Search

Search only in certain items:

Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency
2018 | Economic, Science Fiction
Money. Who knew that paper bills and small metal coins would hold such an important role in our society? In today’s day and age, though, with so much reliance on technology, we’ve managed to create digital currency called cryptocurrency. By buying, mining, and trading various cryptocurrencies, you just might turn yourself into an overnight millionaire! That is, if you’ve got the strategy required to outwit other traders…

You are the CEO of a fin-tech startup company. Leading a team of specialized experts, you will evaluate, trade, and mine different cryptocurrencies. Strategy is key, as you must stay ahead of the trend to maximize your earnings from the market. Can you solve the right algorithms and manipulate the network to help create the most wealth for your company? Or will you be scammed into buying worthless cryptocurrency? Play to find out!

Disclaimer: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This game is available to purchase, so the components seen in the pictures are what come with the game. I do not intend to rehash the entire rulebook in this review, but rather provide the basic ruleset and general gameplay overview of the game. Feel free to pick up a copy of the game directly from the publisher or your FLGS! -L

Cryptocurrency is a game of commodity speculation, action points, trading, and a little push your luck in which players are trying to amass the most amount of money over 5 rounds. To setup the game, place the Cryptocurrency Info Boards in the center of the play area, and place the Market Board next to them. Prepare and distribute the Rumor cards, and create the Ongoing Transactions deck. Each player receives a player reference card, 3 Intern Expert cards, and a total of 6 Wonga (the currency of the game). The game is now ready to begin! Each round is broken up into 4 phases: Prep, Action, Upkeep, and Rumor. During the Prep phase, each player (in turn order) must draw a Rumor card, and may hire a new Expert or take a loan. Experts are hired (purchased) from the Job Seekers pile, and often provide special abilities or increased Action Points. Hired Experts must replace one Expert from their existing team. Your team can only have 3 Experts, so choose wisely who to hire and fire! A loan can be taken to immediately gain 8 Wonga, but interest must be paid for the loan later in the round. After each player has performed these actions, play moves to the second phase.

During the Action phase, players take turns performing one of two actions: Mining or Trading. These actions are performed by spending Action points – each Expert offers a certain number of points to spend. Once you use an Action Point, that Expert is exhausted and can no longer work in this phase. To Mine, players choose one of the 4 available cryptocurrencies to mine (research), and will either Succeed or Fail in this endeavor. If you succeed, you create and earn coins from that specific cryptocurrency, as well as any extra money earned from completing ongoing transactions. If you fail, your turn immediately ends. To take the Trade action, players will either Buy or Sell coins to/from the Market. You are only allowed to buy/sell the same cryptocurrency each turn, and you may buy/sell up to 4 coins each turn. For every 4 coins bought, the Market Board shifts to increase that currency’s price by 1 Wonga. For every 4 coins sold, the Market decreases by 1 Wonga. Once every player is out of Action Points, this phase is over.

In the Upkeep phase, players refresh all Experts, pay interest on any Loans, or completely pay off a Loan. The final phase, Rumor, moves in counter-clockwise order. Players take turns adding their secret Rumor card to the Rumor Track of one of the 4 cryptocurrencies. The market values are adjusted based on the Rumors played, and any face-down Rumor cards will affect the end-game value of the currencies. Play then returns to the Prep phase, and continues until 5 rounds have been completed. Players determine which cryptocurrency was a scam, sell any remaining coins, and then count up their money. The player with the most Wonga is the winner!

I have to admit that Cryptocurrency surprised me. After reading the rules and getting the game setup, I was feeling a little overwhelmed. I was prepping myself for a complicated, quasi-educational game in which I would be relatively unengaged and going through the motions each turn. What I got, however, was the complete opposite. Yes, there is a lot going on in this game, but it offers so many different mechanics and strategies for success that you’re always thinking one step ahead. There’s the aspect of bluffing when it comes to Rumor cards and manipulating the market through those means, there’s drafting of new Experts and shedding your hand of lesser-powered cards, there’s push your luck in the Mining action as the more Action Points you spend, the more opportunity you have for success. There’s not one sure strategy to win, and you are changing and adapting on every turn. You also have to be paying attention to your opponents! Although there’s not really any direct player interaction, everything you do on your turn could throw a wrench in the plans of your neighbor. Can you figure out how they’re trying to play the Market? Or will you try to fly beneath the radar and throw them off your trail?

My biggest issue with this game has to do with components. The cryptocurrency boards and the market board all work together, but they are all their own separate components. So it just makes set-up/tear-down a little more involved because instead of laying out 1 big board and adding components to it, you have to lay out and populate 5 individual boards. It just makes it a little more tedious than I would like, but honestly it has no bearing on the gameplay at all. The quality of the components is pretty good overall, the artwork is tech-influenced and fun, and the cardboard coins are nice and sturdy. So all in all, a pretty good production quality.

