Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 32

Day 32 was the first Max Out Power workout. This is a tough one, especially in the middle where there are a ton of push-ups. It is another workout that is 45 seconds per move, then you get a 15-second break, and move on to the next move. So, none of the moves are repeated. There are a few 30-second breaks mixed in too, but fewer than in other workouts. I maxed out at the 13:15 mark.

Product Review: Samsung Galaxy Prevail LTE Core Prime G360 Cyber Defender Case

 

This is a good case that can definitely protect a phone against falls (within reason). It is, however, very hard to get one because of the side buttons on the phone. So, expect to take a bit of time fighting with it. But, once it is on the phone, it does a good job.

Software Review: MATLAB & Simulink Student Suite

 

I purchased this when I was working on an electrical engineering degree. My school made MATLAB available through a Citrix web portal, but that was glitchy and slow, so I decided to get this to have it on my home computer. It was a bit of a pain to install because it does not have CD, it just gives you a code. As of 2015 when I purchased this, instead of having a dedicated website to download the student version you had to poke around on the website, which was not super intuitive. Once the download started it was fairly straightforward. You do have to enter an academic email address, so you cannot use a yahoo or Gmail address, but I had no issues getting it to work once I found the download link on the website.

DVD/TV Series Review: Psych: Season 2

 

The second season of Psych aired during the 2007/2008 TV season. Approximately half of the episodes aired during the summer of 2007 and half in the winter of 2007 into 2008. The season continues the procedural case-of-the-week format as the first season, in which fake psychic Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and his assistant Gus (Dule Hill) consult on some particularly tricky cases for the Santa Barbara police department. The season has the same kind of witty banter and tongue-in-cheek comedy as the first season ramps up the sexual tension between Shawn and Juliet (Maggie Lawson) and the outright tension between Shawn and Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) and expands the role of Cheif Vick (Kristen Nelson) promoting her to a series regular. The show almost always starts out with the young version of Shawn (and sometimes Gus) learning a lesson from Henry (Corbin Bernsen) that ties into the theme of the episode.

There are many extras for those who get the DVD set. There are multiple commentary tracks, deleted scenes for most, if not all, of the episodes, a gag reel, a find the pineapple game, a montage that shows all of the crazy names Shawn has used to introduce himself and Gus, fake scenes (called "psych outs"), and some animated adventures of Shawn and Gus as kids. A ton of stuff for those who like going through the extras. The commentary tracks are pure gold, especially those in which Roday and Hill participate.

Overall, the show continues to be great. The acting and writing are both great. While the show had not quite gotten into the homage episodes yet (those that were spoofs and/or homages to some 1980s or 1990s movie, TV show, or trend), there are plenty of pop-culture references, and the show did start getting the great guest stars that the show would become known for. They include Phylicia Rashad and Ernie Hudson playing Gus' parents, John Amos, Curtis Armstrong, Obba Babatundé, Malcolm Barrett, W. Earl Brown, Matt Cedeno, Tim Curry, Cristián de la Fuente, Amanda Detmer, Gina Gershon, Ben Giroux, Philip Baker Hall, Howard Hesseman, Telma Hopkins, Katharine Isabelle, Christopher Jacot, Bianca Kajlich, Eric Keenleyside, Melanie Lynskey, Shane Meier, Alex Meneses, Brian Doyle-Murray, Dylan Neal, Amanda Pays, Lou Diamond Phillips, Saul Rubinek, Corey Sevier, Kerry Washington, and Calum Worthy. If you liked or loved season one, you will probably feel the same about this one. It is definitely worth the time to watch.

Book Review: Star Wars: Bloodline

 

Bloodline was the first of the canon novels under the Disney umbrella to really focus on one of the legacy characters, in this case, Leia. The novel is set six years before the events of The Force Awakens. Leia, having abandoned the idea of following Luke's path to becoming a Jedi, is a senator in The New Republic. However, she is aware of something sinister happening in the background of the Republic (which ultimately ends up being The First Order) that becomes more apparent over the course of the story.

Han is in the book a bit but is not a focus, and it is mentioned that Ben is off training with Luke. But, again, Luke is just sparingly mentioned, and that is it. The novel is really about political maneuvering and backbiting, definitely using our Earthly politics as an example, but there is some action intertwined with it. Probably the biggest reveal of the book is that Leia had been able to hide her true parentage for many years after the Empire fell as most of the galaxy has no idea that Darth Vader was her true father.

