Reviews About Charismatic Chaos (Mass Market Paperback)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

I was greatly distressed to read that the Vineyard churches have no doctrinal statement in MacArthur's book. Greatly surprised too, as I had a stack of Vineyard Doctrinal Statements (available since 1984) on my desk when I read MacArthur's book! Either he didn't do very much actual research or he deliberately lied. Either way, an apology and a written retraction would be the only truly Christian thing he could do. I bought the book because I was hoping that someone of MacArthur's calibre could perhaps point out some corrections that people in the Vineyard needed to hear. After carefully reading the whole book (several times), I realized that John MacArthut doesn't know much about the Vineyard, although he does offer many distortions and exaggerations. Of course, if he had taken the trouble to actually TALK to John Wimber personally, or allowed him to read an advance copy of "Charismatic Chaos" so that Wimber could clear up any misconceptions or explain himself more thoroughly, this could probably have been averted. But correcting the Vineyard was obviously not on MacArthur's mind - attacking it and spreading disinformation (and selling a lot of books) was. What a waste of a man's intellect and writing ability. P.S. I've been in the Vineyard for years, and I hold a Masters in Theology, as do MANY MANY Vineyard pastors and leaders. The people who labelled charismatics as "anti-intellectual" and "poor thinkers" need to grow up and repent of their conservative arrogance.

Get This One Charismatic Chaos (Mass Market Paperback)

%product_name


Its my choice Always Watching (Hardcover)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program (What's this?) Chevy Stevens writes stories about survivors. She puts her characters through awful events and usually doesn't flinch from the hard stuff - which is why I was expecting a little more from 'Always Watching.'

Mind you, it's a good book. 'Always Watching' is a story of a psychologist who's helped her patients through some horrific things, forced to face her own deep-seated trauma, buried in repressed memories and reawakened fears. When Dr. Nadine Lavoie meets a new patient, withdrawn and suicidal, she soon learns of a commune that brings up events from her childhood - things she thought long forgotten and left behind. Her fear of closed spaces becomes more pronounced as she investigates further into the group that her mother joined, what happened to her there, and what's still happening today.

As it develops, it becomes a story that rings all too true - one of a charismatic leader and troubling beliefs, secret practices and quiet abuses of power. When Dr. Lavoie's daughter becomes involved it gets even more frightening, and more personal. If the plot develops predictably, it's only because we've seen it often enough in recent years, and it rarely ends well. The spectres of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, of Heaven's Gate, even of Jim Jones hang over the events of 'Always Watching' - I knew something bad was coming, and I was not disappointed there, even if the punch was pulled a little bit at the end.

Still, there was something missing in Chevy Stevens' latest book. In her previous two novels, 'Still Missing' and 'Never Knowing,' the stories were told in the form of confessional therapy sessions, patients spilling their worst secrets and traumas to a mostly-silent therapist. Dr. Nadine Lavoie was that therapist, a slender thread linking all three books - but with Dr. Lavoie now narrating her own story, that element of tension is missing from 'Always Warching,' and the book suffers a little for it. In the other two books, there was always that feeling of hearing things you're not meant to hear, of knowing things nobody else knew, of struggling right along with those who are telling their story. By comparison, though the story itself is still harrowing, 'Always Watching' feels a little too pat - a little too easy.

I read 'Always Watching' quickly and enjoyed it a great deal. Chevy Stevens has lost none of her edge in telling gripping tales of women who have been through terrible events and lived to tell the tale. While I hope that Stevens returns to the confessional therapy session format for her next novel, I'll definitely be back to read it.

Actually, I'll be watching for it.

Get This One Always Watching (Hardcover)

%product_name


Its my choice Blue Microphones Yeti Pro USB Condenser Microphone, Multipattern (Electronics)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

I really wanted to like this microphone. The multi-pattern setup, its slick looks, and good reviews on Amazon and YouTube made me very optimistic. But after owning this for three entire days and testing it against my Samson CO1U (an $80 microphone), I ended up returning it.

PROS:
* Multi-pattern setup.
* Very attractive.
* Decent, though not great, sound quality.

CONS:
* Cost
* Required very high levels of gain (both on the microphone AND in the recording levels of my PC).
* Sound quality was decent, but not worth the cost, for me.

I called Blue Tech Support and they confirmed that the mic required very high levels of gain, but they didn't apologize for it saying "some mics just require higher levels." However I'm using 100% of the gain on the microphone and 90% in my PC's recording settings -- that seems excessive to me.

Installing the Yeti Pro driver was a little weird, too. The microphone didn't "self-discover" on the PC when I plugged in the cable (no big deal). But the directions in the brochure didn't match the steps you really had to perform to install the drivers.

