Three Inspirational Quote blogs (Inspiration)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: N/A

WEB ADDRESS:
www.motivational-inspirational-quotes.info/
www.funny-quotes4u.info/
www.sad-love-quotes.info/

BLOG DESCRIPTION:
Inspirational quotes:

To Live your life without Inspirational Quotes is to live without a spirit. Motivational Quotes are very important for us just like breathing air. Inspiration and motivation are the energies that keeps us focus and happy. Here you will find all the inspiration and motivation you need to keep on moving in life, even if sometimes it is not easy.

Funny Quotes

These funny quotes are the best way to make you smile. With funny quotes about life you will find great words of wisdom on every aspect about this life.

Sad Quotes

Here you will find great sad quotes to make you feel better. These sad love quotes have the power to heal your broken heart and soul

MY REVIEW: Each blog has quotes that inspire. Check 'em out.

RECENT POSTS:
Sad Love Quotes
Sad Love Quotes - Every night before I go to sleep I lie on my bed and stare up at my blank walls. I try to imagine the future, but right now it's as blank as those walls. All I can see is a past that I barely recognize any more.

If you aren't good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone, since you'll resent the time and energy you give another person that you aren't even giving to yourself.

Funny Quotes
The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.

Save a little money each month and at the end of the year you'll be surprised at how little you have.

Inspirational Quotes
The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places.

To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the courage to succeed.

Those who wish to sing, always find a song.





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Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
___________________________
Check out my kindle BOOKS!:
Whose Body, by Dorothy Sayers (the Annotated Edition)
The Coldest Equations (science fiction)
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure HuntersThe Lady and the Tiger...Moth

Unreasonable Faith (atheism, religion)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Unreasonable Faith , by Daniel Florien

WEB ADDRESS: http://unreasonablefaith.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: This blog contains reasonable thoughts on religion, science and skepticism.

MY REVIEW: I review religious blogs in this blog review blog, but I don't think I've reviewed any atheist blogs yet. I myself am an atheist, so I found it interesting to read this blog.

Many people contribute to this blog, and so there's a range of topics that are covered, from irony over the outrage over gay marriage, to Christian evangelism, to Muslim outrage over every little thing.

Highly recommended - for atheists and religious types alike.

Sample post:

Non-stop Evangelism
By vorjack on June 29, 2011 in Christianity, Ray Comfort Mania, Videos.
You gotta give Trisha Ramos credit. She one bad tract-distributing lady. If there were an ancient ninja clan dedicated to distributing evangelical tracts, Trisha would be their secret leader lurking in the back of the cave. She friends with Ray Comfort (surprise!) and she runs a blog called Fish with Trish where she displays some of her more interesting techniques, such as using your dog to carry spare tracts.

Here’s one that PersonalFailure posted in which Trisha is at a Taco Bell/KFC drive-through. In addition to being incredibly rude -- hey, would it kill you to put down the cell phone while carrying on a transaction -- Trisha passes off tracts to her server and the car behind her. PF vents her spleen over at Forever in Hell. (at least I think it’s a spleen. I was never good at anatomy.)

Supposedly, St. Francis once said, “Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.” If you listen to the video carefully, you can here him weeping in the background.

and

Engineered Anger and Outrage?
By Custador on June 28, 2011 in Current Events, Islam.
News from the BBC today on another case of “Muslim outrage” drew a bit of a knee-jerk from me (“Muslims offended over a triviality. Gee, that’s a first”), but when I stopped and thought about it, I began to wonder if I was being fair. So, being a curious kind of guy, I thought I’d examine the issue a bit.

Today’s story is fairly typical of the genre: Person does something largely harmless / a little bit humorous but somehow connected to Islam, Muslim Outrage™ ensues.

In this case, Naguib Sawiris (a very rich Christian from Egypt) Tweeted some cartoons of Micky and Minnie Mouse in conservative Muslim garb (Micky robed and bearded, Minnie in a Niqab with just her eyes showing). Cue howls of anger from high profile Muslims, formation of facebook groups calling for a boycott of his company, grovelling apology, etc. etc. I should say at this point that I searched at length for these cartoons so that I could repost them here, but I’ve so far been unable to find them anywhere.