So what are my thoughts on Cryptocurrency? I actually liked it more than I thought I would. It’s engaging and strategic, yet relatively simple enough that it doesn’t feel like too much of a brain burner. I am no cryptocurrency expert by any means, but I feel like after playing this game, I have a better understanding of it and how it works. So mission accomplished, Captial Gains Studio – you have a fun AND educational game here. Is it one I will pull out at every game night? No. But it’s one that I am looking forward to playing again in the future. Purple Phoenix Games gives Cryptocurrency an economic 8 / 12.
  
40x40

Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated Ararat in Books

Mar 15, 2018  
Ararat
Ararat
Christopher Golden | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Thriller
10
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
"Popcorn" books can be a lot of fun no matter what time of year it is, but they seem especially appropriate in the Summer time, and this latest horror offering from Christopher Golden is a pretty perfect Summer book. Engaged, moutain-climbing authors / documentary filmmakers Adam and Meryam are in a race to be first up Mt. Ararat into a cavern that has opened up as the result of an earthquake, possibly revealing Noah's Ark. Unsurprisingly they make it and discover that the cavern appears to actually be the ark itself, and it contains a rather disturbing discovery inside. Nevertheless, they assemble a team of international archaeologists, religious experts, mountain guides, and government representatives and get to work studying their findings. As a blizzard approaches, effectively trapping them inside the Ark, things begin to take a turn for the worse at the site as the body count begins piling up, and the tone of the book switches from adventure mixed with some mystery to a straight-up frightfest. This is one of the scarier books I've read in a while, using some pretty shocking violence to really up the fear factor. As a result, while not likely to win any literary rewards, Mr. Golden has created one of the year's most entertaining books, and written a story that would make a great Summer blockbuster.
  
Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen
Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen
Alison Weir | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
10
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Tudor England at it's best!
Everyone knows the stories of Henry VIII and his six wives, don't they? Jane Seymour always seems to be the quietest, almost childlike, always doing as she's told. This novel paints a very different picture of her. She is a young woman of her time: obedient to her parents and the males in her family, religious, and ready to do her part as a woman (and that means bearing children!).
This novel looks at how she probably wasn't as innocent as we have always been led to believe. In all honesty, she lived at court - a place where family loyalties and wealth were above all else in importance: she couldn't afford to be an innocent.
I like the Jane that Weir portrays. She's resilient and cares deeply about her family and HER Queen (Katherine of Aragon). I really liked this book and all of the courtly intrigues: Tudor England has always fascinated me. It was such a sad end for Jane, and the authors extended notes at the end really explained well what she and some experts thought had really happened to her and why she died (heres a clue: it wasn't childbirth). I will be going back to the first two books in this series to read about Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn in preparation for Katherine Howard (wife #4 - and that should be a good one!!).
  
40x40

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974) in Movies

Feb 7, 2018 (Updated Feb 9, 2018)  
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires  (1974)
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
1974 | Action, Adventure, Horror
6
6.8 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Chop Sucky
One of those movies where a bunch of very talented people get together and somehow manage to produce something not all that great. The famous British horror movie studio Hammer gets together with Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers to produce a Gothic horror kung fu movie that also manages to pastiche The Magnificent Seven (et al).

You want to know the plot? Well, a gaggle of Chinese vampires feel they aren't getting the respect they deserve, and so they recruit Dracula as a sort of foreign signing to help with their brand awareness, or something. However, also on a lecture tour of China is Dracula's nemesis Van Helsing (Peter Cushing, using all his powers to elevate deeply suspect material), even though they've apparently never met before, and he sets off with a gang of local kung fu experts to sort the problem out. Cushing is not required to do any kung fu, the Chinese cast are not required to say 'Transylvania' more often than is absolutely necessary, and Christopher Lee flatly refuses to participate (Dracula, who appears to be overdoing his make-up, is played by another actor).

Nevertheless this is still schlocky good fun, although the script doesn't even make sense on its own terms and credited director Roy Ward Baker doesn't seem quite sure of what to do with the kung fu genre. One of the most bonkers of the late-period Hammer horror movies, not that this is necessarily a bad thing.
  
Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans '66) (2019)
Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans '66) (2019)
2019 | Action, Biography, Drama, Sport

"A corporation struggling to define itself in a fickle and rapidly evolving marketplace is determined to enter a race it has no hope of winning. It turns to a team of passionate, obsessive, hands-on experts in old school methods and, with great trepidation, lets them run. The result is “Ford v Ferrari” — a film that is essentially about the same thing. Director James Mangold demonstrates that a good tale well told, with character and heart and friendship at its core, will never go out of style. That personal stakes can be just as gripping as global ones. That elegant, straight-forward emotional storytelling is a universal language. It’s no small feat to take viewers into a complex and insular world bordering on the religious and, in remarkably short order, invest them in its technical complexities. It isn’t easy to immerse an audience in a story about friends competing more with themselves than anyone else. It’s incredibly hard to create satisfying characters who, by their very nature, can never hope to find satisfaction. And it’s next to impossible to do that in today’s marketplace. Mangold does it. Even a passing glance at his ongoing evolution as a filmmaker gives an indication as to why. James Mangold is, much like his protagonists, determined to grow, evolve, outdo himself and run the perfect lap. He does so knowing he’ll never truly find satisfaction. But his audience always will."

Source
  
40x40

Ross (3284 KP) rated Life (2017) in Movies

Dec 27, 2017 (Updated Dec 27, 2017)  
Life (2017)
Life (2017)
2017 | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The twist ending and the implications (0 more)
Everything before that (0 more)
This film doesn't do anything new, before you start watching it you know you've seen in a number of times. Team in space pick up a sample from Mars hoping to find proof of life on it. There then follows a number of ridiculous character acts and decisions that in no way feel realistic, believable or plausible. Experts in space just would not do any one of those things, let alone a chain of such stupid decisions that lead inevitably to disaster.
This film seemed to want to focus on the science early on and there was a lot of gobbledigook meant to make us realise that the actions of humans would be the cause of any alien unpleasantness. From there on its a case of the alien working its way through the crew one by one.
The alien itself was slightly different to your usual in the beginning, a blob of jelly with tentacles and feelers, but quickly just became a naughty octopus.
The ending, while not exactly a shocker, was a brave decision and one that rescued the film somewhat.
Overall, I have no idea why the decent cast signed up to this film, other than the money spent on zero-gravity replication there seems to have been nothing to attract them to it. I would expect to see this at 2am on the Sy-Fy channel, not one of the big hitting Christmas films on Sky Movies.
  
How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7
How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7
Joanna Faber | 2017 | Education, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>

The highly rated <i>How To Talk</i> books were developed by Adele Faber as a guide for parents who face daily struggles with their children’s behaviour. Now her daughter, Joanna Faber, and childhood friend Julie King, are parenting experts themselves, and have made their own contribution to the series. This latest addition, <i>How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen</i>, is a survival guide for parents with children between the ages of terrible-twos to the semi-civilised-sevens. Covering topics from food battles to sleep issues, parents are bound to relate to something in this book, and be able to put some of the advice into practice.

The majority of the content encompasses the tried and tested methods that Joanna and Julie encourage parents to consider as part of a parenting workshop. Split into topics, the reader is given a set of tools to work with that may help to turn a difficult situation away from a tantrum and a harassed parent. These tools are demonstrated with real life stories from the Mums and Dads who used them.

As well as the usual behaviour troubles that most children develop, the book also includes ways to cope with children who have sensory issues or find themselves diagnosed with Autism. These youngsters do not process the world in the same way as other people their age, which can be very frustrating for parents. Armed with a new set of tools, adults will be able to support their children as they grow up in a world they do not understand, and make them feel safe and understood.

Illustrated with cartoons, each chapter ends with a short summary of ideas to try in any situation. By providing these recap points, parents can locate a tool or idea in a moment of desperation and put into practice immediately. The layout and clear headings offer an easy way of locating the relevant information, meaning that harried parents do not have to skim paragraphs and pages to find what they are looking for.

By including the real life scenarios, Joanna and Julie highlight that there is no one-size-fits-all when it come to dealing with unruly children. Each child is different and needs to be treated appropriately. However, the experts provide enough information so that when one tool fails, there’s another standing as backup.

After reading <i>How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen</i>, you will feel empowered to tackle anything your child throws at you. Of course there is no guarantee that you will become a parenting master over night, but you will be more confident about dealing with the little rascals.

<i>How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen</i> is a book that feels realistic with no psychological jargon to make you feel inadequate. Joanna and Julie are both parents and have had to resort to taking their own advice, and sometimes failing. It is clear the writers are human and not a childless psychologist who believes he knows what he is talking about. So, if you are tearing your hair out and do not know what to do to make your child happy, this <i>How To Talk</i> series is definitely something to check out.
  
The New Power Eating: More Muslce, More Energy, Less Fat
The New Power Eating: More Muslce, More Energy, Less Fat
Susan Kleiner | 2018 | Health & Fitness
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The New Power Eating
I don’t usually read and review these types of books. I am not the kind of person that reads help books for pleasure. When I need information, I usually only read something I need at the moment, learn a lot about it, and then let go. I don’t go out and buy books for it.
But, with this book, it was different.

