4k-UHD/Movie Review: Fifty Shades Darker

 

Fifty Shades Darker is the 2017 follow-up to the 2015 movie Fifty Shades of Grey, based on the series of novels by E.L. James. The movie again stars Dakota Johnson as Anastacia/Ana Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, a billionaire entrepreneur with a penchant for BDSM relationships. In the first movie, the two have a torrid love affair that goes bad because of his inability to open up and have a normal relationship. This movie is essentially about his attempt to win her back and the two trying to make a relationship work, with a lot of obstacles being thrown in the way of their relationship.

For those who get the 4k Disc, the movie looks and sounds very good in the UHD format. There is definitely a video quality upgrade from the blu-ray disc (which is also included in the two-disc set). The UHD disc just has the movie itself and the blu-ray has the extras, which are pretty meager. The extras include a couple of short deleted scenes, a teaser for the final movie, and then a handful of making-of featurettes that vary in length from about 3 minutes to just under 9 minutes. Nothing special, but they are there if you want to watch them.

I have not read the books (which were mostly a hit with women), but from the reviews (and based on interviews with Dakota Johnson talking about them) they were pretty bad. And, as a result, the script definitely has some cringe-worth dialogue. The issues from the first movie definitely carry over to this one, a big one being that the chemistry between Dornan and Johnson was still not great in this movie, and overall, I just had a hard time buying them as the kind of couple they were portraying. On the plus side, if you think Johnson is hot and want to see her tits on an almost two-hour loop, this movie will give you that. There are some good additions to the cast for this movie including Bella Heathcote, Kim Bassinger, Marcia Gay Harden, Eric Johnson, and Rita Ora. I  think the expanded cast helps to break up Christian and Ana's storyline so that the chemistry issues between Johnson and Dornan are not as obvious. Ultimately, if you liked the first movie you will probably like this one, as long as you manage your expectations. It definitely has the feel of the second chapter of a trilogy, putting the characters in peril and, as kind of cliche, having an overall darker (pun intended) theme. If you think of it as Twilight without the vampires and a lot more sex, that will give you an idea of what you are getting into if you watch it.   

Product Review: Samsung Electronics UBD-K8500 3D Wi-Fi 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player (2016 Model)

 

This is a blu-ray player that can play 4k ultra-high-definition discs, as well as regular blu-rays and DVDs. It is region 1 locked, meaning it will only play discs from the US and Canada, and any region-free discs, but discs from other countries like the UK will not play on it. When paired with a TV capable of providing a 4k output, you get great picture and sound. There are, however, a couple of cons. First, the remote control is very small, and hence the buttons on it are extremely hard to use, especially if you are watching in a dark room. If you have another Samsung remote, however, that one should work with this player without any additional setup. Second, discs do freeze from time to time, even when the firmware has been updated. When a disc freezes, the only workaround is unplugging the player and plugging it back in. Sometimes the disc will start from where you left off, but most of the time it boots to the menu screen again and you have to find where you left off. I should also note that one time when I played a disc, the player made a weird humming noise, that lasted about two minutes into the playback of the movie, but that only happened when playing that one disc, so it has not been a recurring issue.

Overall, the player is good, especially for one of the more affordable players. You definitely want to keep the firmware up to date and get a good HDMI cable (the player does not come with a cable) to get the most out of the A/V quality.

DVD/Movie Review: The Breed

 

The Breed is 2006 a B-movie starring Michelle Rodriguez (from the Fast and Furious movie franchise), Taryn Manning (from Orange is the New Black), Hill Harper (from shows like Limitless and The Good Doctor), Oliver Husdon (Kate's brother, and Goldie Hawn's less famous child), and Eric Lively. It is a movie that is best described as a knockoff of Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds, but it is nowhere near as good as that. The basic plot is that a group of friends plan to vacation on a deserted island owned by the family of brothers Matt (Lively) and John (Hudson). Of course, the island is not totally deserted as the group encounters a pack of wild dogs that starts attacking them, and in the process discover a larger plot.

For those who get the DVD, the only extras are a making-of-documentary that runs about 25 minutes and some trailers for other movies. The documentary is okay, but nothing special. 

