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Reviews

This looks great - the color (at least on my computer screen) was pretty accurate - but it REEKS!!! Imagine a cheap plastic pool toy's smell - times a hundred. It was so bad that I had to close it inside the bathroom overnight because we could smell the toxic thing all through the house. I could even smell it on my hands after handling it! I finally washed it with some mild detergent and put it in the sun to dry and that seems to have helped the stink a little. Here's hoping it goes away over time and that the fumes off the thing don't make us all sick.

Yes, this item is bright lime green -- which is how it looks on my monitor, so it's what I expected. The only part that's a bit odd, to me, is that the parts that look white in the picture are actually clear. So the image doesn't stand out as much as I'd hoped -- that's why I gave it four stars instead of five. It also smelled really, really strong at first, but after I aired it out for a week, the smell went away completely.

This shower curtain unfortunately is not as pictured, or even as pictured on the packaging. Both the picture on Amazon and on the curtain's packaging show a bright spring green, but the curtain itself is more of an electric neon yellow-green. Not so much bright as blinding. In addition, the design is not white, but rather clear, so that it doesn't really show up well even with a white shower curtain liner behind it. Finally, this curtain smelled just awful. I am not usually that sensitive to chemical smells, I often see reviews were people complain about that and I've found it to be no big deal once something airs out. This, however, was so overpowering that my husband commented on it from across the hall, and I couldn't even stand it for a minute. I returned the curtain, which is a shame, if it had been as pictured I think I would have loved it.

Reviews

It came in its original packaging unopened but had a bit of a flaw on the bottom (on the outside) but other than that it works great for grinding spices.

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This is one of the top films of my youth, along with The Princess Bride, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Legend, The Clash of the Titans, and Time Bandits. David Bowie is over the top, sexy and evil at the same time, as the Goblin King. A young Jennifer Connelly plays a spoiled bratty girl of about 14. She is incredibly beautiful and the scene where she wears a gossamer dress to the Goblin King's masquerade--that stays with you for life. I wanted to be her so badly in that scene!

I believe this is Jim Henson's last movie before his untimely end and it is a great one. What can be more entertaining than muppet characters, a very young Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie? This movie is a feast for the eyes for both children and adults alike. There is a wide variety of new muppet characters, one weirder than the next. This movie is really good family entertainment.

DVD was in excellent condition, plays with absolutely on skipping. It was still in its original plastic wrap. Thanks.

I forgot how scary this movie was. I was not really impressed with the effects. I don't think High def format did much for the movie. It was still pretty awesome, made me feel like a kid again, and my son loves the goblin king.

David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly star in Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy. A girl wishes for her baby brother to be taken by goblins and must rescue him from a goblin king. I've loved this film since I was six years old and glad to have this anniversary edition that has nice picture and sound plus neat extras. I highly recommend this 80's fantasy classic.

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Both my son an I enjoy watching Sid, this is our second video and we enjoy them both.

My son kept saying "Where's the one with the bugs?" as we watched all four episodes boxed in the package called "The Bug Club." We bought the DVD because we thought a show with "Science" in the name that's subtitled "The Bug Club" would contain at least one show devoted entirely to profiling a bunch of cool bugs. (Bring on the dung beetles and water striders!) Sorry, no. Toddlers and preschoolers love nature. They are too young to be jaded and will soak up pretty much any factual material that is simply presented. According to this show, children won't be interested in nature unless it's accompanied by: - small-child characters shaking their hips, street-rhyming and playing air guitar (this section goes on endlessly and is repeated in each show); - Sid pulling out a gigantic, media-style microphone, leaning in sideways and popping the mike into his friends' faces when asking them a question; - the kids yukking it up with Laugh-In style jokes that might graze the show's theme at best; - the teacher belting out a number. Possibly the Mickey Mouse Club was the creators' inspiration. The entertainment-TV inspired parts of the shows take up a lot of time and are not as interesting as the science parts, and unfortunately also seem to be saying (to the small child watching) that it's just as important to behave like you're on TV as it is to be interested in science. The show has some undeniable good points -- the family is amusing (if somewhat idealized) and has great values, there is a good attitude about learning, the scientific topics are well chosen even if very lightly presented, there is a positive presentation of school routine, and small kids like the jokes. ps -- The computer-animated Claymation gives the kids mouths without upper lips that are kind of creepy-looking in motion. This might bother the very young viewer.

My son really likes the "Sid the Science Kid" series on PBS, and these DVDs appear to be those PBS shows on DVD. So far i have 3 of the DVDs and have pre-ordered "Weather Kid Sid" due out in the summer.

Great buy! We recently had a 17 hour flight to Europe with our 1 year old and it kept her interested and happy for awhile. She loves the songs and watching the kids. I love that it teaches kids to ask questions and love learning.

Love the Sid the Science Kid series, totally exceeds expectations, makes science fun for me and my daughter!

