Search

Search only in certain items:

    1Mark Golf Scoring

    1Mark Golf Scoring

    Sports and Entertainment

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    1Mark is what you have been waiting for in golf. Finally get rewarded for your achievements with...

    Mini Motor Racing

    Mini Motor Racing

    Games and Entertainment

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    **Winner of App Store Best of - Casual Games ** Little Cars, BIG Fun! Start your engines! The most...

    Tactical Navigator

    Tactical Navigator

    Navigation and Utilities

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Tactical Navigator (“TacNav”) is a mobile application tool for communications, operations, and...

Deep Waters (Jagged Shores #3)
Deep Waters (Jagged Shores #3)
Thom Collins | 2022 | LGBTQ+, Romance, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!


Harry has a sailing boat that tourists can rent out. He has been hired by writer Christian Costner to help him get a lay of the land and research for a new book the author is planning on writing. However, the weather takes a turn for the worse so they have to cut the trip short and head back to the shore, as they are heading back Christian is adamant he has seen somebody in the swell of the waves so speaks out. Harry, his onboard help and cousin Tom look to discover there is somebody in the water so a daring rescue takes place. They recover the body but that is only the start!


Thom has a very easy style of writing and it captivated me from the get-go. This is the 3rd book in the jagged shores series but can be read as a stand-alone. It has intrigue and mystery that does keep you guessing until it's all out in the open who has committed the crime. It certainly hoodwinked me I normally can be quite good at guessing whodunit but I was completely off the mark.

I was rooting for the relationship between Harry and Christian as it was something they both needed. There are sex scenes but nothing too crass.


I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the author's writing and look forward to reading more of his books.


** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

 

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
  
Smart Wi-Fi LED Light Bulb
Smart Wi-Fi LED Light Bulb
Smart Home
7
8.4 (5 Ratings)
Tech Rating
Easily turn on/off light bulb anywhere you have wi-fi through app. (2 more)
Control light bulb by voice using Alexa, Google assistant or Cortana.
Set light bulb to automatic conditions like weather, time, or device status.
Will sometimes go back to setup mode where it just keeps flashing and you have to connect or setup again. (2 more)
You have to have the switch turned on for it to be online or else you cannot turn the bulb on/off through app.
Confusing packaging.
Convenient, But How Convenient Really?
The Merkury Innovations Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb (Dimmable*White/A19 Bulb) is made to replace your traditional light bulb where you can now control, dim and schedule your lights by app (geeni app) from anywhere you have your smart phone. The one I purchased was the 9W=60W, brightness 800 lumens, A19 bulb. The smart wi-fi bulb can be controlled from anywhere with wi-fi access by the app, voice or can even be set to a pre-set schedule and can easily share access with other family members. The life of the bulb based on 3 hours a day is 22.8 years.

So the other day I was at my grandmother's house with my Dad. The family has been doing some renovations over there and I saw my Aunt messing with a lamp and her phone. She told me she had bought one of those smart light bulbs and that she could use an app on her phone to control it. I have seen commercials for different similar products like the smart A/C thermostat and thought it was pretty cool. So I decided next time I was at the store to have a look at them and see if there was something affordable and not too expensive to give it a try and that's how I found this product.

 This is my first time buying a smart bulb so I didn't really know what to expect. Inside the box was just the light bulb and instructions. The instructions didn't seem to complicated, download the "geeni" app, create an account and password, login and then setup the bulb. There were 3 ways to setup the bulb, bluetooth, easy mode and backup AP mode. I was doing it by bluetooth but somehow wound up not being able to get it. So then I tried easy mode and still wasn't able to get it and that's when I saw the small print that says, "Note: Geeni can't connect to 5GHz networks." Once I connected to the right network everything went smoothly.

In the app on the "My Home" tab, it shows you which light bulbs you have connected. If they are off it will show a message that says "device offline". If on it will show an on/off button and will also show a "Quick Actions" link where you can control the brightness from 1% - 100%. via dimmer. The next tab in the app is the "Smart Scenes" tab, under the Tap-to-Run page you can control multiple devices with one tap or with voice assistance like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or Microsoft Cortana. On the Automation page you can execute actions automatically, and setup them up by specifications based on weather conditions, device status or time. The next tab is the "Notification Center", and there are pages for Alarms, Home, and Alerts. The last tab is the "Profile" tab and is where you can set your name, find the help center, the settings tab and manage your home so you can organize your light bulbs by house hold.

Pro:

Easily turn on/off light bulb anywhere you have wi-fi through app.

Control light bulb by voice using Alexa, Google assistant or Cortana.

Set light bulb to automatic conditions like weather, time, or device status.


Con:

Will sometimes go back to setup mode where it just keeps flashing and you have to connect or setup again.

You have to have the switch turned on for it to be online or else you cannot turn the bulb on/off through app.