Overall, the movie is good but not great. It does have some jump-scare moments, but I would not quite call it a horror classic, despite the fact that it was produced by Wes Craven, who directed classics in the horror genre like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream. The plot twist is a little silly and needed. It is definitely not as good as The Birds or Jaws (two movies that obviously heavily influenced the plot), but as a low-budget indie horror/thriller, it is worth a look, but is probably not a movie that most people would give a lot of repeat viewings.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 36

Day 36 was the Max Out Power workout again. I was able to max out about a minute later than I did last week, but the workout is still very, very tough. I am to the point where I can get through the entire warm-up sequence in pretty much every workout without having to switch to modified moves. Although, again, my unmodified moves are most definitely slower than those of the people in the video. 

Book Review: American Psychosis

 

You might think American Psychosis is just another book detailing the actions of the former (2017-2021) administration. It is not. That administration is discussed at the beginning of the book and then again in the last handful of chapters. What the book really provides is a must-read historical breakdown of the Republican party from the time of Lincoln to the present day.

The book basically chronicles how the Republican and Democratic parties shifted after the Civil War, during the reconstruction era through to the Jim Crow and Civil Rights era, and the internal strife of the party with the (at the time) more powerful moderates having to keep the right-wing nut jobs like Joseph McCarthy and Barry Goldwater in check. However, through the formation of the John Birch Society, the Heritage Foundation, and the Federalist Society, the nutjobs slowly gained more and more power in the party and eventually led to the takeover of the party by t***p, who was not afraid to spout the racist, xenophobic, and homophobic nonsense that the wingnuts were espousing for years. The author, David Corn, describes how Dwight Eisenhower had to essentially put up with McCarthy because he was afraid of losing his base (sound familiar), and Nixon fully embraced the "southern strategy" which basically is how the GOP keeps a hold of the bible-belt states, and how Ronald Regan (who was actually one of the worst Presidents in history if you were poor and/or a minority) was more than willing to play footsie with the racists in the party while keeping his inclusive persona. Corn's argument is that t***p did not change the GOP, but was a product of what was a long time coming because of the likes of those mentioned along with people like Pat Buchanan, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, and their ilk.

The one thing I personally would have liked Corn to devote more time to was how, after the Civil War up through the 1960s, some prominent Dixiecrats (southern democrats, many of whom were ex-confederates who were somehow allowed into the government after the Civil War) switched from the Democratic party to the Republican party, and really started the wingnut portion of the GOP caucus. He talks around the subject but does not really go into a lot of detail about how that shaped what we have now.

Overall, the book is a very good history lesson that chronicles how the modern-day GOP arrived at the place it is. Corn backs up his assertions by citing multiple sources and/or providing examples (e.g., interviews, records of speeches, etc.) of the events he writes about. If you are at all interested in history or politics, this is a must-read.

Book Review: Patent It Yourself

 

The process to get a patent in the US is very long and very expensive if you use a patent attorney or a patent agent. And, the process of writing a patent is complicated and it really takes years of practice to get comfortable with it and good at it. But, for anyone who does want to try writing their own patent, this is probably the best guide out there. At least the best I have come across. I have seen others that are, frankly, not worth the paper they are written on, but this is head and shoulders in quality above those.

This is a comprehensive guide that explains the patenting process, breaks down the different parts of a patent, describes the various ways to write patent claims (which is the most important part of the patent), and actually has the text of a sample patent so you can see how one should be laid out. And, it explains some of the basics of patent law, which you will need to understand during the prosecution of the patent (the back-and-forth with the patent and trademark office that occurs after the patent is filed) that will be helpful after the patent is written. Ultimately, it goes through all of the basics that you will need to know when it comes to how to write the patent. It has some discussion about patent drawings, but that is not comprehensive. Nolo has a patent drawings guide that can be used as a supplement to this guide that will give you details about how to deal with patent drawings.