Reading around various media reports on this story, it’s easy to get the impression that the response to this “incident” (for want of a better word) is a general Muslim one, but if you dig a little deeper it seems like the screaming and shouting in Egypt is being orchestrated by the Salafi minority. Salafi are an ultra-orthodox group who reject all religious debate, claiming that religious matters are beyond debate or apologetics because the Q’ran says so. If it’s in the Q’ran, it’s literally true, and that’s the bottom line, ‘cos Stone Cold Mo said so; they reject any form of politics but Islamic theocracy, and any form of law but Sharia.

But are they a true reflection of Islam in Egypt? This is where things get a little tricky. An Embassy report from 2009 which was released during the Wikileaks deluge says that this ultra-conservatism is on the rise, and it’s true that (not surprisingly in a majority Muslim country) there are serious social inequalities, but it should also be noted that of senior management level employees in Egypt, 25% are women (or were prior to the Arab Spring; it gets hard to find stats after that). That doesn’t speak of a nation in thrall to extremists – in fact, it’s significantly higher than the USA could boast as of 2009, that figure being a pretty paltry 14.7%.

So, to wrench this ramble back on course, are media reports portraying general Muslim outrage over yet another triviality a fair and accurate reflection? In truth, I don’t really know – But the balance of evidence suggests that it’s probably not.

Over to you, UFers. What do you think of Islamic reaction to things like this, and how it’s portrayed. Better yet, are you in Egypt? Is it the powder-keg we’re lead to believe? I’d love to hear from you.

RECENT POSTS:
--An Evil God?: Introduction
--A Guide to Christian Clichés and Phrases
--Why I Deny the Virgin Birth of Jesus
--Pastor Gets Caught Lying for Jesus
--Irrefutable Proof Baal Exists!
--The Tragic Trap of Christian Marriage

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Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
___________________________
Check out my kindle BOOKS!:
Whose Body, by Dorothy Sayers (the Annotated Edition)
The Coldest Equations (science fiction)
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
The Lady and the Tiger...Moth

Life After Kids (moms, parenting)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: N/A

WEB ADDRESS: http://lifeafterkids-echo.blogspot.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: My name is Echo and I'm a stay at home mom and a full time student at the local community college. I'm majoring in human and social services, although honestly I'm considering taking some time off to focus on writing. I have a hubby, who both loves me and annoys me, usually in equal amounts! And I have three wonderful children. Jordyn is 7 years, Hunter is 3 years, and Holly is 15 months old. These four are the loves of my life. I'm pretty new to blogging but I'm completely addicted to it. I even dream about blogging! Is that crazy or what?! I'm always learning new ways to improve my blog and I try to post daily, so please come back and visit me often. I love company!

MY REVIEW: This is an excellent blog for young parents or parents to be. The author writes well and enthusiastic and has plenty of stories to share.

Sample post:

Seperation Anxiety As I've mentioned before, the 5 of us live in a 2 bedroom apartment. Crazy huh? Jordyn and Hunter both have their own room. The hubby and I sleep on a futon in the living room, and Holly's crib is in the living room as well. Until last night that is. I was on the computer just playing Farmville, when I got a wild hair up my ass and decided I was tired of Holly being in the living room so I cleaned Hunter's room and moved her butt in with him!

Hunter seemed excited about it and when I asked Holly if she liked having her bed in bubby's room, she hugged me. I'll take that as a yes. Come bedtime, Hunter and Holly both passed out within 10 minutes! I was thrilled beyond words. Until about 20 minutes later when Holly woke up completely inconsolable. I picked her up and she just layed her head on me. She was so pitiful. I brought her into the living room and sat her in the recliner with hubby. I took her shirt off cause she was hot, fixed her a bottle, and set up a fan in their room where she couldn't reach it. She played with Daddy for a few minutes then it was off to bed again. She fussed for about 5 minutes, then was off to dream land again. She did great. Woke me up around 3am for a bottle, then fell right back to sleep. It was great!

Why then did I title this Separation Anxiety? Because I had it! I felt awful when I layed down to go to bed. I hated having her in another room. I was seriously regretting moving her in there. I kept looking at all her toys, which still reside in the living room, and missing her terribly. Even when she wasn't waking me up during the night, I was still waking up to go check on her. I know, I'm pitiful right? But she's my last baby and I missed her. But she did sleep so much better and I have to admit, when I wasn't up checking on her, I did sleep better too. Hopefully tonight I won't be such a cry baby about it.

