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Mia Farrow recommended Worse Than War in Books (curated)
Kyera (8 KP) rated Illuminae: The Illuminae Files: Book 1 in Books
Feb 1, 2018
The layout of this book was so unique - rather than a straight narrative, you were able to experience the story through short bursts via IM chats, 3rd-party observations while transcribing security video, and AI logs. The characters developed over the course of the novel, but it was surprisingly the artificial intelligence A.I.D.E.N. that stole the show. It was an enjoyable story and the plot wasn't predictable. I highly recommend the book to fans of young adult/teen novels, science fiction and truly well thought out narratives.
Pirates and Swearing
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Citadel is a personal account of one man’s war against the pirates of Somalia. Jordan Wylie grew up in Blackpool and joined the King’s Royal Hussars as soon as he left school. Unfortunately, a back injury restricted the tasks he was able to perform meaning he had to leave the army behind him. However, his skills as a non-commissioned officer came in handy in his new position in maritime security. Jordan became a security guard for merchant ships that had to make the dangerous journey through Pirate Alley, i.e. Somalia. In this book, Jordan tries to encapsulate his experience aboard these ships and his encounter with the licentious pirates.
Somali pirates are not the typical figures from pantomimes, dressed in tricorn hats and frock coats, complete with pet parrot on the shoulder yelling “Avast me hearties!” Instead, they are young African men of a bellicose nature, some barely out of their teens, wielding guns with the intention of taking over ships and demanding extortionate ransoms.
Jordan was rather fortunate with his brush with pirates and never experienced being captured or attacked. Nevertheless, the occasions when Somalis attempted to take over were extremely nerve-racking, especially because Jordan and the crew had horror stories of other ships’ fates fresh in their minds. In these instances, Jordan had to remain calm and professional, relying on his army background and personal bravery to keep everyone safe.
The title, Citadel, refers to the name of the safe room the crew were required to lock themselves in should pirate attack become imminent. In some instances, entire ship crews would be locked in these rooms for days or longer, desperately awaiting rescue. Jordan’s brief exposure to the citadel was enough for him to realise how truly awful being locked below decks for a lengthy period of time would be.
Citadel lacks synchronicity and often jumps from Jordan’s own experiences to stories he has heard of other ships. He also talks about his family back home in England, including his wife and young daughter. Being away from home for months at a time is very difficult but the pay cheque of a maritime security guard is too appealing to turn down.
Unfortunately, Jordan’s narrative is ruined through his use of unnecessary expletives. Ironically, Jordan writes about telling off other security guards for swearing because it upsets the native sailors, yet, he does not think about the readers he may be irritating.
Overall, Jordan’s book Citadel brings to attention the dangers sailors face whilst shipping our everyday commodities. Most of us are unaware of the events occurring in the Middle East and the state of the lives of Somali families that force children to grow up to become pirates. Citadel is eye-opening in more ways than one and will interest readers with interest in the armed forces, security management and so forth.
Citadel is a personal account of one man’s war against the pirates of Somalia. Jordan Wylie grew up in Blackpool and joined the King’s Royal Hussars as soon as he left school. Unfortunately, a back injury restricted the tasks he was able to perform meaning he had to leave the army behind him. However, his skills as a non-commissioned officer came in handy in his new position in maritime security. Jordan became a security guard for merchant ships that had to make the dangerous journey through Pirate Alley, i.e. Somalia. In this book, Jordan tries to encapsulate his experience aboard these ships and his encounter with the licentious pirates.
Somali pirates are not the typical figures from pantomimes, dressed in tricorn hats and frock coats, complete with pet parrot on the shoulder yelling “Avast me hearties!” Instead, they are young African men of a bellicose nature, some barely out of their teens, wielding guns with the intention of taking over ships and demanding extortionate ransoms.
Jordan was rather fortunate with his brush with pirates and never experienced being captured or attacked. Nevertheless, the occasions when Somalis attempted to take over were extremely nerve-racking, especially because Jordan and the crew had horror stories of other ships’ fates fresh in their minds. In these instances, Jordan had to remain calm and professional, relying on his army background and personal bravery to keep everyone safe.
The title, Citadel, refers to the name of the safe room the crew were required to lock themselves in should pirate attack become imminent. In some instances, entire ship crews would be locked in these rooms for days or longer, desperately awaiting rescue. Jordan’s brief exposure to the citadel was enough for him to realise how truly awful being locked below decks for a lengthy period of time would be.
Citadel lacks synchronicity and often jumps from Jordan’s own experiences to stories he has heard of other ships. He also talks about his family back home in England, including his wife and young daughter. Being away from home for months at a time is very difficult but the pay cheque of a maritime security guard is too appealing to turn down.