I used this guide as I was finishing my engineering degree to learn the basics of patent law before I took the more comprehensive patent bar prep course. This will not get you the skill equivalent to a patent agent or attorney with years of experience, but it will give you the understanding you need to either try to write your own patent or figure out that you want no part in trying to do it yourself. I would not blame anyone for making either decision, but even if you do decide you do not want to write one yourself, this will help you when working with a patent attorney or a patent agent because the better you understand the process, the better communication you will have and ultimately, the more money it will save you.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 35

Day 35 was Max Out cardio again. It was a mixed bag of sorts because on one hand I could go faster and do a lot more unmodified moves at the beginning of the workout, but I also got tired faster and maxed out earlier than I did last week.  I did try not to modify as much as I could, but that meant I was taking more breaks than I did when I was doing the workout completely modified in the last round. So, I am making progress, but again not necessarily as quickly as I would like to.

4kUHD Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

 

Fantastic Beasts is the prequel series to the Harry Potter movies and books. If you read the original Harry Potter Books you may remember that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was the title of one of Harry's schoolbooks and was written by the protagonist of this series of films, Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne). The story in Fantastic Beasts is set in the mid-1920s. Newt is in New York traveling with a case of magical creatures. When one of the creatures gets out, he ends up chasing it around town and in the process, his case is swapped with that of a muggle (called a no-maj in the US) named Jacob Kowalski (played by Dan Folger). Katherine Waterston plays Tina Goldstein, an Auror at the US's version of the Ministry of Magic called the Magical Congress of the United States. Tina sees part of Newt's interaction with Jacob and arrests him for breaking magical law, and as Newt, Jacob, Tina, and her sister Queenie (played by Alison Sudol) attempt to recapture the magical beasts, they are arrested because it is believed that Newt has killed a senator in a conspiracy with the dark wizard Gellert Grindewald. 

This set has two discs, a 4k UHD disc that has just the movie itself, and then the extras are included in the regular blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is fantastic, and as the Harry Potter movies have always been, it is at the forefront of the most up-to-date CGI and special effects such that it is very hard to tell what is CGI and what is practical, even when you know a character is totally CGI. The extras on the regular blu-ray disc include a 15-minute making-of documentary discussing the story and creating the spinoff. Then there are a series of shorter featurettes grouped into categories called "characters", "creatures", and "design". Between the three categories, there are 18 different featurettes that range in length from around 2 minutes to just over 7 minutes. Then there are about 15 minutes of deleted scenes. 

Overall, the movie is good but much different than the Harry Potter movies. Of course, the character of Grindewald was mentioned as having a past with Dumbledore (who does not appear in this movie but is mentioned) in the Harry Potter series and will have a larger role going forward. But, this is set around adult main characters, so by definition, it is a lot different than the Potter movies. The story is well-written and it is very well-acted by not only the main cast but the supporting cast which includes Colin Farell, Ron Pearlman, and Samantha Morton. Ezra Miller also has a major role in the movie, but it is not certain how that will change given all the trouble he has been getting into in his personal life. Ultimately, I think whether you will like this movie or not is going to depend on how much you can accept that you are not seeing a Harry Potter sequel or a direct Harry Potter prequel, but a series that is also set in the Harry Potter Universe. If you can accept the latter, then you will probably like this. If not, then you probably will not.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: DC's Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Second Season

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the first season, but no major season two spoilers+++

The second season of Legends picks up with the team dealing with the time aberrations that they released because of their actions during season one, especially toward the end of the season. And, they are still reeling from the loss of Snart after he sacrificed himself in the season one finale. The first episode of the season is basically a crossover with Arrow and introduces a new main character, Nate Heywood, played by Nick Zano, who is a historian trying to find the Waverider. The season premiere also introduces the Arrowverse's version of the Justice Society of America and introduces the character of Amaya Jiwe, played by Maisie Richardson-Sellers, who also becomes a series regular. In addition to the time aberrations storyline, the other main story arc of the season involves a team-up among former Flash and Arrow "Big Bads" Damien Darhk (played by Neil McDonough), Malcolm Merlyn (played by John Barrowman), and Reverse Flash (played by Matt Letscher). The team basically has to visit different time periods, to usually hilarious effect, and correct something that went wrong and/or thwart the plans of Darhk, Merlyn, and Thawne. Just before the halfway point of the season is Legends' installment of the big Arrowverse crossover event, Invasion, which includes characters from Supergirl, Flash, and Arrow. The season then ends on yet another cliffhanger with time being messed up and setting up the season three storylines.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, it is pretty similar to the sets of all of the other Arrowverse shows in terms of A/V quality and extras. The extras include the crossover episodes of Flash and Arrow so you can watch the entire crossover event without getting discs from the other shows, then you get some deleted scenes (about 11 minutes between them all), a 6-minute gag reel, a 10-minute featurette on the Invasion crossover (that is the same as what is on the Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl sets if you have those), and an approximately 30-minute portion of the show's 2016 Comic-Con panel.

Overall, the show is good but different. It is much more quirky than the other Arrowverse shows, which they can play up a lot because of the time travel aspect. The cast seems to have good chemistry with each other, and while losing Wentworth Miller as a series regular did change the dynamic of the series a bit, I think the new additions to the cast fit in well. So, if you are a fan of the other Arrowverse shows, this is definitely worth watching as well, even though the storylines and to some extent the tone of the show are quite different from the first season.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 34

Day 34 was the Back and Biceps workout from P90x again. For the most part, I was hitting 8 reps for weight resistance exercises, and doing anywhere from 4-10 pull-down reps with 150 lbs of band resistance. I was able to hit 10 reps for the reverse-grip bent-over rows so I will be able to bump that up to 30 lbs of resistance next week. I have three more weeks of the Max 30 workouts and I will do the P90x back and biceps workout for the next three weeks and then figure out my next workout or workouts. 

Product Review: InstallerParts 3 ft USB 2.0 High Speed Cable

 

This is a standard high-speed USB cable. It works as advertised and comes in three-feet or ten-feet lengths. It works as advertised and is a good value. I definitely recommend this if you need a USB 2.0 cable.

Supplement Review: 100% Natural Greens Powder, Over 10 Hard to Get Superfoods, Greens Supplement Powder

 

This is a greens powder that contains extracts from a bunch of different "superfoods" like Goji and Acai, and also has probiotics and fiber for good gut health. This blends well if you use a blender or shaker bottle. While it does have a bit of an aftertaste, it is not as overpowering as some greens powders are, and it does not taste like you are drinking ground-up grass. So, if you are looking for a greens powder, this is a good option.

Product Review: Statik 360 Magnetic Charging Cable - 3 in 1 Smart Rotating Charger with Micro-USB and USB-C

 

This is a great charging system. It includes three different connection pieces that plug into (and can permanently stay in) your device. The connection pieces include a micro-USB piece, a lightning piece, and a USB-C piece. Then, the cable has a magnetic end that magnetically connects to the connection piece in the device. The best feature, for me anyway, is that the end of the cable rotates and swivels. This allows you to hold your device in any position without the cable being pulled out, and if you were to pull too hard on or drop the device, the cable just separates, and the part that is plugged into the device does not break off from the cable or bend, which basically destroys regular cables. This is definitely worth the price.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 33

Day 33 was the CE Recharge workout again. I was pretty tired during it, so luckily it does not require a lot of energy to get through. Again, I would describe my flexibility as being the same as it has been for a while. No major improvements, but I have not regressed at all either. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Animal Kingdom: Season 1

 

Animal Kingdom is a show that was adapted from an Australian movie of the same name about a crime family led by Janine "Smurf" Cody, played by Ellen Barkin. She has been running scams and thriving since the 1970s and enlists her adoptive son Baz, played by Scott Speedman, and her biological sons Deran, played by Jake Weary, Craig, played by Ben Robson, and Andrew, who is called "Pope", played by Shawn Hatsoy, to commit elaborate break-ins, steal whatever loot is available, and then divides up the bounty. Life for the Codys gets complicated when Smurf's estranged daughter dies of a drug overdose and the family has to take in Smurf's grandson Joshua, who is called "J", played by Finn Cole.

