Can Langdon find the Lost Symbol?

Advantages: Fast paced
Disadvantages: last 50 or so pages

...'The Lost Symbol is the latest offering from Dan Brown featuring Harvard Symbologist Robert Langdon and like all avid readers of his work I was looking forward to reading the book. - At 6am on a Sunday morning Robert Langdon receives a message from his mentor and friend, prominent 33rd Degree Mason Peter Solomon, to conduct a lecture in Washington?s Capitol Building and not wanting to let his friend down Langdon agrees to go and sets off for the airport where Peter?s private jet is waiting for him. However on arrival at the Rotunda area within the Capitol Building, something strikes Langdon as odd, there is nobody waiting there for the lecture. Believing he is in the wrong building Langdon is set to walk about but is interrupted by a commotion, on looking on what the problem is, it seems that somebody has left a strategically...

paulpry118 09.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown- Ancient Mysteries

Advantages: A good read
Disadvantages: Part of the plot is not too convicing

.... Personally, it gives me a good reflection for my faith. And finally, even though there are a few issues with the book, overall it is still a good read. For those who are new to Dan Brown, I would not recommend to read it straight away as it may end up being different from your expectation. Reading other of his books will get you used to his style of writing. Then you can proceed with the Lost Symbol, which I think is slightly different to his other works....

medgenie 11.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

A Scanner Darkly

Advantages: Good Special Effects
Disadvantages: Not many

..."A Scanner Darkly" is based on the novel by Philip K Dick. Richard Linklater's film stars Keanu Reeves as undercover narcotics policeman; Bob Arctor. This is an interesting film but it didn't really move me deeply. There was some good acting but the story line was simply not exceptional. On deep reflection it is not a film that I would recommend. But if you want to watch it do so at your own risk. 1 hour forty mins Rating (15) The Product details The Actors: Rory Cochrane, Robert Downey Jr., Mitch Baker, Keanu Reeves, Sean Allen (II) Directors: Richard Linklater Format: PAL, Widescreen Language English Region: Region 2 ( DVD formats.) Aspect Ratio: Wide Screen:1 Number of discs: 1 Classification: 15 Studio: Warner Home Video DVD Release Date: 22 Jan 2007 Run Time: 120 minutes...

Nazuku 13.12.2007 (21.12.2007) · Read review
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Review of A Scanner Darkly (DVD)

Great Scanner

Advantages: good quality scanning
Disadvantages: software is rubbish, can take for ever to scan an image

...I bought myself this to scan various things (old photos, documents and some sheet music) and this does the job pretty well. It was a bit on the expensive side but I needed something that would give me good quality and I could trust that it would work well so I went for HP as they are well known for good quality products. TECHNICAL INFORMATION It can scan at up to 4,800 dpi (dots per inch) It has 96 bit colour It has a 216x311mm scanning screen Connects by USB It is 303x508x108mm (wxdxh) It weighs 5.2 kg So it can give you very good quality, it gets a lot of colours, it's got a decent sized scanning screen, it's pretty big and it's not a light weight utility. There is nothing in there to put me off though because I still bought it. A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IT Scanners have been dying out because they are getting beaten by...

dbirse 11.03.2007 (11.04.2007) · Read review
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Review of HP ScanJet G4050 Photo Scanner

A Scanner Darkly

Advantages: Very Stylistic, gerat soundtrack
Disadvantages: difficult to follow

...Having read Philip K Dicks book, A Scanner Darkly, I was eagerly awaiting the film adaptation. Upon hearing that George Clooney had optioned it no less, and that Richard Linklater was down to direct it I was kind of ecstatic. I have a lot of respect for George Clooney, following his efforts to turn out less main stream Hollywood films, in favour of thought provoking and interesting films. So when I heard that Keanu Reeves had go the lead role as Bob Arctor, my heart sank. To be fair to Reeves, his last couple of films have been stinkers. Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions were not bad down to his acting, more to the clunky direction of the Wachowski Brothers. But the lead character for A Scanner Darkly, in my opinion would always have needed someone who had a half decent range, and not someone who cam across as a bit of an airhead...

