Update 1/8/2012: If you’ve been redirected here from my other site, FromtheFencepost.com, don’t be alarmed. Due to some problems with that site, I’ve moved all of its content over to this site, SneakyReader.com. All the reviews and how-to’s are now posted here, and I’m working on getting everything properly assimilated. My Google Voice how-to’s can be found here.
Due to changing priorities, I’m not posting as much as I used to. I probably won’t be writing any more book reviews in the foreseeable future, but all my old reviews are still here. I may continue to write reviews and how-to’s for electronic devices when the urge strikes.
This is a belated followup to my previous post about the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet. I hadn’t received the tablet when I first wrote about it. I listed some of its features that made it attractive to me, and promised a review once I had the device in hand.
Here are some photos of the device next to my Creative Zen Vision M (approximately the same size and shape as an iPod Classic) and my Toshiba e330 Pocket PC.
Sorry, the photos were lost in transition.
Here is a list of features I mentioned in my previous post, and my impressions of them in actual use:
Tags: cell phone, device, gps, internet tablet, mobile internet device, nokia, Nokia n810, PDA, skype, wifi
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This is a Guest Review by Mrs. Sneakyreader
Subtitle: The First in an Unfoogettable Series
Author: Obert Skye
Genre: Young Reader Fantasy (9+)
Rating: **** (4 Stars)
Summary:
Leven Thumps is a fourteen year old orphan living in a trailer home with his aunt and uncle, who don’t really want him around but feel obligated. Unknown to Leven, he lives near a gateway to a magical world called Foo. Foo is threatened by the malevolent Sabine, who, if victorious, will destroy not only Foo, but our world as well.
By Fate, Leven meets three messengers from Foo, who tell Leven about Food, and explain that Leven alone has power to save it from the forces of Sabine.
This is the first of a series of books describing Leven’s efforts to save Foo.
Tags: Brandon Mull, gateway to foo, leven thumps, Novel, Review, Young Reader Fantasy
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This is a guest review by Mrs. Sneakyreader
Author: Brandon Mull
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rating: ****(4 Stars – as rated by Mrs. Sneakyreader)
Summary:
Seth and Kendra are spending time at their grandparents farm, Fablehaven. While there, they are given a set of strict rules. Seth becomes curious, and ventures into the nearby forest without permission, where he begins to learn about the magical creatures that inhabit the forest.
The children find out that their grandfather is the caretaker of the magical forest and is tasked with maintaining the balance of good and evil among the creatures who live there.
As Kendra and Seth explore, they accidentally break a protective spell, and their grandfather is abducted by mysterious creatures. Seth and Kendra must rescue him and restore the balance of power at Fablehaven.
Tags: book reviews, Brandon Mull, Review, summary Genre, young adult fantasy
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This is a Guest Review by Mrs. Sneakyreader.
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Rating: *** (3 Stars)
Summary:
Isabella (“Bella”) Swan is a high school student who moves Arizona to Washington State to live with her father, Charlie. On her first day at her new school, Bella catches a fellow student, Edward Cullen, staring at her. He is in one of her classes, but gives her the cold shoulder and tries unsuccessfully to transfer out of the class, causing Bella to think she has offended him somehow.
Later, Edward pulls Bella out of the path of a speeding car, then saves her from a group of men who are harassing her. They become aware of their mutual attraction and begin spending lots of time together.
Tags: Novel, Review, stephenie meyer, twilight, vampire
How the heck do you set up MyPhoneExplorer to sync with your Google Calendar?
Update 1/8/2012: This post originally included screenshots, but they were unfortunately lost during the transition from my other site. The instructions are still here, though.
I previously wrote about using MyPhoneExplorer to synchronize my Sony Ericsson w580i with my Google Calendar, but did not provide instructions. One of my readers emailed me recently wondering how to set up Google Calendar synchronization. Here are the instructions I gave her, along with some screenshots:
1. Click on the “File” menu and choose “Options.” A popup menu will open.
2. Choose Sync from the list on the left of the popup menu.
You should now see the word Sync in bold to the right of the list. Under Sync, you should see “Contacts” and “Calendar.”