While the series does have a lot of action in it, at its core, and when it is at its best, it is really about a deeply dysfunctional family, apart from all the crime. It deals with issues like repressed homosexuality, transactional love, and manipulation. It even gives off some very creepy incest vibes between Smurf and her kids. The show definitely pushes the bounds of what can be shown on basic cable, with as much sex, nudity, and swearing as they can get away with. And, there is a student-teacher sexual relationship storyline that plays a big role especially later in the season. 

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the ten episodes are spread across three discs. The A/V transfer is good, but not great, with a better audio transfer than video transfer. But, unless you are a big-time A/V wonk, it will probably not bother you. The extras include deleted scenes for most episodes, that range in length from about a minute to over thirteen minutes, then there are five short featurettes (all about two minutes long or less), and then a fourteen-minute making-of documentary. You definitely want to watch all the extras after watching the episodes, especially if you care about spoilers because the making-of-documentary does spoil some of the plotlines. 

Overall, the series is very good. It is well-written and very well-acted, with the standouts being Barkin and Hatsoy. Pope is not only very violent, as are all of the Codys but also mentally ill, and Hatsoy plays the character perfectly. It is most definitely not a family-friendly show, and there are some people who will be offended by some of the storylines. But, if you like crime dramas with a lot of action and are not bothered by violence, sex, and the like, it is definitely worth checking out.

DVD/TV Series Review: House M.D.: Season 5

 

+++Warning, this review contains major season four spoilers, and a couple of hints, but no major giveaways from season five+++

The fifth season of House is another very good one, especially in the last third of the season. It starts out a couple of months after the events that ended season four, with Wilson returning to wrap up his practice at Princeton Plainsborough, intending to find a new job after Amber's death. Of course, Robert Sean Leonard did not end up leaving the show so he eventually overcomes his resentment of House, but the first part of the season is really about repairing their relationship. Then, the show becomes the traditional case-of-the-week procedural mixed with serial storylines. The big storyline for the middle part of the season is 13's participation in a Huntington's drug trial that is being run by Foreman, and a great storyline involving Cuddy. Then, in the latter half of the season, another major death rocks House and launches into the storyline that ends the season and sets up season six. This season sees another round of great guest and recurring characters/stars including: Michael Weston, Breckin Meyer (from Clueless), Emily Rijos, Zeljko Ivanek, Jimmi Simpson, Jay Karnes, Mos Def, and Collen Camp. The writers also found a way to bring back the character of Amber (Anne Dudek) as a part of the final big storyline of the season.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include a commentary track on the episode "Locked In" which is one of the most unique episodes of the series that was partially inspired by an episode of M*A*S*H*. Then there is a featurette on the 100th episode (which aired later in the season than it normally would have because of the shortened season four), a featurette on Cuddy's storyline, the featurette on the medical accuracy of the show, one on filming the teaser opening to one of the episodes, and a featurette on the guest cast members that have appeared throughout the first five seasons of the show. The total running time for all of the featurettes comes in at a little under an hour. So, there is a lot of good bonus content if you like to watch the bonus features.

Overall, the season is very good. The show does a good job balancing the large cast, which of course, got larger during season four with the addition of Olivia Wilde, Peter Jacobson, and Kal Penn. All of the cast members got pretty significant storylines, some definitely longer than others, however, including Cameron and Chase who I felt were underused a bit during season four. The show continues to be well-written and very well-acted even though the character dynamics have changed from the first few seasons. But, if you were a fan of the prior seasons, the show is definitely still worth sticking with.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Supergirl - Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season one, but no major spoilers from season 2+++

The second season of Supergirl marks a major shift in the direction of the show. This is largely due to the shift from CBS to the CW, which had plusses and minuses. The big plus is that the show could be brought into the Arrowverse more easily because the show moved the filming location from Hollywood to Vancouver British Columbia where the other Arrowverse shows are filmed. Of course, the show was brought into the Arroverse by a crossover with The Flash during the show's first season in which The Flash (Grant Gustin) ended up on Earth-38 and ended up in National City, and Supergirl was shown as The Flash was running in the speed force in one of the season-two episodes of The Flash. The big drawback to the network and filming location switch is that there was a lot of cast turnover. For example, Peter Facinelli ended up leaving the show, so the entire Max Lord storyline was dropped. Also, Callista Flockhart went from a series regular to a recurring cast member, with Cat appearing in just a handful of episodes. 