Overall, the book is very well-written and has a good story. It is not as action-packed as some of the other books, but it was nice to finally have a new book that focused on a major legacy character. You could really envision Carrie Fisher delivering Leia's lines and it does set up a bit of the sequel trilogy storyline. So, if you are one of those who reads some, but not all, of the canon novels, this is a good one to read.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 31

Day 31 was the first time doing the Max Out Sweat workout. It is a very hard workout (even the modifier who is in great shape maxes out at the 23-minute mark), and follows the format of rotating through three rounds of three moves, then doing a "power move" for a minute before taking a break. Ironically, the end of the workout is probably the easiest part, especially if you are modifying, but the first 24 minutes are pretty brutal.  

Book Review: Star Wars: Aftermath - Life Debt

 

This is the second novel in the Aftermath trilogy, which are the first canon novels after Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm that started filling in the story between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Like the first book, this one focuses mainly on the group of new characters led by Norra Wexley. She and her team, which includes Jom Barell, former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus, her son Snap, and the bounty hunter Jas Emari, are trying to mop up the last vestiges of the Empire. But, this book does include some of the legacy characters, specifically Leia, Han, and Chewie, in a storyline that involves the liberation of the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. Eventually, the two storylines merge, and we get some interaction between Han and Norra's team.

The one thing the book really still suffers from is excluding Luke. My guess is this was done so as to not give away, or inadvertently conflict with the storyline that would play out in the sequel trilogy. However, I think Wending could have and should have been allowed to include Luke in the continuing fight against the Empire without touching on his potential training of any new Jedi. Once Disney announced plans to make everything going forward canon, people wanted more stories involving the legacy characters, and I think putting the focus on them while incorporating new characters around them would have worked better for the first few new canon novels, especially since the first canon novel, A New Dawn was set before the events of A New Hope and did not include any of the legacy characters beyond mention of Vader and The Emperor. But, the storylines in this were good and flowed well. There was a lot of action that kept the story going and made it easy to stay engaged, which has not been the case with some of the newer canon novels. So, while I do not think this falls into the "must read" category, I think it is worth reading.

Product Review: Proworthy Lace Braided Solo Loop Compatible With Apple Watch Band

 

This is a fabric band for a 45mm Apple Watch and does fit on the new Series 8 watches. It is much more comfortable than the silicon band that comes with the watches. As long as you measure your wrist and get the correct size, it fits perfectly and does not slide up or down your wrist when you put it on. And, you do not end up in a situation in which you have to overtighten it to keep it in place on your wrist like some people have to do with silicon bands. Which can cause skin redness and/or peeling. One thing to note, especially if you work out, they do expand a bit after a while, so you may want to get one size smaller than the chart says you need. But, otherwise, I definitely recommend this.

DVD/TV Series Review: Psych: Season 1

 

Psych is a comedy series that ran from 2006 to 2014 on the USA network and spawned three movies in 2017, 2020, and 2021. The premise of the series is that a hyper-observant guy named Shawn Spencer (played by James Roday) calls in a tip about a crime to the Santa Barbara police department; he becomes a suspect because he knows more than he should. He convinces them that he is a psychic and ends up as a consultant for the department. The only ones who know that Shawn is not a psychic are his best friend Gus, who gets dragged along in the consulting business (played by Dule Hill), and his ex-cop father Henry (played by Corbin Bernsen), who taught, drilled in and fostered Shawn's powers of observation from the time he was a kid. The show is mostly a case-of-the-week episode in which Shawn and Gus are brought in as consultants to help some particular case, much to the chagrin of the detective that they are often paired with, Carleton Lassiter (played by Timothy Omundson), who does not believe Shawn is psychic but cannot prove that he is a fraud either. In the pilot, Carleton's partner was played by Anne Dudek (from the series House and Covert Affairs), but her character was written out of the show after the pilot, and when it was picked up as a series, Maggie Lawson was cast as Carleton's new partner Juliet O'Hara. The other main cast member is Kirsten Nelson, who plays police chief Vick.

For those who get the DVD set, the 15 episodes are spread across four discs. The extras include an international version of the pilot episode, audio commentaries on selected episodes that usually included the creator and then various cast members, deleted scenes for most episodes, audition tapes, an Inside the Writer's Room featurette, character profiles, gag reels, and a couple of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. So, a lot there if you like watching the bonus material.