RECENT POSTS:
--Little Sparrow Logos and More Product Reveiw
--Random Thoughts
--Seriously Thursday?!
--Words of Wisdom.
--Seperation Anxiety


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Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
___________________________
Check out my kindle BOOKS!:
Whose Body, by Dorothy Sayers (the Annotated Edition)
The Coldest Equations (science fiction)
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
The Lady and the Tiger...Moth

Cheapie Theatre (technology, misc)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: Maybe

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Cheapie Threatre, by Andrew Singleton

WEB ADDRESS: http://cheapietheatre.blogspot.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: A blog focusing mainly on my writing but with the occasional review or article from a friend to keep downtime to a minimum. Expect everything from Gods walking alongside mortals, A steampunk vision of civilization rebuilding in the far future, Superheroes, and whatever else that crosses my mind i think might make a neat story.

MY REVIEW: This blog is rather a random one, and seems to be updated only once a week or so. Nevertheless, the author writes well, and sometimes has interesting things to say. It's only 99 cents a month - why not check it out?

Sample post

Chrome OS 0.12.433.57 - I finally got it
by Andrew
As mentioned in Jay Lee's blog, this is one of the rare times where the version available on beta channel exceeds the version on dev. Considering commercially available chromebooks will be for sale on June 15th the overall lack of new features and obvious changes is understandable.

However given my personal situation the update is a long time in coming. Why? Very slow, near dialup speeds in fact, home connection combined with a machine that was becoming increasingly fidgety. I'm unsure what caused my chromebook to become so unstable that it would constantly either black screen, crash, refuse to save what you wanted saved, or corrupt your profile data forcing you to have to wipe and wait for your data to re-synch. Finally managed to get wiped back to nothing (forgot I had the restore image on the desktop) and updated to latest.

Given I was probably a couple versions behind the only thing I really notice, stability aside, was the cleaned up placeholder art for user profiles if you don't want to take a picture of yourself. Still have the grey on grey theme (which I dislike since it makes seeing the clock and battery harder for me to see.)

Maybe I can get back to writing now.

(The author was too sanguine. He posted this on May 29, and future posts have been complaining about how unstable the system is!)

RECENT POSTS:
--Review: Black Hats, Criminals, and Scammers in the Internet Age
--Hardware Failure: Victory Declared Too Soon
--Random Shutdowns Possibly Fixed
--Random Shutdowns Possibly Fixed


___________________________
Check out my kindle BOOKS!:
Whose Body, by Dorothy Sayers (the Annotated Edition)
The Coldest Equations (science fiction)
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
The Lady and the Tiger...Moth

You Quoted (Inspirational quotes)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: Maybe

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: You Quoted: Motivational Quote Blog

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.youquoted.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: You Quoted - Motivational Quote Blog. presents some of the greatest Motivational, Famous & Inspirational Quotes of all time and invites you to comment, rate and share your thoughts on the quotes."

MY REVIEW: We can all use inspirational quotes, and this blog delivers one quote a day, and tells who said it.

And that's it.

It would be interesting if we were given the context of when this quote was made, but unfortunately I've never seen a quote book or a quote blog that does that.

Anyway, for 99 cents a month, you might find a few gems here to cause you to think. Give it a try.

RECENT POSTS:
--Judge your success by what you had to give up...
--Courage can’t see around corners...
--Success without honor is an unseasoned dish...
--Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak...
--Confidence comes not from always being right

___________________________
Check out my kindle BOOKS!:
Whose Body, by Dorothy Sayers (the Annotated Edition)
The Coldest Equations (science fiction)
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
The Lady and the Tiger...Moth

RetroReview: Hoofprints (equestrian)

REVIEWED BY: Ann Currie

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: Hoofprints

WEB ADDRESS: hoofprints.typepad.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Get a horse fix on your Kindle! For horse lovers and horse owners alike. Hoofprints will take you to the real world of horses, their people and their dreams!

MY REVIEW: A blog that covers everything horse related from feeding horses to handling manure to exercising to local politics concerning stables to equine health and more. One of the more interesting features is following the release of the blogger's first book, a teen horse novel, titled, Winning Bet. The blog is interesting, informational, and personal.

It is well written with pictures in most posts. It does suffer from my usual complaint infrequent and inconsistent postings. Sometimes she posts two days in succession, sometimes it will be a week between posts or more. I feel certain her readers would be happy with more.