The season picks up immediately after the crash of the ship that ended the season one finale. Supergirl finds an unconscious man in the pod and takes him to the DEO. Meanwhile, in the first episode, the Arrowverse's version of Superman is introduced, played by Teen Wolf's Tyler Hoechlin as he helps Supergirl save a commercial rocket that experiences engine failure and falls back to Earth. They discover that Lena Luthor, Lex's sister (played by Merlin's Katie McGrath) was on the rocket Kara begins a complicated friendship with Lena. The rest of the season is a mix of alien of the week and a couple of serial storylines. One involves a version of the project Cadmus, and one that involves the mysterious man in the ship (played by Melissa Benoist's now husband, Chris Wood). In the eighth episode, Supergirl is recruited to help in the big Arrowverse Crossover, Invasion. Although Supergirl did not get a stand-alone episode in the big crossover, there is another crossover later in the season with The Flash which is partly a musical episode. The season ends with a couple of big cliffhangers that set up season three.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great, as all of the Arrowverse blu-rays do. The extras include several behind-the-scenes featurettes, including one on the Alien "fight club" episode, another that details the different kinds of aliens the show features, then you get a portion of the 2016 comic-con panel, a conversation with Kevin Smith and the series creator Andrew Kreisberg discussing the series, and a commentary track on the episode Supergirl lives (which Smith directed) featuring the two of them. Then there is a series of seven short trivia featurettes that are anywhere from about 30 seconds long to just under two minutes. 

Overall, the show is good but takes a decidedly different direction this season, and almost has to start over. While most of the cast returns, including Mechad Brooks (whose role as James is expanded in a couple of ways), Chyler Leigh, Jeremy Jordan, and David Harewood, the loss of Calista Flockhart, Peter Facinelli, and Laura Benanti definitely hurt. Plus, actors like Jenna Dewan and Italia Ricci, who may have had additional guest-starring roles would not return. Although in season two, Teri Hatcher, who, of course, played Lois Lane in the 1990s series Lois and Clark, had a major guest starring role, and the show got other notable guest stars like Helen Slater (reprising her role as Kara and Alex's mother Eliza), Lynda Carter (who played the live-action version of Wonder Woman in the 1970s), Dichen Lachman (from Dollhouse), and Darren Criss. The show most definitely incorporates elements of the real-world political climate into the storylines, and the political leanings of the showrunners and cast are very apparent. Some people will definitely be triggered by that, others will like it, and others will ignore it. In terms of tone, the show is somewhere between The Flash (which tends to be a bit more lighthearted) and Arrow (which is darker). So, while I cannot say that everyone will like it, I definitely think it is worth watching.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 32

Day 32 was the first Friday Fight Round 2 workout. The workout starts out with a  two-round warm-up, then you get into the workout with no breaks, alternating one-minute moves until 15 minutes in. Then you get a water break and then go from minute 15 to minute 25 and get another break. Then you do the last few minutes. It is a hard workout that alternates between standing and plank-based exercises. There are a handful of jumping moves, including diamond jumps at the end. Everyone in the workout video maxes out by about the 8-minute mark, except Shaun T's husband who is doing the modified version of the workout. He is the only one who can make it through without stopping.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 31

Day 31 was the Max Out Strength workout.  This workout is definitely one of the harder ones. The first half is nearly all leg-focused with different variations on squats and lunges. The second half is basically all push-ups or plank-based exercises. I definitely had to modify the workout a lot, but I did get in quite a few unmodified moves early on. I did some of the unmodified push-up exercises, but those are still one of my weak spots.