Many have told me that using the analog cables and a separate interface is really the way to go. They're probably spot-on. But I had already exceeded my budget and didn't want to spend any more to make this microphone do what it was already designed to do all by itself. Plus when I called support, Blue confirmed that the digital controls on the Yeti Pro won't work after you hook up the analog cables -- you'd be muting your recordings and adjusting your gain and headphone levels directly from the external interface unit, which you'd have to buy from your local music store (I guess I really shouldn't be surprised here since one is analog and one is digital).

In all, I only used the USB connection and was disappointed. My $80 Samson C01U sounded much better (although it didn't any of the bells and whistles that the Yeti Pro did).

***REGRETTABLY, I GIVE THIS ONE A "2"***

I'm still rooting for Blue to make improvements. It's great company with a great reputation. Maybe I will repurchase this microphone if improvements are made.

Get This One Blue Microphones Yeti Pro USB Condenser Microphone, Multipattern (Electronics)

%product_name


Reviews About magicJack Plus (Office Product)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

As a phone alternative, the Magic Jack is reasonably decent. I just recently bought a Magic Jack Plus which seems to be a lot better than the old device which sucked up vast amounts of CPU time on a decently powered computer.

Good luck ever trying to get any support - no phone numbers are posted anywhere, the only thing you can do is search their web pages, and eventually find a link to talk to what they claim is a live customer service representative. Customer service - absolutely not. Good luck trying to ever get any credits or money transferred. True, I did not really expect them, with previous knowledge of their pitiful service quality to even consider crediting a pro-rata part of the remainder of a pre-paid annual agreement, but I did expect them to either transfer and allow me to use remaining international calling minutes to the new device. No way - they don't do that. The only thing you can do is use a non Magic Jackass device such as a landline or cell phone, and use that to dial a special number, then enter the international number you want to call.

Don't even waste your time threatening to return the new device, they don't care. Don't bother asking for a manager, they are all the last person in the chain you can talk to. Don't bother asking for a phone number to talk to a person live, they won't give you one. I will - 561-594-9925, Monday to Saturday, I think 9am - 6pm Eastern time. When you finally get a response that way, you will meet the same thing I did - no, we don't do that, no I am the supervisor there is nobody else to talk to.

Go ahead and buy one, they are not bad devices and can save you money. Don't sign up for their 3 or 5 year contracts, that can save you money too, but you'll likely end up ticked off and not being able to change anything in the future - for example, if your device dies and you didn't buy their replacement insurance (at extra cost) - you won't be able to transfer remaining contract time to a new device. If you buy international calling minutes, buy it in small chunks ($5 at a time) - you don't save anything by spending more and buying in $10, $20 or higher amounts.

Also, if you or anyone in your family has any kind of device such as a Guidant defibrillator implant, be aware that Magic Jack changes software on a regular basis, with no warning, and your "call-home" device is very likely at some point to fail. No amount of effort contacting Magic Jackass will make any difference, they don't care. The Guidant people were more help, and even they had become frustrated trying to work with idiots who simply make changes and don't make any effort to work with companies who brign problems to their attention and try to work to resolve it.

Another tip, don't sign up for automatic annual renewals, there are thousands of complaints with the Better Business Bureau, and many people have had automatic renewals when they did not want to renew, or had replacement devices. Remember - watch your email, and credit card statements - if you see a charge from them that should not be there, call your credit card company, dispute it, and they will reverse the payment. Don't play games and make trouble for no good reason, but don't alow yourself to be bullied either.

Take It Now ! magicJack Plus (Office Product)

%product_name


Great Product AT&T 993 2-Line Phone w/Caller ID Charcoal (Electronics)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

Pros;
1. Price,
2. Two line,
3. Decent display, (but see below),
4. Large area to write names for speed dial,
5. Decent sounding speakerphone, though 'tinty',
6. Battery backup for power failure, but time still has to be reset,
7. Auto busy redial: keeps on dialing every 30 seconds if line is busy (a rare feature),
8. Fairly large footprint, but not too big.

Cons;
1. New call indicator can't be turned off. Even if you answer the call on this phone, indicator still lights. I solved this by putting a small piece of electrical tape over the surface mounted LED on the circuit board for each line.
2. Display backlight is dim,
3. Base isn't angled up far enough. I cut a 1x2" piece of wood to prop up the back of the base so the display can be seen easier.

This VoIP issue with the hum should be fixable. It is just a ground loop, fixed by reversing the two wires from your POTS line. This worked for me!

