Category Archives: Reviews

Digital Convergence – Still Waiting

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Posted on 17 January 2010 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

Or… Why I Learned to Hate the HTC Touch HD

A few years ago I toyed with replacing my trusty PDA, phone and digital camera with a combined unit. That was not a success, and I ended up with a second hand SmartPhone, an iPaq 4700 PDA, and the T-Mobile MDA as my car satnav (a job it does acceptably). You can read an analysis of my trials and tribulations, entitled “Annoyance-Based Technology Selection”.

Last year, with my old mobile phone wearing out, I tried again, with depressingly similar results. Someone once said “Those who do not learn from History are condemned to repeat it.” Why didn’t I follow this excellent advice?

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Review: Take Your Photography to the Next Level

From the Inspiration to the Image, By George Barr

Posted on 28 May 2009 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

A Great Inspiration For When You're Stuck or Frustrated

This is an unusual book, being almost as much about the psychology of photography as its craft. There are better books about technique, but none I know better lead the reader to analyse his or her successes, failures and way forwards in photography. If you feel stuck or frustrated, unable to improve, or have ever thought "I can’t photograph anything here" then this may be just the book for you.

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Categories: Photography and Reviews. Content Types: Book and Photography.
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Review: City of the Sun

By David Levien

Posted on 28 April 2009 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

Well written, but uninspiring

By a weird co-incidence, I watched "Ocean’s 13" the night before this book found its way to the top of my reading pile. Levien also wrote the screenplay for that film, which I enjoyed enormously, and I was looking forwards to a similar mix of complex plot and light touch dialogue in the book, but sadly I was to be disappointed.

Basically this is a book about a grim and serious subject – the kidnapping of children by organised peadophiles – and as a result it demands a rather grim and serious treatment. At the end there is hope for the boy’s parents and the detective, but therwise this is an unleavened slog which does not make you feel good about the world.

That said, the book is quite well written, and held my attention with its steady pace and well-drawn characters. I expect that readers who prefer their crime novels straight, rather than with Hiaasen-like comic twists, will enjoy it more than I did.

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Categories: Reviews. Content Types: Book, Crime / mystery, and Fiction.
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Review: Photographing the Southwest

A Guide to the Natural Landmarks of Southern Utah, By Laurent Martres

Posted on 11 November 2008 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

Simply the best photographic guides to this amazing scenery

If you’re planning a tour of the American Southwest these brilliant books are simply the best possible guide to what to photograph, and how. In three volumes Martres guides you to all the photographic highlights of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. At the well known tourist spots he tells you what and when to shoot for best results, but he’s also not afraid to take you off the beaten path to some less frequently visited scenic gems.

I’ve just completed a photographic holiday following roughly the traditional “grand circle” route, and I couldn’t have got some of my most successful shots without these books.

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Categories: Photography and Reviews. Content Types: Book and Photography.
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Quantum of Disappointment

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Posted on 8 November 2008 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

I don’t often review films, but I think someone has to cut through the sycophantic hype and say it: Quantum of Solace is c**p.

This isn’t a Bond film, it’s like a bad entry in the Bourne series. Where is the elegance, the charm we should expect of Bond? Bond films have always traditionally leavened the action with humour and beauty. Both were spectacularly missing from this episode.

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Review: Meltdown

By Martin Baker

Posted on 30 April 2008 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

A cracking thriller, and an intriguing insight into the world of high finance

This is a cracking thriller, which will draw you in quickly and keep you turning the pages through to the final resolution. At its heart, it’s an "innocent accused of great wrongdoing on the run" tale, reminiscent of The 39 Steps, but set solidly in the noughties against the background of international high finance. This background is what makes it so intriguing, as the author intelligently and clearly explains how we have created markets in which a few men, motivated mainly by greed, can harm currencies, whole economies, or even conceivably the whole banking system itself.

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Categories: Reviews. Content Types: Book, Crime / mystery, and Fiction.
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Review: Freakonomics

A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, By Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner

Posted on 27 April 2007 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

Fascinating and fun, but ultimately light on content

This book does two important things – it challenges the reader to really think about the causes of things, and it makes modern economic thinking interesting and accessible to the mass audience. It’s also a good, fun read, and for all these reasons it should be applauded.

In this book Steven Levitt develops ideas about a number of aspects of economic and social development which challenge received wisdom. He then both challenges traditional analyses, and offers solid support for his theories using detailed analysis of a number of unusual but highly reliable data sources.