RECENT ARTICLES:

• Horse operations : Agriculture?
• Fencing Francas - Tips for Sanity
• Clipping your cool
• Stable Land use rules: We're back.
• Manure happens . . . and it's good stuff

________________________

Ann Currie publishes My Life a Bit South of Normalwww.abitsouthofnormal.com/
and also, Silver Pieces: The Strange and Peculiarstrangeandpeculiarsilver.blogspot.com/

Hillbilly Vampire (serial fiction)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES, with reservations

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Hillbilly Vampire, by Tonto Fielding

WEB ADDRESS: http://hillbillyvampire.blogspot.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: By the author of "The Hillbilly Vampire Chronicles" and "The Hillbilly Vampire Chronicles 2: The Peasnap Uprising," Hillbilly Vampire offers a twisted and screwball view of the hillbilly impropriety of SE Ohio. It also offers a serial version of book 2.

MY REVIEW: Well, truth to tell vampires as a genre have never interested me. And hillbilly vampires? But for those individuals who like vampires, and like hillbillies, I think this will be a fun blog. With a 14-day free trial period, why not check it out. And if you like it, the ebook is also available.

Seems to be updated once a week on average.

Sample post
[I don't reproduce the two photos]

Tonto Fielding has discovered through previously classified documents, the cover-up of the Montana National guard incident of 1958. Colonel Bull “Ironside” Beets deployed his unit to set up a security perimeter around the Sacajawea Memorial Picnic Area near Dillon, after a Bigfoot sighting by several children attending a birthday party. His strategy was to appear to be seizing and exploiting the initiative-- and then to feign a withdrawal in order to draw the reclusive creature out. A machine gun nest would then demonstrate an over powering force. Ralph Pudd, who had been hired as a clown for the birthday party was riddled with over two thousand bullet holes when he emerged from behind a clump of bushes where he had been relieving himself.

RECENT POSTS:
--History, Rediscovering the Truth
--The Cover Up
--Some People Take Things a Bit Too Far
--Classic Literature
--Chops
--Catch A Rising Star
--Family Tree
--The New #7

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Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

Star Trek Online Couch (science fiction)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES, with reservations

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Star Trek Online Couch, by Boby and Fred

WEB ADDRESS: http://bobyandfred.com/wordpress/?author=2

BLOG DESCRIPTION: A review, and short stories of Starfleet Officer's Nimue Aline, and Alexander James Matthews.

MY REVIEW: This is an interesting blog, the only problem with it is that it is only updated once or twice a month at most. If you're a Star Trek fan, though, check it out!

Sample post:

April Engineering Report 2011
Greetings!

We’re another month closer to the Season 4 update and the team is busily developing all the new systems and content that will be hitting the test servers in the upcoming months. In addition there’s been some great new developments since our last report. The biggest of which is the Foundry is now on Holodeck!

The Foundry has sparked imaginations worldwide and I can report that over 16,000 projects have been started since the Foundry went live at the end of April. While many of these projects are still in development, there is already a steady flow of over 500 interesting and fun missions to play on the community authored tab of the mission journal. Combined with the rating system, the Foundry is proving that Star Trek fans have a knack for creating compelling stories and fun gameplay. We’re happy to announce that we’ll be adding a new repeatable mission that will allow you to receive scaling rewards for playing a various number of Foundry missions. The future of the Foundry continues to look bright.

In the last report I talked about the schedule and Feature Episodes and there was concerns that there wouldn’t be any “new” content until after the Season 4 update. We have been discussing the feedback and working on a way to squeeze some more content in as soon as possible. At present we are looking at an update as early as May that would add in some new surprises prior to the release of Season 4. I’ll keep you posted as we finalize our plans.

As the team tackles many of the features of the Season 4 update, we often find ourselves discussing additional ways to improve the game and many of those discussions are reflected below in the discussion section. while not every feature we are working on is listed below, we are continuously making small tweaks to the game that will be reflected in Season 4. You’ll be able to get your hands on these changes in late May/early June when we open up our test shard to begin hammering on all these upcoming changes.

Over the last month we have also announced that there have been some management changes at the top of Cryptic Studios with Jack Emmert now as CEO and former STO Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich returning as the new COO of Cryptic. Both of these changes have had a very positive impact on STO and I can say that I’m very pleased with the direction these two are headed with both Star Trek Online and the studio in general. The launch and follow up of Champions and STO has had a profound impact on the company in general and I’d like to think that we’ve learned a lot from it and are working to both address the obvious issues and also improve on our successes. It’s definitely a different Cryptic than I remember just two years ago. This next year for STO is going to be even better than the last and we’ll continue to pour our hearts into the game and get to all the features and content that you’ve continuously suggested. Keep the feedback coming, it is having a great impact on the game.

p.s. The Fan Enterprise contest finalists are being notified and we should be able to announce and show everyone the winners (hopefully) next week!