Get This Product AT&T 993 2-Line Phone w/Caller ID Charcoal (Electronics)

%product_name


Its my choice Uniden D1780-4bt Dect 6.0 Cordless Phone System with 4 Hand Sets with Digital Answering System Cell-link Bluetooth-enabled (Electronics)




%product_name


The review about this product

I was very pleased with this amazing technology. I have not used all the features, and wholly anticipate using the Bluetooth cell phone hookup feature next year, but for now it works great. The speaker and handset volumes are an improvement in fact over a different older brand we thought was acceptable. Every bit of volume and control helps for my hard-of-hearing mother.

Get This One Uniden D1780-4bt Dect 6.0 Cordless Phone System with 4 Hand Sets with Digital Answering System Cell-link Bluetooth-enabled (Electronics)

%product_name


Great Product Esoteric Reading of Biblical Symbolism (Hardcover)




%product_name


The review about this product

I've been recently been listening to some audios from "Church Planting" Conferences about the of building Multiple churches in various areas including 10,000-12,000+ seat Mega-Churches and their "cpms", church planting models. It is so sad to hear these Pastors and "Apostles" so-called speak without any real knowledge (Gnosis)of the Deeper Meaning of the Ekklesia (church) and the true requirements of Discipleship according to plain Scripture.

But Esoteric skills are required for the FEW who want to find Age Abiding Life (Zoe) translated Eternal life in KJV, Matthew 7:13, 14. This rare book will help the Pre-paired reader to become familiar with the Higher Realms, what the Natural Man considers foolishness (Stong's # 3472 moria); if you trace this word back to it's Root you get: G3466 μυστήριον mustērion moos-tay'-ree-on From a derivative of μύω muō (to shut the mouth); a secret or "mystery" (through the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites); mystery (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible). Please SEE 1 Cor 2:14. Maybe read all of 1 Corinthians chapter two while in the neighborhood!

What is foolish to the Natural Man or Preacher (Shepherd actually) is simply because he has not been Initiated or experienced Gnosis of these Mysteries That are God's pleasure to conceal, Proverbs 25:2. The Natural man still drinks from Jacob's Well: the traditional, the static, linear-chronological doctrine of man; the dead letter that kills: Realm of the Past or is to Come, Never Now. The realm of the WAS, now is not, and IS TO COME. (compare Rev 17:8 to Rev 4:8 for example)

This book will help those who are the Called (Klesis)to a better understanding of what lies hidden in plain sight in the King James Bible once you are born from ABOVE and SEEK those things ABOVE Colossians 3:1ff; and seek the "better gifts: the more excellent Way and the prize of the High Calling (ano klesis = Above Calling = #507 and # 2821 Strong's) The realm of the was, NOW IS, and.... is to come. (compare Rev 4:8 to Rev 17:8)

It would be great if this book were one of a large collection and we could have it all spelled out for us, but that is not how God works in the Realm Above (actually there is no Above-Realm in this realm, since it is above all realms-boundless). With the Called, it is up to us to search out a Matter, see again Proverbs 25:2 The gnosis is living and dynamic and ever onward and Up-Ward, and we have to discover much for ourselves in Spirit and in Truth from the living WELL springing up from Within, no longer in this Mountain nor in Jerusalem (John 4), but the Living Waters from the River of Remembrance, our own Inner Stream.
The Word is a Lamp unto our feet, but this book can help shine a bit of the Light to our Path.

This book will help you move from the history of Jesus to the Mystery, which is Christ in YOU (your Hope of Glory). In-Joy, Marion Williams

Get This Product Esoteric Reading of Biblical Symbolism (Hardcover)

%product_name


Its my choice The Story Factor (2nd Revised Edition) (Paperback)




%product_name


The review about this product

As a public speaker, understanding the story factor helped me to understand what I was doing unconsciously. It helped me to bring power into my speech, but most of all, it help me to understand the power of the story I was telling myself. I am an NLP Practitioner, I know the power of the words over our life. But I never made the link between these words that we are using over our life and the story we are telling ourselves. This book is a must have in any public speaker library. I strongly recommend it. Thanks Annette for the time you took to write it. This has been the highlight of my year. God bless.

Get This Product The Story Factor (2nd Revised Edition) (Paperback)

%product_name


Its my choice Not Everyone Gets A Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y (Hardcover)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

I got a lot out of this book. Bruce Tulgan's articulate argument in Trophy makes so much sense that it seems obvious... once you've read it. He makes a great argument for old fashioned accountability but informs it with valuable new insights (and real world examples) of how these savvy young career builders view the employee/employer relationship. If you manage people and appreciate a really useful tool that is free from cliches you should read this book.

