Epinions Recent Reviews for JayAckroyd

Good wifi replacement device

Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:54:43 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - My now aging Toshiba laptop's built-in wifi capability was fading and becoming unreliable. The simple solution was a PC-Card replacement. I poked around the internet and decided to buy on price. The DWL-G650 was the least expensive of the wireless...

Harry's tough, but Merle's tougher

Wed, 3 Aug 2005 19:16:09 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - Set in a mythical Venice under attack from Egypt, The Water Mirror is a fascinating, fun trip to an alternative universe. Merle, the heroine, is an orphan apprenticed to a mysterious mirror maker who is rumored to dabble in magic. Along with her...

Nokia N73 Smartphone: Exactly what it is trying to be

Thu, 28 Apr 2005 12:53:43 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - Back in the old days when the PC market place was still shaking itself out, the standard advice was to find the software that best did the job you were trying to do, and then buy the hardware that ran that software. It was that philosophy that led me...

Real security is hard

Wed, 22 Oct 2003 11:38:10 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - Bruce Schneier is an interesting guy. His first famous book was _Applied Cryptography_, a widely used text for people interested in securing their digital information. He's invented a couple of cryptographic algorithms, including the deck-of-cards algori...

Cheap and easy

Tue, 9 Sep 2003 12:41:47 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - This is a fine wireless SOHO solution. I'm using it between my DSL four port router and my internal NYC apartment network. For a cable modem, you'd do just what I did--connect the router to your cable modem using standard netwok cable. Set-up was qui...

Intertwining with Evil

Thu, 4 Sep 2003 14:40:15 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - The trouble with reading books by people who were spies is that they've spent their lives lying to a...

Exploding a canard

Sat, 14 Jun 2003 12:21:27 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - There may have been some time in the past that the media was liberal. But that time is now long gon...

The master returns

Fri, 31 May 2002 12:10:15 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - Bill James has been as influential a writer as baseball has ever had. In some ways, this influence has been not so helpful, as broadcasters do not have his ability to distinguish a useful statistic (secondary average) from a useless statistic (game...

Reliable Thai

Tue, 17 Oct 2000 16:21:41 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - Around the corner from my office, this is my restaurant of choice when a client comes around. Service is always prompt and polite. The menu presents a very nice variety of seafood dishes, including my favorites red snapper with a spicy tamarind sauce...

Darwin's cosmic legacy

Mon, 16 Oct 2000 16:31:09 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - One of the great mysteries of our time is why the universe exists at all. In particular, there are some numbers in physics equations we observe in experiment, but have no theoretical underpinning. Take Planck's constant (1.05 X 10^ -27 grams-cm/sec)...

The era of privacy is over

Sun, 15 Oct 2000 17:33:46 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - In The Transparent Society, David Brin takes Sun executive Scott MacNealy's famous statement, "There is no privacy anymore," and explores what it may mean in the future.

He focuses not just on the internet, but also on the...

Incisive insights

Sun, 15 Oct 2000 17:06:34 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - Jared Diamond used to write a monthly essay for Natural History magazine. It was consistently interesting, and often challenged conventional wisdom. Some of those essays form the basis for The Third Chimpanzee.

We share over 98% of our...

Best porter

Sat, 14 Oct 2000 20:32:08 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - For me, stout is too thick. Bitter is good, but it's hard to find a good bitter in the US. Porter is the beer for me, when I can find it, and Anchor Steam is the best porter you'll find.

It's black, full-bodied, with plenty of flavor. It's...

Built to move

Sat, 14 Oct 2000 14:32:16 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - I've been carrying portable computers on airplanes for 14 years. The first was the classic Compaq 35 pound portable, with the nine inch green screen. That machine got me lots of looks and questions from fellow travellers.

Five portables...

The Evolution of Desire: Facile and one-sided

Sat, 14 Oct 2000 12:57:34 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - At a time when there a number of books about human behavior and evolutionary psychology, the bar is set pretty high. This book doesn't clear that bar. It is written for the general reader, and commits the cardinal sin of making its conclusions sound like...

Fascinating Fish History

Sat, 14 Oct 2000 12:44:05 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - So you thought the spice trade was important in the history of exploration and discovery? It may run a close second to the cod.

Did you know that when Cartier "discovered" the St Lawrence Seaway, he had to navigate his way through a...

Starting to slip

Fri, 13 Oct 2000 16:12:28 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author JayAckroyd - I revisited Vong after two very satisfying experiences a year ago. I'm afraid it was not up to those standards this time around. Perhaps asian influenced continental cuisine is becoming a little passe, but neither the food nor the service was at last...