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Laurie Anderson rarely thinks small. Her first large-scale performance piece was an eight-hour event entitled "United States I-IV", which was eventually condensed into the four-and-a-half-hour live album UNITED STATES LIVE, which was whittled down further into this album. At just under 40 minutes, Big Science takes the most musical aspects of that show, and presents them in as user-friendly a fashion as Laurie Anderson circa 1982 was ever likely to get. It was most people's first exposure to Anderson, who manages the tricky feat here of seeming sympathetic and completely alien at the same time. Anderson has always primarily considered herself a storyteller, and the bulk of these songs betray their origins as spoken word pieces with slight musical accompaniment. The best songs use this to good effect: opener "From the Air" features Anderson talking the listener through a plane crash over a herky-jerk post-punk rhythm which contrasts with her deadpan voice to generate almost unbearable tension. The surprise UK hit "O Superman" is constructed almost entirely out of voices, with Laurie Anderson's vocoderized lead monologue laid atop a single looped syllable. Her intensely serene vocals are always the star of the show, and like other computerized expressionless voices, you eventually begin to infer emotion in them like an aural magic eye picture. The grating "Sweaters" briefly breaks her poker faced delivery, and is the worst track here as a result. On the other hand, the joyous "Example #22" finds Anderson managing to sound like she's actually having fun, and it's the closest thing to a party tune she'll probably ever make. But the real heart of the album is in the widescreen epic title track, and the ultra-minimalist closing duo of "Let X = X" and "It Tango", where the simple, intertwining rhythms and Anderson's soft-spoken repeated phrases build to a hypnotic crescendo. There are a few missteps on the album, however. The aforementioned "Sweaters" sounded out-of-place on UNITED STATES LIVE, and it doesn't fare any better here. And while "Walking and Falling" contains the germ of an interesting idea, it's too undeveloped to even briefly hold your attention. But those two songs aside, this is a remarkably strong record, and it's been an incredible influence on leagues of art-rockers and minimalist composers in the decades since. Listen to it, and you'll be a Laurie Anderson fan forever.

I'm not sure what some reviewers are hearing when they play this remaster, but Nonesuch Records has done an awesome job. I love this record and have played the cd in its original incarnation over a hundred times throughout my life. Listening now to the remastered version is close to thrilling. It sounds amazing. You can really hear the low-end sounds more, whereas in the past, they were simply missing. I now notice a lot of nuances that seem to have been buried within the soundscape of the original cd. For an album that often struck me as "cold" and darkly comic in nature, it now seems a bit warmer, with great stereo separation. To be honest, I'm not the best at describing music, but this cd is a marked improvement over the original. I never quite liked the songs "Sweaters" or "Example #22" because they struck me as somewhat grating. I appreciated them, but they both sort of crashed into your ears after the preceding quieter tracks. I find this to no longer bother me. They no longer strike me as shrill. Some remastered cds that I've bought just sound LOUDER. I'm glad to say this cd is not like that. It's subtly richer and more detailed. If you're upset that the bonus track is an mp3 download, well then burn a cd with all the tracks including the mp3, and voila, problem solved! Otherwise, this is not just your average collection of various pop songs. It is a one-of-a-kind work of art. Tacking on some extra songs at the end changes the original in a sense. I think that's the point of not doing so. It would be like someone restoring the Mona Lisa and painting something new within the original image. Hope they do the same with "Mister Heartbreak." If you're a fan of the music and appreciate an excellent remaster, get this cd.

"Walk The Dog", the B-Side of "O Superman" is the best song Laurie Anderson ever recorded, but couldn't get enough respect to be an actual CD track...who ever heard of a bonus track on a CD being an Mp3 download only? "I'm not gonna walk THIS dog...woof, woof!"

Laurie Anderson puts a very new gloss on our most pedestrian of experiences. I very highly recommend this album of hers to anyone who may want to venture outside the 'groove' of life and turn it into Being (the verb, not the static noun).

I loved listening to Big Science just as much today as I did twenty years ago! It's AWESOME!!

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The original Star Wars trilogy will always stand in first place for my sci-fi loving heart, when it comes to classic, wonderfully told space adventure. The special effects were groundbreaking at the time, and today, are just as powerful, though we would do them differently now. The characters are multi-dimensional, and the story of good vs. evil is masterfully played out. For anyone who loves sci-fi, this needs to be at the top of the list.

If I could give this series 6 stars I would. These films were an absolutely amazing breakthrough in cinematography. These movies, while slightly hokey by today's standards, have stood the test of time with amazing resilience. This version with the remastered sound but no change in the screenplay or visual effects is by far the best of all of Lucas' films.

Unlike the new Star Wars movies (from the older stories)these original movies, before they were 'remastered', had true 'spirit' or 'heart' or whatever - they were REAL. The 'special effects' (damn good for that time, if u care) weren't what made the movies such awesome adventures. It was a combination of things - a yearning to live the impeccable warrior life of a Jedi, to battle a terrible evil empire, to avenge the deaths of friends, family & unknown innocents, to live in the beautiful forests of Endor with the strange, primitive creatures called 'Ewoks', to bravely enter into the unkown - if you do not understand, all I can say is what a pity. The pathetic attempts at humour found in the new movies were not in these original movies - they were not needed.When I was growing up, Star Wars, like Conan & Monkey Magic (the real life series not the cartoon), inpires me. Lots.

The Star Wars Saga was a breakthrough in the science fiction movies. It is an imprtant series that should be learned, or at least mentioned, in cinema academies. However, it's not really a good movie. When the movies came out, the then breathtaking special effects had covered on its weaknesses. Today, when these effects are no longer unique, one can see more clearly the weaknesses of the series. The plot is generally OK though kind of weak and sometimes boring and pathetic, such as The Toy-Beaver like Alliens in "Return of the Jedi", at least, if you do something like that, after making millions in 2 movies- Get better costumes! The actors are pretty good, not great, but ok, and the general idea is good. Anyway, why 4 stars? Well, it is a classic, and as a breakthrougher it disorves some honor. It has some ideas that turned into cultural icons and even a religion, lately. The immortal Yoda (Though it could've been made better, I mean, what's with that muppet?) and of course, every-kid's-dream: The lightsavors. It is a nice movie, that is generally fun. It is a must see, as an important peice of cinematic history, but I guess it's just over-appriciated.

