Ballers

Really terrible, 0/5 stars.  I could not finish watching any of the episodes.
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Last man on the moon

​much worse than the critics said, boring, un-engaging, blech.  1/5 stars.  Miss this one.

Intervention

This one was not nearly as bad as the trailers and reviews made it out to be.  The acting was weak and the dialog was not great but the story was awesome.

3/5 stars.  Worth watching if there is nothing better.
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Independence Day: Resurgence

As bad as the critics said, 2/5 stars.  Miss this one.

Ferien

This one was really terrible.  1/5 stars.

Tarzan

Flying to / from Barcelona, I saw a bunch of movies that are either too new or below the cut line for home / family viewing.

I had very low expectations because the reviews were so terrible.  It is a "super hero" genre movie, not another re-telling of the hackneyed Tarzan myth.  Models strut perfect bodies with CGI and cardboard superhero characters.  I like superhero movies, so it gets 3/5 stars.
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The Third Chimpanzee

Despite the weak, frequently debunked science and political slant of his books, I still like reading Jared Diamond and enjoyed this one more than the others.  There is depth and breadth in the examples.  4/5 stars.  It is a bit long and somewhat dense at times but a fun ride.
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Dark Run

This one was fun but a little cliche.  I enjoyed the colorful, mysterious characters.  The tech and science fiction elements are bad.  3/5 stars. 
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Forever Gate

Not good.  Bad rip-off of "The Matrix."  Juvenile plot lines, unappealing characters.  Interesting universe, though 2/5 stars.

What Every Body is Saying

Although the author's values and attitudes are terrible, the information is cogently delivered with fantastic text-book density, clarity, and organization.  It would take an enormous amount of practice and effort to make best use of the information; there is no "quick fix" to my inability to "read" people.  4/5 stars.  Worth it.
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synchronicity war part 2

I am not impressed with this series and won't read the rest.  The enigmatic aliens are too predictable.  The AI tech is stupid.  The physics is weak.  1/5 stars.  Avoid it.
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makers and takers

Interesting tour of data from poll data and some academic findings.  Not useful or interesting, 2/5 stars.

Being Mortal

5/5 stars. Must read!!

The military and political characters were interesting but a bit cardboard (two-dimensional).  I was also a little disappointed by the ending, expecting a "Russian boxing match" (fight to the death). But it was enjoyable otherwise, 3/5 stars.

Liars and Outliers

​I always enjoy Schneier's books and have added _Data  and Goliath_ to my queue.  This one was a little simplistic at the beginning and weaker on the nuances of the sociology of his examples but the last few chapters are fantastic.  3/5 stars, worth reading.

Armada

​Not nearly as good as Ready Player One but still fun.  Worth reading 4/5 stars.

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Prador Moon

Neal Asher's Prador Moon introduction to his space opera universe is not bad.  It is complete with complex heroes, hybrid AI/humans, evil space aliens with better technology, and odd politics.  There is some bad physics and odd motivation  But on the other hand there are some cool ideas I hope he explores further in the series.

Dust

Although the plot and "awe & wonder" nanotechnology are fun, there are no clear boundaries in the nanotech magic system and this gap is abused for deus est machina plot twists that harm the story. It is still a fun ride. 3/4 stars.

On Silver Wings

I enjoyed this one.  It is good old fashioned military space opera, complete with enigmatic bad guy space aliens, mysterious technology, and heroic characters.  5/5 stars.  I cannot wait to read the next one in the series.

smarter, faster, better

I enjoyed this one.  It's a little long and dense but a fun read and very compelling. 4/5 stars.

dark matter

despite the bad science and absurdity I was willing to suspend disbelief and go along for the action-packed ride.  It's a fun story with some interesting turns.  I found some of the action / decisions unmotivated and trite.  Some of the characters and situations were also very thin.  But it was enjoyable.  3/5 stars.

The Internet's Own Boy

Fantastic film, 5/5 stars.  I was crying.  Don't miss it.

Microsoft bricked our computer so I switched to Linux

When we installed our home theater in 2010, the only device attached to the 1080p projector and the surround sound system was a 2009 Dell Zino.  At the time the Zino had enough graphics to play high-end Windows video games, enough processor / memory for high-end apps, a blueray optical device, ethernet for fast Internet stuff (streaming) and a tiny form factor to fit unobtrusively in our home theater.  We added a wireless keyboard and mouse and life was fantastic.  It is still the only device attached to our projector and sound system.  The 15 foot screen and huge subwoofer are still very impressive.

Microsoft's latest "cumulative patch" for windows-10 bricked the Zino last week.  The Zino was completely unrecoverable, locked up tighter than a drum at the "which keyboard?" prompt.

The Zino now runs Ubuntu with the Mint desktop, VLC for media and streaming, and life is better.  Linux has come a long way since 2009.  It is a viable consumer OS.

It may be time to short Microsoft's stock.  They are pushing us consumers away from their products and services in a concerted effort of self-destruction.

Rogue Lawyer

I really enjoyed this one.  Great plot, characters, action.  It is a little "preachy" but not terrible.  4/5 stars.  Fun ride.