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Categories: Reviews. Content Types: Book and Psychology & Behaviour.
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Review: Dark Matter

The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton : A Novel, By Philip Kerr

Posted on 27 April 2007 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

Brilliant period piece, with a Sherlock Holmes feel

It is historical fact that Sir Isaac Newton held senior positions at the royal mint from the late 1690s, and with his assistant Christopher Ellis he was involved in detecting and prosecuting numerous offences during a turbulent period in which Britain replaced its money.

Philip Kerr has taken this Newton and his assistant, and turned them into Holmes and Watson, placing them at the centre of a serious intrigue involving financial crimes, political battles and religious atrocities.

It’s a brilliant period piece which explains a great deal I didn’t understand about Restoration Europe. Like his other historical novels Kerr has also carefully used the language of the time, writing in a style reminiscent of Newton’s contemporaries such as Pepys, but always readily understandable.

Some of the period detail is quite gruesome, and can be little uncomfortable. This is not a book for the young or seriously squeamish. However the content is appropriate given the quite dark nature of the story.

I haven’t enjoyed all of Kerr’s more recent works. For example "The Shot", which was a similar kind of period piece, was just too complicated. I have no such complaints about "Dark Matter" – a brilliant historical thriller.

Categories: Reviews. Content Types: Book, Crime / mystery, Fiction, and Historical novel.
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Review: Examples

The Making of Forty Photographs, By Ansel Adams

Posted on 27 April 2007 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

A charming insight into the soul of a great photographer

There are many great books about photography, of which this is just one, but there are relatively few books about how to be a great photographer. On the latter topic this book is exceptional.

Ansel Adams was clearly both a gentleman and a gentle man, who lived to create great images for the pleasure and education of others. We are exceptionally lucky that he left us both his wonderful pictures, but also a few books which explain not only how, but also why some of them were created.

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Categories: Photography and Reviews. Content Types: Book and Photography.
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Annoyance-Based Technology Selection

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Posted on 16 October 2006 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

I’m becoming increasingly frustrated with some day to day technology, and I’m not alone. When you live with technology day in, day out, what it does well becomes taken for granted. What it does badly becomes its defining features. If the annoyances are too great or numerous you will seek a replacement, or even give up entirely. This article explores my own tales of woe with that most commonplace of technology, the mobile phone…

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Review: Crash and Burn

By The Decoders

Posted on 15 October 2006 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

Enjoyable, even if I'm not the target demographic!

I’ll admit up front that I’m probably not the target generation for The Decoders’ music – I know Jon via his mum, and my reference points for music of this style are probably a bit old-fashioned to some ears. That said, I’ve enjoyed "Cellophane Veil" enormously, and I wish the Decoders every success with it.

If I had to sum up the style in a single word, it would have to be "Mod". The band’s influences seem to be drawn largely from the great tradition of guitar-based London bands such as the early Who and the Jam, although some of the vocal harmonies put me most strongly in mind of Secret Affair (without the sax, of course!)

The music ranges from rock to ballad, but with a common sound courtesy of Blake Feehan’s crisp vocals, and, in many cases, a driving rhythm guitar. Most of the tracks work well, but my personal preference are the tighter, upbeat, "bouncy" numbers. If I had to pick a favourite it would be Plastic Lullaby, but the opening track, Crash and Burn, runs it a close second.

The musicianship of all three Decoders is excellent. Jon Flint’s drums are spot on, and I’ve already mentioned Blake’s tight, melodic vocals, but these two would be nowhere without Martin Lister, who apart from a guest appearances on a couple of tracks plays all the other instruments, including bass and lead guitars, as well as occasional keyboards and additional vocals. The drawback, if there is one, is that it is impossible for the band to recreate this multi-handed approach in live performance, unless they recruit some extra musicians. However, having seen them as a three-hander live I have to admit that they manage the difficult feat surprisingly well!

The inventive lyrics vary to fit the songs, from "angry young man" political commentary to balladic love song. I wouldn’t claim to understand them all, but I particularly enjoyed the humorous observation of how what a man wants in a woman changes over time, in Plastic Lullaby.

As I said, I wish The Decoders every success. Keep up the good work!

Categories: Reviews. Content Types: Music.
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Review – A Short History of Nearly Everything

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Posted on 16 August 2005 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

I’ve just posted my review of Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everthing”. I found it an excellent holiday read, athough a general science book with almost no illustrations or equations took a bit of getting used to. For more, please read my full review.

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