Take It Now ! Not Everyone Gets A Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y (Hardcover)

%product_name


Reviews About It's Your Call: What Are You Doing Here? (Paperback)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

By far It's Your Call is one of the best books I have read regarding calling. It is not your typical how to manual filled with questionnaires and gift analysis tests. Through personal reflections of his life and scripture application, he encourages the reader to move past the confines of tests, job titles, and positions to discover and develop their weightiness. This discovery and development can only take place through paying attention to our lives and intimacy with the Father. He points out that each individual has a glory, splendor, beauty, abundance, brilliance, or weightiness that the world is waiting to experience.

One of the highlights of the book for me was how Gary explained there are four primary ways that the enemy prevents us from operating in our glory. The 4-d strategies include:
--Distance-uses old wounds to push us away from the desires written upon our heart.
--Diminish-causes one to underestimate the value of their weightiness often through comparisons.
--Disdain-leads one to hate the way they use their gifting
--Disqualification-makes one feel unworthy of walking in their calling because of sin or shortcomings.

The book provides a fresh perspective on an age old topic. I would recommend this book to anyone who has taken all the assessment tests but are still searching for purpose.

Disclosure: I was provided a complimentary copy of the book by The B&B Media Group for review purposes. Views and opinions expressed are my own.

Get This One It's Your Call: What Are You Doing Here? (Paperback)

%product_name


Great Product Wounded Women of the Bible: Finding Hope When Life Hurts (Paperback)




%product_name


The review about this product

Wounded Women of the Bible: Finding Hope When Life Hurts by Dena Dyer and Tina Samples is a pretty extraordinary book! Ms. Dyer and Ms. Samples take on some pretty challenging stuff that most of us would rather avoid.

The authors share their own deep sorrows along with other stories from women of today and women in the Bible. They explore the hurts and damage of betrayed friendships, adultery, abuse, and many more hurts that so many of us have experienced through out our lives.

Open, honest discussions of the the challenges and hurts we may have faced as well as how God can and does help us heal, draw closer to God and how we can support and help each other through challenging and hurtful times.

The book is divided into short chapters full of experiences based on biblical women as well as women from today facing the same challenges though maybe through different circumstances. At the back of the book there are questions and study guides for individual review or group discussions.

Wounded Women of the Bible: Finding Hope When Life Hurts is not a light weight book! It is heady stuff and the information shared is enlightening, educational, practical and rather though provoking.

I can't wait to re-experience this book with a group of close friends and see where it takes us!

Many thanks to Kregel Publications for the opportunity to review this book. My thoughts and feelings are an honest reflection of how I felt about this book.

Get This Product Wounded Women of the Bible: Finding Hope When Life Hurts (Paperback)

%product_name


Reviews About Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance (Paperback)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

Solid book that provides an in-depth look at the glory of the Trinity. This is a smaller book and just begins to scratch the surface of what we can observe, love, and learn from studying the Trinity. I would definitely recommend this book for all. If you are trying to understand how the relationship of the Trinity works, while they being One then this will help unpack that. The main purpose of the book is to set the foundation that their is a hierarchy within the Trinity (Father highest, the Jesus, lastly the Holy Spirit) but they are equal. So one in their essence and nature, but different roles and relationships. This book will not give you every answer and exhaust the doctrine of the Trinity but it should and will help you think through what it means and why it is vital to our faith.

"The Trinity not only distinguishes the Christian faith from all others, it also establishes the basis for all that we hold dear as Christian believers."

"Freedom is not my deciding, from the urges and longings of my sinful nature, to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, how I want to do it, with whom I want to do it...the Bible calls that is bondage, not freedom."

Get This Product Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance (Paperback)

%product_name


Season 13...the end is nearing!!




%product_name


The review about this product

Although I miss the characters that are no longer present in the later seasons, Pamela and Sue Ellen amongst others, I still thought this season was a good one and I enjoyed it. There was still plenty of drama and J.R. is up to his usual antics but knowing you are coming close to the end of the Dallas series is sad! I don't like how the family somewhat starts to fall apart and Ewing Oil is no longer strong and powerful like it once was. But I am looking forward to Season 14 coming out!

Get This Product AT&T SL82318 DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone, Silver/Gray, 3 Handsets (Office Product)

%product_name


best info available to decipher IBM's data governance software options




%product_name


Its a review about this product

(disclosure: I was one of the review team and assisted with certain MDM aspects).

Data Governance is vital to the success of master data management (MDM) projects - both initially and ongoing. During 2011-12, Global 5000 size enterprises will increasingly mandate that "no MDM program be funded without the pre-requisite Data Governance framework."