The show is mostly a procedural comedy with some suspense and drama mixed in. Each episode would start out with Shawn (and sometimes Gus) as kids, learning some lesson that was taught by Henry that would be applicable to the episode's plot. The writing and acting are great all around. There are a ton of pop-culture references, especially from the 80s and 90s (which increase in the subsequent seasons). It can definitely be silly and very tongue-in-cheek, but it usually has a good message mixed in with the comedy. It is not a conventional prime-time crime drama. It actually makes fun of those types of shows and almost breaks the fourth wall on more than one occasion. So, if you have not checked out the series, it is well worth watching.

Product Review: Cool Coolers by Fit + Fresh, Slim Ice Packs

 

These are perfect for lunchbox coolers. They are small and slim so they do not take up a ton of space, and you can kind of pack them around containers to keep things that you want to keep cold cooler for a longer period of time. In an average-sized lunchbox, they can stay cool for a good portion of a workday. When I was going into the office, pre-covid, I would pack my lunch and usually an RTD protein drink in the morning at about 6 AM. All of the liquid in the blocks was still frozen by lunchtime, but by the time I got home in the evening, (usually between 5 and 6 PM) it was back to liquid. So, that gives you an idea of the time they will stay solid and cold.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 30

Day 30 was the first time doing the Max Out Strength workout.  In this workout, there is a short warm-up, just four minutes, and then there are rounds of exercises, but the difference is they do not repeat. You do a single exercise for 45 seconds, then get a 15-second break, and then move on to a different move, and repeat that until you get to a break. The format works well. The workout is challenging, especially the middle portion in which there are a ton of push-ups, including plyometric push-ups (although they are a bit different than the p90x version of plyo push-ups. I managed to make it just over 13 minutes before I maxed out. I was still a little limited by my sore shoulder, but not as much as in yesterday's workout. 

Textbook Review: Radar Systems Analysis and Design Using MATLAB 3rd Edition

 

This book was originally assigned as the textbook for a radar engineering class that I took as an elective in my Electrical Engineering program. The teacher then decided to use a different book but I kept this one for the semester to help flesh out the theory when I did not understand a concept from the other book. So, for that purpose, I found it useful. Unfortunately, I never did get a chance to try any of the MATLAB exercises or do any of the problems from the book, so I cannot say how good those are, but I did find that it explained the theory clearly and in enough detail to get a good handle on it.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Banshee: Season 3

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major spoilers from the third season++++

Banshee is a show that by the third season you will know if you love it or hate it. The premise is totally preposterous but it works. It is well written and acted and is, as is the case with many Cinemax shows, not at all family-friendly. The show is basically one long serial story arc in which the various plotlines build over time. So, you really have to have seen the prior episodes to really know what is going on.

This season starts sometime down the line from the events that ended season two. All of the characters are in crazy situations, with Carrie and Gordon separated after he found out about her real life, and Carrie having a lot of "fun", Lucas being somewhat of a dad to Deva yet still being a criminal and sheriff at the same time, and Kai Proctor and Rebecca's relationship getting very cringe-worthy. The Nazi storyline from the prior season continues and expands to include Tom Pelphrey as Kurt Bunker: A former member of the Aryan Brotherhood who becomes a Banshee deputy. One of the main new antagonists in the season is Chayton Longshadow, played by Geno Segers who is out for revenge for the murder of Alex, which pits him against Proctor, Rebecca, and Lucas.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great as it always has. The extras include another set of Banshee Origins featurettes highlighting several character backstories that runs about 25 minutes; an almost hour-long Banshee Origins Saga that has a commentary track by the series creator; Making of the Episode 2 Title Sequence; a feature titled Zoomed In, which looks closely at certain scenes and characters from the season; A Commentary for Episode 1, a feature on the Burton vs. Nola fight scene stunts; commentary tracks on Episodes 3 and 5; a twenty-minute long feature titled The Heist; and commentary tracks on Episode 7 and the Season Finale. Then there are a bunch of deleted scenes and some promos. So, if you like extras, there are a lot of them.

Overall, the season is very good. There is still a lot of violence, sex, and nudity in the show, and that has not been tamed at all from the prior seasons. The acting is very good, and the show continues to evolve the main characters. And, pretty much no character is safe on the show. The standout this season to me is Lilli Simmons who does a great job as Rebecca, playing her as a character that wants to be one of the good guys, but just likes being bad more. Honestly, very few of the characters are really "good" per se, they pretty much range from morally gray to bad. But, if you are a fan of crime dramas and do not mind more adult themes in a show, this is a very good one.

