Posts Tagged ‘review’

Play to Kill

Play to Kill(UK title) by the mother daughter team, P.J. Tracy, is the latest book in their Monkeewrench series.

I read the first book of the series, Want to Play?(UK title) about four years ago. A plot involving cops, internet and hackers is just my kind of thing being the geek that I am. Set in the cold city of Minneapolis, Minnesota two homicide cops Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are trying to solve a series of murder with the help of a group of very eccentric software developers/hackers. Since then three books has been released and now with Play to Kill going back full focus on the Monkeewrench gang and Magozzi with Rolseth.

It has been four years since the last book, Snow Blind, was released. So when I found out about Play to Kill I couldn’t wait. I re-read all previous four books with e exception of Dead Run to refresh on the characters.

As soon as I saw the book for sale before release date I bought it and of course read it in less then 24 hours.

The plot

A serial killer is terrifying enough, but when the murder videos begin showing up online – well, then it becomes an issue for computer analyst Grace MacBride and her eccentric crew of geniuses and mavericks. Recruited by the FBI, MacBride, along with Minneapolis cops Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth, work together to hunt down the killer. Using sophisticated tracking software, MacBride and her team scour the internet for signs of a possible attack, trying to weed out the staged videos from the real thing in hopes of finding a pattern. But bodies keep turning up, and videos keep being posted, and the team is getting desperate to save lives. It’s not until they come across a sinister website that a real lead is discovered. And it takes them all the way to a shocking conclusion . . .

The book read just as good as the first one, keeping you on the edge constantly. But unlike the first book the story has to many holes in it. I’m always able to overlook things and just enjoy the book but in this case I felt let down with how many holes there where in the story.

For starters you should really read at least the first book before reading this one, otherwise the story will feel bland and superficial without the background knowledge of the characters. And some knowledge of internet most popular websites is also good to increase the thrill of the story.

The book is worth the read, it may not be my favorite one of the series, I always like the first books of any series the most. But if you are a fan of P.J. Tracy and with four years without a new release this one will read like a breeze.

If you haven’t read the book yet stop reading! The next part contains spoilers. You have been warned. Read more…

Review: Logitech Marathon Mouse M705

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Last year I bought the Logitech Revolution VX to use with my Mac Mini setup. I chose the VX over the MX due that I have small hands.

The VX was a breath of fresh air after using older bulkier versions and wired versions of Logitech mouses. I spend long hours behind the computer, mostly surfing/reading, editing photos and coding websites. I comfortable mouse is important for me.

Then last month suddenly the left button started acting up, when I wanted to change a file name I normally click once on it to edit the name, but every time I clicked the file it registered a double click and opened the file instead of just making the file name editable. I thought at first it as the Logitech software, LCC, that handles Logitech hardware on Apple. So I uninstalled it and tried USB Overdrive, but the problem persisted. In short my VX had a defect left click exactly like mentioned on the Logitech forum.

Logitech Marathon Mouse M705

After some quick research I decided that the Logitech Marathon Mouse M705 would be my next mouse.

Mostly because it has about the same build as the Revolution VX and long lasting batteries. The Marathon was just released in Europe last month so luckily one or two store already had in stock. The current mouse stock at the moment of my purchase really left no other choice then the Marathon as there wasn’t anything new nor did they sell Revolution VX anymore.

The Marathon feels more sturdier in the hand then the VX, compared to it the VX rattles a lot more then the Marathon. The buttons are dark plastic which is more nicer then the chrome look on the VX. Also the Marathon body has a more matte finished plastic that feels nice in the hand.

The only con of the Marathon is the normal click-to-click scrolling to hyper-fast scrolling button. It is situated just above the scroll wheel, so it feels like a bump under the finger when scrolling. They could have made it that button sticks out a little less.

And last the Marathon uses the Unifying receiver, it can be paired with up to six compatible Logitech mice and keyboards. Plus it so small sized it can nicely fit with the latest Apple keyboards. I don’t use LLC anymore but now I use SteerMouse. It works flawlessly, only the 4th and 5th button, the back and forward button thus must be programmed to work as such in web browsers, in my case Firefox; CMD Right Arrow and CMD Left Arrow. Make sure you don’t have LLC or other mouse management app installed at the same time, they interfere with each other.

Long term expectation

After using the mouse daily now for almost a month I expect it will start having same hardware issues as I had with the VX. The right button doesn’t feel sturdy and already is very sensible on click, so it will were out fast and overtime start doing the same thing as the VX.

Logitech gives a three year factory warranty if I’m not mistaken. I lost the purchase receipt of the VX but I’m planning on calling their customer support soon to see if they will replace it considering it’s a known issue with their products. I hope they do because the VX is not a cheap mouse and I had expected it to last longer than two years.

To be safe I already put the Marathon receipt together with all my other hardware receipts and I’m even saving the box to be sure. Because I’m not planning on shelling out 60 euros again next year on a mouse.

But all in all I’m happy with the Marathon it works well, thanks to the fact it uses two AA batteries it feels just heavy enough. And it has the same ergonomic build as the VX to minimize pain in the hand after long hours behind the computer.