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Diggers, Whopping Diggers! - Machine fun for kids
Entertainment, Games and Stickers
App
Vroom, vroom! Does your little one love diggers and other construction machines? Whopping Diggers...
The Princess and the Pea – An Interactive Children’s Story Book HD
Book and Education
App
>>> FREE & packed with superb animation & stunning interactive activities Take your children on a...
The Modi Effect: Inside Narendra Modi's Campaign to Transform India
Book
How did a 'chai wallah' who sold tea on trains as a boy become Prime Minister of India? On May 16,...
The Practice of System and Network Administration: Volume 1: Devops and Other Best Practices for Enterprise it
Strata R. Chalup, Thomas A. Limoncelli and Christina J. Hogan
Book
With 28 new chapters, the third edition of The Practice of System and Network Administration...
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Kingdom Hearts III in Video Games
Jul 7, 2020
A Ton Of Fun
Kingdom Hearts III is an action/RPG developed and published by Square Enix. It was directed by Tetsuya Nomora and Tai Yasue, produced by Rie Nishi, written by Tetsuya Nomora and Masaru Oka with music composed by Yoko Shimomura, Takeharu Ishimoto, and Tsuyoshi Sekito.
Set after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and a sequel to Kingdom Hearts II; it's a conclusion to the "Dark Seeker Saga" and finds Sora and friends trying to prevent a second Keyblade War. Their search for the seven guardians of light has them visit worlds and cross paths with many different Disney and Pixar characters. Sora, nearly taken over by Xehanort, discovers he has lost his strength as a result. He resumes his travels accompanied by Donald and Goofy, in order to regain his "power of waking'. Traversing the realm of darkness, King Mickey and Riku search for Aqua while Kairi and Lea train to with their new Keyblades.
This game is a lot of fun. I never got to play the other Kingdom Hearts games so this was my first introduction to the series. I really liked the gameplay although sometimes the enemies are nothing more than canon fodder. But it was awesome with interacting with all the Disney and Pixar characters and seeing some of their worlds. I was very confused with the story but it goes by pretty well and there are lots of videos and pages on the internet if you want to catch up or dont remember what's going on or who's who. I didn't include some of the gameplay that showed boss fights because I didn't want to give anything away but the boss fights are a lot of fun. I just had the game on normal so I haven't found it very hard but I dont know if that stays the same if you increase the difficulty. You do have the options of changing gear for your allies and having the group eat meals for buffs as well as upgrade your keyblades but I generally stay away from that unless I have difficulty on a stage or boss. One thing I really didn't like so much was the spaceship battles that you get when traveling from world to world, I found them a bit tedious and annoying. But I'm sure some people liked them. All in all I'd give this game a 7/10. Below is a link to a video showcasing gameplay that I posted to YouTube.
Set after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and a sequel to Kingdom Hearts II; it's a conclusion to the "Dark Seeker Saga" and finds Sora and friends trying to prevent a second Keyblade War. Their search for the seven guardians of light has them visit worlds and cross paths with many different Disney and Pixar characters. Sora, nearly taken over by Xehanort, discovers he has lost his strength as a result. He resumes his travels accompanied by Donald and Goofy, in order to regain his "power of waking'. Traversing the realm of darkness, King Mickey and Riku search for Aqua while Kairi and Lea train to with their new Keyblades.
This game is a lot of fun. I never got to play the other Kingdom Hearts games so this was my first introduction to the series. I really liked the gameplay although sometimes the enemies are nothing more than canon fodder. But it was awesome with interacting with all the Disney and Pixar characters and seeing some of their worlds. I was very confused with the story but it goes by pretty well and there are lots of videos and pages on the internet if you want to catch up or dont remember what's going on or who's who. I didn't include some of the gameplay that showed boss fights because I didn't want to give anything away but the boss fights are a lot of fun. I just had the game on normal so I haven't found it very hard but I dont know if that stays the same if you increase the difficulty. You do have the options of changing gear for your allies and having the group eat meals for buffs as well as upgrade your keyblades but I generally stay away from that unless I have difficulty on a stage or boss. One thing I really didn't like so much was the spaceship battles that you get when traveling from world to world, I found them a bit tedious and annoying. But I'm sure some people liked them. All in all I'd give this game a 7/10. Below is a link to a video showcasing gameplay that I posted to YouTube.