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it was great. haven't seen it since i was a kid 40 years ago. great to be able to get this kind of stuff. wish it was available on dvd instead of just vhs.

This is a wounderful movie and still holds up after all these years. Why one star? Well it isnt the movie, its fantastic!....Alot of people complain about the Special Effects. ....It dosent need any. The origional movie was filmed in "Super Panivision "more like: 2:35:1 aspect ratio, and has been reduced to 1:33 VHS. watching this version, will at best give you a headace. Can you imagine driving thru the Red Woods wearing horse blinders, your view would be drastically altered. The special effects are the Splendor, Grandios, and giant set pieces. When I saw this on VHS I got dizzy from all the Pan and scan needed to reduce it to VHS size. Most of the best set pieces are seriouslly cropped, and the destruction seen, is reduced to a mild storm. You are only seeing about 1/4 of the action, and magnificent sets that cover the entire screen. 1 star for the VHS release, but 5 stars for the movie..... Let us pray to the DVD Gods to give this movie the release it so deservedlly needs!

I've long been fascinated by the story of Atlantis, the mythical kingdom that was far in advance of anything of its time and because of its wickness ended by sinking into the sea. It was a story guaranteed to thrill the heart of a young boy such as myself during my growing up years. Because of this fascination I've always wanted to see George Pal's 1961 version of this legendary story and thanks to a close friend I recently saw it for the first time and was very impressed. Of course when the name of Producer/Director George Pal comes to mind we automatically think of his stunning special effects achievements in classics such as the 1953 "War of the Worlds", and 1960's "The Time Machine". While this effort could never be put on the same level as those films it still has much to appreciate and really is the ideal Saturday afternoon viewing experience. The film has everything thrown in for great entertainment value from ancient greek-style cities, sophisticated submarines, death ray laser guns, right through to a fiery and very spectacular climax that sees the entire city of Atlantis destroyed and slowly sink beneath the sea. Despite the repeated use of stock footage and props from the earlier MGM epics "Quo Vadis?", and "The Prodigal", this climax makes it all worthwhile and reveals some of the excellent miniature special effects work that George Pal was justly acclaimed for. By no means his best work, "Atlantis, the Lost Continent", still makes great viewing from a much more innocent time in film making.

The first and only time I saw this movie, I was but a child, and movies like this make one a child all over again. Hey, this is the stuff that dreams are made of. Boy saves damsel in distress, boy falls in love with damsel. Boy rescues damsel once again, and puts an end to the evil that seeks to take over the world. Only thing is will this movie ever make it to DVD? As I remember the color was brillant, and the special effects were wonderful for the day. If you are a Sci-fi buff, then here is a movie you will enjoy. Personally I am waiting for the DVD Widescreen edition.

OK, so it ISN'T "Citizen Kane"! "Atlantis the Lost Continent" is STILL more fun than sleds FULL of rosebuds!!!! Any movie with despotic/hammy actor leaders, people being turned into animals, crystal/laser death ray machines running amok,huge tidal waves, and portentous voice-overs is AOK with me, BIG TIME!!(did I say this isn't a documentary?) I can't WAIT for this to show up on DVD!! MAJOR FUN!!

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It taught me about science in a different way from the way people normally learn about science. I liked it because it's got some funny parts. Lots of times people learn science by seeing and having someone explain things to them. But this is different. For example, Telegraph Line uses a mailman delivering messages from the brain, which people don't usually see. This makes learning fun.

I love this VHS! But I also like the one With Cloris Leachman and the singing kids O.K. here's the first time I listened to Science Rock: 1.Knock,Knock Schoolhouse Rock: 2.Body Machine 3.Them-not-so-dry bones 4.Telegraph line 5.Circulation 6.A victum of Gravity 7.Weather 8.Electricity 9.Energy 10.Interplanet Janet 11.Goodbye Song How Fun Here's the 2nd time: 1.Schoolhouse Rocky 2.Body Machine 3.circulation 4.Victum of gravity 5.weather 6.electricity 7.energy 8.Interplanet Janet 9.Schoolhouse Rock (Instermentul)

Interplanet JanetShe's a galaxy girlA solar system missFrom a future world.She travels like a rocketWith her comet team,And there's never been a planet Janet hasn't seen.No, there's never been a planet Janet hasn't seen.Yes, the 1970s gave us Watergate and long lines to buy gas, but there was also the bicentennial, "Jaws" and "Schoolhouse Rock!" Who does not have fond memories of those 3-minute cartoons that aired on ABC television on Saturday mornings teaching a generation of children about history, government, math, grammar, and science? What kid does not know that a noun is a person, place, or thing or cannot explain how a bill becomes a law? (I am shocked that "I'm Just a Bill" is only #2 on the list of most popular Schoolhouse Rocks! behind "Conjunction Junction"). As you can tell, "interplanetary Janet" (#8), with its tour of the solar system, is my favorite Science Rock, although I guess it is not too shocking that "Electricity, Electricity" (#5) ranks higher. For the record, here the complete list of Science Rocks:"Body Machine" which needs things like chicken salad sandwiches as fuel;"Circulation," the big new craze as everybody is doing the circulation; "Electricity, Electricity" on the use of electrical power; "Energy" or more accurately Energy Conservation; "Interplanet Janet" and a tour of the Solar System;"Telegraph Line" all about the Nervous System;"Them Not-So-Dry Bones" without which you would be just a blob; "Victim of Gravity" sung by the Tokens; and "Weather" the greatest show on Earth!Science teachers around the U.S. can still use these wonderful little "rock videos" to both introduce key topics and to provide a bit of musical reinforcement. I know that music is still being used in schools to help students learn material (my daughter can sing a song with all the state capitals and there is a woman at work who can do all the nations of the world) and that was the guiding principle behind "Schoolhouse Rock." The series was created by an advertising executive who noticed his song was having trouble with memorizing multiplication tables but knew all the words to the latest rock songs. Faster than you can say, "you got chocolate in my peanut butter" he put the two together and the rest is not just history, but science, math, grammar and government. You can pick up individual videos of "Science Rock," "America Rock," "Grammar Rock," and "Multiplication Rock," but be aware that there is also a DVD edition that has ALL of the "Schoolhouse Rock" cartoons and the proverbial much, much more. I might have been too old for "Sesame Street," but I was never too old for "Schoolhouse Rock!"