Confusing packaging.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion:

 I have to say that these light bulbs can be pretty convenient and an awesome way to setup some lights at home to turn on when it's dark to make people think you're home. It's also good for when you are getting home at night and want to turn on the lights so you don't walk into a pitch dark room. It's awesome to just use the app to dim the lights without having to get up or even turn them off when your sitting down about to watch a movie. When I purchased them there was a 3-pack that was more expensive then buying 3 bulbs separately and I couldn't understand why. In retrospect I think maybe those were non-dimmable which really doesn't make sense. So I would say shopping for light bulbs is already confusing enough and getting a smart bulb might just cause more headaches for some people. But if you're looking to try it out I got this bulb for under $10 at Wal-Mart and think they are pretty cool. I give the Merkury Innovations Smart Wi-Fi- LED bulb a 7/10.
  
Lord of Misrule (The Morganville Vampires, #5)
Lord of Misrule (The Morganville Vampires, #5)
Rachel Caine | 2009 | Horror
8
8.1 (11 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book centered around a singular event, and the outcome of that event has the potential to change everything that the town of Morganville is about and how it is run. I found the plot of this book to be very unpredictable - which is a good thing - except for the fact that every book always centers around Claire and the choices she makes. The one-liners are as fantastic as always, and I love the introduction of a few new characters, such as Theo and his family, and the ex-Marine Hannah. I also found the introduction of a natural disaster as a major plot point to be refreshing - even though terrifying for the characters - since few books I read seem to work uncontrollable bad weather into the plot. For less than 300 pages, this book packs alot of sub-plots in, with the retribution against Monica, who I'm not convinced has learned from her mistakes yet, managing Mynin's bipolar behavior, and keeping track of what is happening with each of the four main characters/ Glass House residents. All of the possibilities in a town gone anarchic are explored to some degree, although I found that the lines that were used to control the college students to be less-than-believable. I am curious to see what happens to the human factions that were trying to exploit the mini-war by rebeling against the Powers That Be in the next book, Carpe Corpus (Morganville Vampires, Book 6), as well as how Mynin's disease plays out as it affects others en masse. The fact that Claire basically hardly ever goes to class and still manages to makes A's still bugs me, but I'm getting used to it. She has more exciting things to attend to!
  
40x40

Merissa (12066 KP) rated Sleep in Books

Mar 25, 2019  
Sleep
Sleep
C.L. Taylor | 2019 | Thriller
8
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Sleep by C.L. Taylor
Sleep is the second book by C.L. Taylor I have read, and my opinion of her as a first class thriller writer has been solidified. This one was very different to The Fear, but just as good.

We start off with Anna driving home after a team-building weekend in Wales. Everyone else is asleep, and the weather is bad. Through no fault of her own, there is an accident. Two are killed, one is left unable to walk, and Anna walks away from hospital. Not uninjured, not at all, but still walks away. She suffers from survivor's guilt, and it isn't helped by the fact she is convinced she is being stalked. Taking matters into her own hand, she splits with her boyfriend, and takes a job on the remote isle of Rum. Seven guests arrive the same time as a storm. Everyone is hiding something, and Anna doesn't know if she will survive.

This was an intriguing story, full of twists, turns, and red herrings. I'm never one to try and figure out 'whodunnit' as I prefer to let the story take me where it will. I will say in this instance, it became clear who it was, and I was lucky enough to guess correctly as to the reasons why. However, this didn't detract from the story itself in any way.

With no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt my reading flow, I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish, and have no hesitation in recommending it to all #Thriller fans out there.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
A Dream of Death
A Dream of Death
Connie Berry | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
10
9.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Don’t Miss This Debut
Kate Hamilton has returned to the Isle of Glenroth off the coast of Scotland, something she swore she would never do after the death of her husband three years ago. She’s come in response to a plea for help from her sister-in-law, Elenor, but Elenor won’t say more until after the Tartan Ball she is hosting for island residence the night Kate arrives. Elenor makes a couple of shocking announcements during the ball and then turns up murdered the next morning. Kate sees parallels to a 200-year-old crime from the island’s past that has recently been brought to back to prominence thanks to a bestselling novel. The police dismiss the similarity as a coincidence, but is Kate on to something?

I was hesitant to pick up this book because of all the books already on my to be read mountain range, but I’m glad I did. This book has a lot going on with a possible ghost, an old house, and the mystery from the past that might be leading to the murder in the present all coming into play. Coupled with the dreary weather, and I got a Gothic feel as I read this book. That atmosphere is enhanced by characters who are all strong, giving us plenty of suspects with motives and secrets all their own. With everything going on, the pace never lags, and I was frustrated every time I had to put the book down. Even though Kate isn’t at home for this book, we still got a glimpse of her family, and I hope we get to see more of them in future books. Kate owns an antique shop, and her knowledge of antiques came into play here in an interesting way. This is a strong debut that needs to be on your to be read list.