"Go governance, go early" is the rallying cry of savvy enterprise and solution architects who are chartered with the setting the scope and direction of their enterprise's data integration programs. Understanding the scope, diversity and integration challenges is tremendously challenging.

Nonetheless, business and IT leadership chartered with defining and executing MDM programs need help to understand and navigate through the numerous Data Governance options.

Enterprise Architects, Solutions Architects, Directors of Data Governance, MDM Program Management, etc. - all are encouraged to get a fast track to "Go early, go governance" by reading and applying these excellent best practices, accelerators, and models gleaned by Sunil Soares in this much needed introduction to enterprise-strength Data Governance.

Given IBM's "embarrassment of riches" in its diverse and deep Data Governance portfolio, Sunil's book does a great service in brining the various piece parts together as a "unified" process ... and in turn, calling out which IBM software components address which processes.

Aaron Zornes
Chief Research Officer, The MDM Institute
Conference Chairman, The MDM & Data Governance Summit (London, Madrid, New York City, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto)

Take It Now ! The IBM Data Governance Unified Process: Driving Business Value with IBM Software and Best Practices (Paperback)

%product_name


Feature rich telephone




%product_name


Its a review about this product

This a pretty good phone. If you like a phone with a lot of features, this one's for you. Without the manual though, it might just take a rocket scientist to program this thing. So if you buy one, make sure a manual or the quick guide is included. Otherwise you may never figure this phone out.

My favorite feature is the busy/redial button. When trying to get a hold of important contacts, if I get a busy signal, I just hang up, hit the busy/redial button, and let the phone do the rest. It keeps trying and notifies me when it finally gets through.

A silent hold button, no clicks, no pops when putting callers on hold.

The speaker phone is the only draw back. Not well built, and I have had to many malfunctions with the speakerphone so I don't use it. Other than that this is a good phone. For the money, this is a very advanced telephone.

A feature rich phone, for those who don't have the money to buy more expensive brands.

Get This Product GE 29451 4-Line Business Speakerphone with Intercom (Office Product)

%product_name


Reviews About Dallas: The Complete Thirteenth Season (DVD)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

Although I miss the characters that are no longer present in the later seasons, Pamela and Sue Ellen amongst others, I still thought this season was a good one and I enjoyed it. There was still plenty of drama and J.R. is up to his usual antics but knowing you are coming close to the end of the Dallas series is sad! I don't like how the family somewhat starts to fall apart and Ewing Oil is no longer strong and powerful like it once was. But I am looking forward to Season 14 coming out!

Get This One Dallas: The Complete Thirteenth Season (DVD)

%product_name


Reviews About Some Like It Hot (DVD)




%product_name


The review about this product

Some Like It Hot [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) My review is not about the movie itself, which is a great classic comedy that everyone should see and own. Rather, I want to comment on the Blu-ray itself, which is a big disappointment.

When the disc is loaded into the player it does not offer a Pop-Up Menu and the movie begins after all the usual disclaimers, which is not a bad thing. But this turns out to be an issue later. Stay tuned....

Prior to the purchase of this Blu-ray I owned the 2-disc Collector's Edition which had a great quality picture and great special features. I read on Blu-ray.com that the Blu-ray was highly rated in terms of picture quality and sound. So, to my regret, I sold my DVD set to a friend and bought the Blu-ray.....BIG MISTAKE! Apparently sometimes when an older movie is given the High Definition treatment it brings out details and flaws as well. To my eyes the DVD I owned had a superior picture. The Blu-ray reveals more grain and in some scenes a rather odd checkerboard background, especially in dark areas. Some may call this pixilation; whatever it is called, it's annoying and distracting. In the scene when the girls arrive at the Florida resort, there is a definite picture breakup that occurs on the left side of the screen. It is reminiscent of how a film appears as it is about to reach the end of a spool in a projector..I am not kidding.

What about that Pop-Up Menu? Yeah, where is it? It doesn't appear at the beginning or the end of the film. Oh it's there alright, but you need some tricky maneuvering to find it. To say the least, this is a terrible Menu design flaw. When you finally get to the Menu there are some nice extras. These extras are on disc 2 of the DVD Collectors Edition.

In conclusion, I did not expect perfection in this Blu-ray and would have been very happy with just a slight improvement over my DVD. However, this Blu-ray took three steps backward. I am now ordering the 2-disc Collector's Edition on DVD....AGAIN!!! This is something that I never felt necessary to do with any of my other Blu-ray purchases. You've been warned. If you have the movie on DVD, KEEP IT....do not upgrade!

Get This One Some Like It Hot (DVD)

%product_name


Why Not A Movie, Too?




