review

Review of Total Recall (2012)

This review originally appeared on Amazon. See more reviews by Dan.

Total Recall (2012)

Rating: ⭐⭐

Why are there remakes?

Sometimes I wonder why a film gets remade only to make it worse. The original Total Recall was a good film. Not a masterpiece by any stretch, but a clever, funny, action-packed (and only slightly campy) romp through space and the human mind. Not so this remake – if you can see past the overused lens flares, here’s what you’ll learn about our future:

Cars, elevators, emergency exits, surgical equipment, and life in general will become less safe, not more, as we invent increasingly smart automated systems.
All common sense will be lost along the wayside: when faced with the opportunity to kill their enemy, both good guys and bad guys alike will prefer to give them another chance to fight back. Again. And again.
Even though a nation is capable of building robots capable of working tirelessly and surviving in the inhospitable parts of the planet, they’re far more-likely to use those robots to kill other humans working for them in the hospitable parts of the planet.
At some point in time, people will stop caring how practical their mobile phones are, and instead start using ones that require that you find a nearby window before you can use the screen (which can then be seen by all the strangers near you).
Gravity turns out not to work like we think it does. Who knew!

If you can forgive the silly plot and unbelievable characters, the acting isn’t intolerable and the story’s “fun enough” that it’ll distract you for a while. Don’t expect miracles, though: this film should have gone straight to DVD.

Review of The Man in the High Castle – Season 1

This review originally appeared on Amazon. See more reviews by Dan.

The Man in the High Castle - Season 1

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Five Stars

Phillip K. Dick would be proud of what you’re doing, here. Bring us more!

Review of 4 Way 13A Switched Adaptor

This review originally appeared on Amazon. See more reviews by Dan.

4 Way 13A Switched Adaptor with Surge Protection - White

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall good, but not suitable for every space

Overall, a good way to get extra sockets especially above workspaces. However, the shape of the device means that it might not be suitable for every space: for example, if you plug it into one of a pair of sockets you might find that you’re unable to easily use the adjacent socket because the new sockets get in the way of the cable. And if you’re plugging and unplugging things into/out of this power strip often, you’ll discover that it can “wobble” in an alarming way. The power switches feel a little light and plasticky, too.

But still – overall a good idea and reasonable value.

Review of Samsung Charger Pad

This review originally appeared on Amazon. See more reviews by Dan.

Samsung Charger Pad for Samsung Galaxy S5 - Black

Rating: ⭐⭐

Works, but only with a little fiddling.

So on the upside: this works, and charging your phone “by magic” is exactly as cool as it sounds. It makes marginally longer to charge, but if you’ve got an S5 it’ll probably save you time in the long run because you don’t have to keep opening the waterproof seal at the bottom of your phone. Plus, this charger uses the Qi standard so it’ll be compatible with lots of other inductive-charging devices now and in the future.

Unfortunately I’ve found that it’s quite fussy about where exactly you have to place the phone in order to make contact. A centimetre or two out from the ideal spot and the phone keeps losing the connection and then regaining it, causing it to beep and the screen to flash (which isn’t much use if you’re trying to sleep!). The upper surface of the charging pad doesn’t have much grip and is convex in shape, so it’s very easy to knock your phone off the ideal spot, too. And while it’s reasonably price, it still feels a little cheap that it doesn’t come with a power supply of it’s own (you have to use the one that came with your phone).

All-in-all, I wouldn’t recommend this, even though it “works”: there are probably better devices out there.

Review of OxyBox

This review of OxyBox originally appeared on Google Maps. See more reviews by Dan.

OxyBox, 9 Oxford Rd, Kidlington OX5 2BP, United Kingdom.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Contrary to others’ reviews, we’ve always found OxyBox to deliver reasonably-priced food at perfectly acceptable speeds. Sometimes we’ve had to wait as long as 40 minutes, but they’ve always told us when this would be the case, and usually we get our food within half an hour. Their bundle deals are good, and on the one ocassion that they weren’t able to fulfil everything in it (they’d run out of prawn crackers) they were happy to substitute in a different, mutually-agreed side in their place.

And they’re always friendly on the phone, too.

Review of The Kings Arms

This review of The Kings Arms originally appeared on Google Maps. See more reviews by Dan.

The Kings Arms, 4 The Moors, Kidlington OX5 2AJ, United Kingdom.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A pub that’s like pubs should be. No television; no jukebox; just nice beers and friendly locals and hospitable staff and a dog. And a jar of pickled eggs behind the bar. If I’ve described your idea of pub hell, that’s fine: I didn’t want to see you there anyway. But for those of us who appreciate a pub that genuinely has a pair of older gentlemen playing dominoes in the corner at any given time, this is where you belong.

Review of Just Cause 2

This review originally appeared on Steam. See more reviews by Dan.

Just Cause 2

Rating: 👍

You know the way that everybody plays Grand Theft Auto (at least, 1 through 3) or Saints Row at least once? That is: they ignore the plot and just zip around blowing stuff up? Well: Just Cause 2 is a game that you’re supposed to play like that. Sure, there’s a plot (and it’s as stupid as it is zany, all the way from pulling statues over with tractors through to the climactic fistfight on the back of a cruise missile), but who cares: you’ll spend your time using a hookshot to pull soldiers out of aircraft, steal the aircraft, fly the aircraft into a radio tour while you jump away with your parachute, all the while shooting, hacking, and slashing anybody that gets in your way.