Textbook Review: Fundamentals of Physics

 

This is the physics textbook by Halliday, Resnick, and Walker which is the required textbook for many calculus-based physics classes. It is what I would describe as a pretty standard textbook. It gives you a pretty good explanation of the theory, and because it is for a calculus-based physics class, it has a lot of proofs/derivation of the equations (which is mainly how calculus is used in calc-based physics classes). Because of that, it does not have a ton of examples, especially examples that give a lot of guidance for the hardest problems in the problem sets. It covers all of the main topics in the first two semesters of physics. The last couple of chapters cover more advanced topics like nuclear physics and particle physics to bridge to the concepts (like quantum physics and relativity) that would be covered in a modern physics class. You definitely need to have the first couple of semesters of calculus under your belt to understand the math being used to derive the equations. A couple of concepts from multivariable calculus do get used in the book, but it is mostly you just need to know how to take single-variable derivatives and integrals. 

The problems are broken down by difficulty level. Level one problems are the easiest, and can basically all be solved by reading the chapter and understanding the examples. Level two problems are harder and require more thought and a deeper understanding of the concepts. Most of them can be solved if you understand the last example or two in the chapter text, but that is not the case with all of them. The level three problems are the hardest and the ones that are most likely to trip people up. I am a big advocate for working as many problems as you can. In a perfect world, people would be able to work through all of the problems, as the level one problems help you to get the skills to do the level two problems and so on. Of course, if you are taking a class as opposed to self-studying, that may not be possible, but if you can do it, that is the best way to use the book. I do think it is helpful to pair this with a study guide, especially one that has a lot of worked-out examples because you will definitely get stuck at some point when working on the problem set.

While I do not think the book is perfect, and honestly in all the math, science, and engineering classes that I took, I never did have a book that I would call perfect, it does give you a good presentation of the theory and has a decent mix of problems. If you pair it with something like the Schaum's 3000 solved physics problems guide, you will get through the material.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 30

Day 30 was the first time doing the Max Out Sweat workout. I was able to get through the warm-up without modifying (although again doing the moves more slowly), but could not get through the first power move (in and out abs) without stopping, so I maxed out at the five-minute mark. Then, throughout the workout, I was able to do a fairly good mix of modified and unmodified moves. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 29

Day 29 was the first Max Out Power workout in this round. It went very well. I could do the exercises unmodified (albeit slower than those in the video) for the entire warm-up (of which there is only one round) and the first circuit. So, basically, the first 10 minutes of the workout. Once I got to the push-ups I had to modify, and I definitely took a bunch of breaks later in the workout. But, it was probably my best workout of this round so far.

Product Review: TP-Link AC750 Wifi Range Extender

 

I live in a split-level townhouse with four levels. As a result, there are a lot of dead zones, especially if the router is set up in the basement. This works well to eliminate (or at least reduce) the dead zones. Setting up the extender is very easy. The setup amounts to just plugging the extender in near the router, pushing the WPS button on the router, and waiting for all of the lights on the extender to light up. Then, you can move the extender to whatever area of the house you would like. There are a couple of caveats. If you have multiple dead zones, for example, because you have a split-level house, you may need a couple of these, otherwise, if you try moving the extender too far away from the router (e.g., the router is in the basement and you move this to a third or fourth floor) it will not work (or will not work well). But, if you have a router in the basement, put one of these on the second level, and another on the third level, you should get a pretty good signal everywhere. Also, while it does give you decent internet speed, it will probably not match the speed that your modem or modem/router combination will (especially with a wired connection). That said, I think it does what it is supposed to, and I definitely recommend it.

Product Review: Everlast Folding Mat 72" x 24"

 

This is a folding mat that, when unfolded, is about the size of a yoga mat, but much thicker (a bit less than 2" thick) and softer (stuffed with foam). This is perfect for doing ab work, to kneel on when you do push-ups if you have to do them on your knees, and even doing stretching and some yoga. If it is on a hard floor it will definitely slide around so you would want to put something underneath it or use it on carpet to keep it from sliding. I do not think it would be all that useful when doing, for example, plyometric jumping and/or lateral moves as there is too much danger of it slipping when you land. But, for lower-impact things that require lying down or sitting, this is perfect.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 28

Day 28 was the first Max Cardio Circuit workout of this round, and it mostly felt like day 1 all over again. I did manage to make it to about eight-and-a-half minutes before maxing out, but I was pretty much gassed the entire time. I was able to do some unmodified moves, but not nearly as many as I would have liked to.