%product_name


Its a review about this product

KILLING IS MURDER is a great mystery written by seven authors, calling themselves Pleiades or the "Seven Sisters." Each of the seven authors created several characters, thirteen in all, narrating the story in each character's distinctive style. The characters, all "wanna-be" authors, gather for a weekend at Bromwell House for the writers' retreat but one of the group is a murderer and comes to the conference to settle old scores. The story line keeps the reader engrossed to the last page. But what I found fascinating is the skill with which the authors weave the story together. The transition from chapter to chapter is so smooth that the reader does not realize that another of the "sisters" has taken over as story teller. The characters are carefully delineated so that I had a clear visual picture in my mind of each of the participants in this conference. In fact, KILLING IS MURDER would be an excellent script for a movie. As I finished this thoroughly enjoyable mystery, I found myself casting the characters for stage or screen but using the stars of my age group. Darcie - Marilyn Monroe with dark hair though. Dolly Parton would enjoy doing Darcie as a lark, ankle bracelet and all. Jayne Pritchard - perhaps Joan Collins or maybe a Joan Crawford type only a smaller version. The male parts were more difficult but maybe Anthony Perkins as Ralph Lamping and so on. Each reader will bring his/her own cast of characters to mind, depending on the age. But KILLING IS MURDER would not only work as a movie, but an advanced drama class would have fun doing this novel as a play so possibilities are unlimited. I think the drama department of the University of incinnati would be most interested in this mystery.

Get This Product Killing Is Murder (Paperback)

%product_name


Get out there and do it!




%product_name


Its a review about this product

Part humor, part memoir, all inspiration, Take A Shot written by Jake Steinfeld and Dave Morrow is not only a tribute to Major League Lacrosse, it is also a testimony to the power of unwavering faith- faith in a dream, faith in one another and ultimately faith in one's self. It is the true story of how, against all odds and despite some major setbacks, two friends were able to come together and create a major league home for the sport of lacrosse. It is about the journey from idea to manifestation, an inspiring story of hard work, dedication, the power of friendship and belief in a dream.

As the title suggests the entire book is centered around the idea that in order to make any vision a reality, we must have the courage to "get up, get out there, and take a shot." When the founders of Major League Lacrosse set out upon their journey, they were unsure of the path their venture would take. But they knew one thing: if they didn't take the first step, take that shot, then nothing at all would come of the idea in which they so strongly believed. As it turns out, that first step led to another, and another, and another, until the path became clear and the dream of Major League Lacrosse became reality. Using real life examples laced with just the right amount of humor and reflection, the authors illustrate how life truly is about individual moments that when strung together have the power to create something from nothing, dream to reality.

In several instances, rising to the occasion of each one of these moments takes everything we've got. But when we do, we realize that our power to create and transform is directly related to our willingness to put ourselves out there for the purpose of fulfilling a dream. That is how Major League Lacrosse came into existence- organically, piece by piece, little by little. Take A Shot is an uplifting reminder that every journey begins with a single step, and as long as we have desire, determination and the willingness to take action, anything is possible.

Get This Product Take A Shot!: A Remarkable Story of Perseverance, Friendship, and a Really Crazy Adventure (Hardcover)

%product_name


Reviews About Motorola H15 Noise Canceling Bluetooth Wireless Headset (Wireless Phone Accessory)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

To date, I've used several older Jabra units, a couple of older Motorolas, and most recently two BlueAnt Z9s and a Plantronics Voyager 520. I lost one of my Z9s and stepped on the other one. I really liked the BlueAnt units but my wife wasn't impressed with the call quality. After the demise of the Ants, I picked up a Plantronics Voyager 520 from Wal-Mart because I needed something quickly and the reviews were fairly positive. As indicated by my Amazon review, I was less than pleased with the Voyager 520.

Now, on to the Motorola H15 Motopure. Below are the essential criteria by which I judge my BT headsets and how the H15 stacks up.

- Call quality: As noted in my Plantronics review, the most important factor is the quality of the call for the other party... which is most often my wife. If she can't hear me clearly she becomes irritated and demands that I revert to the handset. The Motorola gets high marks for call quality. As a matter of fact, it's the first BT headset I've used that she hasn't made a derisive comment about. The noise canceling seems to work very well. It's the first headset I've been able to use with the car windows down. Clearly, the noise canceling is superior to that of the BlueAnt and Plantronics units I owned previously.

- Earpiece volume: The other pet peeve my wife has is repeating herself. If I can't hear her and have to ask her to repeat herself, it's not good. The H15 barely passes this test. It definitely could be louder. The Plantronics unit excelled in this area which was it's only redeeming quality. If the H15 was louder, it would be absolutely perfect for me.