For some of you, that know me better, I used to train karate since I was a child. My father was my coach, and I trained hard, more than four days a week. I was a national champion for 8 years, I went on Balkan, Regional and European Championships, the sport enabling me to travel in more than 15 countries, explore the world and make countless number of friends along the way.

And in my whole journey, there were many experts surrounding me. Firstly, my father, who was my coach, showing me the karate world and teaching me everything I know today. Along his side, other coached, psychologists, gym experts, and nutritionists.

‘’The field of sport nutrition practice is both a science and an art.’’

When it comes to nutrition, it is so easy to get it all wrong, while you think you are doing something healthy to your body. It is so easy to mix good with bad fats, and thinking you eat healthy, to get away from your goal and become disappointed. And that is the sole reason why we need people that really know their nutrition, and dedicate their lives to learning what each ingredient does to our body.

This book focuses on nutrition for sports people. A way of life and healthy eating, while you spend a lot of energy exercising. I could easily relate to this, as I myself have been through all of these phases, of being dehydrated, of needing more fat, of needing more protein and vitamins in my body, without even realising it.

‘’When females perform high-intensity training, their need for carbohydrate is easily as high as that of a male athlete, and they have just as much capacity to utilize and store carbohydrate as a male athlete.’’

In this book, you will find explanations on all subjects that are often asked, you will know what builds muscle, what fuels it. Many popular issues will be covered as well, such as the gluten problem that many people face this days.

I loved the section about fats, as I have been introduced to the keto diet recently, and it was good to read and learn more about how fats work in your body, and what happens when you burn them.
I enjoyed the snack and workout plans, that are also split depending on what you want to achieve, whether that be building muscle, losing fat, or power eating.

‘’Research on sport nutrition in female athletes has long been neglected, but now there is breakthrough scientific knowledge that is changing the game of female athletes, including young girls.’’

If you love working out, and love your healthy food – this is a great book to have along your side, and come back to it from time to time, to remind yourself of everything your body is capable of doing, if you treat it right.

I highly recommend it – I enjoyed it a lot!

Thank you to Edelweiss+ and Human Kinetics for providing me a free copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.
  
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
1991 | Horror, Thriller

"It’s my all time favorite, hands down. It’s just me. I really love the dark side and one of my girlfriends is one of the world’s experts on serial killers and she has John Wayne Gacy’s brain in her basement. I’ve SEEN it! Next to her sons hockey sticks. I didn’t know anything about it. We were on tour. We were in Corpus Cristi, Texas and had a night off and I always took the band and crew out for dinner and we go to this mall. I guess it was the last movie of the night and we’re the only ones in this theater and when we got out of the movie theater the whole mall was empty and we were locked in it. So, the whole night was creepy because we weren’t staying in an expensive hotel and there was just that little button on the door knob that locked our door. So I put all the heavy furniture in the room against the door. I can literally repeat the lines now and when I met Tony Hopkins — and nobody gets me; I’m just not impressed by celebrities unless they do something life saving or they’re a hero type — but anyway I don’t ever approach celebrities, but I couldn’t stand not to, and he did the lines for me. And then I was sitting next to Hannibal in a make up chair — the movie was called Heat and you know when you hang out with somebody for a long time… Ashley was doing that movie with him, so I had him do it. But absolutely my favorite."

Source
  
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
Mark Manson | 2017 | Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences
2
6.5 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
Sexist, self-absorbed codswallop
This is probably one of the worst books I've read this year unfortunately. It's full of contradictions, too many to go through each and every one. But here are a few.

For one, it claims to be an anti-self-help book but in fact it is, not only that it repeats phrases that other books use often but it reiterates it in a much more uglier fashion by replacing every other word with "f**k".

Secondly, the author is actually incredibly sexist throughout the whole book - revealing that this book is for a privileged white, male audience. He flashes his wealth throughout the book by even saying "I come from a wealthy family" and 'this doesn't apply to an Indian family who need an extra $10'. And then talks about his sexual exploits with women, saying that one of his former goals was to "be with more women" - like women are collective objects. He's boastful about sleeping around throughout, referring to women in a derogatory way.

The chapter on false memories and child sexual abuse is shocking, absolutely no disclaimers, just a rookie spouting off information that he clearly had no idea about. He discounts thousands of horrific accounts as if they're something imagined up and to be gotten over with. An extremely precarious viewpoint.

The irony is that the author describes himself perfectly here: "People declare themselves experts, entrepreneurs, inventors, innovators, mavericks, and coaches without any real-life experience. And they do this not because they actually think they are greater than everybody else; they do it because they feel that they need to be great to be accepted in a world that broadcasts only the extraordinary." And this pretty much sums up the book.