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Smashbomb in Apps
Jul 9, 2020
Smashbomb Review
Smashbomb is a pretty cool social media app for entertainment recommendations. What do I mean? Well, you can rate and review all kinds of things like movies, tv shows, books and more; as well as discover things through recommendations too. You can also recommend stuff to your friends and follow each other to see what stuff they've recently reviewed. Find out what they love or what they hate, or what they really felt about a certain movie/tv show, etc.. You can even join "Orbs" which are groups where you can talk with other members about different topics related to recommendations. You earn points for adding reviews and rating things and even earn different badges for contributing that show off your status in the community. There's even a system of points called Kudos points that you earn for adding reviews and ratings and the more you earn the more you can give to friends and followers. These points are used to enter giveaways where you can win all kinds of prizes from Funko Pops, DVDs, table top games and even video games.
So in conclusion, I think this app is pretty awesome. I've been using it now for a couple of weeks and have really been enjoying it. It's pretty fun adding reviews for movies and shows I've seen, earning points towards winning awards and also giving points to other people writing reviews helping them get more points to win stuff too. And the best is just finding something cool that you haven't heard about before like a movie or tv show you were thinking about watching but weren't sure about. Because there's nothing that sucks like staring at the menu screen at Netflix/Hulu/Prime etc... and not knowing what to watch and just staring at that screen for 15 mins. Especially with things like fake reviews and trolls out there and paid reviews that hype up a movie that you wind up spending good money on seeing in theaters only to feel like you were robbed. It's a cool place to get some good opinions and if you get your friends to join or add in the fun then you will be able to see and share your reviews, ratings with each other and actually know who they're coming from.
So in conclusion, I think this app is pretty awesome. I've been using it now for a couple of weeks and have really been enjoying it. It's pretty fun adding reviews for movies and shows I've seen, earning points towards winning awards and also giving points to other people writing reviews helping them get more points to win stuff too. And the best is just finding something cool that you haven't heard about before like a movie or tv show you were thinking about watching but weren't sure about. Because there's nothing that sucks like staring at the menu screen at Netflix/Hulu/Prime etc... and not knowing what to watch and just staring at that screen for 15 mins. Especially with things like fake reviews and trolls out there and paid reviews that hype up a movie that you wind up spending good money on seeing in theaters only to feel like you were robbed. It's a cool place to get some good opinions and if you get your friends to join or add in the fun then you will be able to see and share your reviews, ratings with each other and actually know who they're coming from.
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Thirteen in Books
Sep 24, 2020
More reviews on https://bbookinspector.wordpress.com
The story is told from a dual perspective – Eddie’s and Kane’s. These two characters would be our protagonists. Eddie is a defence attorney, a man with a very messed up personal life, who keeps making very dangerous decisions, and that is what makes him so awesome. Eddie has his faults and is not perfect, but at the same time, he is so intriguing and incredibly smart! Kane is a genius psychopath, (Hannibal Lecter could be his inspiration 😀 ), who can steal any identity he chooses. So, when you have these two amazingly developed personalities, the story can’t be boring. 😀
And of course, it is not! The narrative is very well paced, creating optical illusions and mind games in every chapter. It has plenty of twists, turns and unexpected findings, and the plot absolutely absorbed me. I love when authors include murderers and their thoughts in the thrillers, Kane’s actions and thoughts gave so much depth and intrigue to this book, and it was an absolute joy to read it. I really enjoyed Eddie’s smart moves while solving this case, but he was pretty lucky to get all the information delivered to him, without the help, I don’t think he could’ve succeeded as much. I really liked, that Steve Cavanagh utilized his knowledge of courts and jury in this book, there were plenty of new things I learned, and I am very grateful for that.