- Comfort: The retail version of the H15 comes with quite a few ear buds to tailor the fit to the individual user. I found a suitable ear bud and the device is reasonably comfortable for extended usage (1-2 hours).

The H15 also comes with a nice charging stand, is multi-point capable, and the flip open/close boom is a great feature. It quickly re-pairs with my Omnia and hasn't lost BT connectivity yet. The buttons are fairly easy to manipulate and overall the H15 is aesthetically pleasing, relatively speaking.

In summary, the H15 is the best BT headset I've used. It edges out the BlueAnt Z9 ever so slightly. As a matter of fact, I was debating between the H15 and the BlueAnt Z9i. While I'm sure I would like the Z9i, in no way do I regret the purchase of the H15, especially at the price point I paid ($49.99 for the retail package). It would have garnered five stars if the earpiece volume was louder.

It's a wonderful feeling knowing I won't have to shop for another BT headset for a long while. Thanks Motorola, job well done with the H15.

Get This Product Motorola H15 Noise Canceling Bluetooth Wireless Headset (Wireless Phone Accessory)

%product_name


Great Product Twilio Cookbook (Kindle Edition)




%product_name


The review about this product

Twilio Cookbook (Paperback) For all of you who are lazy and who do not want to read the full review here is a resume:
If you need a crash course on Twilio and if you keep in mind that code you will see in the book is for education purposes only, that's a good book that contain solid, tested-and-true recipes. But if you have some spare time to look around the Twilio API and some expertise with PHP I don't think this book will give you a lot and it might even frustrate you in some points (I especially hated the first two steps in every recipe which are the same).

Now let's go on with a little bit of detailed review.

Book contains 60 recipes to do simple tasks to complex ones. Source codes for all the recipes are given and they are actually easy to follow. But this book does not contain an overview of the Twilio API only methods used in the recipes. An overview of how the Twilio API works, how the authentication is done, how the library communicates with the actual API or what are the most used classes and functions could have been included. Even if it's a cookbook I think I expected such a part that contained basics should have existed.

Source codes could definitely have been better. I would understand writing HTMLs and PHP codes together to keep simplicity but executing queries without escaping parameters is not acceptable for me. That wouldn't have added complexity to the source codes but also provided newcomers who just copy and paste things some kind of awareness and security. I have even noticed the usage of "extract" function which might be very harmful for a novice who is not aware what it does.

The idea of tested and true functions is good and it's definitely the main difference between the code you find from the Internet and the the code you will find from this book. It will also give you some insight on what can be done and how but that's all. Some of the recipes caused some sense of unease for me. The recipe containing the Bulk SMS could really be harmful when you want to send an sms to hundreds of people. I think such a warning could have been nice.

I'm not really fond of cookbooks. The source code used in the books tend to become oudated pretty fast and when the source code is outdated book is not useful at all. There aren't any basics in the book which will give you a cause to keep the book in your library. To keep the source codes as short as possible and simple as possible, the practices used in the book are not state of the art etiher which might have been a use case for the book to give you an idea of the best practices to use the Twilio API etc.

I would have liked a part which included what you cannot do with Twilio, or what kind of workarounds you need to do to overcome a problem. But this is a cookbook so it's not actually the purpose of this book.

Returning to the resume, if you don't forget that you can't just copy paste the code used in this book for your production environment, this book will definitely give you a good idea on what Twilio can do. It will be a crash course for a seasoned PHP developer. It will definitely be helpful for anyone who wants to implement some simple tasks with Twilio which will be used by themselves and not by some end user. This book will definitely give you an "idea" on how to implement things but that's it.

Take It Now ! Twilio Cookbook (Kindle Edition)

%product_name


Great Product Beacon Phoenix 2 Bluetooth Speaker Beacon Blue (Electronics)




%product_name


The review about this product

I bought the Beacon Phoenix 2 Bluetooth speaker in the hopes of having both a portable speaker and an audio conferencing device for my iPhone. Its a great speaker, but it is a horrible conference call device because the micro-phone on the Beacon Phoenix 2 has terrible audio pick-up. I've done multiple test calls in different environments and every time the person I'm calling says that they can barely here me and that I sound like I'm in a tin can. So I cannot use this for conference calls. This is a big disappointment and I'm back to square one.

The pros:
*It excels as a Bluetooth speaker - It provides very rich sound
*It pairs with the iPhone extremely easily
*It comes with a USB cable for charging and you know when its charging and when its done
*Buttons are easy to use

The cons:
*The built-in micro-phone included for use as a speaker phone was a waste of time
*Cannot be used for conference calling if you want the callers to understand you

I would recommend the Beacon Phoenix 2 only for listening to music. Forget about trying to use it as a phone conferencing device.