Now on to the report!
[I don't include the report, it's twice as long ast he text above!]

RECENT POSTS:
--Ask Cryptic May 2011
--Ask Cryptic Questions for April 2011
--April Engineering Report 2011
--The Delta Flyer Daily Mission
_______________
Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

Retirement Money (finances)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION:

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Retirement Money, by David Boike

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.mymoneytrack.com/ [The website is titled My Money Track, rather than Retirement Money]

BLOG DESCRIPTION: A blog designated to shedding light on financial topics. Helping to bring clarity to a cloudy retirement.

MY REVIEW: This is a must read blog. We all want to be able to retire and live comfortably, and that's getting harder than ever with the way the world is going. You must have a plan, and you must start planning and saving now. This blog will show you how.

Sample post:

As Times Change Women Learn to Leverage Life Insurance Ownership
Women have always lagged behind men in life insurance ownership, but those numbers are quickly closing in. According to a study done by LIMRA, almost 6 out of 10 women owned some sort of life insurance in 2010, about the same as men’s ownership. So, what’s the big deal? Life insurance, whether male or female, has always been one of the most cost effective ways for men and women to protect their loved ones in the event that anything should happen to them — as well as provide for their own futures. It protects your family in the event of lost income due to death, provides retirement security, pays off mortgages and can even fund college educations. Life insurance is crucial when it comes to protecting your financial future.

Interestingly enough, studies show that women place more value on life insurance (70%) than men (62%). Furthermore, most modern U.S. households are dual-income households with more women working and contributing to the family’s finances. And with 30% of women out-earning their husbands, women are making or helping to make many of the financial decisions for their families. To put it frankly, men are no longer the socially-accepted alpha male of the household; women are either matching their partner’s income or exceeding it. This is exactly why the need for women to have life insurance is even more critical now than ever.

Here’s a breakdown of household dynamics and how women should leverage their life insurance ownership and long term care in each situation:

Two-income family: today’s two-income families typically depend on both paychecks to make ends meet. If anything happened to you and the income you provide would your family be able to suffer a severe financial loss? Adequate life insurance can replace your income, remove uncertainty and help guarantee your family’s financial security.

Single women heading a household: as a single parent you are responsible for the support and care of your children. Your need for life insurance is even more crucial than in a dual-parent household, which would have another source of income if one parent dies.

Full-time home maker: this is just as much a partnership as the two-income family in that it takes the efforts of both to make the household function. Your services, while in many respects beyond value, are priceless. How would your husband and children manage without you?

Single woman: your need for life insurance may be even greater than for married women. Just because you are single doesn’t mean you are without responsibilities. Life insurance protects against loans, debts and any other final expenses that would fall on parents or other loved ones. Furthermore, life insurance purchased today can protect your future insurability as you get older – albeit a family or a retirement fund.

As times change and women’s economic roles evolve within their family and our society it is crucial to point out the importance of life insurance policies for their financial protection. Advisors can help women make critical decisions about life insurance and long term care. Whether you’re single, married or leading a household on your own, it is critical to understand how life insurance can help protect against unexpected financial damage and contribute to long term care plans.

RECENT POSTS:
--LTC Costs Slowly Rising
-The "Sandwich Generation" and the Changing Family Dynamic
--Financial Advising for Women
--How to figure out what you'll need for retirement
--Inflation and the stock market
--How baby boomers are reinventing retirement
--As times change women learn to leverage life insurance
_______________
Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

High Altitude Gardening (gardening)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: High Altitude Gardening, by Kate Miller

WEB ADDRESS: http://highaltitudegardening.blogspot.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Tips and tricks for gardening high in the Rocky Mountains.
Short summers, weird soil, such fun!

MY REVIEW: This is a great blog...but frankly I think you'd do better to visit it on the web rather than on the Kindle, because she provides lots and lots of gorgeous, full-color photos and to get the full impact, you do need to see them in color. Did I say these photos were gorgeous?

Highly recommended on the Kindle - but better on the web.