Book Review: Fundamentals of Ethics for Scientists and Engineers 1st Edition

 

This was a book that was required for my Engineering Ethics class. It has some good material, but honestly, I think it focuses too much on made-up scenarios that are kind of scripted and sometimes silly and focuses too little on real-world situations. For example, in one of the early chapters, there is a discussion of the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the lead-up in which the engineers at the company that made the rocket boosters were warning NASA not to launch. There was about a page to a page and a half on the most basic details, but it left out a lot of important information. Thankfully, my professor expanded on it a lot and devoted a good portion of a class period to the topic, but that is really only one instance in which the book could have provided much more than it did.

Realistically, this is probably a book that someone is only going to read because they have to do so for a class. If you can get a used version, I would do that because it is definitely not worth more than about $20, but the price to purchase it new gets jacked up because it is technically a textbook.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 29

Day 29 was Max Our Cardio workout. I was still feeling the effects of my shots from Saturday, but not nearly as bad so I pushed through the workout. The setup is very similar to the cardio circuit workout. Each round rotates through three moves that last 30 seconds, and you do three rotations of each move. Then, instead of getting a break after the third rotation, you do another move that lasts a full minute, then get a 30-second break. So, there are fewer breaks in the workout. I maxed out at about the eight-and-a-half-minute mark, mainly because my left arm was sore enough that it was hard to hold myself in even a modified plank position. So, I am hoping to make it much farther into the workout next week.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 28

Day 28 was plain and simply a rest day. On Saturday I got my covid booster and flu shot, so by Sunday I felt like total shit and could barely raise my left arm. So, I just relaxed and tried not to bump my left shoulder into anything. 

Book Review: Aristotle for Everybody: Difficult Thought Made Easy

 

This was one of the books required for my Engineering Ethics class when I was in school. Thankfully, it is not as dense as a philosophy textbook would be, but it does distill Aristotle's teachings into very easily digestible parts. The book is pretty short (at least when compared to a textbook), just under 200 pages, and while I would not say it is as quick a read as a novel, it is not so dense that it takes a long time to get through. I think many people will get the book because it is required for a class, but it is something that someone who is just interested in philosophy without getting too bogged down in the material could enjoy reading.

Product Review: Etna 3 step dog staircase

 

This thing is kind of a pain in the butt to assemble. Not impossible, but harder than it should be. Frankly, it is something that could and should come fully assembled. Mine was not super rickety like some reviewers seem to have experienced, but it was not extremely steady or solid either. I do not think it would have caused a problem for my mom's dog, which is a 17 or so lb Schnoodle, but he was too dumb to figure out how to use it, so it was never an issue.

Product Review: Cooks Standard Wall Mounted Wooden Pot Rack, 36 by 8-Inch

 

I live in a townhouse that had an extremely small kitchen. I have since renovated the main level and the kitchen is a little bigger, but it still does not have a ton of storage space. So, I use this to store the vast majority of my pans (the most frequently used pans). The good thing about this is that you can adjust the position of the hooks so that you can hang larger or wider pans farther from the wall and the smaller pans closer to the wall. That way, the larger pans will not bang into the wall. You can put things on top of the "shelf" but, I would not put anything very heavy mostly because it will not sit flat because the top parts of the hooks will stick up through the slats. I put a couple of plastic things (a salad keeper and a colander) that will not do any damage if they were to fall off. It comes with six hooks, but could easily fit a couple more (I think they are available to buy separately).

I have not had any problem with this staying on the wall. It does come with drywall anchors, but it is best to get it into at least one stud if you can. Overall, if you are looking for a hanging pot rack, this is a good option.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 27

Day 27 was the last back and biceps workout from P90x for this round. Starting next week, when I shift to the max workouts in Max 30, I am going to switch to Body Beast's back and biceps workout, just to keep my body from getting too used to the P90x routine. For most of the moves, I was maxing out at 8 or 9 reps, but I was able to get to 10 reps on a couple moves, and for the band pull-ups I made it from 5 reps (corn cobs) to 14 reps (towel pull-ups). So, it was a good workout.