Get This Product Beacon Phoenix 2 Bluetooth Speaker Beacon Blue (Electronics)

%product_name


Great Product Olympus Has Fallen (+UltraViolet Digital Copy) (DVD)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

Olympus Has Fallen (Two Disc Combo: Blu-ray / DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) Olympus Has Fallen is one of the best action movies of 2013 with an all-star cast that brings National Security to the forefront. Special effects made the movie seem realistic with the characters being believable. I went to the theaters with my wife, who hates shoot 'em up action movies, and she loved it. The movie gives a strong sense of patriotism and definitely is a MUST SEE movie to add to your library!

Get This Product Olympus Has Fallen (+UltraViolet Digital Copy) (DVD)

%product_name


This Is Your Captain Speaking




%product_name


Its a review about this product

This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith & Life (Kindle Edition) This is the life story of Gavin MacLeod. I found this book fascinating. Seriously, I am not much of an autobiography reader but, since I used to tune in every week to The Love Boat on television when I was younger and just loved show, I decided to read this book. I enjoyed all the pictures he shared as well in the book. I like that Gavin was able to keep his faith and let it keep him happy and motivated. Not only do you learn about this mans amazing history as an actor, you also find your own faith restored chapter by chapter. The world could use more Gavin MacLeod's. I was also amazed at his joy for living and his ability to see good in any situation. He loves life, loves others, and loves his faith. It's rare to hear a celebrity so outspoken about their faith in God. This book was a delight to read. I received this book from Booksneeze.com in exchange for my honest opinion.

Take It Now ! This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith & Life (Hardcover)

%product_name


Its my choice Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Kindle Edition)




%product_name


Its a review about this product

Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Hardcover) Even though I have always enjoyed MacArthur's ministry, I take some things he says with a grain of salt. I believe he is one of the best verse by verse expositors of scripture today. Over the years he has written some books I consider classics. "The Gospel according to Jesus Christ" was a game changer. But I believe this book, "Strange Fire" proves that even a teacher as gifted as him, can say things that make you go...hummh!?!

First off, I am a Charismatic Calvinist. But that is not the biggest reason why I have reservations about this book. I am of the same stripe as John Piper, Wayne Grudem, and Sam Storm. These men are Godly examples of what true Christianity is all about. Many have been in conferences right along side of MacArthur.

To be totally honest, I agree with 90 percent of what MacArthur says in this book. Many, if not most, in Charismatic circles are a few fries short of a happy meal. Everything from barking like dogs and slapping people across the mouth are things that are way over the top. The health and wealth Gospel has destroyed the faith of many. I believe John is right to expose these things.

Where I think he loses it, is when he thinks all people who believe that gifts are present today are no different that these hucksters. He added a last chapter as an open letter to people like Piper and Grudem warning them that they will fall to the same fate as Benny Hinn and Kenneth Hagan if they do not change their beliefs. That is what is so strange about this book. He paints with such large strokes that everyone in his path becomes a heretic.

If he would have just thrown in one or two disclaimers that there are a few guys out there who are the real deal, I believe the book could be useful. But the way it sets, it feels like he used a hammer when a screw driver was needed.

Some of the arguments could be turned back on himself. John is a Dispensational Calvinist . He argues that the gifts are not for today because we have not seen them through church history until the last 100 years. But the same could be said of his Dispensationalism. A woman named Margret MacDonald was the first person to "prophesy the pretrib rapture" in 1830. No one had ever heard of a pretrib rapture before then. If gifts are not true because they were not seen at one time in history, what about a doctrine that had never been seen until the 1800s?

I am not saying that it is not true. I am just saying that John is blind to his own weaknesses. A majority of other Dispensationalists believe in easy believism or the belief that you can be saved but never have a single work to show it and you will still go to heaven. Some even believe you can become an athiest and still go to heaven. If we painted with as broad a brush as John, we could say he needed to leave the dispensational camp or he will get sucked into the same heresy. He hasn't. In fact he has written against this error. If we can give him the benefit of the doubt, why can't he do the same with Reformed Charismatics?

In the end I believe this book is a good read. He exposes a lot of people who are just trying to make a buck. Where it falls short is he never brings a balance. He should have at least pointed these men and women to those in the Charismatic movement who are sound in doctrine. Instead he alienates himself from the very men who could teach them the truth.

I recommend this book with some reservations. Use the watermelon method... Eat the melon and spit out the seeds. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

I received this book, free of charge, from Thomas Nelson and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Take It Now ! Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Kindle Edition)

%product_name