RECENT POSTS:
--The bell pepper uprising
--Thanksgiving Point Tulip festival
--The Merry Month
--5th Blogoversary
--An Easter Gift for the Bigguns
--Depressed daffodils and sad little tulips

_______________
Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

Singularity Hub (robotics)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: Yes

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Singularity Hub

WEB ADDRESS: http://singularityhub.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Singularity Hub is a blog and news network covering the latest in robots, genetics, longevity, artificial intelligence, aging, stem cells, genes, health, cyborgs, transhumanism, the future.

MY REVIEW: If you're interested in robotics and artificial intelligence, this is the blog for you. The future is coming towards us faster than you could possibly imagine - keep up with it by reading this excellent blog. Posts are well written and informative.

Highly recommended.

Sample post:

Julian Assange: The Facebook Has You
With the increase and further development of communication technologies, everyone is concerned with the impact it will have on the individual’s privacy. Social networking and other internet services like geo-location, which we have covered before, have caused many personal boundaries to seep and bleed into each other, as well as force most of the developed world’s populace to reconsider their notions of personal privacy. In fact, some social networking users do not seem at all concerned about their privacy, viewing themselves as honest people with nothing to hide. Not so, says Julian Assange, founder of the controversial WikiLeaks portal. In a recent interview to RussiaToday, an English language resource devoted to illuminating events in Russia to the broader international community, Assange claimed Facebook, the prominent social network, to be “the most appalling spying machine ever invented.”

Among other things in the interview to RT, such as accusing the media of fueling every war for the past fifty years, Assange implicated Facebook and, more importantly, its users in doing free work for the various US intelligence agencies. He claims that the wealth of information stored on Facebook servers such as people’s conversations, photographs, videos, and contact information is freely available to be perused by government agencies at their convenience, and, given recent cases of social network monitoring, it is hard to accuse Assange of slander.

Perhaps, someone reading these words is thinking something along the lines of “Look who is talking!” Yes, indeed, Julian Assange gained his fame (or, rather, infamy) by blowing the whistle on many secret government communiqués, many pertaining to the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns, earning him a rather unwelcome reputation in government-affiliated circles. However, in a way, the situation with Assange is only the posing of the age-old question: which is more important, the government or the individual’s right to information? Assange obviously sides with the latter.

His concerns about personal privacy are not without due cause, especially if one takes the time to consider the recent scandals around Apple and Pandora Radio, where their respective iPhone and Android applications were implicated in collecting personal user data and transmitting it to third parties. In fact, even the search engine giant Google was involved in a scandal about WiFi data collected for its StreetView service sometime last year, and as it is now penetrating inside various places of business, those to whom privacy is important should be extremely wary.

Fair warning!
Before someone starts yelling about a global conspiracy, however, two extremely important things have to be realized. First, the various services that have so many running around scared about Big Brother watching them were not invented for the purpose of spying, but rather for personal convenience. For example, another one of Google’s services, Art Project, is designed to let a person experience certain art exhibits, before (or without) actually visiting the museums, not to track down unsuspecting art connoisseurs. Facebook really was conceived as a way for students to connect and share information, not to be a central database of everyone’s psychological profiles and contact information. However, can these services be used in an invasive way? Absolutely, which ties in to the second important point: the vast majority of information out there on any given individual was put up by that very individual. Nobody put a gun to anyone’s head, forcing them to fill out their Facebook profile to completion, including phone numbers and home and work addresses, or update their status with their exact location every ten minutes.

Increasingly accurate and precise tracking methods are a completely natural, albeit unpleasant, side-effect of more effective communications and internet services. Alfred Nobel invented dynamite to clear landslides and avalanches, which did not stop those of a less scrupulous nature to use it in, say, bank robberies. People have to realize that they are also responsible for protecting their personal data, and while there is very little that can be done by the end user in cases like Pandora, where the data was collected surreptitiously, it is very possible to refrain from geo-tagging one’s every photo or posting the addresses of the all the houses a person has lived in for the past ten years if privacy is such a pressing concern for him or her.

On a larger scale, people need to get involved politically to protect their digital privacy. It may be a shocking concept for the 21st century homo sapiens that he or she can actually influence the government, especially one that positions itself as a democracy (who would have thought?), but those who do not want their country’s intelligence agencies’ staff to browse their Facebook profiles as part of their job, need to get up and start pushing their ideas into the ears of lawmakers. A proper digital privacy law may, for example, prevent companies such as Apple and Pandora from future fiascoes with user data because they will know that there will be real consequences in terms of large fines or prison sentences. Of course, sometimes the data garnered from someone’s Facebook account may be used to prevent a crime, but that only means that this hypothetical law needs to be carefully constructed to allow for full protection of the individual’s digital privacy barring probable cause. It is not a novel concept: after all, invasion of one’s physical home by law enforcement agents is illegal without properly substantiated probable cause. Why is this different?