I loved the writing style of this book, it is easy and understandable, and this book can easily be read as stand alone. The characters used from the past are well explained and didn’t leave me confused. The chapters are pretty short, and due to constant change between the characters, the pages just fly by. I do have to throw in a disclaimer that there are plenty of blood, graphic murders, and other gross things described in this book, so before reading, make sure you can stomach that. 😀 I really enjoyed the ending and all the surprises it brought, I think it rounded up the story very nicely.
So, to conclude, Steve Cavanagh definitely knows what he is doing when it comes to writing. He is a master of crime novels, and even though this book was my first encounter with this author’s work, it definitely will not be the last. He chose perfect characters for this book, and the plot kept me guessing and always intrigued. I thoroughly enjoyed this court thriller, and it is an absolute must-read. I do hope you will like it as much as I did. Enjoy 🙂
The story is told from a dual perspective – Eddie’s and Kane’s. These two characters would be our protagonists. Eddie is a defence attorney, a man with a very messed up personal life, who keeps making very dangerous decisions, and that is what makes him so awesome. Eddie has his faults and is not perfect, but at the same time, he is so intriguing and incredibly smart! Kane is a genius psychopath, (Hannibal Lecter could be his inspiration 😀 ), who can steal any identity he chooses. So, when you have these two amazingly developed personalities, the story can’t be boring. 😀
And of course, it is not! The narrative is very well paced, creating optical illusions and mind games in every chapter. It has plenty of twists, turns and unexpected findings, and the plot absolutely absorbed me. I love when authors include murderers and their thoughts in the thrillers, Kane’s actions and thoughts gave so much depth and intrigue to this book, and it was an absolute joy to read it. I really enjoyed Eddie’s smart moves while solving this case, but he was pretty lucky to get all the information delivered to him, without the help, I don’t think he could’ve succeeded as much. I really liked, that Steve Cavanagh utilized his knowledge of courts and jury in this book, there were plenty of new things I learned, and I am very grateful for that.
I loved the writing style of this book, it is easy and understandable, and this book can easily be read as stand alone. The characters used from the past are well explained and didn’t leave me confused. The chapters are pretty short, and due to constant change between the characters, the pages just fly by. I do have to throw in a disclaimer that there are plenty of blood, graphic murders, and other gross things described in this book, so before reading, make sure you can stomach that. 😀 I really enjoyed the ending and all the surprises it brought, I think it rounded up the story very nicely.
So, to conclude, Steve Cavanagh definitely knows what he is doing when it comes to writing. He is a master of crime novels, and even though this book was my first encounter with this author’s work, it definitely will not be the last. He chose perfect characters for this book, and the plot kept me guessing and always intrigued. I thoroughly enjoyed this court thriller, and it is an absolute must-read. I do hope you will like it as much as I did. Enjoy 🙂
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Hunger Games (2012) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020 (Updated Nov 26, 2020)
One of the most clueless things I've ever seen, as painstakingly unintelligent as it is one-dimensional and blunt. My problem isn't so much that every YA movie from then until at least 2018 cribbed from it (and for the most part, did it better lol) mercilessly until they left nothing left to this one but its picked-clean carcass - but moreso with the fact that it does only a couple steps above the bare minimum. How awesome would this have been as a Battle Royale-style, anti-fascist bloodbath where a bunch of kids are picked at random and exposed to both the elements and a shit-ton of weapons in a 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘸-esque battlefield commentated by a flamboyant Stanley Tucci and Toby Jones? But no, fuck that right? Instead we get a garbage-looking, shakycam exercise in going through the motions with bad characters and toothless action (wasps? most of the characters dying offscreen? are you kidding me?). Plus we're treated to another awful forced romance, dull-arrowed swipes at classism which amount to nothing more than overtly-obvious visual signifiers with nothing to actually chew on (I assume out of cowardice - which makes it worse), and one of the most infamous cases of vaguely misogynistic attempts at a 'strong female lead' by making her mean and stripped of any actual personality. Somehow it doesn't really drag, but it's pretty viciously unexciting. There's some real bite to the scenes where Katniss's every expression let alone word is picked apart by a capricious crowd and disingenuous MC, and Haymitch painfully watching the rich children play with the toy sword - though not only does it refuse to dive into the treasure trove of possible commentary it sets up, but I actually have to apologize to the (worlds better) 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 for goofing on its idiotic politics because this is somehow even dumber. "We want to make sure there's never another uprising again, show we're a gracious + caring government, and entertain the public all at once. How do we do that? Well we'll just start abducting and killing children at random on national television of course!" Lmfao. Doesn't lean into anything that could have made this enjoyable, and there's a lot - so they had to have *tried* to make it this flat. Also one of those movies that only knows how to express its limited emotion through unbearable "everything sucks" world-building. Great... that would be another thing entirely if it even earned the right to do that, which naturally this doesn't. Cheesy and unintentionally funny.