Science Rock is great. It's amazing that in 25 years no one's been able to top it.I wonder how many high school seniors know as much as a kid who watches these videos about science. I prefer DVD, but whatever. My kids watch it all the time. I like it too. The songs are fun! The clever rhymes are unforgettable, but unlike some annoying kid's songs, you don't really want to forget these.I really feel like my kids need to be informed about the Bible too, so I'm overjoyed that they recently made a CD and DVD called Scripture Rock.

Hello, sorry I haven't seen this video but it was strongly recommended to me by someone on the semantic pragmatic disorder message board (her son and mine both have this disorder) unfortunately we live in England and the videos are U.S.A. and Canada friendly only. Could anyone let me know of something similar or a way of buying the videos that will work in England. Please email me on mlovell@postmaster.co.uk Thanks, Marie

Reviews

This video will change the way you look at food. It will also alert you to how we are being taken advantage of by the large food producers. They look at us just about the same way they look at a beef cow. The ominous revelation of one multi-national company taking control of all the seeds in the world and crushing anyone who stands in their way is breath-taking. The callous disregard of small children dying of e-coli in favor of relaxed inspections and regulations for the sake of profits is painfully shown through the eyes of a conservative Republican mother turned food safety activist. All it took for her was the death of her two-year old son to learn the hidden story. Although some have accused the film makers of left-leaning bias, an independent study of the facts will confirm their even-handed treatment of the subject. Wake up and tell others.

Everything about this movie and the book tie-in, is astonishing. Much better than Al Gore's movie for that matter. I have shown it to my family members so they can make better choices in the food they buy and eat. Must see!

This is a fabulous Movie, and it is certain to change your life. This documentary explains some of the reasons not previously disclosed for our national problems with weight gain. This shows how apparently up to 90% of our soybeans are controlled by a chemical company, and are apparently sprayed with roundup as they grow. We need to understand what is happening with the food supply, and how it affects us as well as the animals and crops. Excellent. The realistic parts are tough showing actual animals but those parts are short. See the entire film and you will make changes in your life for the better.

I began eating a little better a few weeks before my knee replacement, lost 12 to 15 lbs. Had a bad reaction to anesthesia and/or pain meds, so I didn't eat for 5 days. The 2nd day home I watched this movie, it made such an impact, I've eaten meat only once since and have dropped another 45 lbs. I FEEL GREAT! I offer this movie to anyone that will watch it, so far all have come away with changed diets, if not lives. The movie doesn't try to convince you to eat a particular way, it just presents the information in such a way that you are at your own will to come to your own conclusion. For me I equate eating commercially processed meat to having to survive on bugs, grubs, and roaches. I've completely sworn off hamburger meat and chicken, unless it's free range. Now it's a game my wife and I play in the grocery store spotting the corn by products in almost all processed foods. It's actually harder finding the ones that don't have any. I HIGHLY recommend this movie to everyone and especially those with health and weight problems.

DVD arrived timely and in great shape. Nicely packaged. Subject matter difficult, as I had been warned. Glad to have bought the DVD used, as I'll pass it on rather than keep it for future viewing.

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We have enjoyed this series greatly as an entire family and were glad to have the final half of the third year. We find the characters very intriguing, the plots fun and a bit far fetched (which makes it even more fun) and the quality of the effects generally well conceived. It is nice to have a series that is approachable for the entire family.

Just finished this set, and it's very entertaining and as good as the earlier seasons. It's great to get back to Eureka and its characters; looking forward to Season 4.

Maybe there's a good reason why they split the season in half (making it much more expensive by the way) but why couldn't they at least list which episodes are on each disc? Personally, I don't want to have to insert the disc into my machine to find out what's on it. A thumbs up on the recycling efforts though, and the show itself, of course, is awesome - I highly recommend buying it despite the packaging oversights.

the best show ever. i have them all. Eureka - Season One Eureka - Season Two Eureka: Season 3.0 Eureka: Season 3.5

Watched this on Scifi (when it was called that) now it's syfy channel and I really enjoy this series. If you like strange and unusual stuff you will enjoy this series too. I'm a syfy freak, I've seen most series on there and enjoy most of them. If you love science, neat things, or just shows about scifi you will enjoy this!

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If you are into Greek Mythology or not, this is a classic film you do not want to miss. Although very outdated in its technology it is still a wonderful, enjoyable, cult classic. The owl steals this film and the Greek Gods and Goddesses and story line are still enjoyable. In comparison the the new version of this film, I'll take this one everytime.