Lloyd1979 26.01.2007 · Read review
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Review of A Scanner Darkly (DVD)

A Scanner Darkly

Advantages: Interesting depiction of future drug use and relationships
Disadvantages: Slightly dated dialogue, introverted like all Phillip K. Dick

...'A Scanner Darkly' is sci-fi, to be sure, and it's good sci-fi, no doubt about it- it gels together fantastic concepts and well thought out ideas with the mores and values of modern society, creating a fairly seamless blend of present and future. But mostly, it's about drugs. And that is partly why I would recommend it. The writing is classic Dick- snappy, looping dialogue, themes of paranoia, conspiracy and shifting interpersonal relationships. But the autobiographical element of the novel is what is most interesting, and that is largely centered around drug use. Despite a final epilogue where Dick laments the effects of drug abuse on himself and his circle, the writing is remarkably even handed during the novel itself. The side affects of 'Substance D' are the real driving force of the novel and its effects on the drug users...

earthbound23 19.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick

More Scanners, not quite as good though

Advantages: Some good plot twists
Disadvantages: Doesn't add anything new to the previous movie

...The great thing about the original Scanners movie is it was a totally new idea combining elements of horror & science fiction with telepathy & telekinesis which gave the sinister but rather compelling story of good versus evil and brother against brother. Throw into that mix one of the first film roles for the awesome Micheal Ironside (as the evil brother) as well as the great film making ability of David Cronenburg and it made for a great underground cult horror 80's video nasty. The Scanners ability was caused by pregnant mothers taking a drug called Ephemerol, the child becoming a Scanner was its side effect. In this 2nd movie we mainly follow a lone good Scanner called David Kellum who it turns out is the son of the 2 surviving Male & Female Scanners from the original movie, he struggles to contain his power as we also see...

atytyut2434 02.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Scanners 2 - The New Order (DVD)

Barcode Scanner That Works

Advantages: Extremely User Friendly
Disadvantages: The "BEEP" when you confirm a scan

...This Symbol SPT 1550 is the best scanner around in an area flooded with similar products.This device is extremely lightweight compared to its competitors and ease of use is second to none.The scanner itself allows you to read barcode labels with extreme ease some scanners on the market ensure you have to be right next to the barcode for it to register but with the Symbol SPT 1550 it allows you to scan from a distance and scan hard to reach barcodes.The product also has touch screen GUI making it extremely user friendly the further you venture into the menus and sub menus you can never get lost due to the aptly named home icon.In terms of memory for this device i once scanned 1200 items in an initial audit i was doing and it had no problems in terms of slowing up....

Dexter2102 25.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of Symbol SPT 1550

HP Improves There Scanners

Advantages: Very Good Quality, Excellent SilverFast Software
Disadvantages: Abit Large, Dust Removal Software Not Good

...The HP ScanJet 8300 is a Professional Image Scanner from HP's Scan jet series. This is one of the top end Scanners HP manufacture and is ideal for the business domain. There is also an 8300gp model of this scanner which is a Graphic Arts scanner and has a monitor color-meter calibrator as a added feature ideal for graphic designers. Now about the HP ScanJet 8300, the scanner has an OR (Optical Resolution) of 4800x4800dpi and will scan high dynamic range in 48bit colour. This is fine for transparency and negative scanning. The scanner has a max reflection area of around A4 size. HP includes film holders which will hold 3 strips, 6 frames of a 35mm film. The holders can be placed in the base of the scanner for storage. The ScanJet 8300 is supplied with HP's own photosmart software. I wasn't impressed with the scan pro scanning...

Surj1 04.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of HP ScanJet 8300 Professional Image Scanner

Langdon Returns For Adventure No 3

Advantages: Sticks to the principles of the series
Disadvantages: written with the movie in mind rather than purely a book

...and comparisons back to the previous book were bound to be drawn. I personally have been looking forward to Lost Symbol but I seem to come from a smaller camp of Brown fans who think his best book was in fact Angels and Demons. Could he possibly deliver another book to follow in the success of the previous instalment of the Langdon saga? Rather than following the formula for the other two books directly Brown has taken a slightly different approach to this book. The writing style and the short chapters are exactly the same as the previous 2 outings for Langdon, but the plot takes a slightly different twist. The previous two books were written as solely books, but this one has a real feeling that it's been written with the movie adaptation in mind. It doesn't take away anything for the plot but there are a few more twists than the previous books...

Andy.mack 15.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown