I’ve been a big Michael Gruber fan since I read his Jimmy Paz trilogy: Tropic of Night, Valley of Bones, and Night of the Jaguar. The Return tells the story of two men who are burdened by their past. One man has lost his Mexican wife and tries to honor her memory. The other man is a “security consultant” whose failures haunt him. The two men run afoul of the Mexican drug lords which sets up an action-packed, explosive conclusion. If you’re looking for a novel to while away an afternoon, The Return will keep the pages turning quickly. GRADE: A-

I picked this Double Feature DVD up at Wal-Mart for $9.95 which I thought was a bargain (AMAZON wants $13.42). Public Enemies has Lex Luthor turning our heroes into social and legal outcasts. Apocalypse features a mysterious space ship from Krypton carrying a beautiful girl. I enjoyed these animated adventures, but I’d give the edge to Apocalypse over Public Enemies. Both are fun! GRADE: PUBLIC ENEMIES B+ and APOCALYPSE A-

I read a couple memoirs a year. I suspect it’s an acquired taste. Beth Kephart’s nifty Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir not only presents possible approaches to write a memoir if you’re so inclined, but she also provides an annotated list of great memoirs–78 of them! The annotated list includes classics like William Styron’s Darkness Visible, Frank Conroy’s Stop-Time, and Nabokov’s Speak, Memory but also more recent memoirs like Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club, Annie Dillard’s An American Childhood, and Patti Smith’s Just Kids. If you’re interested in memoirs, Handling the Truth should be your new go-to book. GRADE: A-
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Definitions, preliminaries, cautions. Prefatory ; Memoir is not ; Memoir is ; Read to write ; Great expectations ; Careful, now — Raw material. Wrestling yourself down ; Tense? ; Find your form ; Photo shop ; Do you love? ; Whether the weather ; Landscape it ; Think song ; The color of life ; I hear voices ; Tastes like ; Something smells– fishy? ; Empty your pockets ; Telling detail ; Let me check on that ; First memory ; Remain vulnerable — Get moving. What’s it all about? ; Beginnings ; Blank page — Fake not and other last words. Fake not ; Exercise empathy ; Seek beauty ; Most unlonely — Appendix. Read. Please. Childhood relived ; Mothers, fathers, children ; Grief ; The natural world ; Unwell ; Leaving and returning ; Rapacious minds ; Funny business ; Helpful texts.

The undefeated KC Chiefs roll into town as 3-point favorites over the hapless Bills. Thad Lewis, the former Practice Squad QB, has the flu and is recovering from the pummeling he took in New Orleans last week. He’s 50-50 at best to start today. If Thad Lewis can’t go, the Bills are down to their 4th-string QB, Jeff Tuel (pronounced “tool”) the undrafted rookie free-agent. Tuel was terrible in his appearance against the Cleveland Browns. And the Bills’ best player, running back C. J. Spiller, has a sore ankle and may not play today, either. I think the point spread should be about 14 points given the Bills’ offensive woes. How will your favorite NFL team do today?

With all the revelations about the NSA and Snowden Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think is a timely book. Companies like GOOGLE, AMAZON, and YAHOO! routinely collect data on their users. I came away from reading Big Data with the confirmation that privacy is a thing of the past. Smartphones, iPads, computers of all sorts, and any smart device seems to be part of the pervasive NSA data collection operation. Our movements are tracked, our purchases analyzed, and our communications are recorded. The authors point our good uses of Big Data–better science and health studies–but we all know there is a Dark Side to this data collection. GRADE: B+
Table of Contents
1 Now 1
2 More 19
3 Messy 32
4 Correlation 50
5 Datafication 73
6 Value 98
7 Implications 123
8 Risks 150
9 Control 171
10 Next 185
Notes 199
Bibliography 216
Acknowledgments 225
Index 229

Graham Greene wrote this wicked little novel in 1966. Greene creates a group of off-beat characters and sets them in corrupt South American country where murder lurks behind every door. If you’re looking for suspense and sudden death, The Comedians delivers. There was also an effective movie version of this novel that you might want to check out.

I’m a huge fan of Ray Kurzweil’s brilliant The Singularity is Near where Kurzweil really explores the implications of technology. In this new book, Kurzweil says the human-machine civilization is upon us. When I see people walking around wearing Google Glasses I’m sure Kurzweil is right. Kurzweil shows how the brain functions, how our minds emerge, and the potentials of brain-computer interfaces. If you want to read about where this renowned futurist thinks we’re going, How to Create a Mind is worth your time and attention. GRADE: A
Table of Contents:
Introduction
1. Thought Experiments on the World
2. Thought Experiments on Thinking
3. A Model of the Neocortex: The Pattern Recognition Theory of Mind
4. The Biological Neocortex
5. The Old Brain
6. Transcendental Abilities
7. The Biologically inspired Digital Neocortex
8. The Mind as a Computer
9. Though Experiments on the Mind
10. The Law of Accelerating Returns Applied to the Brain
11. Objections
Epilogue

When I was a kid, my favorite Marvel superhero was Iron Man. I loved the idea that a really smart guy–Tony Stark–could become a superhero by using technology. Today, we associate Robert Downey, Jr. with Tony Stark and Iron Man. But, back in the 1990s FOX Saturday morning cartoons featured Marvel characters. Iron Man ran for two seasons and all 25 episodes are included on these 3 DVDs. If you’re looking for a guilty pleasure that will take you back to your youth, this is the ticket. Hours of fun! The episode information is complements of AMAZON. GRADE: A

Episode #1 – And The Sea Shall Give Up It’s Dead
Original Airdate 24th September 1994
The Mandarin turns a group of Russian sailors into an army of radioactive zombies in order to use them to take over the world. Only Iron Man and Forceworks can stop him!

Episode #2 – Rejoice! I Am Ultimo! Thy Deliverer!
Original Airdate – 1st October 1994
Iron Man and Forceworks must defeat the newly awakened Ultimo!

Episode #3 – Data In, Choas Out
Original Airdate 8th October 1994
The Mandarin and Justin Hammer have taken control of Stark satellites, using them to inflict a disaster and leading the public to believe that Stark is to blame. Modok also begins a plan to take control of Jim Rhodes mind in hopes of using him to frame Tony.

Episode #4 – Silence My Companion, Death My Destination
Original Airdate 15th October 1994
Iron Man must help Julia’s daughter from escaping a virtual reality arcade, whislt wearing a damaged armour.

Episode #5 – The Grim Reaper Wears A Teflon Coat
Original Airdate 22nd October 1994
The Mandarin steals Stark’s new weapon, The Grim Reaper, and Stark stands to lose his credibility unless he manages to find out how he managed to get past his security.

Episode #7 – Enemy Without, Enemy Within
Original Airdate 29t October 1994
When Mandarin places his wife in danger, MODOK seeks Iron Man’s aid in saving her. Will he actually betray The Mandarin?

Episode #7 – The Origin Of The Mandarin
Original Airdate 05th November 1994
Spider-Woman, Century and The Scarlet Witch find a black box containing a holographic video of The Mandarin’s origin, and The Mandarin finally finds The Hall Of Armour.

Episode #8 – The Defection Of Hawkeye
Original Airdate 12th November 1994
Forceworks begin to lose thier trust after Hawkeye fails to arrive in order to help The Mandarin steal Stark’s device. Has Hawkeye turned rouge?

Episode #9 – Iron Man To The Second Power, Part 1 and Part 2
Original Airdate 19th November 1994
In this 2-part episode, Tony Stark’s company suffers from financial troubles. With his company facing bankruptcy, Tony Stark must find begin to rebuild his shattering company, as The Mandarin plans a new plan to take over the world. He then creates an evil duplicate of Iron Man to destroy him.

Episode #11 – The Origin Of Iron Man, Part One and Part Two
Original Airdate 3rd December 1994
With his armour badly damaged, Iron Man must wait several hours for it to recharge whilst Fin Fang Foom hunts him down! Activating his memory module, he reminisces over how he became Iron Man! He also must watch out as Fin Fang Foom hunts him down to destroy him.

Episode #13 – The Wedding of Iron Man
Original Airdate 17th December 1994
Iron Man and Spider-Woman tie the knot as The Mandarin discovers Iron Man’s secret identity!
Episode #14 – The Beast Within
Original Airdate 23rd September 1995

Tony fakes his death in order to infiltrate one of The Mandarin’s schemes as Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom join forces.

Episode #15 – Fire And Rain
Original Airdate 30th September 1995
As blackouts begin affect the city, Iron Man faces a new enemy called Firebrand, who’s determined to ruin Stark Enterprises to avenge the death of his Father. Will War Machine overcome his fear of water to help Iron Man?

Episode #16 – Cell Of Iron
Original Airdate 07th October 1995
A.I.M sabotages a ship called The Starwell, and uses it’s powers to threaten the Earth into paying thier ransoms. When Iron Man investigates, he finds it’s creator and Senturian, it’s guardian. Can Iron Man stop A.I.M and save the ship?

Episode #17 – Not Far From The Tree
Original Airdate 14 October 1995
Iron Man finds his Father, Walter Stark held prisoner in A.I.M headquarters. Did SHIELD cover up his supposed death?

Episode #18 – Beauty Knows No Pain
Original Airdate October 21, 1995
Madame Mask kidnaps several Stark Industry employees in order to lure her former boyfriend Tony Stark into getting Iron Man to steal her ancient jewel which will grant her immense power.

Episode #19 – Iron Man On The Inside
Original Airdate November 4th 1995
Iron Man must shrink himself to the size of an atom in order to save Hawkeye as HOMER contracts a virus.

Episode #20 – Distant Boundaries
Original Airdate November 11, 1995
When Iron Man assists in the landing of an unidentified, unmanned space ship, he learns that it was sent by the distant planet, Elysian, with a distress message — pleading for Iron Man’s help in their fight against a madman called Dark Aegis. Iron Man feels responsible because he inadvertently set Dark Aegis adrift in space long ago. James Rhodes, who is determined to beat his claustrophobia, dons his War Machine armor and joins Iron Man on the mission. But as the ship is launched, they find a dangerous stowaway, the Titanium Man. In the shipboard battle, Iron Man and War Machine are set adrift, braving the atmosphere of Elysian to land on its surface. They find out they’re too late; the planet has been destroyed and the air so toxic they must keep armor on. While War Machine is engaged in battle by Titanium Man (who is in the employ of Dark Aegis), Iron Man confronts Dark Aegis, who has possession of the mightiest of weapons — the Oracle.

Episode #21 – The Armour Wars, Part One and Part Two
Original Airdate 18th November 1995
After inadvertently causing an explosion in Russia and injuring thousands, Iron Man learns that his designs have been stolen, and are being used to commit crimes throughout the world. The pressure finally gets to Stark, and he begins a mad rampage, attacking anyone that’s using his designs.

Episode #23 – Empowered
Original Airdate 3rd November 1996
MODOK finds one of The Mandarin’s rings and is terrified to learn that he is still alive and searching for his remaining rings.

Episode #24 – Hulkbuster
Original Airdate February 10, 1996
The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man are transported through various time periods as Iron Man tries to save Julia from being stuck in the past.

Episode #25 – The Hands Of The Mandarin, Part One and Two
Original Airdate February 17, 1996
In this 2-part episode, the Mandarin finally returns and creates an anti-technology field which renders Iron Man’s armour useless. Forceworks must reunite to stop Iron Man’s greatest enemy from declaring himself ruler. Forceworks must reunite to stop Iron Man’s greatest enemy from declaring himself ruler.

Clive Thompson argues that technology is making our lives better and changing the way our brains work. All of us use GOOGLE every day to look up facts that we used to remember. Like printing, the computer is changing the what we remember. Who needs to memorize facts when our computers will remember them for us. Thompson also provides examples were humans and computers working together are better than just humans or just computers. His example of chess players who use computers to beat computers is impressive. Thompson predicts education will radically change as online classes dominate. There’s plenty of factors to ponder in Smarter than You Think. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Rise of the Centaurs
Public Thinking
The New Literacies
The Art of Finding
The Puzzle-Hungry World
Digital School
Ambient Awareness
The Connnected Society
Epilogue