Saturday, July 30, 2011

Review of 'Light of Eidon' by Karen Hancock

Hey, it's Derek and today I will be reviewing one of the books that I read on the iPad app iBooks.

'Light of Eidon' is about a young man named Abramm that is currently in the spiritual organization called the Mataio, who presumedly worships the sovereign god Eidon, which is another name for our God in this book. But as Abramm progresses to the point of becoming a full member of the Mataio, the supposed
'Flames' that Eidon's son Tersius, our Jesus, dwells in, rejects him as a full member or Guardian. After that he starts praying to Eidon and feels as if he had been touched by him. But he realizes that this is not what the touch is supposed to feel like. It was a dark and shadowy thing crawling into his mind. And then another segment in the story comes in. The Terstans worship Eidon also, but they believe that Eidon can come to anybody who asks. The proof of Eidon in their hearts is a golden shield, emblazoned over their hearts. As Abramm realizes that the Mataio are not the true worshippers of Eidon, the Terstan Eltrap Meridon, comes and evacuates him from the darkest depths of the Mataio's dungeons. Abramm and Trap are exiled to the faraway land of Esurh for fear of the Terstan and Abramm causing a civil war between the Matio and Terstans. There they are sold into slavery and then entered into the Esurh Arena Games. They fight their way through enemy after enemy until Abramm realizes he has become a great warrior. He is then presumed to be the Dorsaddi's 'Deliverer'. And he will reignite the great star that has protected them from the evil forces of the ruler of Esurh, Beltha'adi. But it is Trap instead that reignited their star by a mass of Dorsaddi accepting the shield. Abramm comes to realize that maybe Eidon's true hand is the Terstans. And as he goes on to accept the shield, he must finally face the ruler, Beltha'adi. But as he fights he is taken over by Eidon and given the power to defeat Beltha'adi.

In my opinion this was a very good book. Full of a young man's story to figure out the true worshippers of the sovereign god Eidon, he is plagued with troubles and doubts along the way. It is full of action and a little romance. This is a great overall christian fiction. I would recommend this to ages 13-18. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed another segment of 12 Year Old Technology.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Reading on the iPad

Hi, it's Derek again and today I will be telling you the benefits of reading a book on the iPad app iBooks.

Now as you may know you are able to download the app iBooks on your iPad to start creating your very own digital library. As far as I can tell you can find quite a few books on the iBook Store. Including authors such as Christopher Paolini, J.R.R Tolkien, and Eion Colfer. The benefit of this store is that you do not have to have a library or a bookstore nearby. As long as you have an internet connection and some money on iTunes, you're all set. Instead of having to lug around a bag of books everywhere you can keep who knows how many on this iPad app.

But the only problem is that you cannot see well in the sun. Therefore you cannot take it outside on a sunny day and read unless you have some sort of shade.

A few perks of the app allows you to change the fonts, font size, and the color of the page (sepia, etc.). You can bookmark your page and leave it there and come back right where you were when you left off.

So the benefits are numerous but the fact that is very hard to see in the sun limits you to indoors or under a shady apple tree.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Review of the Barnes & Noble Nook 1st Edition

Hi, my name is Derek and I will be reviewing the latest and greatest technology and games that come into being. Today my entry is on the Barnes and Noble Nook portable reading device.

Overview: The Nook reading device is a very reliable piece of hardware. It can hold up to 1.3 GB of books, apps(Nook Color only), and music. Now this is my brother's Nook and there may be other models you can buy with more memory. A nice feature of the Nook is that not only can you get apps on it, but you can sync the music from your iPod/MP3 Player onto the nook and listen to it while you are reading. The problem is that when you use anything besides just reading books, it drains the battery very quickly. So if you are playing a game on it you probably want to keep it plugged in charging. There are two versions of the Nook, Wi-fi and 3G. The Wi-fi version being around $120 and 3G being around $180. Both you have access to the internet. Wi-fi you need a wireless router to connect to and on 3G you can get only books anywhere. But you still need a router connection for the internet on the 3G.

Pros:
Can get apps(only on Nook Color) music, and books
Not very expensive
Compact
Easy to see in the sun

Cons:
No backlight so cannot read in the dark
The internet is quite slow
Not for people that want it mainly for apps and the internet

Conclusion: The Nook is a very good reading device for a good price. The fact that you can get the internet is an upside and will help greatly with casual browsing and when you get bored of your books. But you will have to be patient with the internet. Overall very good piece of technology.