Today’s world is radically different from the one twenty or even ten years ago. The internet is no longer something that only exists on the computer screen. It is not even some parallel digital world anymore. It is penetrating and interconnecting with the physical world on a regular basis, so that the information floating around the net can have very real and tangible consequences in the world outside one’s window. Those who choose to live in such a world have to be constantly vigilant of what sort of digital tracks they are leaving for possibly unwanted eyes, just like one has to be careful not to walk around a dangerous neighborhood in the middle of the night. However, the simple fact that there are dangerous neighborhoods and that it is dark at midnight is no reason to stop going outside for good.

RECENT POSTS:
--Watch Willow Garage's PR2 Robot Solve a Rubik's Cube
--A $25 Computer the size of your thumb
--The myth of the three laws of robotics
--Humanity+: Uniting Transhumanists Worldwide
--Build your own tweenbot
--Will you be a Cyborg by 2027?

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Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

Book: The Annotated Whose Body by Dorothy Sayers

Whose Body, The Annotated Edition, by Caroline Miniscule (i.e. me!)

This is just an announcement for you Dorothy Sayers fans. I'm sure you enjoy her books...but you could enjoy them more if you knew what all that French, Latin, and various 1920s references meant, eh?

Whose Body, with Lord Peter Wimsey as the amateur detective, was Dorothy Sayers first novel, published in 1923. While it is as enjoyable today as it was back in the 1920s, many of the references Sayers makes throughout the book aren't immediately clear to today's readers - especially those in the United States.

For example, at one point Wimsey says to his mother, "You're a brick." He means it as a compliment. Why? Well, way back in ancient Greece, King Lycurgus of Sparta was asked why there were no defensive walls around his city. 'There are Sparta's walls,' he replied, pointing at his soldiers, 'and every man is a brick.'"

Increase your enjoyment of Whose Body? 100-fold with this annotated edition. The annotations are placed right in the text, bolded, so that it's easy to pass over them if you're not interested in a particular entry.

Then, when you've finished the annotated edition, the book is repeated again, with no annotations, so it can be read simply. Two books for the price of one!

Amazon Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Whose-Body-Mysterious-Annotations-ebook/dp/B004PGNBMO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1307678919&sr=1-1

B&N Nook
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whose-body-the-annotated-edition-dorothy-sayers/1031408777?ean=2940012925596&itm=9&usri=whose%2bbody

and don't forget my science fiction novel, The Coldest Equations, is also available for both the Nook and Kindle, and for only $2.99 you can't go wrong by giving it a try!

Amazon Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Coldest-Equations-People-There-ebook/dp/B0052NSRKK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1307679246&sr=1-1

Nook
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-coldest-equations-caroline-miniscule/1031408776?ean=2940012925589&itm=1&usri=the%2bcoldest%2bequations

Xynobooks' Author Blogs (writing, publishing)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Xynobboks

WEB ADDRESS: xynobooks.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Xynobooks is publishing for the people! If you have a story inside you, if you have a unique voice with something to say, we want to help you share that story with the world. Follow our writers and editors as they help each other craft stories for you to enjoy.

MY REVIEW: This is an interesting blog, in that it's very eclectic. This is because the blog entries are written by different authors - book authors - each with their own area of expertise, and their blog entries are shared on this central site.

It's pretty interesting - but if you are a writer looking for help with publishing, you really need to visit the website itself.
Here's the info from their website:

Xynobooks is a full service, royalty paying publishing company focused on emerging distribution opportunities, with an emphasis on e-books.

Our goal is to publish the highest quality books from the most outstanding authors we discover in the formats readers demand.

We are dedicated to giving voice to works that previously were orphaned by the traditional publishers.

We provide authors with the most up-to-date information on trends in the entertainment, electronics and publishing businesses.

We then edit, manufacture and market your book in the most appropriate formats, so that you can sit back, relax, and know that readers are discovering and paying for your work.