My family loves this movie!!! We did have some problems with the audio matching the video, but we restarted and it played great! The kids are really enjoying it! I cannot wait for the remake of it!! This is one of my all time favorite movies!

Preferences between the 1981 and 2010 versions appear to generally be based upon the generational differences. The majority of the younger viewers (30 and younger) swear that the 2010 version is worlds better than the 1981 version yet most of the older viewers stand by Ray Harryhausen's last production. Mind boggling? Not really. It's not difficult to see why. The latest version is typical of current special effects-based action movies. The pacing is fast, there are loud explosive noises for everything short of a fart and dizzying graphics to distract you from concentrating on a screenplay that suffers from major discontinuities and inappropriate costumes (since when did Zeus wear armor rather than a robe?). Interestingly, another reviewer pointed out that the plot was unimportant anyway because audiences really pay to see the newer and much better special effects. Really??!!! I always thought that if you wanted to see special effects on par with the new Clash of The Titans without thinking about a plot you could just play an XBOX or PS3 game through your home theater in the comfort of your own home. In fact, I'm shocked that more people haven't noticed that the new Medusa moves and looks like an artificial game character that moves like the '82 Centipede at the old arcades. Don't get me wrong. The movement of the new monsters are definitely smoother and more convincingly natural overall than the old stop-motion animated monsters. But the motion is still a little smoother than you'd expect from reality and when you'd expect something to vary its speed, it's usually just one speed throughout its full range of motion. Also, Medusa in the new version doesn't look realistic enough to touch. On the other hand, the new scorpions look totally realistic. Unfortunately, like the Medusa, harpies, and other creatures, the new monsters move at such a dizzying pace that the action unnecessarily loses its realism (typical of movies that use visual effects as crutches). The old Ray Harryhausen effects are definitely primitive for current day standards for their somewhat jerky motion. But you will immediately notice that it's sufficient for the purpose of the movie, which is ultimately to tell you a story that actually makes sense even if it doesn't follow Greek mythology to a T. The 1981 Clash of The Titans will appeal to older viewers because they grew up watching movies with pacing that is not rushed for the sake of exciting them because of a lack of story logic (Why did Zeus decide to destroy Argos then give fighting tips to Perseus to save its people???) On the subject of picture detail. It's true that the original '81 lacks the detailed punch of most newer movies but to make the most of this movie (or any other), you cannot rely on the default factory settings of whatever display you are using. If you properly adjust the picture controls of your TV to its proper settings using a calibration DVD or Blu Ray disc, you'll get a decent quality picture from the Blu Ray version as well as the regular DVD version. This also means turn off your anti-motion blur circuit if you have an LCD or LED backlit LCD to avoid watching movies with a home video look, make sure your contrast and black levels are set correctly. If you've done all this, then you're good to go. If you're using a plasma set, then you don't even need to worry about color, tint, and black level shifts when you sit away from a seat at a dead center position.

The Blu-Ray version of this movie is an absolute rip-off. Image is VCR quality at best, and is hardly worthy of the Blu-Ray price. This is by far the worst money grab I have seen. Do yourself a favor, if you want to see this movie, buy the much more affordable DVD version instead!

Saw this movie years back and after seeing the new version, I missed this one. Although corny, it includes a lot more mythology and has a more interesting plot. Had to include this to my blu-ray collection.

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After some time studying English, it turned to be something pretty easy to me. I'm Brazilian and, having Portuguese as my mother language, I thought that reading this book was something really fun. Content is presented in a nice way. I've really liked it. And price is great!

It does get to the point, but i bought this book because it said for " students entirely new to programming." Well, I was entirely new and so far I'm on chapter 3 and still hasn't define what "if" statement is and what is an integer which we have used so far in almost every single program so far. They mention so far "you should have some experience on C", from there it kind of hit me, I need to learn c or c++ before getting into objective c, therefore i left the book, took a class of c++ and now i think that the book is very clear and very simple to use. My conclusion is that the book is good as long as you have some sort of c++ background. I think mainly they wanted you to buy there previous books, which are unnecessary since the codes change in objective-c and you have to relearn what you know. It would of been a great book if it would of began explaining from the beginning what the codes and statements were without previous c++ knowledge. Oh, and at the end of every program so far, they put // main which is unnecessary for the program to function, that is just a comment. You need only very basic c++ experience to understand the book since they don't go back to basics explaining what some of the concepts are. Oh, it also says on page 5, "in chapter 2 of Dave Mark;s Learn C on Mac walks you through the steps of acquiring, installing, and creating programs with xcode". Basically they are going back to the idea of you purchasing their previous book! I'll tell you right now, just google "download xcode" and it'll take you to that link. I think they could of skip that last quoted sentence and just tell you the link, right?

This book takes an introductory look at objective-C based on the reader already knowing C programming. It does an excellent job of presenting the major features and building on top of what went before. It includes some examples using Cocoa (I can't imagine that you could otherwise). It correctly makes a major point in its treatment of memory management throughout the book and details the difference between retain-release method, memory pool method, and garbage collection (new in ObjC 2.0). It also makes note that iPhone development primarily requires use of the retain-release method. As C is a minimalist language and Objective-C is a minimal layer on top of C, there is not a huge amount of material to cover (Almost 1/3 of the book covers ObjC 2.0.) This makes the book a quick read, but does not diminish its value. Compared to shorter treatments of Objective-C, this provides a much better explanation.