It’s completely silly, the voice acting is almost as appalling as the scriptwriting, and the plot makes no sense. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t one of the most-awesome games ever. Play an hour or play 5 minutes: this game’s great for “dropping into” when you need a few minutes of quick destruction as much as it’s great when you want to execute a thought-out mission. And nowadays, it’s cheap, too – no excuse not to give it a go.

Review of Xenonauts

This review originally appeared on Steam. See more reviews by Dan.

Xenonauts

Rating: 👍

The original X-COM series (Enemy Unknown, Terror from the Deep, and even Apocalypse) were among the most-immersive, deeply-strategic, and thematically-beautiful games of the 1990s. 2012’s reboot was fun, but it failed to capture the sophistication and complexity of the original: it lacked the ability to perform micro-customisation upon your soldiers (Want a strong guy whose job is just to carry ammo for everybody else? That’s fine!), bases (“Science” base at a secret location, surrounded by interceptor bases? No problem!), or mission strategy (Plan to fight a retreat back to the dropship, dragging the bodies of the stunned aliens with you for later research, losing the battle but advancing the war? Go on then!). And it suffered, for it.

Xenonauts, however, takes the genre back where it belongs: gritty, strategic, and with every game completely unique. More-impressively, it does so in a world that’s subtly-different from that of the original series: starting deep in the Cold War, and with aliens whose motivation and strategy is innovative and new, even to fans of the original series.

It’s not perfect: you’ll read science reports that make reference to weapons you haven’t yet invented, because you’re doing things in the “wrong” order… but at least the game lets you do things in the order that makes most-sense to you! I’d have enjoyed being able to use alien psionics against them, as you can in the original series (and even in the reboot), but (unless I simply missed out on the appropriate research opportunities), that’s sadly absent. And there are a few bugs, although I didn’t come across any game-breaking ones.

But what Xenonauts is is one of the best strategy games I’ve seen in recent years. Whether you loved the original X-COM series, or the reboot, or didn’t play either… it’s got something for you to enjoy. Go play it, Commander.

Review of for iPhone 5 Nano SIM Card Adapter Black

This review originally appeared on Amazon. See more reviews by Dan.

for iPhone 5 Nano SIM Card Adapter Black

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It’s a bit of plastic, and it “just works”

It’s a piece of plastic that you put a nano (or micro) SIM into in order to make it behave as if it were a larger size. It “just works”; used it to put a nano-SIM into the micro-SIM port of a Samsung Galaxy S III; slightly fiddly, but that’s only because the thing is of course pretty small, but “just worked” and continues to work perfectly.

Review of Plugable 10-Port USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Hub with 48W Power Adapter

This review originally appeared on Amazon. See more reviews by Dan.

Plugable 10-Port USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Hub with 48W Power Adapter

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Works as a hub, but confuses my motherboard

On the upside, it works: once I’m booted, I can plug in devices (USB2 or USB3) and they’re detected by the computer. The charging ports behave as expected. The package is attractive and functional. So there’s that.

But unfortunately I can’t boot my computer with it plugged in! I have to unplug it, boot, and THEN connect it. It’s possibly something to do with my motherboard (Asus Z87 MAXIMUS VI FORMULA), or it’s possibly something to do with the way that the device identifies itself as a hub, but my computer just “hangs” at the POST screen if I’ve left it connected when I press the power button: more than a little irritating!

Review of Mini Bench Vice

This review originally appeared on Amazon. See more reviews by Dan.

Mini Bench Vice

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Good, but a little fragile: be gentle!

The table clamp portion doesn’t open very far, and if you accidentally try (even gently) to open it further than its full extent, the foot pops off and never re-attaches quite as firmly again. It’s a good little vice otherwise and it gets the job done.

Review of Kryptonite New York 3000 Lock NYL with Bracket

This review originally appeared on Amazon. See more reviews by Dan.

Kryptonite New York 3000 Lock NYL with Bracket

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A super-hardy, bulletproof lock with few downsides

This lock is pretty-much bulletproof. If you’re looking for the strongest possible lock for your bike, this is the one to go for (perhaps coupled with a flyout cable so that you can tie your wheels together and to the lock). Note that this is a “short” D-lock, which is far safer, because a would-be thief can’t do the usual D-lock-breaking technique of using a car jack on it, very easily, but it also means that you’ll sometimes find it difficult to fit it around both your frame and the thing you want to lock your bike to. Also note that it’s very heavy, and that the mounting bracket doesn’t fit around the thickest of frames.

All in all, though, this is an ultra-hardy lock that should discourage all but the most-determined of criminals.

Review of Focusing: How To Gain Direct Access To Your Body’s Knowledge: How to Open Up Your Deeper Feelings and Intuition

This review originally appeared on Amazon. See more reviews by Dan.

Focusing: How To Gain Direct Access To Your Body's Knowledge: How to Open Up Your Deeper Feelings and Intuition

Rating: ⭐⭐

Wishy-washy pseudoscientific nonsense, wrapped up in unengaging writing

I can’t imagine the person to whom this book would actually provide value. It’s full of wishy-washy, unscientific, and unverifiable ideas, all wrapped up in an unengaging and badly-written package. There are a handful of good ideas, but they’re few and far between.

Godzilla’s Family Vlog Review – Episode 37

After an extended hiatus, “IRL” – Godzilla Huntley’s family vlog – has returned. So after an even longer hiatus, I’ve created a review. Using awful equipment, ‘net access, and editing software.

Also available on YouTube.

Review of Gunpoint

This review originally appeared on Steam. See more reviews by Dan.

Gunpoint

Rating: 👍

So much fun. A quick, silly, stealth-and-hacking romp through a ludicrous world of jumping, falling, leaping, climbing.