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Xabier Rey (42 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of No Man's Sky in Video Games

May 5, 2019  
No Man's Sky
No Man's Sky
2016 | Action/Adventure
Is this not the hardest game to review ever? Although I liked the game from the start, the vanilla version was not OK for many, many reasons. Mainly because we didn't get the game we were paying for, at all. But things have changed now.

If you play the game nowadays, it is a really, really good one in my opinion. But it's so unfair that many people probably bought a limited edition, hoping it would be THE game, and didn't quite get that at first. That moment, when so many of us realized in our coaches that the game was not what it was meant to be... we just didn't deserve it. We had been praising the studio, the concept, the way they talked about their project... everything, just to be betrayed.

I honestly love what the game has came to be. It is one of the most innovative games of the generation, if not the most. It brought many new gameplay and storytelling mechanics, but it also widened everyone's perspective on what can be achieved. I'm sure many people, like myself, have thought about many ways to tweak the game to make it absolutely unique and mindblowing. As a Ready Player One fan I suggest the following: Please, Hello Games, spawn your single most beloved arcade machine on a random planet in the universe and make it interactive, so we can actually play it during a sunset in whatever planet, of whatever galaxy you pick. That would be insane, and probably affordable.

Another thing that this game has brought to the industry is a experience I never had before with a game. That is, waiting and especulating on what's gonna be the next update. The whole, everlasting hype thing that's going on the back of my mind every time I think about this game. That feels, in many ways, like being in love. Yes, Sean... I guess I love you after all.

So, if the rating is not higher for me, it is just because of many people's first experience with this game. It was heartbreaking and, again, totally unfair. Other than that, I think this is a historical game, a total gamechanger.
  
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Fitbit Versa
Fitbit Versa
Wearable Technology > Smart Watches
Color Screen (3 more)
Waterproof
Sleep Tracker
Fitness Tracker
Battery Life (1 more)
Not integrated with apple health
So far so good
I had a first generation Apple Watch and after 3 years it broke on me. When I started my journey into smart watches I kept thinking of all of the things I wanted my Apple Watch to do and everything that I used in functionality. Ultimately, I decided to try the Fitbit Versa.

One of the things that I love about the Fitbit Versa is that it is a sleep tracker along with a fitness tracker. That was the one thing I always felt was missing with my Apple Watch. I also love the fitbit app more than the apple health app. It gives you great insight and it seems a little more thorough information on your health, steps, floors, and what not.

One thing that I wish is that the battery life really was the 4 days that it promised. I tend to find that my Versa will need charging on that 3rd day. The other thing that I wish was offered was integration with the apple heath app. I don't use it often but I like when things actually work together.

All in all, this has a better battery life than the Apple Watch & some pretty cool screens.
  
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Natasha Khan recommended Works 1965-1995 by Steve Reich in Music (curated)

 
Works 1965-1995 by Steve Reich
Works 1965-1995 by Steve Reich
1997 | Classical, Compilation
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I discovered him at university when I was 20. The first thing I ever heard was 'Come Out' which has a sampled voice that just keeps saying "blood, come out" and it just keeps beating, so this was Steve Reich's very early tape phase experiments where he stuck it on two tapes and would press play at the same time and they start off together and then gradually start to move apart. First of all you get an echo on the vocal, and then as the two vocals move away it starts to kind of [imitates the sound], and it's so trippy it's amazing. I feel like it's the earliest rap or something, it’s got this really amazing sample, this guy who's street, the way he's talking - his accent's amazing and authentic, and then you just have like the rhythm that's created through words. Percussiveness and then there's ... syncopation starts happening and it's constantly evolving, moving, different rhythms, and that's basically his thing. 'Come Out' inspired me when I was at uni. I made a tape and slide piece, which is this projected piece that you animate using different slides. [Reich]'s using really graphic, violent imagery and I got a little boy to talk about fights at school, he was like six! I was asking how he felt about the fighting, has anyone ever tried to punch him, how does it feel? And I put his voice along with all these images of men fighting, and I phased it and did weird things to it, laid them all on top of each other, just experimenting in my own way with that. But that really inspired me and I started to delve more into Steve Reich. There are some preachers which he did tape phase experiments with, like "it's gonna raiiiiin, it's gonna rain!", such a musicality to what he's doing even though what he was doing was very conceptual. Again, it was a very rigid, composer-y thing to do, which is to set up a tape experiment, but within that he chose words and expressions that are really emotional and move through all different phases, making you think about all sorts of things and culturally, politically, there's a lot behind it. And then on this [Works] there's 'Music for 18 Musicians' which I absolutely love. Eighteen musicians would sit round, play their rhythm and then the next person would start a fraction of a second after them so they'd be in sync sometimes all playing the same thing but with a slightly different time part, so it totally fucked your brain. But the sounds that come out: you get all these weird intervals, syncopations, harmonies, rhythmic counterparts that are happening but the key that he chooses is heartbreaking and amazing as well. There are certain notes and harmonies, certain two notes will just start to really vibrate together and it just starts to create an amazing cinematic, filmic burst of ideas in my mind. It's almost like meditation or mantras, Ravi Shankar or something for me, Reich has done a similar thing. Like it just keeps on going round and round and then you get drones and then other drones come in and then they create textures that are moving all the time, so it's almost like a meditative state that you get into."

