© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc. This feed is subject to our terms of use: http://www.epinions.com/help/rss_terms http://www.epinions.com/user-philipchu Recent reviews written by member philipchu en-us 121 37 http://www.epinions.com/ http://img.epinions.com/images/epi_images/logos/epinions_121.gif http://www.epinions.com/content_419687796356?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - While reading online reviews of the Andrews Hotel, I came across characterizations like "best kept secret" and "out of the way location". And there seems to be some truth to that - the taxi driver who picked me up at the airport said "Anders Hotel?... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~419687796356 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:50:08 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_419687796356?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_418354794116?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Fountain Valley is a clean, pleasant-looking, somewhat boring planned city (the web site displays the motto "A Nice Place To Live"), and even before the housing boom - I thought it was overpriced. The Marriott Courtyard in Fountain Valley fits the... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~418354794116 Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:09:57 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_418354794116?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_404354797188?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - When they talk about a two-class society where the have-not's don't have access to broadband, I guess I qualify as one of the underprivileged. No broadband, not even a landline phone at home. I'm exaggerating, of course - normally the Wi-fi access at... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~404354797188 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:33:04 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_404354797188?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_404016434820?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Years ago, when I was anxious to throw my money down the dot-com toilet like everyone else, I tried to join ETrade a couple of times, but got found the new-member signup too tedious. Instead, I made my bad investment decisions with DLJDirect, which later... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~404016434820 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:16:33 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_404016434820?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_403124948612?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - I found myself this spring with enough Marriott Rewards and airline credit (from the annual travel snafu known as Christmas) to pay a second visit to Bend. As my previous visit had been in winter and at the Ameritel Inn by the Old Mill shopping center, I... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~403124948612 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:37:15 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_403124948612?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_298879848068?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - During winter in Bend, what you want in a hotel is a place to relax and warm up after a few hours of skiing or shopping. The Ameritel Inn fits the bill nicely. The tall, spacious lobby is warmed by two large fireplaces surrounded by comfy sofas and... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~298879848068 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:06:42 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_298879848068?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_243888000644?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - After seven years of home theater service, my 32" Proscan TV quietly expired, and perversely, I used that as an excuse to upgrade my home office monitor. That actually makes some sense, as I've been using an older 17" Samsung LCD with a built-in TV... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~243888000644 Sun, 23 Jul 2006 19:33:40 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_243888000644?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_217450450564?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Sometimes you try something new, sometimes you pay the price. Normally, I take American out of Long Beach when I visit my folks in Oklahoma City. Long Beach Airport is small (the terminals are not much more than trailers and you have to walk outside... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~217450450564 Thu, 12 Jan 2006 04:53:37 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_217450450564?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_193236864644?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Baltimore is nicknamed "Charm City", but I think Portland, Oregon merits that designation, at least on the West Coast. Downtown Portland, along with the surrounding neighborhoods, features a diverse assortment of restaurants, shops and cultural... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~193236864644 Tue, 16 Aug 2005 00:15:25 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_193236864644?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_191780982404?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - I remember my dismay when I arrived as a freshman at MIT - at the overcast sky, the concrete campus, the main street running through that looked like a scene from Deathrace 2000, and the surrounding abandoned warehouses and railroad tracks. Most... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~191780982404 Mon, 1 Aug 2005 22:17:02 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_191780982404?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_191001955972?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - The Copley Square Hotel, owned by the Saunders family for several generations (I don't know anything about them - I'm imagining a local version of the Hilton family), is, according to the hotel web site, the oldest continuously operating hotel in Boston... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~191001955972 Mon, 25 Jul 2005 17:10:23 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_191001955972?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_187121110660?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Science is boring. Science is magic. That's pretty much the way science is presented and viewed in the U.S. and probably explains a lot why it's hard to grow scientists in this country. My high school science education included a biology teacher who... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~187121110660 Tue, 28 Jun 2005 02:57:45 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_187121110660?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_186370920068?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - As video games become more respectable(?), an increasing number of books, magazines and web sites offer to divulge the "secrets" of game development. The sexiest category is game design - stand in a crowd of game designers and you'll hear them tossing... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~186370920068 Sat, 18 Jun 2005 04:52:18 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_186370920068?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_185605328516?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - The Mac was my first love. Sure, I was first introduced to the TRS-80 back in junior high, and I had some good times with the Apple II in high school. But that summer before I went to college, when I saw the Mac sporting the same variety of scalable... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~185605328516 Thu, 9 Jun 2005 03:58:50 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_185605328516?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_184628645508?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Reading Cellphone: The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium and How It Has Transformed Everything! is like being on the receiving end of the most maddening and pointless conversation you've ever had:... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~184628645508 Sun, 29 May 2005 05:09:53 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_184628645508?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_184022961796?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Finally, I've gotten around to reading Paul Clayton's Carl Melcher Goes to Vietnam after receiving a copy at an Epinions Meet and Greet last year. In truth, I made a few abortive attempts at starting the book, but the first-person narrative by... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~184022961796 Sun, 22 May 2005 22:10:19 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_184022961796?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_181336968836?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Although I technically majored in an electrical engineering department, I'm definitely a software guy - I'm afraid to touch my car battery, and I've managed to set fire to a couple of toasters. So I'm not just impressed, I'm positively intimidated by... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~181336968836 Wed, 27 Apr 2005 05:39:24 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_181336968836?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_180308381316?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Like his previous work, The Nudist on the Late Shift, Po Bronson's What Should I Do with My Life: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question has an irresistible title. I can't think of anyone who hasn't had a moment of... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~180308381316 Sun, 17 Apr 2005 22:33:11 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_180308381316?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_170811690628?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - The circles in my personal vision of Hell are designated for the likes of car salesmen, the return department at Fry's, phone and fax telemarketers, and SUV drivers who never signal. And down in the lower regions is a special area reserved for spammers... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~170811690628 Mon, 24 Jan 2005 02:11:47 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_170811690628?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_167672254084?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - There's something wrong when a book on screenwriting is tedious to get through. Halfway into Andrew Horton's Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay, I thought I would scream if I saw the word carnivalesque again. And I did. By... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~167672254084 Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:24:44 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_167672254084?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_143666744964?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - I interviewed at iRobot several years ago when it was an MIT spinoff under a different name, based on Professor Rodney Brook's AI Lab robotics research (you may have seen the insect robots in the X-Files episode with the scientist named... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~143666744964 Fri, 18 Jun 2004 05:31:50 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_143666744964?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_142799572612?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - By Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Three, we seem to have a pretty good handle on Buffy and her Scooby gang of pals in their final year at Sunnydale High (and the final year of Sunnydale High). Now the theme for this third year is, as the... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~142799572612 Sun, 13 Jun 2004 06:50:06 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_142799572612?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_141947014788?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Out of Time looks like it wants to be Body Heat meets No Way Out. Denzel Washington gamely plays the police chief of a small Florida town near Miami who's fooling around with a married woman and then finds himself the most likely... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~141947014788 Sun, 6 Jun 2004 01:35:26 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_141947014788?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_141942689412?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - In an embarrassing lapse of tub management, I recently overflowed my bathroom. One of the apparent casualties was my Health-O-Meter EverWeigh scale. With water still dripping out the bottom, I gave it a try - the required initial foot-tap to... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~141942689412 Sun, 30 May 2004 20:04:59 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_141942689412?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_140562501252?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author philipchu - Every season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is special to me, but over the series' seven year run, I'd have to say Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Two is the best (insert debate here), with the most cohesive themes and story arc. Season Two... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~140562501252 Fri, 28 May 2004 00:07:39 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_140562501252?linkin_id=8003929