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Swamp Thing, Vol. 4: A Murder of Crows in Books
Nov 30, 2020
Earlier this year I had finished Vol. 3 and was ready to start on Vol. 4, but I just wasn't feeling it. The timing just wasn't right. So, I put off my re-visitation of Alan Moore's <b>EFFING BRILLIANT</b> SWAMP THING run...until the other night, when the "timing" returned and I devoured it two nights! Now, with that out of the way, onto my review...
In my reviews for the first three volumes, I mentioned that this was a re-visitation of sorts. It was always something I had intended, returning to a series I had not read since it first came out in the 80s, but it wasn't until going the digital route that I felt the time was due.
This is the volume that introduces that ol' bastard John Constantine, and for that alone, this volume is worth the price of admission! However, it was the path that Constantine sets Swampy on, and the tense and unforgettable finale that culminates in Issue 50, the last part of this volume! For that turns it all the way up to Eleven! Yeah, no Spoilers, despite it's age, but it is intense as a comic could be and then some!
Moore has become, in my eyes, some of a pain in the ass over the last few years. However, with SWAMP THING, as well as WATCHMEN and THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, he was totally on his game! There was not one issue in this volume that had me thinking, <i>"Yeah, this was good, but that one story was just absolute rubbish!"</i>. It was pure gold!
Now let it be said that I think the artwork of Jock is about as good as it gets as far as stirring horror images that stay with you long after the story is finished! However, after seeing the art of Stephen R. Bissette and John Tottleben, I was reminded of being scared reading this the first time out, and even now, on the re-read! Man, what I wouldn't give to seem them do another Swampy run, maybe even a guest spot on JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK! Oh, I am excited just imagining how frikkin' <b>AWESOME</b> that would be!
Look, there are a ton of great reviews out there, wherein the writer takes and analyzes everything of importance in this volume. And a number of those great reviews are right here on Goodreads! But, I can't add much to what has already been said! All I can add is this: You soooooo need to read this series! That's all I'm gonna say!
In my reviews for the first three volumes, I mentioned that this was a re-visitation of sorts. It was always something I had intended, returning to a series I had not read since it first came out in the 80s, but it wasn't until going the digital route that I felt the time was due.
This is the volume that introduces that ol' bastard John Constantine, and for that alone, this volume is worth the price of admission! However, it was the path that Constantine sets Swampy on, and the tense and unforgettable finale that culminates in Issue 50, the last part of this volume! For that turns it all the way up to Eleven! Yeah, no Spoilers, despite it's age, but it is intense as a comic could be and then some!
Moore has become, in my eyes, some of a pain in the ass over the last few years. However, with SWAMP THING, as well as WATCHMEN and THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, he was totally on his game! There was not one issue in this volume that had me thinking, <i>"Yeah, this was good, but that one story was just absolute rubbish!"</i>. It was pure gold!