The economic singularity

Dense conspectus of other current books and monographs with an original conclusion with the author's speculations.  It's pretty good.  The author argues that this third "run at" AI is different and will have remarkable results. 3/5 stars.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Kondo: life changing magic of tidying up

Meh. 2/5 stars.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Neverwhere

I just don't like Neil Gaiman's books. I cannot suspend disbelief in so many areas of his inconsistent magic systems.  The characters, writing, plot, humor are wonderful but the setting is just too off-putting.  If you like Neil Gaiman, you have read this one already.  If, like me, his magic system does not work for you, skip it.  2/5 stars, meh.
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Five Dysfunctions of a Team

I re-read this one and it is still fantastic.  5/5 stars.  More people should read apply the lessons and prescriptive methods in the book.
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Rubber plug for lightning jack on iPhone/iPad

https://goo.gl/WzbEh2

pocket lint

It appears I am the only person in the world whose head phone jack or power jack in his phone can get cotton pocket lint in it, causing issues.

Anyway, I just bought 100 of these rubber head phone jack plugs at eBay for $0.99:

https://goo.gl/ystkhB

So, if you need one, let me know.  I have 99 extras.  Sometimes eBay really comes through for me.

Nemesis Games

The thrilling series continues with great character back-stories and a new, unexpected twist.  5/5 stars.  Fantastic.

The Swarm

I love all of the books in the ender universe and the series of prequels is just as good as the others.  5/5 stars.

Long Earth 4: Long Utopia

I am disappointed in this one and shall not pursue the series.  Nothing about the universe was engaging and I didn't care enough to enjoy the good story, meh,  2/5 stars.

The Memory of Blood

I really enjoyed this tight thrilling murder mystery.  The characters and dialog are fantastic. The social commentary was great and the dialog was awesome. The characters leapt out of the story. 4/5 stars.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Warrior King

The climactic space battle is fun but the new characters are a little thin.  Shorter than the earlier books.  Still worth a read. 3/5 stars.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Cibola Burn

The ending was a little disappointing but the story was as awesome as the rest of the books in the series.  I cannot wait to read the next one.  4/5 stars.

Abandon's Gate

I could not put this one down.  Fantastic story, 5/5 stars.
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Out of Oz

This book is a fantastic conclusion to Maguire's series.  It ties up all of the loose ends of the plots from all three of the earlier books and brings all of the characters to dramatic, and unexpected endings.  I enjoyed it much more than any of the other stories in the series.  4/5 stars, very thrilling.

The Israel Solution

I was disappointed by the book, mostly because of the editing, but also because of the shrill tone and superlative adjectives.  The scholarship is fantastic and the reasoning is sound.  It is important for anyone who cares about the politics in Israel to read and understand the information.  However I have higher expectations for a book than Caroline's journalist writing style and I was hoping her editors would tone down her fire a little to emphasize the awesome analysis and the straight facts.

When I read Paul Johnson's A history of the Jews, I cried frequently at how horribly unconscionable the genocides, pogroms, torture, tyranny, deprivations, and systematic, evil societal malevolent practices were throughout the centuries.  I had a vague understanding of some of the history but Johnson illuminated the facts dispassionately, which made the story more horrific.  Caroline's style is not as literary or cogent.  She retreats to bromides and insults.  It pushed me out of the book a little.

The information and analysis is extremely important and a fantastic illumination of facts that few people have realized.  3/5 Stars.  If you care about politics in Israel, you really owe it to yourself to read the book and follow the footnotes to read the source articles.

The Medusa Chronicles

Fantastic book by great authors worthy of continuing Arthur C. Clark's award-winning novella and story collection. 5/5 stars

The Oz Principle

People at work recommended this one when I asked about good audiobooks.  It is old but still relevant.  There are much deeper concepts behind accountability than the simple bromides and quick-fix slogans.  The book is long, deep, and detailed and worth reading all the way through. 

4/5 stars.

Out of the Black

Book four was just as exciting as the first three and the space opera keeps the space combat thrills flying fast and thick.  I am really enjoying the series now and appreciate the mysterious awe, wonder of the vague background mysteries.  4/5 stars, can't wait for book five.

Ready Player One

Fantastic, as good as people said.

Despite the dystopian negative pessimism I enjoyed the book and recommend it.  5 out of 5 stars.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Troika

​I am a huge fan of Alastair Reynolds' space operas.  Troika does not disappoint.  It has enormous "awe and wonder" at a glimpse of amazing technology we cannot understand.  It has great "Soviet Russia" characters and situations.  The story is compressed into a dense short novella, a quick 2-hour read.  5/5 stars.

Foundation and Chaos

The 21st century foundation trilogy sponsored by Asimov's Estate employed fantastic authors -- the "killer B's," Benford, Bear, and Brin."  But the first book published in 2000 was bad, 2/5 stars and messed up the entire trilogy.  I really dislike the "sims" (simulated personalities of Voltaire and Jean d'Arc).  And the introduction of extra new elements, including tiktoks, mentalics with specific super-powers, new casts and cultures, and especially worm holes really messed up everything.  If you write inside a masters universe, don't completely change his universe.  So anyway, Bear's novel was not as terrible as the first one, 3/5 stars.  I am now on to Brin's final book in the series. . .

Start with Why

Pretty good ideas and very similar to all the career advice books, but for business culture and organizations. 4/5 stars.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Trojan Horse

Finally finished the last Russinovich thriller.  It was pretty good and holds up, despite the rapidly-changing cyber-warfare changes in real life.  4/5 stars, probably the best of his three books.

13 hours

Interesting narrative of the September 11 2012 fire fight in Benghazi, Libya in which American diplomats and their armed defenders were killed and the American diplomatic compound was destroyed.
3/5 stars

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Black box thinking

Life changing book with fantastic life lessons and wisdom. 5/5 stars
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