Unfortunately, Jordan’s narrative is ruined through his use of unnecessary expletives. Ironically, Jordan writes about telling off other security guards for swearing because it upsets the native sailors, yet, he does not think about the readers he may be irritating.
Overall, Jordan’s book Citadel brings to attention the dangers sailors face whilst shipping our everyday commodities. Most of us are unaware of the events occurring in the Middle East and the state of the lives of Somali families that force children to grow up to become pirates. Citadel is eye-opening in more ways than one and will interest readers with interest in the armed forces, security management and so forth.
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Amazon in Apps
Nov 4, 2017 (Updated Nov 4, 2017)
Dangerous because it's addictive
It's very easy to get lost in this app because it leads you from one interesting thing to another. Next thing you know, your wishlist and shopping basket is packed with useless items. Hence the app being so addictive.
Funny enough, I find the app easier to navigate than the website itself. If only it can utilise Chromecast for Amazon Videos. I'm having to cast from my laptop or the app on the smart TV. So far (touch wood) I've had no technical or security issues with this app.
Funny enough, I find the app easier to navigate than the website itself. If only it can utilise Chromecast for Amazon Videos. I'm having to cast from my laptop or the app on the smart TV. So far (touch wood) I've had no technical or security issues with this app.
Sonofdel (6265 KP) rated Security (2017) in Movies
Nov 13, 2018
Not a bad thriller
Contains spoilers, click to show
A thriller about an ex-army man who is forced to take a job in a shopping mall as a night security guard. On his first night a young girl asks for help as people are chasing her. What follows is a good thriller with some interesting twists as the plot unfolds. Ben kingsley as the leader of the bad guys steals this one easily. Antonio Banderas plays the ex-army guy with a dark and disturbing past.
This was a great, thoroughly researched book about the 1996 Atlanta Bombing, and the subsequent railroading of the security guard, Richard Jewell. It didn't make Jewell appear to be squeaky-clean, it was honest and didn't shy away from his not-so-great personality traits.
I felt it was fair to everyone involved. I'm still not a fan of the reporter in general, but I did feel bad for her in the end. Overall, it was a good book that gave the background and whole story of the event.
I felt it was fair to everyone involved. I'm still not a fan of the reporter in general, but I did feel bad for her in the end. Overall, it was a good book that gave the background and whole story of the event.
Fairly simple to use (2 more)
Free to download
Good communication app for businesses
Poor security (2 more)
You can't have group conversations
Can be awkward to follow threads
Just good
So I work for a rather large logisitics company and we used slack as a way of each department staying connected. We stopped using it after about 6 months because the company found that security was poor and not to the standards to what our company wanted it to be. I liked using the app because it meant I could ask for advice and speak to colleagues from all over the country but sometimes it was difficult to follow the conversation topic because other people would be having another conversation in between. It was simple to use as in setting up and 1 on 1 conversations but I never found out how to do a small group chat and also how to reply to one comment even though someone mastered that straight away. So in short some things were a lot easier than other things. All in all I think it's a good app but should be aimed at maybe school/college/uni groups not company's that may share sensitive or important information.
Vince Clarke recommended Dangerous by Michael Jackson in Music (curated)
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Heller's Punishment (Heller, #4) in Books
Jan 7, 2021
About time!!
Am I allowed to give a book 5 stars simply because after 4 books our two main characters finally got around to having sex? It seems to have taken an age but I'm a happy reader right now.
Of course that's not the only reason I gave it five stars because once again Tilly ended up doing some crazy security jobs and ended up battered and bruised once more. I really like her loyalty and grit! And the relationship with Daniel and Niq--I still love those boys!!
Will be buying book 5 in the morning!
Am I allowed to give a book 5 stars simply because after 4 books our two main characters finally got around to having sex? It seems to have taken an age but I'm a happy reader right now.
Of course that's not the only reason I gave it five stars because once again Tilly ended up doing some crazy security jobs and ended up battered and bruised once more. I really like her loyalty and grit! And the relationship with Daniel and Niq--I still love those boys!!
Will be buying book 5 in the morning!
Tom Turner (388 KP) rated The Poppy War (The Poppy War #1) in Books
Apr 30, 2021
Wow, even though I was told what to expect, I wasn't expecting anything as visceral and as raw as this book. The beginning though tough lulled me into a sense of security, I thought I knew where it was going to go - I didn't! There was a point in the middle where this became a bit of an issue, as I felt it moved around too much, but there was a reason to it. I'm not immediately going to move on to book two, not because I don't want to, but i feel I might have a nervous breakdown of I did!