I have read many programming books, and this is by far the worst of the lot. Look at the table of contents, to see that a) OOP in Objective C is covered too early b) The basics of the language itself is never covered (loops, data structures, conditionals etc.) c) There is *no* treatment on exception handling The list goes on. This book does not teach or present anything a way that can't be easier learnt from the XCode documentation or found online. Buy something else.

I consider myself to be an intermediate to upper level programmer. My expertise has been in Java and C++, doing mostly Windows applications. I decided to try to pick up Objective-C and later iPhone programming after buying a new mac. I absolutely loved this book. It plays very well to the intermediate level programmers who have done a lot with object oriented programming and object oriented languages. It gives fantastic detail about the Objective-C framework and really walks you through it. I just finished this book about 30 minutes ago and already feel very empowered. I also loved that this book explains a lot of the Xcode features, as they're very helpful. If you're a programmer looking to start out into the Mac world, I would highly recommend this as a good starting place. It's a pretty quick read and will teach you a lot.

Reviews

I bought this book because I wanted to see code that successful iPhone developers had written. I guess I was looking for "best practices" sort of information and I was hoping that I might get insight on how to tackle some problems I have run into when developing my own applications. Book Flow The biggest disappointment in this book is that developers wrote it (I am assuming). The book lacks the continuity you would normally find when one or two people collaborate on an entire book. When a different person writes each chapter, you get seven different styles in this book. I found a couple of the chapters very well written, but the rest I found to be, well, written by developers. I'm not saying that developers are inherently bad at writing, but it takes a certain something to relay information to other developers effectively. Most of the writers of this book just do not have it. Code Samples I got very frustrated reading chapters with code snippets from applications the various authors had written. If a working application had been available to provide context to the snippets, then I would have been less frustrated. For example, in Chapter 5, the first 12 pages of the chapter provide code snippets with very brief explanations of what the code is supposed to do. No working example is provided for context. I couldn't even play with the code to see what was going on. It was almost like I was expected just to know the context because I was on the team that wrote the application. The last 10 pages actually create a working sample. I would have rather spent the entire chapter creating the application with better explanations of each step and theory behind the code. Proofreading I wish I had a dollar for all the typos I've seen in this book. Again, in chapter 5, page 118 there is a screen shot of the application the author wrote. The caption says it's a screen shot of the application that you will be writing at the end of the chapter. Sloppy. Conclusion I feel like I did get some useful information from this book. Was it worth the frustration of reading poorly written text, no context for code snippets, and numerous errors? Not in my opinion.

I bought this after seeing the high reviews from others on this site. Unfortunately, the content doesn't quite live up to the hype for me. I got this in particular wanting more details about threading having come from the Windows world where I have implemented very robust networking applications that require UI responsiveness while results are cached in the background. I was hoping this book would shed some light on how to go about doing this in the iPhone paradigm, but the example is so rudimentary that it almost isn't even worth putting into the book. Plus, the instructions for building the app are incorrect and contain glaring omissions as well as references to code objects that don't even exist. What's worse is the code itself as listed in the book doesn't even run when built! It causes an unhandled exception due to objects created in the header file not being instantiated or initialized in the implementation file. And no where in the chapter does it say you must download the source code for the example. It walks you through it as if it has been checked and is guaranteed to work as printed. Once you download the source code, it becomes apparent how rushed or poorly thought through this portion of the book was. Whole sections of the header and implementation files are glaringly omitted from the book. Did Bennett even bother proofreading this part of the book, and if so, where were the editors in this process? It's shameful for a book that is marketed as a technical tome to increase a developer's proficiency on the platform. I'll admit that I haven't delved into other parts of the book in great detail, but the game portion did look pretty interesting at first glance. However, the hands on experience I had with the threading chapter left a very bad first impression and does not leave me all too optimistic on either the usefulness or accuracy of the additional content in the book.

I have enjoyed this series of books from Apress, this one in particular was good for the depth it provided and the views from developers of actual products. Often when trying to solve problems it is nice to see examples from code that has been successfully used. It was a quick read and I certainly would have enjoyed having a book twice as large so that I had more examples and ideas to look through. If you've read the other books in this series (in particular the Beginning iPhone 3 SDK book) and enjoyed it, you will probably find some value here.

Overall, a very interesting read. Each of the chapters contains very useful information that I found to be quite valuable to as up and coming iPhone developer.

When reading introductory books in any language, it is easy to learn the language elements and concepts, but it is hard to see how everything fits together. What is great about the cool projects series from Apress is being able to see the elements and concepts in practice with projects from professionals who are active in the field. Each chapter is written by a different author, so every project covers a different experience and topic. These range from touch interfaces to streaming audio over the network. Some of the projects presented are based on the author's live applications that are currently available through the App Store. A wide range of the topics are covered in the book with practical examples of the concepts. This book is definitely not an introduction to Cocoa or iPhone programming. It is more geared toward the intermediate reader who has learned the basics and needs practical, real-life examples. It can also be of use to a more experienced iPhone programmer who wants to explore some of the topics in the book without having to dig through the documentation. I would highly recommend this book because it is easy to read and does not get bogged down with basic concepts. Code is provided on the book's site and is easy to follow the code with the explanations in the book. As a beginning iPhone programmer, I found this book to be a lot of help to work out some of the concepts I was having trouble with.

Reviews

I am already a programmer but new to C. I recommend this book. It explains code and the initial set up in detail. Some people may think it has too much detail but I'd rather have more than not enough. I find C tedious compared to the high-level languages I have been working with (COBOL and Natural). This book does a great job explaining the concepts and the codes so it has helped. The author is thorough and uses a bit of humor and keeps the reader engaged. He doesn't use too much humor and that's good. I don't like books that appear to be 'childish'. Anyway, this is a wonderful book and I enjoyed reading it and learning C.

Recently I downloaded Kindle for the Mac, and out of interest I chose the Kindle version of Learn C on the Mac to experience Kindle in action. The Kindle version did not display any book page numbers which was immensely frustrating since it was hard to gauge where I was in the book without referring back to the table of contents. Not a satisfying user experience. The book itself is a little higher in quality than complete drek but by a narrow call. Most of the code is built around creating a DVD library - using the terminal for all input and output - a very historical if not dated approach more suited to a 386 PC from the 80s. It is a very simple project, too simple in my opinion for what the Mac has to offer. Code slices are available from the book's website. A long list of bugs are reported by readers on the website along with author responses. Some of the bugs are just down to bad proof reading, but others are more serious. e.g. operator confusion. Towards the end of the book, a short piece on binary trees and searching is preceded by an even shorter piece on recursion (using factorial as exemplar). The author professes himself a fan of Knuth's work so surely something more substantial could have been presented. In summary the book takes one straightforward terminal focused I/O application and uses it deliver brief illustrations of C constructs and mechanisms. Apart from a couple of screen-shots from XCode at the beginning, a reader could be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled into a time warp of C presentation from 20 or more years ago. Objective-C and Cocoa get mentions that are so brief as to be useless. The 'Mac' component in the book in my opinion is irrelevant. There are better C texts, more substantial and more challenging.

So far this book has been great at introducing some of the concepts necessary for programming in C. I have had some programming experience in he past, so it is not all foreign to me. The programming examples are easy to follow and the book is well organized. This is my first use of a book from Apress, and I will likely purchase follow up books like programming in objective-c.

Learning to program in C can be very boring and intimidating (it was to me in my younger days). Most of the time you're writing code to run in a command environment with no fancy and colorful-looking graphical user interface (GUI) to play with - typically just black and white text. However learning this language is very important for gaining a strong programming foundation. Especially if you're going to develop using a more modern language that expands upon C (Objective-C on the Mac, Visual C# in the Microsoft environment, C++, etc.). Learn C on the Mac is a relatively simple read. The author does not assume that you're already a C programmer and therefore takes you step-by-step from the beginning through important topics that apply to many different languages. The book flows very smoothly from one topic to another gradually taking the reader into more complex coding. Not once did I get lost on a topic. This book does not teach you everything you need to know about programming and it does have you write plain old command environment-type programs, but all of the language features, techniques and real-life scenarios it contains is very valuable to the learning process. You will feel like a C programmer when you get finished with this book. I purchased the Kindle edition and it was formatted very well for my 9" DX screen. Happy programming!

Some of the code examples given do not run properly any longer. For instance if you try to use the \b command for printf they speak about in chapter 5 it simply doesn't work. It adds the numbers to the end of your value instead of backing up and replacing them like it says it should. (For example 50\b5 should give a value of 55, not 505 which is the output in the current version of xCode.) It doesn't inspire a lot of confidence about finishing the book when some of the basic the code doesn't compile properly. I bought this book used so it wasn't a huge loss, but I was less then impressed.

Reviews

Farscape is an excellent series. One of my favorites. But don't get gouged by people trying to sell you overpriced dvds when a complete series set and season box sets are coming out again soon. Wait for November and buy the whole box set from Amazon.com then. And to the gougers... you might want to drop your prices.

If you haven't gotten this collection yet then please wait. They will be making a Starburst Edition DVD collection very soon. What's that? It's essentially a bigger and better collection of Farscape Episodes. Instead of getting four episodes you get seven. Intead of paying $35 retail you pay $20. You get all the cool extras that are on this collection along with even more cool extras. Look for the Starburst Edition for season four. If it's anything like the previous seasons they will release three volumes (as opposed to the five with this collection). See? Another added bonus... more shelf space.

This is the start of the fourth and final season of "Farscape," and with this first five episodes Moya's crew reassembles and John Crichton gets some good news and bad news by the end of this 2-DVD set. As always you will find some fan friendly extras along with the episodes: Episode 401, "Crichton Kicks" (Written by David Kemper, Aired June 7, 2002) starts off the season back in the Uncharted Territories with a bearded Crichton reunited with Chiana and Rygel aboard the decaying Leviathan Elack. A group of Grudek mercenaries intent on harvesting the Leviathan's rare neural tissue mercenaries show up and have to be stopped. Moya's crew is not back together by the end of this one, but at least Crichton shakes off the cobwebs and starts getting acclimated to the idea that Aeryn is out there somewhere carrying his baby...or is she?Episode 402, "What Was Lost, Part 1: Sacrifice" (Written by Justin Monjo, Aired June 14, 2002) has more of Moya's crew showing up on a planet where Interion scientists are conducting an archeological dig. Then Commandant Grayza shows up and uses a sensual spell to try and get to Crichton's secrets and the Old Woman, convinced Crichton will crack, figures killing him would be a good thing. Fortunately they put the second part on the same disc here as the story continues. Episode 403, "What Was Lost, Part 2: Resurrection" (Written by Justin Monjo, Aired June 21, 2002) has the Farscape gang trying to stop the Peacekeepers on Arnessk from recovering an alien weapon of mass destruction while Crichton tries to resist Grayza's sensual assault. D'Argo and Jool have a plan, but you know how well those things work out. Fortunately, the dying Leviathan Elack makes for one heck of a trump card and it looks like maybe Crichton will not have Scorpius to kick around any longer (yeah, right, but Moya does lose a crewmember).Episode 404, "Lava's a Many Splendored Thing" (Written by Michael Miller, Aired June 28, 2002) has the crew still searching for Moya but being forced to make an emergency landing on a desolate planet. There Tarkan freedom fighters capture Rygel inside a cavern filled with lava after Sparky's love for shiny objects gets him in a stick situation once again. Chiana and Sikozu become the new bickering couple for the series but manage to avoid coming to blows for the time being. This is a comic relief episode that, for many reasons, strikes me as a tongue in cheek homage to the original "Star Trek." But I am probably reading too much into it.Episode 405, "Promises" (Written by Richard Manning, Aired July 12, 2002) starts off with good news and bad news. The good news is that Moya is finally reunied with her crew and Crichton gets to see Aeryn. The bad news is that she is in the company of Scorpius (you thought he was gone for good?) and in the throes of Heat Delirium. To prove his good intentions, Scorpius finally removes "Harvey," his neural clone, from Crichton's mind. Then a giant Lukythian Ship rockets up to Moya, preventing starburst, and its captain accuses Aeryn of being part of team of assassins who killed the Prime Lukythian. The Lukythians infected her with Heat Delirium and will provide an antidote in exchange for the names of those who ordered the hit. If this was not enough fun, Grayza has a prototype Peacekeeper missile for killing a Leviathan.