Sample post

If I were an Anthony Weiner nobody would be in love with me…
If you’ve been any where near a TV, you’ve undoubtedly seen New York’s once favorite son–Representative Anthony Weiner (D)–make a complete ass of himself over his package of weiner. Now, you have to be an idiot to believe his version of events. It’s clear to anyone who’s ever used Twitter or Facebook, or heck any computer period, that Weiner’s a horn dog who was using his social network to score with the ladies, and in this case, a lady quite his junior. Instead of pressing this button, he pressed that button, and voila, he revealed himself to the world.

Now, I’m not belittling him for using the Internet for what comes naturally–and adultery in its many forms seems very natural to powerful men. Several of the characters in my book, Bugchaser use today’s technology in not so savory ways, too. I am, however, questioning his smarts just as the judgment of my characters is ultimately tested and shown to be lacking.

My advice to Representative Weiner would be to forgo the Internet as a place to hook up. You never really know who or what you’re dealing with. I’m not alone in this advice, either. Most law enforcement experts caution against these activities. The Craigslist Killer if anyone needed characters from real life and not my book!

Secondly, when you’re caught with your cookies out of the jar, admit what you did. The truth might hurt, but lying seems extremely painful–watch Weiner squirm!

RECENT POSTS:
--"Is This the End of Osama?"
--What have gas prices got to do with it?
--Believe it or not, Part IV
--Signalling Rescuers in an Outdoor Emergency

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Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

Daily Cycle [a UK blog] (biking)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Daily Cycle, by Tim Bland
(If you're in the UK this link takes you to Amazon.uk, if you're in the US the link will take you to Amazon.us.)

WEB ADDRESS: http://dailycycle.co.uk/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: A cycling blog for everyday heroes. With personal accounts of the trials and tribulations of cycling in the real world - Daily Cycle offers you a one-stop-shop for your daily cycling fix. If you can't actually get out on the bike - you may as well read about it.

Daily Cycle is updated by a team of seven strong writers ranging from a professional triathlon coach to beginner cyclists. We have both male and female cyclists on board who are all keen cyclists and writers. All the content is unique, personal and hopefully inspiring.

There are no dull "how to change a puncture" articles, nor are there any regurgitated product reviews. We do offer gear reviews by they are from real cyclists who genuinely own the product and have been using it for a substantial amount of time.

Example articles:
- The Pro's and Con's of being a cycling WAG - a personal account of what it is like to be going out with a pro cyclist.
- Fall in love with cycling again by going back to basics - chuck your cycling computer away and enjoy cycling for what it is - pure bliss.
- Hilly - a personal account of a first attempt at a Hill Time Trial
- The physiology of stretching - your guide to why exactly we need to stretch.

MY REVIEW: This is a pretty interesting blog if you're a bicyclist - and if you're not you should be. Ride a bike for exercise and to save on gas (or petrol). It's fun and it's economical.

Although this blogger is based in the UK, any biker anywhere can benefit from these posts - in one aspect to learn what's going on in the British bike scene, but also just as a biker.

Recommended!

RECENT POSTS:
--Bespoked Bristol 2011 25 May 2011 .
--Real Reviews – Effetto Caffelatex Sealant for tubs 19 May 2011 .
--Returning cycling to the dark ages 13 May 2011 .
--We cyclists are our own worst enemy 12 May 2011 .
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Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

Chase Me faster: The sequel to The Coldest Equations(arts and entertainment)

REVIEWED BY: Caroline Miniscule

MY RECOMMENDATION: Yes, absolutely!

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Chase Me Faster: Sequel to the Coldest Equations

WEB ADDRESS: http://thecoldestequations.blogspot.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Chase Me Faster will be the sequel to the recently released science fiction novel, The Coldest Equations. In this blog, I share the process of writing this book, from expanding on my outline, to re-examining characters, to the writing and rewriting and so on.

If yo've ever wondered how a writer "does it" - this blog is for you. Not only will you be seeing a fly's eyes view of a writer's life, you'll also be reading a fantastic book: Chase Me Faster .

MY REVIEW: This is actually one of my blogs. I recently published my first science fiction novel, The Coldest Equations, and am now hard at work on the sequel - writing it in between my "real work" and my family commitments. The struggle of that, and the writing itself, makes for fun reading, I think.

RECENT POSTS:
--A beginning revised and continued...
--A beginning
--Just Not In The Mood...
--Porlock Prevention #1
--The Name Game #1
--The Coldest Equations
--Manifesto

_______________
Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report