3. Choose “Google” from the drop-down menu under “Calendar,” and click the “Advanced” button to the right of the menu.
Tags: appointments, Google, Google Calendar, How To, instructions, myphoneexplorer, sony ericsson w580i, sync, synchronize
What is BookCrossing and how does it work?
You leave a book you no longer want on at a park bench or coffee shop for another reader to find. You can then visit BookCrossing.com to find out where your book has been. To do this, you register your book with BookCrossing, and receive a unique serial number to identify it. You then label the book with the serial number and “release it into the wild” at a location of your choice.
The person who finds a BookCrossing book can visit the site to find out where it has been, and add their own journal entry if they choose. You don’t have to be a member to leave a journal entry. The site is anonymous, and no one will try to sell you anything. Memberships are free. You may, if you choose, purchase books and labels through the BookCrossing store- this is now the site is supported.
Tags: bookcrossing, release, sinister pig, tony hillerman
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Author: John Demos
Genre: Nonfiction, History
Rating: **** (4 Stars)
Summary:
John Demos is a professor and scholar of history. The Enemy Within is “the end product of an almost half-century engagement with witchcraft study” dating back to a term paper he wrote as a grad student in 1960. Demos observes that “witch hunt” is a widely used metaphor in today’s world, and sets out to compare and contrast modern metaphorical witch hunts with the literal witch hunts of the past. He begins with the Roman persecution of Christians in the 2nd century A.D., continuing up to the Salem witch trials in 17th century Massachusetts. Demos notes consistent patterns in events leading to accusations, people who were accused, and how witch-hunts sometimes spiral out of control as the accused name others in attempts to save their own lives.
Tags: accusations, History, john demos, mccarthy hearings, Nonfiction, red scares, salem witch trials, witch hunt
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Subtitle: From Dating, Shopping, and Praying to Going to War and Becoming a Billionaire- Two Evolutionary Psychologists Explain Why We Do What We Do
Authors: Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa
Genre: Nonfiction
Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Summary:
Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters is an insightful look at how natural selection has influenced how we behave, asserting that certain behavioral tendencies made our ancestors more likely to survive and reproduce, and that we, as their descendants, have the same tendencies, which, taken together, constitute “human nature.” Many of these tendencies are better suited to a world that existed thousands of years ago, rather than the present day, and result in many of our social problems of today.
Tags: alan s miller, evolutionary psychology, human behavior, natural selection, Nonfiction, reviews, satoshi kanazawa
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Author: Lee Child
Genre: Thriller, Detective Fiction
Rating: ***** (5 Stars)
Summary:
Jack Reacher is a former military policeman who lost his job to military downsizing. He is living off his severance package and drifting from place to place without much of a plan. On a whim, he gets of a Greyhound bus and walks into the small town of Margrave, Georgia, where he is falsely arrested for murder.
Reacher is interrogated by the town’s only detective, a man named Finlay who formerly worked in Boston. Reacher convinces Finlay of his innocence, and because of his military police background, ends up helping the police department with the case. He learns, to his horror, that the murdered man is his own brother, Joe, who was working for the Treasury Department investigating and prosecuting counterfeiters.
Tags: investigation, jack reacher, killing floor, lee child, Murder, Novel, Thriller
What is open source?
Open source software is free software. It is created by conscientious programmers who are frustrated with the limitations of commercial software vendors and think they can do a better job. In some cases, open source alternatives are far superior to the commercial programs they replace. For example, I stopped using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer nearly two years ago. Instead, I use Firefox, which is fast, more secure, highly customizable, and just as user-friendly.
What programs do I use?
Here are just a few of the open source programs I use. I have saved over $1,200 by using these instead of commercial software.
- Open Office – replaces Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.) Cost savings = $149
- GIMP – a photo editing program often compared to Adobe Photoshop. Cost savings = $899
- Kompozer – web development software. Alternative to Dreamweaver. Cost savings = $200+
