio Recorder | |
| "Wonderful little radio timeshifter; crufty interface" | 2005-05-14 |
| I've been very happy with the capabilities and performance of this radio recorder, and I would give it 5 stars if the interface (and manual) were better. This product occupies a unique niche, at this time of writing, it is the only stand-alone (non-computer) solution to timeshifting radio that I could discover. Finally I can listen to Ira Glass and Terry Gross and Neal Conan and Science Friday and Elvis Mitchell (public radio geek shows), even though I'm busy when they're on. It is basically like a VCR for radio, allowing you to timeshift radio shows that you want to listen too later, saving them as MP3 files, with a choice of kbps. You can record onto internal memory, or onto removable flash memory so it is easy to move things recorded to other computers. (There is also a USB interface, but that gives access only to the internal memory). Oh, it is a perfectly respectible MP3 player also. The sound quality seems good at the higher sampling rates e.g. 256kbps (if there is a good signal). Some of my stations have poor signals where I live, so I record non-musical shows at a lower rate and use the hi-cut equalizer setting to reduce the hiss and static to listen. But this little box has a few other tricks up its sleeve. You can play back at different speeds, 0.5x, 0.7x, 1.3x and 1.5x. I regularly use 1.3x to listen to spoken PBS shows a little faster than real time. And the 0.7x is good for slowing down someone who is hard to understand. (Fun to do this also with music.) You can fast forward over ads, you get to hear little bursts of sound as it passes over and when the sound quality changes you know you're back to the show. Also, it will take mic or line in and save it as an MP3 file. This allows you to, say, use the headphone jack of your tv and timeshift the audio of shows you want to listen to later. The box itself is about the size of a deck of cards, and is pretty lightweight (feels like it contains air), so it is easy to carry it around and use it as a portable source of music and spoken radio. It weighs much less than my iPod. The interface is crusty, the buttons are numerous and do different things depending on what mode you are in. It is too complex to play with while driving (I pull over to adjust playback). It is also a mystery sometimes under which folder a recording is going to appear, and it doesn't match what the manual says. The file names are long number salads - you can figure out what part of the names are the date, which are the time, etc., but they are hard to read, especially since when you select a filename, it becomes so long that it doesn't fit on the screen and then starts scrolling. The filenames and folder names should be better done. The manual is like reading a parts list with descriptions (gently translated from Korean); with few exceptions everything is there, but it is not well organized or cogent. I had to go back and forth through the manual and glean new info each time (I'm a computer person well accustomed to lots of complex interfaces). It could really use a "getting started" section. All in all, I'm getting a lot of use and pleasure out of this product, and find it a great supplement to my iPod. I would like to see a combination product with a better interface design. | ||
 | Learn the iPod for 5 Bucks | |
| "minimal information (possibly good for technophobes)" | 2004-10-08 |
| This is a small book, about the size of one of the super thin CD cases. It tells you about one cool thing to do per two page spread. It has about 50 pages. Do you get the idea? It is well suited for someone who wants to go just a tiny bit beyond what the ipod packaging itself tells you. Many of the things it tells you are simply how to turn on or off various options. This is a good book for someone who doesn't want to get involved in doing very much with their ipod, but just wants to know a bit more than what apple tells you. If you're getting an ipod as a gift for a person who is not experienced with technology, it would be a good choice. However, if you're the type who is using amazon to find an ipod book, you would probably find this book unsatisfying. | ||
 | Secrets of the iPod, Third Edition | |
| "Make sure you get the most recent edition." | 2004-10-08 |
| There are lots of good details in this book, which seems to go farther than the missing manual series. The 4th edition (hot pink cover) seems to have pretty even coverage of using an ipod/itunes with Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, and Windows XP. After a day examining ipod books in the bookstore, this is one I bought. The 5th edition is out due in December 2004. | ||
 | Secrets of the iPod (4th Edition) (TechTV) | |
| "Make sure you get the most recent edition." | 2004-10-08 |
| There are lots of good details in this book, which seems to go farther than the missing manual series. The 4th edition (hot pink cover) seems to have pretty even coverage of using an ipod/itunes with Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, and Windows XP. After a day examining ipod books in the bookstore, this is one I bought. The 5th edition is out due in December 2004. | ||
 | Getting to Know ArcView GIS | |
| "Low Content Bloated book" | 2004-09-05 |
| Once upon a time, there was only one arcview book out there, and this was it. At the time, it was invaluable. Now there are much better books out there, and this one now stands out by the low content bloated presentation. You don't learn anything about principles of GIS, or strategies for information analysis. You only learn how to copycat step by step various exercises. If you are a total computer novice and want hand holding, this is a successful book you will probably enjoy for awhile, until you start getting curious about doing real things with this program. | ||
 | Woodstock International G8945 8-Pc. Lathe Chisel Set | |
| "good buy for sharpening practice and special purpose grinds" | 2004-03-04 |
| These look just like the set of 8 carbon steel chisels that are available from Harbor Freight (US) for $10. I'm sure whoever "Woodstock International" are, they and HF and the rest of the tool gang all buy this set from the same factory in China. These are cheap smallish chisels, but for the price they are very worthwhile for practicing sharpening skills, and grinding into low-use special purpose shapes. I occasionally take advantage of the fact that you can get a sharper edge with carbon steel than with HSS and put a real sharp edge on one of these and use it for final finishing. For the same price, Harbor Freight's set of eight high speed steel turning chisels is a much better buy, they are heftier larger tools and quite credible turning tools. Lots of turners start with them and then add a decent bowl gouge, which both of these sets are missing. | ||
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