Software Review: Microsoft Windows 8 - Upgrade

 

I got this back when I had a laptop running on Windows 7 that would not, despite multiple attempts, finish the upgrade to Windows 10. So, I got this thinking that I could at least get Windows 8 on that machine. It installs easily (if you have ever done a Windows OS upgrade you pretty much know what to expect). You definitely will want to make sure that any files you want to keep are backed up, but it did not delete anything critical on my computer as it was going through the process. And, of course, almost immediately after I installed this, the Windows 10 upgrade kicked in.

The look and feel of Windows 8 is a lot different than Windows 7 and any version older than that. It seems like 8 was the beta test version of Windows 10 because as far as the outward-facing stuff like the start menu and how you navigate to things, 8 is not that much different than 10. So, if you have an older version of Windows (hopefully on a machine that is not connected to the internet often because you are probably missing hundreds of security updates), this is a good way to get the OS upgraded.

DVD/TV Series Review: 24: Live Another Day

 

Live Another Day is a limited event series/miniseries set four years after Season 8 of 24, in which Jack goes on the run to avoid the Russians for the attempted assassination of the Russian President. It is set in London, where Jack is hiding out and has been keeping tabs on President Heller after discovering a threat to his life, and on Chloe, who has joined a hacker collective. The show has only 12 episodes as opposed to the 24 it had during a good portion of its original run. Therefore, the real-time aspect of the show is mostly abandoned. The first part of the season involves the threat against Heller and heavily involved Michelle Fairley (from Game of Thrones). The second part of the season involves a plot by Cheng Zhi (again played by Tzi Ma) to bring the US and China to the brink of war. There are some cast members from the original run of the show that appear, even if only briefly, including the aforementioned Ma, Kim Raver, William Devane, and Mary Lynn Rajskub. The new cast members include Yvonne Strahovski (from Chuck and later Dexter and The Handmaid's Tale), Tate Donovan (from The OC), and Benjamin Bratt. It also includes John Boyega in one of his first roles on American TV, and a year before he appeared in The Force Awakens.

For those who get the DVD set, there are some, but not a ton, of extras. Those include a short film that serves as kind of an Epilogue to the story, deleted and extended scenes, a featurette about shooting on location in London, and a couple of other making-of featurettes. None of them are very long (mostly five minutes or less) and do not go into a ton of depth. But they are there if you want to watch them.

Overall, the series was okay but a bit pointless. It was not as good as the first couple of seasons of the show's original run. As was the case in later seasons of the main show, this one tries to get a bit too cute with the twists and turns and shocking events, and the writers kind of write themselves into a corner. They achieve the "24-hour" format by basically doing a time jump in the final episode when most everything is resolved. In ways, it ends in just as frustrating a fashion, if not moreso, than season 8 ended. I do think it is worth watching if you watched the original run of the show. Just temper your expectations because it may not be as good as you hope.

CD/Album/Music Review: Adele: 25

 

25 is the third album by Adele, released in 2015 (after 2008's 19 and 2011's 21). The smash hit from the album was Hello, which rivaled her hit Rolling in the Deep from 21. This was much less of a "breakup" album than 21 was, with the songs being more about moving on with life as we age. I think she got progressively better over the course of the three albums. On this one, all of the songs are very good, even though not all of them ended up being huge hits. But it is definitely not an album with one or two good songs, and the rest is unlistenable, as is the case with some artists. She has proven that she is far more than a one-hit-wonder and keeps improving over time. And, of course, she can actually sing and does not have to rely on production tricks to make her sound better, as a lot of today's pop artists have to. So, if you were a fan of her first two albums and/or music that falls more into the adult contemporary category, then this is definitely worth listening to.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 26

Day 26 was the last Friday Fight Round one workout for this round and the last month-one Max 30 workout of this round. I managed to make it to 14:35 seconds this time, but I still cannot get all the way through the triceps dips sequence that comes just before the 15-minute break. Monday will start month two of the Max-30 workouts and for the strength workouts in month two, I will switch to the Body Beast back and biceps workout.

Product Review: Seagate Expansion Portable 1TB External Hard Drive HDD – USB 3.0

 

I got this to store my school materials from my engineering degree, which includes a ton of video lectures that are in MP4 format and take up a lot of space. This is a drive that is purely plug-n-play, has a lot of space, and is powered by the computer you plug it into (via a USB connection). So, you do not have to deal with another power supply. It is definitely worth the pickup.