Damed Because it was Just too good to last.This is what wide screen, hi-def., TV's with surround sound were made for.there is nothing on the tube that can compare to the all around quality of Farscape. I really miss this show.Dr.Joe DJ/MC

Why is it on a very rare occasion we are able to catch a series that doesn't completely suck, and just when you get used to television that isn't mind-numbingly dumb they take it away from you? Ahh, another disappointment. Farscape Rocks and this DVD rocks along with all their other DVD's. It's a shame the SciFi channel has sold out and replaced Farscape with crap like Scare Tactics. It's tragic. I love Farscape!

Reviews

My grandson is turning five and he regards life as an experiment waiting to happen. For instance, he received a butterfly habitat and watched the butterflies hatch out then called me to tell me about letting them go. Recently we were in the backyard trying to catch fireflies! I bought this science kit to encourage him to love science. There were more experiments and materials than I had thought. He has already done four different things and has many more to do and just loves it. I see this as a good educational toy to inspire a youngsters interest.

My son received this for Xmas soon after turning 4yo. He LOVES it! There are two volcano simulations that he LOVES. He'll do them over and over. He does need help with it, so it's not something I can leave him to do on his own, but it sparks great conversations and questions. All the materials (or at least most, I can't remember them all right now) included are food stuffs--citric acid, red cabbage powder, baking soda, etc--so I feel like it's safe to use with little ones and in the kitchen while I'm cooking. I highly recommend this one. We have another one that he likes, but this one is his favorite.

My 6 year old was so excited for his first experiment set. He immediately did two experiments with Daddy (which was nice for Mommy to have a break). If your kid can sit still and follow directions, this is a great activity.

We bought this for my 6 yr olds birthday and so far it has been great. It is advanced enough for a much older child, but also simple enough that my 3 yr old loves it too. We will definately be buying another kit from this series.

The good: -Younger kids (mine is five) get to see/feel things happen. -Everything you need is included. -Experiments are fairly manageable and cleanup is straightforward. The bad: -If you want something that really explains deeper scientific concepts, go elsewhere. This is mostly just variations on basic acid/base stuff that you can do with baking soda, citric acid, and some pH indicators. The verdict: -Fun for younger kids and low stress for parents. Good combo for me.

Reviews

I do not believe in hand held games or video games for children. My mother is the one who went against my wishes and purchased this for my daughter Christmas 2008, that's right 2008. Knowing my feeling on this subject my mother came armed with newspaper articles, e-articles, and an educational magazine. Due to my stubbornness it was an entire year before I loaded the software on my computer. With that being said I am glad my mother purchased this for my daughter (age 8) as I never would. Didj is not a hand held game or video game, it is an awesome educational tool. I love it! The Didj includes a feature on its "Leapfrog Connect" in which I can upload her spelling words and choose her math facts and language arts skills by grade and then again by specific skills. In order to continue to the next level she must answer a series of educational questions, this motivates her because she earns micromods. Micromods are equivalent to money/tokens in which she downloads "extras" for each game. For example, she has downloaded a pet for Sonic and a new computer for Nancy Drew and a Karate move for Spongebob. I have purchased another six educational tools; Nancy Drew, Nicktoons, Neopets, Tinkerbell, Super Chicks, High School Musical and a free download from Leapfrog Jet Pack Heroes. I can't seem to say enough about this valuable educational tool. My daughter is studying her math facts and spelling words without me telling her "It's time to study".

We just found this game at an unbelievable price and well, had to grab it. Boy, am I glad we did! It is FULL of multiplication problems which is what we were needing at the moment. It does a great job in teaching the children how to do multiplication faster and they have to get it right before moving to the next level. What makes this game unique is that there are the three different Nick characters, so it doesn't get boring. It's seen a ton of playtime already and I know it will continue. Besides, when they have to practice Math facts nightly, what a great way to do it! Highly recommend!

There wasn't anything in the game to change the characters. Only had spongebob in the game. I wasn't able to find danny phantom.

My kids love this game, they have spent the most time enjoying it over the other games.

This is the first didj game that kept my son interested and playing - almost too long we had to set limits on his play time. He loves it.