Now let it be said that I think the artwork of Jock is about as good as it gets as far as stirring horror images that stay with you long after the story is finished! However, after seeing the art of Stephen R. Bissette and John Tottleben, I was reminded of being scared reading this the first time out, and even now, on the re-read! Man, what I wouldn't give to seem them do another Swampy run, maybe even a guest spot on JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK! Oh, I am excited just imagining how frikkin' <b>AWESOME</b> that would be!
Look, there are a ton of great reviews out there, wherein the writer takes and analyzes everything of importance in this volume. And a number of those great reviews are right here on Goodreads! But, I can't add much to what has already been said! All I can add is this: You soooooo need to read this series! That's all I'm gonna say!
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated 29 Seconds in Books
Sep 26, 2019
Sarah's life is ruled by her horrible boss. Yet he's untouchable due to a sizable grant and his famous TV show. Driving to get her children from school one day, Sarah rescues a young girl from harm. She does it out of the kindness of her heart, expecting nothing in return. But her act puts a very powerful man in her debt, and he decides that it must be repaid in his own way. He offers Sarah a 72-hour deal: he can make someone disappear with a simple phone call. No traces to her, no repercussions. Sarah's life with her boss is nearly intolerable, but can she really make that call?
"You give me one name. One person. and I will make them disappear. For you."
I went in to this one a little dubious about its premise, and yes, it's wild and crazy and implausible, but it's also one of those fun, addictive reads that you get caught up in and can't put down for hours. It was a whirlwind read, and I totally loved it. The book's story is very timely--Sarah's boss, Dr. Hawthorne is a terrible, despicable character: a poster child for the #metoo movement. Her success and livelihood are tied into sleeping with him. He sexually harasses her, threatens her, and basically does everything awful thing he could do. Your blood will boil when you read this story, and it was honestly stressful at times. Yet the man is untouchable thanks to protective male colleagues and the money he brings in.
"What happened is that it's a business and they've got too much invested in their prime asset to let him go. People like us are just the collateral damage."
Once Sarah is offered her "deal," it seems like the book will go a certain way, but there's nothing predictable about this novel. It's mesmerizing and completely addictive. There are a ton of twists and turns that keep you completely off guard. It's really easy to root for Sarah, as our bad guy stands in stark contrast to her, even if you question a few of her decisions. (And she's awfully lucky to have her father, who sure takes her kids on with no complaints.)
"She saw it now for what it was: a deal with the Devil."
If you're looking for a fun, unpredictable escape, this thriller is for you. It's really an awesome read, and I, for one, loved the ending. 4+ stars.
"You give me one name. One person. and I will make them disappear. For you."
I went in to this one a little dubious about its premise, and yes, it's wild and crazy and implausible, but it's also one of those fun, addictive reads that you get caught up in and can't put down for hours. It was a whirlwind read, and I totally loved it. The book's story is very timely--Sarah's boss, Dr. Hawthorne is a terrible, despicable character: a poster child for the #metoo movement. Her success and livelihood are tied into sleeping with him. He sexually harasses her, threatens her, and basically does everything awful thing he could do. Your blood will boil when you read this story, and it was honestly stressful at times. Yet the man is untouchable thanks to protective male colleagues and the money he brings in.
"What happened is that it's a business and they've got too much invested in their prime asset to let him go. People like us are just the collateral damage."
Once Sarah is offered her "deal," it seems like the book will go a certain way, but there's nothing predictable about this novel. It's mesmerizing and completely addictive. There are a ton of twists and turns that keep you completely off guard. It's really easy to root for Sarah, as our bad guy stands in stark contrast to her, even if you question a few of her decisions. (And she's awfully lucky to have her father, who sure takes her kids on with no complaints.)
"She saw it now for what it was: a deal with the Devil."
If you're looking for a fun, unpredictable escape, this thriller is for you. It's really an awesome read, and I, for one, loved the ending. 4+ stars.