Source
  
Jen Gilroy is a highly talented author! I really enjoyed getting to know her characters through this fun summer time read. It was captivating, moving, and the characters made a home in my heart for good!

This first book in Ms. Gilroy's Firefly Lake series is a wonderful one. This story is one of hope, longing, forgiveness and second chance at love. The emotions of Charlie and Sean can be felt as if they are the reader's own. I love when a book can do that! Each character brought something new to the story, each page turn, capturing me just a little more!

If you love a book filled with amazing characters and a plot that will sweep you away, then this is the book for you. However, I can't give this a full on 4 or 5 star review like I wish to. There is some language(not through the entire book but more than once or twice) and a few scenes that you don't find in a clean read, but the over all story itself, with the wonderfully portrayed characters and the messages of hope and forgiveness can pull the reader in despite the issues, leaving me with recommending this as a 3.5 star read.

Book 2, Summer On Firefly Lake, releases in July and I love the cover just as much!! Despite the lower rating that book 1 had, I may give book 2 a try to see where the next story goes. Overall, Ms. Gilroy is definitely a talented author. <a href="http://cafinatedreads.com/tlc-blog-tour-review-the-cottage-at-firefly-lake-by-jen-gilfoy/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Cafinated Reads</a>
  
Blood Debt (Touched, #1)
Blood Debt (Touched, #1)
10
9.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
In a genre gone mad about vampires and shifters - and yes, I love them too! - it makes such a nice change to read something that steps away from the 'norm' and takes a more unusual look at things. This is what Nancy Straight does with her Blood Debt. This is the first book so it has a lot of groundwork to do so that you know what is happening. Nancy does this whilst also making it seamlessly part of the story, so you pick up the details without even being aware of it.

The other thing that I have enjoyed as a stand-out in this book, is there is no love-triangle. Gasp, shock, horror! How on earth can a book make it without a love-triangle? Easy - make it a love-square instead!!! This was wonderful to read and there were some real LOL moments as Cami is fighting her guilt and Bianca is trying to encourage her without letting her know that she knows.

The family relationships were quirky and loveable, in most cases. Some were just downright weird. And in the middle of this, you've got Cami. She isn't sure who or what she is, why people seem to have high expectations of her and why she feels like she just isn't who they think she is. Out of her brothers, Beau is my favourite but of course, that's the way it's been written so far.

If you want to read a book about Centaurs, Greek mythology, fantasy then this is the book for you. Personally, I can't wait to get Book 2 and see what happens. There are 4 books in this series and Book 4 is due to be released at the end of January. Definitely recommended!
  
Brothers and Sisters
Brothers and Sisters
Ariel Andrés Almada | 2022 | Children
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Are you looking for a warm-felt book for your child or children that shows the strong bond created between brothers and sisters? Well, this book “Brothers and Sisters” does just that. It shows it through the eyes of a little boy.

Your child can imagine themselves as the little boy with their siblings as Sisters having a bond with their brother and sister or just their sisters if that is what they have. Or just their brothers if that is all she has, or he has.

Parents will enjoy this book as it shows that siblings fight, but there is also that bond of love for every sibling as they get older. The picture is lovely. I enjoyed looking at the pictures and enjoying myself. I was able to see my cousins with their siblings being somewhat like this. I, at this point, did have some step-siblings and still cherish that.

This book is excellent for parents to have in the family home if they have quite a few children in their household. This book may help with what goes on with siblings, or you may have experience with siblings of your own.